Jordan and Gordon, he rhymed in his head. How corny.
Around 10:30 Demérs decided to call it a night.
“We have a big day tomorrow,” he told Daniel. “We are going to be meeting Benze at his estate at nine A.M. Be ready to go at eight.”
“You got it boss,” Daniel replied, helping Jordan put their glasses away.
Demérs headed off toward the master bedroom while Jordan and Daniel finished cleaning up.
“You two actually got along today,” she commented.
“Yeah…well…maybe he’s not the total douche I remember from college,” he responded with a smirk.
When everything was cleaned and put away Jordan reached up to give Daniel a kiss on the cheek.
“I love you Daniel,” she said sweetly. “It means so much to me that the three of us can be friends. I missed you.”
“Yeah,” he said sheepishly, “I missed you to.” He couldn’t decide whether or not he was being truthful, but now that they had reunited, there was a part of him that wished they hadn’t gone so long without talking.
“Goodnight,” Jordan called to him as she turned out the lights and strode down the hall to join Demérs in their bedroom.
“Goodnight,” Daniel called back, watching her hips sway as she walked away.
“Fuck off,” he said to himself quietly before heading up to his bedroom. Tomorrow was his last and most important day on assignment.
Chapter 6
Daniel strapped on his Kevlar vest before buttoning his salmon colored dress shirt over top of it. Richfield had warned him that this job was potentially more dangerous than any he had been on previously, and to take every precaution to protect himself.
He had chosen to wear his new grey leisure suit to the meeting at Benze’s estate since he had not had the opportunity to do so earlier in the weekend. He threw the grey blazer on over his gun holster which rested on top of his salmon shirt, the top two buttons undone, exposing the upper most area of his chest. He then tied on his black shoes and made his way downstairs.
His bags were packed and ready to go on the bed. Upon returning from Benze’s his assignment would be complete, and he would return back to the Elite complex. What a bizarre weekend it had been.
As he made his way down the stairs from the loft to the living room he found Demérs, Salvador, and another man he did not recognize there waiting for him. Jordan was nowhere to be found—he imagined still in bed.
“Are we ready to roll?” Demérs asked him in an anxious fashion.
Daniel clapped his hands together at waist level and responded, “Let’s do it.”
The black SUV was waiting for them when they arrived downstairs. They walked through the doors of the building and this time instead of switching places with the driver, Salvador made his way around the front of the vehicle and jumped in the passenger’s side door. The other man who Daniel did not know, opened the rear door for Demérs who hopped into the middle seat, then gestured for Daniel to follow. The unknown bodyguard then closed the door behind Daniel and went around the rear passenger door and got in the vehicle on the other side of Demérs.
The chain of command on an assignment in which the client had an already established personal security force was always a bit confusing. Salvador was Demérs’ normal head of security and therefore served as point person when calling the shots. However Daniel was the hired ace and it was his job to protect Demérs at all costs regardless of what Salvador’s orders were. Daniel needed to figure out how to both work alone and as part of a team simultaneously.
The black SUV made its way through the downtown streets toward the expressway. A minute or so after leaving the building Salvador turned to face Daniel.
“Benze’s guys are a little jumpy,” he explained, “just be ready for that.”
“Roger,” Daniel responded, preparing himself for what lie ahead.
Not another word was spoken in the vehicle until they got on the expressway and headed south. At that point Demérs leaned over and spoke softly into Daniel’s ear. “Now there is something important I need you to understand about this meeting. At some point I am going to need to meet with Benze in private, and I’m going to need you to remain outside the room.”
Demérs had leaned in closer to Daniel as he gave the instruction, but he never turned his head in Daniel’s direction to gauge his response.
Daniel took a deep breath and craned his neck back. He now understood the reason Demérs had insisted to Richfield that Daniel remain assigned to protect him. He knew now that Daniel was willing to take orders that defied his training.
Daniel half turned his head toward Demérs. “Understood,” he affirmed.
He knew it broke rule number one, but breaking that rule had given Daniel the opportunity to become the most prestigious name at Elite, and it was now the only way he was going to remain in that position.
Besides, Demérs was paying a lot of money for Daniel’s services. He was the boss and Daniel felt obligated to respect his wishes. He wondered if Titan had ever experienced the same dilemma with Demérs or any other clients in the past.
Demérs sat silent in his dark blue suit with light blue pin stripes the rest of the drive, as did the other men in the vehicle. Whatever was about to happen at Benze’s estate, they all seemed very nervous about it.
About forty-five minutes outside of the city, the driver got off the expressway and drove a few miles west down a county road before turning left onto a small dirt road surrounded by trees. The plants in the woods were all bare, stripped by the winter chill, minus a few pine trees that were scattered about throughout. A few hundred yards up the dirt road was a large black gate, and that was when Daniel realized that they were not on a road, but rather a driveway that led back to Benze’s estate.
The tall black gate blocked the driveway, and Daniel noticed a spiked black fence that extended beyond the gate and into the woods in both directions.
