Chapter 12: The Date

Caleb drove JJ to Refugio, the little mom and pop Mexican restaurant that he frequented. The food was as authentic as you can get, north or south, of the border.

After parking in the darkening parking area to the side of the restaurant, Caleb saw two of the tricked out cars that gang-bangers preferred. They were parked at the back of the lot. There were some gang-banger types leaning on the hoods, and standing around the cars talking and smoking. Caleb walked around his rental car and opened the door for JJ. Two of the gang-bangers started walking towards Caleb and JJ, but a third stopped them with a hand on their arms as he said something. Caleb recognized Jorge' from the bus ride earlier in the day.

"Just a minute, JJ," Caleb said, quietly. "I think I need to take care of something before we go in," he said before turning and walking towards the back of the lot.

"Al," Caleb thought as he approached the group. "It is time to go on high alert."

"It is good to see you again, Jorge," Caleb said with a smile, as he held out his hand.

Jorge smiled back, and shook Caleb's hand as he said, "Es bueno verle otra vez santo varón."

Caleb heard "It is good to see you again, holy man," and saw the awe in the young man's mind.

Caleb nodded in response, projecting calm and peace as hard as he could.

He abruptly turned to one of the two that had started toward him. Grasping his hand, Caleb was flooded with images. His name was Benito and Caleb could see his life as if it were a newly read book. He, too, had been raised in poverty, and his father had beaten him almost daily. Every time his father got drunk, he would come home and beat Benito. Then he would rape one of Benito's sisters. Benito had killed his father, and had run away to America when he was fourteen years old. Life seemed to be just as hard north of the border, and he couldn't run far enough to escape the guilt of killing his own father. That weighed on his soul.

Still grasping his hand Caleb said softly, "It is okay Benito," as he projected the image of his father into the young man's mind. "He was a bad man, and you had to protect your sisters. Your soul is clean," Caleb said gently as he projected peace and relief into Benito's mind.

Benito heard, "Es bueno verle otra vez santo varón. Él era un hombre malo y había que proteger a sus hermanas. Tu alma está limpia." The young man's eyes widened in surprise and he stepped back, still holding the gringo's hand.

"La Madre santa de Dios," Benito muttered in awe as peace and tranquility flooded through him.

Caleb heard, "Holy Mother of God."

Releasing Benito's hand and turning to the second gangbanger that had started towards them, Caleb grasped his hand, even though he tried to pull back. He got the images again but these weren't like the others. His name was Juan and his thoughts were dark. Caleb could see how Juan had loved to kill small dogs and cats when he was little, and listen to them scream. He saw the day Juan had graduated to humans, and how he had killed a little five year neighbor girl when he was thirteen, after he had raped the child. He had killed her slowly so he could hear her screams of pain. He saw that Juan wanted to kill him, and rape the white woman before killing her, too.

"Al, this is not a person," Caleb thought. "He is nothing more than a mad dog."

Caleb gripped Juan's hand tighter, and said in plain English, in a hard voice, "No, Juan!" He looked the hard faced young man up and down and said harshly, "Your soul is black. You are lost," as he broadcast images of horror and death as hard as he could.

Caleb dredged the most horrific images he could find from the darkest corners of Juan's mind. He sent an image of Juan being tied down while insects ate their way out of him if he even looked at JJ.

He sent an image of Juan rotting in a grave, with the flesh falling from his bones, as he screamed for salvation.

"Know your fate," Caleb said severely. "No one can bring you back, unless you want to come back," Caleb declared. "Save yourself, lost one."

Caleb released the gangbanger's hand and stepped back. Juan looked at him in horror, his eyes so wide in terror, that the whites of his eyes were dominant. Jorge and Benito looked at Juan with a mixture of horror and pity.

In his mind, Al said, "The rest of them picked up on a shadow of what we sent to Juan. They know his fate, too."

Caleb abruptly turned to Jorge and asked, "Would you please ask your friends not to bother my rental car, Jorge?"

"Si," the young Mexican said in awe. "No one will bother your car."

"Thank you," Caleb said as he clasped Jorge's arm and sent a vision of cleansing peace through his mind. "Beware of Juan. He could be your downfall."

"Al, I need you to figure out a way to do more than just send images," Caleb told his Companion, as he walked towards the car. "In want to be able to rewire circuits when I meet someone like that. I feel guilty for walking away and letting him live."

"I agree," the alien replied. "Let me work on it and see what I can work out. I'm not sure we have the power alone. If some of my brothers were here, we could link, and then I'm sure we could do it."

"Thanks, Al," Caleb said.

"What was that about?" JJ asked as Caleb walked back up to her.

"I know one of them and he was just introducing me to some of his friends," Caleb replied.

"Right," JJ said skeptically. "And what was that business about a lost one?" she asked.

"One of his friends isn't a nice person and I had to let the rest of them know it," Caleb explained patiently as he guided her towards the entrance. "Otherwise, he'll either hurt one of them, or get into serious trouble and drag them down with him."

JJ glanced over her shoulder at the tattooed young men with the hard faces then back at Caleb.

