The Desert Lion's True Colours (22 page)

Leon paused for a moment and then as if something else came to mind, reluctantly said ‘. . . And then what?’

‘What do you mean?’ replied Chief Edwards, slightly confused by the question.

Leon started to frown. ‘I mean, and then what… ? What happens when we get to New-York and we make the drop for Black?’

Before the chief answered he changed lanes to take the fly-over that led up to Miami International Airport and then indicated right to get into the express lane that went under the sign ‘Long Term Parking’. Finally he said ‘What then… ? Hopefully your father will be able to fill us in. However, in the meantime, make sure you call Black as soon as you land. Get the details of the drop and then call me.’

In no way did that answer Leon’s question but he was not about to start highlighting the inconsistences in the Chief’s sudden change of heart. He did not need any more reasons for him to start doubting the Chief. At that moment, faith was all he seemed to have left and to be honest Leon was too tired to put it to the test. Jay however was a total different person.

‘So we’re
really
going to go through with the drop? Like for real, for real.’

It was clear to everyone
-
including the Chief
-
that Jay’s question was clouded with aggravation. Jay was about to say something else but Chief Edwards cut him off by saying, ‘We have to… Well at least, make it look like you’re going to.’

A minute later, Chief Edwards passed through the yellow barriers to enter the long term parking area. With one hand on the wheel he removed the mobile phone that was attached to his waist with the other and hit the call button once. A short airy screech came through the phones speaker followed by ‘Yes, sir?’

‘Carter, we’re here.’ The chief said.

‘Copy that…’ replied Carter. ‘. . . ETA twenty minutes.’

Chief Edwards paused so that he could pay more attention to where he was going, then after making his way up to the second level, said ‘I will be waiting. I’m gonna make sure these two get on that plane.’

‘Copy that. Carter out… Over.’

As soon as the Chief ended the call he heard Jay shout out ‘What the hell Chief!’ which was immediately followed by Leon’s concerns.

‘You can’t be serious Chief… ?’

It was evident by the tone Leon used that the question was a rhetorical one. The Chief started to shake his head so Leon continued ‘. . . We can’t trust that guy; he was put on this case by the Superior. How do you know he isn’t gonna give us up?’

‘He won’t.’

‘How do you know that?’ enquired Leon.

The Chiefs face transformed into a frown, disgruntled he was being questioned,
-
again. Chief Edwards pierced his lips together, gripped the steering wheel tightly and closed both his eyes for a second. Then after a slight exhale, said ‘Because I just know. Ok.’

Once again the car fell silent.

The Chief finally found a vacant spot on the 2
nd
Level of the long-term parking area. He reversed into a space, killed the engine and proceeded to dial a number on his Nextel phone. It rang twice before the Chief said ‘Where on the 2
nd
Level, Zone C’.

The person on the other end said something in reply. There was a slight pause before Leon heard the Chief ask if the plane was ready, then after receiving a response smiled and said ‘Good. Tell them to prepare for take-off. My Agents will be boarding shortly.’

He paused again before ending the call with ‘and please, HURRY UP!’

Leon looked over his shoulder at Pyro and studied his face. He was trying to see if he could notice any resemblance to Kerry.

Pyro returned the stare.

‘What is it, young cub?’ He said.

Shaking his head Leon replied ‘Nothing…’ but then after a short pause said ‘How’s your arm?’

Pyro did not reply, just moved in his seat to highlight the fact his hands were still cuffed behind his back. Leon turned to Chief Edwards to enquire about the cuffs but before he could say anything Chief Edwards said ‘I can’t let you out of those cuffs P. Not yet. When these guys are gone and we’re out of here, then they can come off.’ The Chief paused again. ‘As for right now, you’re going to have to get into the trunk.’ The Chief’s tone came across more along the side of an order than a regrettable request.

‘The trunk?’ replied Pyro.

‘Yes, the trunk. You’re dead, remember.’

