BLOODLINE 2 Episode 7b (Blood And Diamond) by Ironkurtain

BLOODLINE 2 Episode 7b (Blood And Diamond) by Ironkurtain

4:00 pm.

“What’s taking him so long?”, Alex asked impatiently.He looked around the half empty cafe and rested his elbows on the table. Then he looked at Eric who was sitting opposite him. “He is always punctual with time…..why decide to be late today?”, he asked.

“You know Chris very well”, Eric replied. “He is one hell of a paranoid guy……..after he almost got sent to prison, he has been watching every move he makes. He always think that the government is still watching him”.

Alex laughed and looked at the other end of the cafe. Suzanne was there sitting on a table alone and keenly watching every activities going in the coffee shop while listening to the music playing in the earphones she had on. Alex stared at her for a while and looked at Nina’s cellphone lying on their table. It was switched off.

“Are you sure this was how they had been tracking us?”, he asked Eric and pointed at the cellphone.

“You still dont believe me?”, Eric answered the question with another question.

“But……..this is mom’s cellphone……Nina’s cellphone. Her cellphone got the best security you can ever imagine”, Alex said. “It cannot be hacked, it has the best security code and it automatically wipes out every file in it if anyone messes with it. So how on earth did it get bugged?”, he asked.

“I dont know…..”, Eric replied. “But i know what i’m saying and i’m sure of what i told you. Nina had the phone with her and those men traced her to the place where she was shot. You said you left the phone in the mansion and those men came there. And the same day, you took the phone to the hospital and they came there too…….”.

Alex stared at Eric and furrowed his eyebrow. What his brother was saying made alot of sense. Wherever they took Nina’s cellphone to, the killers seemed to somehow know the place and the exact spot.

“……..even when i went to the Severance hospital. I had it with me and the men showed up there”, Eric continued.

Alex thought for a few seconds. “But why didnt they show up in the house we are keeping mom now?”, he asked. “We have being here for over an hour. Why are they not here guns blazing…..especially after what you did to their men today”.

“Because the phone is switched off”, Eric replied. “I switched it off when i took it to the house and now it is switched off. They can only track the phone if it stays on”.

A guy walked into the cafe and carefully surveyed the place. He looked average in height and somewhat skinny with eyeglasses that made him look like a nerd. He was carrying a black laptop bag.

“He is here”, Alex said and waved at the guy. 

He saw the twins and immediately went over to their table.

“Hello Chris……its being quite a long time we haven’t seen each other”, Eric began as the guy sat next to Alex.

“Yeah……”, Chris sighed and glanced around the cafe. “So what have you been up to these days?”, he asked and looked at Eric.

“The usual thing”.

“Hm……cutting people’s head off and kicking it down the hallway…..like you told me in high school?”.

Eric gave him a faint smile. It’s like those words about violence he had said to Chris in more than five years ago, when Nina gave him the job to be Alex, is still stuck with him.

“Nope…..i just get them and be done with it”, Eric replied. “Besides after a few times you kinda get bored and start looking for something new”.

Chris shrugged. He placed the bag in the table and unzipped it.

“Anyway am sorry for being late….”, he said as he took out the laptop and a USB cable. “I had to make sure that i wasn’t followed…..anyway, where is the phone?”, he asked as he switched on the laptop. 

Eric handed the cellphone he got from the man he killed in the elevator to Chris. Chris looked at it for a few seconds and then connected it to the USB cable he had plugged to the laptop. 

“Can you do it?”, Alex asked.

“Its like taking a candy from a baby”, Chris smiled as he typed the laptop keyboard. “Give me enough time and i will get all the numbers that have called this phone, where they called and the last place those phones were used to make a call this very day”.

“Just focus on the last number that called”, Eric said. 

“Okay……..”, Chris murmured.

Alex watched Chris, his high school best friend who happen to be one of the best computer programmer and hacker in the country, go to work. He stared at the computer screen as windows popped up and disappeared incessantly while Chris’ fingers typed the buttons at a dizzy speed. 

After a few minutes, Chris stopped and reclined in his seat with his eyes staring at the screen.

“The number belongs to a burner….an unregistered cellphone, and so is this one”, he began. “But nothing is untraceable”, he continued with a smile. “What time did you get the phone call?”, he asked Eric and still staring at the computer screen

“About one o clock this afternoon”, Eric replied.

“Well, the phone call was made at the General hospital”, Chris said and looked Eric.

“Hm……the motherfucker was there to make sure that the job was done”, Alex sighed.

“And got disappointed……”, Eric murmured and glanced at Suzanne who is now having a conversation with somebody; a boy. “Anyway has the phone being used after that call?”, he asked Chris.

“Yeah……like a million times. You must have spooked the dude”, Chris replied with a smile. Then he took a closer look at the screen. “The last call was made at Palmgroove avenue”, he said and looked at Eric.