"One of them isn't a nice person?" she asked, her voice climbing, and only focusing on the on the first part of his statement.

"Well, two of the three that I have met are victims of circumstances. The third one is truly a bad person," Caleb said confidently.

"And how do you know that?" JJ asked still skeptical.

"I, ah," Caleb started then realized he could have dug himself a hole that he couldn't get out of. Then, a flash of inspiration from Al helped him, and he continued with, "I took a course on body language in college and have kind of worked on perfecting the skill ever since," he said with a matter of fact air as if it wasn't a big deal. "It's a handy skill, as an investigator," Caleb explained.

It sounded lame, even to him.

"Body language," JJ said flatly.

Caleb was holding her arm and felt her doubts and sent her reassurance. He could tell that she wasn't buying what he was selling.

"I wanted them to know who I was, so they wouldn't mess with the car," Caleb said softly. "I have had enough trouble with vehicles, lately. I don't want more. Now, they know that if anything happens to the car, the police will have an accurate description of who to talk to."

"That almost makes sense," JJ said, trying to decide if she were more amazed at Caleb's action, or herself for buying his line of bull.

He wanted her to always feel safe with him, so he sent her reassuring thoughts. He wondered if that was cheating. Caleb was determined to play this dating game as straight as possible. The problem was, he had discovered that he had always mentally urged people to agree with him, or to relax when they were getting mentally agitated. Upon examination, he thought most people mentally urged others for various purposes. That habit, developed over a lifetime, was enhanced by the presence of the alien in his head. So ... was it cheating to do the same thing he had done all his life, and that everyone else did, just because the habit was enhanced?

Caleb decided that he needed to be very careful in how he used this suddenly sharpened skill.

The little restaurant only had fifteen tables. JJ and Caleb were seated at the last remaining open table. The young Mexican girl that seated them smiled shyly at Caleb, and murmured a quiet welcome in Spanish to the two of them. Many more tables would fit in the little restaurant, but that wasn't the ambiance the owner wanted.

Their table was in a tiny alcove, with a screen, depicting a forest scene, blocking the view of the rest of the room. Wood paneling covered walls and ceiling, and the wood glowed with a deep, burnished shine. The pictures of Mexican scenes on the walls were sedate scenes of fishermen and farmers. Soft Mexican guitar music played in the background. The owner was proud of his Mexican heritage, and didn't want his patrons to have any doubts that they were in a Mexican restaurant. He also wanted them to see a gentler, more refined side of Mexico than was portrayed in the news.

Dinner was as great as Caleb had expected. The service was excellent, and the food was absolutely wonderful. Caleb had asked that they be seated next to each other instead of across a table, so they could talk more easily. JJ hadn't objected. They sat talking quietly after the meal and sipping on an after dinner snifter of Madeira. It was the perfect complement to the spicy food they had just consumed.

"Caleb!" a large Mexican man rumbled as he stepped around the screen. "It's good to see you. You never call. You never write. Bianca was going to send out a search party."

Rising, Caleb clasped the big man's forearm in a way that spoke of long familiarity, and said, "It's good to see you, too, Francisco." He turned slightly, still holding the big man's forearm, and said, "JJ, this is Francisco Santiago. He's the owner of this beanery. Well, at least that's what it says on the paperwork. Bianca, his wife, thinks that she owns it, and she lets him work here to keep him off the streets. Francisco, I would like for you to meet Doctor Jane Janus, also known as Captain Janus, but her friends call her JJ."

The big man released Caleb's arm, leaned across the table, and gently engulfed JJ's hand in his.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Janus," Francisco rumbled quietly. "Caleb has never brought a lady friend to dinner here. A Captain, too," he said, shooting Caleb a questioning glance. "You are most welcome, and I hope to see you often in the future," he concluded, focusing on JJ again.

"Please call me JJ," JJ replied, slightly overwhelmed by the man's size and charisma.

Francisco Santiago was six foot, four inches tall, weighed over two hundred fifty pounds, and none of it was fat. He was dressed in a suit that emphasized a trim waist and hips. JJ decided that she liked his eyes best. They had smile wrinkles in the corner. The force of his personality was a tangible presence.

"I can do that," Francisco agreed. "The guys tried to call me Fran, but they stopped. Caleb and I decided we didn't like our nicknames. They called Caleb, Kay. I guess you're stuck with Francisco."

"They called Caleb, Kay?" JJ asked with a little giggle.

"Yeah. Anyone with more than one syllable in their names got a nickname," Francisco said with a grin.

"So, why did they stop? Just because you didn't like it?" JJ asked. "It usually doesn't matter what you think if someone wants to hang a nickname on you."

"It matters when you're meaner than everyone else," Francisco assured her.

"I told you that one of the reasons for taking you out was to improve my reputation," Caleb reminded her. "Most people think I'm an ogre."

"Do you know that you have some bangers hanging out in your parking lot?" Caleb asked, turning his attention to Francisco.

