by Joe Pascente
He doesn’t deserve to live. I’ll make him suffer until I snap his neck.
Once Boulder had a chance to shower and change, the team sat together on the stage upstairs. Duke went over the plans he had in mind to take out Dr. Haven, as well as her bodyguard and Ace. His priority was Dr. Haven, but he knew Bows and Boulder were preoccupied with killing Ace just as much, so he included his demise in his plans. The first part of the plan was to get everyone to the final destination.
The first phone call would be to Dr. Haven; enlightening her his team did, in fact, have Jeremy in their possession, much like they had her boss. Duke discerned Dr. Haven would come running just like before, for she was a good person that couldn’t allow another loved one to die because of her. He would tell her if she called the police, or brought anyone else into this, Jeremy would die. Of course, he expected her bodyguard to be close by and truthfully, wanted him to be there. After all, Boulder had unfinished business with this man.
The next strategic move was to get Ace to this party. By listening in to the last conversation Rocky had with Ace—before he shot him in the head—Duke had found out that Ace knew about their plan to meet at the Old Zoo from his communication device which was now working again. Therefore, Duke would just have to have a “conversation” with his team members about where this was all going to go down, and Ace would come, not knowing it was a trap.
When Duke’s team was all changed, armed up and ready to go, he made the phone call to Angela. She needed proof Jeremy was still alive before she would agree to meet. Duke thought this was acceptable. He opened the cooler where the kegs and bottles of beer were kept in Sway, and there was Jeremy—still tied up, mouth taped shut and wiggling around trying to get free.
He made a face-to-face call to Angela, showing her Jeremy was alive. As relieved as Angela was, she hated to see Jeremy involved in this at all. He looked scared, as anyone would be.
“Where do you want me to go?” Angela asked.
Duke was pleased with himself he had predicted how willing Dr. Haven was to meet. His final phase of the plan was coming together.
“We want to show you the future of your love drug, my dear. Accordingly, we should meet at the place you created it. Meet at Geneco Inc. Jeremy will see you there in an hour, Dr. Haven. Don’t be late.”
When Angela heard this, she looked at Jacobi and knew something terrible was going to happen. She couldn’t predict what, but she was afraid to meet at Geneco.
What did he mean by ‘the future of your love drug?’
Jacobi heard the entire conversation and needed to arm up. He went through Mr. Hornsby’s personal firearms collection and took what he needed. He also tried to gave Angela a small handgun to defend herself, if need be, but she refused.
Angela grabbed the gun out of Jacobi’s hand and placed it back in the compartment. She went on to say, “If you aren’t there to protect me, and it comes down to me having to shoot one of them, I’m a dead woman anyways. A gun won’t help me, as I figured out at the Old Zoo. It’s better if I don’t have one, that way they can’t use it against me if they knock it out of my hands, or something.”
“At least arm yourself with a knife, then. We can strap it to your leg and they won’t find it. You need some sort of protection. It could mean life or death.”
Not needing any more convincing, Angela agreed to strap a knife to her calf, under her pant leg. But she also thought what was the point? The more she thought about it, she realized this could be her final hours on this planet. It all seemed to be too much for her, not that she’d let Jacobi know about her doubts.
She put on a brave face for him, but she couldn’t help being real about what she was walking into. This assassin group outnumbered the two of them, and they had Jeremy as leverage. If it came down to saving Jeremy’s life, or her own in this encounter, she would choose Jeremy.
Jacobi was now armed and ready. “You don’t have to do this. I can go and save Jeremy’s life. It’s a risk, but I was hired to protect you.”
“I’m pretty sure you aren’t getting paid to protect me anymore, Jacobi.”
“Doesn’t matter. I won’t let these monsters hurt you. There’s got to be another way.”
“This isn’t about me anymore. It’s about Jeremy’s life and if I don’t go, they’ll kill him. You know it’s true. I have to go. It’s the only way he has a chance.”
