Prologue

Prologue


His heart was racing.

He looked in the rear view mirror and could see the headlights gaining and gaining fast. He threw the car into a different shift and skid the corner sending everyone leaning to one side. Looking back he cursed wildly seeing the other car has scraped through the change in traffic and was readily trying to gain speed.

Shit Shit Shit...

He slammed the gas pedal to the floor and sped around cars, narrowly missing one that put on it's brakes.

"You stupid shit move!!!" He screamed at the car he was passing vaguely noticing the driver's gaping expression as he flew by.

The car was gaining fast. He swerved onto the turn pike, tires screeching. He could hear the screams in the backseat and his partner cursing. He checked back to see the car speeding up to the bumper. The first impact hit shoving them forward in their seats. He could see the turn coming…
No guard rail…

Oh fuck…

Deerfield, South Carolina

He could feel his heart beating; the anticipation for this exchange was beginning to cause him an aggravation. He sat in the driver’s seat drumming his fingers along the steering wheel.
“Would you knock it off already?” An annoyed voice came from the passenger side of his car. He looked over at his partner Lena, her red hair was down and pushed behind her ears, her soft sculpted face and bright green eyes showed obvious signs of annoyance.
“Your stupid finger tapping is getting on my nerves.” She said. Erik merely looked at her before reaching into the console of the vehicle to grab his cigarettes and punched in the car lighter. They both knew this exchange wasn’t going to be a pleasant one. Michael “insisted” to bring the person responsible for the exchange back to his office for a meeting. Michael, their boss and the leader of drug exchanges and sex trafficking was not a person you would want as an enemy. Their last meeting with Michael wasn’t as much for the exchange as for the instructions to which person they would be bringing back to him.


Flashback:


Erik woke up from his phone buzzing. Noticing the number on the screen he immediately answered. “Morning Erik, I need you to come see me today, I have an assignment for you. “ Michael’s smooth voice poured through the phone. Erik cringed at the sound. He knew Michael only had him do the jobs he wouldn’t trust anyone else to do. So it must be a big exchange this time, or he’s got a high priced whore to be escorted. “Oh yes, make sure to call Lena as well. I want you both on this mission.” With that, he hung up leaving Erik dazed from his interrupted sleep and lack of coffee….coffee, need coffee. Erik thought to himself as he got out of bed. He stammered out a muffled curse as he ran into the dresser with his foot and meandered out of his room and into the kitchen. He went over to the counter and flipped on the coffee maker. With a gratifying moan he sat back and inhaled the wonderful scent of fresh coffee brewing. He reached into his pocket and texted Lena to be ready for today. Not more than a minute later he heard his phone buzz and a knock on his door. Before he could even get up to see who in the hell was at his door at this ungodly hour of the morning, Lena let herself in.
Erik scowled at her with her ever so pleasant expression on her face.
“Don’t you know it’s rude to just barge into someone’s house?” he growled. She simply looked at him and smiled.
“You take too long to answer your door so I thought I’d let myself in.” she answered back. She sat down across from him and looked over to his half asleep form. “So, what did Michael want?” she asked him. He looked up at her briefly before getting up hearing the ding on his coffee pot.
“Coffee,” he said. Her eyebrows rose in amusement.
“Michael wants coffee?” She smiled again when Erik muttered something about a “red head smart ass” He poured himself a cup of black coffee, took a large gulp and leaned back against the counter feeling the rush of caffeine wake his system up.
“Dunno, he didn’t say. All I know is; we have exactly an hour to get our asses to Michael’s before we end up on the chopping board.”

End Flashback.