Alex glanced at Eric. “Is the address one twenty-three dash four?”, he asked.

“Yep…..that’s the address”, Chris replied.

“A strip club”, Eric said silently and Alex nodded.

“A strip club?…wow, this is even getting more interesting”, Chris snorted. “I didnt know that getting a Mouth Action on a broad daylight solves alot of problem…..anyway the phone was used there about an hour ago. So i think now is the time to act”, he continued.

“I agree with him”, Alex nodded and looked at Eric. “Maybe they are still there doing whatever it is they are doing 

Then Eric brought out Nina’s and handed it to Chris.

“That cellphone is bugged”, he said as Chris studied it. “I think it sends out signals to a tracker whenever it is switched on, which gives the person in possession of the tracker this phone’s location”.

“So?”, Chris looked at Eric.

“So i want you to remove the bug”.

Chris stared at the cellphone for a while. “You know that this is your mom’s cellphone”, he then said

“Of course i know that”.

Chris looked at Alex. “Didn’t you tell him?”, he asked.

“Tell me what?”, Eric asked and glanced at Alex.

“Well…..”, Alex began with a sigh as he reclined in his seat. “We once made a bet. I told him that he couldn’t hack into our mother’s phone…….so he took up the challenge”.

“And……then what happened?”, Eric asked eagerly.

“He failed….. and ended up losing all his computers”, Alex replied. “The phone automatically sent out some kind of virus that fried all the data in the computer he was using. It even rendered its entire system useless”.

“Not only that……You old woman sent a hit squad armed with heavy artillery”, Chris added. “They broke down my door and almost blew me away”.

“They left him with a warning after i told mother what was going on”, Alex laughed.

“But they took all my computers”, Chris sighed. “That’s was how i lost alot of valuable programs that i wrote……programs that would have made me a rich man”, he murmured.

“Well sh!t happens….especially if you are rolling with this idiot”, Eric said and pointed at Alex who then flashed his middle finger at him. “Dont worry about any hit squad because the owner of the phone is in a coma. All i want you to do is find the bug in the phone and remove it….that’s all”.

“What makes you think that i can do that?”, Chris asked.

“I know you can”, Eric replied and stood up. “You have to find a way to do it”. He looked at Alex and said, “You have to go asked that…..rat bastard or whatever you call him some questions”.

Then he motioned at Suzanne. She got up and smiled at the boy who seemed kind of disappointed that she was leaving.

“So where are we going?”, Suzanne asked when she came over to their table.

“We are going to a strip club”, Alex answered.

“Huh?……why are we going to a strip club?”, she asked and looked at Alex

“The last call to this phone was made from there about an hour ago”, Eric replied the question and slipped the dead man’s cellphone into his pocket. “They might still be there…..and we are sure the owner of the club might know something about those men”, he continued. 

Then he looked at Alex. “I want you and Suzanne to go there and get some info from that man…….i mean everything he knows. I dont care how you do it, just make him talk”.

“Wait….”, Suzanne interrupted. “Aren’t you going with us”, she asked.

“Yeah…..why dont we go there together”, Alex put in. “The man got some tough securities that will pose as a threat…..and you are very good in neutralizing any threat”.

“I have to drive Chris back to his place and also make sure that nobody is following him”, Eric replied. “And there is something important i gotta do”.

“What is that?”.

“It’s private”.

“Okay then”, Alex looked at Suzanne. “But she will have to wait in the car so that she wont get herself killed”.

“Whatever”, Suzanne murmured and looked away.

That’s between you and her”, Eric murmured and motioned at Chris. “Call me if you get anything”, he then said and left with Chris following him behind.

Alex watched his twin brother leave the cafe and looked over his shoulder to Suzanne who stood behind him with her hands inside the pockets of her black leather jacket and head slightly tilted to the side.

“Little sister i hope you are ready”, Alex began. “We are not going for a girls scout cookie sales……..so if you are not up to it, you better go back to the house”.

Suzanne smiled and put her hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Don’t worry big brother, i will protect you”, she said to him and headed towards the cafe exit.

Alex stared at her with a smirk and then followed her.

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

5 pm.

Eric went down on one knee and and started cleaning the granite gravestone gently with a clean white handkerchief he took out from his pocket. When he was done, he neatly folded the handkerchief and tucked it into his pocket. Then he picked up the bunch of Red rose flowers beside him and placed it near the gravestone with both hands and stared at its inscriptions.

“IN LOVING MEMORY 
OF 
ERNEST. R . UZO.
DIED 18TH OF SEPTEMBER 1991.
AGED 27 YEARS.
A HUSBAND AND A VERY GOOD MAN, GONE TOO SOON”,

It read.

Eric bowed his head, said a silent prayer and observed a minute of silence.

“Sorry am late……”, Eric began after opening his eyes and staring at the gravestone. “Had a couple of run-ins with some unfortunate souls. Mother couldn’t make it. I told her to stay at home and get herself together after the near death experience she went through this afternoon”. 

