The Desert Lion's True Colours (12 page)

Carter thought about it for a second before answering, ‘Ok. I’ll meet you round front. I just gotta go get my things.’

Without another word, Leon walked off in the same direction Jay had gone.

Ten minutes later Leon was sitting in his Mercedes outside the Co-Op building, waiting for Carter to exit the underground car-park. Another few minutes went by and the same silver BMW Leon saw the night before came out from the parking lot below and into the sun light. Carter was at the wheel, scanning the area around him. Ten minutes passed and they were on the ‘I-95’ heading north. While Leon followed Carter he used the time to piece everything he knew and had been told together. For the most part he had worked it all out.
-
His father’s involvement with the Fed’s, Karim’s dealings with Black,
-
It all made sense except for one thing. That he would be able to verify once he had a chance to go through the folder Chief Edwards had given him.

CHAPTER 7
 

L
eon followed Carter up the I95 passed 119
th
Street and kept on going north, passed ‘Ives Dairy Road’,
-
which lead into ‘Broward County’; and then took an exit ramp West towards the I75. A few miles past and just like Carter Leon took the Knob-Hill exit and after a few minutes followed behind Carter’s BMW into ‘
Knox
Landings
’, a housing estate for the rich and famous.

After passing a few homes that could only be described as mansions or mini castles and then driving through what looked like a golf course the two federal agents pulled up in front of a massive white house with rusty orange tiles. Leon counted eight windows on the front of the house alone. It was surrounded by a 6'ft high metal fence, with an electrical gate. Orchids hung from rails while vines clung to the wall around the front door. The driveway between the gate and the house wasn’t very long however Leon noticed it was in the shape of a horse shoe with an exit gate further down the fence. While the house did look good, Leon could not help but feel it did not go with the rest of the homes in the area.

Leon watched Carter pull up closer to the entrance and pause for a moment before the gate started to slide open. Leon drove up the driveway behind Carter and took in the rest of the yard that was hidden behind the fence. On the other side of the drive he saw a women walking towards a black Audi A7. The car had black 20' Inch rims with limo tinted windows. Leon tried to catch the registration but it was impossible due to the cars slanted position. The women had long, jet-black hair that shimmered in the sun-light. Leon thought compared to ‘Chocolate’ and ‘Cinnamon’ she was leaning more towards the heavier side but she wore it well
–
very well. She was wearing a white blouse, black pencil-skirt and a pair of black high heeled shoes. Leon figured her to be Spanish or mixed race due to her light complexion,
-
which made it easy for him to notice the tattoo of the Dolphin on her ankle. Leon was hoping she would turn around so he could see her face but she never did.

As Leon’s Merc came to a stop behind Carter’s car, Leon watched the women open the door to her ride, adjust her skirt and get in. Leon was still watching her as Carter got out of his M3 and walked back towards his Mercedes and tapped on the window. Leon watched the black Audi exit the gate, turn left and disappear.

‘Welcome to my humble abode.’ Carter said smiling on the other side of the door.

‘Humble?’ Leon said under his breath before killing the engine and waiting for carter to move away from the door.

‘Nice place you got.’ Leon said exiting his ride.

‘Thanks.’

Carter replied in a way that made Leon question if this was in fact his house, so he asked ‘Yours or the agencies?’

‘The Agency’s.’ Carter replied casually. ‘They seized this place a year ago from some banker for extortion. So since I’m supposed to be some big drug friend of yours the Agency thought this house would be the perfect cover.’

‘I see…’ Leon said frowning. ‘Well, are you gonna invite me in or what?’

Without a reply, Carter turned on his heels
–
much like a soldier would do when asked to perform an About-Turn
-
and quickly walked towards the front door of the house.

As Leon walked into the mansion behind Carter he could not help but feel he had just stepped into an episode of ‘MTV Cribs’. The main foyer was circular shaped with either doors or hallways leading off of it. The floor itself was made from slabs of see through glass enabling Leon to see giant Chinese gold-fish swimming around underneath. Immediately to the left of where he stood was a dining room and to his immediate right Leon figured the room to be a study or some other office. To the left of that room was a hallway which Leon could see lead to the Kitchen.

‘Come this way.’ Carter instructed.

He got no reply. Leon was quietly staring at the staircase that stood directly in the middle of the foyer.

‘It’s pretty isn’t it?’ Carter said smiling.

‘Pretty… ?’ Leon replied with a sarcastic chuckle. ‘Who would put something like this in their home?’

It was a double staircase. Made from glass,
-
with its steps wrapped around a frosted glass elevator.

‘Well, apparently some banker named Adonai Jaeger.’ Carter replied.

“
I
wonder
how
much
of
a
kick-back
the
Agency
got
after
locking
HIM
UP!”
Leon thought.

Carter tapped Leon on the shoulder again.

‘No disrespect intended’ He said, ‘but if you don’t mind, I really do think we should get to the reason why your actually here.’

‘Sure.’ Leon replied under his breath.

Leon followed Carter around the staircase and through a door to the left which lead into another dining room. Carter walked past the table towards the back of the room and opened the sliding glass door that lead outside. Motioning Leon to follow he said, ‘Take a seat.’

Leon decided to sit in one of the chairs directly next to the sliding door, just in case he found himself in a position where a fast get away was needed. As soon as Carter could see Leon was settled he asked ‘So what is your plan?’

