Chapter Thirty-Two
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
A Shred of Evidence and the Naked Truth
I n England, they called it afternoon tea. In Grandpa’s house, they called it T-minus. The day of reckoning. A ghastly reunion, disguised as a meeting of the minds. The clock had just struck twelve. Lennox parked at the far end of Grandpa’s long driveway. As soon as he’d gotten out of his truck, two of his security guards patted him down and his small suitcase was checked for weapons. The guards marshaled him into a black armored truck and drove until they reached the mansion. He was escorted into Grandpa’s estate with two guns pointed at the back of his head and ‘Rock Around the Clock,’ by Bill Haley, greeted him as he entered the house.
“Keep movin’ Lennox,” barked one of the guards.
“You proud of yourself, Uncle Danny?” The man looked straight ahead like some British Royal Palace guard, hand on gun. “You were adopted, but you’re still family. I never treated you any different than my other uncles. We ain’t got the same blood, but you still ended up being a damn fool. Pathetic. Blood ain’t thicker than water after all.”
The sentinels shepherded him into a large sitting room decorated in the Victorian style, in addition to large, antique paintings of cowboys wrestling wildlife and a few hunted treasures: wild boar heads mounted to the walls, their eyes glassy and their horns shining. There was a large antique cream-colored piano in the middle of the room, and the entire floor was covered in an expensive dark blue, violet, and bright red Oriental rug. The room smelled of orchids and cigar smoke. Lennox was led to a small table where two chairs were situated. On the table sat a big, sophisticated bottle of whiskey, two whiskey glasses, a silver eagle-shaped lighter, and two neatly laid out Cuban cigars.
“Sit down.” He was nudged in the back with the tip of a rifle into one of the chairs. Lennox took his seat and placed his suitcase by his foot. Through unseen speakers, Barrett Strong’s, ‘Money’ came through crystal clear. He lowered his gaze and concentrated on Nadia, saying her name over and over in his mind. He could practically smell her perfume, feel her lips against his. He fantasized about their wedding and honeymoon, picturing every detail as he sat there in the lion’s den. That calmed him, filled him with pride and hope.
Loud, slow footsteps approached, jerking him out of his peace of mind. He kept his head down, the image of his soon-to-be-bride remaining ingrained in his head, and that’s where it would stay to get him through this moment.
Nobody is going to keep me from gettin’ married to that woman. I have to be alive, to have her and all we have worked for. We’re a team. Ain’t nobody bad enough on this Earth to keep me away from my woman…
A hand touched his shoulder. A heavy hand. A threatening hand. He didn’t look up, but straight ahead.
“Lennox… my sneaky, strapping, unloyal and unfaithful grandson.” Grandpa chuckled light and easy as he took his seat beside him. “How are ya, boy?” Grandpa asked, shifting in his seat. Lennox looked back towards the large doors of the room before answering. The two gunmen were there. Uncle Danny and some nobody. Danny with his back turned, the other staring right back at him.
“I’m doin’ mighty fine, Grandpa.”
“That’s so good to hear. I’m glad your sister convinced you to meet with me. It’s been a rough year for all of us.” Grandpa grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and coughed into it. “The cleanin’ folks was here today gettin’ rid of some old stuff from one of the guest rooms. Kicked up a lotta dust. Not a room that’s used too often. My allergies have been flaring lately, and that made it worse.” Grandpa leaned forward, his gun on his hip peeking out a bit, and poured them both a glass of whiskey. He then pulled out an envelope from his suit jacket, opened it, and removed a folded stack of papers, placing them down on the table.
“I’m going to get right to it, Lennox. Even though I threatened to do it, I decided not to, out of the kindness of my heart. I haven’t told your grandparents about your dead mama’s lust problems, how she was climbing on dick after dick for cash. Unfortunately though, and there’s no easy way to say this, your father blurted it out to them while he was in one of his many states of intoxication. He confessed to me. The problem is, I’m not sure he remembers, so…” Grandpa shrugged. “Anyway, the threat turned into reality, but not due to me. Now, I already explained to your dear sister, Silva, that I am prepared to fix all of this. Just as I fixed things so you wouldn’t spend time in prison. I’m gonna fly to Lebanon and make all of this right as rain. Before we get to that though, you and I need to settle an important matter.”
