Being Mr. Blakemore (The Blakemore Files Book 7)
Page 6
“You kicked me in my face!” Eduardo said. He raised his boot, bringing it down with all the force in him to the face of a yowling Fung who lay on the floor, holding his knee.
Eduardo asked the bleeding man, “It doesn't feel good does it?”
Eduardo shot him in the other leg. His anger taking over. “Your martial arts skills mean nothing to me,” he said as he shot him in the thigh.
Saxton wanted to intervene as Eduardo shot Fung in the other thigh.
“Kicking somebody in the face...with your dirty foot,” Eduardo said as he shot the man in the abdomen.
“I should blow your face off...,” he said as he shot him once more.
“...Your dirty foot in my face! This place is filthy!” He tried to shoot him again but he was out of bullets. However, unsatisfied with the one-sided conversation, Eduardo handed Saxton back his gun, pulled two Ninja stars out of his pocket, throwing those into Fung’s belly on either side of the bullet wound.
“Aarrrrrrrghhh, back at you - you little fucker!” Eduardo said to the half-dead man.
“Eduardo, stop playing around,” Saxton called to him.
For good measure, Eduardo kicked Fung’s leg as he walked away.
Tonda, a humongous grin covering his face, was enjoying himself, beating the small men like they were Whack-a-Moles popping up in his way. He cleared the path for the prisoners in the cells to come out of the darkness with his mass of body. Carlos, trailed by a bruised and beat up Agent Roget with Kevin Jr., looked at the mayhem underway. Before Carlos could call out to his brother, Alberlado, slithered his way behind the youngest Delgado, catching him off guard, holding a large serrated knife to his throat.
“I have your brother Eduardo,” he said. “I shall slit his throat so that you may watch him die a slow and ...”
Alberlado did not finish the sentence; a knife from Eduardo’s cargo pocket flew at the man, piercing his thigh. The blade had not come soon enough, as Alberlado went to the ground, the sharpened end of the knife at Carlos’s throat jumped upwards, slicing through the flesh on his face. Carlos cried out, his hand holding the gash in his skin. The warm blood oozed between his fingers.
“You cut me,” he said, the first time in disbelief. The second time he said it out of shock. The third time he repeated it, was said in fury.
His fist balled up, Carlos grabbed Alberlado by the collar and began to marry his fist to the man’s face. “You cut me! You cut my face!” he said repeatedly as he continued to hit the man, blood seeping from the gash of separated skin on his face.
Kevin Jr. was happy to see his two brothers by marriage; they had come for him. Getting captured thirty minutes into his mission was not the impression he wanted to make upon Agent Roget nor to Saxton Blakemore. He grabbed Alberlado’s knife, which had fallen to the floor while Carlos was punching the man in the face, taking off at a run into the pack of fighting henchmen. It wasn’t much of a pack since the majority of them were already on the floor. He sliced and diced his way to Saxton, who was shooting a path through to the front door.
“Throw me a weapon,” Kevin Jr. said.
All Saxton had left was his backup piece and one clip. He rolled across the floor just as he had in Puerto Rico tossing the clip first to the kid followed by the gun. “Kev, lock and load,” he yelled.
This time, the kid didn’t miss. He grabbed the clip, then the gun, loaded, locked the magazine into place and began to fire. “Tonda, on your left,” Kevin Jr. called as he made his way to the big man’s back.
Eduardo was battling his way around the front of Tonda as more men poured into the room from the dark corner of the warehouse section like roaches once the lights went out. Eduardo wanted to discourage the new arrivals from jumping into the fray. “Up Tonda,” he called to his bodyguard.
Tonda stooped low, interlocking his fingers for Eduardo to use as a springboard. His boot seated in Tonda’s hand, the bodyguard flung his hands upwards in the air, sending Eduardo Delgado flying through the room. The Ninja stars in his pockets were in his hands as he threw them, mowing down the men coming into the room on the left. He landed on his feet like a cat. He coiled up like the viper on the other side of the floor, poised, ready to strike once more. Saxton was coming across crates of boxes on the right, shooting everything that moved. When Eduardo ran out of stars, he pulled out knives, throwing left and right until finally, between Kevin Jr., Saxton, Tonda, and the cartel leader there was no one left standing to fight.
