BLOODLINE 2 Episode 16 (Blood And Diamond) by Ironkurtain

BLOODLINE 2 Episode 16 (Blood And Diamond) by Ironkurtain

“Guys……i think we have a problem”, Chris said as alerts flashed on the screen of his laptop.

He worked his fingers on the keyboard and monitored the windows that popped up on the screen as he did so. Then he reclined and sighed.

“It’s like you guys stirred up a bee hive. The city’s entire police force are on the move”, Chris said nervously. “They even have helicopters and SWAT teams with them”.

“That’s a f@cking problem”, Alex voice agreed. “And the car is shot up and ridden with bullet holes. The cops gonna be asking questions if they set their eyes on it”,

“This is strange”, Chris muttered and took a closer look at one of the windows. “Four police squad cars just stopped at the third Eastern river bridge while the rest are heading towards Route 82”, he said and monitored the window that showed all the street CCTV footages of the area. “They seem to be setting up a roadblock. Why would they be doing that in the bridge that is miles away from Route 82?”.

“Any idea why they are in that bridge?”, Nina’s voice asked.

“I have no idea but i will keep an eye on them”.

“Anything else?”.

“Yeah…..there is something odd about Lucas’ SUV”, Chris muttered quietly as he watched the signal showing the car position of the car and it seemingly erratic movement. Then he worked on the keyboard and used the street CCTV the car passed to capture the front of the vehicle. “Guys…..”, Chris began as he studied the recordings, frame by frame. “Did any of you happen to kill Lucas?”, he asked.

“Nope…..Gus would also be dead if we killed Lucas”, Alex voice replied. “Why?”, he asked.

“Gus is doing the driving and he is the only occupant in car”, Chris said. “And he looks quite desperate. What happened to the rest?”, he asked.

“The fate of all greedy bastards is what happened to them”, Nina’s voice replied. “Gus must have survived whatever standoff they might have had because he was quicker and a very ruthless bastard who wouldn’t hesitate to act”.

“So you are saying that Gus killed Lucas?”, Alex asked with a baffled voice. “Anyway, he just made our job easier…..now we have only one person to deal with”, he continued.

“But you guys still have to deal with the cops that are swarming all over the place”, Chris said with some concern. “And i’m sure that the people who witnessed the showdown are providing them with alot of good informations”.

Suzanne thought for a short while as she drove the car. “We have to get rid of this car”, she then said and looked at Alex.

“Good….”, Alex nodded. “And then what?, flag down a taxi?”, he asked with a chuckle.

“No….we jack one”, Suzanne replied.

“We what?”.

“Chris can you tell us where we can find the nearest taxi”, Suzanne ignored the question and said to Chris.

After a few seconds of silence, Chris said, “There is a taxi approaching from the street ahead of you guys. The one on the left”.

Suzanne immediately made a wild turn when the approached the street, causing other cars to screech to halt and swung the car into the road. She brought the car to a screeching halt infront of the first taxi that was approaching them and immediately jumped out of the car. Pulling out her handguns, she rushed to the side of the cab as the taxi driver blared the horn and protested out loud.

“Sir i need this car”, she said to the man who involuntarily raised his hands on seeing the Llamas.

Alex also got out of the car to assist in the “jacking”. But when he saw the driver, he paused with a furrowed eyebrow.

“John?”, Alex began when he recognized the face of the man behind the wheel.

“Hey Alex!”, the taxi driver began excitedly and then cautiously looked at the handguns. “How are you doing bro”, he asked with his eyes still staring at their muzzles pointing in his direction.

Alex placed his hand on Suzanne’s shoulder and told her to lower the weapons. Suzanne reluctantly did so. Then the man immediately alighted from the car and gave Alex a hug, saying, “My good friend!, we meet again!”.

“Yeah good to see you too pal”, Alex said and immediately broke away from the hug. “Are you now a taxi driver?”.

“Yeah…i decided to…..”.

“Anyway, we need to use your taxi”, Alex interrupted John and motioned at Suzanne who dashed towards the trunk of the Range Rover.

“What the hell is going on?”, John asked and then looked at Suzanne as she opened the trunk of the battered SUV. “And why is your girlfriend running around with guns?”, he asked again with some concern.

“No time to explain bro…..”, Alex said and gestured at him to open the trunk of the taxi. “We have a very urgent business to settle….and she is my sister, not my girlfriend”, Alex continued and hurriedly went over to the SUV to help Suzanne pack up the guns and ammos in its trunk.

“Business?”, John’s face lit up when he heard the word. He immediately entered the car and reached for the car trunk button. “This is also a business car my friend, just tell me where we are heading to”, he continued and took the black duffle bag Suzanne was carrying while she put the case containing the Barret M107 sniper rifle in the trunk of the cab and slammed the lid shut.

Alex tossed the SKS at Suzanne and dropped the Ak-47 in the front passenger seat. John stole a quick wide eyed glance at the assault rifles and immediately understood the kind of business Alex was talking about. Then he quickly slided into the driver seat when he noticed a few bystanders watching what was going on and told the rest to hurry up.

