by C. D. Samuda
“He called my father ‘sir’, and when my brother told them to just do what they came to do, he said that he could only do it after confirmation from his superior. I could tell that he was used to following orders and would not step out of line.”
“You mean, he waited for confirmation before killing your father and brother?”
“Yes, he talked on the phone and only after he hung up did he do it. When one of the man asked if they should torch our house he told them not to.”
I absorbed the information as she told it to me. This man Jack was likely a military man, just the same as Angel and only followed orders. That only meant one thing. If he abducted Gage, there might be a chance that my brother would still be alive. Leroy believed that Gage perished in the accident, I could see the truth in his eyes. So it meant that there was a chance that Jack didn’t get the confirmation from Leroy to complete the job.
Jumping to my feet I reached down and grabbed Kitara’s hand. “We have to go.”
“My ride,” she protested. “I can’t leave it here.
“The guys will arrive soon and take care of it.”
“No, I’m not leaving it behind. It belonged to my brother.”
Damn it. Getting back to Leroy’s loft was the only way to make sure that Jack did not contact him to confirm the hit. As it were, there was already a two hour gap since I left my injured brother. Hopefully he would be in too much pain to do anything. It also appeared that he hadn’t yet replaced his broken cell phone. It would be a few more hours before I got back there if I should wait for Angel and the crew to arrive first.
However, I didn’t feel justified leaving Kitara behind, not after hearing her story and promising that I’d help her. I wasn’t about to send her back to Zoe’s apartment either. She didn’t yet know it, but she would be coming home with me.
“Alright, but so you know. The longer we give Leroy time to recover, the more time we also Give Jack to reach him. If Jack is strict about the way he does his business, we have just a small window of opportunity here.”
“Go on without me,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”
“I’m not leaving you behind,” I replied. “And don’t give me shit about you being able to take care of yourself. You realize you’re a witness to your father and brother’s murder and if Jack even suspects that you’re alive, what he will do to you?”
“I think about that all the time.”
“The game has changed Kitara, so from now on, you stick with me.”
She sighed and nodded. “Yes, but I’m not leaving my ride.”
“I got that,” I agreed. “So tell me, how you ended up crashing with Zoe.”
While Kitara talked about her relationship with her roommate, my mind was on Leroy. I was hoping that his injuries would keep him distracted from closing the deal for Gage’s assassination. I needed to get back to the lost before he received that call from Jack as I was certain he would have replaced his cell phone by now.
By the time the crew turned up, it was late afternoon. Leroy would have had the chance to create more mayhem in the several hours that passed since I left the loft. Insisting that Kitara come with me, we left Angel and his men to take care of her ride. Reluctantly, she complied and we were on our way.
I had to take a few short cuts to avoid the evening traffic back to Leroy’s loft. In the meantime, I learned little more about Kitara. We kept the conversation light, talking about school, sports and family, avoiding the heavy stuff of murder. I wanted her to relax, ease some of the burden from her shoulders. For nearly a year she’s had to deal with her grief of losing two family members at the same time, not to mention not having the closure of knowing why they died.
By the time we reached the loft, the sun had begun to set. When I pulled up in front of the building a noticed a sanitation unit heading down the road. With Gage’s whereabouts on my mind, I exited the car and hurried through the gate. Kitara followed close behind. The first thing I noticed when I approached the building was that there was no one at the entrance like before.
The metal gate was open, allowing us easy access to the building. The place wreaked of disinfectant, reminding me of hospitals. I concluded this was where the sanitization truck was coming from. But where were Tundra and Nickoy? It was strange that none of them were manning the building as we were now able to enter the lift which was taking us to the apartment. The closer we got, the more sterile the place smelled.
Before the lift even opened in the main apartment, I felt in my gut that something wasn’t right. My suspicions were confirmed when we were greeted with an empty apartment. We stepped into the vacant crib, my mind in a tailspin at how quickly the place was cleaned out and sanitized.
