Chapter Three

He walked toward two kids holding a carton of beers. “You’re not old enough to drink.” he said, sternly.

The two kids looked ready to argue, but upon seeing his face, reluctantly gave him the cartons and scurried away.

Luis Sanchez’s eyes followed the kids until they were lost in the crowd. The carnival was gathering a large crowd. Locals as well as tourists were walking about excitedly, shouting aloud, kissing and hugging. They were there for fun. He was there for work. It was his job to maintain law and order during the carnival.

Luis smiled sardonically. Law and Order. It was his dream to study Law in Stanford or Harvard, but he soon realized that it was only going to be a dream. His father had died when he was 11 years old, leaving his mother with three children to fend for. He had to take care of his younger ones. Gabriella had been three and Miguel just ten months, hence they couldn’t care for themselves.

At first, he had continued to believe in his dream. He was always a straight A’s student, had been captain of his high school football team, won The Hunk Of The Year Award at age 16 and had even gotten a scholarship to Stanford. Then it happened.

He still felt fury build up in him whenever he remembered what happened. He had to let go of his dreams and with Richard’s help, he became a cop. He chose now to protect others from being hurt by the rich and powerful.

He hated the Charlwoods with his whole heart.

It infuriated him that his mother worked for them just as his father had before he died. He knew his mother stayed because of Rose Charlwood. She was a good boss, the only different one and he knew that she had wanted to finance his education, just like Richard had wanted to. But he rejected the offer. He didn’t want anything attached to the Charlwoods and he was too proud to let Richard sponsor his education, especially since Richard had kids.

He respected Richard Bennett. He was his mentor, his ‘adopted’ elder brother and friend. Richard was the reason he chose to be a cop instead of a social worker and he has never regretted his decision.

“Hello, Handsome. Please, arrest me.”

He smiled at the tall dark haired lady, “Hi Beth” and kissed her.

Beth Jonas’ blue eyes twinkled delightedly, “I can’t believe you’re working tonight.”

“I am, darling. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow.”

“You had better.” She replied and after giving him a final kiss, she walked away.

Luis looked around and saw Richard chatting animatedly with someone. After a closer look, he realized that it was Justin, Richard’s son. He then noticed a blonde walking towards them, her eyes on Justin. Luis felt a strange kind of curiosity, which surprised him but some troublemakers caught his eye and he had to look away and concentrate on his work