Code Name Tequila Ch. 06

"Code in."

"Tequila, three-eight-zero-five-seven."

"Hold please."

There was a click on the line, and then silence. The amount of time it required for the line to be picked up was much longer than usual. Finally, another click and a voice came on the line.

"Tequila, this is Black Oak. Where are you?"

"An internet cafe in Cordoba, Argentina, about 3 blocks from the hotel. Luis Tabernas has been killed," Ria said into the phone.

"We know about Tabernas," Black Oak said. "Are you fine?"

"Yes, I'm okay. A little bumped and bruised, but I'll live." Gaston, Rodrigo Tabernas' henchman had tried to pry an admission out of Ria through physical force, but Ria had admitted nothing. She had nothing to admit, at least when it came to Luis Tabernas' murder. She knew nothing about it.

"When you hadn't reported in for the last two and a half days, we feared the worst. We were told by a source that you were most likely with Luis when he was killed."

"I was," said Ria.

"What?" Black Oak said, his voice rising. It was the first time that Ria had heard any hint of emotion in his voice. "I'll need a full written report when you get back to the hotel, but for now give me the gist."

"Six gunmen broke into the ranch, killed the security and household help, and then broke into the bedroom and shot Luis," Ria explained.

"And yet they left you alive," Black Oak asked, a tone of scepticism in his voice.

"They wanted to kill me, but I killed them first," Ria said.

"All six of them?"

"No, I killed 5 and left one alive, but I don't imagine that he is still alive. Rodrigo took both myself and the last living gunmen to be questioned. They let me go, but I doubt the gunman was so lucky."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but why would Rodrigo let you go? He is not known for being an especially forgiving man," Black Oak stated.

"I don't truly know," Ria admitted. It had been bugging her as well. She hadn't expected to live. She recapped the past 2 and a half days for Black Oak. "When his goon had no success in beating a confession out of me, Rodrigo came in and questioned me. He wanted to know why I was still alive. I said I grew up on the streets of Oaxaca and could handle myself. Then he asked me if I knew the name Aguila Roja. I said I did, that it was a scare tactic that the gangs had used to keep the kids in line. He then asked my name, or I should say what it had been as a boy in Oaxaca. I told him, and he left. Then I sat there for about 12 hours before Rodrigo's goon drove me back to the hotel and told me to get ready to go to Las Vegas."

Black Oak sputtered. "They are keeping you on the team? This is most unexpected, but very good news. Write me up a full report, and then continue with your work. Thank you, Tequila. Good day."

"Wait, Black Oak. Can I speak to Chambers?"

"No, he is on assignment in New Jersey," Black Oak said. Chambers, along with April and May had been sent to the PatGen campus in New Jersey, and were in the first day of the four day lock-down during which time they would steal Patterson's secret files.

"Oh. Can you let him know I am fine," Ria said. Black Oak detected a note of disappointment in her voice.

"I will. Good luck, Tequila."

The line went dead.

* *

Chambers was in a utility van outside the PatGen campus, posing as a telephone repair man. In reality he was in the process of setting up a complex electronic bypass system so he could control the cameras in the PatGen campus. In three nights times, April and May would sneak out and break into Dr. Hugh Patterson's office to copy his personal files, and Chambers needed to control the cameras to make sure they weren't seen.

His mobile phone rang. He picked it up, and heard Jarvis Cleethorpe, analyst with the CIA. "We just got a call from Ria. She is alive and still undercover. She is going to continue with her mission, and head to Las Vegas."

Chambers smiled. "That's great. Can I speak with her?" he asked.

"Chambers, she is undercover. That wouldn't be prudent," Jarvis said, and then hung up.

Chambers was disappointed that he couldn't speak to Ria, but happy she was alive. He continued working, and found himself whistling a happy tune.

* *

Ria walked back to the hotel, thinking that she was in well over her head. While she knew that she could take some credit for thinking quickly, staying calm and looking out for herself over the past 2 days, her being alive was as much due to luck than anything else. Luis Tabernas had been, in a lot of ways, an insurance policy for her. In the two weeks they had known each other, she had managed to get Luis wrapped around her finger. She knew she could use him as protection if things started to go south. Now, with Luis dead, she was truly on her own, and she knew Rodrigo would probably be keeping an eye on her.

As she walked through the hotel she saw Emma sitting out by the pool, sunbathing in a blue, string bikini, her golden hair shimmering in the sun. Ria walked over towards Emma. As soon as Emma saw Ria, she jumped up and hugged her.

