Hearing that, District Upson let out a noticeable groan.
‘I’m sorry. What was that? I can’t hear you.’ Aaron said smiling. ‘You know, for years you played the middle man between the Camistock Board and the Department of Defence. You pushed as hard as you could for their bills to be passed and then tried to screw over all those that helped to make it happen.’
Superior Upson was in a lot of pain but he was far less dazed, leaving him cognisant and fully aware of what Aaron was saying.
In the direction of the shadows that were hiding the superiors face Aaron said ‘You guys made two fundamental mistakes. The first was the implementation of the ‘Desert Lions’ and allowing us so much unlimited access to shit that could bite you in the ass. The second was the mission in Belize.’ Aaron stopped talking just in time to hear District Upson use up the little energy he had to try break free of his restraints. But it was futile.
Aaron’s laugh returned. ‘You guys should have killed me in prison. But what can I say. You didn’t. Your chance is gone and now I will have the Credit Bonds you wanted us to kill six thousand people for… All $22 billion.’
District Upson was desperately trying to say something but due to the tape across his mouth his pleas just sounded like noise.
Aaron cleared his throat and then said ‘And three guesses who’s bringing me the Bonds. Black - Remember him? He thinks he is on his way to meet you-know-who, with the bonds YOU gave him. However I’m sorry to tell you, your plan to pay off Karim is not going to happen because Black was never in contact with Karim. It was me.’
Aaron was laughing so much he ended up spilling some of the rum onto the desk.
‘He doesn’t know it yet, but after he hands over the money he’s going to kill you, leaving me the Bonds that hold the unofficial money from the deal with Belize, Nicaragua and Haiti for the drugs and weapons. All signed off by you and several other members of the Board. And along with the signed names I’ll soon have the account codes to the offshore banks holding every cent…’ Aaron paused for a moment and then said ‘. . . So I’m sure you can imagine if a photocopy of a bond with all your names on it was to find its way into the wrong hands - Let’s say a reporter or the Aljazeera network; - it could bring society as we know it crashing down. Camistock doesn’t want that.’
Superior Upson craned his head so that the beam of light coming through the door cut across his eyes. Aaron watched the old man and shook his head. He started to think about how many years the Superior along with the government used the American public’s Tax dollars to broker arms deals to destroy economies for their own gain, while simultaneously spinning the truth, twisting the public’s mind in order to cover up their real agenda.
Aaron let out a sigh. Sure he was not perfect, far from it. He had had his own demons and aside from Camistock he had a gut feeling he would have to face the effects of past decisions soon enough. But compared to them, to Superior Upson, to Camistock – He was a living saint. Turning his attention back to the rum, he poured himself another round, drank it straight and then called Karim’s brother, satisfied everything was going to plan. Upson was soon going to be a distant memory, Black was on his way to him with the bonds and Usain was on his way to pick up Karim for their meeting later that night. It was turning out to be a good day.
CHAPTER 21
Back on the Palisades Interstate Parkway Leon was anxiously waiting for some sort of correspondence from either the Chief or Kerry - more so Kerry.
Trying to put his own thoughts to one side Jay kept moving forward in his seat asking Na’talia and Leon what they were thinking and if they were ok. However the answer to both questions was always ‘nothing’ and ‘fine’. The traffic was moving by at a steady speed and Leon decided to wind down his window to let in some air but right then his phone rang. It was the Chief.
‘Finally!’ He thought. Placing the phone to his right ear he said ‘Chief! Where are you?’
Concerned with the amount of urgency in Leon’s voice, Chief Edwards replied, ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’
Passing over the Chief’s question Leon asked ‘Is Carter nearby?’
Hesitant, the Chief replied ‘No he had to step out for a moment. Why you ask? What’s going on?’
Again Leon asked ‘Where are you?’
Without hesitation the Chief replied ‘We’re on the 3rd floor of the Marriot hotel near the Airport. We should be flying out at 17:00 hours.’
