The Desert Lion's True Colours (26 page)

‘You two ride in the back.’ He said.

‘Sure. No worries.’ Leon replied.

Casually, they entered the rear doors of the high class SUV and made themselves comfortable in the back seat. There were two other persons in the car, the driver and another man sitting on the front passenger seat.

‘What’s good gentleman? You our chauffer’s for the day?’

Jay questions were spoken in jest but neither of the men replied.

Like their partner who sat in the back seat of the first Range Rover, the men sitting in front of Leon and Jay wore wide framed sunglasses. They both had full beards and they both wore black and white Keffiyeh’s around their necks. From his position behind the passenger seat, Leon could see the driver was carrying a gun.
-
Held to his waist by a fancy gun holster that had space for two extra clips on the side. As Leon looked up at the rear-view mirror to catch a glimpse of the driver’s reflection he quickly realised the driver was already looking back at him,
-
smiling.

Leon cleared his throat and casually asked ‘Are you guy’s security?’

No reply was given. The driver just hit a button to his left, which caused the rear door latches to sink down onto their little holes, locking them inside. Jay knew there was no way out but he instinctively tried the door handles anyway. Nothing happened. Looking at what Jay was trying to do, the guy in the front passenger seat smiled to himself.

Still parked behind the Jaguar, they all sat in silence waiting for the Range Rover in front of them to move forward into the flow of traffic. A couple minutes passed and they had not moved an inch, so Leon took the time to analyse their current situation. They were locked in, the money was in a different car and the guys occupying the front seats were armed. Things did not look good but they were not bad either. Leon looked up at the specialty air-freshener dangling by a piece of string from the mirror. It was rectangular in shape
-
like a book mark, yellow in colour with bright blue writing in the middle. Leon could not understand what it said because the words were written in a different language however at the very bottom there were words that were written in English. It said: (Surah al-Anfal 8:10).

“The
Quran”
Leon thought. He did not belong to any particular religion, but Jay on the other hand had been hit by a sudden belief or spiritual awaking after he got shot three years ago. He decided to find some sort of fulfilment and ended up reading the Quran. After a few months he put the Holy book down and returned to his old ways however during that time of enthusiasm he would read scriptures to Leon at every opportunity. Eventually Leon’s interest was piqued and he ended up obtaining a Quran of his own. Leon looked over at his friend and smiled to himself. Because of Jay, Leon was 90% sure the men who had picked them up were Muslim, which meant they were more than likely speaking in Arabic.

Leon was going to ask the driver another question but decided against it as they began to pull away from the curb. They stayed tight on the Jaguars tail until they exited the one way system out of the Airport and onto the Nassau Expressway. After several minutes they turned off and took exit 19 onto Belt Parkway West. They had been sitting in silence for a while so Jay decided to speak again.

‘I didn’t get y’all names…’ He said smiling. ‘. . . The name’s Jay and yours?’

No reply was given.

‘Well suit yourself…’ Jay said into the silence. ‘. . . I was just trying to make conversation.’

The guy in the front passenger seat raised his right hand and pointed to the next exit. The driver nodded and manoeuvred into his right lane and exited north onto the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. Leon noticed the space between them and the white Jaguar in front had increased by a fairly large distance,
-
allowing other cars to get in between them. Leon thought to himself that if these guys were supposed to be securing the rear of the Jaguar, they were not doing a good job.

Seconds after that thought crossed Leon’s mind Jay said ‘so where we heading?’

Again, neither of the guys answered.

‘Yo, what’s up with that? It doesn’t take much to acknowledge a person, I’ma tell your boss that your hospitality skills suck… !’

Jay was midway through his sentence when the tone of a mobile phone cut him off. The guy in the front passenger seat retrieved the phone from his pocket and answered. Leon could tell by the guy’s timid and respectful reply that whoever was on the other end was someone in charge, someone who had relative authority and power. The call ended and the guy who answered the phone signalled to the driver to indicate left. The driver did as he was told, manoeuvred into the far right lane and took the next exit, heading north towards Manhattan. It was then Leon realised that from the moment the cars pulled up at the Airport, he had read the whole situation wrong. He assumed both Range Rovers were serving as security for the white Jaguar XJ. However it was becoming very apparent their drop off for Black was just that
-
A
Drop
Off.
Black never had any intentions of allowing them to actually meet his contact. He just wanted them to get the bags to New-York on the government’s dime.
‘But
wh
y’ Leon thought. The bag Black had given him two nights before held nothing but money
–
he had checked it himself,
-
and the four bags he received from Perry were no different. ‘
I
most
have
missed
something’
he said under his breath.

As Leon went over the different scenarios that could be coming their way, the shook-look appeared on his face. Noticing his friends change in attitude Jay asked ‘What’s good dawg?’

Almost whispering Leon replied ‘We just might have a problem.’

Jay frowned for a moment then said ‘You think? These guys have already got what they wanted.’

Leon was going to reply but the guy sitting in front of him turned around in his seat and from out of nowhere, pulled out a gun.

‘Did anyone say you could talk?’

His tone clearly made the question a rhetorical one but Jay couldn’t help but reply.

‘Yo, is the gun necessary?’ Jay said it with the same rhetorical sarcastic tone.

‘You listen to me…’ The guy replied. ‘. . . There is nothing you can say that I want to hear. So shut up.’ He paused, raised the gun towards Jay’s face and then while looking at his bruises said ‘Or I’ll finish off what looks like someone else started.’

Jay looked over at Leon and started to chuckle.

‘I said shut up!’ The guy repeated.

