CHAPTER 83
CHAPTER
A STUNNED TEMPLE BLURTED OUT, “WHERE the hell did you find them?”
Lord smiled. “You may not be aware that I quite enjoy a rousing chess match, Mr. Temple. And in chess one must see the whole board, at all times. Every possible scenario. I knew that the reason for Ms. Steers selling her business to me for such a low price had certain components to it. She is a supremely smart businesswoman, so why be so generous to me? Despite what she had told me in explanation, I did not believe it. So I kept an eye on her. The attack at her home had nothing to do with me. That came from another.” He glanced at Masuyo.
“Which caused me to lose her trail for a while. But we recently regained our advantage. Real estate paper trail, the home in New Orleans. Some CCTV at gas stations and other retail outlets reviewed by AI facial recognition software, and presto, there they were. I gave them a short leash because I wanted to understand their plans. We followed them to a hotel not too far from your estate, where I am sure they were busy planning how to do me harm. They of course could not go back to Ms. Steers’s estate, as they were possible suspects in the murders that took place there.
And they well knew that someone wanted them dead and would be watching.
” He put a hand on Nash’s shoulder. “And let’s dispense with the fiction that this man is Dillon Hope. Hello, Walter Nash.”
Nash looked wide-eyed while Temple said, “How the hell?”
“Isaiah York’s business? Transforming one man into another man?
I believe that you, Mr. Temple, tried to do the same thing, with less successful results.
You see, it all comes down to the smallest of details.
I also had spies in your household. Fingerprints on a glass?
Difficult to keep that totally secret. Plus you haven’t changed your email password in a very long time, and intercepting your phone calls was fairly easy. ”
“Shit,” mumbled Temple.
“Your confrontation with Mr. Nash outside of Ms. Steers’s home was also duly observed when you told him you knew the truth.” He added leisurely, “I could have pulled the trigger at any time, but decided to wait until it was most advantageous for me.”
“And for me also,” added a gloating Masuyo.
Lord gave her a condescending look before staring back at Temple.
“I have also come to learn that Ms. Steers has been working with a certain American intelligence agency to bring me and my partners down. This could not be allowed, of course, and I knew the time had come to end the chess match. So, acting on my orders, my men captured them and flew them here.” He looked at Temple.
“Now, is there anything you’d care to add to this?
As an incentive you should understand that I know they approached you with a grand plan that they hoped would deliver them to victory.
I would just say that your telling me the truth is the only chance for survival that you have, small though it is. ”
Temple glanced at both Nash and Steers with a defeated look. They stared back at him with hopeless expressions. “Well, since you seem to know pretty much all of it, yeah, they wanted me to work with them to get back at both of you.”
“And your answer to their proposal?” asked Masuyo, a thin smile playing triumphantly over her lips.
Temple shook his head. “They showed up at my house and threatened me with the truth about my father’s death while.
. .I was there taking care of a little problem with my stepmother.
” He looked at Nash. “I guess he guilted me. Even though my old man deserved it.” He pointed at Steers.
“She had a plan that she laid out. Said it was foolproof. All I had to do was my part.”
“Which was what, exactly?” asked Lord.
Temple reached into his jacket and produced a recording device. “This.”
He tossed the device to one of Lord’s men, who dropped it on the floor and crushed it with his heel.
“I was to bring you here and get you on tape with all this stuff, saying incriminating things. Send it to the cops and you all go down.” He pointed around the room. “And there are hidden cameras all around filming us right now. We were going to use that, too.”
“I thank you for your honesty,” said Lord. “But I had this entire facility swept for surveillance devices before I ever agreed to step foot in here. Everything was remotely disabled, and/or jammed.” He paused. “But I now worry about what to do with you after this betrayal.”
“I have no such worries,” interjected Masuyo darkly.
Temple sighed and spread his hands. “You know, I really don’t give a shit.
My whole life someone’s been telling me what to do.
My old man made my life miserable.” He pointed at Nash.
“And I’ve been compared to this guy for years and always ended up on the short end.
I tried to disappear, worked my ass off for that, and of course it didn’t work, either.
Got all the money in the world but I’ve really got nothing.
I’m beyond sick of it. They told me I could be a hero by helping them.
And you know what, being a hero sounded good.
But it didn’t pan out, did it? Of course it didn’t.
And now I’m screwed. But to be honest, I’ve been that ever since I came out of my mother’s womb. ”
Masuyo looked at Lord. “I am tired of listening to him whine. Just kill them all and be done with it. And then we leave this place.”
Lord looked at his men and nodded.