Carlos yelled out, “Whoooo Shit! That’s my big brother right there! That’s Eduardo Delgado bitches!” Eduardo glanced at his brother and for the first time, he second-guessed himself for sending Carlos to America to be educated.
Roget, impaired by his vision, stayed down and out of sight. He checked his watch. To his surprise, the cutthroat men had not taken it from him. Fifteen minutes from the minute Carlos arrived to open their cells to now. That was all it took for them to take down the warehouse. When all the henchmen bodies were on the floor, and no bad guys were left standing, Roget called into the darkness, “All clear, you can come out now.”
Women covered in bruises, holding their hands up to the bright light of the room, stepped forward. Children, malnourished, dirty, and covered with lice crawled from the dark holding cells. Young men who had suffered the 15 minutes of playtime with Alberlado’s crew also came forward. The one thing which changed Eduardo’s mind on taking the life of Fung happened when he saw the two Asian women.
They were nude.
Their bodies were covered in bruises.
Thick red blood ran down the legs of one of the women.
The other was in a sad state of being. Her arm hung loosely at her side as if it had been broken but not repaired. Fear filled her eyes as she looked at him, defeat covered her, leaving no room for embarrassment or shame as she did not attempt to conceal her nude body. She no longer cared.
Eduardo went back to have a different conversation with the Asian assassin Fung. Amazingly, the man was still alive. The sight of the children which had been held made Eduardo’s stomach lurch. The Asian women cowered when Roget agent attempted to speak to them. They spoke no English. Roget removed his top shirt to cover one of the women. This made something inside of Eduardo snap. He raised his right pant leg to remove his favorite gun. He did not blink as he put a bullet into Fung’s head.
Carlos did not question why. He knew. Eduardo Delgado prized loyalty above all else. For Fung to allow the mistreatment of women from his own land was beyond reprehensible, knowing as well, Fung served as the translator for Alberlado to subject the women to unspeakable acts. Men like that did not deserve to live.
“We must leave now,” Eduardo said to the men.
Shifty Jones, who had hidden in the back of the room stepped forward. Saxton aimed at the man’s head. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Shifty called out. “I am with you guys,” he said.
Roget walked over to the man. His remaining good eye focused on Shifty as he pulled back his fist, unleashing it with all the power he could muster, hitting the man in the face. “That’s for kicking me in the back,” he said to the bug-eyed mercenary.
One small child ran over and grabbed Roget’s leg. “No, he helps us...he brings us food and water...he does not let them hurt us...much,” the child said.
Those words were the only reason Shifty was allowed to live. However, he was not getting on their plane, Eduardo made certain of that.
Saxton stepped forward, “Hey, get these people somewhere safe,” he ordered. “We will send back some help.”
Eduardo had done what he came to do. Without speaking, he turned and started walking. Tonda called out to the men, “Wheels up in 8 minutes or less. If you are not on the plane, you are getting left,” he said following his boss.
“Jeffe, can I use the pequeno puta madre? Por favor?” Tonda begged.
“This place stinks of death, yes, burn it to the ground,” he said not bothering to look over his shoulder. Every able body that could run, w
alk or crawl made a beeline for the door. The children scampered out the side door while the women helped the infirmed as the lights from outside bore down on them. No one paid much attention as Alberlado slipped out through the side door in the chaos. The group of ragtag freed hostages hunkered together, waiting for aid at a safe distance from the building.
One pull from Tonda’s finger, the cartridge flew and the warehouse went up in flames. It was over. One more meat shop was closed.
The quick ride back to the airfield was done in silence as the five men boarded the plane. Julianna watched them cautiously as the men each took a seat, quiet in their own thoughts. Her eyes went to Saxton. He was bleeding heavily.
“Seňor,” she said to him. “You have been shot.”
Chapter 10- You beest...
Roget’s good eye tried to zoom in on Julianna, but his head hurt so fiercely, he could barely see where to sit. Kevin Jr. helped him onto a seat. Seeing the state of the Agent, he took it upon himself to fasten his seat belt and sit beside him, using a light blanket to throw around his bare shoulders.
