Chris slowly dragged his attention from the hand wrapped around his bicep and upward to Xander’s face. There was a surprising intensity in the boys’ eyes. Another one trying to lure him to the dark side of life?
“I don’t want to be part of anyone’s crew…” Chris slowly eased his arm out from the vice grip. He glanced around and could feel the dozen faces watching him intently.
“But it looks like you already are… You could join my crew, help me kill that sonofabitch and live like a King…”
Chris sighed, why did nobody understand he wanted no part in any of this? Why was it so hard to get out? It like fighting against quicksand, every motion away seemed wasted.
“I’ll tell you what I keep telling Sam, I don’t want to be part of any of this…”
“Then why you after Alexis…?”
“Because she took something from me and I want it back…”
Xander let him slip away. He thought about pulling his gun on the boy, but it would be a huge mistake. If he pissed off the Jackal in any way he would be good as dead.
While he would’ve loved to use the boy as a message to Sam, ultimately he had to let him go.
----------------------------------
Chris’ phone illuminated in his hand and he answered it blindly. He was stood several blocks from Xander’s base waiting for a taxi.
“Where the fuck you been?” It was Sam. It took him by surprise. Finally figured out how to use a telephone it seemed.
“What the fuck is it to do with you?” Chris snapped. How dare he just ring him and ask him that? He wasn’t Sam’s slave, he didn’t have to report to him. His patience for all this bullshit was gone, he had lost the end of his tether.
“It’s everything to do with me, especially when I find out you just went to see Xander…”
Chris recoiled. How the fuck did he know that? He was speechless, how had he found that out, especially so soon? Did he have a mole in Xander’s gang?
“It’s not what you think…” Chris heard himself say, it sounded poor out loud. Didn’t everybody say that when it was exactly what it looked like…?
“Then tell me Mr Bourgh, what the fuck was it?”
“I was looking for Alexis,” he decided he was going to play that card, it was because of her that he’d gone to Xander and yet again was in a mess with Sam. Was that part of her plan too? Fuck… Had she set him up?
“Get here now. Fuck her.” Sam ordered him angrily. “Bring the drugs.”
“I don’t have the drugs…” Chris snapped.
There was a brief pause. “…What?”
“Someone’s taken them…”
There was a silence. A silence where Chris found himself trying to predict what reaction was about to come from Sam. “Someone’s taken them… Stolen them from me, I‘m guessing-” he heard himself ramble. He halted his voice, now was not the time to ramble.
“I don’t give a fuck who you guessing bitch, you just lost me twenty K. You fucking owe me…” Suddenly Chris wasn’t sure Alexis had stolen it after all, what if Samuel had? What if it was all an elaborate ruse to get him firmly inside Le Bont’s pocket? Shit…
A car pulled up in front of him but he was too absorbed in this conversation with Sam to notice. His mind was whirling, what if this was Sam’s doing? Had he stolen his own drugs back so Chris owed him? The words resonated with him.
A silence he’d lost himself in dragged on.
Chris sighed to himself, the car noisly braked right in front of him. His eyes glanced down and he saw Detective Dubois peering through the window. A carpet of smoke rolled out from over the open window.
“Get here now.” Sam ordered. The Detective beckoned him to climb into the car.
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“Can I get you a coffee?” The detective pulled up at the fast food restaurant, he joined the procession of cars in the drive-thru.
“I need something stronger,” Chris remarked darkly. It made Jean smile.
“I’m afraid it doesn’t get much stronger than black coffee here,” he answered lightly.
Chris fixed a blank stare upon him, he was sat with his arms crossed and he was chewing the side of his mouth. Jean sensed something was chewing at the boy but it wasn‘t exactly rocket science was it.
“I’ll pass…” Chris answered politely, but the words were practically snapped off on his tongue.
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I really need to be somewhere…” Chris turned to look out of the window. He had felt pressured into climbing in the car, and he was getting pretty sick of being in such positions.
“Really? Where?”
