CHAPTER 28

Jason Valdez stood leaning on the wall, watching as the two computer analysts sweated out on the laptop. Logan sat with them, monitoring their every move. He was breathing down their necks, making sure they got things right, and that they got it fast. “Get that site down first” Logan barked at Anderson, who looked like he would pee in his pant.

“Okay, boss” Anderson said.

“We’re trying all we can” Key pointed out, calmly. His courage coming from the fact that Logan wasn’t his direct boss. He looked at his boss, leaning against the wall for some support. But before Jason could step in, Logan sighed heavily and looked at the men with an apologetic look.

“I know, I’m sorry. Just go on” Logan backed off. But he sat there with there, glaring at the men and their laptops. If looks could burn things, they’d have burnt by now, all of them Jason wanted to tell him to ease off on the guys. Their mere presence in the room was enough tension for the guys. There was no need for barking orders to get them more tensed. But he knew Logan, like himself, was tired of these sick games too like everyone else. These sick games, or war, or whatever it was had been dragged on too long. It’s been over 48hours, and Nate hadn’t been found yet. It was only safe to start preparing for the bad implication of that. Even the Monterey were beginning to lose hope in finding their cousin alive. Still, they were looking everywhere for him. Who knew who the men will go after next? Himself? His business? Evangeline? Nobody was safe.

Last night, while Evangeline slept, he had gotten out of bed to speak with James. He was scared of losing his unborn child before the little being had a chance at life. And he would die first before he’d let any harm come to Evangeline. He had instructed James to get the hired hands that night, and have the people down in Miami the very morning. A sudden shout in the room distracted him, calling him back to the present.

“It’s done” Key shouted excitedly. Beside him, stood Anderson. The two computer analysts jumped excitedly, and hug it out, while Logan stared at the system, deliciously happy. Jason walked towards them and checked the page himself.

“Now, we have all their money?” asked Jason.

“Yes, we do” chorused the two analysts.

“Undetected” added Logan “Good job guys.” Jason said, he shook hands with the men. “We can use their money to pay for their killers”

“But we get some cuts, right? They freaking stole our money” Logan pointed out “I can see there’s more than that in the account.” he smiled, “Of course, we get paid our initial cut back then. And the rest goes into protection and all.” he turned to Anderson and Key, “And you both paid too. Any extra, is for…”

“Don’t even mention that name” Logan threatened, standing to take his leave.

“Thank you.” said both Anderson and Key. And Jason waved them off with a smile.

James came in and signalled to Jason that he had something to tell him. “Guess I’ll be seeing you some other time?” he asked Logan, who stood to retrieve his suit and bag.

“Yes, I guess.” They shook hands, and the men left the room.

James closed the door firmly after them and walked towards the boss. “It seems they know we are here.” he said. “Your house was ransacked last night” he brought out pictures of the rooms after the men had ransacked the apartment. “Here.” he said, handing over the envelope.

Jason stared at his home, barely able to recognize it. His home was a mess. It didn’t look like the men were looking for anything. The place looked so out of place. “This looks more like they intentionally made a mess of my apartment.” he said, staring at another picture. This was the master suite. The room he shared with Evangeline. He shook his head, trying not to think of what would have happened had the men found him home. On closer look, he saw that his clothes were ransacked too, and there was a big hole on the wall like someone had tried breaking down the place with heavy metal. “On second thought, I think they were angry we were not home.”

“Or that they couldn’t find what they were looking for?” asked James, raising the singular question that had been running through his mind.

“You still think they were looking for something other than me and Evangeline?” Jason asked, his gaze still fixed on the pictures. He couldn’t think of what he had in his possession to make some thugs turn his home inside out.

“Yes, perhaps we should take a closer look at the things we got from back then?”

Jason looked at his chief security officer, concerned. “The files we got when my parents died?”

James nodded, “Yes, since we now know they were murdered. Maybe there’s something we missed. Something minute but could be the key to the questions we’ve been asking.”