Above the gate was an enormous “B” shaped out of black iron, and on the upper left-hand side was a camera. After sitting in front of the gate for a matter of moments, it eventually opened itself, allowing the SUV to pass through.
Several hundred feet past the gate the trees disappeared and were replaced by expansive fields on either side, the yellow grass sprinkled with white snow throughout. At the end of the drive was an enormous mansion, similar to the one he and Norma had picked their clients up from in Texas.
The driver pulled up to the end of the drive and put in park in front of the house. Daniel climbed out of the SUV in time to see Roger Benze’s dark face striding down the front steps. Two armed men in black cargo pants and black winter coats stood at the bottom of the steps on either side. Walking next to Benze was his nephew Tommy.
“Roger,” Demérs greeted his business partner after straightening out his suit.
Daniel walked around the rear of the vehicle to join the welcome party.
“Gordon, so glad you could make it out to our home,” Benze returned the greeting, reaching out to shake his guest’s hand.
“And there’s our Italian boy!” Benze said almost too excitedly when he saw Daniel approaching them. He took a step over to pat Daniel on the shoulder.
“You guys remember Tommy,” Benze said, gesturing to the pale body guard on his right.
“Of course,” Demérs acknowledged, reaching out to shake Tommy’s hand.
“No Layla,” Daniel observed aloud. The observation was intended to be innocent, but he soon regretted making it.
Tommy furrowed his brow at Daniel’s outburst. “What the hell does that mean?”
Daniel was clearly caught off-guard by Tommy’s offense, unsure of how to respond.
Benze bailed Daniel out of the awkward situation. “Relax, boy,” he said, smacking Tommy in the chest with the back of his hand. “The man’s just making conversation.”
With that the host turned to look at his mansion. “It’s fucking cold out here,” he stated before heading back up the st
eps.
Without need for a verbal response the group made their way up the steps to the large double doors that served as the front entrance to the house. On the way up the steps Benze moved in close to Daniel and whispered in his ear.
“I’ll get you her number on your way out,” he told him before giving a friendly pat on the back. Daniel suddenly felt flush, deciding it best not to respond.
As they continued their march to the front door Daniel made sure to survey the situation. Both of the guards at the bottom of the steps remained at their posts, each with a pistol openly strapped to their hips.
Benze and Demérs walked beside each other while both Tommy and Salvador made a point of staying close to their bosses. Daniel followed behind the other four men as the odd man out.
At the top of the steps another one of Benze’s security team stood holding the front door open. Once they were inside he followed behind Daniel. Inside the door a fifth member of Benze’s team was standing waiting for them. Unlike the two guards at the bottom of the steps outside, Tommy and the other two men were wearing suits. Daniel assumed each had a pistol concealed under their jackets. Benze was dressed modestly in corduroys and a hideous brown sweater.
Both the driver and Demérs’ other security member remained outside with the two guards at the stairs. If anything did go down they were outgunned five to four, but Daniel imagined his purpose was to even those odds.
The house’s foyer was vast and elegant. White marble tile swirled with some black marble tiles covered the floor and came together to create an artistic spiral design. The white floor and walls of the room enhanced the light that poured through the large window that sat above the doorway.
Hanging high above the center of the room was a sparkling chandelier, and behind it a balcony with a brown wooden rail that sat atop white wooden posts, overlooking the grand hall. Along the right wall was a wooden staircase, also white, its railing matching that of the balcony.
“Roger, your home is exquisite,” Demérs commented, slowly spinning in a circle in the center of the room.
“Why thank you,” Benze replied. “To your left is a living area,” he said, gesturing through an archway that lead into the next room. “Upstairs we have a bunch of bathrooms and bedrooms. I always lose count of how many.”
Benze stared up at the balcony for a moment, his hand on his chin as if trying to recall what exactly was up there. After a couple seconds he quickly gave up on it.
“And to your right is a study and library and all that shit,” he continued as if unimpressed by his own home. “There’s a lot more, maybe I’ll give you a tour or something later.
“Anyway the dining room is this way,” Benze pointed to a room straight ahead from where they were standing at the front door. “We can meet in there. The table is big enough, there’s coffee nearby, and I like that I can look out the big window into the yard and all that.”
“Wherever you’d prefer,” Demérs acknowledged, gesturing for Benze to lead the way.
Once Benze had started down the hallway that led to the kitchen, Demérs turned to Daniel and nodded. Daniel returned the nod, understanding the signal to remain in the foyer while the two men had their private meeting. Salvador and Tommy slowly followed behind Demérs and Benze until the kitchen door swung closed behind them. The two heads of security then took their places guarding the door.
Tommy leaned up against the wall and started gazing at Salvador the same way he had Daniel at the Italian restaurant, as if trying to generate some form of intimidation. Salvador seemed to be doing a much better job than Daniel at ignoring the deranged lunatic.
Daniel paced the floor, hands in his pockets as the two bosses carried out their meeting in the next room. It was surprisingly impossible to hear anything through the swinging door. The other men in the room stood in one place like good little soldiers, but Daniel never was very good at standing still. He didn’t like being clueless to what was happening in the kitchen either.