They sat in silence, watching a giant black limo pull into the parking lot in front of the Seagrass Café as scheduled. They both climbed out of the vehicle, ready to greet their “guest of honor”. Erik flicked his cigarette off to the side took a side glance at Lena who gave him a small nod. She put on a trained smile as the driver of the limo got out and opened the door for Enrique. A man stepped out of the passenger door, He was well dressed in his tan suit and black shoes, his dark tanned skin showed he had been in the sun quite often and his eyes, showed the Spanish ethnicity he carried in his blood. “Buenos Dias,” he said to Lena, a smile spreading across his face. He took her hand, his golden rings decorating all of his fingers as he bent down slightly to give her hand a kiss. Lena smiled back and returned the greeting. For a brief moment she stood there with him and small talk laughing lightly to some of the things he was telling her. Erik held back the urge to pry this man away from her. Lena looked over at Erik and smiled before looking back at Enrique once again.
“Please Senior Virecrios allow us to get you into our vehicle, our boss is anxious to see you.” She said. Erik stood silent, disgust pitting his stomach sour watching this man touch Lena like she was a consolation prize.
“Yes, and might I ask, my dear to what is the occasion for this calling?” Enrique asked. Lena smiled and answered him.
“We are not sure; we were simply told that he wants to celebrate on the investment of his business with you.” Enrique studied her for a moment. Erik began to wonder if he really believed her. A smile donned back on Enrique’s face again.
“Good man your boss is, come we should not keep him waiting.” He said following Lena to the car. Erik opened the back door for him to get in. Once settled, he shut the door and made his way into the driver’s seat, started the car, and headed into the mountain side towards Michael’s personal building.