Suzanne grabbed Alex’s arm as he was about to enter the car. “Is he a friend of yours?…….can we trust him?”, she asked quietly.

“Well, he is just an acquaintance who f@cked a mutual enemy in the ass while i watched”, Alex replied.

“Good…i think we can trust him”, Suzanne muttered and slided into the back seat while Alex dropped his weight in the front seat.

“So where are we going?”, John asked.

“We are going after someone. I will be giving you the direction and i want you to drive as fast as you can without attracting the attention of the cops”, Alex replied and fastened his seatbelt. Then he put a finger on his Bluetooth. “Chris can you slow Lucas’ car down while we are going after him?”, he asked Chris.

Chris started working his fingers on the keyboard, muttering, “Let me see…”. Within seconds, he hacked into the city’s traffic grid.

“I can slow him down with the traffic lights but it’s not guaranteed to do the job because they might decides to run the redlights”, Chris said to Alex. “Perhaps i can build up a traffic jam in the streets, but it’s just a matter of time before the officials notice that something is wrong”, he added.

“Just do what you gotta do and keep us informed on the cops movements cos we are riding with alot of artillery without a permit”, Alex voice said.

“Alright”.

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

“Man,……i thought you guys were coming here to see this interesting scene”, the voice boomed out of the car speakers.

“We are on our way to make a very important pick up somewhere else”, Zack said. “We will be there soon”.

“So Felix, can you describe the scene and brief us on your findings about what happened on that highway?”, Allen asked.

“Like i said, we have an interesting scene here”, Felix voiced out. “It’s like our psycho killer pal and a couple of his Terminator friends hit Route 82 and turned it into a highway to hell with about two miles of road littered with bullet casings. I’m talking about high calibre rounds from automatic weapons. We have dead bodies in a burnt van, two crashed SUVs each with bodies riddled with bullets.

The boys in uniform also picked up a severed human head on their way to the carnage; the head of a well known violent enforcer by the name Bones”.

Zack eyes widened when he heard the name.

“Maybe the guy and his friends decided that it would be cool to take Bones’ head and travel more than two miles away from his body…and drop it on the highway after they must have had their fun with it…..or maybe accidentally”, Felix voice jokingly continued

“Anyone else….innocent bystanders or witnesses injured or killed?”, Allen sighed, his facial expression showing that Felix joke was quite tasteless to him

“Nope…..just a few shell shocked witnesses”, Felix answered.

“Anything else?”.

“Yeah…..this time we have another player in the game.

Zack and Allen glanced at each other. “Another player?”, Zack asked.

“Yeah….but he and his crew got taken out faster than they joined the show”, Felix replied.

“So who is this player?”.

“Lucas and his ‘Large team’ gang”.

Zack looked at Allen with a raised eyebrows whispering, “I’ll be damned”.

“Lucas…..large team”, Allen muttered. “Who are these guys?”, he asked and glanced at Zack.

“They are one hell of a drug dealing gang….an extremely violent drug dealing gang”, Zack replied with a thoughtful stare on his face. “Those motherfuckers used to be the city’s worst nightmare. They perpetuated alot of gruesome killings and murders. Talk about taking out an entire family member….even kids”, Zack paused and heaved a sigh. “The last chief of police resigned because he was too scared to take on this gang. And that guy, Lucas, is one of the scariest son of a b!tch in this city”

“Well not anymore because they blew his brains out and left his corpse lying on the road”, Felix said with a chuckle. “Oh one more thing, we also found Hector’s mutilated body”.

Zack gasped and stared at his cellphone that was connected to a USB socket in the car dashboard. And then at Allen who stared back at him with an, “I told you”, look on his face.

“When and where did you find him?”, Zack demanded.

“Earlier today, near a dump site. The trash collectors called after they discovered that the ‘mess of meat’ they were about to pick up was a dead human being”, Felix replied. “And a good look at his body will tell you that those guys didnt let him go so easy. It’s like they made him go through some kind of a f@cked up medieval inquisition style of torture”.

Zack sighed and ran his fingers across he low cut hair. “What kind of people are these guys?”, he asked and looked at Allen as if demanding for an answer.

“I dont know man….but they seem to be doing a fine job in getting rid of these dangerous individuals and i don’t mind buying them a few rounds of beer for that”, the car speakers boomed out Felix voice. “I’m even beginning to hear rumours that criminal organizations are shutting down their operations.

They are now getting scared cos no one knows the reason why these guys are violently taking out all these heavy criminal individuals. That alone puts fear in any man’s heart”.

Zack sighed and said, “Felix thanks for the info…..we will get back at you later”, and ended the call.

“He is right you know”, Allen muttered and looked at Zack. “These guys are doing our job for us…..and doing it quite well”.

“I dont think so”, Zack disagreed with a dead serious look on his face. “They might be taking out the bad guys, but they are making the city look more unsafe with all these violence and brutal killings”. Then Zack rubbed his head again and reached for the police two-way radio on the dashboard.

“These guys are thorough in their operation…..that’s why none of their victims survived their attack”, he said. “They seem to have this uncanny ability of killing these guys without leaving any evidence that will point to their direction”.