Then again, he probably didn’t want to know what shady dealings were going on with the man he was being paid to protect. He’d rather just assume they were discussing insider trading secrets that they didn’t want anyone else using to their own advantage.
Suddenly, there was a call from one of the guards outside. It came over the radios Benze’s security guys had been carrying on their belts.
“Yeah, uh, fellas, we’ve got an issue out here. You might want to come check this out,” the electronic voice said over the radio.
Tommy stood up from the wall and turned to the other two on Benze’s security team.
“Go,” he ordered, pointing at the front door. Without hesitation the two men ran outside.
“Daniel,” Salvador called over to him, “why don’t you go check upstairs and make sure we’re all clear.”
Daniel nodded, remembering all of Richfield’s stories about distractions and leaving the client, but in this case Salvador would be staying posted at the door and Demérs didn’t want him in the room with him anyway. Instead of arguing Daniel did as he was told and climbed the stairs to the second floor.
He looked to his left and his right, a hallway extending in each direction. He made the decision to start with the right, and began slowly walking down the hallway and inspecting each room.
He didn’t bother to draw his gun. Whatever the disturbance was it was happening outside, and by the tone of the man on the radio it didn’t sound like they were in any immediate danger. Still, he could feel the weight of the Glock on his chest and stood ready to pull it just in case.
Most of the doors were already halfway open, allowing him to peer inside easily as he passed by. The bedrooms all looked the same—plain white walls with a bed against one and a dresser on the other. The only difference between them was that some had vanity mirrors while others had televisions. The bathrooms, like the bedrooms, were also incredibly similar.
“Benze wasn’t kidding, there are a lot of fucking rooms up here,” Daniel said to himself softly.
Toward the end of the hallway he came to a room with a heavier looking door than the others. It was the only door in the entire hallway that was completely closed. He reached for the door handle and found it locked. He knocked on the door and pushed his ear up against it to listen for any noises inside the room.
“Hello?” he called out.
He heard nothing. Normally he would have accepted the notion that there was something in the room Benze wanted to keep private, but given the circumstances of the radio call he decided he’d better make sure and ask for forgiveness later.
He reared his knee back and kicked in the door. The entire room was filled with darkness, except for the eerie glow of a small monitor in the left center of the room.
He moved slowly, trying to adjust his pupils so that he could better make out the objects in the room. The monitor was sitting next to a bed which looked much like the kind you’d find in a hospital room.
On the far side of the room appeared to be a table—an assortment of tools resting on top of it. As far as he could tell the room had no windows, the only visible light coming from out in the hallway.
He moved closer to the bed. There was in fact someone in the room, but they didn’t appear to be conscious at the moment. Daniel glanced up to see that glowing screen was some sort of heart monitor.
He took a step closer to the bed. Whoever lay in it was hooked up to several different I.V.s, and there was a strange device strapped to their face.
Bang!
Before he could investigate any further, Daniel was startled by the sound of a gunshot. It had come from inside the house.
Without thinking he turned and sprinted out of the room. He dashed down the hallway and leapt over the bannister, his feet landing solidly on the white marble floor of the foyer. Just to the left of where he landed was Tommy, his body unmoving.
Daniel placed two fingers on the side of Tommy’s neck. He still had a pulse. Daniel did a quick three-sixty—there seem
ed to be no one else around.
Slowly, he crept toward the kitchen door. He pushed it open slightly, taking a peek inside. He saw no one. He pushed the door further and took a step into the room. What he saw then made him want to throw up.
Sitting at the kitchen table was Roger Benze, a bullet-hole placed in the direct center of his forehead, and an exit wound at the rear of his skull. There was blood splatter on the wall behind him.
Chapter 7
Daniel glanced around the room. There was no one in sight. It was also incredibly quiet. Whatever had happened, Demérs and Salvador were gone.
Daniel made his way around the table and saw a gun resting across from where Benze’s dead body lay draped in its chair. Daniel moved toward it and noticed that the gun looked very familiar.
There were a lot of Glock 22s in the world, but something about the one on the table gave Daniel a very bad feeling.
He reached into his holster and pulled out a gun-shaped hunk of metal, but that was all it was. It was not a functioning pistol at all, but a piece of metal that had been forged to look like a handgun.
Daniel dropped the fake onto the floor, absolutely stunned. Somewhere between the time he left the apartment and now someone had managed to take his weapon and switch it with a fake, all without his knowing. How was that even possible? He couldn’t remember any situation where it may have been possible. No one had more than patted him on the shoulder all day.
He lurched forward, his eyes never leaving his gun. His mind was unable to wrap itself around everything that was happening to him. What purpose did anyone have for framing him for murder? Other than being assigned to protect Demérs he had no personal or professional involvement with any of these people.
He picked up his gun and stared at it. “How?” he again asked himself.
“Drop it!” a voice screamed at him from the doorway.
Daniel immediately dropped the gun onto the floor and turned to see Tommy and his other two men in suits with their guns pointed at him.
Elite 2: The Wrong Side of Revolution Page 8