He hoped there was too. But had gone through those files severally, if anything was there, wouldn’t he have found it all these years? “Okay, we could take a look again”

James’ approving smile was hilarious. The two men laughed briefly before he mentioned something Sam had said earlier. “Sam said he sported the cars we lost after the men went for Miss Swiss, this morning. They were heading this side.”

That got Jason’s full attention. “Where is Evangeline?”

“She’s at the penthouse.” he calmly said, “Fully guarded. And we stashed the house with weapons as you insisted”

“Good. That’s safer, anywhere we are in the house, we will know there’s some way out. That’s the idea.” checking his wristwatch, he said, “You said you have the hired men well-handled right?”

“Yes, Sloane is with them too”

“Sloane? I thought you came with Sam” Jason asked, not that Sloane wasn’t good too. But he felt comfortable when it was Sam staying with Evangeline. The man had proven himself worthy and someone to be trusted over the years. He was also better qualified than Sloane with badges of honour to his credit. But Sloane was equally matched for the post. He was his best shooter so far after James.

“Sam will join us soon. I have a lead, so he’s handling that.”

“Good, good” Jason said, absentmindedly. His mind was on somewhere else now. The way the picture looked made him worried.

“Is something bothering you?”

“Yes.” Jason said, pulling his chair closer to his system. “I need to look at similar cases to this, Mafia operations, kidnappings.”

Nodding, James pulled the chair beside his boss, got his tablet, and got to work. After some minutes of screening some cases online, he turned to his boss, who was seeing something similar. The cases showed holes on the wall, and ransacking, clothes thrown everywhere. It was just like the pictures. The men turned to each other. “If this is what I think you’re saying, the Mafia is sending you a direct message.” James said.

“But we don’t know what the message is.” Jason turned back to the screen. He punched in some similar details in the cases with his own, and he watched his mouth opened at the possible meaning Google brought. “We are coming for you?” he read out. His mind went quickly back to his last image of Evangeline when he left the room this morning. She was sprawled across the bed, almost naked. Yes, the room was stashed with guns, but she didn’t know that. Yes, there were people right now protecting her. It was true she would be protected. But why wasn’t he with her? He staggered out of his chair, picked his phone and started to dash out of the room. “Call Evangeline.” he yelled, “Now!” he barked at James again “I’m on my way.”

“Okay, okay.” shouted James, as he started to pull out his phone. The two men were seen dashing out of the office as they rushed off.

*****

His breaths came in raggedly, and slowly. Breathing was proving very difficult. He could feel himself choking on his own fluid, as it seems to fight the air that he was forcing down his throat. If he was to survive, then he needed to take in more drags of oxygen. He forced himself to breathe in strongly but ended up holding his chest in aching spasm. He coughed out the hot liquid causing the obstruction and the fluid gush out in large spurts. The liquid tasted hot and salty. And he didn’t need to see it to know that it was his blood. Still wouldn’t hurt to check. He turned around, wanting to see just how much he spat out. But his eyes ached. They weighed down heavily against his eyelids. Lifting his hand, he touched them lightly. The eyes were sore, swollen, and he was shocked at how big they were. He couldn’t even get them open. He stayed still where he was, trying to move as little as he could since his eyes wouldn’t open.

While every bone in his body ached, he tried to recall where he was and what had gotten him here. But for some reasons, his brain failed him. Trying to think proved dangerous than opening his eyes. He felt the worst migraine as he forced himself to think, and remember what had happened to him. The strong pain he felt coming from somewhere inside his head made him scream out in agony. Everywhere turned dark. And though he wanted to fight it, he could feel the peace that beaconed from the approaching darkness. With soothing relief, he welcomed the peace that came with the blackout, gratefully.

For a very long time, he stayed in that position, unmoving, barely breathing, but alive. When he came to, Nathan found he could open his eyes this time. Something also told him he might have lost consciousness for almost twenty-four hours. Everywhere was dark, and he didn’t know where he was. He moved so slowly so he wouldn’t bump into anything, or cause himself undue pain. Even though he ached much, he felt better. He could see now. His eyes opened ever so slightly, giving him enough view to check where he was.