“They are probably well trained professionals, unlike their victims who are just wild men running around with guns”, Allen muttered.

“Yeah…..and Gus is the only person that can tell us who these crazy monsters are. And i’m a hundred percent sure they are after him right now so as to stop him from talking”, Zack said and brought the mouthpiece closer to his mouth. “You have to call Gus and find out where he is now so that i can alert the squad within the vicinity to protect him”.

Allen nodded and immediately reached for his cellphone.

“Hey! get the f@ck out of my way!!”, Gus furiously banged his fist on the steering wheel and blared the car horn.

The male motorist in the car infront of him stuck his hand out of the window and angrily gestured at the traffic light that was still on red.

“Can’t you see that sh!t is taking ages to flash the green light you bloody fool!!”, Gus almost screamed. “What the f@ck is wrong with all the traffic lights and all these f@cking people?”, he fumed and wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead. He was sweating profusely despite the car air conditioner being on full blast.

Alot seems to be going through Gus’ head as he made several cautious glances at both sides of the car. And at the mirrors showing the activities at the rear side of the car. He just couldn’t believe what was going; what had happened to him in the past few hours and how the woman he was contracted to kill, got the best of him and brought down his empire in a matter of days.

Hector….if that big fool and his bigger fool associate, Santos, had did their job well and killed that woman, all these sh!ts wouldn’t be happening, Gus thought as his impatience for the unchanging traffic light kept growing. It’s now all over for him. Gus knows that and also knew that he was in a very serious quagmire.

The underbosses led by Vincent have probably sent their men to go find him, Nina’s killers are probably closing in on him to finish the job and Lucas’ friends will definitely come for him if they hear what he did to Lucas. The man…..the so called ‘Invisible one’, has gone radio silent on him; no phonecalls to make inquiries on the progress of the mission. He had called the man’s number several times but no response.

Same with Hector who once said that he will never in any circumstance, fail to answer his calls, unless he was dead. Maybe he was indeed dead…..maybe the subjects he was suppose to take out had taken him out.

A bitter smile formed in Gus’ face as he thought about all these predicaments he was faced with, and trying to fathom how he ended up in that situation. This time last week he was one of the most feared man in Easthill with wealth and power. Now he is just a punk running to the cops for help.

Then a voice rasped out of the speakers of cellphone lying on front passenger seat and interrupted Gus in his thoughts. The voice of the detective he had called earlier.

“Gus!, you need to calm down!”, Allen’s voice advised.

“Come on you fool!!”, Gus ignored the advice and blared the car horn again at the motorist infront of him.

The man in car stuck his hand out of the window again and flicked the middle finger at Gus. Gus immediately hit the wind down button of the door window. He pulled out his handgun and let off two gunshots at the backscreen and trunk of the car.

With immediate effect, the motorist throttled his vehicle on hearing the gunfire. The car careened into the traffic, causing alot of tyres to screech and some cars to crash into each other.

“Goddamit!”, Allen’s voice bawled out of the phone speakers. He must have heard the gunshot and crashes. “What the hell are you doing?….i told you to calm down”, he said as Gus wildly drove around the car pile up and continued his journey to his destination.

“Those motherfuckers are after me”, Gus said breathlessly with his eyes glancing at every cars on the road. “All the goddamn traffic lights seems to flash the stop sign whenever i approach and remain like that for eternity……i think they are doing it”, he continued and glanced at the cellphone.

“Sir you have to calm down…..you only being paranoid and over suspicious”, Allen said. “It’s one of the things you experience after been shot at”.

“I know what i’m talking about!”, Gus retorted. “Those guys hacked into my damn cellphone!……only the government hack into people’s cellphones in this country and these guys are not the government”,

“Sir i understand your fears, but you have to stay calm so as not to do something that will possibly attract the attention of the so called guys that are after you”, Allen voiced impatiently. “We want to ensure your safety. And for that to happen, you have to tell us your present location so that we can send some men to guard you till you arrive at the place of our meeting”.

Gus made a quick glance outside of his car. “I’m in Trenton boulevard”, he said.

“What type of car are you driving?……and the colour?”.

“A black bulletproof Chevy utility vehicle”.

“Bulletproof vehicle?, then there is no reason to panic….especially if you are riding in that vehicle”, Allen noted.

“The damn car is not good enough to protect me from what those f@ckers can do!”, Gus retorted. “So are you sending the squad or not?”, he asked.

“I will do that sir……and please do stay calm”, was the reply from Allen.

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

“Almost there…..make a right turn and you will see the car ahead of you”, Chris voice said.

“Take the road on your right!”, Alex said to John.

John worked the steering wheel and expertly guided the car to a narrow one way street that looked more like an alley. He smoothly avoided the trash bins and the few pedestrians as he raced the car, gunning towards the other end.

“Yeah……now you got him”, Chris voice said when the taxi came out from the one way street and diverted into the major road. “Your subject is the black Chevy SUV ahead of you”.

