The Aftermath

by Iris Bolling

  “The authorities from the prison.”

  “What prison?”

  Carmella hesitated, bit the bottom of her lip; then replied, “Centerville Correctional Facility.”

  Nate and Skylar pumped their fists in the air. Then gave each other a high five.

  “Well, that’s our connection to Peaceful Intervention Emergence,” Skylar exclaimed.

  “Yes, but it would be nice if we could get one of the other girls to corroborate her story.” Nate sighed, pleased with the turn of events. “Having two witnesses is better than one.”

  “If the right person gets a line on the sister and threatens to deport her, if Carmella testifies, you are going to need another witness,” Donnell added.

  Nate pointed at him. “Give the man a dollar. Reach out to Immigration. Let’s make sure the girl and her family are protected.”

  “Well, it’s 3 am. While it has been an interesting day, I’m calling this a win.” Skylar stood stretching. “I’m taking a long bath and if I’m lucky I will fall asleep surrounded in warmth.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” Donnell stood. “You should call me again when you need an extra pair of hands, Nate.”

  Nate stood and shook his hand. “I appreciate you slumming with us. Let’s have a drink soon.”

  “Sounds good. Ms. Burrell,” Donnell followed her to the door, “could I interest you in a drink before that bath?”

  Nate smiled as they walked out the door. He turned back to the monitors and watched as Regan continued talking with Carmella. About an hour in, his cellphone buzzed.

  He checked his watch; it was after 4 in the morning. He pulled out his phone. The call was from Tess.

  “You’re working late too I see,” he answered the call.

  She chuckled. “It has been an extraordinarily interesting night. The girls in the barrels gave me the boost to keep working.”

  Nate sat up. “What did you find?”

  “Both had Roman number twos on the bottom of their feet.”

  “Interesting. We still don’t know the significance of the number. But if I was anywhere near you, Tess Holiday, I would kiss you.”

  “Imagine what I would get if I told you, it looks like they were also killed by poison.”

  “The same as Alex?”

  “I have to wait on the toxicology reports to confirm it, but yes, the preliminary looks the same. There is more. Liam Kavanagh was killed the same way.”

  “What?”

  “Looks like Alex, Kavanagh and the women were all killed with the same substance,” Tess advised.

  “They are all connected. Do we know what the substance is yet?” Nate asked.

  “We are still listing it as an unknown. The lab is trying to break it down.”

  Nate sat back. “Keep me posted on their findings.”

  “Will do, and before I go home to crash, there is one more bit of news I have for you.”

  “I’m listening.” Nate’s curiosity spiked.

  “Both women had chips.”

  He glanced at the woman Regan was talking with. “We have five others with numbers. What do you want to bet they also have chips?”

  61

  The sun was rising by the time Nate and Regan left the station. For their own protection, Devin had the women placed in a safe house, with round-the-clock security.

  Nate and Regan agreed, before they confronted the prison officials, they needed to know more about the operations.

  “We have five women willing to testify to what they experienced,” Regan said as Nate walked her to her car.

  “We need more. There is another piece to this we need to integrate,” Nate stated. “We know that the women were supplied to DeFazio from the private prison systems here in Virginia. But some of the women with brands on their feet were from other states.”

  “Once they cross state lines, it is a federal case. So if more information is needed Ms. Burrell and her team will concentrate on those. We have to address our facilities and the judges who made this happen.” Regan shook her head. “The precision with which they operated is genius. Do you think Alex was on to what we have discovered? Could that be the reason they killed him?”

  Nate exhaled as he opened her car door. “I think he had figured out something and mentioned it to the wrong person. The one way to honor Alex is to finish what he started.”

  “When this situation with the judges first came to us, did you have any idea it would lead to something of this magnitude?”

  “No,” Nate replied as Regan got into her car. “I’m not sure we have touched the surface. There is a big brain out there coordinating these events.”

  “You’re thinking Christian Vaughan?”

  Nate nodded. “I think Evan Welch and his operation are the means by which they operate.”

  “Do you think they really believe they can corrupt the entire justice apparatus of the city,” Regan asked.

  “I do,” Nate nodded. “And so far, they are succeeding.”

  Regan shook her head. “I’m running on an hour’s sleep; conspiracy theories are filling my mind.” She started her car. “Maybe in the morning, our minds will be clear enough for us to make sense of it all. I suggest you get some shut-eye too.”

  Nate’s mind was reeling with the overload of information they now had. With every new piece of evidence, he was convinced all of it led to Peaceful Intervention Emergence. The how is what he did not understand. He got into his car and headed home.

  The people he met at that building had an ideology of superiority. What could their overall goal be, to infiltrate the justice system as a whole? To what outcome? “To control all the Black people.” He chuckled to himself as he stopped at a red light. That would take an organized army of people and precise planning to do. He hoped Regan was right. The conspiracy theories would diminish once he got some shut eye.

  A smile appeared on his face when he spotted the Mustang parked out front. Hayden brought it home without a scratch on it, he thought. Then he saw two other cars parked next to it. One looked like an official city car. The other he did not recognize. Pulling into his garage, he noticed his mother’s car was parked inside.

