The Desert Lion's True Colours (11 page)

Superior Upson cleared his throat, steeped his hands together and then said ‘Do I have to ask you to move again Agent Ferron?’

Leon took another few seconds to go over his options but then made the right decision to retreat back to the chair he was sitting in. As Leon sat down Jay turned to Chief Edwards and asked, ‘so what’s the plan now. Sir?’

‘Well we first need to verify the connection between Black and Karim. Find out if Pyro has also been contacted by our old friend and get them all the death penalty for funding terrorism against our beautiful country.’

Leon cut in, ‘and what about the death of my father?’

Superior Upson scoffed. ‘What about it, Agent Ferron? Look, before I lose my temper, I suggest you take that file and read it from cover to cover and then come back in this office with an apology.’

Leon started to talk but once again he was cut off by his superior.

‘I don’t want to hear it.’ Superior Upson retorted,
-
slamming his hands down on the desk. ‘. . . You want to know something Agent Ferron.’ he said. ‘You have to understand that you are not a lone entity here. Even though your father wasn’t one of us…’ he paused and waited to make sure he had Leon’s full attention. ‘He understood everyone had their place and played their role. So you can save me all that fake sentiment crap. FYI, Washington says that you have a month to get enough Intel to bring them in.’

‘What! You can’t be serious?’ Jay exclaimed. ‘For the last three years we had no idea about this shit and now you expect us to find out enough information to bring him down.’

Not wanting to give the Superior enough time to come back with a reply Leon quickly followed with, ‘If Black tried to keep this from my father and kept it from us for so long, what makes you think he will let us know anything now?’

‘Very interesting point Agent Ferron…’ Superior Upson replied, ‘That crossed my mind also. You’re Chief and I was just saying what is it about you that cause him to keep his cards so close to his chest. I mean, your ole’ Kilo Browns son. If he was to let anybody know his inner workings who better than his old role dog’s pup.’

Leon noticed Superior Upson tried to say the words with a gangster overtone but the metaphor just did not sound right coming out of his mouth.

Leon remained silent but could see Jay was actually giving the question pause.

‘What’s good?’ He asked.

‘I think I know what it is.’ Jay replied.

Turning towards the Superior Jay said ‘We think they may be on to us. Or should I say, we think Perry is on to us.’

Superior Upson slammed his hand down onto the desk again.

‘What you trying to say… ?’ He shouted. ‘That after 3 years you haven’t really provided any real intelligence and then when we finally need you to do your actual job, you tell me your cover has been blown?’

Without hesitation Jay replied ‘No, that’s not what I’m saying.’ He paused and looked at Leon as if for confirmation however Leon was not looking in his direction.
-
To be honest, Leon was slightly pissed Jay took it upon himself to say anything at all.

Jay stayed silent a few seconds longer then said ‘We were supposed to have a meeting with Pyro today. But he backed out at the last minute.’

‘Why?’ Replied Chief Edwards calmly.
–
A marked difference to Superior Upson.

After looking over at Leon one last time Jay said ‘Well, it turns out Perry knows about our connection. So he contacted Pyro and told him to stay clear.’

‘And what about Black?’ Superior Upson barked.

Leon decided Jay had said enough so he chose to cut into the conversation and answer the rest of the questions himself.

‘Black has no idea who we really are.’ He said flatly. ‘Black is worried I’m making deals off the books, that’s all. He basically told me so when I was at the ‘SPOT’ last night. Perry must have had someone tailing us when we made the drop two weeks ago.’

While Leon was talking he realised something that caused his blood to run cold but he stayed true to form and decided to keep his thoughts to himself. Chief Edwards frowned and started to run his hands through his hair. After taking in a few deep breaths he looked at Leon and said, ‘I know this isn’t easy.’

Superior Upson interrupted the Chief’s words with a disgruntled snort, which caused the Chief to shake his head in disappointment; He did not say anything. Just heaved a sigh and continued where he left off. ‘We need you to do whatever it takes to get the information we need. Names, times, dates
-
any and every connection Black and Karim make you need to know.’

‘IN FOUR WEEKS?’ Jay exclaimed.