Alex and Suzanne sighted the vehicle and immediately loaded up their automatic assault rifle, keeping their arms low so as to hide the weapons from any prying eyes. John accelerated the car and overtook the three cars between them and the Chevy, moving through the traffic smoothly as he did so to avoid arousing any suspicion.

When the taxi slided closer to the SUV, Alex studied the SUV for a while and smiled weakly. He has a plan.

“Now little sister i want you to listen carefully……”, Alex began and looked at Suzanne. “This is going to be a super quick operation. That motherfucker is a bulletproof ride and moving quite fast. But he forgot to close the roof hatch of the car”.

Suzanne took another look at Chevy and noticed the ray of sunlight in the car through its tinted glasses. She smiled and muttered, “No cure for stupidity”.

“So this is what we gonna do”, Alex continued. “I’m gonna shred those wheels so as to activate the automatic brake system and bring the car to a halt. And when that happens, i want you to move as fast as you can, stick your chopper into the car through that space and make them slugs see Teflon don’s body”.

“You got it”, Suzanne said confidently and cocked the SKS with alot of eagerness.

“John you already know what to do”, Alex said to the man beside him.

“Ready to roll bro…..just give the go ahead”, John replied as he maintained his steady glances at the Chevy.

“Chris when the sh!t goes down, i want you to ensure our getaway by making every traffic light we approach to flash the greenlight and…….”,

Suddenly three police squad cars diverted into the main street from a different road with loud sirens that interrupted Alex. He and Suzanne immediately hid their weapons underneath the seat and glanced at each with a baffled look on their faces as the squad cars came right behind the taxi and followed.

John tightened his grip on the steering and tried to maintain his composure as he glanced at the police cars through the rearview mirror. He was visibly scared and contemplated whether to hit the gas and make a run for it or stay calm and keep driving. And being an ex-convict made matters worse. He could end up serving double his last term just for being in close proximity to a guy carrying a handgun with a single round of bullet. But the passengers in his taxi are wielding military grade shooters and the judge had promised to send him to the worst “Big house” if he ever appear in court again.

“What the f@ck is going on?”, John muttered the question to Alex as he kept glancing at the police squad cars behind them.

“Chris can you explain what the hell is going on?”, Suzanne asked Chris.

“I’m surprised just like you guys”, Chris replied. “It’s like these guys appeared from thin air…..i didnt see their movement. Maybe they had being waiting somewhere”.

“They are not after you guys”, Nina’s voice then said.

“How do you?”, Alex asked.

“If they were, by now they would be all over your asses….or engaging you guys in a wild exchange of gunfire”, Nina replied.

“She is right”, Suzanne agreed and glanced at the police cars behind her. “If they were after us they would have been screaming orders at us through their megaphone”.

“Oh thank heavens”, John heaved a deep sigh and wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead with his hairy backhand.

“So you guys should stay calm and keep following Gus”, Nina continued.

Then the squad cars overtook the taxi and went towards the Chevrolet SUV Gus was driving. One came to the front of the car and the other two stayed behind it. Alex and the rest in the taxi watched with alot of confusion as the police cars patrolled the SUV as it continued its journey.

“Mom….this sh!t is getting kind of weird”, Alex said to Nina.

“What’s going on?”, Nina demanded.

“It’s like the cops are now playing bodyguards to Gus”.

Hm……i see”, Nina could be heard chuckling. “It’s like our good friend called the police”.

“Called the cops?,….for what?…for protection?……man, this sh!t is getting weirder”, Alex smirked.

The third Eastern river bridge”, Suzanne began and looked at Alex. “That’s where he is heading to. That’s why those cop cars stopped there and set up a road block”, she continued.

“I think she is right”, Chris agreed. “The bridge is the pick up point. And the only place you guys cant attack Gus…..or even escape if you guys did so cos all the cops got to do is block both end and you guys are done”.

Alex sighed and stared at police cars as they followed Gus. He did that for a short while and sighed again as he uncomfortably moved his weight.

“We have to abort”, he muttered and looked at Suzanne. “We definitely have to abort this mission”.

“What do you mean?”, Nina cut in.

“I don’t think we can get Gus with those cops around him. Even if we do, the entire Easthill police force will be on our asses”.

“No!….the mission continues!….you have to kill Gus!”, Nina’s voice retorted.

“But how?”, Alex asked. “Have you forgotten that the entire city police force are on high alert. If we make any move, those cops over there will call the Cavalry and they will be swarming all over the place looking for us!”.

“With helicopters”, Chris added.

“Unless you want us to kill cops…..and i dont wanna be labeled a cop killer”, Alex continued.

“Neither do i”, Suzanne muttered.

“If the police get their hands on Gus, he will become untouchable”, Nina said.

“How?”, Alex asked.

“Gus is among the people in the federal bureau list of ‘persons of interest’…..”, Nina replied. “Their gang unit have being trying to bust him and his mafia for a long time. Now he is done and dusted. He knows that, and being the rat bastard that he is, he is going make a deal with the authorities and become a federal witness for them in their ongoing war against crime families”, she continued.

“And he will enter the federal witness protection program”, Suzanne said.