"Yeah. I've got a camera on them, just to make sure they don't mess with the customers or their cars," Francisco said gravely. "I've talked to them a couple of times about sitting out there. I don't mind them sitting out there, and there is plenty of room in the parking lot. They know that, if they cause a problem, the police will be the least of their problems."

"Just be careful," Caleb warned. "Some of those guys aren't really bad, but one of them is very bad. Plus, I've been warned that the cartels from south of the border are trying to infiltrate some of the gangs in the states. The guys in the parking lot aren't involved with that, but the group in the lot next week might be. Be careful my friend."

"That was you talking to them earlier, wasn't it?" Francisco said with a laugh at the sudden realization.

"I recognized one of them," Caleb said with a shrug. "I have a rental car, and wanted to make sure they didn't mess with it."

"What's wrong with your truck?" Francisco asked.

"I went camping where I usually go, out at Kofa, and the Army dropped a missile on my camp site. They blew up my truck!" Caleb said in exasperation.

"And the Army came out to figure out what happened," Francisco said, nodding in understanding.

Then, his eyes lit up.

"That's how you met an Army Captain," Francisco crowed. "I wondered how you got close enough to Army green to meet a lady Captain."

"Yeah, well, it's the only time that I've been around the Army, that something good has come from it," Caleb grumped. "JJ gave me a check-up to make sure the Army's toy didn't mess me up. I asked her out as a thank you, but the thank you was just an excuse to get to see her again. It worked," Caleb concluded with a grin.

"You always were the best tactician on our team," Francisco said, grinning back. "I'll let you get back to your Madeira. Bianca's in the back. She'll hunt you down and hurt you if you don't stop and introduce your lady to her."

"I will," Caleb promised, before sitting back down.

"It was nice to meet you JJ. I'm sure that I'll see you again, soon," he said with a warning glance at Caleb.

"Okay, okay," Caleb said, holding his hands up in surrender.

Francisco walked away, stopping at tables, and exchanging a few soft words with his guests.

"You two seem to be good friends," JJ commented, fishing for more information about Caleb.

"You read my military file," Caleb said slowly, his eyes on Francisco walking away, but seeing something completely different. "The last action that I saw, was the reason I got out. Francisco is the reason I didn't turn into a plaque on someone's wall. He was one of my trainers when I went through the Special Forces boot camp. He was a mean son-of-a-bitch, but he was one of the best. Francisco was in charge of the platoon that bailed us out. He was planning on going for thirty years, but, after that action, he retired with twenty."

"That's why he was surprised that I am a Captain," JJ said, understanding some of the importance of some of the comments and looks.

"Yep," Caleb said, pulling his thoughts back to the present. "Francisco was with me when I got those lips tattooed on my butt. He tried to talk me out of it, but I didn't listen."

"Do you regret getting the tattoo?" JJ asked.

"Not for a heart-beat. Not then, or any time since then," Caleb assured her.

"Um ... You mentioned something about seeing some lights," Caleb said, trying to change the subject.

"Yes," JJ replied, better understanding his distaste with the subject of the Army. "Papago Park has a pretty nice Christmas light show every year. They turn it on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and it runs until New Year's day. They usually have something special on the night they turn them on. I just thought, if you wanted to do something after dinner, it would be a nice place to take a walk."

"It sounds like an excellent idea," Caleb said with a smile, as he covered one of her hands with his. "Let me take you back to meet Bianca. She really will hunt me down and hurt me, if I don't introduce you to her. She thinks that she's my mother, or older sister. Then we'll go."

Bianca was a small, slender woman, and she dominated the kitchen. She even dominated Francisco, who towered over her by nearly two feet. She was delighted to meet JJ, and insisted that JJ give her a telephone number.

"This stupid gringo doesn't have enough sense to pour water out of a boot with the instructions on the heel," Bianca declared. "He's just like my Francisco," she said, shaking her head sadly. "I'll call you and we'll set a time the four of us can have dinner next week. Then, we'll let them know where they need to be and what they should wear. That is the only way to deal with these big macho men."

"That sounds good to me," JJ replied, laughing at the way the diminutive woman harangued the men.

Caleb waved to Jorge as they got into the car and called, "Thank you, my friend."

Jorge waved back and called, "It is nothing, Holy Man."

JJ looked at him questioningly as they drove off but when he didn't say anything she asked, "Holy Man? What was that about?"

"I'm not really sure, but I think he thinks I might be some kind of a priest," Caleb said with a little smile.

"Oh? How did he get that idea?" JJ asked dryly.

"I'm not really sure about that either, but I thought it would be a good idea to go with it at the time," Caleb lied, cringing inside.

Caleb didn't feel right lying to JJ. It wasn't the way to start a relationship, but he couldn't reveal the presence of an alien. For a moment, he almost gave up. He had secrets that he couldn't reveal, and secrets were anathema to any type of relationship. He glanced at JJ, and his resolve firmed. He would keep working at this one, until she told him to leave.

'The Christmas Lights at Papago Park' show was everything that JJ had promised, and more. They walked for a while, then rode in a horse drawn carriage to ensure they would get to see all the lights. It was several miles around the entire circuit.