CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“I thought you two were going to find the informant?” said Ham staring at CJ and Pax.
“No one has seen her for two days. We couldn’t keep searching, besides, the village is small. Maybe she moved on,” said CJ.
“Maybe,” nodded Ham. “Let’s go. We’ve set the charges for the manufacturing facility. We’ve got others setting the charges at the coliseum right now. Time to knock on the castle gates.”
They’d no sooner reached the path over the now flooding moat when the sounds of something far more dangerous than thunder and lightning filled the air. The echoes caused birds to screech and animals to race out of the jungle toward perceived safety.
Beside them, Pierre smirked and chuckled, shaking his head. All eyes turned with raised brows.
“I see you’ve learned well from your grandfather and father,” said Ham. “How much did you use?”
“Well, you said level it. Let’s just say there were sub-levels that had to be tended to as well so I used slightly more than would normally be recommended.”
“Never mind,” said Gator, “let’s go.”
The men guarding the castle seemed to be doing so only half-heartedly. They weren’t worried about anyone going into the castle, they were worried about the animals escaping. Seeing the coliseum in the distance crumble, they knew they had to leave.
Just when they thought their way would be clear, the manufacturing site disappeared inside the earth, silently at first, then the earth-shattering jar forcing them to crumble to their knees.
When they looked up, they saw the group of dark devils walking toward them and crossed themselves. One of the men stood to leave, the others gripping his arm.
“He’ll kill you! He’ll kill all of us if you leave,” said one of the men.
“I don’t care! I don’t care anymore!” As he ran the others looked at one another then back at the black knights coming toward them and made a decision. Live the way they wanted to live.
“Why did that feel too easy?” frowned Gator. “I wanted more. I expected more.”
“I’m very disappointed,” frowned Alec.
“It’s not done yet,” said Ham.
The arrogance of Rodriguez showed in every detail of the castle. Paintings of him portrayed as a saint, a savior, a hero. Doors that had no locks because who would dare to entire without invitation. There were no internal guards to be seen, no men waiting with guns to fight back the attackers.
With the first and second floor rooms cleared, they stepped up to the third level and stilled, staring at the paintings on the walls. Roman coliseums, gladiators, animals being speared, cut open, gutted, lined the walls of the floor.
“How sick is this fucker?” groaned Zane.
“That’s why we’re here. To stop him,” said Leo.
Reaching the master suite at the end of the hallway, they found Marco Rodriguez standing at the double-glass doors, staring at his ruined empire. He barely moved but turned to face the men.
“Are you with the angel of death?” he asked. Ham cocked his head and nodded.
“Some would say, yes,”
“You took the girl. My prize,” he said calmly. Zane stared at the others, then stepped forward, fearful that it was Blake.
“What girl?” he growled.
“The sneaky little one with the beautiful eyes,” he said calmly. “She was mine to take, mine to use and then your boss or peer, he appeared and placed a spell on me.”
“He’s been using his own drugs,” frowned Gator.
“You’ve destroyed my drugs, haven’t you?
” His tone was almost robotic, scarily indifferent given the circumstances and the situation.
“You’ve ruined me. You’ve taken my dream, my dream of becoming the emperor of my own empire.
My own coliseum. Men and animals bowing at my feet as they gave their lives to repay their debts. ”
“The animals have done nothing to you to be forced into such a barbaric act,” said Zane. “You thought you could touch my fiancée.”
“You’ll have to be more specific,” he smiled.
“Her stepfather owed you a debt and you thought you could use her skill in your favor.”
“Ah, the animal whisperer. I suppose I’ll never know if her skill was real or not.”
“All you have to do is look at your empty cages and you’ll know it was real,” said Zane. “Her heart, her love of the animals is beyond your comprehension. She couldn’t allow you to do this.”
“What does it matter? What does any of it matter to all of you? This was my business!” he bellowed, suddenly finding his voice again. “I am the king of this jungle. Me! You had no right to interfere in my business.”
“We had every right,” said Ham.
“So, what now?” he smirked. “You’ll torture me? Turn me over to the police? The military? I own them all! You will be the ones behind bars and punished for daring to touch me.”
“I don’t think so,” said Ham.
“Your arrogance is astounding,” he sneered. “I own this country. Every man or woman in authority is under my pay, my control. Me!”
“What about the animals? You don’t own or control them,” said Zane.
“I will. You can be certain that I will own and control them all. I will get more, I will rebuild. You’ve stopped nothing.”
“Maybe we haven’t,” said Ham, “but they have.”
He nodded toward the double glass doors behind Marco and the man looked over his shoulders not seeing anything.
“Who? Who are you talking about?” he demanded.
“Look closer, Marco. You’re about to get exactly what you deserve.”
Turning once again he stared out at the still pouring rain, the faded gray light of dawn appearing at the horizon.
Just when he was about to claim there was nothing there, the black discs stared back at him.
Unsure if it was real, he touched the glass then saw the distinctive canines of the bear and growl that shook the glass beneath his fingers.
Pouncing through the glass to land on his chest, he sunk his teeth into Marco’s neck, tearing at the flesh while the man was unable to say a word.
Taking a step back, the men watched as the bear ripped at the flesh, tearing muscle and bone beneath its jaw and claws.
“I sure hope we don’t have to shoot him,” said Ham.
“You won’t,” said Trak. They jumped, cursing him once again under this breath. “Osiris? Finish and get back to the river so we can take you home.”
The bear immediately took one more bite, licking his lips and paws and turned back to the shattered door. Looking over his shoulder at Trak, he gave an imperceptible nod and walked into the diminishing rain.
“Please tell me that animal is not going to be on our transport,” said Pierre.
“He’s going the long route, via a ship. He wants to go home. The pacific northwest. He’s a proud animal.”
“And dangerous,” said Zane. “Are the others alright? Is Blake okay?”
“Of course,” frowned Trak. “Did you not trust me?”
“Oh, no sir, I trusted you completely,” he said raising his hands in the air.
“Good. Let’s go home.”