"Oh my God, Ria! I heard that Luis had a heart attack. I know you two were very close. You must be so sad. Are you okay?" Emma asked. "Heart attack." Gaston had told her that was the "official story" that was being released, and that Ria shouldn't say anything otherwise.

Ria started to cry. She wasn't okay at all. She had been keeping a strong exterior, a posture one learns to quickly adopt on the streets, but she was actually lonely and scared, and just wanted to be safe.

Somehow, Emma's arms around her made her feel safe. Safe enough to let out her emotion, to let down her guard and just be the scared little girl she felt like.

Emma stroked Ria's hair. "It's going to be okay, Ria. What can I do for you? Ask me anything," Emma said softly in Ria's ear.

Ria buried her face in Emma's shoulder, saying softly, "I just want to be held. I want to feel close to someone."

With her arm around Ria and Ria's head leaning against her shoulder, Emma led Ria to the elevator, and they went upstairs to Emma's room. Emma closed the door, and turned to face Ria. Ria reached out and touched Emma's bare stomach, felt the warmth of her sun soaked body in her hands. Emma leaned closer. Ria could feel Emma's breath on her face. It felt like a warm, gentle breeze. Ria closed her eyes. Emma's lips touched hers, soft like silk.

Ria pulled Emma closer, wanting to feel her body against hers. Ria closed her eyes and concentrated on the physical sensations, putting all the bad memories and frightening thoughts out of her mind. Ria felt Emma's arms running down her back, her chest raising and lowering with each breath, her bare leg slowly wrapping around Ria's calf. There was still too much between them. Ria longed to feel Emma skin on skin, to let the warmth and energy from Emma to radiate into Ria directly.

Ria pulled away from Emma and stripped naked. Ria stood, head bowed, brown smooth skin exposed, hairless skin taut and fresh. She felt vulnerable. She rarely felt exposed when naked. She was usually very comfortable with her body, but this was different. Ria felt naked emotionally, that she was letting Emma see a side of her that Ria rarely let out. Ria blushed.

Emma walked slowly towards Ria, stripping off her bikini top and bottom. Emma hugged Ria and pulled her close, their bare skin touching, Ria's brown, tanned skin a contrast to Emma's Mid-western whiteness. They kissed again, they tongues slowly and tentatively exploring each other. Ria's body was cold from two days of torture, from not eating, from fear. Emma's body radiated heat, both the remnants of heat from sun-bathing and her own internal heat. Emma held Ria close, warming her. Ria puled herself closer to Emma, sucking up all the heat she could.

Emma's hand ran down Ria's back, her fingers just brushing along her back. Emma's hips pushed forward, the smooth skin of her shaved pubic region brushing up against the soft skin of Ria's flaccid penis. Ria let her hand run down to Emma's ass, grasping the soft warm flesh of her buttock.

Their nipples brushed against each other, excited jolts of sexually energy ran throughout their bodies. Ria started to warm, the darkness and cold ebbed, like a dark shroud being slowly lifted off her. Her tense muscles started to relax, the stiffness in her body draining from her.

While her muscles relaxed, Ria felt her penis start to stiffen. It brushed against Emma's groin, and Ria could feel Ria opening slowly, a slight moistness developing. The two women, intertwined, their bodies twisted around the other, started to move towards the bed, They fell upon the bed, Ria on her back, Emma lying on top of her. Emma straddled Ria, pressing her groin down upon Ria's hard penis. Emma's lips opened for Ria, and Ria slid into Emma's warmth.

The continued to kiss, the tongues more fervently experiencing each other. Emma slowly moved her hips up and down, Ria's cock sliding in and out of Emma's wet pussy. Neither woman said a word, the only sounds they made were slight moans of pleasure, barely audible above the sounds of the wet lip-lock and the soft slap of skin on skin.

Ria started moving her hips up and down in slow, deep thrusts. With each thrust, a little bit of the last few days disappeared. She still had the memories of the days obviously, but they left her emotional centre, freeing her from the pain, the anger, the fear. The connection between two souls, between her and Emma, through the physical act, cured the deep wounds inflicted from the horrific experiences.

The black shroud was lifted. Ria was left with nothing but the want and need to satisfy herself and the woman she was inside. The girls stopped kissing, and Ria increased the frequency and depth of her thrusts. With each deep plunge into Emma's pussy, Emma let out a hard breath, the warm air bathing Ria's face.

