Of Kings And Pawns

by Michael Oshita

  “But you didn't avenge her death and that's why you are back here,” a voice rang out in the dark room, answering Detective Davis query.

  “Who is there? Mom, is that you? Show yourself,” the detective ordered, gazing around the room to look for the source of the voice.

  In the middle of the room, where the metal chair sat, illuminated by a single spotlight, another chair slid into the light. “Sit, Detective,” the omnipotent voice rang out again.

  Detective Davis walked into the light and sat down on the cold, metal chair. “Now what?” he asked impatiently.

  John could hear light footsteps walking directly in front of him. Coming into the light was the secretary. She stood in front of him in her stunning red dress and bright red lipstick. She placed her hand on the side of her chair and smiled. Then, another pair of feet was heard walking toward him. Katherine walked into the light and stood next to the secretary, the chair resting between the two of them.

  Officer Davis looked back and forth at the secretary and his mother, “I don't understand...I released you...I....”

  “Failed,” Katherine interrupted, coldly. “Son, you failed me. You failed to avenge my death and to face your destiny. You told me the last time we spoke that you will rid the world of scum like your father. Yet you ran, scared to face him, and now you lay in a car that you stole from him, in a gas station parking lot. You are a disgrace.”

  “I tried! He was going to kill me! I'm not equipped to fight him.”

  “Then we will make you equipped,” the secretary replied as she walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder.

  Katherine walked over also and placed her hand on his other shoulder. The two figures began whispering a chant under their breath that John couldn't make out. Their hands started to become warm, then scalding.

  John gave out a scream and tried to jump out of the chair, but to no avail; he couldn't move. A yellow and red light started to permeate from the hands of his captives. The material of his jacket burned away and the smell of flesh filled the air.

  “What are you doing?” he screamed in pain and despair.

  “Justice, awaken from your slumber and rise into the real world,” the two enchantresses cried out. “You are truth—the hand that will bring equality to the tarnished world. You will be the bane of all evil and the light that will shine in the darkest times. Now rise.” Their voices became hollow and distant; whomever they were calling was buried deep…deep inside of his mind. The two women released their grip from John, and when he awoke up, he was back in the station wagon.

  He looked around hysterically as he regained his composure. I'm back, he thought. I'm in the real world. He pulled away one collar of his shirt and looked at his shoulder. A hand was imprinted on his shoulder. He looked at the other and closed his eyes to think.

  “Are you ready, son?” A voice came out to his right. He opened it and looked to his passenger seat; his mother sat there, holding his necklace. “I believe this is yours, Justice,” she said as she handed the necklace over with an outstretched arm.

  Justice reached out and grabbed the necklace and placed it back around his neck. “Let's go.”

  ***

  Carmine hardly slept the previous night. As with his son, a lot of things ran through his mind and continued to run through it as the Nevada morning sun broke through his room window. Where is John? What if he goes to the police? What if he tries to come back and kill me?

  I can't worry about that. I have no control over any of those things. What I do have control over is moving this money and getting out of here before he returns or anyone else finds my safe. Carmine hopped out of bed. First things first. I need to go see Francisco, grab some things, and find out what time the new pickup will be.

  Damn it. John took my car. No matter, Francisco can help me move the money and take me to the drop. I just need a ride to town and back. Then I can begin preparing for his arrival. Carmine walked toward his bedroom window and looked out toward the home of his neighbor Mr. Schumacher. Schumacher was loading some tools into his car and looked like he was heading out to town soon. “Bingo,” he said with a grin.

  Edward Schumacher was putting his last load of tools into his car. The old mechanic, with wrinkled skin, thick gray beard, and beaten, worn hands lived his entire life in Goodsprings, and never had any intentions of leaving any time soon. “Good morning, Ed. Beautiful morning today,” he heard a voice from behind him call out.

  He turned around. “Yes. Yes, it is, Albert. What can I do for ya?”

  “I was wondering if you were heading into town. My car has been giving me trouble, so I'm going to see an old friend of mine—see if he can give me a hand.”