Lennox looked straight ahead. He fixed his gaze on a large oil painting of a red-headed woman with porcelain skin, holding a chubby baby while her cowboy husband trotted off down a tumbleweed covered path.
“The whiskey and cigars are in celebration. Once we complete this today, I’d like a toast. First, we’ve got to get the business out of the way. This here is a revised contract, grandson.” He placed his hand once again on his shoulder. “I’m compromising with you. Something I’m not known to do very often. I’ve decided to not drudge up your criminal record to the authorities. Well, criminal record that you should have had on account of the mess you got yourself in. I had to keep the cops off you for murdering all of those fine folks while you were in college. The contract killin’. I’m sure you remember how I saved your ass, and you didn’t even offer me a ‘thank you.’” Grandpa sucked his teeth and shook his head. “I took it off the table. Don’t want none of my kin servin’ unnecessary prison time no how. Plus, it just doesn’t look good.”
“Yup. That was mighty kind of you, and so unselfish of you too, Grandpa. You just sacrifice yourself over and over to help others. You’re damn near saint-like. Jesus should come down here right now and place a crown of thorns on your head,” Lennox stated with a straight face.
Grandpa raised a brow.
“I’m certain that was sarcasm, motherfucker, but I’m not going to entertain your foolishness right now, boy. Don’t test me.” Grandpa shook his finger in his face. “I’ll put it right back on the damn table if I have to, but for now, it’s gone, and it’ll stay gone unless you do something imprudent. You have my word.”
“Your word? Well, then I have nothing to worry about, right?” Lennox sneered. “Your word is about as solid as a rushing river. Your word don’t mean a damn thing. I’d rather take my chances standing butt naked covered in syrup, honey, and rotten fruit under a bee hive and a hornet’s nest that just got whooped with a stick.”
They glared at one another.
“I’d like to beat the fuckin’ daylights out of you with that same stick or better yet, my bare fists,” The old man seethed. “You’re unappreciative and sinful! I talked your sister into offering your slimy ass an olive branch. I am the reason she even decided to bury the hatchet! I made sure you got your sister back, I offered to fix the shit that your father bungled, I offered to give you a generous salary, a brand-new home and more, and you walk into my house, sit down here, look me in the eye, all while still having a chip on your shoulder?! If you don’t sign this contract today, I’ll be flyin’ over to Lebanon on the first thing with wings tonight. Not to fix a gotdamn thing, but to make sure every body in that third world, backwards ass hellhole of a village knows the truth about your cock-sucking mama. Capeesh?” Grandpa smiled at him as if he’d just invited him to a big bash with all of the food and drinks money could buy. “Besides, I enjoy travel… and I’m sure some of those underprivileged and lowly Lebanese bitches that live out in the sticks have a real need for some money, and I bet they have real tight pussies, too. I wouldn’t mind tryin’ one out for size.” He cackled. Then, on a dime, he turned real serious as he slid an ink pen out of his pocket and placed it next to the papers.
“I’m sure you think that’s mighty generous of you to take a possible prison stay off the table and fix my drunken father’s mistake, Grandpa, but see, you crossed the line. Prison, as well as Lebanon, is the last thing on my mind. We need to discuss what happened. What you did… This isn’t something that can just be swept under the rug.”
“And just what line do you think I crossed, young man?” Grandpa asked with a coy grin, leaning forward.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” They stared at one another a long while, neither blinking nor moving a solitary muscle. “Are you going to man up, or keep lyin’ like the fucking rug you’re trying to sweep it under?”