He was on a stashed foam in a big room separated from another room, he assumed, with a thick black curtain. Something told him his abductors were in the other part of the demarcated room. It was probably midnight. He could picture them drinking, talking about their next plot, thinking he was out cold. Taking slow breathes, he leaned against the wall.

This time, remembering how he got here didn’t cause him any pain. The memory came in a hot flash, uninvited. He found himself back in his room, taking a nap. Suddenly, he awakened to a soft wrap on his door. His doctor was due that day, and he sat up straight, inviting the doctor into the room. “Come in.” he said, and the door opened. When he saw Stone march in, he hissed at the man. Since he dodged the man to go meet the Smith lady, they had not been on good terms. The guard felt he had risked his life while sabotaging help from him to go after a woman that almost got him killed. But he was more upset that he had been fooled. Nate didn’t care if the devil faced man’s pride was hurt. He wanted a new guard anyway, Gaby had insisted Stone stayed as his guard. “What are you doing in my room man?” he asked angrily.

Rather than replying, Stone covered his nose and dashed out of the room immediately.

Nate got the message loud and clear. He stunk, so does his room. For some couple of days now, he had been unable to have his bath. He was wrapped up all over, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t manage a clean wash. Just that he didn’t feel the need to. The doctor always came with a nurse to help him. they do the undressing, and cleaning up.

But he wouldn’t want them doing it grudging because of the smell. Seeing the way Stone ran out, he was better off doing some cleaning before they arrived. He got up only after making sure Stone wasn’t around and wheeled himself to the bathroom. He managed to discard the clothes, and wash as little as he could. Then he went to the room to get himself some fresh clothes.

The dirty laundry was always done by Samantha, but since no one was there with him, he grabbed the clothes and went to the machine in the back room. He put the clothes in there, added the detergent, and turned on the machine. The laundry machine squeaked, and he wondered if he did something wrong. It was the first he was using it. As he bent over the device, he heard a knock. “That must be the doctor.” he said, wheeling himself to see a clearer view as a guard opened the door. But it was three covered faces who rushed in instead. They overpowered the guards easily and came for him while he had been trying to dodge. His wheels had made it impossible to be quick enough.

The men removed their masks, and Nate swore as he stared at the man with the long slash across his face. Luke? Wasn’t that what Noah said his name was? And Jade was smiling at him. he wondered if that was even her name now. They were the ones who made this way in the first place. He got angry.

“Miss me?” Jade asked, smiling wickedly. “It’s unfortunate that we keep meeting like this”

Nate didn’t bother responding. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Stone take pictures of them. He quickly reached for Jade, pulling her like an insane man so he could buy Stone some time. Though he didn’t understand why his bodyguard chose to take pictures rather than helping him somehow. But he trusted his judgement, after all, that was his sole job; to protect him. Now, Nate wished he had not trusted the man so much. The instant he grabbed Jade, the other had hit him across the chest, sending him flying across the room. And the instant he landed, he felt the sound of his ribs cracking on the impact on the hard floor. “Damn” he cursed loudly.

He got dragged back to the spot as he saw Stone, rushing to his side got hit with metal on his forehead. Nate hissed! Why run to save me when you could have attacked? he hissed again. Stone was dragged away from him, unconscious. And he laid down, pretending to be dead. Perhaps, he would be free if found dead.

“Where are the rest of your family?” asked the ugly brother.

Nate pretended he was dead. A dead man wouldn’t talk. Holding his breath, he laid down stubbornly, refusing to reply.

“Where the fuck are your siblings?” he asked again, this time angrily.

“I think your man passed out.” the other brother said to Jade.

Jade took a step closer, smiling. She bent just enough to kiss Nate, who grabbed her head instantly, deepening the kiss, gasping for air. “He’s faint all right. He kisses now like a bull. And this one is a lion in bed” she moved away, laughing wickedly.