  It was a little after 6 in the morning. Why in the hell were people at his house?

  With the garage door closing behind him, Nate got out of his car then walked into the house.

  “Mother?” he called out.

  “Good morning Nate.”

  He looked up to see Grant and Sapphire standing in his living room. “Good morning,” his mind was reeling. “Where is my mother?”

  “She is in the room with Hayden,” Grant replied.

  “Nate there was an incident at your home last night,” Sapphire stated. “Your mother is fine. However, Hayden was injured.”

  “Injured how?” Nate stepped into the room with them.

  The two glanced at each other. Then, Sapphire spoke. “We believe he was whipped.”

  “He got into a fight?” Nate shrugged. “Let me go check on him.”

  “Nate wait,” Grant called out.

  Nate turned back to them. His stomach in knots now. “Why are you two here?”

  “We need you to see something before you go back to check on your brother.” Sapphire replied. “You misunderstood what I just told you.” She pushed the button on the television monitor above his fireplace. “Your brother was not in a fight. He was whipped with this weapon.” She held up a long black whip.

  Nate took it in his hand as the recording played. Every slash of the whip caused Nate to recoil at the strike. His chest contracting in pain as if he was the one being hit. Seeing Hayden fight back gave him a little hope that what he was watching wasn’t as bad as it seemed. He almost cheered when a man appeared out of nowhere and shot both men who tried to strip his brother’s skin from his back.

  The video stopped. “That’s the best view we could put together on what happened here last night.” Sapphire turned off the television.

  Nate looked at th
e weapon he had a death grip on. The corded rope was at least three inches thick, with a leather-covered handle of eight inches of intricately braided rope. Every two inches had a knot tied to inflict the most pain.

  “They used a tool designed to strike animals on Hayden.” He twisted it in his hand. “They wanted to inflict the most pain possible. That’s the reason for the knots.” Nate summarized.

  “It seems when Hayden came by to deliver Alex’s car he was attacked in your driveway.”

  “Attacked by who?” Nate never looked up as he spoke.

  “We don’t know for certain. However, Hayden remembered there were two men saying something about knowing his place.”

  Nate looked up at them. “Know his place…what the hell is that supposed….” He stopped—his gut began to churn at the thoughts. “We know who did this. They came for me,” he spoke softly. “They came for me and got Hayden instead. The attackers mistook him for me.”

  “At this time, we cannot confirm or deny that,” Grant stated. “There was no way for anyone to know when Hayden would be delivering the car.”

  “The conclusion would be that they were after you.” Sapphire stated. "I’m just saying, the elephant in the room needs to be placed on the table. I believe the same people who infiltrated the justice system did this. Like it or not, I believe we have the beginnings of another civil war.”

  “The beginnings?” Nate placed the whip on the mantle of his fireplace. “They hung Alex. Now they have attacked my brother with a whip. I fear we are far past the beginning. We are in a full-fledged battle here in Richmond, and they are not hiding their intentions. They struck loud and clear. I’m going to do the same.”

  “I agree.” Grant stated. “Take a moment to check in on your brother. Then we will discuss our next move.”

  “Discussion time is over.” Nate hissed. “My next move is to blow that building with everyone inside to the depths of hell where they belong.”

  62

  Nate walked down the hallway to the room. He saw his mother sitting in a chair beside the bed. He gently kissed her cheek. “Those bastards came to my home and attacked my little brother. How is he, Mother?”

  “He’s not feeling any pain at this point. The doctor cleaned his wound, covered it then gave him a sedative. She provided this salve for his back indicating he is going to be up and around in a day or two.” She hesitated but spoke. “They say the sting of a whip strips something away from your spirit. It makes you feel less of a man due to its rawness. It is my prayer that this act of cruelty will enhance your will to rid this world of evil.”

  “This was meant for me,” Nate sat on the bed next to his brother. “The people involved in this case I’m working get pleasure out of this type of thing. I could have prevented this, but I wasn’t thinking of home. My mind was set on finding Alex’s killer. If I had been keeping my eye on the big picture, I would have known they were watching me just as I was watching them.”

  “What happened to Hayden is not on you, Nathan. This is on the hands of the people who want to control others. You, my son, have to stop them.”

  “I’m only one man. I know who did this and I’m going to take down all that I can, but…this is so much bigger than I thought. How? How in hell am I supposed to take them out when I can’t even protect my family?”

  “This is what you signed up for. To save the world.”

  “Save the world…” he huffed. “Hayden is family, to hell with the world.”

  “They are one and the same, Nathan. Every person on this earth is a child of God. We are all brothers and sisters. Your job is to ensure democracy is here for all.”

  “The people who did this are not brothers or sisters of mine. That’s my brother, laying there with his back stripped.”

