BLOODLINE 2 Episode 14 (Blood And Diamond) by Ironkurtain

BLOODLINE 2 Episode 14 (Blood And Diamond) by Ironkurtain

“Goddammit!, i told you i dont know where she is!!”, Vincent gasped painfully and spat. “Gus i swear i dont know where the hell she is”.

Gus smirked as he paced around with his hands in his pocket. “Then how did you get to know her?”, he asked. “How did you even get her number?”.

“Gus i have known this woman for quite some time”, Vincent replied.

“For how long?”.

“Long enough to know that she is not the kind of person you would wanna f@ck with…..Gus you have to believe me”.

“So you were too scared of her, that’s why you informed her about Hector’s plan?”.

Vincent stared at Gus in silence.

“Of course…..”, Gus continued and paced around. “After you called her, some of my men winded up dead in a shopping mall. The same day Hector went missing and my cousin and the man he was with, turned up dead in an abandoned loading dock”.

Vincent sighed with a downcast gaze. “Gus…..i probably did you a very big favour. If Hector had carried out that plan, things would have gotten even worse”, he muttered and looked at Gus. “That woman is very very dangerous. If you had told me about this disastrous plan of yours, i would have strongly advised you against it. You are going against someone who is part of the most feared organization in this country”.

“Who was part of the most feared organization in this country”, Gus corrected. “That, i already know my friend. But have you asked yourself if it was that same organization that wants her taken out”, he asked and looked at Vincent. “How do you think i got the info that you called her huh?”, he asked again.

Vincent stared at Gus and bowed his head again. Gus laughed and gestured at one of the men in the room; the big man who had been inflicting pain on Vincent. The man gave Vincent a mischievous sneer and left the room.

“You chose the losing side my friend”, Gus said after the man closed the door. “So you are about to know how it is to be on the losing side”, he smiled with a cold look on his face.

A minute later, the big man came back inside the place, dragging Vincent’s wife as she struggled to free herself from his powerful grip. Another man followed them with Vincent’s daughter in his arms. The little girl was crying uncontrollably as she stared at the man manhandling her mother. Abigail, Vincent’s wife, screamed when she saw the terrible bruises on her husband’s face and struggled harder. But it only attracted a hard slap to her face from the big man’s rough hand and more manhandling.

The scene before Vincent made his lips tremble and tears welling up in his eyes. Then he turned at Gus with the face of a defeated man.

“Gus….please”, Vincent begged. “Please let them go…….you can have all my businesses and money……you can take my life….please, let them go”.

Gus smiled and went over to the man carrying Vincent’s daughter. He patted the girl on her back and comforted her while the girl sobbed.

“It’s okay”, he whispered to the little girl. “Uncle Gus is just playing a game with mommy and daddy”, he smiled. “After that, mommy will leave first, then daddy will join her. Then uncle will take care of you till you are old enough”, he smirked and looked at Vincent who was breathing hard as he rubbed the little girl’s hair. “Take her to the other room”, Gus ordered the man holding the girl. The man nodded and and left the room with the Vincent daughter who started crying louder as she was being taken away.

Lucas, who had been watching what was going on in silence and with an indifferent look on his face, motioned at his men and started heading towards the door.

“Arent you gonna enjoy the show?”, Gus asked him and motioned at another man who immediately dragged a table and kept it infront of Vincent.

Lucas looked over his shoulder. “I know how you are with women. And i’m really not in the mood to watch”, he replied. “I will be in the living room……meet me there when you are done”, he muttered and left the room with two men.

Then the big man lifted Vincent’s wife up and slammed her face down on top of the table. Vincent let out a cry and cursed out loud as the other men joined and held her down firmly. Gus stood behind the woman that was sobbing and whispering something inaudible. He stared at her behind and gave Vincent a condescending smirk.

“She is beautiful, isnt she?”, Gus asked the big man.

The big man nodded with a smile and stared at Abigail with a lustful look. The other men nodded too. They already know the next order Gus will give to them. Their boss had done it several times; ordering them to take turns on their enemy’s wife again and again and again till they are done.

“I always reward people who are loyal to me my friend”, Gus continued and glanced at Vincent who was still breathing hard and putting up a futile struggle to free himself from the chair he was tied to. “These men had been loyal to me. So i have to reward them with something. I hope you do understand what i mean”.

Gus winked at Vincent and pulled up a chair at a corner of the room. He dropped his weight on it and looked at the men who stared at him with alot of eagerness. Then he smiled and nodded the go ahead.

The men immediately pounced on Vincent’s wife as Vincent let out a throaty cry. The big man wanted to go first. And was already behind the woman who stared at her husband as the man ripped her skirt to pieces and unbuckling his belt frantically.

Then Gus’ cellphone ranged. He reached for it and looked at the caller i.d. He glanced at Vincent who was weeping and telling his wife that he was sorry. And at the big man who was about to start raping Vincent’s wife.