Then Eric looked around the cemetery and to the setting sun. “But she wants me to tell you that she has forgiven you and decided to move on”, he continued as the rays of the red-orange sun shone on his face. “Am sure you already know about the decision to move on when she fell in love again. But as for the forgiveness, i never believed that she would someday forgive you……not after what you made her go through. For more than ten years, she had stared at your picture in tears and wished that you come back to her”. He sighed. “Sometimes i wonder why you would do something so foolish……losing your life to save a baby you barely know when you have a woman like that”, he muttered and tucked both hands into the pockets of his jacket. “And i am sure you will be highly disappointed at what the baby has grown to become……..or maybe not”.

Eric remained silent for a few minutes with his eyes staring at the gravestone. Then he got up.

“Anyway……”, he then said as he looked around. “I am here to tell you that i’m about to do something……rather foolish just like you did. I intend to bring down the biggest and scariest man in this country, the man who happens to be my grandfather. The man responsible for all these events to start taking place. And i am asking myself the same question you had probably asked yourself before you decided to jump into that inferno to save me…..which is, ‘what do f@ck am i doing?’…….”, Eric smirked. “The oldman wants us to bring something that is rather impossible to find. But i feel its just a way to make us keep going in circles. And die in the process while he sits in his fucking throne or whatever and laugh his ass off. But i aint gonna let that happen. Not when the ones i care for could get hurt in the process…..especially mother. So, wrong or right, i’m going for that man. And if i happen to get killed in the process, please dont ask me unnecessary questions if we meet on the other side. Remember that”.

Then Eric felt someone’s hand on his shoulder. He slowly turned and saw a woman standing behind him. She was dressed as a Nun and was quite old. She had a strong look on her face with eyes that seems to see into the soul.

“Can i help you?”, he asked the woman.

The woman stared at Eric for a while and then took out her glasses. She put it on and gazed at his face again.

“Oh…..am very sorry young man”, she apologized with a smile. “I thought you were someone i was looking for”.

Eric glanced at her from head to toe. “Its okay”, he murmured and stared at the gravestone.

“A friend of yours?”, the woman asked and looked at the stone.

“Yeah”, Eric replied with little concern.

“Okay…..”, the woman murmured and stood beside Eric. “I too lost friends……alot of them”.

“So you came to pay them a visit”, Eric asked.

“Yeah……i havent done it in a longtime”.

“Too busy with church and Nun activities?”.

“No actually i was out of the country for a longtime…..i just came back three months ago”.

“Okay”.

Both of them remained silent for a while as they stared at Ernest gravestone. Then Eric looked the woman.

“I have a question to ask”, he said to her.

“Go ahead”, she said with a faint smile.

“Killing someone is a sin right?”

“Of course my dear…..taking another person’s life is a sin before God…..a grave sin”.

“But what if taking the person’s life is the only way to guarantee the safety of many people…….many innocent people, do you think it is still wrong…..or rather a grave sin just as you said?”.

The Nun sighed and pursed her lips and then she looked at Eric. 

“Well…..God himself works in mysterious ways”, she began. “And most of the time, he uses us to do his works. A man could kill another man and never get caught or killed because one is being used to punish the other. The same man could kill another man and get caught because both are being punished. In some cases the one getting killed is taking the quickest route to everlasting life in paradise because God doesnt want the person to suffer in this world. Or the quickest route to eternal damnation in hell because of the person’s wickedness”. 

Then the woman looked at Eric closely. “Why are you asking this question?”, she asked.

“Well……”, Eric sighed and looked away. “Today i killed some men. They were trying to hurt someone very close to me, someone very dear to me. But the problem is there are more of them out there. So, i intend to…..work my way to the top. To see that they no longer pose as a threat to my people or to anyone else. My question is, will i see paradise or will i end up in the depths of hell because of what am about to do?”, he asked and looked the Nun. She was listening keenly with an expressionless look on her face and Eric wondered why she wasnt surprised at what he just said to her.

“Young man, that i cant tell you because God is the only one who can pass judgement”, the Nun replied. “But all i can tell you is if you know in your heart that what you are about to do is the right thing, then go ahead and let God pass His judgment. He Himself knows very well that we humans are not perfect. And He will always be fair in his judgement”, she concluded with a smile.

Then the woman looked at her wristwatch. “Oh i think i gotta go…..it’s like the person i intend to meet didn’t show up”, she said. “Anyway, you take care of yourself young man”, she said to Eric and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Wait….what’s your name if i may ask?”, Eric asked as the woman was about to leave.

“Just call me sister Diana”, she replied with a smile.

“Eric watched her leave and looked at the gravestone. He adjusted his jacket and started walking towards the car parked a few metres away from the cemetery.

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

6 : 05 pm.

