The Desert Lion's True Colours (32 page)

Na’talia’s expression told Leon she was not happy with being told what to do. However Leon thought this might be a good time to appease her by calling his father.

As Na’talia tried her best to weave in and out of the two lane traffic and keep her eyes peeled for the black Mercedes ahead of them, Jay did his best to scan the side roads as they passed but nothing resembled a black S class. They had travelled five blocks and the traffic was starting to build up a couple of streets away from the Expressway.

Not to anyone in particular Na’talia said ‘Can you see them?’

Leon looked over the top of the car directly in front of them and down the right side of the traffic for the Mercedes S Class. ‘I can’t see anything.’ He said.

Na’talia started to shake her head and say ‘I think we should.’

‘I know, I know.’ Leon interrupted. ‘Call my old man right?’

Na’talia let out a sigh of exasperation.

‘If it’s any consolation,’ Leon said, ‘I was just thinking now would be the best time to call him.’

Na’talia smirked at his statement. In her mind, what was the point? The money and the papers were gone along with Black and any connection they had to where Karim could be hiding.

The lights turned from red to green and the line of traffic Na’talia found herself in started to ease forward. As the space between each car began to widen Jay started to smile. ‘All is not lost.’ he said.

‘Do you see them?’ Na’talia asked.

‘I do!’ he said.

Trying his best to locate the Mercedes himself, Leon asked ‘Where… ?’

‘There,’ Jay said pointing. ‘Isn’t that them joining the ramp?’

From the driver’s seat Na’talia was unable to see down the right side of the traffic jam or the cars turning onto the Cross Bronx service road so she increased her speed and stuck close to the car in front. She barely made it through the lights before they changed back to red however as the Yukon turned right onto the ramp, Na’talia let out a sigh of relief as the S Class Benz came into view four cars ahead.

‘See,’ Jay said. ‘. . . Didn’t even need your fancy toys to find them.’

Frowning, Na’talia said ‘Yeah, luckily…’ Then after a short pause she turned to Leon and said ‘. . . So you’re going to call Aaron now right?’

Without saying a word, Leon retrieved the phone
-
Na’talia had placed back into its holster and started to look for his father’s number. Jay then moved up close to the back of Leon’s seat and said ‘You sure you wanna call him now?’

Leon did not answer strait away, he was too busy still trying to locate the last number received. Patients was not one of Jay’s strong points so again he said, ‘So what’s good dawg? You gonna call?’

Leon looked up through the windshield to see they were back on the Cross Bronx Expressway heading in the same direction they came. After looking back down at the phone in his hand he realised something and like a 100' volt lamp being turned on in the dark the missing piece of the puzzle finally dawned on him.

CHAPTER 19
 

‘Y
eah, I’m gonna call him.’ He said. His words were harsh and angry. Not the heated, hot kind of anger but the kind of cold hostility you would associate with someone who had deep emotional issues.

‘What’s wrong?’ Na’talia asked softly. She noticed his change in tone immediately.

‘Nothing’s wrong.’ Leon snapped.

‘Yo! Yo,’ Jay interjected, ‘. . . Why you buggin out man?’

Leon took a deep breath, let it out slowly and then turned in his seat to face Na’talia.

‘I need you to be real with me Dean right now!’ He said.

Keeping her eyes on the vehicle Black and Perry were riding in, she said ‘What do you mean be real? I’ve told you everything.’

Leon looked down at her hands, tightly wrapped around the steering-wheel and noticed how ridged her wrists and arms were. ‘The hell you are.’ Leon replied. ‘If you’ve been telling us the truth, then look me in the eye and tell me that.’

‘Err, I’m driving.’ Na’talia said sarcastically.

‘That’s the wrong mother-fucking answer to the question Chick!’ Jay said reaching for his gun.

‘What… !’ Na’talia replied. ‘. . . Are you two being for real right now? I mean are you fucking serious? I saved you two sorry asses not just a few hours ago and now you’re questioning my loyalty? You’re thinking I’m not telling you the truth? Maybe you haven’t noticed but I’m tied up in this too.’

