Young Guns Box Set

by Kane, Remington

  Ann was ready to place her plan for escape in motion, and she had decided that Cindy was going with her. Ann used her husband’s spare keys to get an oral sedative from the infirmary during the previous night. She would drug Kabell into unconsciousness, and if necessary, do the same thing to Cindy. However, Ann would prefer it if Cindy accompanied her willingly.

  “Go with you where?” Cindy asked.

  “Oh, just for a walk along the halls. You must be tired of staying inside this suite and watching TV.”

  “I’m not allowed to watch television. The master says it is sinful.”

  “He would know all about sinful,” Ann said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Nothing, so how about that walk?”

  “No, thank you. I need to stay by the master’s side.”

  “We’ll only be gone for a few minutes and I can hear him… meditating loudly. He won’t even know you’re gone.”

  Cindy crossed her arms over her chest. “I’d rather stay here.”

  Ann smiled at her as she grabbed the cart to wheel out the dirty dishes.

  “All right, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  As she was pushing the cart down the hallway, Ann revised her plan. If Cindy wouldn’t leave willingly, then the girl would have to be drugged.

  It will be for her own good, Ann thought, and formed a plan to smuggle Cindy out of the suite.

  * * *

  Begley watched with interest as Cody and Romeo walked past him down an intersecting corridor. Unlike most guests of the Citadel, the boys liked to wander around. Begley thought their random strolls were an attempt to memorize and map the Citadel’s layout.

  Denny Haydon looked to be in exceptional condition for a slimy drug dealer and appeared to be as fit as his bodyguard. While he had developed a strong dislike for Cody, Begley didn’t care for Romeo either. Still, they were guests and should be treated as such.

  After having his guards attack Cody, Begley thought he would be called into Abadandi’s office for a reprimand. That never happened because neither Haydon nor his bodyguard had complained.

  Serge had learned of the incident, and he’d seemed dismayed by Begley’s lack of judgement.

  “What the hell were you thinking, Jack? Assholes or not, those men are guests of the Citadel and under our protection. Why would you have the guys attempt to harm one of them?”

  “There’s something off about them, Serge. They don’t feel right.”

  “What do you mean?”

  At the time, Begley had just shaken his head at that question, but an answer had begun to form in his mind that was frightening.

  * * *

  After telling one of his guards to keep a loose tail on Cody and Romeo, Begley went in search of Serge. He found him in the loading dock area, which was adjacent to the motor pool where Ann worked. In happier times, Begley would have stopped in to see Ann before speaking with Serge, but he walked past the door of the motor pool while releasing a soft sigh. Ann was still barely speaking to him and he didn’t feel like getting into an argument.

  Serge was making certain that the old jeep they were getting rid of was securely attached to the towing hitch on one of the trucks. Begley walked over and stood beside him.

  “I know those two guys that attacked us by scaling the cliff wore ski masks, but what was your general take on them?”

  Serge pondered the question for a moment then gave a little shrug.

  “Around six-feet tall, likely young, athletic,”

  “And what about our two new guests?”

  Serge jumped as if he had received a jolt from a live wire.

  “Shit, Jack, what are you thinking, that Haydon and his bodyguard are the men that attacked us?”

  “He says he’s Denny Haydon, but how do we know that? He could be anyone.”

  “Not just anyone, the guy had to hand over more than a million dollars to walk in here. What kind of assassin has that kind of cash?”

  “Maybe they got the money from Haydon. They could have killed him, taken the money, and then come here and act like they’re Haydon and a bodyguard.”

  Serge laughed. “You’ve got some imagination. But let’s say you’re right, why haven’t they killed Kabell yet? If they were assassins, they would have come here to kill that sleazy cult leader.”

  Begley was nodding. “I think that’s why they’re here, but they also want to make sure that they can get out after they kill him. It’s why they wanted that tour I gave them, and their walking the halls right now while memorizing the layout. I’m telling you, those two aren’t right.”

  Worry creased Serge’s brow as he considered his boss’s words.

  “How do we handle this? We can’t just accuse them, and we have no proof.”

  “I plan to have them watched 24/7. If they make a move to break into Kabell’s suite we shoot them down like dogs.”

  Serge placed his hands on his hips and gave a sad shake of his head.

  “I sure hope you’re wrong about this, otherwise, the Citadel has finally been breached.”

  “It makes me sick to think about it too,” Begley said.

  * * *

  Cody and Romeo were aware that Begley had become suspicious of them. When a guard began following them everywhere they went, they were glad they had taken pains to throw suspicion off of themselves. The only problem was that Flash and Gator had yet to make a move.

  In the meantime, the boys had learned the location of Kabell’s suite. It was at the opposite end of a corridor where their own suite was housed. They had also learned about Cindy from a talkative member of the kitchen staff named Klaus. Klaus was German and pleased that Cody and Romeo spoke his language. Cody was fluent in German, Romeo less so, but he spoke enough to hold a conversation with Klaus.

  Klaus told them that Cindy was Kabell’s child bride. The boys knew that meant that the girl was being molested by Kabell. If they hadn’t already had a reason to kill him before, learning about Cindy gave them incentive enough to put down Kabell.

