Chapter Twenty-Four
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
What in the Sam Hill happened?!
“…You’ve got to be shitting me. How could you let this happen? You stupid idiot.”
Grandpa grabbed the arms of his lawn chair, clutched the top of his cane, and got to his feet. He stood beneath a gray canopy, listening to Elvis Presley’s, ‘Burning Love’ while dark clouds gathered above his head. A storm was brewing and the air was tinged with the scent of a pending downpour. He tossed his cane across his verandah, and it landed far into the immaculately cut green grass. A white dot in the distance. Sitting in a black lawn chair beside a large stone white lion was the most disappointing spawn of his bloodline to date.
Grandpa peered down at his grandson, Samuel, who now sported slumped shoulders, making him feel nothing short of pure, undiluted disgust. “Why in the hell would you approach her without your gun already up and ready to use if you were going to be so stupid as to flash it?! That was a threat!”
“’Cause she was in the shower. I figured she didn’t have one,” he answered sheepishly. “I mean, she walked down the hallway butt naked, ya know? Ready to shower. Who would think she’d have a gun in the damn shower, Grandpa?” He sulked.
Sam’s clothing was in bad shape, all torn up, and his face was a bruised and bloodied mess. A fleshy canvas in colors of marbled purple and streaks of blue. He’d complained that he could barely lift his right arm over his head and it hurt something awful. It would probably need a cast. Some Goliath type brutes had slammed the guy’s limb in his own car door before sendin’ him on his way to drive with only one useable hand after the beat down of the century. Sam’s thin lips were triple their normal size, reminding Grandpa of an innertube. He looks like a damn duck . A goofy duck. Donald Duck. Good God…
“That’s not the question I asked you! You had no business flashin’ a weapon! I told you to watch out for this cunt, didn’t I?” He gritted his teeth and kicked a stone across the ground. It landed in the bird fountain. Plop. “You got her dander up prematurely. I told you to call me before you made a move, but what did you do? Try and be Roy Rogers and save the day! This ain’t no episode of Gunsmoke, gotdamn it! No TV show or movie. You were on her turf! That bitch is no dummy. She’s a shark!”
“I called ya, Grandpa. I called ya and told you that she was in her dressing room. I figured that was enough when you said okay, let ’er come out.”
“And I told you that when Dodie pretended to be a belligerent drunk in there, it would be a good cover for you to sneak in the back where she’d go to get freshened up. She does the same thing each and every time. We had her routine down pat! It was a sure deal! Glen told us they typically have two or three security guards there on any given night. That melee would keep ’em busy tryna throw Dodie out the club. As soon as the commotion broke out, you were to dip in the back. They don’t like cameras in there, so we found out the cameras on the outside of the place are real, but the cameras on the inside, with the exception of one pointed towards the bar, are decoys.
“Once Dodie did his part, I said that’s when you can make your move, just be sure she was alone or someone would blow the whistle. I showed you the blueprint of the place and everything so you’d know exactly where to go, and to follow everything to the letter until she came outta that dressing room. Why?! You were not to say one single gotdamn word to her until you had the go ahead from ME!” He leered at Sam, pointing to himself. He wanted to spit at the dumbass. Stomp him into the ground. Sam was young and kinda stupid, but he’d figured he surely could handle something simple like this. Besides, he was good lookin’. Sluts liked good looking men. Saw them as far more interesting.
Sam blinked hard, then folded within himself like a crab. His eyes watered, and it made Grandpa sick to his stomach.
“I thought it would be easier than it was.”
“Ain’t nothin’ easy about this lady, Sam, except for the way she gives up her pussy. This woman was at a gun show in Atlanta a few years back, on video, shootin’ two Colt M1911s at the same gotdamn time, then spinnin’ them revolvers around her fingers like she was some stuntwoman in an action-thriller flick. Does that sound like a sitting duck to you? This is not some silly little damsel in distress. She’s been teaching those whore dance classes too that I told you about, proving she’s quite quick and agile. The whore can climb a fuckin’ pole faster than a rabid squirrel, and slide down fast like a fireman. I told you to not let her pretty face fool you. She’s wild and untamed!”
