For a split second the thought of turning around and grabbing Jay’s gun crossed the drivers mind, but as quickly as it came it vanished and the guy returned to his proper seated position. A moment of silence before Leon said ‘Jay, can we have some music please.’
Smiling Jay replied, ‘Sure, no problem.’
Jay pressed one of the knobs located on the middle console and the radio came to life. Jay immediately turned up the volume and proceeded to find a station to his liking. He ended up on New-York’s HOT 97 and the familiar voice of K. Foxx sounded clear and crisp through the Range Rover’s speakers. She said it was 11:45am on a Saturday morning and the world famous Cypher sounds was about to begin.
‘Now that’s what I’m talking about.’ Jay said smiling.
He turned the volume up some more and the base line of Lil Wayne’s ‘We smoke that Kush’ vibrated the inside of the car. Jay’s head was bouncing to the music however his aim on the driver head was dead straight. Directing his question to Leon Jay asked ‘Is that loud enough?’
‘Perfect.’ Leon replied.
Looking back over the rear seat Leon saw the two sports bags that belonged to him and his partner. Directed to the guy sitting next to him Leon said ‘Did you guys take anything out of the bags?’
The guy replied by shaking his head.
Leon asked ‘Did you look inside them?’
The guy nodded first then said ‘The boss only wanted the bags with the papers.’
‘Papers, what papers? You mean money?’ replied Leon.
Not wanting to give anything else away the guy shook his head and kept silent.
Leon took a deep breath, placed the Glock in his lap and with his free hand calmly reached over and removed the sunglasses away from the guys face. Looking into his eyes Leon said,
‘Are you really not going to tell me what I need to know?’
With his sunglasses gone, it was no longer possible for the guy to hide his thoughts. By the movement of his eyes Leon could tell he was going over the whole situation in his mind. Leon figured if it was him he would probably be doing the same thing, so he decided to give the guy time to weigh up the pros and the cons. Several seconds passed and Leon realigned his aim on the guy’s upper-body and said ‘Well? What’s it gonna be? You gonna tell me what we need to know?’
The guy lowered his hands and immediately Leon knew the guy had made the wrong decision. Sitting up straight, with his chest out and chin up the guy defiantly said ‘I’m not telling you anything.’
Leon shook his head in disappointment. ‘Well, that is unfortunate.’ he said. ‘See, the truth is I don’t wanna kill you. The fact is me and your boss might have the same enemies. But if you don’t tell me what I want to know, then I will be forced to…’
Before Leon could finish his sentence the guy shouted ‘May the Red Death be upon you!’ and lunged across the seat towards him.
Leon allowed the guy to grab hold of his shoulder and arm and pin him down into the corner where the seat meets the door. Leon fought back but just enough to allow himself room to point, aim and shoot. The guys heavy body, clothes and jacket did exactly what Leon had hoped and insulated the sound of the gun shot. Any sound that did escape was then mixed and distorted by the loud music playing through the speakers. If the few people walking passed them outside heard anything they did not show it and must have put it down to the Hip-Hop music that was playing.
Leon got out from underneath the guy and rested his body in a seated position. Leon looked at the guy’s lifeless body for a moment. The single bullet entered the left side of the guy’s chest but never exited. Leon figured it went through his rib cage, made mincemeat of his Lungs and heart and then lodged itself in an internal organ or bone. Leon had seen the same thing before, a common result when hit by a hollow point. Its’ very design is to enter the body and cause maximum damage without exiting.
At his partners request Jay turned the music down as Leon edged forward so his head was positioned between the two front head-rests. Knowing time was against them Leon said, ‘Now listen to me. If you don’t want to end up like your man back here you better tell me what I want to know.’
Before Leon could utter another word the driver replied, ‘Your bags are in the back. We were told not to take anything from them. Please - I don’t know anything!’
The driver thought he saw movement at the corner of his eye but by the time his brain could process what it was Jay’s arm had moved forward and up towards his face.
Crack!
The butt of Jay’s gun found the top side of the drivers head, causing him to let out a sound that was a cross between a yell and a cough and immediately his hands went to where the pain was coming from. He pulled his hands away and could see blood on his fingertips.
‘Listen to the question before you answer.’ Jay said sternly.
Wincing the guy nodded.
‘Good…’ Leon replied. ‘. . . Now, what did your man mean when he said papers? Did he mean money paper? Or something else?’
The guy started to shake.
‘Hey!’ Jay shouted. ‘Stop your crying and answer the question.’
The guy stopped shaking but stayed silent.
Something caught Leon’s attention and he looked up to see a woman walking her dog on the sidewalk. She had one of those retractable leashes and her dog was quite obviously walking her instead of her walking the dog. She was short, white and her grey hair was the same colour of the small dog she was trying to lead. However, instead of minding her own business and passing the Range Rover like everybody else, she slowed down and started to stare up directly through the windshield at its occupants. Jay, Leon and the driver looked back at her with blank faces. Leon motioned to Jay to turn the radio down even further and then sat back in his seat. Tapping the back of the driver’s chair Leon said ‘Sit back and act cool.’