“Our mutual friend Samuel Le Bont’s…” Chris answered darkly.
Jean was surprised and he let it show. “And what business do you have with our mutual friend today?” He knew there wasn’t much point in denying it any more, besides he knew Chris wasn’t stupid. The boy had somehow managed to wipe out a serial killer, and he theorised had also wiped out a series of hitmen too.
“He thinks I’ve aligned myself with his enemy…” Chris didn’t feel like confessing he’d lost Sam’s parcel of drugs, especially to a detective. While he knew the detective was dirty, he didn’t want to be placed in a different vulnerable situation by confessing that. He was under enough thumbs, he didn’t need another.
“Aaah, our dear little Samuel thinks you’ve betrayed him huh?” The tone was a little admonishing and it attracted Chris’ attention. “He always has been a little hot headed…”
“Is that how you ended up in his pocket,” Chris’ jibe was acerbic. He was in an utterly foul mood.
Jean snorted with laughter, “Dear god, no!”
Chris’ brow furrowed and he turned to Jean.
“Dear god no, its not me in his pocket! It’s the other way around…”
Chris wasn’t sure he believed him.
“…Ah, our little Samuel Le Bont is a pet of mine,” the dirty detective smiled, he then rolled down his window and placed his order. Burger, fries and a strong black coffee.
“You see, here in Melun, we invest in our up and coming stars.” the detective continued when they were out of earshot of the radio. “You could say Melun is a training ground for the big city. And Samuel is one of those rising stars,”
“Is Xander too?”
“Yeah. But he’s not mine,” Jean answered with a shrug. It sounded like the detective had nurtured a boxer and Melun was the metaphorical boxing ring. Chris however felt inclined to believe him, he had no reason not to. Jean had been surprisingly honest, but it didn’t mean Chris was going to lower his guards.
“So dear little Samuel is my little star, and now he and Xander are going to fight over the drug business in Melun.”
“Then he moves to the big city right?”
Jean nodded.
“Why are you telling me this?”
Jean took a deep breath as he contemplated that very question. He had been battling the desire to find Chris for a few days, it was happenstance that made him cross paths with him this evening. Seeing the young boy on the side of the road felt a little like fate.
“Because…” and Jean realised he needed to choose his words carefully, or just jump straight in. There was no easy way of having this conversation, “I’ve grown disappointed in Sam.” it sounded diplomatic, but it was a bit of a lie. The real reason he had grown sick of Le Bont was because he had lied to him. He had lied about the identity of the Fairy Killer and Jean didn’t like it. Sure they were all criminals in their own way, but there was a code, a system and mutual respect. Jean felt disrespected by Sam, and it had been the tipping point. He’d finally reached his limit of the irrational and moody drug-dealer. All those little niggles about the boy had finally become too much and now he regretted ever grooming him for greatness. He should’ve let him fall and become yet another failure for the Le Bont family…
“I still don’t get why you’re telling me this…” Chris probed. Thei
r conversation paused as Jean took his meal from the cashier. The smell of fries and grease filled the car as Jean found the nearest parking bay, a feat in itself amongst the heavy drape of cigarettes and sweat. He parked the car, turned the engine off and then opened the paper bag, offering a fry to Chris. He declined but he couldn’t deny the smell was appetising.
“Because I see something great in you,” Jean offered placing a fry in his mouth. Chris was a little flattered, but he was more suspicious. His expression said so. “I figured out who connected the hitmen murders. I was right, it was the target, but I couldn’t fathom out who the target was. Who was capable of killing several hitmen? Then I asked a few old friends and I finally figured it out. It was you… The bounty itself,”
Chris didn’t flinch.
“You were the one who connected all the murders, of course nobody can see it because they‘re all John Does…”
“So does this mean you’re going to arrest me?” Chris slowly slid his down towards the seatbelt. Was he going to have to fight his way out of this car? Was there even much point?
“No. Who the hell cares that a few hitmen got killed!”
Chris’ hand stopped.
