by Alice Cooper
They didn’t go out the front door and they heard people outside and the sound of the distance sirens getting closer. “There’s no way for us to clean this mess up. I have this feeling that your prints are not exactly on file with the authorities. If they were to find mine, then they might put some of the pieces into the right puzzle. They’ve already declared that I was dead and that was something that was made very clear to me from the moment of my capture. That told me that nobody was coming and that everybody that knew me thought that I had passed away in some boating accident. They did have a way of making you feel like you had no way out.” “I know that I came to him through Jamison’s invitation. I think that he would’ve thought differently had he known what was going to happen. This was not his grand scheme and what we were doing was causing him more trouble than what we were worth.”
They managed to get back to the mustang and found that it was still exactly where they left it. They drove through the neighborhood seeing the police on the scene and knowing that it was by their doing that these people had took their last breath.
There was that awkward silence in the air. They were both trying to process what had happened and how close they had come to actually seeing their life vanish in front of them. Jordan looked at where the baby was now growing and knew that this was the main reason why he had decided to change his ways. He would’ve thought nothing of it to kill all of them, but he couldn’t do that without feeling like it was self defense. These guys were one in a million and he was sure that Jamison had others waiting to step into their shoes.
They drove for the next 20 minutes, until they arrived at the college campus. They surveyed the area for another 20 minutes to make sure that there weren’t any unwanted surprises. “I don’t feel right about this, Lila. It has always been an unwritten rule that family was off limits. He won’t think that I would stoop this low, but I have no choice. I need to make sure that vengeance can never be found in the heart of those that he has sired.” They had the necessary documentation to verify the identity of his two children. The female of the duo was now walking across campus wearing a plaid skirt and a white blouse with a red tie. She was alone and walking. She was pretty much open for this kind of attack.
“We may not have to make any sort of approach. We just need to wait for a moment where we can act without being seen. Follow her from a discreet distance. We need to remember that she is from the Jamison household and that she has probably been taught to spot a tail a mile away. I do know that Jamison has left them out of the business, but it’s not like they don’t know what’s going on. He has weekend time with his children. I’ve seen them a little hesitant to use whatever he is teaching at the time. His son Raymond is a little more ready to step into a more management type of role. Tilley is more her own woman, but that cannot play into this. We can’t think of her as an individual and if we do, we will only hesitate and that could lead to Jamison figuring out what we are doing.” “I don’t want to do this, but if we are going to, then we should do it right. Make it quick and painless and hide the body, until we can take care of Raymond and his father.”
I know that this doesn’t sit very well with you, Lila. It can’t be easy to see me do these things and think for a second that I am going to be able to lay down my arms. I don’t know what the future holds and I don’t think that anybody does. I can only promise that I will try to do better, but this life has a funny way of getting its hooks into you and never letting go.” Jordan was very aware that what they were about to do was something that not many in his profession would think about doing. He had talked to several of his colleagues in the past and none of them ever spoke of killing the innocent. There was one named Deacon that said the time for hesitation was in the comfort of your priest. In the field, you acted first and ask questions later.
Deacon was that kind of killer that didn’t mind any kind of collateral damage. He said that if anybody got in his way, then they were supposed to feel what it was like to be killed by his hand. He even bragged about doing jobs that the rest of them would turn down. It always had something to do with kids and even their death did not give him a moment of pause. Deacon was the kind of killer that didn’t think about what he did. He had spoke often of some of the tales and even those more seasoned veterans felt like he was pushing the envelope a little bit too far. They wouldn’t say that to his face, but it was a known fact that Deacon was not the type of man that you would want coming after you in the dead of night.
“Give me the gun and let me do this one.” She reached for the weapon and found that Jordan was not exactly happy with her taking matters into her own hands. “What you need to remember is that we’re both in this together. In for a penny and in for a pound. If we need to do this, then I should at least be complicit and not just aware of what you’re doing for me and the child. I think that I’ve already proven myself.” He finally relented and gave Lila the weapon with the silencer attached. They were close to an alley and Tilley had turned and went into it as a form of escape from the rest of the world.
She had the cigarette lit and had it up to her mouth, when she felt that something was wrong. Tilley turned and saw the car idling at the front of the Alley. She squinted her eyes and then her mouth opened and the cigarette dropped from where it was currently located. Her head snapped back with the impact of the bullet and she knew by seeing the bright lights that her father was the reason for this. Her head landed on the pavement at exactly the same time that the cigarette did with the ash now burning with no way for anybody to suck it down into their lungs.
Lila could only think of her family and that gave her the courage to take the life of a girl that really didn’t do anything to anybody. It didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to and it was almost assured me that Jamison would bring her into the business when she was old enough to know better. He had sheltered them from the real world and that was only going to get both of them killed. She never did understand the reason why she needed to learn how to defend herself or shoot a gun. It seemed like a bonding moment for the men in the family, but he had insisted that she tag along and learn these things.
