Men… #2
“I can still take you to Ari. Your choice.” He watched Joel's lips tremble and suddenly smelled urine. I heard that it happens. “At least you are not going to be beaten to a pulp and raped in prison. You ready?”
Joel choked back a sob and gave a single nod as his body began to tremble.
Xander unlatched Joel's seat belt, took the key out of the ignition, and went to the passenger side. He looked both ways, then opened the back passenger door, reached in, and pulled out Harding’s assault rifle.
He made sure the suppressor was secured, then ejected a round.
He picked the shell off the ground and examined it in the dim light.
Pocketing it, he opened Joel's door, yanked him out, and sat him down hard on the nearby guardrail.
“Is it a big drop?” Xander watched Joel slowly shake his head no.
“N—NO! I changed my mind! PLEASE take me to Ari!” Joel screamed.
“Goodbye, Joel.” Xander quickly raised the barrel of the automatic rifle and pointed it at Joel's chest. He depressed the trigger as Joel was screaming, “No!” A staccato of thumping shots rang out into the night as Xander emptied the entire magazine of bullets at Joel.
Joel’s ear-piercing scream screeched out from his throat as his cuffed hands came up to try to ward off the stream of angry bullets.
When the firing ceased, Joel looked down at his chest, still screaming.
He soon realized there were no bullet holes in his body.
His mouth fell open as he looked up at Xander, who was still pointing the rifle at him.
“Well, what do you know… they were blanks after all,” Xander chuckled coldly.
“So… so you are not going to kill me?” Joel whimpered.
Xander shot him an wicked grin. “Remember the movie, 300?”
Joel looked at him with an utterly confused look.
Then, just as it looked like he finally understood, Xander swiftly stepped up, brought his leg up, and bellowed, “This is for HALO and ATHENA!” Xander kicked him square in the chest and sent Joel screaming off the guardrail and into the darkness below.
Xander listened as Joel’s screams were cut short by the sound of tree branches cracking and breaking as Joel tumbled down the ravine.
Eventually, there were no more crashing sounds.
He listened closely and heard the soft sound of a gentle evening breeze.
After a few moments, he heard Joel whimpering in pain down in the darkness below.
Xander sighed, then kicked the spent cartridges off the side of the road.
He opened the trunk and dropped the rifle inside, along with his ammo, earpiece, and the big knife.
Going to the driver’s side, he grabbed his bag, slipped it over his shoulder, removed the .
45 from his back waistband, and placed it inside his bag.
With a sigh, he shut the door and locked the car.
He took out his phone and saw that he had several calls and texts.
He saw one of Simo's angry texts and texted him back where to find his car, Elara Swan’s body, and Joel, and that he was going to take a long vacation somewhere warm and tropical and try to make sense of everything.
He sent a message to Athena saying that he loved her, that he was so proud of how well she handled herself, and that he needed some time to try to get his heart and head straight.
He told her to tell Halo he was sorry, and to thank her so very, very much for protecting her and that he was so happy they were friends.
Shutting his phone off, he began a slow walk down the moonlit road toward nowhere, his thumb ready for the next passing car.
Simo’s nose was itching like mad as he waited for JJ to give him the ‘all clear’ after they went upstairs.
Did Joel overpower her? He thought that was highly unlikely.
He had gone over the moves with her personally several times.
Maybe she forgot to stay calm like last time.
Maybe Joel did get the best of her. He looked over at Alabama as he began arguing with Harding.
Their argument intensified as Lee joined in.
Then, in an angry huff, Harding stormed off toward the garage.
If JJ didn’t show soon, he would have to give Becky her signal to come out of her hiding spot and take these clowns out.
From around the corner, he saw movement and expected to see JJ. Instead, it was fucking Xander Kostinos with a stun grenade in his hand. He flashed it at him, and Simo desperately wanted to shake his head violently ‘no’ but constrained himself and simply gave the idiot a small shake of his head.
Unbelievably, Xander seemed to shrug and simply tossed the flashbang into the kitchen.
Simo dropped down below the counter, and Theo caught sight of his action and managed to drop, too.
Suddenly, there was yelling, then a ferocious boom and a flash of light.
He waited a moment, then looked up and saw that the fucker had another stun grenade.
He tossed it into the kitchen as he pulled an apparently unconscious Joel down the hall.
Simo dropped to the floor again as the second flashbang went off, stunning everyone once more.
“Fuck!” Simo bellowed and hammered the kitchen cabinet behind him with his fist. Becky burst out and leapt up.