Angela was done with this conversation. She had made up her mind and sat down in the passenger seat of Mr. Hornsby’s car. They decided not to take the stolen car anymore, just in case they were to be pulled over. Jacobi timidly sat down in the driver’s seat and pulled out of the driveway, heading to Geneco Inc.
Ace was trying to find a lead on Dr. Haven’s whereabouts, and was driving around the city streets on the motorcycle he had stolen. He really had no indication of where she could be, but he knew it was his destiny to find her again. He had saved her life at the Old Zoo from Rocky. Once he shot him in the head, he knew he’d be on the run the rest of his life. Duke and the rest of the team would never stop until he was as dead as Rocky.
This meant he would have to kill each of them first, so while he tried to track down Dr. Haven’s whereabouts, he kept his communication device on the accurate frequency, waiting until there was any word from his former team. Ace heard Duke come onto the earpiece, right as he was about to give up driving around for the night.
The frequency was a bit fuzzy, since the communication devices weren’t made for long range, but Ace could make it out. “Boulder, Bows…meet us at Geneco Inc. Dr. Haven has agreed to meet there so we can finally end this. We are meeting on the 21st floor, in the Cloning laboratory. Do you copy?”
“Yes, Boss.” Boulder responded.
As did Bows, closely after. “I copy, sir.”
Ace turned the bike around, and headed to the Geneco Inc. building, as it was a well-known place. He knew Duke would need Worm to shut down all the camera feeds and lock down the building making sure no one could get in or out. Ace was hoping he could sneak in stealthily, but he was more than an hour out of the way. It didn’t matter how he got in, he was determined to find Dr. Haven and save her. He was also determined to take out every last member of his former team.
Duke and his team knew Ace was listening in and was stepping right into their trap. They had already been driving towards the Geneco building while they had this fake dialogue through the earpiece devices. Ace was correct in his prediction about what Duke would need Worm to undertake for the plan to succeed.
Duke pulled up to the Geneco building and didn’t hesitate to shoot the guard at the gate. He didn’t have time to create a backstory for getting into the building. A casual murder was much easier. The team helped Duke stuff the dead guard’s body into the trunk of their car and they proceeded to park in the parking lot.
Bows and Boulder walked ahead of Duke and Worm as they all made their way to the side entrance of the building. Duke had the keys to these doors from pickpocketing Dr. Rayne, after Ace had left the Old Zoo. The keycard had worked and the doors unlocked, and now the team was inside.
Duke wanted to be inspirational to his team, and said, “You two know what to do. Let’s bring this operation to a closure, once and for all. For Rocky.”
Boulder and Bows nodded in agreement and went their separate ways from Duke and Worm. They both walked into the elevator and went up. Bows was holding an earpiece communication device in her hand, and because it had to be placed high above her reach, she handed it to Boulder. It was part of Duke’s plan.
Worm had an uneasy feeling in his gut, and felt like he was going to vomit. His red mohawk matched the flushness in his skinny face. Duke was leading Worm to the center of the building on the ground floor. This is where they had the central codes for the building’s security system and maintenance programs.
Walking at a brisk pace, Worm said, “Sir, before
I get the codes to this building and shut down the elevators and so forth, I need to confess something to you. Not confess, per say, but…well it’s just that…what I mean to say—”
“Spit it out, idiot. We’re almost there.”
“I need to resign. I can’t be apart of the team anymore. Not with everything that has happened today. It’s just time for me to call it quits. I am so grateful for everything you’ve done for me. I am. I just can’t keep being this person. I’m not cut out for it. I don’t think I ever was, to be honest.”
Duke didn’t say anything back to Worm right away; he just kept walking in a quietly. Worm was fidgeting with the countless gadgets he had brought along in his bag, waiting for any type of response from Duke.
And when they reached the central control room, Duke spoke up. “I’m sorry you feel that way, son. It’s been an honor having you as a critical part of the team. It won’t be the same without you.”