“Oh… well, look at you, Lenny boy!” Grandpa beamed. “All outta sorts, huh? Got a bit of gumption today, don’t you? Now, you listen here, you overgrown, bubble-eyed, son of a whore. I’m doing you a favor! You’re a rancid piece of shit. A Richard Simmons aerobics class teachin’ fool! You need to be thanking your lucky stars that I’m not shootin’ you down like the dog that you are. I’ll give you credit. You controlled yourself from that little misunderstanding you’re talking about. Sam and your little lady had a chat is all.”
“Oh, it was just a chat, huh?”
“That’s right. The chat did not go in the manner I told that bastard to handle it. I don’t hurt no women, and I’m a man of my word, contrary to what you just said. I dare anyone else to say otherwise.” Grandpa pointed in his face. “I offered her an opportunity. She refused.” He shrugged. “End of story. I didn’t hurt a curly little heart-shaped hair on her head… or anywhere else, for that matter, and I damn sure didn’t order it to be done. You know I would never condone such a thing.”
“Mmmm, I see.” Lennox nodded, then flipped through the papers, one by one. “You know what I find most interesting about you, Grandpa?”
“What’s that, Lennox?”
“Your audacity. I must say, you certainly are fearless even when lying your ass off and talkin’ out both sides of your mouth, aren’t you?”
“Well,” Grandpa leaned back in his seat, “I reckon you’re right. I do have a lot of gumption. Maybe one day when you grow up, you can be fearless, too. Now, if you don’t mind, I need you to—”
“Not so fast. I want to show you something special before I put my signature, in blood, on this agreement.”
“Something special, huh? And what’s so special that you want to show me, Lennox?” Grandpa snatched his cigar off the table, lit it with the eagle-shaped lighter, and puffed like a dragon. Lennox reached down and grabbed his suitcase. Opening it, he pulled out a small laptop and a few other items, which he placed on the table. He turned on the computer and logged in. “What’s this about? What do you need to show me so badly, boy? The land you bought to start your gym? That old car showroom? Don’t waste your breath. Now you got folks building another big ass building on it. Drywall. I already know about it. You ain’t got nothin’ by me.” Grandpa chuckled, rolled his eyes, then sucked his teeth.
“…Yeah. Can’t get nothing past you,” Lennox mocked as he kept typing.
“This is where you plead with me to turn you loose, right? Show me that you finally achieved your dream and want to run some sweaty, funky place full of fat women who can’t stay away from cake and roly-poly men who don’t know a day’s hard work, all while you go broke to pay the bills and keep the lights on in there? I don’t give a shit about—”
“This ain’t about my fitness center, but it will involve some mental and numerical gymnastics.” Lennox put the USB thumb drive, then turned the laptop screen towards Grandpa. “Solve this math problem. What’s one plus one times you’re screwed, equal to? You see all those numbers?”
Grandpa leaned forward, squinted, then snatched his reading glasses out of his Western style black and white jacket pocket. He slid the rims on and began to read the screen. After a couple of seconds, his jaw tightened.
“That’s a pretty long laundry list of payments you’ve made to police officers and city officials. Hush money. Comes up to $3,566,691.50, and that’s just from the last four years. I’ve got all their names and addresses. Hell, I even know all about their families and where they like to go on vacation. Now, the—”
Grandpa slid his gun out of the holster. He eyeballed Lennox with narrowed snake vision while setting his cigar casually in the ashtray.
“Where’d you get this? Did your damn father give this shit to you?!”
“Of course not. I got this on my own, and how I did it doesn’t matter. Besides, my daddy’s got his head so far up your ass, all he can smell is Bengay and bad decisions.”
“I know you’re not tryna blackmail me, boy… You must have a gotdamn death wish.”
“If you shoot me, even kill me, it won’t matter.” Lennox shrugged. “This information is in the possession of four other people, and will be in the hands of the FBI should I not walk out of this motherfucker in one piece by exactly 1:01pm on the dot. I not only have copies of the payments, but I also have your extortion records involving several casinos. That’s just the beginning. There’s more where that came from.” Lennox pulled up record after record on his laptop, revealing many of Grandpa’s devious dirty dinero deeds. The old man plucked his cigar from the ashtray and took a long, hard draw.
