by D D Bridges
Terry whipped out his 9 and cocked it back. “Just give me the word, D,” he said causing a look of unadulterated fear to appear in D.J.’s eyes.
“Darius, I swear that I don’t know what’s going on. What happened today?” D.J. asked.
“What happened is that Ziegler’s dead,” Jeff told him. “Somebody set him up.”
“Set him up how?”
“You know how,” Derek chimed in. Derek hadn’t been with us when we found Ziegler, but we had already filled him in on everything. Derek also gave us some valuable information about D.J.’s whereabouts around the time that the call had been made.
“Somebody called his assistant pretending to be me,” I informed him. “They led him right into a trap.”
“I don’t know anything about that,” D.J. said quickly.
“Oh really? So where were you early this morning?” Derek inquired. “You were gone from our room for three hours. What the hell were you doing?”
“I don’t know, getting some fresh air maybe. It’s none of your business what I was doing,” he replied snidely.
“Did you or did you not make that call?” Jeff asked.
“Hell nah! Why would I do that? I don’t have anything against Ziegler.”
“We all know that you want sole rights to the company,” Mike stated. “And we just found out that Ziegler had been doing dirty business all along. How do we know that you weren’t in on it with him, but killed him off so that you could get closer to your goal?”
“That’s ridiculous!” D.J. said.
“What’s your next move? You thinking about killing Francisco?” Kenny asked.
“I’m not a murderer and I don’t have anything to do with any of this.”
“This nigga is lying,” Kenny said.
“Yeah and I’m ‘bout to beat the truth out of him.” Terry put his gun down, grabbed D.J. by the shirt and drew his fist back. D.J. tensed up but he didn’t show any fear this time. He was gonna take this one like a man.
“STOP!”
We all turned and looked at the door that connected to the adjoining suite. Natalie was standing their glaring at all of us.
“What are y’all doing? Untie him,” she demanded as she walked further into the room.
No one followed her instructions so she folded her arms and stared at me even harder. All the guys looked at me and I gave the nod. I walked over to Natalie as they began to untie him.
“Natalie…”
“Since when do you do business like this?” she said cutting me off. “And is this how you treat your brother?” She waited for a reply that didn’t come. I didn’t want to have that conversation with her right then, mainly because I didn’t like the way that she was reprimanding me in front of my boys. Then she had the nerve to turn around and storm off, but you better believe that I was right behind her.
Once we were back in our suite I slammed the door behind us. We turned to face one another, both of us upset for different reasons.
“First of all, don’t ever talk to me like that in front of my boys again,” I told her, my voice only slightly raised.
“Excuse me?” she said as she cocked her head to one side.
“I can’t have the men that work under me see me being corrected by my woman.”
“Well that’s just too damn bad because you’re wrong, and unlike them I’m not afraid to tell you that you are.”
“Natalie, there are a lot of things going on that you don’t know about, okay. So just let me handle this the way that it needs to be handled.”
“What did D.J. do?” she asked abruptly. “You were just going to stand by and let your boys beat him up?”
“Since when do you give a damn about him?” I asked as I folded my arms and looked at her skeptically. “Why the hell you takin’ up for him all of a sudden?”
“Look, I know that I had my issues with him at first, but he’s actually not as bad as I thought he was,” she said. “Besides, he helped keep me calm today after you decided to walk into that death trap.”
“I did what I had to do,” I told her. “If you’re going to be with me then there are gonna be times when you’ll have to understand that.”
Before she could respond there was a knock on the door from the adjoining suite.
“What?” I called out, frustrated that someone was interrupting our conversation.
The door opened and Jeff walked in. “Sorry to disturb you, but Walter just called me back.”
“What did he say?” I said, now giving Jeff my full attention.
“He said that we have never had anyone named Melinda Johnson to work for our company. Not now, not ever.”
“Is he sure?” I asked as a fresh wave of confusion washed over my mind.
“Yeah,” Jeff said. “I’m thinking that it may be an alias or some type of code name. Maybe Melinda Johnson isn’t even a person.”
“Well we need to find out,” I said. “Tell Derek to get on that for me. If anybody can find out who Melinda Johnson is, he can.”
Chapter XVIII
The next day was one that I expected to be a rough one. I hadn’t slept at all the night before. I was too busy weighing every possible scenario in my mind. So far the only thing that I knew was that Francisco had been right about Ziegler. Jeff faxed the papers that we found back to our offices and Walter was able to confirm that the information entailed in them was legit. Derek had been right about someone hacking our files. Ziegler had been using me and my company as a cover-up for his illegal business affairs which could incriminate us, but that still didn’t explain why he was dead. What did Francisco have to gain by killing him and what did he have to lose if he let him live? I definitely had a few theories of my own, but the last thing I needed to do was jump to conclusions and end up on a wild goose chase. I wanted the truth and the only way that I could get that was by confronting Francisco.