‘Don’t get on that plane Chief.’
‘What? What do you mean?’ he replied. Putting Chief Edwards on speaker phone, Leon said, ‘Its Carter. He’s working with Aaron as a double agent. His mission was to terminate you and Pyro.’
‘What? That can’t be right…’ The Chief replied. ‘. . . Have you spoken to Aaron directly? Where did you get your information from?’
Turning to Na’talia Jay said, ‘I need you to tell the Chief everything you know.’
Starting from the beginning Na’talia relayed all the information she had, while he simultaneously imparted the details to Pyro - who was still sitting on the couch next to Kerry.
Chief Edwards was in shock. His head started to feel warm and beads of sweat started to form across his brow. He knew Aaron had issues with Emmanuel in the past and had requested the assignment to remove him from the agency’s listing, but he had no idea Nathan’s mother had an affair. Pyro on the other hand, was not that surprised. He always had a feeling the freedom talk Aaron spoke about was a mask for something more sinister. In the past Pyro had looked up to Aaron. Not just because he was his Commanding Officer but because he refused to go along with Camistock’s orders, knowing he would be thrown in jail. However it was becoming more apparent that Aaron’s refusal to carry out the mission in Belize was all part of his plan. Strangely, Pyro felt a slight air of pride, despite having carried out some terrible things in his life he always stayed true to himself.
‘Aaron, Aaron, Aaron. You sly dog’ Pyro said under his breath.
Turning the speaker phone application off, Leon placed the phone back to his ear and said ‘Chief, what do you think he is after?’
The chief sighed, turned around and looked over at Pyro. ‘He wants to know what I think Aaron is going after.’ He said.
Pyro smirked. ‘If Aaron has gone through all this trouble to have us gone, you know as well as I do it could only be one thing.’
The Chief gave Pyro a face of worry.
‘What’s the matter… ?’ Pyro said with a smile. ‘. . . You might as well tell him.’
Hearing Pyro’s comment, Leon said ‘Tell me what Chief?’
Chief Edwards was about to reply when Leon heard Carter enter the room and ask if everyone was ok. However no reply was heard because the Chief ended the call.
As Leon lowered the phone from his ear Jay asked ‘What’s going on? What did he say?’
‘Nothing…’ Leon replied. ‘. . . He didn’t have a chance. Carter entered the room.’
‘Shit.’ Jay said.
‘They’ll be ok.’ Leon said reassuringly.
‘How can you be so sure? Carter is good at what he does.’ Na’talia replied.
Leon looked over his shoulder at Jay, then at Na’talia and then said ‘The Desert Lions were the highest trained soldiers ever produced by the American Army. They were the best at what they did. You never forget that kind of training. No matter how old you get. My guess is the both of them will make quick work of Carter. Not to mention Pyro’s not going to let anything happen to Kerry.’
Both Jay and Na’talia thought about Leon’s reasoning. Jay thought back to how Pyro popped his own shoulder back into place with not even an “ouch”.
‘I guess you’re right.’ Jay said finally.
‘And what about you, what do you think?’ Leon asked.
‘You’re probably right.’ Na
’talia replied after a slight pause. ‘They now have the element of surprise. So they have the upper hand for sure.’
‘So then what’s the problem?’ Jay retorted. ‘Why do you look like you know something we don’t?’
‘It’s not that…’ Na’talia stopped talking mid-sentence and the expression on her face spoke a thousand words. The confused, sad look in her eyes was a dead giveaway. Her feelings for Carter – Whatever they were, were real. However it was clear to Leon Na’talia knew that if the shoes were on the other foot, Carter would be after her. Whatever they had did not matter now. Carter was officially the enemy.
Knowing it was probably best to change the subject Leon said ‘None of that matters yo. What matters is where are we heading?’
Turning to Na’talia he said ‘This high-way takes us Up-State right?’
Na’talia nodded.
