by Ty Marshall
Pulling up to the curb and putting her car in park, Nova looked in her rearview mirror the same way she had the entire 30 minute ride. When she was sure she hadn’t been followed she grabbed her pocketbook off the passenger seat, slipped her oversize shades on her face and exited the vehicle, crossing the street heading right into Maryland Savings & Loan.
Dayvid had a pair of fake IDs made for them a while back, showing them as a married couple. Something told her that this may have been the reason he was always thought three steps ahead. As the bank manager approached, Nova reached in her bag and removed the ID.
“Hello ma’am, how may I assist you today?” the woman asked.
“I need to get into my safe deposit box,” Nova said calmly while flashing a smile at the woman.
“No problem, I’ll just need your name and ID, as well as your key,” the manager informed her.
“Renee Preston,” Nova replied convincingly before removing her shades and handing over the ID and key.
“I’ll just be one second Mrs. Preston,” the woman said as she disappeared into her office.
Nova’s heart was pounding in her chest and her nerves were all over the place. She felt as if she was being watched or followed and was beginning to wonder why the manager was taking so long to come back. Maybe she knows it’s a fake ID. This bitch is probably calling the cops, Nova thought to herself. She glanced at the door of the bank contemplating if she should walk right out of it and not look back. The longer the woman was gone the faster her heart beat. Finally, the manager emerged from her office sporting a smile on her face.
“Sorry I took so long. We just updated our systems and we’ve been having some issues,” the woman explained. “Will Mr. Preston be joining you?”
“No not today,” Nova answered wishing the lady would stop running her mouth and just let her get what she came for.
“Ok right this way Mrs. Preston.”
Nova was quickly escorted to a private room filled with safe deposit boxes. The manager used the key to unlock the box and pulled a lock metal box out and placed it on the table in front of her before stepping out of the room. Once she was alone, Nova unlocked the latched box and took a peek at the contents inside. Her eyes got wide and round as marbles looking at the stacks of dead presidents staring back at her. A little over a million in cash, separated individually in ten thousand dollars stacks with mustard colored currency bands on them. Nova picked up the note that laid on top of all the cash. It was from Dayvid and it read:
If you’re reading this, chances are I’m dead or needing to be dead to you. I love you Nova and no matter what I need you to always remember that. But we’ve come to a point that we both knew was a possibility in the life I chose and what I’m about to ask you to do is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But I need you to let me go and move on with your life and never look back. The money in this box is enough for you to go anywhere you want and start anew. And for both of our sakes that’s what I need you to do. Love, Your King.
Nova felt like she had been stabbed in the heart by a sword. The lump in her throat made it hard for her to swallow as tears rolled down her face faster than she could wipe them away. Not wanting to arise suspicion, Nova removed the cash from the box, placing it into her oversized Birkin’s bag and headed out the bank as fast as she had entered. Her mouth felt like cotton as she hurried to her vehicle fighting back more tears. Opening her door, she slipped in and put her bag on the passenger seat and frantically began searching for the keys. She was losing her mind and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Her hands trembled as she finally located her keys but by then it was too late. The tears were flowing again and this time she gave into them, crying hysterically inside the privacy of her car. Why is Dayvid sending me away like some child on punishment, she thought to herself. Doesn’t he know how much I love him? She wondered only wanting to be there for a man who had been there for her so many times throughout her life. Dayvid had his sisters, but they couldn’t do for him what she did and they rarely saw the side of him she had. He was her soulmate and she just couldn’t forget about and move on. He needed her more than ever, but he was choosing to push her away. She wiped her face and searched her bag for her shades to hide her puffy red eyes. Slipping them on, she started the car and pulled off with no idea of where she planned on settling down and making a new life for herself, one that regretfully wouldn’t include Dayvid.
CHAPTER FIVE
“It makes no difference how good a man’s case is. He will receive no audience with the king unless he can bribe his way into the king’s presence.”
-Absalom, son of David (The Bible)
The clicking sound of David Banks’ dark brown Bruno Magli’s echoed through the halls of the building as he strolled across the Supreme Court of the United States seal on the floor in route to his father’s office. As the current Secretary of Homeland Security, he answered directly to the President of the United States and his primary duty was to protect the country and its citizens. Considered one of the most powerful men in the country, Banks was the overseer of the U.S. Coast Guard, Border Patrol, Secret Service and FEMA. But his power didn’t extend to the FBI, making his visit far more urgent than the usual. Banks needed his father’s help getting his new found son out of the clutches of federal custody. There was only one problem; the two men were barely on speaking terms, a fact he had conveniently failed to disclose to his daughter Rain.
Banks approached the door that read Chief Justice of the United States, The Honorable Harrison J. Banks and knocked a few times.
“Come in,” said a husky voice from the other side of the door.