  They had overheard a guard say that the man never left his suite, which meant they had to go to him. While no one was looking, Cody studied the keypad on Kabell’s suite and found that it was identical to the one used on their own.

  The much-vaunted Citadel’s defenses were less so on the inside of the fortress. The boys discovered that the same combination that opened their suite opened the door on an empty suite of rooms beside theirs.

  Was it possible that the same combination opened all the suites? It just might, making it a thing of ease to reach Kabell. If not, they would break into the cult leader’s quarters. Either way, Kabell would die.

  * * *

  When the alarm bells rang at 2:37 a.m., Cody turned on his bedside lamp as Romeo did the same thing in the next room. They met in the hallway, both dressed in only boxer shorts, and grinned at each other.

  “That must be Flash and Gator,” Romeo said.

  “I bet we lose our shadow tomorrow,” Cody said, referring to the various guards Begley had charged with following them.

  They went to the doorway of their suite and looked out. The guard that was there when they went to bed was gone.

  “I hope those bikers give the guards hell,” Romeo said.

  “Yeah, the less guards the better our odds of escape.”

  “If this works like we think, and we’re no longer being watched, when do you want to kill Kabell?”

  “We’ll need to let things calm down again, then we’ll make our move. I also want to have a look at that escape tunnel. We never did get a look at it during the tour.”

  “Good idea. I don’t plan to die here.”

  “Only to kill,” Cody said.

  * * *

  When the alarm sounded, Begley had been enjoying the pleasures of Irina’s bed. After being unable to get her off his mind while sleep eluded him, he left the sofa his wife had banished him to and went to see her.

  Irina had been asleep. Her eyes were puffy, and
she had no makeup on. Begley thought she had never looked more desirable.

  When she saw that it was Begley who had come to call at such a late hour, she’d taken his hand and pulled him into her quarters.

  The sex had been even better than Begley had fantasized. They had been in the middle of making love for the second time when the alarm began blaring.

  “Shit!” Begley said as he left Irina’s arms to get dressed. He had arrived at her quarters wearing his uniform pants along with a T-shirt and a pair of slippers. He had to return to his quarters to retrieve his gear.

  “Be careful, Jack,” Irina called from the bed as he went rushing for the door.

  He shouted that he would be, and was relieved when he found the corridor empty, so that his exit from Irina’s would go unwitnessed. That was not to be the case of his return to his own quarters. Begley found Ann standing in the threshold.

  “Where were you?”

  “I took a walk. I couldn’t sleep,” Begley said as he rushed past her. After grabbing up his radio, he called Serge while putting on his boots. “What’s the situation?”

  “Two guys are outside attacking the first gate. They’ve got grenades. It must be the same assholes that were on the cliffs.”

  “Damn,” Begley said, both at the current situation and for the fact that it destroyed his theory about Cody and Romeo. “Meet me at the elevator.”

  “I’m here now with three guys.”

  “I’m on my way,” Begley said.

  As he was rushing past her while struggling into his duty vest, Ann gripped his hand and pulled him in for a kiss.

  “Be careful, Jack.”

  They were the same words Irina had said to him. Begley caressed his wife’s cheek, kissed her back, then saw the change in her demeanor.

  Ann sniffed him, and although she hadn’t been wearing perfume, Begley understood that Irina had left her scent upon him as they made love. It was an unmistakable mixture of perspiration and hormones, and Ann knew it for what it was.

  Ann pushed him away from her, as a look of betrayal moistened her eyes.

  “You’re a bastard,” she told Begley.

  Before he could feign innocence or conjure a lie, Ann was rushing back toward the bedroom in tears. The door slammed shut, then came the sound of the lock. The metal cylinder of the deadbolt falling into place sounded like the crack of doom to Begley, one denoting the end of his marriage.

  Begley ran down the corridor toward the elevator, as he went off to face possible death. It was preferable to facing Ann’s broken heart.

  * * *

  By the time Begley made it up top the action was over. Grenades had been used on the outer gate with little effect other than a nasty mark where it was scorched. The Citadel’s exterior cameras showed that the two attackers had run off into the nearby trees. They had doubtlessly made it back to whatever form of transportation brought them there and left the area. Still, they had to be searched for, so Begley sent eight men out in teams of two while he and Serge stayed outside the gate.

  “I thought I heard a pair of motorcycles,” said the first guard to make it topside. He had been on duty at the last inner gate and near the speaker attached to the cameras.

  “Motorcycles? That would make sense,” Begley said. “Even if we gave pursuit in the jeeps they could lose us by weaving among the trees. That’s something else we could use around here, greater mobility.”

  Serge laughed. “It’s a miracle Abadandi agreed to get a new jeep, there’s no way he’d shell out money for motorcycles.”

  “He’s a tightwad all right, but he needs to realize that this place can’t continue to be run on a shoestring bud—” The blast was loud and unexpected. It was accompanied by screams.

  Begley was shouting into his radio. “Report! Report!”

  There was nothing for nearly a minute, then a voice answered. Begley could hear the tension in it.