Alex and Suzanne had being sitting in the car for over an hour, watching the strip bar that has a blinking neon sign of a cowgirl. There wasnt much going on outside the seemingly seedy joint that was located in the seedy and bad part of town, though it’s still too early for the customers to start showing up. It is the second day of the week, so business is expected to be very slow. But the two men who seems to be guarding the entrance were turning away the few people that had wanted to go inside the club.

“That’s odd”, Suzanne said as they keep monitoring the place. “Why are the bouncers not allowing anybody entrance into the club?”, she asked.

“The bouncers doesnt show up until the main show starts. Which is usually around ten pm. At this time, it is just a regular bar”, Alex noted.

“Main show”, Suzanne sneered. “You mean when the pigs that call themselves men start trooping to see girls n@de dance for them while they drool…….pssh….all bunch of losers”, she scoffed.

“Well you dont have to only blame the men. The girls are also guilty as charged”, Alex said and glanced at Suzanne who was sitting in the front passenger seat. “They are the ones willing to take off their cloths and make some erotic moves on the stage if given the right amount of cash”.

“Well it is the mens willingness to give that right amount of cash that started it”, Suzanne countered. “Demand and supply…..no demand then definitely no supply”.

“Yeah yeah….blame only the men”, Alex hissed. “No wonder my sister doesnt have a boyfriend even though she is very beautiful”, he murmured.

Suzanne was offended but at the same time quite happy. She like being told she was beautiful but hates the fact that she doesnt have a boyfriend. Not that she was finding it difficult to find one, infact whenever she goes out, she always had to deal with the constant and perhaps lustful stares she gets from the opposite sex. Not to talk of being approached numerous times and even being stalked. 

But her problem is, the only person she had ever liked and ever wanted as a boyfriend is Eric, her step brother’s twin. And it made her feel that something was definitely wrong with her to have such kind feelings towards him; that she might have been wired in the wrong way. She knows about her mother’s dirty secret; Barry not being her father. The first time she found out about it, she was surprised to see herself feeling glad. To her it meant that there was nothing wrong if anything happens to start going on between her and Eric because they are not siblings by blood or even by adoption. But she still feels that it is wrong and Eric will definitely agree with her. Besides that girl Lisa doesnt seem to be the type that gives up so easily and Suzanne sometimes wished that she would just disappeared from Erics life.

“Let’s just focus on why we are here”, Suzanne then said to Alex. She knew it could be killing time in any moment so she had to stay sharp and focused

“Yeah”, Alex agreed with her.

After about five minutes of watching the strip joint in silence and nothing eventful happening, Alex hissed.

“F@ck this sh!t”, he muttered. “I am going in”, he sighed.

“How do you intend to do that?”, Suzanne asked. “Because for the past one hour, no one had gone in or out of the place….we know that the owner is in there for sure but we dont know who is with him or how many they are”.

Alex thought for a while and reached for the black bag in the backseat. He opened it and Suzanne saw its content and gasped. It was half-filled with thick bundles of cash.

“What the hell are you doing carry this amount of money in your car”, she asked. “You dont know how to open a bank account or what?”.

“Thank heaven that this money is here”, Alex began as he pulled out the two handguns tucked in his waist belt and stuffed them underneath the cash. “This is my only guarantee of entering that place.

“Your guarantee?……arent we going in together?”, Suzanne protested.

“No”, Alex replied as he adjusted his jacket. “You stay here and keep the car engine running…..and wait for me. If anything happens to me, you get the hell out of here”.

Then Alex got out of the car. He could hear Suzanne protesting that she wants to go with him as he slammed the door casually headed towards the strip club, carrying the black bag.

“Hi guys”, he said to the two fearsome looking men standing at the entrance door. Alex made an attempt to go inside but one of the men stood infront of him and blocked his way. 

“No one is allowed to go in today…..some important guests are having a private show”, the man began with a cold voice. “So turn around and leave”.

“Why?”, Alex pretended to be surprised by what the man said.

“Because you can’t go in….so leave before we make you do so”, the other man replied.

“But Sammy told me to come meet him today”, Alex protested. “Infact i brought the payment for the deal we had last time”, then Alex opened the bag and showed the men the bundles of cash in it. “Your boss will be disappointed if he hear that you guys are responsible for him not getting the money he is suppose to receive today”, he continued.

One of the man stared at the money in the bag and then looked at Alex with a smirk. He whispered to the other man who nodded and entered the club.

“Wait here”, the man said and glanced at the bag numerous times with a somewhat greedy look in his eyes while Alex waited.

Few minutes later, three men came out. One was the guy standing outside the club, the other was another guy who was quite imposing. While the third was a short and slightly overweight man in his late forties with a bald haircut. His name is Sammy, the owner of the strip club. 

“Hey Sammy!…..good to see you again”, Alex began cheerfully and hugged Sammy who seemed to get extremely nervous when he saw Alex.

“Dude…..”, Sammy began after breaking away from the hug. “What are you doing here?”, he asked nervously and glanced at the three men standing behind him.