Skyline Corps. South Carolina

They pulled in right on schedule. Erik got out and opened the door for Enrique as Lena proceeded out of the passenger side. They escorted Enrique into the building. The main floor was donned in a mute tan with stunning pearl tiled floors and deep gold columns. The receptionist desk was a dark burgundy with a light gold finished counter to accent the room. A young woman looked up from her computer and smiled at the trio approaching her. “Good morning Erik, Lena and good morning sir.” She said kindly. “Mr. Montgomery is ready to see you now.” They headed towards the elevators; two large body guards dressed in black watched them as they headed into the elevator up to the top floor. The silence was brooding as the sound of the muted music played in the elevator was overpowered by the large sound of the “Ding” announcing the passing floor. They finally reached the fifteenth floor.
Stepping out, they walked into the long hallway and stopped at the desk. Jan, the secretary came over to the desk and buzzed into the office letting the boss know his guest and his associates have arrived. “Send them in.” The voice on the intercom said. She walked over to the large oak doors and showed them in. The room was grand. A large bookshelf stood and covered the entire left wall of the office. The rest of the walls were a burgundy color similar to the red they saw at the front desk in the main lobby. The right side of the room held a small table with a carafe sitting on it, steam still pouring out of the tip of the teapot. The center of the room held the large oak desk with stacks of paper pile neatly to one side, a statue of a crow with his wings spread stared down at you. Erik never did like that crow. There was a large chair behind that desk facing away from them and viewing out the large window behind it. Shortly after they had walked into the room the chair turned and a man faced the three of them.
He was a medium build, jet black hair cut short and waving down as it laid combed back against his head. His dark blue eyes gave off false warmth when you looked at them. His narrow face was pulled back in a large grin as he looked at his guests. “Ah, I’m so glad you could make it.” He smiled as he spoke to Enrique. He stood up with a fluid motion; giving him such grace some people would assume royalty. He reached out his hand to his guest and shook it with great enthusiasm. Erik and Lena stood back and listened as Michael and Enrique exchanged dialogue with each other. Lena leaned over to Erik and whispered “What do you think Mike’s going to do to him?”
Erik side glanced at Lena and shrugged lightly. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to wonder, you know how he is.” “Remember what he did to the last guy.” He replied quietly. She gave him a disgusted look that resembled a child who refused to eat Brussels sprouts.
“Don’t remind me.” She murmured. The last guy as she recalled died screaming in a very slow and agonizing pain. They turned back to Michael and Enrique as they finished their conversation. “Well, my associates if you would please join us, we will be taking a trip down to the private office where we can proceed in our celebration. I will need your help to set up the luncheon. “Michael said casually.
They headed back towards the elevator; Michael swept his hand towards Enrique as the elevator door opened to allow him in. The others followed suit after Michael and waited for the doors to shut. Michael leaned over and pressed the button marked “B” Erik knew it was show time. Hopefully our guest of honor enjoys being a part of it. He thought gravelly. The doors opened and lead into a long white hall. Fluorescent lights lit brightly down the shiny white tile. This place always reminded Erik of a hospital wing silent, bright, unnervingly uncomfortable with the overbearing smell of sanitation that hung stale in the air. Michael led them down the hall, where he stopped at the last door. He smiled at them again before opening the door. He walked in motioning Enrique to enter next and Erik and Lena to follow in behind him. Enrique turned and looked around confused.
The room was dark; a few lights lit up in the room and showed the room as being completely empty minus the two chairs moving towards the center before the shadows swallowed the rest. Michael smiled again at him, this time the smile was cold. Enrique knew now he was in trouble, he tried to run out of the room but Erik and Lena grabbed him. They dragged him into the room, his curses echoing across the walls and his body thrashing to break free from their grip. They managed to drag him over to one of the chairs, Erik pinned him while Lena took the rope Michael handed her and tied his hands behind him and his feet to the legs of the chair. Erik stood back and retreated to the side wall closest to the door along with Lena and awaited Michael’s next move. Enrique was enraged cursing in every language he knew. “Gringo’s!!!! You’ll pay for this you fucking bastards! How dare you tie me up?! Ho-“He was cut off by Michael who had pulled a rag into his mouth and tied it to the back of his head. Michael’s smile never wavered.
“Well, well, well, my good friend. That isn’t too tight on you is it?” he asked giving the rag a large pull tightening it more against his face and causing Enrique to take in a sharp breath. You could see a trickle of blood running down the side of his jaw where it was pooling from the split in the side of Enrique’s mouth.
“Now, I’m sure you know why you’re here now don’t you? “ Michael asked him. Enrique looked up at Michael confused and shook his head. Michael turned and nodded.
“Well, perhaps I can refresh your memory. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small white bag with a white substance and opened it.
“See this? “He asked as he turned to show it to Enrique.
“Does this ring a bell?” He asked him. Enrique sat silent. Michael’s smile began to fade. He threw the powder into Enrique’s face. Enrique thrashed as it hit his eyes.
“How about now?” He asked. As I recall, I paid you ten million dollars on what I thought was cocaine. Instead, I find it has been mixed with sugar.” Michael’s voice rose to a shout. Enrique shook his head frantically, his words muffled behind the rag. Michael’s smile came back.
“Still denying it? Well, I think we have a way to persuade you otherwise.” He said motioning to the shadows of the room. Lights came on in the rest of the room. The gray walls made the room seem monochromatic. Looking ahead to where was once darkness sat a large trash compactor. In front of this compactor sat a chair mirroring Enrique’s with another man who was tied with his arms tied to the arm chairs, bamboo rods sticking out from under his fingernails, Large carpenter nails bolted a quarter of the way into each of his hands, his knees nailed to the chair, his face bruised and split from being struck so many times. Blood splatters were everywhere; the man looked across the room through one of his swollen eyes and screamed through his bloody rag tied into his mouth. Dear god he’s still alive. Erik thought to himself. Lena turned away and hid her face into Erik’s arm, unable to look at the horror of this man. Enrique screamed in horror, his eyes nearly bulging from his skull as he frantically thrashed to loosen himself from his binding prison.
“I see you recognize him don’t you?” Michael said with a chuckle. “Ah yes, Emmanuel your faithful servant. Or should I say brother?” He asked looking back at Enrique.
Enrique screamed an anguished scream, tears flowing at the sight of his mangled brother suffering in agonizing pain. Michael laughed at the sight.
“Now, let’s try this again. Did you not sell me cocaine with sugar mixed in?” He asked him. Again, Enrique shook his head, this time his face turned red screaming angry words through his rag. Michael tsked at his “guests” choice of muffled sounds.
“You brought this upon yourself my friend, I’m afraid since you refuse to tell the truth I will have no choice but to show you the consequences of your lies.” Michael said. He clapped his hands and two new people came into the room. Each was dressed in all black, their faces showed no expression. They went over to Emmanuel‘s chair and one of them lifted the chair in position so that his head aligned with the machine. The other turned on the machine, the machine’s large lift began to lower down, Emmanuel’s screams grew louder and louder as the machine descended upon him eventually silencing with a rather large “Crunch” and “pop” where his head had exploded from the sheer force of the compactor.
Enrique sat staring; his eyes unmoving to the sight of what was left of his brother’s skull laying on the front of his shirt as they lowered the chair back down.
“Now, Enrique, we know you marred my cocaine and cost me a fortune.” Michael said. “I plan to take my money back, and you’ll be set. All you have to do is admit to it.” Enrique closed his eyes and slowly nodded.
“See? That wasn’t so hard now was it?” Michael asked. He motioned to one of his men who approached with an object in his hand.
“Now as for you my friend, a parting gift for all the trouble you caused me.” Michael turned at took the object from the man. He turned back and smiled in his cold smile at Enrique. Enrique had screamed briefly before the end of the sledgehammer had connected to his skull, sending it flying across the room to Lena’s feet. She gasped and kicked it away looking back at Michael who seemed quite pleased with himself. Neither Erik nor Lena dared to say a word to him. He simply looked over at them and smiled before asking.