“Hello?”, he began after pressing the answer button.

“Getting really busy huh?”, it was Nina’s voice.

Gus immediately snapped his fingers at the men as one was about to penetrate another man’s wife.

“Hello Nina….how are you doing?”, Gus said coolly and gestured at the men to stop. “Oh i heard what happened to you. I’m very sorry that i didnt call because i was very busy”.

“It’s okay, beside i wouldnt have answered if you did because i too was very busy”, Nina said. “We all have been very busy”.

“So why are you calling me?, especially now that i’m in a middle of a very interesting game”, Gus asked and stared at Vincent who was staring at him and glancing at the men who were still holding down his wife.

“Actually i called because of that interesting game of yours”, Nina replied. “I want it to stop”.

“Hm…..what you are asking is kind of hard to do”, Gus grunted as he moved his weight on his seat. “Especially now that it is getting really interesting”.

“Well it’s me that you want, isnt it?”.

“Alot of people want you Nina, especially now that you are no longer riding with the crew of the untouchables”.

“Yeah alot of people want me…..but i’m the one with your cash…..and printing plates”.

Gus immediately got up from his seat and glanced at Vincent.

“Gus, just let the man and his family go then i will give you back all your money and printing plates”, Nina then said to him.

Gus smiled thoughtfully as he paced around with the cellphone earpiece still pressed against his ear. “So how do you intend to make that happen?”, he asked and looked at Vincent’s wife who was whispering something; a silent prayer with her eyes shut tight.

“You tell me…….as long as you gonna let them go after the deal is done”, Nina replied.

Gus nodded with a pursed lip and looked at Vincent. “Okay then, this is what’s gonna happen. I will keep his wife and kid here in this place and i will take him to go meet you where the exchange will happen”, he said.

“Why keep his wife and kid there?”, Nina demanded.

“Let’s just say as an insurance. Incase you wanna try anything funny”, Gus replied. “My men will watch over them. So if you in anyway try to make any funny move on me, or even show up late at the meeting place, i will make him listen to his wife and sweet daughter being cut to pieces. Then i will kill him”, he warned. “I hope you got that?”, Gus asked

“Understood”, Nina replied.

“Good…..i want you to bring my cash and those printing plates and wait for me near the Red hills, off Route 82 highway. I will meet you there”.

Nina responded in the affirmative and ended the phone conversation. Gus smiled and looked at the men who were now grumbling in low tone because they already knew that they wont be having a taste of the woman they are holding down on the table.
“You are one lucky son of a b!tch”, Gus said and looked at Vincent. “The woman really like you alot as to be willing to stake her life for your freedom”, he smiled. “Take her to where her daughter is and watch over them”, Gus ordered. “Put him in the car trunk. We will be going for a ride with him and also alert the rest”, he continued and then left the room.

The big man who still standing behind Vincent’s wife, adjusted his cloths with a scowl on his face. Then he stared at Vincent’s wife behind for a few moments and looked at Vincent. He sneered and gently caressed the woman’s behind as he stared at Vincent with a smirk on his face. And chuckled when Vincent glared at him with alot of anger in his eyes. Then the big man gestured at the other men and they started carrying out their boss orders.

************************************************

“Did you track their location?”, Nina asked Chris.

“Yep…..”, Chris nodded and glanced at Esther who quietly walked into the dining place, carrying a tray with three cups of coffee. “A mansion at Pearl Estate…….house number 206”, he said, staring at the screen of his laptop and working his fingers on the keyboard.

“Pearl Estate?”, Esther placed a cup of coffee infront of Chris after giving one to Nina. “That place is a high class neighborhood”, she said and held her own cup in both hands with her eyes on the laptop screen. “And you would think the leaders of these savages would probably be living among them in rough neighborhoods”.

“No one eats or sleeps where they sh!t”, Nina said and took a sip from her cup of coffee.

“Well is there anyway we can see what’s going on in Gus house so as to go take a big sh!t there”, Eric’s voice came out of the speakers of the cellphone on the table. “Good morning mom”, he then greeted.

“Good morning son”, Esther and Nina replied at the same time.

Esther sighed and shook her head while Nina eyed her.

“For us to know what’s going on in there, we need to have eyes in that place”, Chris then said and distracted both women that were staring at each other like they are about to start an argument. “Like cameras…..”, he muttered and worked his fingers on the keyboard. Windows popped up and disappeared in the laptop screen as he did so. “…..And there are some security cameras in that neighborhood”.

“But they are for the street view”, Alex voice said.

“Oh we will be needing those ones too. I am talking about cameras in the mansion”, Chris said. “A company called Setkom provides security services for the entire house in that area”, he looked at Nina. “One of the services include being able to view what’s going on inside and around your house wherever you are, through your cellphone or tablet device”, he smiled.

“But Setkom is one of the biggest security company in this country”, Nina noted. “Do you think you can hack into their system?”, she asked with furrowed eye brows.