Before Pyro could reply another Crown Victoria pulled up in front of them. The windows were darkly tinted so it was not possible to see inside. The Chief opened his door and said, ‘Come on guys. It’s time.’

‘Time for what?’ mumbled Jay, right before he opened his door and got out.

Leon was also exiting the car when the passenger door of the vehicle in front of them opened and the woman Leon had seen at Carters house the day before got out. Up close he could tell she was more mixed race than Spanish. Her hair was pulled back in a long pony tail, which hung mid-way down her back. She had full pink lips, intense brown eyes and a beauty spot that rested to the left
–
just above her top lip. She wore no eye-shadow, lip-stick or any other make-up. Her skin was flawless. Full-figured, 5'9, size 12. She was wearing a dark grey on grey pinstripe pants suit over a blue shirt that had white collar and cuffs. The two top buttons of her shirt were open leaving a clear view of the top of her cleavage. She was an Agent for sure but there was something very different about her. She had style, a confidence that held a swagger all of its own. Something none of the women within the Agency had; well, not in the FBI anyway.

She walked straight over to Chief Edwards, switched the briefcase she was holding to her left hand and the Chief’s with her right.

‘I have everything ready.’ She said.

‘Good.’ replied Chief Edwards.

‘The G5 is being prepped on ‘concourse C’ and all the documents you requested, weapons…’ She paused, looked at Leon up and down then continued in an almost regretful tone ‘clothes, medics and all other required items are on the jet.’

The Chief was smiling. ‘Thank you Na’talia.’ He said.

Turning to Leon, Chief Edwards said ‘Guys, meet Na’talia Geddes.’

Neither Leon nor Jay replied. Chief Edwards cleared his throat, ‘Guys, Carter was not the only Agent assigned to this case.’

Before the Chief could say anything else Na’talia Geddess reached out her open hand in Leon’s direction. Leon responded in kind and shook her hand firmly.

‘And what Agency do you work for?’ Jay asked smiling.

Still holding onto Leon’s hand, Na’talia looked over at Jay and said ‘C.I.A’.

‘You for real?’ replied Jay with a chuckle.

Realising she was still holding onto Leon’s hand, she pulled hers away sheepishly then turning to Jay said ‘Yes, for real.’

‘Enough introductions,’ Chief Edwards interrupted. ‘All three of you will have enough time to get to know one another when you’re up in the air.’

‘What?’ Jay retorted.

Shaking his head the Chief heaved his shoulders and looked over at Na’talia, who gave him a slight smile, turned to Jay and said ‘Don’t worry. I’ll give you guys the 411 on the plane.’ She paused, turned her attention back to the Chief and said ‘Pyro?’

Leon could not help but feel she was not asking what was going to happen to Pyro but rather reaffirming something she already knew. Pointing to the Crown Victoria Na’talia arrived in; the chief said ‘Put him in the back.’

With that, Na’talia turned around and tapped on the front passenger side window of the car.

Within seconds a tall Caucasian man in a dark grey suit, white shirt, black tie and sunglasses exited the driver’s side door. He did not acknowledge or speak to anyone however Na’talia introduced him as Agent Slater. He calmly walked past the Chief and removed Pyro from the back seat. Before he was put into the trunk Pyro stopped, turned towards Chief Edwards and said, ‘What about my daughter?’

‘One of my Agents have already arranged for her to be picked up. You’ll be with her in just a few hours.’

Pyro smiled back and then in an enquiring voice said, ‘and the cuffs?’

The Chief thought about Pyro’s request for a moment then motioned to Agent Slater, who immediately released Pyro from his restraints. Pyro gave a sigh of relief as he cradled his dislocated arm in front of him.

‘You want help with that?’ asked Chief Edwards.

Pyro knew exactly what he meant but declined the offer, shook his head and in one swift motion arched his back, grabbed the upper part of his right bicep with his left hand,
-
2 centimetres from where the muscle meets the deltoid,
-
and tugged his shoulder into place with a snap.