With his cover blown, Nate sat up straight, wincing in pain. “What is it you want with me?” he asked, then feigning ignorance on the real reason they wanted him, he slowly added, “I’m done with the girl. You can have her.”

“You honestly think this is about her” the fine brother smirked.

Jade laughed again, “He’s so stupid.” She slapped him hard. The impact of her four-ringed finger on his mouth creating another sound on their own.

Nate coughed out some blood and a tooth, wondering how they were bent on making him lose every bone in his body. He noticed some men had gone in while they dealt with him, and Stone. He heard as they shot someone; a guard. They ransacked the place, and finding nobody, came back.

“They are not here.” the men said, curtsied, and left.

“For the last time, where are they?”

“I don’t know…” he began but he got hit by the man again, and he blacked out. He had been vaguely awake as they dragged him into their car, and drove him hours to this place. And they kept torturing him, asking for his cousins. But he wasn’t going to give them that information, even if it would cost him his life. He only hoped his cousins could survive this war. He had kept waking up, only to fall unconscious after some minutes. His body was exhausted, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he lost it. He had been given no water, no food, and no treatment. They were going to kill him, that was certain. But he couldn’t figure out what they were waiting for.

Suddenly, he heard hushed voices. He watched the curtain, trying to strain his heavy eyes to catch any form of movement across the other side, but all was silent over there. He listened again, turning in surprise. The sounds were coming from behind him, not across the room. He gently turned away from the curtain, to the wall. Sure enough, the sound came from there.

“What do you mean it’s gone” shouted a man Nate realized he could hear them now only because they were almost shouting. Another man replied immediately.

“The money’s been cleared. Every single one of it”

“Fuck” said a feminine voice, hitting some hard surface.

“Then it’s safe to assume one of them have it”

“They might even be working together”

Nobody said anything again. Nate strained his ears, placing both hands on the wall, to listen again.

“They’re on to us.” said the feminine voice again. And this time, Nate was sure it was Jade. The three Smiths were in there somewhere, strategizing.

“Then we’ve got to act fast.”

Hearing shuffles, Nate realized this might be his only chance of escape. If they were distracted with some missing money, he could dash the door.

“Luke, you have to stay focused. This could be a trap. Now isn’t the time to lose grip of it” cautioned the other man.

“We have been winning so far. Only because we run the game” Jade said.

Then he heard someone corked a gun. And Nate didn’t need to look before knowing that would be Luke, and the gun was meant for him. He heard as the others in the room tried to hold him down. Quietly, he got off the bed while stifling his groans.

“We have to ask that son of a bitch where the others are. That’s where they went. To get our money” Luke barked.

Right when Luke barked angrily, Nate was running into a wooden chair. He covered his mouth to stop from groaning. He was feeling faint again. He stood, praying for the people in the other room didn’t hear the sound. He stopped moving, eyes closed tightly, waiting…

“We will. But first, let’s check our plan B. We knew they could discover us before we ended the game, and we have a plan for that” said Jade “But we never thought they could see the account, and we have no contingency for that” Luke replied stubbornly.

They didn’t hear anything. Nate wished he could stay, and listen to their plan B, but this could be his only chance. Straightening himself up, he started moving again, avoiding the chair. As he stumbled across the room, he nearly fell. He reached for the curtain and stayed a while before parting it, making sure to stay hidden. There was no movement on the other side. He peeped through the curtain, as slowly, and soundlessly as he could. If there were any men there, they were sleeping, or not in his line of vision. Feeling light-headed again, he stopped to catch his breath.

A few feet away from him, stood the door in all its glory. It was hopeless to think the door led outside to some sort of street, where once opened, he could claim freedom. He imagined this place was a house belonging to one of them, and that the room he was in was just one of many. He could open the door, and find himself in a hallway. But it was the only option. Stubbornly, he made a dash for it. As he moved, his legs weighed him down heavily. All the while, he kept listening for the shout to stop him, or some gunshot to his back. Nothing, God, nothing! He heaved in relief as he opened the door.