‘Hold up… !’ Leon replied abruptly, ‘I have some questions for YOU first. I mean Jay and I don’t know you from Adam. How do we know you can really help us? Sure, you can sit in an office miles away and use your satellites and shit. Listen in on peeps conversations, but have you ever had to plant a bug or get close enough to get visual contact with your own two eyes… ?’ Leon paused for a moment then said ‘Apart from last night that is.’

Carter did not give an answer.

‘Ok. Maybe the question I should be asking is do YOU believe you’re up for this?’

Carter did not appreciate the question. He was handpicked to work on this case and now Leon was questioning if he thought he was capable. Carter moved to the edge of his seat, leaned forward and said ‘You don’t know me Sure I may not know, what’s the new FUBU line for the summer, or what size rims I need to put on my car so as to fit in but the Superior needed someone to pull this case out of the gutter and guess what? He called me! Aiigght!!’

Leon took in what Carter said and smiled to himself. However he kept his facial expression neutral.

‘Aight man, since you’re the Big Cheese why don’t you tell me how
you
think we should play it?’

Smiling, Carter replied ‘Well, if you’re asking… I read in your file that Black believes you and Jay met in the Pen 5 years ago. Well, why can’t I be one of your boys from the joint?’

‘Nope, sorry.’ Leon said shaking his head. ‘They’re too many issues with that scenario, but I’ll just give you the first two. One, Jay and I have never spoken about you. Ever! So Black isn’t going to buy that. And two: You couldn’t pull off being a ‘Pen’ Nigger. Sorry, you just don’t have what it takes. This isn’t an STO (Standard Training Operation) this is straight made for T.V shit. When you’re out there you have to walk like them, talk like them, breeeaath like them!’

Leon stopped talking and watched Carters reaction change to what he just said. However Leon stopped him before he could reply, so that he could retrieve his phone that had started to vibrate in his pocket.

‘One second.’ Leon said, looking at the screen of his phone.

He did not recognise the number but decided it would be best to answer it anyway.

‘Articulate!’ He said.

The voice on the other end of the phone belonged to Perry
–
raspy and impatient as always.

‘Yo, meet me at TooTsies.’ He said.

Covering the receiver with his palm Leon advised Carter who was on the phone then after placing it back to his ear said ‘Why can’t you just give me the address over the phone? It’s a clear line.’

‘Yo, I don’t have time for your bull-shit…’ Perry shouted. ‘Just meet me in two hours or I’ll just tell uncle you have more important things to do.’

Remembering what Black had said in his office the night before, Leon knew exactly what Perry was getting at, so he decided it would be best he was the one to back down and simply replied ‘Aight man. We’ll be there.’

Perry hung up without saying another word.

‘Well, I guess you’re going to be.’

Leon’s words were interrupted again by the vibration of his phone. He looked down at the screen and it read ‘JAY’, so once again Leon raised the phone to his ear and said ‘Yo what’s good dawg? You calmed down now?’

Jay did not reply to the question asked. He just said ‘WE NEED TO TALK. NOW!’

Despite Jay’s urgent words Leon calmly replied, ‘Aight man, no worries. Just meet me at mine in twenty. Oh, and roll heavy aight.’

Jay knew what that meant and ended the call with a simple ‘aight man. See yah in twenty.’

Leon placed the phone in his pocket and turned his attention back to Carter.

‘Aight man, here’s the deal.’ Leon said finally. ‘We have to meet Perry at TooTsies in a couple hours to get the details of the drop…’ Leon paused, flashed a smile and said ‘Well I guess you better go get yourself ready and head to the club. Let’s see if you can redeem yourself from last night’s horrible attempt of blending in.’

‘And what should I do when I get there?’ Carter interrupted.

‘Nothing…’ Leon said, still smiling. ‘Just keep a low profile and watch our backs.’

Carter sat forward in his seat again. ‘Wait… ! What about… ?’

Leon stopped him short.

‘Look man, I get it. You think you’re going to be our saviour. Ok, cool. But the truth of the matter is Perry is already a paranoid fuck. If we meet him now with some new guy tagging along, he’s gonna think something is up and possibly kill the deal. A risk we can’t afford to make. Not now.’

Carter did not reply but nodded his head in agreement instead. With time ticking away Leon decided it was his moment to leave. So he got up, walked back into the house and through dining room back to the foyer. By the time he got to the front door Carter was right behind him, so he stood to the side for his host to open the door.

‘Thank you…’ Leon said over graciously.

‘You’re welcome.’ Carter replied with an eyebrow raised.

‘I do have one more question to ask.’

‘If you must?’ replied Carter.

‘Who’s the chick in the whip?’

Carter smiled. ‘Sorry, that’s need to know information.’ He said.

As soon as the words were said Carter started to motion Leon out the door.

Leon was not going to make a big deal about it. He had a feeling he would find out who the woman was soon enough.

Carter stood in the doorway and watched Leon get into his Mercedes, manoeuvre around his BMW and drive through the exit gate that was still left open by the Audi. Thankfully ‘Knox Landing’ was not too far from where Leon lived and within 20 minutes he was home.

CHAPTER 8
 

I
t was 9:45pm by the time Leon got back to his house. Jay was already there. His car was in the same spot from earlier however as Leon pulled up he could see Jay leaning up against his Metallic black and gold motorbike
–
the new Concept ‘MV Agusta F1’. The bike was barely road legal however Jay still had a 3-stage NOS system added. Not many people could ride a bike with so much power but Jay was fearless.