Worm was relieved. He didn’t know how Duke would take this sudden news, but he thought it wise to speak up now when Duke had so much on his plate. That way, he would be too distracted to try to convince Worm he was making a mistake. Worm was influential, to say the least; so he was pleased Duke didn’t try to talk him out of it.
When they reached the central control room, they spotted the guard behind the desk. He wasn’t watching the small televisions that showed the many camera feeds from the building. A book in one hand and a sandwich in the other distracted the guard from watching the screens. It didn’t take any time for Duke to walk into the room, unnoticed, and shoot this man in the head. Worm was not usually in the field when these missions were taking place, so seeing so many innocent people killed directly in front of him was quite bothersome. He couldn’t wait to be as far away from these people as possible once this mission was completed.
Duke dragged the guard’s body into a small closet where the external hard drives were kept and Worm took over the controls. He used his laptop and plugged it into the system board to take over the building’s controls. Duke ordered Worm to disable the elevators and lock all the exits in the entire building, except for the front entrance. He wanted to see his targets come into the building one by one. Once Worm had full control over the building to Duke’s liking, he spun around in his chair and clarified everything was set.
With a smile on his face, Duke put his hand on Worm’s shoulder and said, “Great work.”
“Thanks, boss. I hope you don’t have any ill feelings towards me about resigning.”
“None at all,” Duke said, squeezing Worm’s shoulder. “On the contrary, I feel elated you felt comfortable to tell me how you felt. You should move on, Worm. Maybe, in your next life, you won’t be such a sniveling, weak worm of a man.”
Pointing his gun at Worm’s forehead, Duke pulled the trigger and shot him twice in the head. Blood splashed the computer screens behind Worm’s head and the televisions were covered in dripping blood.
Duke gazed into Worm’s motionless eyes, and whispered in his ear. “No one quits my team.”
He put his hand over Worm’s eyelids and closed them. Just then, Duke’s phone began to ring, startling him. He looked at the caller’s number and it was none other than, Harold Richmond, the man who hired Duke and his team to kill Dr. Haven.
“Mr. Richmond, I told you not to call me unless it was imperative that you speak with me. Are you calling for an update?”
“No, I need you to cease this operation. I’ll still pay you for your troubles, but I don’t wish to proceed, any longer. My son, whom I was doing this for in the first place, is happy. I couldn’t believe it, but he’s actually back to his old self once again. He has taken this woman’s love drug and miraculously found his true love. I couldn’t possibly wish death on this woman now. Please, tell me it’s not too late.”
Duke was stunned to hear the words coming out of this man’s mouth. Just days ago, this man was utterly angry at the world, and especially at Dr. Haven. He wanted her dead and paid a happy sum for the job to be finalized with haste. Duke was speechless and didn’t have the words in his head to complete a sentence.
“Mr. Harrington? Are you there?” Harold asked.
“Uh, yes, yes I’m here. I’m just taken aback, sir,” Duke could’ve told Harold the job hadn’t been completed yet and this whole mission could’ve ended right then, but he was too far down the rabbit hole and had to see it through to the bitter end. “I’m sorry to say, the deed has already been done. Please wire the rest of my compensation by the end of the day. Good day to you, sir.”
II. Ex Marks the Spot
The traffic was still flowing well at this time of the early morning, but as the minutes passed by and additional cars came onto the roads, Ace decided to drive through the back roads to get to the Geneco building. He spotted the towering building from miles out, as it was 30 stories tall. Being a participant of his former assassin team, Ace understood he would have to be clever about the way he entered the building. His fellow assassins would be on the look out and he couldn’t have anyone detect him before he had a chance to save Dr. Haven—or take each of them out, one by one.
He parked the motorcycle on a side street and ran the rest of the way towards the building. Ace wanted to find a way to get inside that was plausible, but quick. It was still quite dark outside, but he did his best to take note of the building’s entryways. He made note of a window-washer’s platform on the side of the east exterior of the building, but it was hoisted to the highest floor. There was no way he could use the crane (holding the platform) to get into the building.