‘Do you know of any places Aaron would arrange a meeting?’
‘Think.’ Leon urged. ‘He never said anything?’
Several seconds passed before Na’talia replied ‘Exit 9 takes you to Piermont or Orangeburg.’
‘Orangeburg… ?’ Jay interjected. ‘. . . That’s Agency country.’
After a short pause both Leon and Jay simultaneously said ‘The Superior!’
Excitedly Leon said ‘That’s it. We have not been looking at this right. Aaron is looking to kill two completely different birds with one massive stone. Don’t you guys get it? Karim is and has always been in bed with the Agency. They were never planning to bring him down. They wanted to buy him out. My guess is those papers represent a whole lot ‘a something. Best bet, oil or more money than they would like any one person to obtain at any one time. Aaron knew that and set things in motion to get it for himself. He also knew the Superior would use Black to make the delivery.’
‘And that’s how we got involved.’ Jay interjected.
‘Exactly.’ Leon replied.
Na’talia was finding it hard to piece the puzzle together as easily as Leon. With each point covered she was left with two more questions, which in turn caused her frustration because it leads her to question Leon’s reasoning.
Jay sat forward so he was closer to the two front seats and said ‘But then, what about Karim? Where does he fit in; and if Black was never meant to meet Karim? Why hand the papers back over to Black? Usain already had them in his possession remember.’
‘Because for him this is personal…’ Leon said dryly. ‘. . . This whole thing has been personal. It would seem everyone who has done him wrong has either been killed or been added to his hit list. And what better way to get your revenge but to let the people who set you up know who it was that brought them down. Black is on his way to the Superior and that’s where Aaron is going to be.’
‘I know where he lives.’ Na’talia jumped in.
‘Well cool.’ Jay said. ‘Why don’t we just pass Black and get to the spot before he does?’
‘No! Leon said sternly. ‘I got a feeling he is already there. He has no doubt had the area scoped out. We’d be better off just following Black.’
Na’talia was about to say something when Leon’s phone started to ring. The screen said unknown number, but Leon decided to answer it anyway.
‘Hello,’
‘N-Nathan…’
‘Chief… ?’
Leon heard no reply.
‘Chief… ! Hello, Chief…’
Leon could hear muffled commotion but no voices.
‘What’s going on?’ barked Jay from the back seat.
‘Quiet!’ Leon retorted. Just in time to hear the clatter of the phone fall onto a hard surface like the floor or a desk. ‘Something’s wrong?’ He said under his breath and then he heard the call.
‘Help… ! Somebody help!’
‘Kerry… ?’ Leon shouted down the phone. ‘. . . Hello. Kerry. Can you hear me?’
Both Na’talia and Jay were staring at Leon in silence. Jay gently rested his hand on Leon’s shoulder which coincided with Leon’s phone give way to the loud and unmistakable bang of a gunshot. - Just one shot - Clean, un-muffled and boastful.
‘It can’t be.’ Leon said to himself. ‘Hello. Hello.’
No body replied.
Leon lowered the phone from his ear and turning to Na’talia he said. ‘I guess I under estimated your boy Carter.’
Na’talia let out a gasp. While Jay just hung his head. The words ‘I’m sorry’ started to form on the lips of Na’talia’s mouth but before they could be spoken the faint call of a women’s voice came from the mobile Leon had yet to turn off. Before he could even get the phone back to his ear he started to call out. ‘Hello, Hello. Kerry? Are you there?’
There was a slight pause which caused Leon to fear the worse. But then, out of the silence came her voice. ‘Nathan…’
‘Kerry. Baby, you ok?’
‘I-I’m ok.’
‘And what about your pops and the Chief?’
‘D-Dad is fine.’ she said.
‘And what about the Chief Kerry? Is he ok?’
She was silent.
‘Kerry, please speak to me. What’s going on?’
Leon heard her stifle a moan however before he could say anything else Pyro’s voice came down the phone. ‘Young cub,’ he said calmly.