Leon smirked, ‘Yeah, now.’ He said.

‘Now what’s that supposed to mean?’ Na’talia replied. Her voice was starting to crack, so she paused to clear her throat. She was about to speak up again but Leon cut her off.

‘Don’t bother.’ He said.

Raising Na’talia’s phone in his hand he showed Jay the call list that was on display.

‘What am I looking at?’ Jay said slightly confused.

‘The times Na’talia and my father spoke today.’ Leon said.

Jay snatched the phone from Leon’s hand and went through the call list on his own. While he scrutinised the numbers on the screen, Leon sat in complete silent
-
watching Na’talia drive a safe distance behind the Benz. It was minutes to three in the afternoon and the traffic was getting thicker. Leon looked over at Na’talia, tracing her jaw line. He noticed her cheeks flinch as she clenched her teeth. He could tell she was scared. He had a good idea why and he was going to apply pressure until she broke.

From the back seat Jay said, ‘According to this you spoke to Aaron right before you supposedly came to rescue us and again when we were in the Range.’

Na’talia kept her focus ahead with her face rigid. Leon gave Jay a signal with his head, which was quickly followed by Jay placing his gun into the side of Na’talia’s rib cage. The feeling of the gun pressing through her clothes caused her to flinch, veering the vehicle from left to right.

‘You have it all wrong.’ She said dryly.

‘Do I… ?’ Leon replied. ‘. . . Well, just answer this. Where is the old man now?’

Na’talia followed the black Mercedes into the right lane before replying ‘I don’t know.’

‘Liar!’ Leon shouted.

Sitting forward so that he could move the gun up under her arm with ease, Jay said ‘What you mean you don’t know? Weren’t you supposed to have met him straight after the airport?’

Na’talia did not reply. Apart from the ambient sound of the world behind the tinted windows, the inside of the Yukon was quiet. Raising his own gun towards Na’talia’s direction Leon said ‘If you don’t talk, I swear I’ll let Jay kill you.’

With her face straight and her vision ahead a tear formed in the corner of her left eye and a lump started to rise in her throat. As calmly as she could she hit the button for the electric window and allowed it to buzz down a quarter of the way. The air from outside rushed in and after the breeze had blown her eyes dry she said. ‘I really don’t know where he is. Now.’

‘But you do know where he was?’ Jay asked.

Na’talia nodded. Leon started to smile, then chuckle then after a few seconds burst into a full blown laugh.

‘Yo, what’s up dude… ?’ Jay said, ‘. . . You’re starting to worry me.’

Staring into the side of Na’talia’s face Leon said ‘You knew we were going to be set up didn’t you?’

‘What?’ Na’talia replied. ‘You’re crazy.’

‘Am I?’ Leon replied.

‘You knew we were being set up and you were sent to make sure everything went to plan.’

‘Whoa, you’ve lost me dude. What are you saying?’ Jay interjected.

‘I’m saying. If those guys’ didn’t kill us, she would have.’

The colour in Na’talia’s skin started to fade away. Jay let out a gasp and eased back into his seat. He and Leon had been through way too much for him to doubt him now, so with just a little hesitation he stretched out his arm at full length, with his aim pointed towards the right side of Na’talia’s head and said, ‘One, Two,’

‘You won’t kill me!’ Na’talia interrupted.

‘Say what!’ Jay replied. Na’talia’s statement was like fighting talk to him.

‘You most think I’m new to this.’ He said.

‘You won’t kill me because…’ She paused, and for the first time since the conversation began looked at Leon, revealing a tear streaming down her face.

‘What the hell!’ Jay said, surprised to see Na’talia crying.

Wiping the evidence of guilt from her face she said ‘You won’t kill me… I’m your sister.’

Leon’s mouth fell open.

‘She’s lying to you dawg!’ Jay called out.

‘No I’m not.’ She snapped back.

Leon was agitated. ‘Shut up… !’ He said. ‘. . . I grew up with my mother and father until I was nine. I remember it clearly. So what the hell are you talking about?’