“What’s going on?” Kitara asked. “I thought you said Leroy lived here.”
“That bugger moved really fast for a man with a slug in his leg. Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”
11 – Leroy
Some hours earlier – around mid-morning…
Pain whipped across my temple. No, that was incorrect. The torment my entire body was experiencing had me holding my body rigid. But the pain most prominent as I opened my eyes was the one where that little shit butted me with his weapon. This agony was what ushered me back to consciousness. My chest was sore from me trying to move around earlier when Braun was here. Now, that tender spot just above my knee cap had a hole in it where he shot me. Even my eyes still hurt.
Slowly my eyes opened to make four with icy blue ones. Who the fuck is this? I tried to sit up, but couldn’t for the anguish which assaulted me. When I got a hold of Braun, I’d wring his freaking neck before, popping a cap in his brains. As I tried to rise, unsuccessfully, strong hands pressed against my shoulders, restraining me. It was completely unnecessary as I wouldn’t have been able to rise anyway, giving the level of pain I was in.
“Who are you?” I demanded, my voice quite breathy as though I’d been running.
Gloria’s face came into view. “He’s Dr. Mann. A friend.”
“I told you no doctors, Gloria.”
“Don’t worry, this isn’t an official visit and he’s not compelled to report anything. He’s doing this as a personal favor,” she reassured me. “Now stay still while he tends to you. He already patched your knee.”
“Where’s Jonny-M?”
“It doesn’t look good,” the doctor replied. “He lost a lot of blood. He’s won’t make it without surgery and blood transfusion.”
“I’ll kill him,” I grunted as the doctor stuck a needle in my arm. “I swear I’ll ice that son-of-a-junkie!”
A few seconds later, I was drifting into la-la land and the last face that flashed before me was Gage’s face. He was having the last laugh. That sonofabitch was laughing, his smug face haunting me even in sleep.
I wasn’t sure how long I was out for, but I awoke feeling less pain. My wounds were bandaged… in fact, my whole body felt like I was some mummy from a crypt. But the good news was that the pain was numbed by whatever the good doctor gave me. My mind was clearer and I was able to think without having to wince.
“Gloria,” I called out as I didn’t see her anywhere.
She came out of the bathroom, toweling her hair, wrapped in a plush robe. If I hadn’t been in such turmoil, I’d have thrown her down on the bed and ravaged her. Since I could not nothing about my carnal desires at the moment, I tended to the issue at hand. Now that Braun knew where my hideout was, I could take no chances. Moreover, Jonny-M was as good as dead and Nickoy was concerned that witnesses saw him when he shot Calvin.
“You’re awake,” Gloria observed. “Are you hungry?”
“That’s no important, get me El Lobo on the phone.”
“Your cell phone got destroyed, remember? You haven’t replaced it yet.”
“Ah.” I had forgotten about my phone. “What about yours?”
“Mine’s in the repair shop. It fell into the kitchen sink this morning while I was washing the dishes.”
I eased up, proppin
g up on the pillows. “How could you be so careless, and why didn’t you just get a replacement?”
“I didn’t want a new phone. I’m supposed to pick it up tomorrow.”
“Get one of the boys in here ASAP!”
She quickly dressed while I salivated over her curves and full fleshy breast. Shit, my dick was hard and throbbing, but I couldn’t do jack about it. I watched her take her time to plaster body oil unto her still damp skin while I was tempted to forget my troubles and have her service me.
After taking her sweet time torturing me, she left the room and was back in a few minutes with both Tundra and Nickoy.
“Yes Boss?” Tundra greeted. “You called for us?’
“Get El Lobo on the phone.”
“Nickoy, you do it. My phone was swiped.”
“You haven’t got a new one yet?” A lashed out of the incompetence of my right hand man.
“Sorry Boss, we’ve been kinda busy with stuff.”
Nickoy took out his phone and handed to me. “Here boss.”