“Well, that’s just fine, Lennox,” he smirked. “That’s nice. But all you’ve done is start a war you can’t win.”
“Oh, I’m gonna win, Grandpa, ’cause see, the game is already over…” Lennox opened another document, selected a video clip, and pushed play. “Let me turn up the volume so you don’t miss any of this.”
There, on the screen, was Grandpa lying in the middle of his huge bed, covered in red satin sheets. He was shirtless, sporting only a pair of white cotton boxers and a few large diamond rings on his fingers. A woman was in the room with him, standing by the side of the bed in nothing but red panties. Suddenly, he sat up and smiled. He reached for a glass of wine, raised it in the air and said, “Hello, fine ladies. Let me see what you have for big daddy.” His voice was slurred.
The tones of many women could be heard within the room. Sweet, feminine chatter and laughter. Then, the rest of them came into view. Six scantily clad women were making quick work of undressing as they surrounded Grandpa’s bed.
Lennox took a peek at the man sitting next to him from the corner of his eye. Stoic, he continued to smoke his cigar as he looked at the screen. The sexy women finished disrobing, tossing their lingerie here and there. Within minutes, there was nothing but bubble asses covered in tattoos and silicone titties bouncing up and down. Grandpa was laughing in the footage, having a grand old time, and it wasn’t long before one of the women had his boxers down to his ankles and was sucking his cock so good, it made his toes curl. Another woman rode his face like he was a bucking bull. He gripped her hips, bringing her down onto his face as if he were trying to suffocate himself with that juicy peach pie. Grandpa’s lips twitched as he readjusted himself in his seat, watching himself in action.
“I had no idea you were so agile, Grandpa. I also had no idea that you enjoyed strippers so much. Wow! I wonder what all those conservative Christian groups you like to hang with, including your religious-based bookstore franchise, would think of you bumpin’, grindin’ and sickin’ that old ass rattlesnake of yours against the big, plump backside of a curvy lady while she sucked on your balls?”
Grandpa swallowed, then reached for the bottle of whiskey. He poured himself a glass. His hand shook ever so slightly as he gulped it down.
“…And as I’m certain you can imagine, if I come up dead, it don’t matter. This too, like everything else, will be turned over to the FBI agents who, no matter your efforts, you were unable to pay off. They’ve been gunnin’ for you for years. In addition, this little XXX video will be broadcast all over social media, Grandpa, sent to the local news stations and vloggers, leaked onto international porn sites under the taboo old man young woman orgy category that so many like. Looks like there’s a Latina and Black lady that you’re enjoying, too, so you also get a bonus classification for your bigoted fans and friends: Gramps loves interracial rough fucking , and Grampa gives illustrious cream pie . Catchy, huh?
“Of course this will also be sent to the Baptist Christian Church of America, for good measure.” The video continued with Grandpa thrusting deep inside some White woman named Sunshine, all to the sounds of ‘Party Up,’ By DMX. “Oh wow! Look at you go, Grandpa!” Lennox cackled. “You’re givin’ it to her good! You’ve got the hydro-pumps. I didn’t think you had it in you, ol’ boy!” Lennox slapped his grandfather’s back as he laughed and pointed at the screen.
“Well, well, well, aren’t you a smart little puppy?” The old fucker’s chest rose and fell hard and fast. “May I ask how you obtained this footage?”
“Oh, just like the unlawful money trail and receipts, I have my ways. I understand that you paid these girls well, too. You sent them all Cash Apps under an alias, but I’ve got the account information that the funds came from you originally—just in case you were thinking you could wiggle out of this and say it was a shakedown or some fancy, high tech video trickery.” Grandpa slipped his gun back into the holster and sighed. “Rumor has it you were a little discombobulated that evening, out of your mind. A bit woozy, they say. You still managed to test out some of the entertainment for your birthday bash, though it looks like your inhibitions were lowered. I wonder why? Are you a drug user, Grandpa?” Lennox teased. “But I know that you’re a serious businessman. This was important! See them first and pick the ones you wanted to dance for you on your special day.