Taking in a deep breath Na’talia replied, ‘I’m saying your father’s name is Emmanuel Geddess.’

‘She’s lying.’ Jay repeated.

‘I can prove it! When you were raiding the Range Rover I received an encrypted email from a reliable source verifying certain suspicions I had.’

‘What. You really expect me to fall for that?’ Leon retorted.

‘You don’t believe me?’ Na’talia replied. ‘Then look for yourself. Go ahead. If I’m lying, I’ll pull over and you can put one in the back of my head.’

Leon looked back at Jay who had his aim still focused towards Na’talia’s torso.

‘What you got to lose.’ Jay said handing the phone back to his partner.

Finally coming to terms with the phones general functionality Leon located the file holding Na’talia’s emails. As he went down the list she said, ‘Check the one from Brookes.’

Without saying a word, Leon opened the email and read the one and only line:

‘I’m
late.
Sorry’

‘And this proves what?’ Leon enquired.

‘Open the attachments.’ She said louder than intended.

Leon clicked on the first tab which immediately revealed a letter from a CIA appointed doctor showing the blood analysis of five people. The first two names belonged to his mother and another woman he did not recognise.

‘Who is the woman?’ He asked.

‘Margarita Lopez,’ she said. ‘My mother.’

Leon looked at the following two names and paused at the section under results. His eyes got wide, and his breath started to become shallow. There it was in black and white. Twenty-five percent of their alleles were in common. They were half brother and sister. Leon continued down the page and underneath his name was the fifth, Emmanuel Geddes; and next to his were Leon and Na’talia’s results.

‘Shit!’ Leon said.

They had the same father.

Leon heaved a sigh, shook his head and said, ‘All this proves is that you were going to kill your half-brother.’

‘Are you fucking kidding me dude… ?’ Jay exclaimed. ‘. . . You two are brother and sister for real? Aaron isn’t your pops after all?’

‘Believe me. I didn’t know until today.’ Na’talia pleaded.

Still in shock Leon said ‘I don’t get it Na’talia. If all this is true why didn’t you tell us what you knew when we were on the plane or after you got confirmation? Why go through all of this?’

Na’talia let out a sigh and then said ‘I don’t know… ‘After a short pause and without taking her eyes off the road she continued, ‘. . . A few weeks ago I found some photographs of Aaron, your mother and who I found out to be our father and my mother. After some snooping around I found a letter in Aaron’s things. It was written to
your
mother from
our
dad. He told her how sorry he was for putting her in the situation she was in and that he would do everything he could to protect her if the secret got out. It did not make sense at the time, so I told Aaron I found the letter and for the first time I felt scared of him.’

‘What do you mean… scared?’ Leon asked.

‘I don’t know.’ She said frustrated. ‘I guess I thought he was going to hurt me.’

‘Did he?’ Jay asked.

‘No.’ she said.

‘But that whole situation made me want to find out more. I contacted an associate in London, an Operative of Her Majesties Secret Service.’

‘What! Some James Bond niggah?’ Jay interrupted.

‘Not exactly,’ Na’talia replied. ‘He used to be with the MI6 and now he is an advisor for the SAS. He has ways of finding information
off
the grid, if you catch my drift. Anyway, I asked him to find out as much as he could and it’s only by coincidence he got back to me today.’

Leon stared into her eyes. He could tell she seemed to be more relaxed. The tension had left her face, neck, arms and wrist and the colour in her face was beginning to return. It was clear she was relieved to have everything out in the open.

‘Check the next attachment.’ She said.

Closing the PDF, Leon opened the second attachment. It was an FBI report, a ‘Class 2 Mission Summary’. Code named ‘Wounded Lion’: Requested by Aaron, sanctioned by the Agency, signed off by District Upson himself and finally carried out by Aaron himself.

‘Revenge.’ Na’talia said coldly. ‘. . . He found out about the affair and had our father wiped out. He was already considered as waist so they got rid of him and made it look like a suicide.

Leon shook his head. ‘I’m sorry.’ He said.

‘I’m sorry too. He was your father as well.’ Na’talia replied.