“So, what’s for lunch?”

Wincrose, South Carolina

The radio blared through the room as she reached over to slam the snooze button. Sighing, she wiggled herself deeper into her blankets, the wonderful fuzzy feeling of sleep still lingering over her. Today was the day she mused in her doze, the last day of middle school before summer began and she could head into the blissful enjoyment of summer. She detested how short summer breaks tended to be. She groaned when the alarm blared once again sending the sounds of Grateful dead through her room.
“Ok, ok I’m up.” She mumbled as she rolled herself hallway out of bed. Slowly she worked her legs to pull her upper half off the mattress and pattered dazedly into the bathroom. She turned on the sink and splashed the cold water on her face, instantly shocking her awake. She let out a light “eep” as some of the cold water ran down under her shirt and across her skin. She gave herself a slight shake before continuing her morning rituals. Twenty minutes later she was out of the bathroom feeling refreshed, hungry and in need of clothes she mused looking down at herself clad in her bathrobe and bedroom slippers.
She dressed herself into a pair of her favorite jeans, washed out and torn at the knee with her hand drawn on roses and names “Emily and Jenny BFF’s for Eva!” Emily swore that this pair of jeans would stay with them to remind them of the years spent together in school. She smiled at the thought and reached in the drawer for a simple pink shirt to throw on top pulled her long hair back into a high tight ponytail.
She ran down the stairs two at a time and skid into the kitchen just barely running into the kitchen table. Her mother, back turned, simply shook her head.
“Sleeping in a bit today?” her mom asked.
Emily smiled. Her mom knew ever since the first day she set foot in middle school, that there was no day Emily ever woke up on time. Her mom did try to get her up early enough to eat breakfast but after so many futile attempts she finally gave up.
“I didn’t try to sleep in this morning; I was getting myself prepared to face my last day of school mom.” She said smirking.
Her mother turned and swatted her lightly on the rear with her newspaper she was reading with a large smile on her face.
“Liar, you haven’t gotten up early for school since you started. Make sure you eat something before you go.” She said watching as her daughter was already bent into the fridge poking for a fast meal to go.
She stood back and looked at her daughter. She had become a tall gangly teen with long brown hair, and her father’s beautiful amber eyes and stunning smile that could light up the room. She couldn’t understand how she went from being such a sweet little baby girl to this romping preteen. She sighed and determined either way; she has always been such a good girl to her. Ever since Paul had died, it had been much harder for Emily to cope and money got tighter as she had to put in longer hours at work to make ends meet. Emily said she’d help but, no. School was much more important right now. She could make due to keep her daughter happy.
Emily turned and smiled at her mother. She was a petite woman with short brown hair cut to just under her chin. Her blue eyes were deep and warm and full of love. Her rounded face gave her such a soft and gentle look. She is so strong though. Emily mused. She took it hard when dad died but the very next day went to work with her head high and shoulders straight and went to ask about working longer hours. Her boss Helen told her she could get more hours as needed but recommended her to at least take a few days to let her grieve. After quite a bit of brow beating, Helen managed to talk her mother into taking three days off after the funeral. During that small time she and her mom managed to bond closer to each other. She bounded over and engulfed her mother into a fierce hug.
“I love you mom, I just wanted to make sure you knew that.” She said giving a light squeeze.
Her mother returned the hold and patted her daughters back. Joy soared through her hearing her daughter’s wonderful words, nearly bringing her to tears. “I love you too sweetie, but you need to go to school.” She handed Emily an apple and a few dollars for lunch. Emily looked at her puzzled.
“I know I usually pack your lunch but I decided to save up so that you could at least have one school lunch. It is your last day and I want it to be your best day.” She said.
Emily smiled knowing how even a few bucks in this house was a lot to have.