“Of course…..and the Feds will use every resources in their hands to ensure that no one gets to him”, Nina continued. “So unless you guys are willing to kill federal agents so as to get to Gus, i suggest that you find a way to get him before they get a complete hold on him……and i don’t want you guys to fail me”, she concluded with a very strong voice.

Suzanne stared at the convoy of three police squad cars and one Chevrolet SUV with a thoughtful look on her face. Then she leaned forward.

“Tell you friend to take us to dad’s office”, she said quietly to Alex.

Alex stared at her like she was crazy. “For what?”, he asked her.

“They are about to divert to the other road”, John then said.

Alex glanced at the police cars and Chevy SUV as they were about to divert into another road with a sign that says “TO THIRD EASTERN RIVER BRIDGE” and then looked at his sister.

“I think i have a good plan on how to take out Gus”, Suzanne said.

“You….THINK you have a good plan??”, Alex asked her.

“Yeah and you have to trust me on this”, Suzanne replied.

Being unable to come up with any other plan, Alex sighed and told John the new destination; the address of their father’s office.

“You have to go there as fast as you can”, Suzanne said to John as he accelerated the car while Alex stared at the Chevy drive into the road leading to the bridge. And hoping that his sister’s plan works.

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

Zack listened attentively to the voice coming out of the police radio he was holding as he and Allen hopped out of the car.

“They are almost close”, Zack said to Allen.

Allen nodded and both detectives glanced at the cars crossing the bridge. And then monitored the activities of the policemen checking the cars that approached the road-block they had set up.

“Picking up Gus in a place like this is quite a good idea”, Zack smiled weakly as he ran his eyes around the bridge. “With cops on both end of the bridge, i dont think……”, Zack paused to look a black sedan car that was coming their way. “Aww man….”, he muttered bitterly when he recognized the plate numbers.

Allen also recognized the numbers on the plate; federal agents. He remained calm and maintained his composure as two men alighted from the vehicle after it grinded to a halt beside their own car.

“Someone must have gotten interested in our case”, Zack sighed in a hands akimbo position with a look of disdain as the two big looking men in black suits. One was bald and the other has a clean low haircut. Apart from their suits, they also have one thing in common, their faces gave away no expressions.

“Good day gentlemen…….”, the bald headed guy began, his face still bearing the expressionless look. “I’m special agent Tim and this is special agent Murphy”, he introduced himself and his partner.

“Hello……so what can we do for you guys?”, Zack asked coldly. “You and your…..partner can see very well that we are rather very busy with police work here”.

Bald headed guy’s partner slowly turned his head at Zack. And stared at the detective with a look that seems to say that terrible things gonna happen to him if he doesnt keep his mouth shut.

“Of course we know and that’s why we are here”, Agent Tim said with a superficial smile.

“Okay then……”, Zack smiled. “The both of you can go ahead and assist those boys over there”, he pointed at the policemen at the roadblock.

“Oh……not that police work”, Agent Tim maintained the smile, but his eyes was telling Zack that he was getting really tired of his bullsh!ts. “We got an information that one of leaders of the crimes families has made a good decision to cooperate with the police. And the said individual is on his way to meet you guys here?”, he asked.

“Yes”, Allen nodded.

“Well, this individual happens to be on our list of individuals of interests. So we are taking over this operation”, Agent Tim said in a matter-of-fact voice and started pacing away as he and his partner started surveying the activities going on in the bridge. “We will be grateful for any additional informations you might wanna share with us”, he continued as he took out his cellphone and dialled a number.

Zack and Allen stared at the men in dark suits as they walked away. “I hate these guy”, Zack muttered. “But how did they get to know that we are meeting Gus here?”, he asked Allen.

“They are the Feds”, Allen sighed. “They got eyes and ears everywhere”.

The taxi speedily drifted out from an alley, dodging a few cars that blared their horn with their tires screeching to avoid a collision.

“The next building on your right”, Alex said out loud and pointed at a twenty storey office building.

The man behind the wheel worked it hard and expertly drifted the taxi into the underground parking lot of the building. Then he hit the brake and the taxi grinded to a loud screech halt that echoed all over the parking lot. John hit the trunk button and immediately unbuckled his seatbelt. Suzanne jumped out of the car and snatched the case in the car trunk. Alex grabbed the Ak-47 assault rifle and followed behind as the three of the raced towards the door leading to the elevator lobby.

Suzanne pulled out one of her handguns and took an aim at the glass door as they approached it.

“Stop!”, Alex said breathlessly and reached for his wallet. “I have the access card. The entire city cops are on alert….. we cant risk triggering the alarm of this building”, he said and handed the key card he took out from his wallet to Suzanne.

“Good day Mr Barry Philips…..”, an automated voice began when Suzanne pressed the card against the electronic lock system of the glass door. “…..hope you enjoy your stay”, the female voice continued as the glass door slided open. The lights automatically switched on and illuminated the wide lobby and its well polished ceramic floor.

“Dad’s access card?”. Suzanne glanced at Alex as they hurriedly headed towards the elevator.