“I came to give you the money….have you forgotten its payday today?”, Alex said and then noticed how agitated Sammy was with the beads of sweat on his forehead. “Come on lets go inside….i need some drink and wanna watch some female booty shaking”, Alex continued and tried to drag Sammy into the club.

“Who the hell is this?”, the imposing man asked Sammy with alot of authority in his voice.

“Oh he is just a friend”, Sammy said to the man with a timid voice and sweating more. “And he is about to leave”, he continued and got closer to Alex. “Dude you need to get out of here”, he whispered to Alex. “You need to go now”, he then said aloud.

“Aw come on……okay just one drink then i will be on my way”, Alex insisted. He knew something was definitely wrong and the guys standing with them are not Sammy’s bodyguards or workers in the club.

“No…..no drinks for you. You have to leave”, Sammy insisted. “You can bring the money tomorrow”, he said eagerly and made an eye that Alex quickly understood. That all is not well.

“Why dont you let him have his drink”, the man suggested and nodded at the other two men who made way for Alex and Sammy. “Why dont you collect our new friend’s bag”, the man ordered one of his men.

Alex smiled “No thanks…..i will just hold on to it”, he said to the man who had stepped forward to take the bag and then dragged Sammy who reluctantly followed him into the club.

Alex glanced around the dim lighted club when they got inside. The place is surprisingly cleaner and well organized, considering how dirty the outside looked and the part of the town it was located. Cleaner and well organized than how it was the last time Alex came there.

The raised rectangular platform stage at the forefront where the strippers performed their dance looked quite bigger with a new chrome pole and better lighting. The stage now has chairs around it with an additional platform to put drinks on. The heavy smell of cigarette that always filled the place is quite minimal even though it still lingered in the air.

Alex smiled at the improvements Sammy had made in the place but noticed something quite off. The bartenders were not present. Not even the Dj. Rather, there are about eight hard and scrappy looking men sitting on different tables and watching the platform stage that was crowded with six stark n@ked women, putting out a rather dull performance. Like they were being forced to dance on stage and some were trying to hide the frightened look on their faces as they danced and cautiously glanced at the men sitting and watching them.

“Lots of improvement you have made here”, Alex said as he sat on the bar stool while Sammy hurriedly poured a shot of tequila for him. “By the way what happened to all the bartenders”, he asked and swallowed the shot. “And why are the girls completely butt n@ked…….oh i get it. A private show huh?”, he smiled mischeviously.

Sammy said nothing. He just poured another shot in Alex glass and glanced around the club nervously as he slowly set the bottle on the bar table.

“What is the matter?”, Alex asked and grimaced after taking the second shot. “You are acting kind of strange”, then he looked at the men in the club. Now they all had their eyes on Alex and Sammy. “Is it because of them?……dont worry, i wont disturb their private show. Just tell me what i want to know and i will be gone as soon as possible”.

Sammy poured the third shot in the glass and leaned closer to Alex. “Son, i know why your are here”, he whispered out of the side of his mouth and glanced at the imposing man who was staring in their direction. “But you came here at the wrong time. My advice is for you to leave immediately”.

“And why is that”, Alex whispered back.

“These guys are here because of you. But they still dont know that you are the guy they want”.

Alex heard it and remained still. Then he casually glanced around the joint, he was doing it to check on all the guys present in the place.

“Then why are they here?”, he asked Sammy with a whisper and dropped the bag on the bar table, pretending to be handing it over to Sammy.

“They think i am feeding you some information”, Sammy replied. “I have been trying to convice them that you and i have no business at all……..they are threatening to rape all my dancers to death”, he continued and wiped the beads of sweat in his forehead with the back of his hand.

Then one of the men got up and went over to the imposing man. He whispered something to him and the man looked at Alex with a furrowed eyebrow. He smiled and then said something to the man who nodded several times and started approaching Alex.

“Oh damn”, Sammy sighed and got more agitated. “It’s too late……i think they now know”.

“Just play it cool man”, Alex whispered to him and unzipped the bag after swallowing the shot in his glass.

“The boss wants to see you”, the man said to Sammy and then looked at Alex. “I want you to come with me”, he continued, staring at Alex with a cold look on his face.

Alex looked over his shoulder. “Are you talking to me?”, he asked the man.

“Well there is only one person drinking infront of me”, the man replied. “So it is you i’m talking to”. 
“He is just a customer…….”, Sammy began as he came out from the bar and placed his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “…….and he is about to leave”, he continued and tapped Alex on his shoulder.

“Anyway he is still coming with me”, the man insisted. “And you better do”, he said to Alex and raised his tee shirt to reveal the gun tucked in his waist belt.

“Hey no need for escalations”, Alex said quietly. Then he noticed that some of the other men had gotten up from their seats. Even the men outside the club had gotten inside the place and they all stared in his direction with a determined look in their faces. “Okay let me just count Sammy’s money to let him know that it is the complete amount”, Alex continued and dipped both hands inside the bag.