“I already did”, Chris said coolly and smiled at the woman.

Nina and Esther glanced at each other and stared at Chris in amazement.

“I designed that security software”, he continued. “I presented it to them but they said it wasnt good enough. Only to later find out that they were using it in their computer system”, Chris pursed his lips and looked away with a some anger in his eyes. Then he faced the laptop screen. “I’m beginning to like this job that i am doing”, he moved his index finger to the’Enter’ button on the keyboard. “Aaaaand……”, he clicked the button. “……we are now watching them live”, he smiled and reclined in his seat.

Several windows appeared on the screen of the laptop. Each showing a clear view of the activities going on in and around Gus house.

“We can also control the cameras”, Chris added and clicked on one window; the one that showed the activities going on infront of the house. “But we gotta be very careful not to let them notice the camera’s strange movements”.

Nina and Esther watched the screen keenly as Chris moved the cameras by taping a button on the keyboard. Then Nina placed her cup of coffee on the table and headed towards one of the bedrooms.

“Alot of men”, Esther murmured. She sounded a little bit concerned as Chris rotated all the cameras that showed every part of Gus mansion and the scrappy looking men moving around the place. “Alot of scary looking men”, Esther murmured again.

“Yeah….and alot of mob cars”, Chris nodded. “It’s like there is some kind of a gangland committee going on there”.

“That’s Lucas men”, Nina said and dropped a duffle bag on the dining table. She has changed to an all black outfit.

“Where are you going?”, Esther asked and ran her eyes from the tight fitted black tee shirt Nina was wearing to the black Timbaland boots.

Nina ignored the question and unzipped the duffle bag with a dead serious look on her face. And started taking out it contents; automatic weapons and magazines. She took them out one by one and placed them on the table.

“I thought you were going to deliver the….printing plates to Gus”, Chris said quietly as he stared at the guns; two cold black carbon steel koch and heckler ump 45 submachine guns, a stainless steel desert eagle semi auto pistol, other automatic ‘hand cannons’ that he was too scared of looking at and two wicked looking knives with serrated blades that gave him cold chills.

“I’ve decided to go to work”, Nina muttered without looking at Chris or Esther, after a minute of inspecting the weapons in silence.

“Work?”, Esther was flabbergasted. “What kind of work are you going to with all these things….?”, she pointed at the weapons. “…..and you dressed like you are going to some battlefield?”.

Nina smirked and picked up stainless steel Desert eagle. “Stop pretending as if you dont know what i do”, she said to Esther as she held the weapon close to her ear and cocked several times. “These are my work tools”, Nina dropped the ‘deagle’ on the table and gestured at the other guns.

“Of course i know what you do”, Esther said. “But you just woke up from a coma about three days ago and you are still recovering from near fatal gunshot wounds”, there was alot of concern in Esther’s voice. “If those men dont kill you, your condition could!”.

“I know….”, Nina started loading the gun magazines with hollow point bullets. That’s why i’m wearing my funeral cloth”, she pointed at her all black outfit.

Esther and Chris glanced at each other and stared at Nina. They were lost for words as Nina loaded up the weapons and proceeded to pack them back into the bag.

Nina zipped up the bag and then looked at them as she slung it over her shoulder. “Keep me updated on every movements made by Gus and Lucas and their men”, Nina said to Chris and then walked out of the dining room, heading towards the living room front door.

“What the hell is going on there?”, said Eric’s voice from the cellphone speakers.

“It’s one of your mothers”, Chris sighed, staring at the door Nina closed behind her after walking out of the house. “She wants to go to work”, he continued.

“Who?”, the voice demanded but Chris didn’t answer the question. He continued staring at the door thoughtfully while Esther shook her head.

“Every time i start liking someone, they start looking for a way to end up dead”, Esther muttered and still shaking her head with a downcast gaze.

“Then i guess you like me too”, Chris said to her.

“What?”, Esther furrowed her eyebrows at Chris.

Chris got up and closed the lid of his laptop. He told Eric he will call him back later and ended the phone call before anyone could understand what Eric’s protesting voice was saying. Then he hurriedly grabbed his laptop and its black bag, and rushed out of the dining place. Esther could hear him say, “what the hell are you doing”, as he exited the house.

“Hello…..Titus, it’s me….Nina”, Nina spoke on the cellphone mouthpiece as she tossed the duffle bag at the back seat and closed the door of the Hyundai Genesis. She listened to the voice rasping out of the earpiece for a few seconds and wrinkled her nose to the ‘New car’ smell that hit her nostrils. The car must have undergone some after-service repairs and replacements. “Well, you can see they didn’t succeed in taking me out and that’s why i called you”, she continued and buckled her seatbelt. “I want a favour from you cos you you owe me alot it”, then she paused listened again. “I dont care if today is a public holiday and……and tell that woman in bed with you to stop complaining, she will get her pleasuring another time. And you better get your ass out of bed right now”.