Entering the large corner office was like walking into the annals of history. Pictures of his father administering the oath of office to the last three presidents hung next to pictures of Judge Banks surrounded by other Supreme Court judges throughout the years. A quick survey of the photos on his desk told the story of a man with many powerful friends; including the one of him and his golf buddy George H.W. Bush, who offered him the Director of the CIA position when he was in office but he declined. Judge Banks enjoyed being the highest judicial officer in the country and the power that comes with it.
The sight of David immediately drew the ire of the judge. The elder Banks had never been one to mince his words and pulled no punches when it came to dealing with his son. The two men frequently bumped heads throughout David’s life on everything; from the type of people he hung around, the music he liked to the choice of his career. There was always friction between the two strong personalities, something Mrs. Banks had always been able to smooth over and manage. But a stalemate had ensued between the two after her death a year ago.
“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in,” Judge Banks snidely remarked upon seeing his son, his displeasure clearly on display. “Did you ride over here on your high horse?”
“Hello dad,” David replied ignoring the old man’s remarks. “How you been?”
“Cut the shit David,” the judge said preferring to skip the insincere pleasantries. “What do you want? Because I know you want something, you always want something.”
David sat in the chair in front of his father’s desk and got right to it. “You remember a friend of mine? A girl by the name of Remy?” he asked, feeling his body temperature increase from the anger he felt for what his father had done.
“Can’t say that I do, not off hand,” he replied.
David knew his father was lying, the elder Banks had a memory like an elephant. He remembered the names and charges of every defendant that had ever graced the wall of his courtroom. So David found his sudden case of amnesia hard to believe. “Looks like you’re the one who needs to cut the shit,” he stated sternly.
“Yeah I remember her. The little black girl that had your nose wide open after you got a taste of some sweet black pussy,” the judge laughed. “Guess it’s true what they say huh? Once you go black you never go back.”
David’s menacing eyes burned a
hole through his father as he gave him the death stare, unamused by the judge’s sense of humor.
“Let me guess, your here about those God forsaken twins of yours,” he bluntly announced.
David couldn’t believe his ears, not only had his father run off the love of his life, but he had known about the existence of his children and had hid it from him all these years. Everything in him wanted to put a bullet through his father’s head as he sat there with a smug look on his face.
“What, you think I didn’t know?” the judge asked. “I’ve been in this town a lot longer than you son. I know where all the bodies are buried. There’s no secret I don’t know or haven’t heard,” he assured his son. “You are not the only powerful man in this family.”
“You know, all this time you knew. Why would you keep something like that from me? You’re an evil old bastard, you always were. I don’t know how mom put up with you all those years.”
“Don’t get me started on your mother. She had a soft spot for those blacks just like you and believe me she was no saint either,” he spat. “Of course I knew, you should thank me. I been saving you from yourself for years. Blacks and whites do not and should not mix. There was no way in hell you would have been able to reach the pinnacle of this profession with that black girl on your arm. Now what do you want?” Judge Banks said beginning to grow frustrated with the back and forth.
“These kids need our help. They are in way over their heads and I feel we owe it to them to do whatever we can to get them out of trouble and out of dodge,” David expressed.
“I don’t owe those lowlife mutts a thing and you don’t either. You should be running in the opposite way from them. If the word gets out that these menaces to society are in any way connected to us, it can ruin everything I’ve worked my whole life to build. Have you seen the things they are accused of? They are rotten to the core and there is no help for them. I refuse to allow you or them to sullen the Banks’ family name.”
“Sullen? You and I have done far worse in the name of government. Our hands are dirtier than most, or have you forgotten 9/11,” he said looking down at the picture of the judge and the elder Bush. “Listen, I’ve already made Rain disappear but helping Dayvid is a little more difficult. He is locked in North Branch and I have no pull with the feds. So I need your help.”
“That was your doing? That whole explosion on the news thing?” Judge Banks shook his head in disbelief. “You always was a little over the top.”
“Yes,” David nodded. “Now I need your help.”
Judge Banks leaned forward in his chair, resting his folded arms of his desk. “I can’t even remember the last time I saw you. Oh yeah, your mother’s funeral and now you show up in my office asking for a favor. One that could put both our careers in jeopardy,” he barked. “I’m not helping you, matter of fact, I’m going to see to it myself that bastard son of yours gets a needle in his arm. And those two younger sisters of his too. So if you want to do anything to help him, you tell him he better take a plea and serve out the rest of his miserable days in that super max in Maryland. Cause if he goes to trial, he’s a dead man.”
David rose to his feet buttoning his suit jacket. The meeting with his father hadn’t gone at all like he had hoped. “Good to know some things never change,” he declared. “Nice seeing you again,” he said sarcastically.
“Wish I could say the same,” answered the judge.
***
“Back to the door Porter!” yelled Sgt. Roberts.
Dayvid heard the officer’s voice bellow through the door as the small slot in his door slid open. Rising to his feet he turned his back to the door and slid his hands through the slot allowing for the officer to handcuff his wrists.