“I’m impressed, you must have some incredible skills…” Jean turned his attention to the burger, “and then… of course, you’re the one who killed Damian Le Bont too. I‘m guessing he abducted Pierre and you intervened…”
Chris bristled.
“I get it, you were protecting Pierre…”
Chris told himself to keep quiet, everything the detective had was purely circumstantial. There wasn’t anything that could tie him to the death of Damian Le Bont, or any of the others.
“He’s a cute kid, I see the attraction.” Jean added, he wiped a lashing of mayonnaise away from the corner of his mouth. Chris was now more suspicious than ever, where was this conversation going. “So, you can imagine there’s quite a lot of potential in you. Potential that someone like me quite enjoys cultivating…”
“I’m really not sure I follow…”
“Imagine if the fight plays out, Sam and Xander do their duel. But both of them die…” Chris sensed the detective was more than willing to meddle in the impending fight, “then somebody new could run the ship…”
“I’m afraid I’m not the guy you’re looking for…”
“How so?”
“I’m not interested. I don’t want any part of any of it.”
“But yet you’re part of Sam’s crew,” Jean finished the burger and began to wipe his hands with the serviette, “you know he won’t just let you walk away…”
Chris opened his mouth to argue, but no words came out. It was a niggling suspicion that Sam wouldn’t let him go, even if Chris got his drugs back to him he would somehow be indebted to him forever. He owed him, that had been his words. How long would he owe?
“The only way you’ll ever be free from under him is if he dies…” Jean threw the tissue into the paper bag.
“Are you proposing that I kill him?” Another person out to kill Le Bont?
“Oh no, I’m not proposing anything except,” and Jean procured a little white card from the inside of his trench coat, he placed it in Chris’ hand, “should he fall and you feel like achieving greatness, I can be very valuable…”
Chris turned the card over, it had Jean’s mobile number printed on it in gold print.
Chris wasn’t sure he completely understood, or even trusted, Jean’s motivations and interests. But, perhaps he could be useful should he need to wage war on Samuel…
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, he thought, but then what was this bent detective?
CHAPTER NINETEEN:
Chris found Sam’s base abandoned as he entered it. The sound of the detective reversing back onto the road echoed in the warehouse. As Chris threaded through the boxes and wooden cartons, he realised that the place had been abandoned once more. Everything of use had been gutted and taken elsewhere. Sam had changed his home ground, had moved his operation somewhere else. Probably to avoid losing it when he and Xander went to war.
The warehouse was sparsely lit with lanterns, but the room at the back was fully lit. It served as a beacon and it drew him in.
He stepped into the room where once Samuel had tried to intimidate him and saw it had been stripped down too. No tools and potential weapons hung on the walls.
A large and bulky chair had been placed at the farthest end and that was where Sam was waiting, like a King upon a throne. His mood was thunderous and it made Chris take a breath to compose himself. He had pondered his fate, wondered how Sam would punish him for losing the drugs. Now he strongly suspected Sam was out for blood. He was gearing up for a warpath. The fact Pierre was tied, gagged and bound on his knees at Sam’s feet made that a definite in Chris’ mind. Samuel wasn’t playing around, he was pissed.
Chris played it cool, even as Pierre’s eyes drew to his. Did Pierre look afraid? It was hard to tell.
Sam adjusted himself on his throne, throwing his legs over the side of the chair. He scooped a serving of ice cream from the tub on his lap and fingered it into his mouth.
“Took a long while…” he growled. “The ice cream has melted…”
“I got caught up,” Chris told him flatly.
Sam smiled, but it wasn’t warm. He tossed the ice cream tub with one hand and it splattered against a far wall.
“I was worried you wasn’t going to show, so I decided I needed something to make you come…” he was referring to Pierre. He swung his legs down, pressed a dirty finger into Pierre’s cheek and flashed Chris a murderous look. He then struck Pierre across the face and floored him. The punk boy slammed onto his front with a loud thud.
It almost made Chris bolt for him. Almost.