Then Nina glanced around the car while listening to sounds and voices coming out of the cellphone earpiece. She placed the other hand on the wood-grain steering wheel and stared at her bandaged arm. She balled her fist and stared at the arm, wondering if the limb was still good to bring pain.

Then a rasping sound brought her attention back to the phone conversation.

“Okay…this is what i want you to do”, Nina began. “I want you to get dressed…..”, she paused. “….in your work cloths of course!…..get the company car and drive to Pearl estate. Then you wait for me there”, then she paused and listened. “Good…..very good”, she nodded with a smile of satisfaction. “I will call you when i get there…..and please, also bring….that thing”.

Nina ended the phone conversation with a faint smile and slipped the device inside her pocket. Then she slided the car key into the ignition switch and reached for the car start button after turning it. As her finger was about to press the button, the front passenger door opened. Chris slided into the seat and shut the door without looking at Nina. After staring ahead for a few seconds and seemingly unsure of what he was doing, he turned his face at Nina and his eyes met those cold eyes of hers that was staring at him with a funny look on her face. Both of them stared at each other for almost a minute before Nina looked away with a sneer.

“Would you mind giving me a good explanation why you are in this car?”, Nina then demanded.

“I’m going”, Chris muttered with an uncertain tone in his voice.

“What?”, Nina scoffed.

“I said i’m going with you”, Chris said again, this time with some boldness.

Nina chuckled. “Sorry kid, you are in the wrong vehicle”, she muttered and looked away.

“There is only one vehicle leaving the house”, Chris countered.

“Well, this one is going to the place where a violent scrimmage with some thorough men gonna happen”, Nina reminded him.

“I know”, Chris agreed. “That’s why i’m going with you. You need eyes in that place. A very good and intelligent one for that matter”.

“That hardly count in this kind of showdown and i didnt say i’m going blind”.

“You dont always just need excessive amount of brute strength and good trigger fingers to take on the big bad guys. You also need intelligent people too”, Chris looked at Nina as he tried to convince her to take him. “Havent you heard of……”,

Nina cut Chris short by raising a hand to his face. “Son…..”, she began with her eyes closed. “The last thing i want now is a long, unnecessary debate”, then she moved the hand to the car start button and pushed it. “You are old enough to know that this situation is not some cartoon comic where the characters always come to life again. If you wanna die young, be my guest”.

The engine of the Genesis roared to life. “But please stay quiet and only talk if i ask you questions”, Nina warned and put on a dark shades. “I wont repeat myself again”.

Then she hit the gas pedal and worked the steering wheel, screeching the car out of the house driveway and into the street. Chris shaky hands struggled to buckle his seatbelt as he also tried to get hold of his laptop that almost fell off from his laps as the car raced away.

************************************************

“I hope your boys are ready to do this?”, Gus asked Lucas who was sitting on the leather sofa and staring at the burning end of his Cuban cigar.

Lucas smirked. “Are your boys ready?”, he asked, taking off his cold and calculative eyes from the cigar and shifting them to Gus.

Gus looked at the men in the living room. There are ten of them, all grim-faced and putting on bulletproof vests and loading up automatic assault rifles with high calibre rounds.

“They always stay ready”, Gus smiled as he watched the men put on their gears.

“I hope you are right about this woman”, Lucas put the cigar in between his thick lips and majestically took a drag. “She said she’s coming for the exchange?”, he asked and blew a cloud of smoke in Gus direction.

“She gave me her word”, Gus replied.

Lucas smirked and took another drag. “So i guess it’s payback time for you”, he smiled and exhaled the smoke out of his lungs. “And for me”, he muttered quietly and pursed his lips.

Then men made their last inspections of their weapons and one of them stepped forward.

“Lock and loaded sir”, he said to Gus.

“Well….lets go”, Gus said and looked at Lucas. “Lets go kill that f@cking bitch and everyone down with her”.

All the men proceeded to leave the living room with Gus following them behind. Then Gus paused in his movement and stared at the mini bar with a rather suspicious look on his face. There’s a camera well hidden behind the numerous bottles that gives him a clear view of his living room whenever he’s not around. He thought he saw the red light blink as he was about leave. Probably not, he thought again after staring at place for some seconds and then left to join the others outside.

Lucas dangled the cuban cigar in between his thick lips and stared at the armed men with Gus standing by his side. He moved his keen eyes from one man to another, both his and Gus men. The hefty grim looking men remained silent and they stared back at the two bosses, fingers on the trigger of their hammer with an ‘eager to go do harm’ sinister looks on their faces.

Lucas carefully studied the men who were twenty in number and nodded slowly with his nostrils breathing out the smoke in his lungs.

