Keeping his eyes on his son Justus, Leader stood to join the crowd, then make his exit. Just as he was about to turn the corner to leave the church, Justus looked up from his funeral program. . . right at Leader.
Oh shit. Show down.
They both froze. Justus’s eyes narrowed, sizing up the womanly figure with the masculine gait. Justus reached for where his pistol would usually be, finding the spot vacant. Nikki sensed the tension and followed Justus’s gaze. She saw the woman, but nothing else. She was not trained to recognize disguises. After a tense few moments, Justus decided to stand down. He didn’t wish to desecrate the memory of his mother with more violence.
Seeing Justus concede, Leader spirited out the church into the midday sun.
When Justus and Nikki arrived home later that evening they were exhausted. All the mourning had made them weary, particularly Nikki, who seemed to be taking things harder than Justus. Justus had yet to break down fully. His mind was all too much on Leader. He knew it was only a matter of time before Leader showed his face. If not soon, Justus planned to go search for him. Fortunately, the former presented himself in the form of a DVD.
Justus was putting his weapons away in his armory, after putting the twins to bed, when he discovered a DVD on top of his ammo box. Confused about the source of the DVD, Justus confronted Nikki, who was banned from his armory. She emphatically denied ever entering his armory, prompting Justus to view the disc in private.
Justus turned on the disc, and nostalgia crept up on him as he saw himself emerge on the screen. It was somewhat blurry, but he recognized the scene quite well. It was etched in his memory forever.
It was the night he killed his first man. On the screen, Justus could see himself hovering around the man as he sat in the chair tied up. He could be seen looking away, as if talking to someone, but Leader never materialized on the screen. Justus saw himself raise the gun to the back of the man’s head then look away. He looked at the screen while reliving the moment in his head. That night seemed so long ago. So much had changed since that night. Yet Justus still flinched when the man’s head exploded in a cloud of red dust on the screen.
While Justus recalled the night in vivid reflection, it wasn’t remiss on him the reason he was even looking at the recording. Leader was sending him a message. He had been there, and he held the trump cards.
After getting a close-up of Justus in his moment of murderous pondering, the screen went blank. Seconds later, a picture of Leader materialized on the screen. He was sitting in a chair, the same chair Justus sat in at that very moment. Leader’s face was calm, and he still wore the woman costume. Looking the camera directly in the eye, he spoke, “Justus, my son, I hate that it has to come to this. Before I go any further, I want you to know I didn’t kill your mother. I love her and would never do anything to harm her. We’re family . . .” Justus observed Leader intently, looking for all of the signs of a lie that he had been taught. Then it dawned on him: if Leader knew the signs well enough to teach them, then surely he could manipulate the signs to appear he was being truthful.
On the screen, Leader continued, “I heard about your situation and I’m sorry to hear about it, but you’re smart, you’ll persevere.
“When I saw you today, it hurt my heart that you could think I’d do something like that to your mother. As I said before, I didn’t do it . . . but I know who did. As do you. Since I brought this on the family, it’s my responsibility to see that things are reconciled. So I’m going to find who’s responsible and make them suffer. I want you to help me, so I made a little motivation . . .” Justus couldn’t believe his ears. The nerve!! “The tape you just previewed is one of many. I realized that you may take a while to graduate from the prison of your emotions, so I made some insurance a while back, just in case you flipped on me. I see I wasn’t too far off in my assumption. Call me dirty, p’noid or whatever, but it is what it is, and this is what it has come to. So, here’s what’s going to happen: At four a.m., you are going to meet me at the farm. There, we’re going to discuss plans of action to track down our now-mutual adversary and use her to clear our name. Resistance is futile. See you soon. Love you.” Justus was about to replay the DVD when he heard three beeps. Seconds later, smoke enveloped the DVD. Justus attempted to save the disc, but by the time he retrieved the disc from the player it was unsalvageable. Looking at his watch, Justus saw that it was already well past midnight. That meant he had three hours to get ready for his show down with his stepfather.
There was never a question of whether he was going to meet Leader or not. The implications were clear. If he didn’t meet with Leader, the police would get a copy of that video and lord knows what else. If he tried to kill Leader—or succeeded—then, the police would get a disc. Therefore, he had no choice. With the charges levied against him already, a video of him killing someone would surely revoke his bond and possibly box him in forever. So. It was that Justus had to play Leader’s game until an opportunity presented itself.
Chapter 33
Leader crouched in the bushes beside the dusty trail leading to the farm. Looking at his tactical watch, he saw Justus only had ten minutes to show up. It was never a matter of “if.” It was always when.
Not to disappoint, Justus rounded the bend at exactly 3:55 a.m., and doused the lights. He was loaded for bear, with his body armor encapsulating him, while his trusty 357s occupied an armpit on both sides. In his arm, he held an M-4 assault rifle equipped with a night-vision scope and an infra-red beam attached to its muzzle.