‘Yo! Who do you think you’re talking to… ?’ Jay said calmly. ‘. . . This is America baby. This is my home. You can’t tell me to shut up. You know who I am?’

The guy shrugged his shoulders to show he did not care, straitened his guns aim, released the safety and said ‘No, I don’t know. Who are you?’

Jay was surprisingly quiet. Focusing his attention on Jay but clearly speaking to Leon the guy holding the gun said, ‘Since your friend here has a problem with me telling him to be quiet. Would
YOU
mind giving him a message from me? The windows of this car are double paned, bullet proof glass. So if he doesn’t keep quiet, I have no problems with putting a bullet through his head. No one will see or hear a thing. Am I making myself clear?’

Looking at the loaded gun a few feet from Jay’s face, Leon replied ‘Crystal. However I do have a question.’

Unimpressed with Leon’s apparent stupidity, the guy switched his aim towards Leon and said, ‘I already told you. No talking. That means no questions.’

‘I get that,’ replied Leon. ‘. . . It’s just that if we’re not there to hand the shit over to your boss personally.’ he paused for a moment then said, ‘then how are we going to be able to tell him what’s wrong with it?’

‘What do you mean? What’s wrong with it?’

Leon smiled. ‘Ahh, if you knew who we were, you would already know we’re not going to tell YOU that.’

Leon could tell he had him hooked. He was genuinely going over the B.S he had just been fed. A few seconds passed and the guy eased back a little to look at his partner behind the wheel. Once again they spoke in Arabic. The conversation lasted only a few minutes but Leon was sure he heard Black’s name mentioned more than a couple times.

The driver pulled up at a set of traffic lights and his partner went back to his phone and dialled a number. Someone answered and without introduction the guy said ‘They’re saying there’s something wrong with the package.’

The rest of the conversation was a mixture of English and Arabic. Leon could only pick out words like yes, no and the phrase ‘
Ana
fahim’
which he knew to mean ‘
I
understand’
.

The conversation ended, followed quickly by the traffic lights turning green. The guy who was on the phone said something to his partner and pointed left. Defiantly, the driver mumbled under his breath but made the left onto 44
th
Street as he was told. Turning back around the guy sitting in the front passenger seat said ‘Well it would seem you have gained yourself a few extra hours. My boss is going to check the bags to verify nothing is wrong. However if nothing is found…’

‘Then what?’ Jay interjected.

Smiling, the guy replied, ‘Then I guess we go back to plan A.’

Before Jay could come up with a witty come back the guy returned to his proper seated position without another word. With the immediate danger averted Jay finally decided it probably would be best to keep his mouth shut.

CHAPTER 15
 

W
ithin 15 minutes the white, bullet proof
-
Range Rover sport, had pulled up in front of the Sofitel Hotel, located in midtown Manhattan overlooking 5
th
Avenue and Times Square. From the outside it was easy to see why it was 5 stars. The driver killed the engine and the guy in the passenger seat dialled a number on his phone. Judging by his one word answers and the occasional yes in English, Leon figured he was being given orders. Leon watched him end the call, exit the Range Rover and wait for his partner to do the same. With their guns hidden underneath their black leather jackets they both motioned to Leon and Jay to get out of the car slowly.

Leaving the Range Rover behind, they all walked past the porters, through the main entrance of the Hotel, through the spacious foyer and over to the penthouse elevator located to the right of the reception desk. The elevator did not take very long to arrive and within a few minutes all four men were standing inside, heading up to the top floor. Leon casually stood next to Jay on the right side of the elevator scrutinising there captures through his PRADA sun glasses. They were identically dressed in the same jeans, timberland boots, and t-shirt and leather jacket. At closer inspection Leon deduced they had more in common than just their clothes. He was pretty sure they were related. Brother’s maybe or some other close relative for sure. They were both round about the same height and build but the shape of their jaw; cheeks and lips were a dead giveaway. Leon figured the one who did most of the talking was the one in charge.

With 3 more flights before the Penthouse floor Jay looked over at the guy who had been driving and said ‘Yo man, are we gonna order room service?’

The guy shook his head in reply. The elevator stopped on the 30
th
floor and the guy who was sitting in the passenger seat, the one Leon thought to be in charge used a Key-Card to open the elevator doors. From the elevator Leon and Jay were led down a single corridor towards the penthouse, which had a lone man standing outside. He was dressed in the same leather shoes, pants, shirt and gun ensemble the guy from the Jaguar was wearing earlier. He acknowledged his associates in their Arabic tongue and then in English gave the order for Leon and Jay to be searched again.

Looking at the guys clothes Leon asked, ‘So you’re the one in charge… ?’ Leon paused turned to the guy who had been sitting in the front passenger seat and said ‘I thought
HE
was the one in charge.’

None of them replied. The men just moved in closer and began to search Leon and Jay as ordered. This time the search was thorough. From the top of their shoulders all the way down to their ankles. When they were done the new guy ordered Leon and Jay to remove their sunglasses. Seeing the bruises on their faces his expression changed from one of seriousness to one of suspicion. Leon was half expecting him to ask them what happened but after checking the time on his watch, the new guy turned around and opened the Penthouse door. ‘Follow me.’ He said.

‘Cool,’ Jay replied. ‘I thought you was gonna have us chillin outside dawg.’

Not impressed with Jay’s comments and general jovial attitude the guy brandished his gun and started waiving it from side to side. Looking at Jay he said ‘You are not allowed to talk.’

Under his breath Jay replied ‘Whatever.’