“You call him.”
“Yes boss,” he replied, pulling back his hand and starting to search through his contacts.
It took him a long minute to dial the number and waited for it to pick up. He handed me the phone when El Lobo came on the line.
“This better be important, Wilder.”
“I need a favor.”
“I don’t owe you no damn favors after what you put me through with my people.”
“I came through didn’t I,” I asked. “I got you fresh merch.”
“That’s the only reason I am even taking this call. Now tell me what I can do for you and we’re even.”
“Lend me your cleaning guys for a couple of hours.”
“You still got to pay the team, they don’t work for free.”
“I know that. You sending them or not?”
“Half an hour.”
“That’s perfect.”
I gave him the address and arranged for payment for his team. After that conversation I arranged for a moving van to clean out the furniture I wanted to keep. Gloria would kill me if I left her precious furniture behind.
“Where we are going, Lee?” She asked.
I hated her calling me Lee, made me sound like a Chinese man. I tolerated her because she was heads above the other women I knew, except for Rayne. Rayne was the woman who I couldn’t seem to get out of my mind, even though we had never made love. Gloria was special and helped to ease the tension I had for Rayne. She knew where she stood and was cool with that.
“We’re going to the farm house in Ohio,” I announced. “Now start packing up our stuff. The team will be here in a little while to load the van.”
“It could take days to pack.”
“Just stuff the clothes in the suitcases. The movers will take care of the rest,” I instructed. “Tundra, get the car ready. Nickoy you stay back to supervise. Make sure everything is cleaned out.”
“What should we do with Jonny?”
“El Lobo’s men will take care of him.”
Gloria didn’t waste time, she was already pulling out suitcases and stuffing clothes and other personal items inside. She found a few boxes and packed up the few utensils from the kitchen, without safety wraps. The boys took the cases and boxes down to the car. In less than half hour, the apartment was stripped of all our personal effects and ready for the movers.
Tundra and Nickoy helped me down to the car. Tundra got behind the wheel while Gloria sat with me round back. I hated leaving this place behind, it was an apartment that I liked. It was away from the hustle and bustle of street life as well as separate from the Wilder assets. I swore as we drove away from my apartment that I kill both Braun and Gage the first chance I got. But before that I needed to heal.
12 – Braun
Things weren’t looking good from our end. Now that Leroy was gone, there was no guarantee that he would not have contact with Jack and send Gage to his grave. However, it didn’t mean that I would give up. With what little information I gathered from Kitara about Jack, I was confident that we could trace this guy through the US military. If he was a veteran, we’d know for sure.
The call I was expecting from Stephen came after we left the loft and was headed back to Wilder Oaks. We didn’t bother to stop at Zoe’s place for Kitara’s stuff, even though she wasn’t happy about it. As far as I was concerned, Zoe couldn’t be trusted. If she allowed me to fuck her so easily, heaven only knew what she would do or say to Leroy under coercion. I wasn’t about to take the chance to let her know that Kitara was with me and why.
I explained the situation to Kitara and promised that she could have her stuff picked up the following day. As it were, she looked exhausted and she hadn’t eaten almost all day. I was confident that she would be fine once we arrived home.
Stephen messaged me a copy of Leroy’s calls up to three days before the accident. He was also able to identify each number except for two. We figured that one of those numbers might belong to Jack. As for Gage’s calls, there weren’t many made during the same period. Gage only made calls to Ron, Rayne, myself and Angel. Before ending the call with Stephen, I told him about Jack and that we suspected he was a military man.
“If he’s military, we’ll find him,” was his response.
“Some identities might be sealed,” I said. “It might be difficult.”
My friend’s laughter on the line amused me. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Don’t be so arrogant. You can’t hack…”
“Don’t you dare say that word!” He scolded. “I do not hack. I am a tech scientist who does research.”
It was my turn to laugh. “Okay, if you say so. But be careful, Stephen. I don’t want you getting caught.”