He was right. This was hopeless. The door led him not to any street, or highway. Instead, he found himself in a corridor. He leaned against the closed door, and breathed in and out, willing himself to stay strong. There wasn’t any sound coming from the other side, but he knew they were still debating on what to do to him. That thought got him running across the corridor like an insane man. He managed to open the door on the extreme end. He got out safely. He had made it. He jumped excitedly. And he ran, and ran, and ran. Suddenly, a blinding light on his face made him squirt about. His eyes hurt.

“You.” said Luke angrily. “Where do you think you’re going?” he laughed wickedly, rushing towards the man.

Nate saw he was intentionally flashing the light on his face, knowing it made him uncomfortable. Words failed him as his tormentor approached him. He fell, not because he felt faint this time, but because there was no escape anymore. But just as Luke bent over him, the cavalry came.

Several blinding lights were flashed in their direction. He yelled happily, as Luke, confused started towards the light. Gunshots were fired. Suddenly, Luke seeing he was outnumbered, stopped running. He turned back to him, pointing his gun at his face.

For a sloppy second, Nate froze. He had always known this could happen; the second when he was faced with death. But somehow, he didn’t think it would happen so soon. Heck, he had so many things to do. There were so many hot ladies he didn’t get to meet these few weeks since the damn war became too dangerous. He was supposed to get a yacht after the war, and have a pool party. Now, he wouldn’t be doing any of that.

“Jade wanted to do this herself” Luke laughed as Nate trembled beneath him “Well, she might be doing that with several others” he nodded at the approaching flashlights and spat out blood. The cavalry was still far. If he was going to die now, then he wasn’t leaving without a fight.

“Not a fan of my sister anymore, I see” Luke replied, eyeing the approaching men. He could have made a run for it. But nothing was guaranteed. Holding his gun over this rat was the only way he stayed safe. He backed some orders to the people inside, but they were too far away from the building. They couldn’t hear anything. He patted down his pocket, looking for his phone. It wasn’t with him.

“What did I ever do to that lady anyway?” he asked, distracting Luke while reaching for the knife Gaby had tucked in his boot. His cousin had always insisted they kept a short knife tucked somewhere safe, just in case. Although he had never been a fan of weapons, he still preferred a gun to a knife.

“Who takes a knife to a gunfight never returns, haven’t you heard that?” he had argued when Gaby suggested it. This was some days ago before they left for Miami. Gaby had come to his room, and brought out a sharp knife, handing it over to him. Nate simply looked away from the knife, refusing to take it.

“Didn’t I tell you, these…” he brought out the knives, placed them on the bed beside him. They were of different curves, and length but had one thing in common; the way they glistened. He ran his finger across the shortest one, and he bled.

“Shit” Nate gasped, “Are you insane?” he asked. Who would intentionally cut himself to prove a point if not insane Gaby? He smirked at his cousin.

Gaby had looked up and grinned. Then he licked his finger, sweetly. “As I was saying, these babies are sharp enough to do just the right amount of damage”

“I prefer my gun.” he told his cousin blandly, disinterested in whatever bodily damage the knives could do. “You could shoot from a distance and be done with it. With these, you’d have to get too close for comfort.”

“And what if you’re already too close for comfort?” he had asked, “Nate, guns get taken when you are checked. Some knives.” he held the smallest one up, “They hardly get discovered even when you are patted down. They come handy” he had insisted. And when he didn’t take it, Gaby had dropped the tiny thing in his socks. “Even when the shoe comes off, it sticks on the socks.” he explained and started to walk out of the room. “Stay safe, cousin.” Then he had changed the knife. “On second thought, take this. But be careful not to touch the blade.”

“And you’ll be helping me stay safe” Nate murmured, dragging the knife.

“What?” asked Luke.

“What did I do to her?” she repeated the question, his hands left his leg for a second, so his assailant wouldn’t see him.

“Oh, the reason she hates you?”