“But why would Lennox want a wild and untamed woman?”
“Who gives a fuck!” He raised his arms to the sky and shook his fists. “Look, Sam. This bitch is just like Lennox’s mama. Some men have a thing for women that remind them of the pussy they came out of.” He shrugged. “Some Freud thing, I think. Every man on this planet has somethin’ that titillates them about women though, and maybe you’re just too young to understand that, but I tell you this much: If a certain woman we find attractive has that ‘thing’, whatever that ‘thing’ is, then we want it. And we want her. The point is, she’s sneaky, like Lennox, and you found that out the hard way. Walked right into her trap.
“Now, because of this complete debacle, Lennox, who is normally fairly easygoing, is going to be thirsty for blood, like the mutt that he is! He’s unpredictable from this point forward, and I’d like to thank you personally for that. When Lennox is in this crazed mind state, he is treacherous. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. You can’t reason with him. You can’t bargain with him. You can’t do anything but fight him! I’ve worked hard to avoid this—to push him yet so far at any given time—but now, the cat is out of the bag.”
“Huh? When did you see him like that? I’ve known him my whole life, Grandpa, and he never came across that way to me. Lennox barely raises his voice.”
“That’s because you weren’t in the fucker’s crosshairs, and you have the observation skills of a deaf and blind one thousand-year-old hairless mole!” he huffed. Then he took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure. “Look, Sam… I’ve seen it a couple times over the years. One time it had to do with the death of his mother. You were too young to witness it. He went on a murdering spree. You’ve only got one body under your belt. Lennox is in the double digits… You don’t know your cousin like you think you do.”
“A murderin’ spree? Lennox? Why?”
“Because he was a mama’s boy and he completely lost his fuckin’ mind when she kicked the bucket. I saw an opportunity open up because of that…” He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a cigar, then lit it. “I needed to see if Lennox had the grit I believed he did, Sam. I knew he was strapped for money at the time because I had turned off the currency faucet for his father after we’d had a fallin’ out.” He hawked a loogie on the ground, then looked out towards his vast backyard. “The whole family was in a bad way after their matriarch perished… that little slutty, know-it-all Muslim bitch. The good doctor…So, I found some punk in one of his little college classes,” he stated dismissively. “Told him to solicit Lennox for some dirty work. See if Lennox would take the bait.
“In return, the decoy would get paid nicely. I’d get some folks out of here who I needed eradicated in the process, too.” He shrugged. “Lennox could get some cash and blow off some steam. Be none the wiser that he was workin’ for me actually—just through a middleman. Everyone would be happy.”
“Did it work? Did the decoy accept the offer?”
“Of course the decoy took the deal. He buddied up with Len and offered him cash for kills. Showed him the money I gave him in advance. He was to act like a rich bigshot. We’d planned it for weeks. And for the record, I told your Uncle Scott that Len didn’t need no damn college, anyway!” Smoke eddied from the side of his mouth as he replayed those old tapes in his mind. “It would put silly ideas in his head… like this dumb gymnasium he wants to open. He took business classes for it. Anyway, the point is, all of these bastards want to link up with a Wilde boy, Sam. Getting a decoy is easy, but you never befriend them. So many people want to be our friends. Be around us.” Sam nodded in agreement. “If they’re broke, they wanna get close to our money. If they’re boring, they want to ride our coattails to look big and tough and get some excitement.”
“Yeah… yeah… did Lennox do the deal, too?”
“Lennox was depressed and angry. He was sitting in those classrooms feelin’ sorry for himself and pissed at the world because his mama was in the grave, and this was even waaaay after her death. He took it real hard. He was easy pickings. He rejected the deal at first, but then, he accepted it. Did it in a heartbeat. I got him at his weakest. He had bloodlust. You could see it in his eyes. I tell you what,” he giggled, “I was impressed with Lennox’s God-given talents, boy.