“It’s funny how you like gettin’ your ass ate, you’re eatin’ ass, and also fuckin’ one of the strippers up the ass against the wall!” Lennox chuckled. “Just havin’ an ass ol’ blast! An Ass-tastic time! A lot of ass stuff was going on that night, but I won’t judge you. Sometimes I like to fuck a big, pretty, feminine bubble-butt, too. Problem is, I don’t kiss a grown man’s rear end, so that makes me unqualified to be hired by the likes of you, now doesn’t it?” Lennox winked at him, then grabbed the contract and tore it into little pieces, letting the paper flutter all around like white confetti before hitting the floor.
“Lennox, it’s over for you. There’s no comin’ back from this. You have single-handedly—”
“YOUR THREATS DON’T MEAN SHIT ANYMORE! I don’t give a fuck what you do! You’re a hypocrite! Living in a den of fucking sin, right there in your bedroom.” He pointed towards the doors. “Now, it’s time for me to give you some credit. You have some stamina, that’s for sure. You’re like a jackrabbit. Looks like I got it honest! Fucked five women, back to fucking back, and the other two fucked each other right in front of you as you watched and got your jollies off. Impressive for a man your age. So what do we have now on the prohibited checklist, old boy? Fornication, Sodomy, oral copulation, interracial relations some say is wrong too, lesbianism is definitely a no-no, masturbation, a shitload of profanity, barebacking, some lightweight S&M due to the scarf you used to tie one lady’s wrists together… a little marijuana was being smoked too, so that’s drug use, a bunch of drinking, whoremongering, and those talking points are just the tip of the iceberg. There’s more where that came from. Well, surprise, surprise motherfucker, it’s my turn to get my jollies off now, too.”
“I promise you, Lennox, you will live to regret this. Mark my words.”
“The only thing I regret is being born into this fucked up family, but God doesn’t let us pick and choose our grandparents, now does He? Legend has it, my whore mama had a whore son who’s gonna have a whore wife, and live a nice, sweet whore life. Just a big ol’ bunch of hoe bags, ain’t we? We’re a bunch of wicked, repulsive misfits. Truth is stranger than fiction because last I checked, the real whore is sittin’ right here beside me. A man filled with lust! 1st Corinthians, 6:18, says, “Flee from sexual immorality. Any other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body . In Proverbs, 31:3, it says, ‘Do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings.’ Now ain’t this something?
“You’re this big age, still screwin’ women left and right, women of ill-repute as you’d call them, yet you beat me and everyone else with Bible verses for our entire existence. All for you to turn around and visit pound town. Take your dick to the pussy promised land. None of them ladies look like any of your ex-wives to me, dear Grandpa. After this goes viral, I am certain your precious little reputation will be doused in gasoline, lit on fire, struck by lightning, then tossed on a fiery grill down in the pits of Hell’s kitchen if you decide to continue to try and fuck around with the likes of me. I don’t want no part of your dog, dick, pony, and pussy show. I’ve told your ass once, I am now tellin’ you twice: this top dog ain’t nothin’ nice!”
“Now listen here you—”
“NO. I’M DONE LISTENING, MOTHERFUCKER! THE DAMN LEASH IS OFF! YOU AIN’T DOG WALKIN’ ME NO MOTHERFUCKIN’ WHERE! YOUR REIGN OF TERROR AND CONTROL IS OVER!”
Suddenly, Uncle Danny turned from the door and started making his way over, gun in hand.
“Uncle Danny, you better think again or I’ll have you handled, too.” Lennox pointed in his uncle’s direction. The bastard paused, but still kept his gun aimed at him. “Hey, Grandpa, tell that loser to stand down before I blow the gotdamn whistle on GP!”