Lila closed the window and laid the smoking gun in her lap. She stared at it in a trance, not quite believing that she had actually pulled the trigger. She had to put this deep down where it would do her no harm. She couldn’t believe that Jordan had given his consent, but then again she was quite adamant about taking this risk on her own. She did Tilley the respect of letting her see it coming. “I wish that things could be different, but if my family is to survive, then Jamison’s family can’t be left to come after us. I know that this was the right thing to do, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. She may have been innocent, but she wouldn’t remain that way for long. He was grooming both off spring to take over and I doubt it very seriously that he would’ve been willing to take no for an answer. He would corrupt her young mind with power. Power was the thing that corrupted those that didn’t know any better.”
“I know exactly where Raymond is at this very moment. You’re going to have to excuse me for a moment to get rid of the body. I know this area and that Dumpster won’t be cleaned out until later tomorrow night. You don’t have to look at me like that and I know how this sounds. Treating her like a piece of garbage is not something that I want to live with, but it’s necessary to keep our secret.” He got out and looked both ways to make sure that there weren’t those that had decided to become a pain in his ass.
He sprinted across the street, lifting her body quickly and heaving it into the Dumpster that was wide open. He jumped inside and buried her underneath the refuse. He almost felt like that his life meant nothing. Karma was a bitch and one day it was going to come around and bite him where the sun didn’t shine. He uncovered her face for a moment and looked at that Angelic unblemished face. She showed no signs of being some criminal mastermind, but her life had already been planned out from the moment that she was born. Jamison wanted her to stand beside her brother and giv
e him the necessary advice to keep him from going off half cocked and doing something that would bring the authorities or a rival faction down onto their heads.
Jordan knew that she was better off this way. It didn’t seem all that long ago that he was innocent himself. He didn’t need much to live on, but he was conscious to keep some of his earnings in the Cayman Islands. He didn’t want any problem with the IRS. That was a three letter acronym organization that he didn’t want to fight. They were worse than any other government organization including the FBI, CIA or even the DEA.
He jumped back out of the Dumpster and made his way back over to where Lila was shaking her head back and forth in obvious denial. “I did that. I took her life when she had barely begun living. I will most likely see her face every time that I close my eyes. It won’t be the first time that I’ve been haunted by images and it won’t be the last.”
Chapter 4
They drove off and soon were coming into the parking lot of where the swim meet was taking place. Tilley was in her first year of college and Raymond was a senior with the adoration of girls.
“The main event won’t take place for another couple of hours, Lila. We have that amount of time to get into place and do what needs to be done. If we can catch him practicing on his own, then I will deal with him personally. I don’t like this any better than you do, but he’s the one that we really have to worry about. He’s the first born son and will feel a need for vengeance. I don’t know exactly who will take over for Jamison, but I have an idea that might make getting to him easier.” Jordan had been thinking about this for some time and the idea was simplicity in the making.
They were soon in the darkened part of the bleachers with Jordan holding Lila close to his body. He wanted everybody to think that they were lovers and that they had just arrived for the swim meet.
“Raymond, I don’t think it’s necessary for you to get any more practice in. I’m sorry; I forgot who I was talking to. It’s not like you’re going to join the others in the locker room. You’ve always had this thing about proving yourself to your father. I’ve no idea if he’s going to be here today, or leave you to stand and do this on your own. Either way, I know that you’re strong enough to handle just about anything. I’ve been your coach for the last two years and I’ve seen you go from the little boy to a man.” The coach felt like he was a den mother to those that he had coached. Raymond was something different and there was a damage that could only be seen by the way that he looked indifferent at everything around him.
“I promise that I won’t overdo it. I just think that I can squeeze off another couple of seconds. I need that if I’m going to beat Chan. He’s the one that everybody thinks is the golden boy, but to me he is just another obstacle standing in my way. My father taught me never to take prisoners. I always do what it takes to make people think that I’m better than them. I want to see the fear in his eyes, as I beat him to the finish line in victory.” He had his dark hair slicked back from the water that he had from doing laps the last hour.
“You don’t have anything to prove to me. I’ve always been your biggest fan. I consider myself to be a surrogate father for the one that didn’t really give a damn to show up for any of your meets. I know of his reputation and I would never speak ill of anybody that can find me in the middle of the night and make sure that I never say anything bad about them again. I’m just saying that I think that you deserve better. You have never been given a chance and I wish that I could change that for you.” The coach walked away with his towel around his neck and disappeared within the locker room to give one of his trademark inspiration speeches.
Jordan watched as Raymond began to take a lap to the other end of the pool and then he dashed down to the pool edge. He stayed there looking at the form of Raymond coming closer. When his hand touched on the edge and was about to spring backwards, he was right there to grab Raymond by the head and force him below the water. He had him by the scruff of the neck and he was pushing on that nerve. He could only hope that the pain was enough for him to lose this struggle. He saw the bubbles and looked down into the face of a young kid that had a lot of fight left in him.