“Tomás, get us in the air,” Eduardo called out to his pilot. Another gentleman, who looked exactly like the pilot, performed a quick crosscheck, sealed the doors and started the pressurization of the cabin. Julianna, who served as the flight attendant and the caretaker of Eduardo’s plane quickly grabbed a first aid kit to work on Saxton’s arm.
“I’ll take care of that Julianna,” Carlos told her.
Eduardo, still angered by the man kicking him in the face, growled a bit as he made the introductions. He pointed to the second gentleman on the plane.
“Raoul is the co–pilot, he will fly me home after I leave Los Angeles. Julianna is the caretaker and mechanic for my plane; nothing comes in or out without her personally touching, purchasing, and loading it in herself. This includes any food and wine, or even a bottle of water,” he said with some pride.
Saxton looked at Tonda, who had taken a seat in the rear of the plane at the table to clean the pequeno puta madre. He asked Eduardo, “...and him?”
“Tonda is my personal assistant,” he said with a smile.
His eyes were back on his arm as the young man began to stitch up the hole in his flesh with surgical precision. “It is a through and through Mr. Blakemore. I doubt if it is your first one, but it will heal, as long as you keep it clean,” Carlos told him.
Saxton asked, “You are pretty good at this, are you in medical school?”
“No, I am headed to law school in the fall, but when you grow up with brothers who think they are invincible, exceptional first aid skills are imperative,” he said.
Julianna eyed the motley group of men who looked as if they had been in a bar room brawl. By the appearances of their current states of being, it was unclear if they had come out the victors. Scanning them over, she knew strong drinks were in order. Her boss also had something on his face, which prompted her to return with drink service and warm cleaning cloths for them all.
“Seňor,” Julianna said. “You have something on your face.”
Carlos looked over. “Yeah, it’s a shoe print.”
Saxton bit his bottom lip. The expression on Eduardo’s face was priceless as he used the rag to wipe away the dirt from the shoe, however, it was not enough. The actual shape of the man’s shoe was imprinted in his skin.
“Oh...damn!” Kevin Jr. said. His eyes now wandering to Julianna. He flashed her a large smile. Roget’s good eye was on the young man thinking the last thing he needed to look at was another woman—ever.
Eduardo bounded to his feet to look in the mirror affixed to the cabin wall noticing the indentation in his skin. He let out a string of expletives in Spanish. “If he were not dead, I would turn this plane around and go back and kill him,” he said with a grimace.
Saxton eyeballed at the cut on Carlos’s face, “Thanks for taking care of my arm, let me help you with that cut.”
As he swapped places with Carlos, he looked about the cabin. He was shot, Eduardo had a footprint tattooed on his face, Roget would probably lose his eye and the big dude had a busted lip. The only one who was not injured was Kevin Jr. who was now ogling Julianna.
“I don’t believe this shit. We come to your rescue, Kevin Jr., and we are all scarred and bruised yet you don’t have a scratch on you,” Saxton said.
Kevin Jr.’s eyes were wide. “My scars are all mental. Some man, I cannot get over this, was going to stick his dick in my butt! That is messing with my head. He would have done it too if that shifty-eyed dude didn’t stop him. They tied me up, Saxton. Those men held me down, man! They held me down so that some turd burglar could violate my booty by using his junk as a poop finder!”
Roget, leaned forward, his right eye closed. “Oh shut up! I think I have two concussions, I am probably blind in my right eye, I am going to have to retire because I am no longer able to do my job because I can’t see my job, and when I woke up from someone knocking me the fuck out, some big ugly dude was taking off my pants,” Roget said with a tremor. “It’s too much, man, I think I need someone to hold me.”
Kevin Jr. wrapped his arms around Roget, allowing the tall man to lean on him as he rocked back and forth.
“There, there,” he said to Roget, rocking him like a small child. “At least, you didn’t wake up nekkid in the barn wrapped in a blanket.” He said this as his eyes went over to Eduardo.