“Stop.” Grandpa put up his hand for his guard dog to back off. “Go back to your post, Daniel!” Uncle Danny slowly lowered his gun, then backed away towards the door. Grandpa glared at him, his nostrils flared, his complexion red as a beet, and his body shaking with rage.
“And I’ve got one more surprise for you, Grandpa.” Lennox took out his cellphone and pulled up the live cam. He shoved the screen in Grandpa’s face.
“What… what have you done?! Samuel! Where is he?!” Grandpa dropped his cigar into the ashtray, his eyes glazed over with what looked to be nothing short of astonishment.
“Your dimwitted grandson, Sam, has to suffer for his sins. Ain’t that the family way? Isn’t that what us Wilde men are supposed to do, Grandpa? Eye for an eye? You know what’s funny? I was just gonna rough him up a little bit, scare him so that he pissed on himself. I figured I’d shoot him in the leg or something if he made a fuss, which I happily did, and then maybe cut off a finger or two, too, just so he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. But then he kept tryna get my attention when I was drivin’ him over yonder. I finally took the tape off his mouth to hear what he just had to yap about, and he said a whole lotta interesting things. A whole lot of interesting things.” Grandpa’s eyes narrowed.
“Like what?”
“Well, for starters, I learned that the kid in my college economics class all of them years ago was planted there by YOU. Ain’t that something? I also found out that you set everything else from that situation in motion—that it was all your doing, from the start. Now, none of this can be proven as it happened so long ago and you murdered the only witness, but it’s so interesting, don’t you think? Seeing as Sam’s not smart enough to come up with a lie like that, or figure it out on his own. Not only that, he knew too many particulars he would have been none the wiser to. These let me know for certain that Sammy boy was telling the truth. He got to keep his fingers and toes. Now, here’s the deal, Grandpa. This is the agreement that you’re going to honor… I’m doing the contracts now.
“I haven’t told my father, your dutiful accounting servant, what you did. That you’re the reason me and Silva fell out, and you’re the reason the cops were snoopin’ around the house in the first place, and it was your enemies that I was hired to kill, under the guise of a false pretense which could have led me to going to the big house. In fact, Dad knows nothing of what’s going on right now at all. We both know he didn’t tell his in-laws about Mama’s past life, either, so cut the shit. Another lie used to manipulate and use people. You’ve gotten away with far too much. It was time to even the score. As you could see, Sam’s in bad shape, but I haven’t killed him. Understand this though… all I have to do is make one little call and Sam is as good as dead. And guess who’ll get the blame?”
“…You son of a bitch.”
“That’s right. You, sir. King of the stripper orgies. If Sam gets mysteriously killed, please understand that his confession about what you did and how you had me set up was recorded. It, too, was sent to my backup crew before I stepped foot in here. The little lady at his house who’s tied up in the bed is going to get her throat slit if you do the wrong thing. She’s got nothing to do with this, so that would be a shame, but the person in charge of that operation right now couldn’t give a single fuck.” Grandpa gave him a strange look, full of hatred. “Guess who’s babysittin’ pea-brained Sam and happily obliged to help make this happen? Kage the Rage.”
Grandpa’s eyes widened, and then, they turned pitch black.
“And you know Kage ain’t shy around a murder spree. ‘Krazy Kage,’ as folks call him, is sly as a fox. Guess who one of the four folks are that are ready to post your little sexcapade video all over the damn internet? Roman ‘Pretty Boy’ the Great.” Grandpa’s lips tightened. “He’s really smart with the World Wide Web, seein’ as it’s part of his job to make sure shit is right and copasetic on the computer ’nd such. All those stocks and bonds. And guess who’s ready to strip down to the last word, dance with the FBI and sing like a motherfuckin’ bird flyin’ past a pole? Nadia. I’m sure with all of your recent devilment, you know her name quite well now.”
“YOU FUCKING FAILURE!!! You betrayed your family for a floozy. A fly by night hooker!” Grandpa slammed his fist against the table.