It was the day of the auction and our last day in Paris. My priorities had now changed and the only reason that we were still going to the auction was so that I could talk to Francisco face-to-face. It was time for me to get some answers. I wasn’t even sure if Francisco knew that I was aware of the fact that Ziegler was dead. I knew that they had beef with one another, but I hadn’t known that it was that serious. Francisco was a dangerous dude and I wasn’t trying to get on his bad side, but if I found out that he killed Ziegler for no reason then our business relationship was about to be over before it even started.
Once everyone was awake I told them all to pack their things so that I could have all of our luggage sent ahead to the private jet. More than likely we would leave the auction and go straight to the airport. By mid-afternoon we were all packed and ready to head out to the auction.
The auction was a semi-formal event so we all dressed accordingly. Natalie looked angelic in one of the dresses that she bought during our shopping day. She noticed me watching her as she stood by the window. I walked over and stood beside her. We hadn’t talked to one another since our argument about D.J. We had a good relationship, but I could see that one of our downfalls was the fact that we were both stubborn as hell.
“You look beautiful,” I told her as I wrapped my arm her around the waist and pulled her to me, forcing her to look into my face.
She smiled gracefully and this was the only sign that I needed to know that we were okay. I hoped that this meant that we could put the day before behind us.
“I’m not sure that I’m ready to leave Paris. How about you?” I asked her.
“Yeah, I am going to miss this place,” she said as she peered out of the window briefly. “But I do miss home.”
“Maybe we’ll get a chance to come back someday.”
“I hope so,” she said before slowly stepping out of my embrace. “So, are we going to talk about yesterday or are we just going to act like it didn’t happen?”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I said. “Like I told you, what happened yesterday is not your concern and I don’t want you ge
tting involved.”
“Fine,” she finally said after staring me down for a few moments. I could tell by her expression that she wasn’t happy with my response. “I’ll wait for you in the car.”
“Fine,” I said nonchalantly. Natalie grabbed her Coach bag off of the bed and headed for the door. We were both being a couple of hard asses, but she knew that I cared about her. Eventually she would realize that keeping her in the dark about certain things was in her best interest. I was only trying to keep her safe.
********
About an hour later we arrived at the auction. We parked illegally across the street from where the auction was being held. I didn’t care about getting a ticket. All I cared about was being able to get away in case some shit went down.
We entered the building and it was immaculate on the inside. I hadn’t expected it to look like this since the outside appearance was subpar. We stood in a wide foyer with marble floors and a huge winding staircase. The high glass ceiling made the place feel grand. We found the room where the auction was being held and I could see that the bidding had already begun as we stepped inside.
“Good day, Mr. King,” a man wearing an expensive suit and a broad smile greeted us at the door. “We’ve been expecting you. Allow me to show you to your seats. Right this way.”
The man led Jeff, Natalie, D.J. and I to the third row. The rest of my crew had specific instructions and they were exactly where they needed to be at the moment. We sat and watched as the auction went along. I really wasn’t into the art but I had to admit that the fancy cars were beauties. They had everything from Maserati’s to Bugatti’s to Lamborghini’s. Janelle was the hostess of the auction and she looked amazing. If I didn’t already have Natalie then I would be taking Janelle back to Atlanta with me. But I wasn’t here to get a new car or a new lady; I was here to discuss business with Francisco, but I still hadn’t spotted him.
A few minutes later D.J. tapped me with his elbow and then nodded his head toward the back of the room. I looked over my shoulder and there was Francisco. He was looking straight ahead watching the auction and didn’t seem to notice that I was there. He stood there for a few more moments, then turned and walked out of the room.
“Wait here. I’ll be back,” I said quietly to Natalie. D.J. and I rose to our feet while Jeff remained seated beside Natalie. Jeff gave me a nod before I turned to walk away.
D.J. and I walked into the large hallway outside of the auction room. My boys were posted up in the first half of the dimly lit hall. A set of large oak double-doors led to the more brightly lit half of the hallway. Since the double-doors were already propped open it didn’t take me long to spot Francisco and to make my way over to him. His back was turned to me as he held a conversation with another guy in a dark-colored suit. I couldn’t quite tell what they were discussing, but it appeared to be casual so I didn’t hesitate to interrupt.
“Francisco,” I called out to him. He stopped talking and then waited a moment before he turned to face us. We were still a few feet away from him so he walked over to us wearing an expressionless look on his face.
“Darius, D.J., I hope you gentlemen have seen something that you like today. Perhaps we can have one of our luxury cars shipped back to the States for you.”
“I didn’t come here to buy a car. I came here to figure out what the hell is going on,” I told him.
“What do you mean?” he said as he took a cigar out of his pocket. After clipping off the edge of it, he wedged it between his teeth, lit it and blew a cloud of smoke into the air.
“Ziegler is dead,” I said, beginning to become annoyed by Francisco’s apathy and indifference. “We found his body in a wine cellar. We also found two of your men there as well.”
“I take it that you think that I had something to do with Ziegler’s death,” Francisco said.
“He called me a few minutes before we got there and told me that he was in a shootout with you and your men. Yet here you are alive and well, and that’s more than I can say for Ziegler.”