  “This is Brown, sir. Timmons and Alvera are dead. They set off a trip wire on a grenade… it’s a real mess over here.”

  “Everyone stay where you are, don’t take a step unless you can see where you’re going and are certain there are no wires.”

  The remaining men made it back without incident. Later, in the full light of day, it was discovered that two of them had come close to setting off another hand grenade.

  Begley had lost seven men. He had only ten left to guard four guests, while the men attacking them had escaped unharmed again. If things kept going the way they were those men would win by means of attrition.

  “We need new men,” Begley told Serge, who agreed with him. Now came the hard part, convincing Abadandi.

  55

  A Chance To Live

  THE BRONX, OCTOBER 2018, 3:27 a.m.

  Maurice Biggs’ second-in-command was Tyrese Vann, nicknamed long-sleeves, because no matter the weather he always wore long sleeves. It was assumed that he kept this habit because of the scars he carried. As a child, Tyrese had been trapped in a burning building and had burnt both forearms while escaping the blaze. The damaged skin itched often, and Tyrese scratched at it frequently.

  Tanner had observed the burn scars as he studied the sleeping man, after breaking into his apartment. Tanner had also noticed, and moved out of reach, the gun and strap-on knife that Tyrese kept on his night stand.

  Tanner spoke aloud in the quiet apartment to wake Tyrese. The gang member was a tall man whom Joe Pullo said had the reputation of being smart and was the one who ran the drug business for Biggs. Tanner hoped Tyrese was smart. If he was intelligent he would realize that the deal Tanner was there to offer made sense.

  “Open your eyes, Tyrese.”

  Tyrese stirred, then Tanner poked his blanket-covered mid-section with the tip of his gun. That startled Tyrese awake, and he reached toward the night stand.

  “Your weapons aren’t there. I hid them where you’ll eventually find them. You won’t need them anyway. I’ve only come here to talk.”

  The bedside lamp came on to a low-wattage setting after Tyrese touched it once. He studied Tanner, pausing to take-in the intense eyes, and then the gun.

  “I don’t know you. What’s this about?”

  “My name is Tanner, maybe you’ve heard of me.”

  “Tanner, Tanner, the hit man?”

  “I prefer trained assassin, but yeah, I’m that Tanner.”

  “You here to kill me?”

  “If that were the case you would already be dead. I’m here to discuss Jerold Washington.”

  “Okay if I sit up?”

  “It is, but if you try anything I’ll make you wish you hadn’t.”

  Tyrese sat up on the side of the bed, then rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

  “Jerold Washington is dead, Tanner.”

  “Exactly, which means that your boss got his revenge. There’s no need for him to go after Jerold’s family anymore.”

  Tyrese frowned. “Maurice don’t see it that way. He still wants them dead and put a price on their heads. There’s something else now too. James shot Maurice’s cousin in the stomach. Trigger is lucky to still be alive.”

  “I want you to give Biggs a message from me. Tell him to leave the Washingtons alone, or else I’ll rip apart his gang and kill him.”

  Tyrese was shaking his head.

  “See, now I would take that deal, but I ain’t Maurice. Maurice is crazy, and he wants James and Debra Washington dead. He don’t care what else happens, but he wants them dead.”

  “He’ll care when I start killing his dealers and burning his drugs.”

  “He’ll just get angrier, that’s what will happen.”

  “Take the deal to him and sell it. If not, all hell will break loose.”

  Tanner dropped a cell phone on the bed. “There’s one number in there, call it when you have an answer.”

  “I’m telling you he won’t take the deal, and I want you to remember that I would, so don’t kill me for any shit Maurice might do.”

  “The Washingto
ns are out of his reach, and they’ll stay out of his reach.”

  “Not forever.”

  “Then I’ll have to kill Biggs, but I’m hoping to avoid that.”

  “Why you care about Maurice?”

  “I don’t, but I’m not in the business of killing people for free, and it won’t just be him, I’ll kill every Boulevard Blood I see.”

  Tyrese hung his head. “I know your rep; this shit is going to be bad.”

  “Probably, but I am giving Biggs a chance to end it before it starts, also, there is another option.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You could kill Biggs and take over the gang.”

  “No, I couldn’t. That ain’t my way. Maurice gave me a chance to prove myself and I owe him for that. The truth is, I don’t even like him, but I do owe him, so I’ll never knife him in the back like that.”

  “Too bad, you’d be easier to deal with.”

  Tanner put away the gun he’d been holding and headed out the door.

  Tyrese called to him. “Remember that I warned you Maurice is crazy.”

  “I’ll remember,” Tanner said.

  * * *

  An hour later, in upper Manhattan, Maurice Biggs was looking at Tyrese as if he were the one who was crazy. Like Tyrese, Biggs had been sleeping. After Melon Head woke him, Biggs had appeared wearing sweat pants and a sleeveless T-shirt. His arms were large, and the muscles defined.

  “Why the hell would a man like Tanner give a shit about Jerold’s family? You sure it was Tanner?”

  “He had them evil eyes everyone says he has, and he was serious, Maurice. The man will give us hell if you don’t forget about killing Jerold’s mother and brother.”

  “Or maybe one of us kills his ass.”