“He wasn’t a skilled hitman, not by any stretch of the imagination, and yet, he managed to do it so damn easily and without leavin’ any evidence behind. Damn… he was so good at it too, Sam. A natural. He could kill with not a care in the world…” His voice trailed as he lamented over the crimes. His heart beat harder and faster when he saw the crime scene photos from the decoy. Lennox is a beast. Too remarkable to pass up.
“This is all about Lennox not taking your offer, Grandpa, but it baffles me because why wouldn’t he want to work for you? All of his money problems woulda been solved, and he would’ve been safe.”
“Sam, Lennox has refused to work for me since he was in his teens. I approached him at seventeen to just get the lay of the land– nothin’ criminal. He refused. I approached him at nineteen. Learn the business. He refused. I approached him at twenty-one. Get trained for the Zoo. He refused, and so on, and so on. He’s got a nasty stubborn streak. He declined politely at first, but then he became more aggressive as I put the heat on him. It was his fucking mother. She poisoned him, turned him against me!”
His voice echoed, reverberating in the outdoors as hot rage coursed within him. “Regardless, in the end I found out what I needed to know. The plan was going well. Of course it wasn’t long before his father came runnin’ to me after I called the police anonymously and reported Lennox as a suspect in the murders I needed done.”
“What? Why would you do that? I thought you wanted those guys killed anyway?”
“I did… Let me explain. My son Scott, Lennox’s father, wanted my help to get Lennox off the hook for the crimes he’d committed. In his mind, somehow, the police had found out and were lookin’ for a payday to keep quiet, knowing that Lennox was a Wilde. Well, I did in fact use my money and influence to get him off the hook. I hoped Lennox would then be grateful for my generosity, but he wasn’t.” He sighed. “Things went downhill. He was still tryna finish school, and eventually he picked up a job at some little hole in the wall restaurant. How embarrassing.” He tsked.
“What about the decoy? Were you ever worried he’d squeal?”
Grandpa turned to him and chuckled. “You eat and never leave crumbs, boy. The decoy was silenced with a bullet right between the eyes.” He gleamed as he pointed to his forehead. “You never allow anyone who isn’t family to hold your secrets, Sam. Don’t ever forget that. I’ve only made one exception to that rule, and Jasper is a longtime friend of mine who has proven his loyalty.”
He walked back and forth, smelling the freshness of the day, and then glanced up to see the sky filling with streaks of light. “Everything is royally screwed up now, boy. You’ve helped create the perfect recipe for disaster, and now he’s linked up with a bitch just like him. They’re a two-headed monster, and I have to deal with the fallout.”
“GRANDPA, BUT I—”
You’ve single-handedly,” he eyed the guy’s fucked up arm, “created double the trouble. What part of ‘don’t let your guard down around this trollop’ did you not understand?!”
“I’m sorry, Grandpa,” Sam looked downright wretched. “What are… what are we gonna do now?”
“There’s no ‘ we ’, Sam, and I don’t know just yet what I am going to do, but I can tell you what I damn sure shouldn’t have done. I should have never sent an amateur to do a pro’s job. This is my fault.” Sam hung his head. “Let me think about this.” His brain fired from all cylinders as he played with various scenarios. “If that woman told Lennox what happened, and I imagine she did, it’s not a matter of if he tries to come after me, but when . He is not to be allowed anywhere near this property. I’ll tell security, and you tell the family. Do you hear me?!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Tell everyone to be on alert, but no one is to follow him right now, either. It’s too risky.” He paced out into the backyard, thunder striking the sky, booming. Racing through the soft, vibrant green grass, he grasped his cane and made his way back to Sam who kept playing with a bag of ice he’d been using on his head and mouth for the past hour.
He slipped his phone out of his pocket and called Jasper.
“Yes?”
“If anyone on this property sees my grandson, Lennox Wilde approaching my estate, I’m to be told immediately!”
“Understood.” Jasper ended the call.
He looked up at the sky once again when he felt a raindrop.