Justus exited the vehicle quietly. He estimated a 200-yard trek to the farm itself. He decided to walk, so as to surprise Leader. Knowing Leader, he was sure to have a few tricks up his sleeve, especially with the farm being his turf. So, Justus wanted to minimize his exposure, and increase his chance of a victorious confrontation by using the element of guerilla warfare. In guerrilla warfare, you made your weaknesses into strengths by exploiting your opponents’ weaknesses. In this case, Justus’s weakness was him being alone and lacking intel on what awaited him. Therefore, he had to do recon.
Justus planted his eye to the scope attached to the rifle, and scanned the woods, looking for any irregular heat signatures within them. Satisfied, he began his long walk.
From his perch inside of a tree, Leader observed Justus through his night vision goggles. The red beam emanating from the barrel shone like a Christmas tree through the power of the NVSs. When Leader saw the beam swoop in and out of the bushes, he smiled. He knew Justus was checking his surroundings.
Damn, I taught him well, Leader thought. As Justus crept down the trail. Leader walked parallel to him, just a few feet away, the entire time. When Justus neared the farmyard, Leader decided to test him. He tossed a rock behind Justus on the opposite side he was situated on.
Justus stayed in his crouch, death-still, for a full two minutes.
Leader needed a diversion to get in place for the next step of his plan, so he pushed the button on a transmitter inside this cargo pocket, and waited.
Justus was beginning to see the courtyard of the farm when he heard steps in front of him. Out of nowhere, an apparition appeared glowing brightly through his NVGs, or night-vision goggles. It was running toward him on four legs rapidly. Justus wasted no time pumping a three-round burst into it, dropping it with a loud yelp. As he moved closer to inspect his fallen victim, Justus picked up more movement out of his left peripheral vision. He quickly swung his weapon in an arc, attempting to line up his sights with the figure running through the woods. Unable to acquire a good sight picture, he squeezed off a few rounds in frustration. He then continued cautiously into the courtyard of the farm.
Justus wasn’t more than a good two feet onto the grounds, when he heard Leader speaking through a megaphone. Justus ran to the big barn to take cover until he could locate Leader’s whereabouts, and to his disliking, Leader’s voice followed him inside there as well.
“Come out with your hands up so we can talk about this like me
n!” Leader bellowed.
“Fuck you!!!”
“Come on, son! You’re trapped here now. You can’t leave here unless I let you!!!”
“You can’t either!” Justus yelled, then licked off a burst of shots to illustrate his point. His goal was to keep Leader talking until he could ascertain where he was speaking from. Until then, he was content to hole up inside the barn.
Unfortunately, Leader had other plans. He had been watching Justus from his control room ever since he had made his hasty retreat. To the casual observer, the farm looked like a throwback from the nineteenth century. In reality, it was a state-of-the-art compound, equipped with the latest in electronic surveillance and technological advancements. The farm even boasted its own security system, complete with six-inch naval guns, March IV automatic grenade launchers, .50-cal machine gun posts, and an underground bunker. This was Leader’s place of refuge, if ever he had to hold court in the street. Right now, he observed Justus’s every move by way of thermal imaging. Justus’s heat signature was red-hot, signaling he was nervous.
Leader was tired of playing games, so he slipped through a few doors and ended up directly above where Justus crouched inside the barn.
“Let’s quit the games, son.” Justus heard Leader’s voice above him, no longer amplified by the megaphone, and he almost shit his pants! Here was his adversary right above him in the flesh. It never occurred to Justus that if Leader wished him harm, he would’ve been dead by now. All he saw was red vengeance, so he rolled onto one side and fired through the balcony.
Leader heard the report of the rifle, but never flinched, as he was not in harm’s way. However, he did rethink his plans since it was obvious Justus didn’t want to talk.
Below Leader, Justus peeked from under his cover, saw the coast was clear, and darted out into the open, headed out of the barn.
That’s when Leader seized the moment, and fired a shot into Justus’s back. The sheer impact knocked him to the ground but he stumbled to his feet and kept running.
Leader tore off behind Justus, jumping from the balcony effortlessly, and taking off.
Justus dropped to one knee swung his rifle around and fired on Leader. Leader ducked behind the barn entranceway and Justus ran across the courtyard to the horse stable.
Just as Justus was opening the saloon door, he felt his shoulder get nicked.
“Ahh!” he screamed. Justus touched his shoulder, but no blood appeared on his hand. Justus made it just inside the stable, when suddenly the room started spinning. His weapon grew heavy so he dropped it, reaching for his pistols instead. But to his dismay, the room spun faster and faster, until he could no longer stand. Justus saw Leader at the door, about to enter, then he fell flat on his face.
Leader entered the stable cautiously. He knew that his tranquilizer had hit its mark, but sometimes it takes longer for some to go out than others, especially when they were in optimum shape, as Justus was. Leader kicked Justus a couple of times to see if he was conscious. Satisfied that he was out, Leader hoisted Justus’s limp body over his shoulder and trekked across the courtyard.
Leader was halfway to the barn when he felt a sharp prick in his neck. Immediately, his legs collapsed, causing Justus’s body to fall on top of him. Leader valiantly fought the darkness threatening to consume him, but the looming blackness was too much. His last thought before surrendering to the abyss was how could he be so careless. The last thing he saw confirmed the assumed perpetrator:
Carmen’s high-heeled stiletto pierced his chest.