  “Sure thing, Al, I can give ya a ride. You don't want me to take a look at it? Maybe I can save your friend the trip?”

  “No… no, that's okay, Ed. Thank you for offering but I'm already asking too much of you for the ride. My friend owes me a favor, and I already spoke on the phone with him last night. He'd be more than happy to help me out.”

  “All right if you insist. Martha…,” He called out to Mrs. Schumacher, who was still in the house. “I'm taking Albert Davis with me to town. He has to go see a friend to help him with his car trouble.”

  “All right, Ed,” Martha cried out from her kitchen window. “Good morning, Al! One of these nights we should all get together and have a dinner. How’s that sound?”

  “Good morning, Martha. Yes, that sounds great! John and I haven’t had a good, home-cooked meal in a while,” Carmine replied, waving out toward Mrs. Schumacher. “You ready to go, Ed?”

  “Yep, let's get moving.”

  The ride from the Schumachers to town was a fairly quiet one; the radio did most of the talking. Although they lived next to one another for quite some time, the two men hardly ever spoke. “So how you and John like Goodsprings?” Ed finally asked.

  “I love it here. It’s so peaceful and quiet. John…John still needs to get used to living in this kind of setting.”

  “Yeah, it can be a major change coming from the city to this kind of lifestyle. Hey, you know what I always wanted to ask you? What are you doing in your barn late at night?”

  Carmine shifted in his seat. Damn this is why I tried avoiding contact with people. “I have an old Chevy that I’ve been working on. I’m rebuilding it; it’s a hobby of mine,” Carmine replied, making up a story that sounded believable.

  “Wow, that sounds impressive. Can I come over and check out your car? I love me a nice-looking Chevy.”

  “Yeah, sure, Ed. How about tomorrow you come by around lunch, and I’ll show you what I’ve been working on?”

  “Sounds great, Al! Oh my, what happened here?” The two men stared into the parking lot of Francisco’s. Paramedics and police filled up the majority of the stalls in the front of the store. Carmine’s stomach sank as their car pulled up to the scene. “Albert, this is where you needed to go, right?”

  “It was,” he replied stoically.

  Edward placed his car in park and jumped out of his vehicle. “Let’s go see what all the commotion is about.”

  The two men walked over to the border of the crime scene. Yellow tape blocked off all onlookers who were trying to get a glimpse of what had happened. Carmine watched as paramedics came out the front door with a black body bag being rolled on a gurney headed toward the ambulance. His eyes began to water in disbelief, despair, and anger. Damn it. What am I going to do now? I need to act quickly. Whoever did this might know about me and the safe, and I may be in danger also. Should I just make a run for it? No, it’s too late, and I’ve come too far. I’m so close; I can taste the freedom. I’m going to see this through.

  “He was wearing a dark brown hat and a coat,” Carmine overheard a man being questioned by the police say. “He looked odd, out of place. I had a funny feeling about him, but Francisco said he’d be all right and thought nothing of it. I left shortly after. Francisco said that he thought the man was harmless and that he
’d be all right.”

  Puma moved slowly toward the officer and the man, wanting to listen to what he had to say. Maybe it would give him a better understanding if this crime was related to him or not. He saw two other officers talking to each other off to the side of the man being questioned. “So they counted everything taken. It was about two hundred dollars, some ammo, and a handgun.”

  He looked down in disgust. Sorry Francisco. It’s a shame that you were taken from us by a bunch of petty thugs. I promise you I will return, and when I do, they will pay. Whoever did this to you will pay dearly. He turned back around and began walking toward Ed. “Let’s go. There’s nothing more to see here.”

  “But, don’t you want to go and see if—”

  “No, let’s go now,” Carmine cut off Ed as he stared back at him harshly.

  “Oh…okay, Albert. We can go.”

  The two men jumped back into Ed’s car and headed back home.

