Page 24 of Carler

He'd started at the bottom in the mob and worked his way up. He was raised by a single mother because his father had either died or taken off. He never got the whole story out of his mom. He had started by running errands for one of the mob guys and worked his way up. Eventually, he'd become a mob boss. It was rare that somebody who wasn't related to someone made it that high, and he'd been proud of that. She had taken all of that away from him. While his son had been stupid, he had not intended any of what had happened. On the other hand, she had sicced the law and the dragons on him.

Joe was worried. He thought the dragons would be all-powerful and take him out quickly. That hadn't happened. It made him think they weren't as strong as he thought. Maybe there was still a way to take them out and take over everything they had. The mob had let him run a big area, proving he was no dummy. He needed to apply that intelligence to take down his enemies and take everything they owned away. All he needed was a plan and a few idiots that would work for him and not expect much.

The homeless people already knew him, and since their friends hadn't returned, they didn't trust him. Vegas was not the place for him to try and gather helpers. Some other place would work much better, but where? It needed to be close because he didn't have the time, the patience, or the money to do a lot of traveling. It also had to be someplace where he could stay cheap. Joe had a cousin living in San Francisco. He wouldn't drag him into this mess, but it would be a cheap place to stay.

Joe had traded his Cadillac for a cheap truck that no one would associate with him. He left the old tags on it even though he had promised to change them. The guy had been so thrilled to get the Cadillac for his truck and a little cash that he hadn't worried about it. If he committed a crime in the truck, the guy would wish he'd been more careful. Joe was all about crime, and if he found the right opportunity where he was going, he would find a way to make some money, even if he had to kill someone to do it.

It wasn't really his fault. Because of how he was raised, he'd had no choice but to fall into a life of crime. Everyone was surprised that he was so good at it, but part of the reason was that he didn't care about his victims. They just got in his way and needed to be removed like trash. Joe Junior was the only one of his children who understood his view of things. It was too bad that he hadn't worked with the boy more about interpersonal relationships and who to stay the hell away from.

He left his hotel room, dropped his suitcase and box in the back of the truck, and headed out. Since he had paid cash, there was no need to check out. Only seedy hotels took cash without ID. He was lucky to have found this one. He thought of the old days when he wouldn't have stayed in a place like this for anything. His nose wrinkled. The truck smelled like stale cigarettes and old food. It was battered and beaten from one end to the other and didn't look like anything that he would have ever driven in the past. Oh, how the mighty had fallen, right? That didn't mean he couldn’t raise himself back up to the top with his brain and a few opportunities.

Those dragons were lucky that they were going to get a chance at peace for a little while, but when he came back, he would come back with a vengeance. No GPS in the old piece of crap, so he followed the road signs. Joe still had a phone, but it was a disposable one. At least his mind was still sharp, and he remembered his cousin's number even though he hadn't dialed him in years. Once he got out on the open highway and didn't have to worry about the traffic in town, he gave him a call.

“Who is this?” Jerry asked.

His cousin had never been the friendliest guy. He was a mechanic, and he had to deal with many people who constantly complained, even though he was a really good one.

“This is your Cousin Joe. I'm gonna be down your way, and I'm going to stop to see you for a while. Okay?”

“Sure, Joe. I'll have the wife get the guest room ready.”

“Great. I'll be there in a few hours.” Joe hung up before his cousin could ask questions he couldn't answer. He was sure Jerry had probably heard a few things.

Jerry would help if he could because Joe had paid for him to be trained as a mechanic. He'd also thrown him some business over the years. Family and things like that came first, and he'd never forgotten them. As far as Joe was concerned, Jerry owed him, and he would collect. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to stay there too long because Gloria always shot him disapproving looks. Jerry married a religious woman, hoping she would behave properly, and he wouldn't end up divorced. So far, it looked like it had worked. She dragged him to church whenever she could, so there was still a bad side.

Joe had nothing against church; he'd gone to celebrate many of the best times in his life. He'd also gone to pray when things went wrong; maybe that's where he should be right now. For a while, God had seemed to bless him. Joe had more than most and a good family. When things went wrong, everything went to hell. Maybe he'd lost God's blessings somewhere along the way. He didn't consider himself a bad man. Those things he did that some people might say were bad were just part of his job and business.