Ria grasped Emma's ass, and with each thrust upwards of her hips, pushed Emma down onto her. Emma let out a low, sustained moan through irregular breaths. Ria felt warm liquid seeping of Emma's pussy, covering Ria's cock and balls, and running down in the crack of her ass.

Ria started pumping as quickly as she could. Emma exploded, letting out a cry of pleasure as her body jerked and jolted with her orgasm. As before, Emma's pussy let out a gush of warm liquid, soaking Ria and wetting the duvet on the hotel bed.

Emma's orgasm continued as Ria continued to slide in and out of the now soaked vagina. Emma cried out, "Yes! Please, yes!" Ria buried herself deep inside Emma, and gave a series of shallow thrusts before releasing herself inside Emma. Ria groaned as the cum flowed from her.

Drained - physically, emotionally - the two girls collapsed on the bed. They rest, silently. Ria falls into a deep sleep, the first decent sleep she has had in 3 days.

* *

Ria woke up in an empty bed, the covers pulled over her. She heard Emma in the bathroom of the room.

Emma came out of the bathroom, now wearing a white robe emblazoned with the hotels logo. "Hey, are you feeling better?" Emma asked.

"Yes, much better. It has been a long, hard couple of days, and that was just what I needed," Ria answered.

"It's good to have you back," Emma said. "Those other girls are no fun at all. Marisa is always off with Isabella. I'm pretty sure they must be going at it. And Gabriela is about as much fun as a wet blanket. She is always up in her room doing nothing. I've had no one to entertain me."

Ria laughed. "I find it hard to believe that you can't go down to the hotel bar and find a whole room's worth of men that want to entertain you," Ria said.

"Yeah, but sometimes its good to just hang out with your girlfriends, you know. That's why I like having a girlfriend like you, I get to have a girl to talk to and go shopping with, but I also get a nice hard cock to play with when I am horny," Emma said, peaking under the covers at Ria's soft package.

"So you've had no fun for the past two days," Ria asked.

"Well, not no fun. I did end up sleeping with that sexy driver, Carlos," Emma said, smiling a sly smile.

Ria rolled her eyes. She was actually surprised, given that since that first day by the pool, whenever she saw Carlos he seemed chained at the hip to Andre Fernandez, COO of Cabo Blanco Tequila.

"He wasn't very good, though," Emma said.

Ria was shocked. She said, "given the rumours about what a playboy he was, I would have figured him to have had enough practice to be quite a good lover."

Emma shook her head. "No, not like that. I mean he was good while we were doing it, and gave me a spectacular orgasm. But we were well on our way to me having a second one, and he gets a text message on his phone. He reads it, and says, 'I have to go,' and leaves. Right in the middle. What could be more important than satisfying me?" Emma asked sarcastically.

Ria wondered the same thing.

* *

"All right ladies, when we land in Las Vegas, the race season will have started and you will have eight months of very hard, but hopefully very rewarding work. You'll have a pretty full schedule over the next six days, with of course the most important day being race day on Sunday. So try and get some sleep tonight on the flight, because they'll be some long days ahead of us," Isabella told the girls as the last few people were getting on the chartered Airbus A340.

The jet Ria was on was one of two jets the Tabernas racing team had chartered for the race season. This one was for transporting all the team members, including the drivers, mechanics, technical staff, owners, VIPs and of course the "Cabo Blanco Ambassadors," Ria, Emma, Marisa and Gabriela. The other jet, another A340, was used to transport all the cargo, including the three open wheel race cars.

The two planes took off from Cordoba, Argentina and flew through the night, landing at McCarran airport in Las Vegas on a sunny Tuesday morning. Ria looked out the window, and saw the strange skyline of the Las Vegas strip, where Egyptian pyramids coexisted with fantasy castles, and one could see New York, Paris, Venice and ancient Rome all within a block. The tarmac of the airport was filled with similarly large jets that other racing teams had chartered for the season to transport crew and cars.

The Tabernas team had rented a floor in the MGM Grand, and a fleet of black vans with shaded windows transported the team the short distance to the hotel. The vans drove into a side entrance and into an underground garage. As each person stepped from the van they were given their room assignment and key. Elevators on service whisked the team up to their floor.