‘There you go.’ He said smiling.

After rotating his shoulder a few times he let out a slight chuckle then said, ‘Almost as good as new, I think.’

Jay smiled admiringly.

‘Impressive!’ Leon said under his breath.

Laughing quietly, Pyro turned towards his old friend and said, ‘They haven’t seen impressive yet.’

‘They will…’ The Chief replied. ‘. . . And so will Camistock.’

Pyro removed the white jacket he was wearing, handed it to Chief Edwards, unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves revealing tightly ripped forearms. He then pushed his left sleeve up as far as it would go revealing a surprisingly large bicep with a tattoo of the same insignia on the black leather wallet Jay was holding. Looking over at the now open trunk, Chief Edwards said ‘You ready to get in?’

Pyro peered into the empty trunk for a moment then turned to shake Chief Edward’s hand.

‘I guess it’s time for Camistock to see the
Desert
Lion’s
True
Colours
.’

‘It’s been a long time coming.’ replied the Chief.

Within minutes Pyro was in the trunk and the tinted Crown Victoria with Agent Slater at the wheel was gone, leaving Chief Edwards, Na’talia, Leon and Jay standing in silence.

‘Well, let’s get going.’ The Chief rallied.

Na’talia took the lead and started to walk towards the elevator.

‘Wait!’ Jay called.

‘For what?’ replied the Chief

Jay did not respond, just jogged over to the boot of the Crown Victoria they arrived in and took out the five Gucci bags of money and the two sport bags he and Jay had packed earlier.

‘I took them out of the Merc when you were inside the warehouse.’ Jay explained.

Leon decided to help him out by taking three of the seven bags before they got into the elevator. It was only one flight to the ground floor so the ride was quick but just long enough for Jay and Leon to assess the damage to their face and head. It did not look good. Jay’s worse than Leon’s, much worse.

Once they were on the ground floor, they walked across the main entrance of the airport quickly and with purpose. It was just before six in the morning, so the airport was relatively busy. People were bustling around everywhere Leon looked. Jay’s bruises along with the Chief’s bullet proof vest was attracting attention but by the time someone had seen them and reached over to point them out to their fellow companions, the four of them were gone.

They entered through a door that said ‘Security Personal Only’ with a key-card Na’talia pulled out of her pocket. They then took the immediate left down a long corridor that brought them to a manned check point, at which Na’talia flashed her CIA badge and they all walked through without saying a word. Within a few minutes they were over on ‘Concourse C’. As they got to the final check point the Chief stopped and said, ‘Well, this is where we part ways for now. You guys take care of the drop.’ The Chief paused for a moment longer then in a low tone said, ‘As you both know, Black knows who you are and he has already been given the green light to get rid of you… so please, watch your ass.’

Both Leon and Jay gave the Chief one of those head nods that go all the way up but never come down. Chief Edwards smiled then said ‘Oh, tell your Ole man I’m sorry it took me so long to admit the truth…’

This time, only Leon nodded. The Chief cleared his throat and said ‘And don’t worry, Kerry will be fine.’

Leon did not say anything to that. Just turned around, faced Na’talia and Jay and said ‘I’m ready if y’all are?’

Neither of them replied verbally, they just turned and walked past the young lady standing at the entrance of the gang way that led to the G5 jet waiting on the tarmac outside.

CHAPTER 13
 

W
ithin minutes all three of them were on the jet plane, buckled into their seats. Another ten minutes passed by and Leon was looking through the window at the runway speeding passed. The rumbling coming up from under his feet and through the base of the seat came to a sudden stop as the wheels of the G5 left the runway. Leon closed his eyes until the uncomfortable churning feeling in his stomach subsided. When he opened them, he saw Na’talia had swivelled her chair around and was looking directly at him. He was about to say something when a voice came through the cabins speakers.

‘Good morning, I’m Agent Boyland
-
FBI’