‘I know. The window is short but time is of the essence here boys. If we’re correct and Karim has somehow got Black to fund his operation, then we need to put an end to Black and Karim’s business once and for all.’

Superior Upson finally spoke, ‘Since you feel this will be too much for you two, I’ve arranged for a new member to be added to the case. His name is O’Neal.’

Now on his feet the Superior turned his attention to Chief Edwards and said, ‘Make sure they get introduced.’ He paused to look down at his watch then said ‘I have to get back to New-York. Make sure I’m contacted with any updates and I’ll make sure any pertinent information is passed down to you.’

Chief Edwards nodded his head and with that Superior District Upson exited the room. Once again the office fell silent and the sound of the AC system returned. The Chief looked at his two best agents and said ‘Do you guys honestly think you will be able to get the information… ?’

However before either of them could answer he said ‘You’ve been given the raw end of the stick. I admit that. But this is your chance to stick it to them. Hell! Stick it to me too. I never thought you would make it this far. When Jay got shot three years ago, the higher heads were looking to pull the plug on this investigation.’

‘Pull the plug?’ Leon questioned.

The Chief took in a deep breath and sighed heavily. He was looking directly into Leon’s eyes and for the life of him Leon could not shake the feeling his Chief was telling him sorry and for the split second it takes for you to flick a switch, everything fell into place. Leon knew what was going on and the look on his face alerted that fact to the Chief. However any further thought process was broken by a knock on the door.

‘Shall I answer it?’ Jay asked.

The Chief didn’t answer but kept his eyes on Leon and repeated his earlier question

‘Do you think you guys will be able to get the information?’

Before Leon could reply, the knocking at the door returned.

‘Who is it?!’ The Chief shouted impatiently.

‘Agent Carter.’

Jay frowned, ‘I thought the dude’s last name was O’Neal?’ He said.

‘It is.’ Replied the Chief, then turning towards the door he said ‘Come in Agent Carter.’

A second passed, the door opened and a smiling Carter O’Neal entered the room.

‘I saw the Superior in the hall and he said you wanted to see me.’

‘Yeah, I bet he did.’ Leon thought.

‘Yes, yes, come in Carter. Meet your new team. Agent Nathan Ferron, Agent Dean Ferguson aka Leon and Jay. Guys, formally meet Agent Carter O’Neal.’

Carter waived them both hello then said ‘How you guys doing? I’m looking forward to getting out there and getting our hands dirty.’

Jay looked over his shoulder at Leon as if to say, ‘Is this guy foreal?’

Jay would have complied with the same sentiment but he did not want to give the new guy anything to read, so he said ‘Yeah, we’ve heard
a
lot
about you. Welcome.’

The Chief cleared his throat. ‘Well, now that we have got the introductions done and dusted, let’s get to business gentlemen.’

Leon walked over to Carter and shook his hand. Then without notice looked over at the Chief and in a reassuring tone, said ‘we’ll get what you need Chief.’

The Chief Edward’s face gave way to a smile

‘That’s what I like to here.’ He said.

Hearing Leon’s last statement, Chief Edwards did not think anything else needed to be said, so he just waived the three agents out the door and said ‘Now all three of you get out my office and do what you need to do, to get the info we need. Just don’t BLOW YOUR COVERRR!’

Jay made his way towards the door brushing by Carter with a noticeable thud. Leon acted as if he was unaware of the incident and turned his face away and the Chief’s head was already looking down at some papers so Cater decided not to make a big deal about Jay’s actions.

All three of them were now standing in the corridor outside Chief Edward’s office and Jay was looking at Carter,
-
not even slightly impressed with what he was seeing. Carter was black but had what the older heads down South would call ‘a high-yella’ complexion. Jay figured Carter was one of those guys who could switch between looking like a white or black man with a simple change of hairstyle and clean shave. He was about 5'9, lean
–
with noticeable muscle definition, but still way smaller than Jay.

‘
Nerd
’ Jay thought as he looked at Carter’s clothes.

He was wearing a blue shirt, navy blue pants and black leather shoes, a far cry from Leon and Jay’s baggy jeans, Timberlands, and designer tops. Jay thought about how taking Carter on board was going to be more of a chore than work and started to shake his head.