Ria entered her room and looked around. It was a smallish room, but nicely appointed, in neutral colours with striped drapes. A flat screen TV was hidden in the vanity, along with a soft plush robe. Sitting on the small desk was a gift basket with some fruit, cheese and a small bottle of wine. Ria grabbed an apple and took a bite, laying down on the bed and flicking on the TV. Ria watched the hotel's channel which ran through all the various attractions within the hotel and throughout Las Vegas. The city appeared to be a 24 hour, non-stop party of nightclubs, dining and gambling, with the occasionally side trip out to the desert.

There was a knock on the door. Ria opened it, and a porter delivered her two suitcases. Ria opened them up, and started putting the clothes away. In addition to her own personal clothes, she now had a full suitcase with Cabo Blanco Racing Team clothing. Ria finished putting away her clothes, and grabbed a shower. She changed into a tight pair of black pants and a polo shirt with a Cabo Blanco logo over her left breast. She looked at the printed schedule that Isabella had given her. In 15 minutes they had their first event, a season-opening wine and cheese party. It would be the first time she met any of the other teams or those involved in running the league, including the Pan Am Racing CEO, Walter "Piston" Clark.

There was a knock on the door. Ria wasn't expecting anyone, and was shocked to open the door to see Rodrigo Tabernas. "Mr. Tabernas, can I help you," Ria said. She was a little nervous, still not completely convinced that Rodrigo wouldn't decide to kill her after she had been the sole survivor of his brother's execution.

"Ria, I was hoping that you could accompany downstairs to the wine and cheese. I would like to talk to you about something," Rodrigo Tabernas said.

Ria nodded, and came out into the hallway. She turned to her right to see Gaston, Rodrigo's security man and the goon who had spent a full day emotionally and physically torturing Ria. Ria scowled. Rodrigo placed a hand on the small of Ria's back and guided her to the elevator.

The elevator opened, and Ria and Tabernas stepped into the elevator. Gaston was about to get on, but Rodrigo waved him off. "It's fine, Gaston. Why don't you take the next one." Gaston nodded and stepped back. Rodrigo punched the "door close" button, and the elevator's doors shut.

Rodrigo started speaking, but didn't look at Ria, but instead watched the numbers countdown. "Ria, as you may have surmised, or perhaps even had my stupid brother... God rest his soul... tell you, I am involved in something more than just our legitimate businesses. In my business, sometimes people get killed, and sometimes I am the one that has to do the killing. The guard that you left alive, do you know what happened to him?"

Ria looked at Rodrigo, but he kept his eyes on the elevator's floor indicator. "Mr. Tabernas, I assume that you had him killed," Ria said.

Rodrigo smiled. "Please, call me Rodrigo. Yes, you are correct. He is now dead for his part in the death of my brother, as are many more who were responsible for ordering the murder. Those who cross me will feel it come back on them tenfold. Let me ask you something, Ria, are you wondering why you are still alive?"

"It has crossed my mind, why you let me live," Ria said.

"You are a very talented girl, as attested to by the five shallow graves in the Argentinean countryside filled with the bodies of those guards that you killed. As you have also seen, people can threaten me at any time. Keeping you close to me, it provides an extra layer of protection, if you are willing to provide it. Nothing formal, of course, just keep an eye out for potential dangers, and let me know. Of course, if you don't wish to, I will take that as a sign of where your loyalties lie. Those that are disloyal to me suffer a similar fate to those who actively try and destroy me," Rodrigo said. He handed Ria a picture of a man with a bullet in his head. "That man was the head of the Iquitos Cartel, who was the one who ordered Luis' murder. I thought you might be interested to know that the people responsible for Luis' death, and of course endangering you, were delivered justice. I do hope that I never have to deliver any justice to you, Ria."

The elevator chimed and the doors started to open. Rodrigo took back the picture and put it in his jacket pocket. "Shall we go and meet the rest of the Pan-American Racing league?" he said, gesturing out into the crowd. Ria nodded, a silent shiver running up and down her spine.

* *

The large conference room holding the wine and cheese was buzzing, but the level of noise decreased as Rodrigo walked in. Two men made a bee-line from across the room directly towards Rodrigo and Ria. One of the men was a tall, white man with wispy grey hair. He was wearing a grey blazer over a white shirt fastened with a bola tie, blue jeans and a pair of beige cowboy boots. The second man was a short but thin Hispanic man with a a professional, neat haircut. He was dressed in a black suit with pale blue tie, looking more conservative than anyone else in the room.

The white man put a hand on Rodrigo's shoulder. "Rodrigo, I can't tell you how sorry I am to hear about your brother. I hope you know we are all very saddened by the news. This weekend's race will be a tribute to him."