“…And Jesus wept…” he whispered. “Sam, dangerous men aren’t always born. Sometimes, they’re created. He’ll be armed, and he’ll arrive intent on hurtin’ everyone involved if he shows his face here.”
“Okay, I understand what you’re saying, but you just said yesterday that Len had turned a new leaf, that he cares about family, and that he didn’t—”
“A leopard never changes his spots. He just hides them under the brush! Lennox is a dog, Sam. Do you understand me?! He pretends to be obedient and on some ‘give peace a chance’ crusade, but that’s not who he really is, deep down. He masquerades as a poodle. He’s always wanted to live up to what his mama wanted him to be, but inside he’s a ruthless and cruel pit bull who will tear anyone who pisses him off to shreds! By the time you hear him bark, it’s too late! Those crime photos are stained on my brain! He went above and beyond the call of duty!
“It was beautiful…” He couldn’t help but smile as the rain got a little more intense. “He has a viciousness like many have never seen, but it must be activated. And that takes time. He’s a killer to his core.” He’s a true Wilde child. “Why in the hell did you think I wanted him in my Zoo subdivision? Why would I be so insistent if he were just mediocre? He’s a devious mama’s boy, his only but biggest flaw, but he also happens to be vengeful killer. Go figure.
“Oh, here’s a funny story.” He chuckled. “He once shot a man in both hands for stealin’ money from some old lady. An old lady he barely knew, mind you, so imagine what he’d do for someone he’s in love with?” His eyes narrowed on Sam and their gazes hooked. The world was getting smaller… the walls closing in. He’s not going to just let this shit go. And neither am I.
“I have a question.”
Grandpa looked at his grandson and shook his head. He placed his hand on his hip. “What could you possibly wish to say at this point?”
“Wouldn’t Lennox have been mad either way?” Sam shrugged, his voice a bit wobbly, as if he were afraid to ask. “I mean, even if your strategy went according to plan, wouldn’t he have wanted to get at you because she would have called him, like you said, and broke up with him?”
“I think your mother dropped you on your head as a child, or was drinkin’ moonshine during the pregnancy.” Sam grimaced and gave a black layered look. “Sam, of course he would have been furious—that was the whole point! But the outcome would have been different, and the ball would have been in my court. She would have left him either because she was scared to death of the consequences, not wanting all the drama that comes along with dealin’ with a Wilde boy, or didn’t want him to get hurt on account of her, and lastly, I thought she might just want the money and didn’t give a damn in the first place. Either way, the odds were in my favor, three to one. I would have effectively ended his relationship, but been able to bring her back if he agreed to work for me.
“All I would have had to do is call her, pretend I made a grave mistake, allowed her to keep the money, and perhaps offered more as a peace offering of sorts, and bring them right back together like the two fucked up love birds they are. It also would have reminded him what I’m capable of by taking what was most important to him away within minutes. I already threatened to contact the police regarding his previous crimes, but naturally I wouldn’t want to do that because it could put me in jeopardy as well. I am more than willing to expose his mother though—that’s still on the table. A card to be played.
“The best-case scenario however was getting that girl away from him. It would have been perfect if she took the money. It would be evidence that she is just another gold digger, willing to take the cash and toss him aside. Finally, I’d have him to the point where he’d be miserable and realize that there was no way out of this. Regardless of her reasoning—whether for love, protection, or greed—she would have been gone! Mission accomplished. He would in no way, shape, or form be happy without her, Sam…
“She was our golden ticket. With that situation, and his mother’s side of the family being shunned, he’d finally fold after all of these years. But instead, none of that happened, now did it?” He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his boot heels. “Because you fucked it up!”
“She wouldn’t have fallen for it either way, Grandpa! This isn’t all my fault!”
Grandpa marched swiftly up to Sam and grabbed his fractured arm, squeezing it.
“AHHHH!!!!”