“Leave the goddamn money and follow me!”, the man barked at Alex.

Alex stared at the man for a while with his hands still inside the bag.

“Okay then”, Alex smiled and slowly pulled out his hands as he stared at the man.

One moment the man had his eyes on Alex hands that were in the bag. The next moment he took his eyes off, Alex swung into action. He pulled out his right hand that was bearing his favourite weapon; the Springfield semi automatic pistol. He shoved the barrel right into the man’s mouth and pull the trigger.

The back of the man’s head exploded as the bullet made its exit and he dropped on the floor like a sack of bricks. Then Alex pulled out the other hand that also had a firm grip on another pistol and pushed Sammy to the floor. He ducked down, swung the guns at the men standing at the door and let the hammers blow. Several bullets took flight and hit their intended targets, drilling holes in both men’s chest and abdomen.

The loud gunfire made all the strippers on the platform to shriek with fear and race into the back room with their hands covering their heads. The men reached for their weapons as they took cover.

“To the door!”, Alex bawled at Sammy who started crawling to the exit door as fast as he could as the loud and ferocious gunfight started. 

Alex swung the “clappers” in every direction and let them spit death as he backed out towards the door. Two other men got killed and one was trying to crawl behind the table with a slug in his shoulder. 

“Go to the black lexus parked outside!!”, Alex barked at Sammy who had managed to crawled his way out of the club. 

Alex reached for the clips in his jacket to reload. This gave one of the men time to swing the submachine gun he was holding in Alex direction. The gun chattered out loud and the some of the slugs hit Alex in his chest. It knocked him backwards like he got kicked by a horse and he found himself crashing through the entrance glass door and landing on the ground outside the club. Thanking heavens that he wore a bulletproof vest, he picked himself up and dragged Sammy with him to the car that Suzanne had brought to a screeching halt infront of the club.

“Let’s go let’s go!!”, he screamed at Suzanne as he opened the back door and shoved Sammy into the car. 

But Suzanne didn’t hit the gas pedal. She opened the door wildly and got out of the car with an Ak-47 in her hands. She swung the assault rifle at the entrance of the club and a loud gunfire rented the air like thunder. The slugs caught the first man to emerge from the club and almost cut him in half. The second man lost half of his face with his chest torn open. 

The club entrance glass door was completely destroyed. The third man to come through the door was painfully crawling over the broken pieces of glasses that was soaked in blood, trying in vain to get back into club after Suzanne had ripped his thighs and kneecaps open. Suzanne dislodged the spent clip and slapped in a fresh one. She rushed towards the club entry and took the third man out of his misery with two bullets to his skull. Despite Alex protest, she peered into the club and unloaded a hail of bullets into the place before stepping in.

“Oh God!……this girl gonna get herself killed”, Alex said angrily and reloaded his pistols. Then he rushed back towards the club as several loud gunfires erupted in the place.

Alex got to the door and cautiously peered into the club as he stepped over the dead bodies lying beside the door. The gunfight had ceased and silence settled. With his gun in a ready position, he silently stepped into the place that was covered with gun smoke and the heavy smell of gun powder. He looked around and saw several dead bodies twisted on the floor. 

“Suzanne!”, he called out. But no answer. “Suzanne!!”, he called out again and carefully paced into the small corridor leading to the inner rooms.

Alex saw a trail of blood in the poorly lit corridor and cautiously followed it to one of the rooms it went into.

“Am here”, Suzanne said without looking at Alex as he stepped into the room with his pistols pointed.

Seeing that his sister was unhurt, Alex gently brought down the weapons. He sighed and stared at her as she searched the pockets of the injured man lying on the floor and bleeding profusely from his chest and abdomen. He was the imposing man and the leader of the gang he and Suzanne had taken out.

“F@cking b!tch…..”, the man cursed painfully with a laboured breath. “F@cking b!tch shot me…..you gonna pay”, he said, spurting out blood from his mouth.

Suzanne ignored him and took out his wallet. She checked its content and his i.d card. Seeing nothing useful in his wallet and pockets, she pursed her lip and stared at the man as he struggled to breath.

“What are we gonna do with him”, Suzanne asked and looked at Alex. “He doesnt look fit enough to tell us anything….if we try to make him talk, he will probably die before he can even tell us his name”.

“We dont need him anyway”, Alex said and stood over the mortally wounded man. “Sammy will be more than willing to tell us everything he knows…..i will go talk to him”, Alex then walked out of the room. 

Suzanne picked up her rifle and made for the door.

“F@cking b!tch….”, then man cursed again. “My boys gonna get you soon…..and when they do, they gonna rape you like a cheap wh@re till you die”, he laughed and coughed out blood.