“I hope you guys have gotten well acquainted to each other”, Lucas began and glanced at each and every one of the men. “Because you all gonna be working together in this mission. So whatever differences any of you have with another person here should be thrown out of the window”, he said with alot of authority. “This subject we are going after is of utmost importance. And this subject being alive and free, means having hands in our money pockets”, then Lucas paused while some of the men scoffed at those last words. “That’s a total disrespect…… especially to goons like us”, he then continued. “So if you all dont wanna stay starving, then you all gotta stay alert on this ride and shoot at anything that agrees with this subject……you boys understand?!”.

“Yes sir!!”, the men roared out.

“Good”, Gus nodded his head with a smile. “Now lets ride”, he said.

The men immediately started boarding the black SUVs and van. Gus and Lucas headed towards one of the SUVs; a black Cadillac Escalade. As both men boarded the vehicle, Gus paused and looked at the car that had Vincent in its trunk. He smirked and turned to slip into the back seat of the SUV. Then he paused again. And turned his eyes to the cctv camera that was pointing at his direction. He stared at the camera suspiciously with slightly furrowed eyebrows.

“Are you going or what?”, Lucas, who was staring at him from inside the SUV asked.

“Yeah”, Gus replied and slipped into the backseat and sat beside Lucas. But he still has his eyes on the camera as the vehicle rolled out of the high walled mansion.

************************************************

“So what is the present situation in Gus place?”, Eric asked.

“Alot of men…..alot of big scary men, all literally wearing weapons”, Chris’ voice came out of the car speakers. “Now they are riding out in a convoy of three SUVs, one van and one sedan vehicle. Gus and the leader of the so called large gang are riding in one”.

“You mean large team”, Alex corrected.

“What about Vincent?”, Eric asked again.

“He is in the trunk of the sedan car, tied up”, Chris replied. “And Gus left ten armed men in the mansion to guard Vincent’s wife and his daughter”.

“What about mother?”.

“Chris is riding shotgun with me”, Nina’s voice answered the question. “We are now heading to Pearl Estate”.

“She is heading to Gus’ place”, Suzanne muttered.

“Perfect”, Alex muttered.

“What?, i thought your plan involves negotiating with Gus?”, Eric asked.

“The plan was to negotiate with Gus so as to buy some time for Vincent and his family”, Alex replied. “I didn’t say we will be keeping our end of the bargain”, Alex smiled.

“What if Gus finds out?. He could kill Vincent or order his men to kill his wife”, Eric protested.

“That’s why i’m heading to his place”, Nina’s voice said.

“And we will be going to where Gus wants to meet our mother for the exchange”, Alex said.

“Perhaps meet them on their way to the place and rescue Vincent”, Suzanne suggested. “They are the ones with men with alot guns. And they are not expecting any action till they reach the place”.

“Alex nodded as he stared at Suzanne with a smile on his face. “And there is only one person very good at unleashing bloody mayhem”, he said and looked at Eric. “So is there any guerilla warfare tactics you might wanna share with us?”, he asked his twin brother.

Eric glanced at Alex and asked, “mother are you sure you can handle those men in the mansion?”.

“Dont worry about me son, just tell them what you have in mind”, was Nina’s answer.

“Okay then”, Eric began with a nod. “Chris, can you track all the cars in the convoy?”, he asked.

“Yeah”, Chris replied. “From the model of the cars and year manufactured, they all have a built in tracking device. So i will just capture their signals…..and also use the street cameras to know exactly where they are if they make a stop”.

“Okay….mother i want you to only make a move on my go”, Eric said to Nina and she answered in the affirmative.

Then Eric looked out of the car window and saw an autobike repair shop. “Do you have a credit card on you?”, he asked and looked at Alex.

With a quite confused look on his face, Alex reached for his wallet and pulled out a platinum credit card.

“Do you intend to buy a bike?”, Alex snorted as he handed the card to Eric.

“That’s what i intend to do”, Eric smiled. He slipped the card into his pocket and got out of the car after telling them to wait for him.

The yellow mini van quietly rolled into the parking lot and interrupted the four big men in their discussions. They turned their attention to the vehicle that was painted with a cleaning company logo and watched keenly as it grinded to a halt in one of the parking spaces. A man wearing a brown overall janitor khaki wear, quietly got out of the van. He glanced at their direction and casually walked to the back of the vehicle. The big men glanced at each other with a lot curiosity written on their faces and then stared at the man as he opened the trunk of the car and brought out a bag, two mops and some containers of cleaning detergents. The men saw what he was doing and glanced at each other again with a confused look on their faces. Apart from the journalist who came to interview their boss, they weren’t expecting anyone else , especially a janitor because the day was a public holiday.

Then one of the big men motioned at the other three and they immediately started heading towards the janitor while he touched the Bluetooth earpiece on his left ear. And walked away to go make an inspection in the parking lot.

The janitor turned and saw the three big men approaching him. He gave them a friendly smile and continued unloading his cleaning equipments from the back of the van.

“Good morning”, the janitor began nervously, his face still bearing the friendly smile as the three big men surrounded him. “I hope everything is okay?”, he asked.