“But now you’re here and you can tell me why you gave my drugs to Xander…” Sam slowly removed a silver handgun from the back of his waistband. He didn’t aim it at Chris but he made sure he saw it.
“I didn’t give them to Xander,” Chris growled.
“That’s not what a little birdy told me…”
“And which fucking birdy is that?” Chris snapped.
Sam smirked, in that same irritating way Alexis did. Samuel’s eyes cocked upward in self-contained bemusement.
“Alexis?” Chris named her.
Sam shrugged but it was obvious he wasn’t interested in putting a great deal of effort into concealing the truth. “…Maybe?”
“Well I think you should re-think your little girlfriend,” Chris snarled, “she’s the one who’s fucking Xander behind your back,”
Sam shrugged, “And? Do you think I didn’t know? I sent her into his crew, she was my eyes… My mole,”
Chris wasn’t convinced that Alexis was truly his mole and not working as a double-agent, he suspected she was playing both sides against each other. If she hadn’t have fucked with him, he might have admired her.
“Did you ask her to fuck that petty drug peddler too? Did you ask her to come to my studio and offer herself to me too? You’re a fucking idiot,” Chris shook his head, “Your girlfriend is a fucking liar and she’ll fuck anything to get what she wants, which explains why she’s been fucking you. She’s playing you both,”
“She said you’d say that…” Sam sniggered, he dragged Pierre back up and pressed the gun into the boy’s temple. “Just like she told me you was there when Jason died, that you was fucking the guy who killed him…”
Chris bristled, that blasted Alexis. Still, her killer ace hadn’t caused him to explode in a fit of rage like she had no doubt planned.
“And you believe her?” as soon as he felt it roll of his tongue he realised how petty it sounded. He took a deep breath, he needed to be better than this. Now more than ever he needed to be that vicious little predator he’d been at Callinghurst. “Let’s check our stories for a minute. What you know about her father? Did she tell you how he was attacked because he was an informant for the police, lost both his legs… A cute little so
b story… did she tell you that bullshit too? Well it appears he’s still got both of his legs when I met him earlier. When I called round to find out where she was and what she had done with the package of drugs… When her father told me she was with her boyfriend Xander. If he was just a fuck, just a job, then why did she tell her father about him? Why did he go home to meet Daddy?”
Samuel slowly turned his eyes to Chris, he had heard a very similar story once. But there was something else. Chris noticed how a seed of doubt had been fired straight into Sam’s mind, he liked that. He let it grow and flower in Samuel’s mind for a moment. Alexis had caused Chris far too much trouble to walk away from this unscathed. He was determined to take her down.
“Maybe you can’t trust her as much as you thought…” Chris added darkly, “Did she tell you I sold the drugs to Xander? Did she even tell you she had stolen them from me…? And just what did she tell Xander? Did she steal them for him?”
Sam raised the gun, “shut the fuck up.”
Chris had struck a nerve, obviously he didn’t like feeling stupid. But it was working, Samuel’s perception of his unstable girlfriend was now irreversibly tainted and questioned.
“Think about it Sam, what have I ever done to betray you? I’ve always been honest with you, told you I didn’t want involving in any of this bullshit… Even when I should’ve known better I told you straight. When you didn’t like it I still told you to go fuck yourself. I did right by your brother and I‘ve done right by you, despite you pushing me into a shitty corner again and again…”
Sam’s face crunched up as the dawning realisation that he’d probably been played by the girl truly hit home. He could feel a knot of anger tightening in his throat.
“So lets talk about loyalty, what you wanted from me. You already had it. You can still fix this…” Chris urged gently. He pointed to Pierre like it would inspire Samuel to let him go. In a strange shift of his face he puckered up and turned thunderous.
“Oh no. You can fix it. You bring me Xander’s head or I kill Pierre right here…” Sam swung the gun at Pierre and stood sharply. “If you’re so fucking loyal to me, then bring me his mother-fucking head.”
The Killing Games Page 20