‘Yes.’ Leon replied.
‘Edwards is dead.’
Leon did not say anything right away, just shook his head from side to side and then after a few seconds said ‘What happened?’
‘Carter got the drop on us. He caught wind something was up and decided to go for broke. He was lucky. Caught Eddy blindsided. I jumped in while he staggered away to call you. As soon as I had the chance I put one in the back of his head. But it was too late for Eddy. He was already gone. I’m sorry.’
Leon tightly closed his eyes and then finally said ‘So what are we going to do?’
‘I’m not sure…’ Pyro replied honestly. ‘. . . However in answer to the question you asked earlier. Aaron is after the Bank Bonds, commissioned to the countries that went into the drug trade with the U.S. The secretary of state and other government heads arrived in Belize on the Monday and we went in on the Tuesday - Wiped out everybody - Secretary of state and everyone who meant something to Camistock left the country while we then exterminated hundreds, thousands probably. All covered up by the Belize government and the Whitehouse.’
‘How is any of that possible?’ Leon said sharply.
‘How is any of what they are capable of possible? You’re forgetting they run the world Nathan.’
‘So what are we going to do?’ Leon asked again.
‘Well, I know I’m going to find somewhere safe for my daughter. I’ll be damned if I let Aaron come between us.’ Pyro paused for a moment and then said. ‘We’re going to have to kill contact for a while.’
‘I understand.’ Leon replied. ‘Pyro…’
‘Yes.’
‘What about…’
‘She’ll be fine young cub…’ Pyro paused, walked away from Kerry so he could get a little privacy and said. ‘. . . I know you love her and if it means anything I know she still loves you. But you have to understand this is hard for her.’
‘I know.’ Leon said repentantly. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘I know you are.’ Pyro replied. ‘But I know, like a lot of us. You were used. I know you never meant Kerry any harm and I know you tried to protect her. I should be thanking you.’
Leon was about to reply to that statement but Pyro beat him to the punch.
‘When you finally confront him, be careful, Comprende.’
‘No doubt.’ Leon replied.
Pyro ended the call and Leon lowered the phone into his lap.
The inside of the Yukon was only quiet for a few s
econds before Na’talia said.
‘They’re taking the exit.’
‘Well I guess you were right dawg.’ Jay said.
Directed at Na’talia Leon said ‘How far are we from the Superior’s house?’
With a slight shrug of the shoulders she replied ‘15-20 minutes.’
Turning around so he could look at Jay directly, he said ‘Well that means we go 10 minutes to load up.’
Jay gave Leon a sly smile and said ‘Now that’s what I’m talking about. So is this the last round?’
‘It is for Black and Aaron.’ Replied Leon.
CHAPTER 22
Holding a safe distance behind, Kerry was able to follow Black, Perry and there new bodyguard straight to the Superiors house without being noticed. The house itself was situated about 1.5 miles off the main road. There were no other houses around, just grass shrubs and trees. Leon thought how the area did not have enough trees to be called a wood but had just enough foliage to make it difficult to focus at low levels. Na’talia stopped short 100meters and pulled up alongside the curb next to a line of five perfectly trimmed fern trees and watched the black Mercedes Benz make its way up the long pebble driveway, past the water fountain in the middle of the immaculately kept lawn and then straight up to Superior Upson’s two storey, 6 bedroom, 4 and a half bathroom home – painted completely white and styled into the likeness of Washington D.C’s Whitehouse.
Frowning Jay said, ‘If this IS the Superior’s house, shouldn’t there be more security?’
‘He’s here already.’ Na’talia said softly.
Inside the house, Aaron could hear his old friend coming up the driveway. Finishing the last few drops of rum in his glass he said ‘Everybody get stage ready. Showtime is in five minutes.’
Then with a toothy smile and his eyes open wide said, ‘Aren’t you getting excited?’
The Desert Lion's True Colours Page 25