“Back away from the door and remain with your back to me,” Roberts instructed.
The large metal door cracked open allowing light to enter the cell, blinding Dayvid. He had been locked in his cell for almost a week without being let out for his required one hour a day. The officers on duty picked and choose who they felt they wanted to let out, flexing their muscle showing the inmates who was in charge. They also would skip his cell when doling out food trays as well. Dayvid was locked in concrete hell. But he still wouldn’t allow it to break him. He was mentally tougher than most and took everything in stride. His indifferent attitude got under Roberts skin and he would attempt to provoke Dayvid every chance he got.
“Turn around you piece of shit,” Roberts demanded. “You know I heard they call this fucker the King,” he said to the other officers who were placing shackles on Dayvid. The men all laughed in unison. “How those restraints feel, King? Are they good enough for you?” Roberts poked. “What you say we give Porter here a king’s welcome?”
The guards began striking Dayvid’s legs with their metal batons causing him to collapse to the floor in pain. Roberts watched in enjoyment as his goons pounded away at Dayvid as he laid on the ground writhing in pain. “Rodney King,” quipped the sergeant. “OK, Ok, that’s enough. Pick em up,” he commanded after a few minutes.
“Arrgh,” Dayvid moaned being yanked from the ground by his shackles.
Roberts got right into his face, the smell of coffee permeating on his breath. “There’s only one King on this unit and that’s me. Are we clear?” He didn’t wait for Dayvid to answer, instructing the guards holding him to take him away. “Get him outta my sight.”
The officers led a shackled and battered Dayvid down a long corridor that led to an empty room with a table and a few chairs in it. The officers forcefully sat him down in one of the chairs and left the room, leaving him alone. Although he was in pain, Dayvid’s demeanor and face remained unchanging as he sat calmly in the quiet room. The only sound being the chains he was in clanging together as he moved in his seat trying to find a comfortable position for his legs. After a few minutes the door of the room opened and a black female in her early forties, dressed in a dark blue pants suit with her hair pulled back into a tight bun, stepped in followed by a white man in an equally understated suit.
U.S. Marshals Veronica Torrence and Angelo Palmeri were part of the government’s fugitive task force and had been on the Porter sisters trail for almost a month; crisscrossing the country hoping to slap the cuffs on the trio. U.S Marshal Torrence had become obsessed with the Porter family and was suffering from an acute case of sleep deprivation trying to capture the fugitives. The smirk on her face showed that she was enjoying seeing Dayvid shackled the same way she hoped to see his siblings. Palmeri took a seat while she paced around the room like a car on a NASCAR track.
“How are you doing today Dayvid? I’m U.S. Marshal Angelo Palmeri and this is my partner Veronica Torrence. We’re a part of the fugitive task force and we’ve been assigned to your sisters’ cases. I know you may not be aware but those ladies have been causing quite a stir out in the world leaving dead bodies and a shot state trooper in their wake. Your sister Fallon slipped through our grasp and made it across the border into Mexico but it won’t be long before she slips up and we get another shot at her.”
Dayvid just listened never showing any emotion but inside he was happy to hear Fallon made it to Mexico.
“Autumn won’t be as lucky. Not only are we after her but she has one of the most ruthless drug kingpins hot on her trail. She would be best served turning herself in,” she informed.
“What’s with all the fucking updates,” Torrence jumped in.
Dayvid had been watching her circle the room. It was obvious to him that this case was kicking her ass. Her face looked sunken in and she had dark, puffy bags under her eyes. Dayvid took a sense of pride in the fact that his sisters were out there giving them hell. Little did they know they hadn’t seen nothing yet.
“Listen I came all this way to look you in your face and tell you that you are going to die in the federal prison system. Whether you rot away in here or they stick a needle in your fucking arm, you sorry son of a bitch. You will never breathe another breath of free air. You’re
gonna die in this godforsaken place, King Dayvid,” Torrence took pleasure in taunting him.
Dayvid didn’t give her the satisfaction of a reaction, never one to show his cards he remained stoic. Torrence had done her research and didn’t expect him to react but she knew the folder in her hand would move the needle some with him.
“We are aware of you and Rain’s little master plan Dayvid,” Torrence informed him.
He immediately cursed Rain for trusting that fucking lawyer but he was about to learn he wasn’t the culprit.
“Yeah, we know. But there is no chance in hell of that ever happening since your sister Rain is dead,” Torrence announced, almost as if she was bragging as she slammed the folder down on the table in front of him.
Believing it to be another tactic of the government, Dayvid took what she said with a grain of salt.
“Oh you don’t believe me huh? I thought you would know. Don’t they say twins can feel each other,” she mocked looking over at her partner.
“Rain attempted to buy explosives on the black market in hopes of breaking you out. But the feds received a tip and converged on the van. Rain fled and after a brief chase the van exploded in a field,” Palmeri explained to Dayvid.