  ***

  Mr. Griggs and his men drove past a “Welcome to Goodsprings” sign and smiled. This peaceful, quiet town will give birth to the new leader of Nevada, he thought. The excitement and energy permeated the air of Mr. Griggs’ vehicle. “Men, tonight marks a new day for all of us. We will own this state by tomorrow morning.”

  They drove past a shopping center that was filled with ambulances and police cars. “What you think’s going on over there, boss?” one of the soldiers in his car asked.

  “I don’t know, and I don’t quite frankly care. If anything, this helps us out. The police force in this town is small, at best. While they all will be preoccupied taking care of whatever is going on there, we can get in and get out of Goodsprings before anyone knows anything.” The rest of the pack will get disposed of, and no one will know a thing, he thought behind a devilish grin.

  Mr. Griggs gave one final look back at the commotion in the parking lot of the shopping center. An indescribable feeling that whatever happened there was connected to what was going to happen that night fell over him. Something’s not right. But it’s too late now; the wheels have been set in motion and I will see this through. I will not be denied my claim to the throne. I can’t show the rest of the men that I’m worried; no great leader shows weakness.

  Mr. Griggs and the rest of his men pulled onto the side of the dirt road. They had finally reached the two-story house with an old, red barn on its lot. Mr. Griggs and his soldiers vaulted out of the car and greedily gazed toward the barn. “There it is, men. Take a good look. Inside of that worn, beaten barn is the key to our future.”

  “Why don’t we go right now, boss? Whoever is in there won’t be able to stop us all,” one of the soldiers asked, a little scared knowing he spoke out of line.

  Mr. Griggs turned to him and gave him a disapproving look. “How old are you, son?” he asked as he began walking over to the soldier.

  “I’m…well, I’m…I’m twenty-seven, sir,” the soldier replied as he began receding farther and farther from Mr. Griggs.

  “Then you are still young and stupid,” he replied coldly. “You earn a pass, this time. The next time you talk out of line, you will be dead—understand?”

  “Yes, sir. I’m sorry,” the soldier replied as he hung his head in shame.

  Mr. Griggs walked onto the road and turned, facing the rest of his men. “He is right; we could go now and take the money. Kill whoever is in that house and run off with it. But then we will have a bigger problem on our hands. When the pack arrives tonight and sees our treachery, they will come after us. I don’t intend on standing trial and facing the wrath of Martin Lazzero and the rest of the pack. So we will come back tonight, like planned. We will dispose of the pack, like planned. And when day breaks tomorrow, we will move swiftly to Martin’s concrete abode and dethrone the king of the organization all in one swoop.”

  The men gave a cheer in excitement to Mr. Griggs’ proclamation. “Good. Let’s get back into town. Tonight, I become a king.”

  Chapter 15

  The time is now, Agent Grady thought as he watched the sun setting in the Nevada plains. He was parked outside of the Davis residence and watched, waiting for the right time to strike. Carmine has been cooped up in that barn this entire afternoon—from the time he got back from his neighbors ‘til now. The agent began getting anxious and nervous. It’s almost time; this long road has finally come to an end. “I’ll be home soon,” he said to the picture of Dianna and J. P. He kissed the picture of his family and tucked it back under his shirt, loaded his gun, and exited the vehicle.

  I could’ve gone earlier. But I don’t want to run the risk of anyone else seeing me. I’ve been trained to be a shadow; it’s only right if I finish my mission working as one. I’ll subdue Carmine and call it in to the cops as an anonymous call. I’ll take some cash for myself, and I’ll report it in my notes as someone else finding Carmine and calling it in. After he’s brought into custody, then Handler would have no choice but to relieve me of my duties and I can return to my family. I can finally retire and be home.

  The moon was already high in the sky when Agent Grady reached the front porch of Carmine’s home. Although the sun had set, there was still more than enough light for him to navigate the grounds without making any noises that would tip off someone that he was there. Grady started creeping up to the barn. His heartrate had picked up exponentially at this point. He hadn’t felt this kind of exhilaration in a long time. These past two nights have been great. I feel reborn. It’s a lot better than sitting in my car and watching Carmine go to the store, go to the bathroom, go to the barn.