He shook his head. The knife was still there, sticking to the sole of his feet. His cousin had been right after all; it appears the knife would be useful. Nate watched as Luke threw his head back and laughed. He couldn’t let him alert the others.

“Oh, she never told you?” asked Luke. “Well, seeing as I’m the one here with you, I should tell it. You slept with her friends. They had a bet, you see. And you failed it. And my sister, she gat no tolerance for embarrassment.”

Nate wasn’t listening. All he heard was the last phrase. He had to say something before Luke realized he was fumbling with the knife, which was stuck behind his socks. “Embarrass?.” He managed to get the knife out, just as someone shot at Luke.

Luke pointed the gun at Nate again. “Stand down you piece of shit or I blow his fucking head off.”

Nate realized the singular mistake he made. He wasn’t looking at him. He had considered him weak, and harmless. His whole attention was on the group approaching. And while he ranted and threatened, Nate gathered all his strength and jumped at his heart. The knife was buried deeply as he could.

The shock of the expected attack, made the gun go off as Luke staggered backwards, falling. As he fell, the gun was knocked off his hand with Nate on top of him. He choked as the other man pushed the knife deeper into his chest. Surprised that even the blood seeping from his heart didn’t make him stop.

Nate smiled tiredly. He had accomplished his goal even if it hurts. He could feel the pain of the bullet’s impact on his chest. He staggered off the man beneath him. Both men clawed at their chest. But Luke was still moving rapidly away while Nate laid limping, coughing. He was reaching for the gun again, and Nate knew he couldn’t move, he couldn’t stop him. Every distance the ugly man was able to drag himself through filled Nate with dread. He could only watch as the man stretched, and grasped at the tip of the gun.

Turning to the cavalry coming, he saw they would be too late to stop his death. He turned back to the man who was now holding the gun. Rather than shooting him, he stood up, looming over him. He tried to laugh, but it only came out as dragged breaths. And just as suddenly, Luke started shaking. He clawed at his chest, trying desperately to get the knife out. He acted like someone trying to stop an itch. Then Nate remembered an incident that happened some years back.

He had walked in on Gaby cleaning his tools meticulously. His chest heaved heavily as worked. He had stayed back to watch his cousin, looking so dedicated to the job. Sweat poured out in stream down his spotted back. Leaning against the wall, he watched as Gaby held a long, well-sharpened sword up. From the surface, his cousin had seen him and glared. So he had walked around to have a good view, he stopped just in front of his cousin.

“Okay, what’s this?” he asked, reaching for one of the shiny knives.

Gaby had immediately slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch that, you fool”

Nate scoffed, “Love your slivery tools so damn much?”

But his cousin said nothing. Being a dramatic man, he sat Nate down and went to get a rabbit he had kept in the cage. “Watch and learn.” he said. Without any warning, Gaby raised his knife, and in one clean move stuck it on the rat’s stomach. It wasn’t a deep cut, but the rabbit started bleeding.

Nate remembered he had shrugged, and asked what all the drama was.

“Wait for it.” Gaby said, few seconds later, the rabbit started to shake. It went into a sporadic spasm. And then it died.

“The injury wasn’t deep.” he said, lifting the dead animal. He touched the rabbit, looking for any pulse, the tiniest movement. There was none.

“You still don’t get it?” Gaby asked.

Nate shook his head, “I don’t. Did you do something to the knife?”

“Yes, it’s poisoned. The strongest poison is extracted from some flowers in India. I just tested the potency” he smiled wickedly, “And it’s why you shouldn’t touch any shiny sword of mine. You could end up like that in seconds.”

Remembering that incident, Nate laid back then, relieved. Fucking Gaby gave me a poisoned knife! That was why he switched the knife. The one he cut himself with and no poison, but this had. He lifted his hands, waving at the men who were finally closer now. Then he heard the gunshot. Nate held his chest, staring in shock as the man beside him slumped down, dead. But he had managed to shoot before he died.

Somewhere in the distance, Gaby started screaming, shouting that his cousin holds on.