She ran full speed up the sidewalk heading towards the bus-stop. She knew there was about ten minutes left before the bus got there. She arrived to the top and slumped up against the light post panting heavily. She jumped back slightly when a water bottle suddenly thrusted itself into her view. She looked up and saw her best friend Jenny standing there smirking at her. She gave her friend a sheepish grin before taking the water bottle from her and drank deeply. Jenny merely shook her head. Emily looked at her friend in puzzlement.

“What’s wrong Jenny?” She asked. She snorted before looking up the street to see if the bus was coming. “Emily, you’re late again. You said you’d be on time today, I’ve been up here waiting for you almost twenty minutes.” She replied. Emily looked down at her water bottle feeling guilty. “I’m sorry Jenny; I forgot to get up on time this morning.” She went over to her friend and leaned onto her with a huge puppy face and a pout. She looked over at her and began to smile. Nothing Emily ever did could stop her from making her best friend smile. They stood laughing and talking about the years they had at this school as the bus arrived for the final time to pick them up for school.
The school bus arrived at the school giving her and Jenny at least 30 minutes to relax in homeroom before class started. They went to the small café located by the cafeteria to get a couple of iced teas. Jenny leaned over to Emily holding a sly smile on her face. “So, you remember our plan for this weekend right?” She whispered. Emily looked at her and nodded. “I’ll have my stuff ready; mom knows I’m hanging out with you this weekend.” She replied back taking a sip of her tea.
What she had conveniently left out was that she and Jenny wouldn’t be staying at her house. They were planning to sneak out and go to the abandoned camp grounds just a few miles from Jenny’s house. Rumor was that the campground had been haunted for years due to someone having died in one of the cabins. Spending one night at the grounds would be an instant popularity boost for them for High school. Emily made sure to have her camera packed to capture proof that they were actually there. Shortly they left the café heading back to the classroom eagerly chatting about their plans.