“You dimwitted fool.” He wrapped his hand tightly around the fucker’s shirt collar and lifted him from his seat. Sam’s complexion deepened to a blood orange, and he struggled to breathe, gurgling as his feet ran against nothing but air. “Since you decided to use the threat of violence to ger your point across, you should’ve done it right ! If you’d had your gun pointed at her gotdamn head as soon as you walked into that fucking shower room, she would have done whatever the hell you told her to do. She chose him over the money and additional funds to pay full college tuition only because she’d gotten the upper hand on you! That’s the only reason why this shit fell through!
“You never let a bitch get the best of you, and you never let a bitch get one over on you! She would have complied to save her own pathetic, miserable life!” He released him, tossing him back down into the chair, and took a couple of steps back. Sam sighed in pain as he rubbed the side of his reddened neck. “Now, Lennox is going to dig his heels in even harder. He knows for sure that she’s loyal down to her bones. Like him! Like a gotdamn dog! She’s a real bitch!” He laughed dismally.
“…I wish you would’ve just let me kill her! I coulda just gone in, put the silencer on, and shot her. No conversation needed! No negotiations! No nothing!” Sam’s face balled up with regret as he peered from the corner of his eye, still rubbing on his neck.
“I told you that I don’t kill women unless it’s absolutely necessary. And besides, she’s the dangling carrot. You don’t kill the carrot, Sam. You use the carrot to nab the rabbit. Lennox is the prey, not her. She’s the bone. He’s a dog to his core, and he only serves one master. First, it was his mother. I got lucky and his mother died. Then, it was complete loyalty to his sister. I got Silva away from him with no issue, but he still wouldn’t budge. Now, it’s Nadia. She’s the new leader of his heart. I need that master seat. I deserve it.”
“Still, you just shoulda let me kill her, just shoulda killed ’er!” Sam blubbered under his breath. His face streaked with angry tears as he repeated the same ol’ delirious mantra.
“Not only is your body bruised, but so is your ego.” Grandpa sighed.
“I’m sorry, Grandpa.”
“Yeah? Well sorry doesn’t help, now does it?” he scoffed. “In some strange way though, I kinda appreciate her boldness, her grit, and will to survive.”
“It all happened so fast.” Sam threw him a blank gaze.
“I imagine it did. Yeah, I hate to admit it, but that harlot is definitely a rare one, isn’t she?” He shrugged. “Admirable in this day and age. I underestimated her, it seems, and I take full accountability for that.”
The corner of his lip twitched, and flashes of her face from his investigation photos flooded his mind. She angered and astounded him all at once. “I studied her, as I always do in these cases. She’d proven how money hungry she is for many years. She charges an arm and a leg for her OnlyFans live cam videos. Had, at one point, a bunch of little businesses going in Atlanta, like under the table legal advice for strippers, somethin’ like that.” He began to pace slowly back and forth. “All the signs were pointing to the likelihood of her caving.
“She didn’t appear to be morally sound in the least. First and foremost, the Jezebel is a complete tramp.” He laughed mirthlessly. “She’s had more boyfriends than you can shake a stick or dick at. No daddy in the picture, a workaholic mother who was barely home, from what I could gather. She didn’t grow up in the best neighborhood, either. A lot of gangs, violence, and drugs were around her community. She’s also a college dropout. The odds were in my favor and yet still, she didn’t fold on Len.” He shook his head in disbelief as Neil Diamond’s, ‘Song Song Blue’ played. “She’s got balls, that’s for damn sure.”
“I don’t know about that, Grandpa.” He looked at his grandson curiously. Sam was slumped over and nursing the side of his head with that bag of ice. “I don’t think she’s one of them transgenders. She has a pussy actually. I saw it. I know they make ’em now, but this looked real. In fact, her pubic hair is shaped like a heart, and she’s got small hands and feet like a chick, big titties that look natural, and her—”
“Gotdamn it! I know she’s a biological woman! Why do you take so many things literally?! You know what? never mind.” He closed his eyes and tried to regain his composure. His grandson was a lost cause. He’d taken him on due to the pleading of his damn father. He never wanted Sam with him, and he now saw he’d been right and should’ve trusted his better judgment. He loved him though, in spite of himself. “Sam, I gave you a chance, and you blew it. You did well on the first couple of assignments last year, but this is a major blow.”