She, along with Theo, tackled and disarmed three of Harding’s men who were writhing on the floor.
Jumping up, he looked around for Harding, who was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, he heard his Challenger roar to life, and the squeal of its tires screeched out of Halo’s garage.
“Alabama! Where is Harding?”
Holding his head in his hands, Alabama groaned. “Dunno, man. My fucking ears…”
“Lee?” Simo shouted.
“What the fuck was that?” Lee yelled. “I can’t hear shit!”
“It was fucking Xander Kostinos! He has Joel, and the little bitch was bleeding.”
Simo rushed over to one of the laid-out and bound assailants and relieved him of the cellphone and radio jammer. Simo’s earpiece came to life as he heard Gunnar’s voice talking to Xander. The fucker was heading to Demetri’s production studio with Joel in tow.
“Clear!” said Theo, and Simo gave him a nod.
“Becky, check on Athena and JJ.”
“Roger that,” Becky replied and rushed out of the kitchen.
Simo pressed his comm. “Jessie, over?”
“Not now, Boss. I got incoming. Will contact when VIP is safe.”
“Roger.”
Simo turned to Alabama, who was shaking his head as if he were clearing cobwebs. “So, neither of you had any idea of Joel’s change of plan?”
“No, man. No clue. I think Harding did…”
“Check the area for that asshole.”
“Roger that, Boss… and if I find him?”
“Make it hurt.”
“Roger, roger.” Alabama grinned.
“Lee, stay with Theo while I try to get a hold of that asshole, Xander.” Lee nodded, and Simo dialed up Xander’s cellphone. All he got was ringing and repeated voicemail answers. “Fuck!” Simo yelled. He pressed his comm and yelled, “Somebody get me a location on Xan!”
Gunnar’s voice came over the comm. “He is pulling up to the porn production’s parking lot.”
Just then, Jessie’s voice interrupted the comm. “VIP safe, bad guy down. Xan has Joel and just left. Joel didn’t look too happy.”
“Fuck…” Simo growled. “How is VIP?”
“She is distraught that Xan left… unfortunately, she witnessed the bad guy taking hits.”
“Roger. Get her to Jillian’s ASAP.”
“Roger that.”
“Chen, let’s dispose of the garbage here.”
“Of course.” Chen brushed himself off and motioned to Theo and Lee to begin dragging the bound and gagged men out to Halo’s garage.
Simo dialed up Ari. “We have a problem.”
“Are Halo and Athena ok?”
“They are good. Xan took off with Joel. He won’t answer his phone.”
“I’ll attempt to contact him. I have to ask… why does Xan have Joel?”
“He didn’t follow orders. I saw him come down the stairs, and he showed me a flashbang he stole from my gear. He tossed it and followed it with another. Harding is missing. I have Alabama out looking for him.”
“I saw most of it. Is that wise, using Alabama?”
“We’ll know about him if he finds Harding and what happens next.”
“True. If you contact Xan first, please apologize again for Athena’s involvement. That is from my heart. I’ll secure the airport here. Until later, out.”
“Of course. Simo out.”
Gunnar’s voice came over the comms. “Apparently, Xan is heading up Topanga Canyon Road.”
“Fuck,” Simo growled. “He’s going to kill Joel and dump him!”
Alabama came rushing back in. “I checked the entire perimeter and there is no sign of Harding. Y’all want me to drive the area?”
“No. We’ll find him later. Go help the others in the garage.”
“Roger that, Boss.”
Simo pulled out his cellphone and put his anger away as he texted Xan. Simo began pacing Halo’s ruined kitchen floor, seething at Xander for not following orders and taking Joel. Theo came in and reported that Chen was going to handle the disposition of the remaining men.
“Fine,” Simo replied. “That malaka better not kill Joel.”
“I don’t think he will,” Theo replied in Greek.
“Why not?”
“It is like you said: he’s not a killer.”
Becky came into the kitchen holding a bloody white washcloth. “Look what I found.” She opened the cloth, and half a pale pinky finger lay on the washcloth. “Blood all over the counter and floor. Looks like Joel’s finger.”
Simo looked at Theo. “Not a killer?”
Theo shrugged.
“Becky, get rid of it,” Simo ordered.
Gunnar’s nearly jubilant voice came over the comms. “Simo… you best turn on the local news.”
Simo yelled angrily, “Did that fucker kill Joel?”
“I believe he did something much better...”
Theo turned on Halo’s kitchen TV and changed the channel to the local news.