The smell of alcohol made one of the men to wrinkle his nose. “You are not suppose to be here”, he said to the janitor. “You have to pack up your things and leave immediately”, he ordered.

The janitor glanced at the men with a confused look on his face. “But…i…have to go to work”, he stammered and gestured at the cleaning detergents and bucket he had taken out of his van.

“He must have been drinking last night and forgot that today is a public holiday”, another big man whispered to the others and they all sneered.

“I…..work here”, the janitor stammered again with a highly intimidated look on his face as he stared at the three big men towering over him. “I….think i have my i.d card here”, he slowly felt his back and side pockets and then unzipped his overall to reach for the inner pocket.

Then one of the big men stepped forward and placed a hand on the janitor’s shoulder as the man searched for his i.d. “Mister, you have to leave…..now”, the big man said to the janitor coldly. “Today is a public holiday and here is strictly out of bound. So you have to pack up your stuff and go”.

With a hand still tucked inside his overall, the janitor glanced at the big hand resting on his shoulder and smiled. Then with a flash, he pulled out a handgun fitted with a silencer from inside his overall and pushed the barrel against the big man’s chest. And pulled the trigger.

Three slugs ripped holes on the big man’s back as they made their exit after going through his big chest and heart. The big man groaned and his big body collapsed to the ground. The other two immediately reached for their weapons tucked inside the suit jacket. But they weren’t fast enough as the janitor swung the pistol at them and sent multiple slugs that put them down with ugly holes in their chests and heads. Then the janitor ducked behind one of the concrete pillars in the parking place. He made a careful glance around the place with his weapon pointed. Seeing that the fourth guy havent noticed what just happened to his colleagues, the janitor reached inside his overall wear and took out a signal jamming device. He switched it on and tucked it back into his pocket. And then moved swiftly, hiding in the dark spots and taking cover behind the concrete pillars of the parking place.

The fourth man took out his earpiece to inspect it. He had pressed it several times to radio out a message , but wasnt getting an answer…..or any sound. Then he turned back to go see what the other three men were up to with the janitor.

“F@ck!”, he cursed under his breath and pulled out his handgun when he saw the three men lying motionless on the floor. The janitor was no where to be found.

The man threw the earpiece away and immediately grabbed the two-way radio clipped to his waist-belt. “We have a code red situation!….i repeat, we have a code red situation!”, he bawled and frantically glanced around the parking lot.

Hearing nothing but a crackling static sound from the speaker of the radio, the man cursed under his breath again. He raced towards the glass door of the elevator lobby with his weapon in a ‘ready-to-fire’ position and glancing around with alot of caution as he did so.

“There is a breach in……”, the man began as he pushed the door open and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw two lifeless bodies lying in the pool of their own blood. The bodies of the elevator lobby guards and both were riddled with bullets.

The big man took off his dark shades and threw it on the floor. He tightened his grip on his weapon and slowly paced towards the bodies of his colleagues. As he bent down to check on them, he heard a sound behind him; perhaps a movement. He made a quick turn, but wasnt quick enough as stunning blow hit him and made him to lose his balance. He got hit again and his handgun got knocked out of his hand.

With a quick movement the big man then rolled away to avoid further onslaughts and got up wildly to faced his opponent. And saw that his assailant was the janitor.

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall”, the janitor began and kicked away the big man’s handgun that was lying on the floor. “Sir, you and your colleagues are really doing a shamefully poor job in protecting your boss”, he mocked the man. “The old man should have hired better security and bodyguards”.

This made the big man to rush at the smaller man, like Goliath coming at David with full force. The janitor calmly balled his fist and hit the big man with a swift and hard punch to jaw after dodging the big fist thrown at him. Another swift left and right hook delivered to the big man’s gut knocked the wind out of him. Then the janitor fell the man with an uppercut.

The visibly dazed big man got up wildly again and made another move on his smaller but seemingly tougher opponent. But his opponent put him down again with a right overhand punch that dislocated his jaw. A left and right hook to the guts that put a hurt on his internal organs, followed by a ferocious stomp that landed on his right ankle and dislocated the joints. Then another powerful right hook to the side and the big man groaned painfully when the blow impacted and snapped some ribs.

The blows that came in quick succession with the broken ankle made the big man’s leg to buckle. He drop on one knee. The janitor dazed him again with a left hook and swung a wicked knee kick that bloodied the man’s face. Then the janitor moved behind the man and pulled out a thin metal wire from the sleeve of his overall. He wrapped it around the big man’s neck and pulled until the big man stopped struggling.

“Too bad you chose the wrong profession sir”, the janitor muttered and released his grip on the metal wire.

Then he bent over his dead victim and proceeded to search the man’s pockets. He took out a card from one of them. After examining the card with a satisfied look on his face, he got up, picked up a bag lying near the lobby exit door and headed towards one of the elevator.