“I made a copy…..dont ask why”, Alex said and pressed the elevator button.

“I dont even wanna know”.

The elevator stainless steel door slided open and they rushed inside with Suzanne telling Alex that the destination was the rooftop of the building. Alex hit the twentieth floor button and murmured something inaudible as he continuously punched the close button until the door did so.

“You all gotta hurry up cos Gus is almost there…..and there is no more traffic light to slow him down”, Chris voiced out.

“We are almost there”, Alex said as the elevator started making its ascent and stared at the indicator with alot of impatience.

“So what’s the plan?”, John asked, glancing at Alex and Suzanne. “I dont see how coming to this place is gonna get the job done”.

“Handkerchief”, Suzanne muttered.

“Handkerchief”, John repeated the word and cocked his ear with a knitted eyebrow.

“Yes…..i want your handkerchief”, Suzanne pointed at the neatly folded piece of white cloth tucked inside John’s breast pocket.

John stole a quick glance at Alex and reached for the handkerchief. He slowly took it out and handed it to Suzanne with a keen look in his eyes. Suzanne took the handkerchief and felt it inbetween her fingers before stuffing it into her side pocket. Then the elevator door slided open when it reached the top floor of the building.

“You guys better hurry cos the situation is now taking a different turn”, Chris voice said.

“What’s going on?”, Alex asked breathlessly as he raced towards the stairs leading to the rooftop access door with the others following behind him.

“Two guys just arrived at the bridge and their car plate number says Feds”, Chris replied.

“Damn!”, Alex cursed as he reached for the door handle. “What are they doing now”, he asked and kicked the door open when he found out that it was locked.

“Taking over whatever operations that is going on there”, was Chris reply. “And you guys better hurry up in whatever you are doing cos Gus is almost there”, he added.

Suzanne immediately rushed towards the ledge of the building after Alex sent the door flying open with a kick. On reaching there, she laid the sniper case on the ground and zipped it open. Alex glanced at Suzanne as she quickly assembled the parts of the Barret M-107 heavy sniper and looked ahead. He could see the Third Eastern bridge that was quite far from their position.

“Do you intend to shoot Gus from this position?”, Alex asked Suzanne as she slapped in the the magazine containing the .50 BMG calibre rounds and balanced the big sniper rifle on the concrete ledge. “That bridge is more than two kilometers away from here!”, he protested and pointed at the bridge.

“One kilometer, nine hundred and eighty-five meters”, Suzanne corrected as she peered through the rifle scope and made some adjustments.

“Are you sure you can hit him from here?. Dont forget he is riding in a bulletproof car”.

“This is an anti-material rifle with armoured piercing round”.

“But…..you….”.

“Will you shut your f@cking mouth for a sec, i’m trying to concentrate here!”.

Then Suzanne took out the handkerchief. “Hold this”, she said and handed it to Alex.

“What am i suppose to do with this?”, Alex asked.

“Just hold it up”, Suzanne replied and put her finger on the trigger. “I want to measure the wind power”, she continued.

Suzanne looked at the handkerchief Alex was holding up. She stared at it and monitored how it fluttered to the current of the slow wind. She did so for a short while and then peered through the rifle scope. And aimed at the Chevy she could clearly see as the vehicle made its stop at the bridge.

Gus brought SUV to a halt, several metres away from the police squad cars standing on the bridge. He heaved a deep sigh of relief and smiled weakly as he stared at the two policemen gesturing at him to step out of the car. Two other men wearing dark suits were standing beside the policemen. Gus already knew who they are but he didn’t mind because staying alive was his main objective for now.

Gus sighed again and reached for his seatbelt buckle. His hand got stopped midway by the vibration of his own cellphone in his pocket. Gus immediately reached for it with alot of curiosity written on his face. Seeing the caller number which he recognized, he pursed his lips and pressed the Answer button.

“I gotta say that i admired the way you and your boys made your moves on me”, Gus began with a scoff and looked at the policemen who were still gesturing at him. “I made a costly mistake of underestimating you, woman”.

“I’m glad i made a good impression”, Nina’s voice said. “But it’s gonna be a damn shame that it all ended with you trying to get protection from the cops”.

“Well…..it’s not yet over. Infact, this is just the beginning”, Gus chuckled and glanced at the men in suit that looked at him with alot of impatience as they waited for him to exit the vehicle. “I just played my cards and put myself in a better position where i will remain untouchable while i make my plans to get you”, he smirked.

“You are right about that”, Nina said. “And you are in the exact position where i want you to be. But what you still fail to understand is…….no one is untouchable. So any last words?”, she asked.

Gus chuckled and held the cellphone infront of his face. “Yeah….go f@ck your……”.

The driver side window screen of the Chevy exploded as the bullet went through it. The slug hit Gus’ hand that was holding the cellphone and the limb also exploded into chunks of flesh that splattered all over the front passenger seat.

Gus blood curdling scream could be heard coming out of the SUV as all the police men near the vehicle including the Federal agents, docked for cover. Zack also did the same but Allen drew his weapon and started running towards the SUV. He could see Gus screaming and holding the profusely bleeding stump that used to be his hand.