Suzanne heard it and paused. She quietly dropped the gun on the floor and went over to where the man laid. She pulled out the pistol tucked in her waist belt and bent over the man.

“Go ahead……do it”, the man dared her as she pointed the gun at his face. “Shoot me you f@cking coward!”,

“Nope…..you aint gonna take the easy route”, Suzanne said and shook her head.

Then she held the barrel of the handgun and begin to pistol whip the man. And pistol whipped him to death.

Sammy took a swill of the tequila and slammed the bottle on the table. He stared at the bottle thoughtfully and looked at Alex with a smirk on his face.

“Hector…….That motherfucker!”, he began angrily and took another swill. “After all the things i have done for that fool he still sent his men to kill me”, he fumed. Then he looked at Alex. “Believe me i have nothing to do with your mother’s shooting and neither did i supply the men to the people responsible for doing it”.

“Then why is this Hector or whoever he is, sending men to come ask you questions about me?”, Alex asked.

“For two straight days his men were getting f@cked left and right…..”, Sammy replied. “So he thought someone was giving his targets informations about the moves they were about to make on them”.

“So you knew about the plan to eliminate my mother and you didnt tell me?”, Alex asked with a furrowed eyebrow.

“Son…..there had always been a plan to eliminate your mother”, Sammy chuckled. “Every criminal individuals your mother had royally f@cked in one way or the other had always talked about a plan on how to get her……I heard it and thought it was just one of those bar room talks. I didnt know it was the real deal until i saw the news”.

“And what about the plan to get me?”.

“I didnt know about that one until these men came here……asking me if i in any way got informations about their plans”, Sammy replied. “Some of his men always come here to drool over my girls. They thought that one of them boys might have made the stupid mistake of spilling out some informations when he was spilling his ejaculations. And that the girl might have brought what he had spilled to me……i mean…the informations, not the other one”.

Suzanne sighed in disgust and left them. Alex glanced at his wristwatch and rested his elbows on the table they are sitting on. In a few minutes the police will arrive. But he has to get something from Sammy before he and Suzanne leaves the place.

“So this guy Hector, is he the one calling the shots?”, he asked.

“No…Hector is just a leader of a gang that mostly engage in arm robbery, kidnaps and murders”, Sammy replied. “He is just being hired by someone else to do the killings……some big shot”.

“Who is this big shot?…..Do you know who that person is?”, Alex demanded eagerly.

“No i dont know”.

“What about Hector?, where is he?, where can i find him?”.

“I don’t know”.

“Look…….”, Alex began impatiently with a sigh and ran his fingers across his head. “…….what you have told me so far is useless. I need something concrete…..something i can use to go after these guys……you have communicated with this Hector several times and you are telling me that you dont know where i can find him?”, he asked.

“Believe me i dont know”, Sammy replied with a downcast gaze. “The guy is a very careful man and never stays in one place”, he continued. Then he paused for a moment and looked at Alex. “But i know where you can find his associate called Santos. Maybe he will tell you where Hector is”, 

“Okay then…….”, Alex moved his weight abit. “How can i find Santos?”, he asked.

“There is this place that he goes every Tuesday night and today being Tuesday, i’m sure you will find him there…….”.

Sammy continue talking while Alex listened to him keenly. And also brought out his cellphone to send some text messages to Eric.

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

10 pm

“………My M.O. is man-slaughter kid.
Cause on the reals I done wet up more motherfuckers than water did.
Slid, cause I got to slide when the dirt is done.
A homicide but they want me on the Murder 1.
But as long as I got my gun, I’m aight.
Stay outta sight while it’s light, and then come out at night.
To make moves again, stomp and bruise again.
I know I’m going to hell cause I choose to sin……….”

Suzanne drummed her fingers to the beats and lyrics of DMX rap song with her eyes fixed on the building across the street from where the car is parked. The single storey building has a fancy lighted sign that says “JULIE’S HEALING HANDS”. It was a massage parlour being run by an asian woman and most of the women working there were from the same descent. The place was well known for providing the best spa and massage in the town, even though they charge quite an exorbitant fee. And there are also alot of rumours that the place was also suspected for being a front for high class prostitution.

“These men……”, Suzanne began with a chuckle and shook her head. “…..it’s like they do nothing else but spend their time on pleasures and women when they are not robbing or murdering”, she continued and looked at Alex who was sitting on the passenger seat beside her.

“What do you expect from guys like them huh?, to go to the library?……or the bible class?”, Alex asked. “They are bad guys and they know nothing else except being bad”. 

“Well if they know nothing else except being bad, then they should work very hard to be very good at it”, Suzanne said. 

“Why do you say so?”, 

“Why?…….the past 48 hours we have killed sixteen of them. If they were good in their profession, they wouldn’t be losing men so easily…….even if they are up against a superior enemy”. 