He didn't kill people because he liked to. He did it because he had to. They interfered with his business, and that meant they had to go. That FBI agent had said he was cold-blooded, but that wasn't true. Things were done out of necessity, not out of enjoyment. When he had someone taken out, it was quick and permanent. He didn't want them to suffer unnecessarily. All Joe wanted was for them to be gone and out of his way. People just didn't understand him.

Now, he needed those dragons out of his way to take over their business and get revenge on Davy. They knew where she was, and he would make one of them talk. Dragons weren't so tough after all. Had they been, they would have taken him out in the beginning.

The highway wasn't very busy, and he made good time. It was a long drive. He made a couple of stops, which made it around ten hours for him. Had he made this drive a couple of years ago, they would have stopped at a nice hotel and had a great meal. Someone else would have done the driving, and he would have used his phone to do business or watched a movie in the back of the limo.

Joe would have enjoyed the trip, and it wouldn't have seemed so much like a job. While he might have visited Jerry, he would have taken him out to a nice meal instead of staying at his house, where he had to put up with Gloria and the kids. Sometimes, it was hard to believe how much things had changed. He would have to get used to that until he made things change for the better. By the time he got to Jerry's house, he was exhausted. There was no one to carry his suitcase for him, and he had to do it himself.

Even though it was early in the evening, all the lights were out, and if he didn't know better, he would think no one was home. He walked up the steps, dragging his big suitcase, knowing he would have to return to get his box because it couldn't stay out where it might get rained on. Joe knocked on the door, and he heard Jerry coming to answer. No matter how bad things got, at least he knew there were a few people he could count on.

Chapter 8

Is It Love

A couple weeks had passed since the bomb incident. Viv felt confused and wasn't sure what to do. She had to admit that she had been impressed by how Carler handled things. It reminded her of how Doug often jumped in and did what needed to be done to save innocents. He would risk his life without a single thought. Even though Carler was very different from her Doug, she saw some things that she loved about him that Carler also seemed to have.

In the two weeks since the bomb incident, they had eaten most of their meals together, and with the peace that had come, they had made plans for how to capture old Joe or at least help someone else capture him. All she wanted was for him to pay for what he had done, and she didn't care who took him down. She had grown close to Carler and was feeling attached to him. Every night, when he walked her to her room, he would kiss her and press his body up against her.

Viv was a normal woman, and there was no way she could help but feel a sense of need when he did that. It was clear to her that he knew how she felt and wanted much more from her. What would she do if he pressed her for more? Would she run away like she had been doing before, or would she give in the next time? Even though she wanted to wait to develop a relationship until Joe was dealt with, she was beginning to think that it would be a long time before that happened.

Since Old Joe had backed off, finding him would take even longer. Even the mob who knew him the best couldn't seem to find him. She was sure that was true because they had contacted Ranger hoping he could give them some information. Of course, they had no information to give. Carler had admitted that the white-haired man was a hunter and a tracker. He had taken on the job of tracking down Old Joe and left to go to Las Vegas, hoping to find him there. Carler had explained that the man was much like a bounty hunter.

He would do his best to bring him back alive so their government could deal with him. Viv wasn't really sure what that meant. Maybe she had been spending far too much time worrying about Joe. Maybe this bounty hunter would have an easier time finding him since he was not personally involved in the hunt. To him, it would just be another job. She might have been too close to the case, and she hadn't been able to see the forest for the trees. With Doran on the job, they would see if someone with a colder, more distant approach could bring him in.

There was plenty of work here to do, even without attacks from Old Joe. Viv was training an assistant. Xena was doing well but still had much to learn. There was a lot of paperwork, and Xena worked on that half the day and spent two hours in the security video room and two hours with her. Carler was also training someone to be his assistant. Joff did most of the training, but he thought it was a good idea if the young man worked with Carler a little bit every day so that he would get used to him.

The extra help was needed since they had fired most of their security team. Their security had been terribly compromised, and maybe that was part of the reason that Joe hadn't been getting anything done here lately. She watched Carler as he worked, and she found that her eyes were often drawn to him. Viv tried not to look at him so much, but she found it impossible to stop. She wasn't sure if he realized that she was watching him, and she hoped he didn't.

“What's the matter?” Carler asked.

“Nothing. Why would you think something was wrong?” She wondered.

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