  “While the doctor worked on his back, Hayden told me, ‘I took this one for Nate. They were waiting for him to come home. I’m glad I got here first.’” Look at me son, your brother is going to be fine. We are going to make certain that he is. But don’t make his pain worse by forgetting who you are. There is good and evil in this world, Nathan,” Charlotte exhaled. “At times such as this, it seems that evil prevails, but that is only an illusion. To keep it at bay, we must continue to fight against the mindset of those who believe they are born superior to others by virtue of the color of their skin. But it’s not all of them Nate. There are those who fight with us trying to live up to the doctrine of all men are created equal. They mean well, but they do not understand that for us all to be equal, we must first acknowledge and then destroy the hatred that has been rooted in this country we call America. Like a bad wound that has festered for too long, we must dig down to the bone of the infection and clean it out. If we do not, it will rise again and again and again, until we destroy ourselves or come to the realization that we the people need each other to survive. The phrase: ‘We the people of the United States in Order to form a more perfect union…’ did not come out of thin air, it means exactly what it says. It does not reference a superior race. It says, ‘we the people.’ That means all of us. That terminology of superiority came out of fear. A way to belittle others who don’t look like them, to make themselves feel better.”

  Nate was hearing his mother’s words, he understood what she was trying to do. But in this moment, he could not stop the anger from building up inside of him.

  “You are citing the Preamble to the Constitution. Article one, section two of the Constitution, references us, the Negroes, as three-fifths of a human being. When they wrote ‘we the people,’ it was not inclusive of us. We weren’t considered people. That’s why some feel they could whip Hayden with something meant for animals. I can only wonder how it would feel if the tables were turned.”

  “You are a good man, Nate. Do not allow them to make you like them. That is what they expect. Go after them, yes. But do it in a way that will bring down the organization for good. Do not jeopardize your freedom.”

  “Freedom? This case is opening my eyes to a number of realities. We, as people of color, and it does not matter if you are Black, Brown, Asian or any color other than White, you are considered less than. Some of us receive a great start at life, but many of us do not because the system is set against us at birth. Those of us who believe we are successful are living under a façade. While we have jobs, homes, and are living comfortably, we also are receiving less pay than our counterparts, we have a mountain of student loan debt for daring to get a better education, we pay more in interest rates when we dare to purchase a home. We have a justice system that is being used to hinder us even more. Freedom—is a relative word for those of us not born with White skin.”

  “You are angry, and I understand that anger. There are those who will hold them accountable on your behalf. But you need to give a little here. Those of us who believe in the rule of law depend on people like you not to cross the line. We need you to make the justice system work for all. If the law breaks the law, the consequences can be deadly.” Charlotte lovingly gazed at her son. “Those are your words, and you were right.”

  “Mother,” Nate choked up. “They beat him with a whip.”

  “Yes, and they will pay the consequences of their actions. They will pay the price, and you my son, are going to lead the way to ensure their hatred will be exposed for what it is and the danger that it could become.”

  “I plan to do that and more.” Nate stood. “Before I’m done, the entire organization will come down. I don’t care how high up it goes.”

  Charlotte watched as Nate walked out of the room. “Yes, they will pay the price.” Her eyes went back to her baby boy. “They will pay the price.”

  63

  Nate walked back into his living room. To his surprise, the room had been transformed into a command center like the one at the Mayor’s home.

  “I promise to put everything back when we are finished.”

  He looked up at Sapphire. “I’m beginning to realize you are more than just the Mayor’s fiancée, aren’t you?�
��

  “Much more,” Sapphire nodded, “I’m just saying, he is fortunate to have me. Take a seat, Detective Reigns. We have a lot of material to go over. Is your mind ready to take on this organization for what it is?”

  “Yes,” Nate took a seat at the table.

  “You are angry. Next to love, it is the most powerful emotion that we have. You are going to need that anger to bring this case to a close. It’s going to take an organization to undo what we believe has taken place in the city.” Sapphire began. “They are organized, well financed, and have members in high places. We have the same. The only difference is they have a head start on their plans. We’re playing catch up. To show you what we have thus far we need to start here.” She played the news conference from earlier that day. She stopped on Deputy Chief Bynum’s face then did a close- up on Bynum. “Take a good look at that face.”

  Nate sat forward. “You believe Bynum is a part of this?”

  “We think he may be a significant member of this organization,” Grant stated. “We think they plan to replace Chief Williams with Bynum.”

  Nate nodded his head. “The night of the arrest, I was under the impression Bynum was targeting me. Now I believe he was getting a feel for where Daniels may fall. Could he be manipulated into joining the cause?”

  “Daniels is pretty clean,” Sapphire suggested. “His finances are all within reason. His family is solid, a son in college, a daughter about to get married, and a wife who loves him but wishes he was more than just a Captain.”

  “We need to determine where he may fall.” Nate stated. “When this all comes down will he be with us or them? What about Cory Vaughan?

  “Your ex-partner?” Grant asked.

  Nate nodded, “Yes, he plays the unassuming role a little too well for me.”

  “He is on the list as an unknown, for now,” Grant stated. “Deputy Chief Duncan has been contacted by Deputy Chief Bynum, but nothing other than rhetoric has transpired.”

  “Duncan has agreed to go as deep undercover, as needed, to clean out RPD. Chief Judge Fontaine has vowed the same for the judicial branch. We have yet to identify anyone from the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office. But there must be a good person there, somewhere.”