“I won't.”
Digging up basic information on thugs like Leroy’s men was one thing. Hacking into a government database, especially federal ones, was another. After reassuring me that he would be fine and that I needn’t worry, we said our goodbyes and I headed directly home.
The police had come, cleaned up the place, taken statements and departed without much fanfare in regards to Calvin’s death. Ron was there when we arrived, having spent the day doing damage control, he’d returned home to shower and change and came right back to keep Rayne company.
Angel and the others hadn’t yet arrived, having stopped by their place to fix Kitara’s motorcycle. It was good not having a whole bunch of people around when we filled Rayne and Ron on the situation with Kitara. Of course I would need to also bring Angel up to speed as he could be instrumental in finding Jack, himself being an ex-marine.
Rayne didn’t look well and appeared to have been crying, with her eyes red rimmed and puffy. However, she took charge of Kitara who had somehow become withdrawn once she was introduced to Rayne and Ron.
“Have you eaten?” Rayne asked Kitara who nodded her negative response. “Come, the cook has prepared dinner. I was too worried to eat, but now that Braun is home, we can eat together. Come Ron.”
Kitara took my arm and whispered. “Can I get cleaned up first?”
“Sure, Rayne will…”
“No, you do it.”
“What? Where my feisty tigress gone?” I whispered back. “Are you scared of Rayne?”
“No, she just reminds me of my mom.”
I shoved her in Rayne’s direction. “Then all the better to get to know her.”
Rayne took her hand. “Come, Kitara. I bet you didn’t know you’re the first girl Braun ever brought home.”
I could kill Rayne for telling her that. She was ruining my reputation. Kitara looked at me with a smirk and I gave Rayne a deadly stare. She looked from me to Kitara and back as though trying to figure out what my thoughts were.
“Actually, Rayne doesn’t know shit. There are so many entrances to this house….” I replied with a shrug, while I watched Kitara’s face hardened.
“Come Kitara,” Rayne cajoled, taking her hand and leading her
up the stairs. “Don’t pay him any mind. The Wilder men take their name too darn literally. When I met Gage he too was a wild one.”
Kitara glanced back, shooting bullets at me with her eyes. I wasn’t sure if she was disgusted or jealous. Her change in attitude was swift and told me that the latter was correct. That pleased me and for the first time since last evening when the news of Gage’s accident hit the airwaves, I relaxed my shoulders.
Ron, who had been quietly observing us the whole, walked over to me with a grave expression. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He demanded.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. “Might I also remind you that you’re Gage’s lawyer, not mine. I don’t answer to you.”
He chuckled, before his face became stoic once more. “You remind of your brother when we were much younger. But seriously, your brother’s lawyer is your lawyer. That’s what Gage wanted. If anything should happen to you, I’m the one who would have to handle your shit.”
“Gage put me on your books?”
“Yes.”
That was news to me. My brother Gage made sure that I wanted for nothing. He had always been there for me to make sure nothing lacked, physically and emotionally. Whenever I felt alone, he was there to make me feel like I belonged. He promised just before he disappeared that we would do the sibling DNA test, but I didn’t need a test like that to know that Roman was my father. Why the old man didn’t acknowledge me before his death was what bugged me most of all, even though he did legally adopt me.
“So that makes me your attorney, squirt.”
Ron calling me squirt warm me, reminding me of Gage. The lawyer was only looking out for me and trying to make me feel better. He was Gage’s best friend, a brother from another mother kind of friend. By extension, he was my elder brother from another mother as well.
“Sorry, I didn’t know.”
“Say what?” Ron cocked his ear. “Did I hear right? Did you say sorry?”
“Shut up.”
He clapped me on the shoulder. “You have matured more than your years. I see the way you handled yourself last night and all the help you given Gage in dealing with Leroy. But, from now on you keep me in the loop so I can do my part in the event you need legal assistance. Got it?’