The guy noticed the lady had actually slowed down to a stop and started to stand on her tip toes and peer up and over through the windshield. He thought about getting her attention and making a run for it but Jay was way ahead of him. With the tip of his gun discreetly pocked into the guy’s side, he said ‘Don’t think I won’t do it. I’ll pop you, the old lady and her dawg.’
The guy wiped the blood trail from the side of his face and sat back in his chair. Leon hit the button to make his window go down just enough for his head to fit through but still high enough for the woman to have to look up at him and said ‘Can I help you?’
The lady stepped back startled.
‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ she said.
Leon could tell she was more embarrassed than scared. Probably lived in New-York her whole life and had seen all kinds of things. Her curiosity was piqued; it was obvious she was not going to move so Leon watched her as she stood up next to the front driver’s door, tightly holding onto her dog’s leash. Leon stared at her for a moment longer then said, ‘Ma’am. Can I help you?’
Pointing up towards the tinted driver’s side window the lady replied ‘Is that young man going to be ok? He looks like he’s bleeding.’
‘Yeah he’s fine. We had a little accident in the park but he’ll be ok. We’re going to head over to the hospital now.’
Immediately the woman responded ‘What hospital?’
Leon decided not to answer because she clearly did not believe him. So after giving her another smile, he said ‘Is there anything else?’
The old lady looked at Leon defiantly before staring at her reflection in the glass of the driver’s side door.
‘Are you ok in there?’ she said.
When nothing happened she tapped on the glass. Leon quickly brought his head back in, tapped the drivers shoulder with his gun and calmly said, ‘Deal with it. Quickly.’
Leon put his head back outside the open window and said ‘Ma’am I assure you,
he will be ok. He’s a tuff guy.’
‘Really… ?’ The lady interrupted. ‘. . . Well I would like to hear it from him. Or I’m going to call the police and tell them you’re trying to steal this poor man’s car.’
There and then the driver buzzed his window down, revealing just his face. Due to her lack of height and the high stance of the Range Rover she had to step away and bend her head back to look up at the driver. He did well to keep his head at an angle, stopping her from seeing the cut to his head. She looked up at him for a moment then said, ‘You ok?’
The guy forced a convincing smile and replied. ‘Yes, I’m fine thank you.’
Before the old lady could reply he said ‘Have a nice day.’ And wound the window back up.
Feeling a little self-conscious the old lady went red in the face and after a moment or two shook her head and decided to leave the guy to his own fate. Leon watched her as she walked past the Range Rover mumbling under her breath. Winding his window up Leon moved into the position he was in before the lady walked up to the car and said. ‘Look, time is running out. So what’s it going to be?’
Jay pressed his gun into the thigh of the driver. The guy started to breathe heavily and gritted his teeth in expectation of a bullet going straight through.
In a calm voice Leon asked him ‘Are they taking the bags to Karim?’
Not wanting to be shot the guy answered by nodding his head.
‘Good answer.’ Jay said.
‘What else is in the bags?’
The driver did not answer straight away which caused Jay to poke his gun harder into the guy’s leg.
‘Don’t let me ask you again.’ Leon shouted.
A few seconds went by and the guy finally said, ‘Each bag has papers hidden in the base.’
‘Papers’? So what about the money? Jay asked.
‘The money is important yes, but the papers are what Karim wants.’
‘And what are these papers?’ Leon enquired.
The guy was about to reply but his phone which was now on the floor started ringing.
‘Oh no!’ The guy exclaimed. ‘They’re going to kill me for telling you these things.’
‘No they won’t.’ Leon replied.
The guy looked confused.
‘Yes they will.’ He said.
Leon moved back, reached over the rear seat and picked up his sports bag. Unsure if anything had been added to his luggage he took his time to unzip it. Everything seemed to be ok and after searching around for a moment Leon pulled out his phone the guy from the airport had taken from him earlier and a little nylon pouch.
Wanting to see what Leon was doing in the back the driver started to turn in his seat but Jay quickly motioned him to sit properly and face forwards. Leon waited a few seconds for a couple people to walk by and then without warning plunged the needle end of a syringe into the drivers’ neck. His whole body jerked and tensed. He tried to grab onto Leon’s hand but within seconds his eyes closed and his body fell limp.
‘He should be out for a few hours.’ Leon said.
He had injected him with a knock out cerium that not only sends the body to sleep but leaves the patient in a death like state. If undisturbed it was possible for the guy to remain that way for at least 48 hrs.
‘What now?’ Jay said.
‘We take our shit and go get those bags.’ Leon replied.
Before reaching into the back for Jays luggage Leon positioned the driver in his seat so he was sitting relatively straight-up, while Jay reached down underneath the steering column for the guy’s mobile.
‘Just call me the phone guy.’ Jay said smiling. Including the one he just picked up, Jay was now carrying four phones, three of them belonging to dead men and one belonging to a guy who looked like he was dead.