“You know Darius, I admire the fact that you try to be a team player,” he said to me. “But unfortunately, in the world that we live in, being a team player can sometimes be dangerous.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I did you a favor,” Francisco said abruptly. “Stop being so damn naïve. If I had let Ziegler live then he would have brought us both down and you know it.”
“Yeah, you were right. Ziegler was a snake,” I said knowingly. “But I know that there had to be a better way to handle this other than killing him.”
“Trust me, there wasn’t,” Francisco said eerily.
“Trust you? I’d be crazy to do that,” I told him seriously. “I won’t be able to trust you until I get to the bottom of this. There are some things that still aren’t adding up.”
For the first time Francisco cracked a smile as he began to chuckle.
“Normally we tend to not trust our enemies. The last thing you want to be is my enemy, Darius,” he said with an evil glare in his eye. “Besides, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to that pretty girlfriend of yours.”
“What did you just say?” I said, taking a step toward him.
“Whoa, hold up, Darius. He’s not going to do anything to Natalie,” D.J. said as he put his arm in front of me to keep me from getting any closer to Francisco.
“3842 Cobblestone Drive. That’s where she lives, right?” Francisco said. “The next time that I’m in the ATL I may need to pay her a visit.”
I lunged at Francisco and started cussing him out while D.J. did everything that he could to hold me back. The sound of my uproar caused my boys to come out of there hiding place, guns in hand.
“You good, D?” Derek asked just as I was calming down. My boys were now standing around me with their gazes locked on Francisco.
“Is everything okay here?” the guy in the dark suit asked as he came up beside Francisco.
“Everything is fine, isn’t it Darius?” Francisco replied snidely.
“Wait a minute… haven’t I seen you before?” D.J. said. He was now staring at the man who was standing beside Francisco. I looked at the guy and almost immediately recognized the resemblance between him and Francisco. But it wasn’t until I stared at him a little longer that I realized where we knew him from. It was Braxton Meyers, Ziegler’s assistant, only he looked different. Instead of being clean shaven he had a five o’clock shadow that made him look a little older, and instead of blonde hair his hair was dark brown and slicked back like Francisco’s. The main thing that gave him away as being the guy that I knew as Braxton Meyers was his deep blue eyes.
“Hello again, Darius,” Braxton said to me as he watched me stare at him in disbelief.
“Braxton Meyers. What the hell are you doing here and why did you leave your boss’s body in that cellar to be eaten by rats?” I said, anger now burning in my eyes.
“Benjamin Ziegler’s not my boss, and my real name isn’t Braxton Meyers,” he said, his foreign accent coming through strongly as he spoke. Both he and Francisco began to smile devilishly.
Francisco said, “Darius, I’d like you to me my son, Mathieu Baptìste.”
I stood there silently, in shock. My boys all looked around at each other with confused expressions on their faces but I kept my eyes locked on Francisco. He had just dropped the bomb that was sure to blow everything up. Suddenly a lot of things were beginning to make sense.
“What the fuck?” I heard Kenny say behind me.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” D.J. said.
“So wait a minute. Nobody called you pretending to be me,” I said to Francisco’s son. “That’s just what you told Ziegler to get him to go to the winery.”
“Congratulations,” he said with mocked applause. “You’re not as dumb as you look.”
Mathieu’s weak insults were the least of my concern at the moment and they had no effect on me. All I could think about was the fact that getting ou
t of Paris alive wasn’t going to be easy with the information that I just received.
I looked at Francisco and then back to Mathieu. They looked like two men who knew exactly what they were about to do, especially since their plan had obviously gone perfectly. At this point, I didn’t have a plan. As bad as I wanted to kill both of them, getting out of there with my life was more important.
“So what’s your next move now that Ziegler’s dead?” I asked them both right out. They looked at one another and then looked at me again.
“Well,” Mathieu said, “the next move is to kill you.” He languidly reached inside of his jacket and pulled out a pistol. By the time he pointed it at me there were six guns already pointed at him. Even D.J. had whipped out his 9 and was ready to shoot. Mike and Kenny were both holding semi-automatic rifles, Derek was rockin’ wit’ his 9, and Terry had both of his pieces out, one pointed at Francisco and the other pointed at Mathieu.
“Now y’all got my trigger finger twitchin’,” Terry said. “It didn’t even have to go down like this. We just wanted to talk.”
“We’re done talking,” Francisco said with finality. He turned and began to walk away. Mathieu began to back away but kept his gun pointed at us until they were half way down the hallway.
We were just about to turn to leave when Francisco’s men jumped out from there hiding spots. It was only about five of them at first and they all had rifles. We knew what was coming so we started shooting first before they could even get in position. We got them off balance for a split second and that gave us enough time to retreat and hide behind the walls on the sides of the oak doors. As their bullets hit the walls, pieces of wood began to fly everywhere. We could hear glass breaking and I was sure that most of the tables and vases in the hallway were being destroyed.
Francisco’s men continued to shoot and the only other sounds that we could hear were the screams of the people inside the auction room. Me, Derek, and Mike were against one wall while Terry, Kenny, and D.J. stood against the other one across from us.