Every entrance of the building was locked and there was no way to climb into any of the windows. Ace didn’t know if Dr. Haven was already inside, and realizing he couldn’t waste any more time, he decided if he was doing this, he might as well be all in. There would be no stealthy maneuvering to break into this building; he was going through the front entrance without caring if his team knew he was here to play.
Ace sprinted back to his motorcycle and hopped on. He speedily drove it up to the front entrance and began to rev the engine. Little did Ace know, Duke was watching him from inside the control room.
Duke asked himself out loud, “What the hell is this moron doing?”
There was about 100 feet of pavement between the glass doors of the front entrance, and the front tire of the bike. He sped off like a demon from hell driving full speed straight towards the front entrance doors.
Duke continued to watch Ace jump off the motorcycle into a somersault landing, just in the knick of time before the bike crashed into the glass doors and collided into the front desk of the lobby. Before he was shot in the head, Worm had turned off all the alarms in the building, so there were no sounds but the breaking glass hitting the marble floor and the motorcycle coming to a screeching halt. Ace felt like an absolute badass walking through the open entryway, crunching the shattered glass under his boots.
Of course, Duke saw him as a complete buffoon. “The doors were unlocked, you horse’s ass.”
Walking towards the elevators, Ace could sense he was being watched. He didn’t have his sniper rifle on him, but he was armed with a few pistols. He was ready for his team to pounce on him at the first opportunity they had, but he was also prepared to scuffle. He pressed the ‘up’ elevator button and waited for about 30 seconds until he realized the elevator was shut off.
Motherfucking fuck-face.
Ace walked over to the staircase door and shoved it open, hoping this staircase wouldn’t be as hot as the church one was earlier in the steamy day. He had 21 stories to climb and wasn’t happy about it.
He had climbed up eight stories by the time Angela and Jacobi arrived at the Geneco gate. The first discerning thing they noticed was the absence of a guard at the gate, so they drove on in with their eyes peeled. They parked in the first space, closest to the front entrance. The building reflected the shadowy e
arly morning sky, as it was only about an hour before dawn.
The air felt sticky once again, and Angela briefly wished she were swimming in the ocean. But she came back to reality and understood this is where she had to be. Jacobi was a couple strides ahead of her, but they walked unruffled, towards the front entrance of the building.
As soon as Jacobi discovered the front doors were shattered and there was a motorcycle smashed into the front desk of the main lobby, he pulled out his gun, ready to face whomever had set this scenario up. Angela was close by his side, but he signaled for her to stay put, out of harm’s way, as he examined this mess.
Everything was falling right into place according to Duke’s plan. Ace was on his way to the 21st floor, and Dr. Haven was now inside the building. All Duke needed was her troublesome bodyguard out of the way. Right after he shot Worm, Duke proceeded to place a tape recorder in the elevator. Still in control of the building’s elevators and programs, Duke opened the elevator door, surprising both Jacobi and Angela.
There were slight murmurs coming from the elevator and Angela asked, “What is that?”
“Stay put.” Jacobi began to walk slowly into the elevator with his gun out. He wasn’t going to take a chance being caught off guard by any of the assassins. Once inside the elevator he could hear the struggling noises coming from the above the elevator cover. He jumped up and pushed the emergency exit flap over, but he didn’t see anyone above him. Angela was still in the middle of the lobby, waiting to see who was making these strange noises.
Jacobi and Angela made eye contact from across the room, feeling like something here wasn’t right. Jacobi was about to step out of the elevator, but he heard the sounds again. This time the murmurs were much louder cries for help. He wasted no time in jumping up and grabbing onto the edges of the flap hatch, pulling himself up. He looked around above the elevator and only saw the cables that held the elevator. But then saw an electronic earpiece device that was the source of all the odd cries for help and murmurs.