Another minute passed and Na’talia watched Jay and Leon exit the white Range Rover and cross back over the street. Her attention had been distracted for a minute by an email she had received on her phone however she noted Leon was in the back of the vehicle for a little over 15 minutes. She saw when the guy exited the SUV and got back in the rear seat, she observed Jay get into the front passenger side door, she was pretty sure at one point the Range Rover was rocking from side to side and she intently watched the old lady when she stopped and spoke to Leon. She was sure once the lady walked away police would be called to check them out, but thankfully nobody took the time to pay any attention. Na’talia had a lot of questions, not just for Leon but for herself. However as soon as Leon and Jay entered the Yukon truck, Leon immediately turned to Na’talia and said ‘Drive, let’s go follow that money.’
‘Now you want to go follow the money?’ Na’talia replied.
‘Yes…’ Jay interjected. ‘. . . Now that we have our shit, we’re ready. Is that a problem?’
Without saying a word, Na’talia just kissed her teeth and indicated left to show fellow drivers she wanted to enter the flow of traffic. It took them ten minutes to change lanes, cut across the park via 79th street and get back onto 5th Avenue heading north.
‘Where do you think they’re going?’ Jay asked.
‘Who knows?’ Leon replied.
One of the four phones Jay had now placed on the seat beside him started to ring again. Na’talia let out a sigh while Jay tapped the red phone insignia to end the call.
Leon could tell Na’talia was concerned about something so he asked her ‘What is it?’
Slightly turning her head to the right but keeping her eyes on the road she replied ‘We need to start getting real.’
‘What does that mean?’ Jay interrupted.
‘Well think about it. These guys obviously know something is up. The men at the hotel are out of commission and I get the feeling the two guys in the Range Rover won’t be answering any mobiles anytime soon.’
‘Get to the point!’ Jay blurted out.
‘My point is, whatever plan they had in place must have changed by now, and what about Black? I bet he has already been contacted and made aware you guys are missing.’
‘Fuck Black.’ Jay said coarsely.
‘Okay,’ Na’talia replied. ‘Well what about the Assistant Director? If Black knows you’re still alive, you can bet your life HE knows…’ She paused for a second and then said ‘. . . and if the Superior knows, Camistock know!’
Annoyed, Jay kissed his teeth and then said ‘Fuck Black. Fuck the Superior and Fuck Camistock.’ Reaching forward Jay tapped Leon on the shoulder and said ‘Do you see what’s going on here dawg? This is bullshit. Let’s just be out and stick to OUR plan.’
‘What? What are you on about?’ Na’talia replied. ‘I thought the plan was to continue playing the game?’
‘And why would we do that?’ Jay replied.
Rolling her eyes Na’talia stopped talking. She was not going to get into it with Jay and decided to pay more attention to her driving and the flashing red dots on the phones screen.
Leon cleared his throat and said ‘We found out the bags are carrying more than money.’
Surprised, Na’talia replied ‘what!? I checked them myself.’
Leon shook his head in disappointment. ‘Wrong… ! It turns out, hidden in the base of the bags were some papers.’
‘Papers?’ Na’talia repeated.
‘Yeah, papers, documents. Don’t know what they are, but it turns out that’s what Karim wants. The money is just an added factor.’
Leon noticed Na’talia was going over the information. He could not say for sure, but his gut feeling was telling him Na’talia was keeping something away from them. He needed clarification, but decided it was not the right time. For the next 20 minutes the three of them weaved in and out of the New-York traffic in silents. From the back Jay watched Na’talia use the phone to trace the movements of their target and d
ecide which back roads to take in order to make up the time and distance. She knew the streets of New-York like the back of her hand and in record time they were on the freeway heading north. Jay smiled to himself. ‘She is nice’, he thought.
Leon however was wrapped up in his own thoughts, trying to piece together a puzzle that seemed to have nothing but odd shapes and missing parts. That uncomfortable feeling in his stomach returned, causing him to come to the conclusion someone was playing them for fools. Leon did not want to think it, but he could not shake the feeling his father was behind it all.
CHAPTER 17
They were travelling North on Harlem River Drive and according to the GPS map on the phone, the five flashing dots were now to the East on the other side of the River. Na’talia took exit 14' onto Cross Bronx Expressway and the Map said the bags were directly in front of them, less than a mile away.
Knowing they would have a visual of the cargo soon, Na’talia wanted to verify their plan before they got any closer.
‘We’re just going to follow them right?’
Jay started to shake his head, upset she even asked the question. However Leon turned to her and said. ‘Yeah, where going to follow them.’
‘And get back those papers.’ Jay interrupted.
‘What? No!’ Na’talia exclaimed. ‘What is wrong with you two? Don’t you listen to anyone?’
Leon chuckled sarcastically, ‘Not when I’m being lied to.’ He said.
Na’talia picked up on the coarseness in his tone.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
Leon tried to read her eyes and facial reactions and what he saw was a woman who had been hurt and abandoned. She needed to belong, have a sense of purpose, but now she was scared shitless. Afraid the nagging doubts she had in the back of her mind could be brought to light by Leon’s actions.
‘Well?’ Na’talia insisted. ‘Are you going to tell me what you mean?’
The Desert Lion's True Colours Page 21