“You see, Grandpa, I think you know deep down that’s not true because if you thought it was, you wouldn’t have wasted your time tryna get rid of her. You and Sam messed with the wrong woman, didn’t you? She vowed revenge, and she ain’t never made a promise she didn’t intend to keep. Sunshine and them? The gal who’s ovaries you rearranged, and the other lady who you ate like groceries? Those are her friends from the strip club. Pros of the trade. They understood the assignment.” The color drained from Grandpa’s face. “They got the pat down by your little security team, but the security crew didn’t check their asses and pussies. It’s funny where you can store a little video-recordin’ device right before ready, set, action. Two video cameras the size of quarters, rollin’ that beautiful sinful bean footage. Tossed their panties and bras on your dresser, just so—lights, camera, action, motherfucker!” Lennox roared, slapping his knee.
“…I was half outta my mind… delirious. I didn’t do this! It was her, wasn’t it?! It was your gotdamn sister! You two were in cahoots! I was sleepy towards the end of her visit, and she helped me right into bed… yes! It was her! It was Silva! She’ll never be safe because of what you two have done! She’ll—”
“Naw, now let’s not get carried away here. It was none of her idea. All she did was call me, beg me to meet with you just like you said. Now, because of that call though, she and I did get to talking. I let her know the truth about you. I presented evidence. When she found out about you makin’ plans to disrupt things in Lebanon, and I told her about your part in my troubles, as well as the real reason I agreed to do those contract kills, well, she decided she was done with you. She’s so disappointed in you, Grandpa. Broke her fucking heart.”
Much to Lennox’s surprise, Grandpa’s eyes flashed with remorse. He looked downright upset about Silva being mad at him. He looked so… human. Like a bleeding-heart real person walking God’s green earth. The old man lowered his head, avoiding eye contact. Well hell, he actually does care about her in his own twisted way. I’ll be damned.
“Silva loved you, Grandpa, and you took it for granted. Sadly, she still does, but she found out the hard way that Mama, even in death, is always right.”
Lennox got to his feet and packed his things away. “It’s almost one o’clock. I’d best be leavin’. We wouldn’t wanna risk me being late and the Three Musketeers going into action.”
Grandpa laughed, slapped the table, and slowly got to his feet. “Naw, I guess we wouldn’t want that, Lennox. Question for you… you said four people are privy to your little slideshow you presented today. That means that the Three Musketeers have a companion. Who is the fourth?”
“Oh, I can’t tell you that. Gotta always keep one emergency bullet in the chamber.”
The two men walked out of the room, side by side while The Big Bopper’s ‘Chantilly Lace’ played through the speakers in the house. Grandpa raised his chin high, his black and silver cowboy boots thumping against the floor. Long, thick, silver hair flowed behind him like a cape, and he moved like the stars had aligned, just so, on his behalf. A king of appearances—the emperor wore no clothes. When they reached the front door, Jasper was close by looking on. Grandpa did the honors. He unlocked it, swung it open, and Lennox was immediately bathed in sunshine. Stepping onto the porch, he turned to his grandfather and smiled.
“I guess this means I’m not invited over for the next Christmas dinner?”
“Lennox, I’d like nothing more than to have you for dinner, but not in the way that you mean.”
And with that, Grandpa did a little bow of the head, offered a polite smile, then slammed the door in his face. Lennox made his way down the steps, completing the long jaunt to his parked truck at the end of the driveway. He looked at his watch. 12:59 P.M. on the dot. He immediately sent a text message to Nadia, Silva, Kage and Roman:
It is done. Codeword: Mama.
The codeword was so that they’d know for certain that he wasn’t dead, and that no one else had his phone pretending to be him. Getting into his truck, he started it up and drove like a bat out of hell. He needed to hold and kiss his baby. After all, the day’s activities of hunting prey and confronting an intruder had left him famished, and there was nothing a big dog liked more than to chase and taste a little cat…