“I know you said you’re finished with me, but I promise I can make it right! Just let—”
“No. YOU’VE DONE A-FUCKIN’ ENOUGH, BOY! Your father said you were havin’ trouble with employment. Couldn’t keep a job. Frederick begged me to let you work for me, but I didn’t want no part of it! My son Fred does good work, so I went against my gut and tried to do what I could. Whenever I do that, I usually live to regret it. Well, here I am. Full of regret. I will take care of this from here on out, Sam. You went to get somebody but got got! You were supposed to lay down the law and let her know you meant business, offer the deal, then leave. Five minutes tops!” He held up his hand. Fingers sprawled.
“I think I might need to go… to the… hospital…” The boy’s eyes rolled.
“Instead of doin’ what you were tasked with, you come bustlin’ in here at three in the gotdamn mornin’, smellin’ like cheap beer and perfume, and practically in need of a blood transfusion! Bleedin’ all over my good rugs! You go and lay down in one of my guest suites, probably left blood all over the gotdamn sheets and pillows, then I’m told right after breakfast this morning that you’re here to see me. Now here we are. She made a fool of you. You turned around and let that boy take your gun and whoop up on you! He called a couple of his pals to help him out, and the first thing out of your mouth when you hit my door, according to Jasper, was about me suing on your behalf! I’m not suing any gotdamn body! This is embarrassing, and you know I don’t like my name mixed up in things like this. You were at a place of ill repute! A den of sin! A lust lair! I have a reputation to uphold!”
“…Yeah, but you sent me to the strip club, Grandpa. I wasn’t there by choice or to look at the girls.”
“You wasn’t there to see the little stripper girls?” He rolled his eyes and huffed. “Seems to me, you saw plenty ! You know all about her big, bouncy titties, and the little black curly Q’s growin’ out of her beaver, cut into a damn heart like it’s fuckin’ Valentine’s Day! You got distracted, and in that split second, that Black succubus fucked you up good!”
Sam now looked as if he were on the verge of wanting to take his own damn life.
“This was a mess, boy.” He gently patted Sam on the back, then ran his fingers jokingly through the bastard’s short blond hair. The young man was trembling, his eyes square on the rifle by his side. “Relax, boy. Grandpa ain’t gonna kill you for this. You’re human after all. Young. Na?ve. But you will never work another day for me from this moment forward.” Sam’s eyes sheened over, then he exhaled. “You’re a liability, and you’re just not cut out for this business, boy.
“I shoulda sent Jasper, but your father wanted me to give you more responsibilities so you could move up the ladder. Be made. Go in the house and see Jasper about gettin’ my private doctor to check you out to make sure you don’t have a concussion or worse. After you get a look over and cleaned up, I want you to go home. To your own house.”
“…Yes, sir.”
“I’ll pay you your salary until the end of next month, but then, you’re on your own.” They remained in silence for quite some time, with only the sound of the wind whistling through the trees and birds chirping, breaking up the mounting tension.
“Do you… do you want me to leave now?”
“What the hell do you think? I can’t stand to look at you another second. Sam, I’m trying with everything within me not to punch you in your damn throat.” He clenched his fist. “I need peace and quiet. I need time to think. Go on. Get!”
Sam slowly got to his feet, hobbled past him holding the ice to his temple, and entered the house. The door slammed behind him. Grandpa stood outside with his semi-automatic rifle, surveying his acres of land.
Lennox used to be one of my favorite grandchildren. Now, he’s my enemy. He’s gonna race over here halfcocked, guns loaded. Wanting my head on a platter. I understand… Can’t blame a hound for feelin’ frisky when his bitch is in heat and someone interrupts the fuck fest. That’s fine, but I’ll be ready. Even in my seasoned age, I can still learn new tricks. I’ll put him down like the dog that he is…