“Gus get down!”, Allen screamed as he raced towards the car.

“That’s what you get for trying to bite the hand that feeds”, Suzanne muttered and immediately discharged the spent bullet casing. Then she took another accurate aim at the screaming man that she could see through the sniper rifle scope and stroked the trigger.

The M-107 heavy sniper shooter thundered and the .50 calibre death took flight, heading towards it target at a supersonic speed. Suzanne watched as it hit its target and left him with a catastrophic puncture wound to the head that took more than half of his face….and his life.

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Nina smiled and ended the phonecall. She heaved a sigh and looked at the injured man on the floor. He wasn’t moving anymore and remain motionless with a pool of blood underneath his body. Then Nina heard a faint sound behind her.

“It’s okay….you can come out now”, Nina said to Abigail without looking at the woman who cautious descended the stair. “I hope your daughter is okay?”, she asked and started searching the dead man.

Abigail nodded her head with fear in her eyes as she stared at the dead bodies. The large pool of blood in the livingroom terrified her. And the smell of it made her sick.

“She is asleep in the room”, Abigail said as she cautiously stepped into the living room, trying not to step on the spent bullet casings lying all on the floor.

Nina nodded. She emptied the contents in the man’s other pocket and checked his wallet and i.d card. Then the living room door slowly opened.

“All clear”, Nina said out loud without looking in its direction.

The door opened wide and Titus stepped into the living room with a gun in his hand. Chris followed behind him with a lot of caution and holding his laptop infront of him. Titus glanced at the dead bodies and looked at Nina as he paced towards her. Then he stopped and looked at Chris who was still following behind him.

“There isnt a chance of them raising up from the dead and attacking”, he said Chris with a sigh. “So dont worry and stop hiding behind me like an idiot”.

Nina sneered and shook her head. Then she dropped the dead man’s wallet and straightened up.

“Are they all dead?”, Chris asked as Titus went over to the mini bar.

“Yeah”, Nina replied and looked at him.

Chris took a deep breath and glanced at the dead bodies as he exhaled gently. “What a mess”, he murmured and shook his head. Then he looked at Titus who was coming out of the mini bar with his hands and arms clutching several bottles of liquor. “What the hell do you think you are doing?”, Chris asked Titus with a scoff.

“Taking my payments”, Titus replied with a smile and adjusted his posture so as to prevent a bottle from falling down.

“Getting paid with booze?!”.

Titus ignored Chris and looked at Nina. “Big mama i gotta go”, he said to her and adjusted his posture again. “Gotta return the van to the garage before someone find out that it is missing”.

Nina nodded with a smile. “Thanks Titus”, she said and pat him on the back. Titus tightened his grip on one bottle that almost fell down when she did that. “Please dont drink yourself to death…..not yet, because i will need your help someday”, she continued.

Titus gave Nina a bright smiled. He nodded at Abigail and glanced at Chris before walking out of the living room, muttering curses at the bottles as he struggled to keep them intact.

Chris sighed as he watched the man leave the livingroom. “Everybody around you all seem to be abnormal”, he said and looked at Nina.

Nina laughed and pulled out one of her Desert Eagles. She walked over to Chris who stared at the ‘hand cannon’ with a tensed look on his face and handed it to him.

“Point and shoot at any of them if they happen to…..resurrect”, Nina smiled, pressing the handle of the weapon in his palm and wrapping his fingers around it. “I have to go check the other rooms before we get the hell out of here”, she continued and hurriedly ascended the stairs leading to the other rooms.

Nina kicked the door open and saw herself looking inside what looks like a library and study room. She quietly entered and glanced around the place, both at the brown Oakwood desk that has a desktop computer on it and the cabinet with bookshelves. She ran her fingers through some of the books in the shelves. She opened a few drawers in cabinets and then rested her eyes on the desk. She went over to the desk and went through the files on the table. Seeing nothing that got her interest, she sat on the chair and checked the desk drawers. There are three of them, one was locked and the other two were empty.

Nina took out her knife and forcefully pried the locked drawer open. She slowly opened it and saw that it contained some files; three of them. She opened the first one and saw a picture; her picture. She stared at it for a few seconds with a smirk and opened the second file. It contained the picture of one of her twin sons. She took a closer look at it and saw it was Alex’s picture. She dropped the picture on the table and leaned on the edge of the desk as she proceeded to read the document in the file.

Nina’s eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully after a short while of glancing and reading through the prints on the papers. She dropped the file next to the picture on the table and open the other file that contained her picture. She went through the paper in it and stared ahead with a confused look on her face. Then she looked at the third file and reached for it.

Nina opened it and the picture she saw made her remain still with her mouth open. Then she quickly went through the document in the file and gasped as she read it.

“Boys!, i think we have a problem!”, Nina then spoke on her Bluetooth as she grabbed the three documents and quickly walked out of the study room. “Eric!….are you there?”, she asked as she entered the livingroom and dropped the files beside Chris.

“What is matter?”, Alex’s voice asked.