A deep offense was taken by Eduardo, who shook his head no as he responded to Kevin’s insinuation. “You were undressed when I found you...I did not remove your clothing...I am not...what did you call it...the turd burglar. I do not wish to be inside tu culo with my junk or anything else!” Eduardo said his eyebrows raised.
Laughter filled the cabin as an ease fell between the men. Carlos noticed for the first time in many years that his brother was relaxed, almost at ease with the men. A great deal of history was between them all, but it did not seem adversarial. However, it was obvious things which were unsaid, needed to be spoken aloud to clear some of the air.
Carlos opened the dialog by stating, “Let me get this straight, Mr. Blakemore, you are married to Kevin Jr.’s sister. Eddie, you are married to his other sister. Which one of them killed Hugo?”
If felt as if a vacuum had been placed in the middle of the plane sucking out all breathable contents of the cabin. Saxton swallowed hard before answering. Careful thought was placed into his phrasing before he opened his mouth. Eduardo’s eyes were upon him as were Tonda’s.
“I am so sorry for the loss of your brother,” he said. “Unfortunately, Odessa, my wife, was forced to take Hugo’s life.”
He was intrigued. Carlos continued the questioning, trying to go deeper, “I understand you met her because of Mateo.”
“Yes, Mateo had spotted her and planned a life for her much like those women at that warehouse. She saw me at a curbside café, pretended I was her fiancé who had left her at the altar. Mateo thought it was funny, knowing I was Catholic, to push us into getting married. We were married at Victorio’s villa, where that little bastard Mateo had a bunch of women that were...,” Saxton stopped. “Odessa freed the women, shot up the place, but not before Mateo broke my arm, fractured a few of my ribs and left me with only 40% vision in my left eye. He was going to kill me, but she shot him in the hand, Hugo shot at Victorio, she shot Hugo. She is a good shot. Big Sarge, that’s their father, only taught them one way to shoot. Again, I am deeply sorry for the loss of your brother.”
Eduardo nodded his head as if he appeared to accept the apology.
“I am sorry for killing your horse. It was a beautiful, spirited animal. Under different circumstances, I would have loved an opportunity to have ridden him,” he said to Saxton.
“Eduardo, how did you end up married to Ryanne?” Kevin Jr. asked. He’d missed the conversation with his parents when they had been in town a few days before. Tonda holding him upside had made him forget to ask about anything else, including what time of day it was.
Carlos raised his hand like he was in class. “Wait...didn’t you come to the US to kill her?”
“Sí...but after meeting that amazing woman, I determined her husband had been lying to me, so I killed him instead,” he said flatly.
Carlos held up his hands in surrender. “You say that so casually like you just went and bought a new pair of shoes.” He mocked his brother putting the South American accent on thick like a heavy handed waitress putting mayo on a sandwich. “Sí, I have purchased new boots and while I was there I put a bullet in the man’s head who sold them to me. Do you like the fit of mis botas?”
“That bastard laid his hands upon her, bruising her beautiful face...plus he lied to me. You don’t lie to me,” Eduardo said to his brother.
“One day, someone is going to prove that you are not so tough,” Carlos said.
“Yeah, my Daddy did that. He punched him in the face,” Kevin Jr. said. “He didn’t look so tough sitting on the couch with a set of tampons stuck up his nostrils to stop the bleeding.”
Eduardo checked his cargo pockets for a Ninja star or a knife to throw at his brother in law. Instead, he threw the damp cloth at him, swatting him playfully upside the head. Everyone’s mouth dropped open with the exception of Tonda and Saxton. Carlos could not believe it either. There was a fondness Eduardo felt for Kevin which was evident in how he dealt and reacted to him.
“How did that happen?” Julianna asked, enjoying seeing this side of her boss. The question was posed about the bloody nose, but it also related to the relationship with the Ryanne’s brother.
“Tonda stepped out of the way to let him hit me,” Eduardo said with a scowl.
“Are you telling me you didn’t kill him?” Carlos asked sarcastically.
Something shifted in Eduardo as he inhaled deeply. His hand ran through his hair then over his mustache. He chuckled a bit.