* * *
Justus awoke first in a fit of rage, thrashing and bucking to get free, to no avail. It didn’t take long for him to realize that the more he moved, the tighter his restraints grew. Assessing his situation, Justus surmised he was back in the barn. His back lay flat against the wooden wall, his feet crossed and bound at the ankles, while his hands were tied behind him, between himself and the wall. The material used to secure his hands was made from some type of thin metal, so narrow that when Justus moved, it began to puncture his skin. A metal collar about three inches thick was looped around his muscular neck, drilled into the barn wall, making it almost impossible to look anywhere but straight ahead.
Justus’s last memory was running from Leader then being shot. He thought it rather cruel that his own father would attach him to a wall in such medieval fashion. Justus craned his neck to the side, and thought he saw another person next to him, attached to the wall in the same manner, but due to the limited sunlight cascading through the balcony, and the excruciating penalty paid for turning his neck, he couldn’t be sure. Therefore, he recalled some of Leader’s instructions on using other senses when one was impaired, and attempted to smell. Unfortunately, all he smelled was animal shit. Then he heard what sounded like Leader call his name.
“Leader?”
“Yeah,” Leader responded groggily from beside Justus.
“What’s going on? Why are you tied up?” Justus inquired. Attempting to remain calm and defiant Leader groaned, “Cause this bitch is crazy.”
“What bitch?”
“Carmen.”
“You mean the woman you cheated on Mom with. What’s she gotta do with this?”
“Everything. See, you don’t understand. I didn’t kill your other mother. She did.”
“Oh, there you go,” Justus groomed. “Trying to shift blame. Just be a man. Admit it you killed my mother the same way you killed my father back when I was a baby!”
Leader’s jaw dropped. Did he say what I thought he said?
“What you say?”
“You heard me, nigga! You killed my father. My REAL father. That’s right muthafucka I know!”
Leader’s card being pulled, he dropped his head. “Who told you?”
“Justus, damnit, who told you?” Leader demanded.
“You know a dude named Top?”
The name brought back memories. “Top? I knew a Top before.”
“Yeah, well he still remembers you vividly,” Justus informed him. “He remembers you killed his best friend.”
Leader drew a blank. He didn’t have time to revisit past enemies. He was more concerned with escaping the iron clutches of the present one.
“See, son, you’re too emotional. Here we are, lives on the line, and you wanna talk about past bullshit,” Leader explained. “We need to focus on getting out of here.”
“You’re a trip. Your life was on the line the minute I found out about my mom. I don’t know who else you pissed off or whatever, but you better hope they kill you because I damn sure am. And it ain’t gonna be nice.” Justus swore. The severity of their situation never dawned on him so he continued his threat campaign. Above all else, he wanted to hear Leader admit he killed his father.
“Listen to yourself, going against everything I trained you to be. If you really wanna know, yeah, I killed Ralo! The sorry mu’fucka. He was no good for your mother. He wasn’t going to do anything but cause her more heartbreak.”
“And you were better!?” Justus spat.
“You tell me!” Leader returned, attempting to look at Justus, the restraints preventing him from doing so. “I raised you as my own son. You never wanted for anything, and frankly, I deserve some respect.”
“Respect? You killed my biological father, taught me to be a killer, all for your own selfish motives. You took away my innocence!” Justus was beginning to break down. All the pressure was becoming unbearable for him. “And you want respect?” Leader remained silent, so Justus continued, “You wrecked my life—”
“I made you a man!”
“You made me a killer like you!”
“I made you rich like me!” Leader boomed. “Who else you know your age that live like you?”
“But at what cost?” Justus questioned. Tears began streaming down his face. “Can’t you see I’m not happy.”
Leader scoffed, “You were happy until a few days ago.” Leader thought he heard someone, so he shut up. When things were okay he s
poke again with intended finality, “Bottom line: I made you through. Simple as that.”
Justus didn’t offer a response. It was obvious his guilt trip was beginning to penetrate Leader’s conscience—as was his plan. With Leader lost in the realm of emotions, he would be a few steps off his well-honored square.
Thus allowing Justus a recourse in his defense, while he had his opportunity to up his offense. Despite Leader being forthright about Ralo, Justus still believed he killed his mother.
A pregnant pause in conversation gave way to an explosive outburst from Justus, “Why don’t you stop playing games and let me loose . . . so we can handle our MUTHAFUCKIN’ BUSINESS!!!” Justus thrashed and kicked desperately trying to escape his reins. He was convinced this was yet another ploy of Leader’s, done to regain control by manipulating his mind. And Justus wanted no part of it.
“You say you didn’t kill my mother. Then how come you were the only one around?” The last one to see her alive ?” Justus queried.
Leader had had enough. “Justus, for the last time I DID NOT KILL MY WIFE! Now we need to try to get out of here before this crazy bitch comes back.”
Blood Ties Page 22