Deerfield, South Carolina

Erik peered out the cafe window and watched idly as cars putted their way down Main Street. People strolled along the sidewalks some stopped in front of the stores across the street to look into the windows. It amused him how people can meander in their lives without even considering that a person walking just a few steps back could be a murderer. Ignorance is bliss he mused before looking across the booth table where Lena was quietly sipping at her steaming cup of herbal tea. He shook his head with a slight disgusted look on his face. “How the hell can you drink that shit?”
Lena looked up at him, eyes completely blank. “It relaxes me, plus it’s good for you.” She replied. He shook his head again and motioned for the waitress. She came over with a steaming pot of coffee to refill his cup. He thanked the waitress before once again returning his attention to Lena.
“Ben called me earlier this morning. He said it was important to talk to us.” He said. Lena put down her cup with a questioning look on her face. “Ben? I wonder what’s so important.” She said. He shrugged. Ben was a good friend to Erik. He was the only friend aside of Lena he actually had. He was recruited a few years ago into Michael’s troops. His job was similar to his, drug exchanges and whore exchanges. He mainly handled the sex trafficking unless he was with Erik. He never had to bring in anyone who was on Michael’s “chop list.” That what he and Lena were mainly hired for, the dirty work. Erik still didn’t understand why Michael had hired him in the first place. Ben would not be someone you would assume to be part of the bad guy’s recruits. He was rather short and pudgy with thick coke bottled frames making his dark brown eyes look twice their size. He tend to stutter when he got nervous and tended to waddle more when he walked from having a slightly wider girth from beer binging.
Erik merely shrugged. “I’m not sure what it is really, he sounded pretty nervous on the phone when he called me though.” He looked at Lena and she gave him a concerned look. “You think he’s okay?” She asked. Erik nodded. “Yeah, he would say if he was in trouble.” As if on cue, Ben walked into the café sweating from the intense heat. The café had a pleasant cool feel from the fans in the ceiling. He turned to where Erik and Lena were sitting and walked over to their table, a nervous smile on his face. They both looked at him before having motioned him to sit down. He slid down next to Lena, grabbing a napkin to mop off his soaked face. “Alright, you asked to meet us here. What’s up?” Erik asked. Ben took off his glasses, proceeding to clean off the sweat. “It’s Michael. I overheard a conversation he was having.” Ben said nervously. Both Erik and Lena leaned in as he dropped his voice just above a whisper. “I heard him talking about having us terminated. He’s moving his company out of the State and plans to dispose of anyone involved.” He said. Both Erik and Lena simply stared at him completely stunned. “The last exchange has caused a rift from having killed Enrique. Michael didn’t know there was another brother to the Virecrios clan.”
Erik leaned back into the seat cursing and raking a hand through his hair. It was officially a drug war now. It’s either fight or run. Michael has decided to take the option to run. Anyone involved is considered expendable. “Son of a bitch.” He cursed. Lena had leaned onto the table, her head in her hands. Ben shifted nervously before continuing. “There’s more, he has devised one last exchange that’s going to be the mother lode. “ He continued on about the mission Michael had planned before their fates would be sealed. Silence hung heavy in the air once he was finished. Ben flashed looks between his two friends waiting for a response. Lena’s head remained in her hands. Erik sat up straight, looked at the two of them.
“Fuck him.”
Both Lena and Ben looked in his direction gaping at his sudden remark. He looked back at them with a calm look, his eyes steeled over. “You heard me, fuck him. I’m not going down for his bullshit.” He said the steel hard in his voice. “What are we going to do then?” Lena asked. Erik smiled cold and calm. “We’re going to go through with the exchange.” He said. She bolted two inches from his face and hissed. “Are you fucking crazy?” her face contorted in obvious irritable exasperation. He merely smiled back at her.
“Trust me, I have a plan.”

Wincrose, South Carolina

“Emily! Wait up!”
Emily turned to see Jenny running full speed straight at her. Before she could register what was happening, she found herself lying on the pavement below a whole lot of her best friend sprawled across her. Giving her a good shove, she rolled Jen off of herself and sat up.
“You really should consider joining the football team since you insist on tackling me like a linebacker on the opposing team.” Emily said dryly. Jen laughed at the comment and stood helping her up off the ground. “The most amazing thing happened to me today in History class!!” She practically screamed into Emily’s ear.
“Noticed,” She answered back, checking to see if she hadn’t gone deaf in that ear. “Wait don’t tell me! Mr. Shatner actually managed not to put everyone to sleep!!” She said feigning shock. It was every student’s worst luck to end up in his class. He could put anyone to sleep with one of his lectures within one minute or less. Not even the principal would venture into the classroom. Jen frowned and punched her arm lightly. “I’m serious Emily something incredible happened today!” She said frowning. Emily motioned for her friend to continue. Jen smiled brightly.
“Ok, you know James Kinney right?” She asked. She nodded. James Kinney was the most popular jock on the football team. She and Jen used to sit and drool watching him on the field. “Well, anyway I was telling Misty about what we’re doing tonight and he came over and talked to me!” She squealed jumping up and down. Emily only gaped at her.
“Wait, you told Misty? Are you crazy? She’ll blab about us!” Emily hissed. Jen merely shook her head at her. “She swore to secrecy before I told her. But anyway, James overheard and said that it’s cool!” She said. Emily stared at her friend with a huge grin. “He said it was cool?” Both girls squealed and bounced together getting a few odd looks from other students.
They continued their chatter as they got on the bus. Shortly after the departure Jen looked over at Emily. “Okay, so when are we going to head out to eh campsite?” Emily thought about it for a brief moment.
“Well, mom gets off of work at five tonight so I’ll be leaving the house by six. I’ll meet you at your house around six thirty ish and then we’ll wait for your mom and dad to go to bed. Jen nodded. “My parents won’t be up too late, they have that business meeting tomorrow morning in New York so they’ll probably be in bed by nine tonight. They girls planned to head out just after they went to bed. It wouldn’t take more than thirty minutes to hike up the back woods to where the campsite was.