“Six down….three more to go”, he murmured to himself and pushed the elevator button. “I hope the old man will be glad to see me……again”, he sighed as he waited for the elevator to arrive.

The elevator arrived. The janitor loaded his handgun and removed the silencer. And entered after the door slided open with a determined look on his face. As the elevator made its ascent to its new destination, another vehicle rolled into the parking lot. A black van.

***********************************************

A knock on the expensive mahogany door broke the long silence in the plush office. It made the old man to lift his eyes from the knuckles of his clasped hands, resting on the chrome finished surface of his desk. He gave the door a brief gaze and nodded at his two bodyguards standing beside the door. They nodded back respectfully and one of them proceeded to open the door, while the other remained alert with his hand close to the concealed weapon in his black suit jacket.

The old man got up and quietly paced to the office window behind him with one hand holding his walking stick and the other hand tucked inside the pocket of his suit jacket. With his back slightly hunched, he stared at the activities going on below from his executive office on the thirtieth floor of the thirty storey building that belonged to him. The office that was only meant for meeting high profiled guests.

“Sir, they are here”, the big man who brought Lisa and Diana from the lobby, ushered both women into the office and left immediately.

Diana smiled at the two “no nonsense” looking bodyguards standing beside the door and glanced around the spacious and expensively decorated office. She did so with few silent ‘wows’ escaping from her lips while Lisa cautiously followed the nun into the old man’s executive office. She too was dazzled by the office that speaks of spectacular opulence. But she was more concerned about her present situation; what she just found out and what the old man’s reaction might be. It could be good……or it could be very bad, and even terrible especially if what Diana had told her happens to be false. She just hoped that everything goes well so as to prevent any unnecessary bloodshed.

“Oh my God……Eric”, Lisa gasped when she remembered that Eric had told her what he intends to do to his grandfather. This prompted her to reach for her cellphone. “Oh God!”, she gasped again when she remembered that she left her cellphone and handbag with the two bodyguards at the ground floor lobby.

“Miss Lisa Richards”, the old man began without looking at the visitors in his office. “This is our first meeting….and i’m already having a bad impression about you”, he continued as his eyes followed the activities going on down below. “I am a very strict man…..and you were given a strict order to come alone. So why did you disobey it?”, he asked, still watching the activities going on outside the building.

“Even if it means bringing me here?”, Diana asked.

The old man heard the voice and gasped with furrowed eyebrows. He slowly turned his head to where the voice came from and his walking stick fell off from his hand when he saw Diana.

“Hello Cantona”, Diana smiled weakly at the old man who stared at her like he saw ghost. “It’s been a long time, huh?”, she continued and paced towards him.

The old man immediately went over to Diana with quick strides and stood infront of her, staring at her and unable to say anything. Then Diana got closer and slowly raised her hand to his face. The old man shut his eyes and gently exhaled deeply when Diana’s hand touched his face.

“After all these years, you are still as handsome as you were the first time i set my eyes on you”, Diana muttered with a faint smile on her face as she hand travelled from the old man’s face down to his shoulders. “And still strong”.

The old man opened his eyes and snapped his fingers at the two bodyguards standing beside the door. They immediately left the office without saying any words. Lisa glanced at them as they left and then turned her attention to the old man as he got hold of Diana’s hand and held it gently, staring at it like it was something very precious. A faint smile formed on her lips when the old man immediately wrapped his arms around Diana and both of them got locked in a tight passionate hug.

“God….if this is a dream, please dont let me wake up”, the old man murmured deeply and gave Diana a passionate kiss on her cheek.

Diana did the same. “It’s not a dream my dear”, she said. “It is not a dream”.

They remained in each other’s warm embrace for several minutes, whispering words to each other. Then Diana suddenly pushed the old man away with a rather angry look on her face.

“And for heaven’s sake Cantona!”, Diana began irritatedly and turned away from the old man. “What in the devil’s name are you doing?”, she asked with a crossed look on her face and started pacing around the office.

“What do you mean?”, the old man replied with his arms still held up and a confused look on his face.

“This….war that you are still waging with the Philips family”, Diana said. “I thought it ended long ago when Andrew died”.

The old man sighed and shook his head with a downcast gaze. “No, it didnt end. Infact, it only began after that fool died….and to this day i still wish that his death was brought upon him by my own hands”, he looked at Diana. “So the war never ended. Not after what he did to us”, the old man added with a bit of anger in his voice.

“Oh……”, Diana pursed her lips and nodded. “So what did he do to you that made you to have so much anger in your heart?”, she asked and got behind the old man’s desk. “Why are you still holding on to this grudge after all these years?”, she asked again and sat on the old man’s swiveling chair.

“That man killed…….”, the old man began immediately and paused. Then he shook his head with a faint smile. “I thought he killed you……even after making a deal with him to let you go”, he muttered.

“Well you can see that i’m not dead”, Diana said.

“Yeah, after almost….half a century. But all these years why didnt you……”, the old man began.