‘So what’s your name dawg?’ he asked. (Tone decidedly more aggressive than it actually needed to be)

‘Err, Carter.’

‘Nahh, fool! You’re
NAME
.’ Jay repeated.

Carter looked at his two new partners not knowing what to say.

‘What dah… Your street name!’ Jay exclaimed.

‘Oh! Sorry. Yeah, my street name. It’s gonna be Luke.

Jay flashed Carter a look of confusion. Unable to hold back his irritation any longer Jay shouted ‘What the Fuck! Are you being serious man?’

It was one thing to have some new guy be pushed onto them at the last minute but then it was a total different situation when the same guy has obviously never been placed in undercover work and has no clue as to how they did things.

‘Please, tell me what black hood nigger you know named Luke… ?’ Jay questioned ‘Nahh forget that, what black man
–
period, you know named Luke! I can’t believe this. We got four weeks and this nigger calls himself mother-fucking Luke! Who are you? Mother fucking Sky walker?’

Carter opened his mouth to speak but Jay cut him off.

‘The question was rhetorical, you fool. Seriously are you even black? I mean, when you wake up in the morning and you look in the mirror is it a black man looking back at you?’

Not waiting for a reply Jay turned to Leon and said ‘This fool crazy, he think he
Luke
Cage
.’

‘Yo, you need to calm down.’ Leon replied.

Side stepping away from the Chief’s door and pausing for two fellow FBI Agents to pass them in the corridor Leon turned towards Carter so he was standing squarely in front him and said ‘What did you do, over in Counter Intelligence?’

‘How di, did…’ Cater started to stutter but it was not long before he regained his composure and said ‘Did the District’ tell you guys that?’

‘What does it matter how we know… ?’ Leon replied. ‘. . . what matters’ is that we’re a team, so there can’t be any surprises. You feel me… ? So what did you do?’

‘Surveillance and some statistical analyses.’ Replied Carter proudly.

‘You have got to be kidding me?’ Jay exclaimed. He had finally heard enough. As far as he was concerned Carter was a desk hugging, button pushing
-
camera watching fool. Jay hated paper pushers
–
those who just sit behind a desk all day, while people like him and Leon were out in the streets doing all the real work.

Kissing his teeth Jay turned to Leon for some sort of validation for how he felt but unfortunately what he got back was Leon motioning him to calm down. Disappointedly Jay shook his head. In his mind Leon’s unwillingness to highlight Carters faults was the proverbial straw.

‘This is bullshit! You do know that right?’

Before Leon could reply Jay abruptly walked off with his middle finger high in the air.

‘Yo! Where are you going?’ Leon called.

‘I’m going home! Holla at me when you’re ready to ride.’

‘Aight, be sa…’

Carter cut Leon off before he could finish his customary sentence.

‘Shouldn’t we be going over how we’re going to move forward… ? How you guys are going to introduce me to Black? What’s my role going to be?’

Leon watched Jay turn the corner out of sight then looked over at Carter

‘Oh, I’m sorry Agent Carter.’ Leon replied sarcastically. ‘Didn’t the District already tell you that?’

‘Tell me what?’

‘Your role in this case?’

The pitch, pace and power of Leon’s words were placed perfectly. Those words alone,
-
for the first time in years, caused Carter to feel as if he was the one being scrutinised. However being the person he was he knew how to play the game and with that knowledge replied ‘Superior Upson hasn’t told me anything other than the facts of the case and that we have 4 weeks to get as much information on Black and Karim as possible.’

Leon stood there for a moment, scrutinizing Carter from head to toe. Ironically he was having the same thoughts as Jay but in contrast he was able to keep them to himself.

‘Aight man
-
your M3 outside?’ Leon said finally.

Carter was about to reply in the affirmative but before any words could be formed he realised if Leon knew what car he drove it also meant he did not go unnoticed last night. Leon could tell what he was thinking and smiled reassuringly.

‘Don’t worry about it’ he said. ‘I would have picked you out a mile away. Let’s just hope your surveillance techniques get better overnight.’

Carter nodded his head. Appreciating the fact Leon did not use his failed surveillance as a reason for him not to be on the case.

‘Let’s just head to your crib and there I’ll tell you how we’re gonna do this.’ Leon said.