  Grady got up close to the barn wall and peeked through one of the slats in the wall. His jaw dropped when he saw what lay before his eyes. Five unzipped duffle bags filled to the top with money sat on the floor near a huge hole in the ground. He couldn’t tell how much money was in each bag, but it looked to be more than one hundred thousand dollars. Carmine was nowhere to be found though in the dimly lit barn. A faint sound came from the hole where the bags lay. Grady began making his way around the barn wall to the barn entrance. Just as he reached the corner, Puma came out of the hole with another duffle bag full of money.

  “I need to take a break soon,” Carmine said to himself, exhausted from the hauling he already had done. He looked down at his watch. “Crap, I can’t take a break. Not if I plan on making it to the drop on time.”

  He froze as he heard a gun cock behind him. “Freeze, Mr. Lazzero, you are under arrest,” a voice rang out, echoing on the walls of the hollow barn.

  Carmine raised his arms and turned around slowly. “Who are you?” he asked, staring back at Grady with intense eyes.

  “It doesn’t matter what my name is, Carmine Lazzero. I’ve caught you. After all these years, I’ve finally got you. Your wild hunt for these safes ends tonight.”

  Puma stared back at the agent standing in front of him. Do I bluff him and see what he does? If I just stand here and submit, then he could arrest me or even kill me. How do I even know he’s a cop? “What are you state police? FBI?” Carmine asked as he began slowly moving around the hole toward Grady.

  “It doesn’t matter. Now stay where you are or I’ll shoot!”

  “I think you overplayed your hand, Officer,” he replied with a slight grin on his face. “As we speak, I have some associates on the way and, from the looks of it, you’re here alone. That tells me that either you acted out against orders from your commanding officer, or you aren’t a cop. If it’s the latter, you, sir, are going to be in some trouble.”

  The shadow stared back at Carmine. Is he telling the truth? Are there more people coming? “I hope you’re not talking about Mr. Lopez,” he replied as he stared down the barrel of his gun. “If so, I’m afraid to say that… Mr. Lopez won’t be joining us this evening.”

  Puma stared back at his assailant. His blood started to boil. This is the man who killed Francisco. He will pay. “You’re the one who did it? You’re the one who took his life?”

  “He left me no choice. H
e was going to tell you about my whereabouts. I was going to arrest you, Mr. Lazzero. But, now that I think about it, it may be better if you go and join him at this time.”

  Before the agent could pull the trigger, a light broke behind him. A vehicle had arrived. Neither men knew who had just shown up. They looked back at each other, puzzled about what was going on. He wasn’t bluffing; there are more people coming, Grady thought. Who is this? Carmine thought. The rest of his men?

  Grady lowered his gun and began slowly backpedaling next to Carmine as the two men watched the barn entrance for who was coming through the door. The car lights remained on as three doors opened. The silhouettes of three men came walking around the car and stood in front of it. “If there was anyone I expected to see here tonight, it would be you, Puma,” an all too familiar voice called out to Carmine.

  “Oh God, no,” Carmine said under his breath. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he looked out in horror at the entrance to the barn. Grady could feel the fear flying out of Carmine’s body. It was then he realized that he was in over his head.

  The three pack members entered the barn, guns drawn, pointing at the two hapless occupants who stared back in shock and fear.

  “Don't act surprised, Carmine,” Anthony continued, joy filling his voice. “You were playing with fire, and you were bound to get burned. Who's your friend?” he asked, nodding his head toward Grady.

  “I don't know who this is. He dropped in on me just before you got here.”

  “I hate party crashers, don't you?” Anthony asked his two companions over his shoulder. “Sorry, pal. This is a private party,” he explained, raising his gun up toward the stranger’s chest.

  “Hold on, hold on, wait!” Grady cried out in desperation as he dropped his handgun, raised his hands above his head, and fell to his knees. “I'm a cop. I'm with the FBI!”