“I saw some files in Gus library. Files containing my picture, yours and that of your grandfather”, Nina said and dropped her weight beside Chris who heard what she said and looked at her with a surprised look on his face.

“Meaning what?”, Alex demanded.

“It means that your grandfather is also among those Gus intended to kill”, Nina said.

“Well, Gus and the entire hit squad have been eliminated, so i dont think we should worry about that”, Alex said.

“No….Gus knows better than sending these men to go against a man like your grandfather”, Nina said. “Eric where are you?…..Where the hell is he?!”, she barked after getting no response from Eric.

“He is on his way to grandfather’s office to handle a business”, Alex replied. “Or probably handling the business now”.

“That’s not possible”, Chris said as he stared at the screen of his laptop. “The signal from his Bluetooth shows that he is there with you guys”.

Suzanne and Alex glanced at each other when they heard what Chris just said.

“Eric is not here with us”, Suzanne said and glanced around the rooftop.

Then Alex dipped his hand inside his pocket and took out the pouch Eric gave to him. He opened it, searched through the diamonds in it and brought out a Bluetooth earpiece; Eric’s Bluetooth earpiece.

“I think Eric doesnt want to be disturbed while at work”, Alex said and waved the device at Suzanne. “He left his bluetooth with us”, he informed his mother.

Nina heaved a sigh of desperation and looked at Chris. “Are you sure those men are the only ones that were present in Gus house today”, she asked Chris.

“Yep”, Chris replied.

“You didnt see anyone else leave the house before they did?”.

“No….no one else left the house before and after they left”.

Nina sighed deeply with a worried look on her face. “What about Gus’ call records?”, she asked eagerly. “Do you have all informations on each and every persons he called or called him throughout this week”.

“Most of the numbers in his call log belong to his under bosses, including her husband”, Chris replied and pointed at Abigail. “The phone number that appeared most in his incoming call list this week is the number you called yesterday night. The Sosai’s number”.

“This doesn’t make sense”, Nina murmured thoughtfully. “This doesn’t add up”, she shook her head and sighed again.

Then Chris glanced around the living room. “Is this house the only place where Gus meets the members of his organization?”, he asked and looked at Abigail.

Abigail glanced at Nina and nodded her head. “This place is where my husband always meets the other members whenever Gus calls for a meeting”, she said. “All his business dealings are done here”.

“And do you know why all his business dealings are done in this place?”, Nina asked.

“This place is his secret location”, Abigail replied. “And the government doesnt know that this mansion belongs to him. It is not registered to his name”, she continued.

“Did Vincent tell you that?”.

“No….Gus ex wife told me that”, Abigail looked at Nina. “She also told me alot of things about that man before he murdered her”, she added.

“We have to go through the cctv recordings for this week”, Chris then said and got up. “Do any of you know where the computer is?”, he asked.

“Follow me”, Nina replied the question and started heading towards the library.

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“Damn you Eric”, Allen muttered and rubbed the back of his head as he stared at the policemen putting the yellow tapes around the Chevy SUV. “Damn you motherfucker”, he muttered again and turned his gaze at his partner approaching him.

“He got hit with bullets from a sniper rifle”, Zack came over and said to Allen. “The damn bullets ripped through the bulletproof glass like it was nothing”. Then he sighed deeply and looked around. “But from where did the shooter take the shot?”, Zack muttered with a bewildered look on his face. “Every f@cking building standing where the bullet came from is more than a mile away from this bridge”.

“They used a high powered rifle”, Allen muttered. “Probably a military grade type….with a high caliber armour piercing round”, he continued and looked around.

“Well that explains why the bullet took out half of his arm and his head”.

Then both detectives turned there heads to look at the two Federal agent that were approaching them with an expression of disappointment written on their faces.

“What the hell happened?”, one of the agent who had earlier been introduced as Special agent Murphy, asked.

“What do you mean?”, Allen answered the question with his own question.

“I thought you guys said that you had the situation under control and well secured”, agent Murphy asked again with and irritated voice.

“I thought your buddy said that you guys are taking over the operation?”, Allen pointed at agent Tim.

“Infact, we are the ones that suppose to be asking you guys what the F@CK! happened here”, Zack added.

“Now you better be careful man”, agent Murphy warned and stepped closer to Zack who glared at him from head to toe with a condescending smirk. “I can make you get demoted to a fucking traffic cop assh@le!!”, he warned.

“Guys…..calm down”, Special agent Tim said and put his hand on his partners shoulder to calm him down. “Why dont we work together to see how to sort out this mess that just happened”, he advised.

“Yeah….so lets start by you placing a call to your people and tell them to start making use of their resourses cos it is a code red situation in the city”, Allen said. “You boys can see that we are probably dealing with a group of killers running around with high powered guns. We will alert the police department and tell the to send every patrol helicopters to watch and report any suspicious movements”, he continued.

Agent Tim nodded his head”, “We will do that immediately”, he said with a smile of approval and motioned at his partner who immediately slipped out a cellphone from his pocket and started making a phone call.

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BLOODLINE 2 Episode 16
#OpraDre

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