For his part, Raymond was not about to go out this easily. He felt like he had to do this for his father and if somebody really wanted to kill him, then they were going to have to do a whole lot better than this. He struggled and the pain of those fingers digging into his shoulder blades were like some kind of pain that he never knew was possible. He forced himself not to scream. He reached up and grabbed onto the wrist of whoever had decided to come against him in this way.
Lila watched from a distance and there was a part of her that wanted to look away. She wasn’t going to do that, because both she and Jordan were in this to the bitter end. This was the right choice, even though it probably didn’t feel that way to Jordan or Lila.
Jordan could feel the two hands gripping his wrist and squeezing with enough power that he was close to losing whatever grip he had on the young man’s neck. The bubbles were coming quicker and then they were slowly diminishing. He had witnessed this type of thing before and drowning was not a good way to go. His lungs were filling up with water and whatever breath he had was now slowly being taken away.
Jordan felt that this wasn’t going fast enough and decided to something about it. He lifted the kid out of the water by the neck, until they were face to face. He punched him with whatever power he had left in his left hand. It was enough to stun the kid and then he continued to drown him, until there was nothing left, but that last bubble. Leaving him there, he ran up to the bleachers and grabbed Lila and made a hasty exit before anybody could realize that they were responsible.
They stayed long enough to know that not even mouth to mouth resuscitation was going to bring him back from the brink of death. There was no way to hide the body and they were going to have to act quickly to get to Jamison before he decided to surround himself with a detail of security that was considered above reproach.
Jamison sat there listening to his lieutenant Adam speak about business. He was nodding his head, but was really more concerned with why he hadn’t heard from the horsemen. He drank his tea and made the necessary notes to become one of the leading suppliers of new and fresh talent. He had taken baby steps at first, but then those that he was coming after decided to push back. He had sent Adam and a few trusted and loyal soldiers to take care of the matter for him. They had done what he had wanted and now he had a stranglehold on the flesh trade.
“… needs to be taken care of immediately. Mr. Crane, you really do need to listen to me. I’m trying to tell you that you have a problem in house and that somebody needs to be sent to exterminate the rodent.” Adam looked at his mentor Jamison and it fell wrong to feel this elated. He enjoyed working for Jamison, but he really wasn’t given the proper respect. Had he been treated him better, he might’ve not done what he did. He had to wonder how long it was going to take before it would be over. Jordan was very specific about what to use. It took a bit for him to convince Jamison’s lieutenant that it was time for a new regime.
“I’m a little preoccupied with something at the moment, Adam. You know what to do and it’s not like I have to spell it out for you. Make sure that they’re not a problem anymore and then we can get back to the business that is making us all a lot of money.” Jamison was constantly looking at his phone and then he started to become fuzzy around the edges. He dropped his pen and put both of his fists up to his eyes to try to clear the cobwebs.
Adam didn’t like the flesh trade and when he was in power, he was going to let these girls have their lives back. He wanted to tell Jordan to go to hell, but he couldn’t do that. Jordan had laid out how he could become the leader that everybody wanted. He didn’t have to settle for standing in Jamison’s shadow, when it was possible for him to take that power for himself. Adam questioned Jordan’s loyalty, but in the end he knew that the best thing for everybody was to take the appropriate action.
“Y
ou don’t look very good, Mr. Crane.” He couldn’t stop giving Jamison the respect that he deserved. He might’ve been the product of his demise, but he still had a soft spot in his heart for the man that put him in this position. He was all about climbing the ladder and this position was becoming stagnant and stale.
“I don’t… I don’t feel…very good.” His voice and speech was slurred and his mind was muddled, but he suddenly came to the conclusion that he had been drugged. He looked down at the tea and then up at Adam. He knew the truth like it was written across his forehead. “Tell me that it’s not true. Tell me…that he didn’t get to you.” All Jamison got for his query was the shrug of Adam’s shoulders.
Adam watched, as he crashed down onto the table headfirst. He barely made the movement to get that teacup out of his way. Checking his pulse, he found that there was none. He motioned for Jordan and Lila to come out of the shadows. “I’ve made the arrangements. There’s a boat that is waiting for you to take possession of at the dock. Ironically, it’s Jamison’s way of escaping from the rest of the world. It’s now going to be used to get you out of here and give you a way to start your life over.” Adam had thought about going against his word, but it was after all Jordan that had shown him the way to the kind of riches and power that he never knew that he could get his hands on.
Jordan made a quick check of Jamison to make sure that he wasn’t going to rise like the phoenix from the ashes. The poison was this very powerful cyanide. The foam around his mouth was a good sign that he had swallowed enough of the concoction to do the right amount of damage to his internal organs.