“Maybe they are up against something far worse than a superior enemy”, Alex murmured and gazed at Eric who was sitting on the back seat through the rearview mirror. “What’s up with the private business you wanted to take care of?”, Alex asked Eric who was resting his head backwards on the car seat back cushion with his eyes closed.

Eric remained in his position and gave him no response.

“Is he sleeping?”, Alex asked Suzanne.

“Maybe…..”, Suzanne shrugged. “But the question that still remains is, if we fail to deliver this…..this diamonds the Sosai wants, before the time he gave us runs out?”, she began and looked at Alex. “What are we gonna do?”, she asked.

“Frankly speaking, i dont know”, Alex replied and shook his head. “I just hope Eric’s girlfriend, Lisa, succeeds in convincing him not to harm our father”, he continued.

“What if she fails to convince him?”,

“Then we kill the old man”.

Alex and Suzanne looked at the back seat and saw Eric staring at them.

“I thought you were asleep”, Alex said to him.

“No i wasn’t”, Eric said and stretched his arms.

“But how do you intend to do that?”, Suzanne asked and stared at Eric through the rearview mirror. “If what you guys told me about the old man is true, then getting him is gonna be a very very difficult task, if not impossible. Besides we dont even know where he is keeping father. It could be anywhere in this country”.

“Then we make him talk….even if it means beating it out of him”.

“Hey man….first of all, we have to get him, which is quite an impossible thing to do, considering the army of body guards he is rolling with, most of them being ex strike force and ex special force soldiers”, Alex said. “Not to talk of the kind of power he wields in this country. He might even order the army to come after us. This is the Sosai we are talking about, not Hector and Santos and their bunch of murder gang we have to deal with first before thinking about going after our mighty power-wielding and insane grandfather”.

“Still, no man is untouchable”, Eric said.

“Yes….and neither is anyone bulletproof”, Alex added. “Those are mother’s words to us, but she is not only talking about our enemies. Those words also applies to us…..so you better remember and respect what the old lady says”.

Suzanne thought about what Alex said. She shook her head with a downcast gaze while Alex took out his cellphone from his pocket to check on it. After staring at the car steering wheel thoughtfully, she looked up and saw two cars, a black Cadillac suv and a black van, slowly grind to a halt infront of the massage shop.

“We got company”, she said to Alex who then shift his gaze from his mobile device screen to the cars that parked infront of the building across the street. He took out the binoculars from the car compartment box to get a closer view of the occupants that came out of the black van and made a quick survey of the area before the occupants of the suv came out.

“Is Santos there?, is he one of them?”, Suzanne asked eagerly.

Alex focused closer with the binoculars. “Yep…..”, he began and smirked. “Big and bald headed punk with a scar on his face, just like Sammy described him”, he continued. 

“But Sammy said he usually goes to the spa alone”, Suzanne noted. “Why is he here with the goon squad?”, she asked.

“I don’t know….maybe it is the recent killings of his men that made him to start moving around with bodyguards”, Alex replied. “And this might be a problem”, he continued and looked at Eric who still has his eyes closed.

Then Eric slowly opened his eyes. “Tell me everything you see”, he said to Alex and closed his eyes again.

“Occupants in both cars are all males…..four women just came out from the massage shop to welcome them”, Alex began as he viewed the activities going on around the massage shop. “Except for scar face who is wearing a black suit, the rest are wearing black leather jackets. They are seven in number…..four are heavyset and the rest are average built…..two heavysets are guarding the entrance while the rest entered the place”.

Then Alex looked at Eric. “Are you sure you want to do this alone?”, he asked.

Eric leaned to his side and grabbed the duffle bag lying on the back seat. He opened it and stared at its contents.

“Are you sure you dont want us to give you a hand?”, Suzanne asked.

“These assholes had the nerve to pull that little stunt of theirs on me and my mother”, Eric began with a murmur and took out two machetes and a Remington 870 semi auto sawed-off shotgun from the bag. “I think it’s time to take a serious jump on these sons of b!tches”, he tucked the matchetes and shot gun in the trench coat he was wearing. “Time to make their own mothers cry….if at all they have any”.

“Then lets go….take a jump on them”, Suzanne said excitedly.

“Nope…..this aint gonna be a bar room brawl where someone jumps in and light the place up with an assault rifle”, Eric said to her and opened the door to exit from the car. “I intend to take my time with those fools and make whoever that is sending them to feel me coming for him,…….make him have nightmares”. Then he got out and slammed the door. “I want you guys to wait here…..if any of them runs out of the place, blow him away”, he concluded and started heading towards the building that housed the massage shop.

Alex watched Eric leave and then reclined the car seat

“What are you doing?”, Suzanne asked. “You heard what he said….we suppose to be ready incase any of them comes out of the place”, she said.

“Dont worry yourself”, Alex grunted as he relaxed in the car seat. “Nobody is coming out of there alive…..because he will make sure none of them do”, he continued with a smile and shut his eyes.

BLOODLINE 2 Episode 7b
#OpraDre

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