However, they had made a mistake in not shackling Nash’s or Steers’s legs. Nash executed the kick to Temple’s head perfectly. The man spun around and collapsed to the floor, spitting blood out of his mouth.
Nash didn’t stop there. He caught one of the security detail flush on the chest with a mule kick and sent him cartwheeling over a stainless steel table stacked with boxes.
One of the other guards pulled a gun, but Steers struck him with a kick to his hand. His weapon flew away and Nash lunged for it.
He reached it and stood, but before he could swing the gun up, something hit him in the gut.
Temple was standing right in front of him, blood dripping from his face from the blow delivered by Nash.
Nash looked down to see the hilt of the knife against his belly.
Temple slowly walked the knife up toward the sternum and then moved it side to side just as Shock had instructed in order to sever the aorta.
Blood now oozed over the front of Nash’s shirt.
Temple held Nash’s fading gaze and said, “I’m sorry, Walter.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out. I really wanted to be a hero, for once, but it just wasn’t meant to be, man.
It’s just not my destiny. All the shit we went through, Sybaritic, my old man, fucking Myanmar.
” He glared at Steers. “Her!” His expression softened as he looked back at Nash.
“At least you’ll be heading upstairs. Me?
I don’t think so. I only see fire in my future. Hopefully, I won’t run into my dad.”
He pulled the knife free, and since that was the only thing holding up Nash, he slipped to the floor and lay still.
Steers managed to loosen her gag and scream, “Walter!” She lunged toward him.
Two of the guards grabbed Steers and pulled her back.
Temple slipped the bloody knife into his pocket and motioned to one of his security detail. “Let me have your gun.”
“No!” exclaimed Masuyo. “Kill him.”
Six guns were instantly pointed at Temple.
Temple said, “Keep your hair on, Dai Lu. Nobody’s shooting your scrawny ass.”
He motioned to the guard again. The man looked questioningly at Lord, who cautiously nodded his assent.
He passed his weapon over to Temple. Surprisingly, he immediately held it out to Masuyo.
The older woman looked at the gun and then at him. “And what do you expect me to do with that?” she asked stonily.
“I’m giving you the honor of killing your daughter.
I thought it would please you. You don’t want to waste the effort pulling the trigger on me.
I’m not important enough. Any one of your muscle can do that.
But I assume your daughter is special.” He glared at Steers again.
“And since she ruined my life I wouldn’t mind seeing her eat a round and go bye-bye while I’m still breathing. ”
Masuyo smiled and took the gun from him. But then, just as surprisingly, she held out the pistol to Lord, who looked sharply at her.
“Here, Mr. Lord. I have killed enough people. You may do the honors.”
Lord did not reach for the gun. He seemed about to say something to Masuyo, but then he looked around at the security men and Temple, who all stared back at him expectantly.
“Is there something wrong, Mr. Lord?” said Masuyo icily. “Surely, you have killed someone before?”
The up-to-now-masterful Lord looked nervous. He slowly reached out for the gun and gripped it. It was clear how the man held it that he was not used to wielding a firearm.
Temple walked over and grabbed Steers by the hair, forcing her to stand straight. “Aim directly for the fucking heart,” he instructed Lord. “If she has one.”
A gasping, teary Steers glanced at Masuyo, “Māma, please.”
“You are no daughter of mine,” she snapped. “You are weak and have placed yourself into this situation through your own stupidity. And now you must pay the price for your incompetence.”
Lord looked down at the weapon and then was surprised when the same guard took the gun from him, demonstrated how to hold and aim it, and then handed it back. “Round’s already in the chamber, sir. Just aim and pull the trigger.”
He stepped back. Lord looked at Masuyo, who said, “We have wasted enough time. Do it.”
Lord squared his shoulders, gripped the weapon with both hands, took aim, and looked at Steers.
Her face was now one of stone. She used her shoulder to push Temple roughly away. “I have no need of your assistance,” she said imperiously.
Steers pointed her shackled hands directly at her heart.
“Not even a weak man like yourself could fail in this endeavor,” she taunted, even as she looked down at Nash’s body. She closed her eyes and the tears drained from them.
“Goodbye, Walter.”
Lord aimed at her chest and pulled the trigger.
The gun fired and Steers flinched with the impact. Blood immediately spread across the front of her shirt where a hole had now appeared. She looked once at her mother, and then her eyes rolled up into her head and she fell next to Nash.
“And now, Mr. Temple, it is your turn,” said Masuyo, as she nodded at one of her men.
Temple moved to stand in front of her. “Take your best shot, lady. And I’ll see you in hell.”
A moment later every door in the warehouse exploded inward.