“Whatever….we will talk about that later”, Diana waved her hand and interrupted him. “So what else did he do to you?”, she asked

“Aww come on Diana, have you forgotten how he tried so hard to bring us down?”, the old man protested.

“Cantona, we were gangsters and he was the lawman. He was only doing his job”, Diana chuckled and felt the chrome surface of the desk with her palms.

The old man sighed. He pursed his lips and slowly paced back and forth with a thoughful expression on his face, while the nun took a reclined position in the seat and stared at him. Lisa was still standing on the same spot and watching the both of them in silence. And they seemed to have forgotten about her presence.

“He killed our good friend, Robert”, the old man broke the short silence that have taken over the office. He sat on the chair infront of Diana with a grunt and rested his elbows on the desk. “And i think he also killed Brandon because of something he did. Something he did for me”, he muttered with his eyes staring at his clenched fist.

“Something?”, Diana smirked. “You mean Brandon killing the key witness who was going to give a testimony in court that would have put you in jail forever. And the witness not appearing in court made the judge who had some serious grudges against you to only sentence you to two years imprisonment”, she stated.

The old man lifted his eyes and stared at Diana for a short while with a surprised look on his face. “How did you know all these thing?”, he asked quietly.

Diana smirked and looked away. “Brandon didnt kill any key witness”, she said and looked at the old man with a serious look on her face. “Brandon was the key witness…and he was the one that killed Robert who was, by the way, never our good friend”. Then she lean forward and also rested her elbow on the table. “Brandon and Robert wanted to bump us out of the gang so as to take over the operations. So they made their plans on how to eliminate us”.

“What?”, the old man stared at Diana with confusion written all over his face.

“Yeah”, Diana continued. “But Brandon got greedier because he wanted everything for himself”, So he made a different plan, with the then commissioner of police. A corrupt and greedy fool who also wanted a share of the money we were making”. Diana paused and took a deep breath. She exhaled gently and drummed her fingers on the table.

Lisa stared at Diana fingers as she did so. The rhythm of her drumming was similar to that of Eric’s whenever he drummed his fingers.

“After my supposed death and you being detained, the police raid that was carried out in one of our safe houses was orchestrated by Brandon and some of the commissioner’s men”, Diana then said, still drumming her fingers, but in a slower rhythm. “That’s when he killed Robert and the other men who were there. I heard he did it executional style”, she scoffed. “All those times he visited you in jail, he had a tape recorder on him. He was trying to make you say things; incriminating things. Being unable to get any, he decided to appear in court to testify against you. So Andrew killed him”, Diana looked at the old man. “Andrew killed him so as to save you from spending your entire life in prison”, she said.

The old man thought for a while. “I guess it was Andrew who told you all these things”, he sneered.

Diana nodded.

“I know you can do better than believing the words of the man who spent his entire lifetime trying to bring us down”, the old man scoffed. “From the battlefields of the civil war to the streets of Easthill, that man had always been coming at us with the intention to do harm”.

Diana sighed. “Andrew was just angry. That’s why he did what he did”, she muttered.

“Angry about what?”, the old man was confused again. “Is there something you are not telling me?”, he demanded.

Diana sighed again and looked at the old man. “He was like….a brother to me”, she said to him.

“Like a brother?”, the old man gasped and stared at Diana with his mouth open. “But……but i thought you said you were an orphan and had no family?”, he asked.

“Yes i was an orphan. But it was Andrew’s family that took care of me and we saw ourselves as brother and sister”, Diana replied. “We grew up and……and he wanted to be more than just a brother to me”, she smiled weakly.

“You mean that he was in love with you?”, the old man chuckled.

“Yes”, Diana replied. “He wanted us to be engaged. Then the civil war broke out, i fought for the side that brought death to his family…..and started living a life that was against his family principles. The same family that raised me”, she muttered and glanced at the old man. “Andrew survived the Bridgemont ambush because i didnt pull the trigger when i had him on my sights. I let him live”, then Diana laughed. “The funny thing is, while i had my rifle pointed at his heart, he was asking me….begging me to run away with him so that the both of us can go somewhere else and start a new life. But i told him that my heart was already taken by another man”, she looked at the old man. “Another better man”.

The old man nodded thoughtfully. “So that’s why he wanted to bring me down so bad”, he muttered.

“He just wanted to show me that he was the better man”, Diana said.

“Well, he failed. And quite miserably if you ask me”, the old man grunted and moved his weight on his seat. “Even if we live to be a thousand years old, he will still fail…..miserably”.

“That’s what i thought, till you started this….new hobby of yours with his son…..and our daughter”, Diana said with some anger in her voice.

The old man scoffed and turned his eyes away. “Well….i wouldnt want an enemy to…….wait”, the old man furrowed his eyebrow and looked at Diana. “Our daughter?, is Nina your own daughter?”,

BLOODLINE 2 Episode 14
#OpraDre

Drop your comment