Skyline Corps, South Carolina

Skyline Corps, South Carolina


The trio pulled up to the building, silence hung over them. As Erik instructed, everything would go as Michael wanted. The rest will go as planned. They proceeded off the elevator and went directly into his office as the secretary instructed. Erik noted the box under her desk was filled with papers and books. They were getting ready to flee. Michael was pacing around his office, his cigarette smoldering between his fingers, a deep frown brooding. They waited for him to speak; he stopped abruptly, turned to his group and gave them a cold stare.
“I’m sure by now you know there’s something going on.” He paused waiting to hear any responses. When no one said anything he continued. “We underestimated Virecrios. He has a half-brother, Lucas Mocello. He had somehow managed to find out about Enrique’s affiliation with us.” Erik raised a brow at Michael’s restrained violence to crushing his cigarette.
“How did Lucas find out about us?” Erik asked. Michael looked away from his mashed cigarette and back to the group. “One of our men had reported that Enrique’s driver had sang to Lucas just before he was dumped into the back alley of West Valley. “ He said lightly chuckling. “Shame, I was looking forward to having the pleasure to do that myself.”
“What did you need us to do?” Lena spoke stepping closer to Erik’s side. Michael smiled briefly at her. “Lucas has sent an exchange request. He’s got the blow we want. We get it; your job is to keep the driver distracted to implant this.” He handed her a small device.
“I need you to plant this on the car where it can’t be seen. Erik, you’re going to handle the exchange and Ben you will be in the car. If anything goes wrong, you’re in charge of getting everyone out of there. We’re going to track that bastard down and silence him.”
They left the building directly after receiving the bag for the exchange. All three got into the car and drove off. Lena reached into the bag and pulled out the directions to the exchange point. “Looks like we’re going to Wincrose; The drop off is going to be at the Chinquetique Campground. Sound familiar to either of you?” she asked. Ben shrugged his shoulders but Erik nodded. “That place closed down when I was seventeen. Two kids had drowned in the river. From what was said, one of the counselors and a camper were romping in the bushes and rolled too close to the cliff overlooking the river. The girl’s body was found washed up on the shore in Deerfield, but the guy’s body was never retrieved. “Lena muttered a “damn” and Ben let out a low whistle.
“So, uh when do we have to make the meet?” Ben asked.


Lena looked back at the paper. “According to this, we are meeting our friend at ten tonight.”

Chinquetique Campground

Chinquetique Campground

Erik rounded the car through the narrow path. The darkness and the trees seemed to be swallowing them into the darkness like an open mouth. Slowly he gentled the car through until a clearing made through shone by the moonlight. They pulled into the parking lot and he shut off the car, and leaned back in his seat. Lena rolled down her window and lit her cigarette taking a long drag before exhaling, leaning her arm out the window. Ben sat in the back texting on his phone. Erik looked into his side view mirrors and groaned irritably. “He’s late.” He grumbled snatching Lena’s cig and lighting his own on it.
She snatched her cig back and glared at him and shook her head. The air in the car grew tense. Ben looked up at the two and cleared his throat. They both turned to him with identical glares adorning their faces. “You, you know the guy might just be running late I mean, this isn’t the easiest place to find.” He stammered adjusting his glasses on his face making his eyes look twice their size. Both of them turned back to face the front leaving Ben muttering in his nervous procurement.
Deeper into the woods, Emily trekked slightly behind a very ecstatic Jenny. “You think you could slow down a bit? The camp isn’t going anywhere you know.” Emily grumbled. Jen slowed down and waited for her to catch up falling in step with her friend. They chatted along the way until they finally could see the outline of the campground building.
“There it is!!” Jen said jumping up and down. Emily panted and flopped down and slipped off her pack. Jen turned and looked down at her. “Oh come on Em! It’s right up there about a few yards.” She moaned. Emily shot her a tired look.
“Just give me a minute before I die of exhaustion.” She panted out. Jen huffed out and sat down with her friend. Emily smiled leaning back and lay flat to look up through the opening in the trees at the stars. Jen followed suit forgetting her aggravation and took in the wonder of the constellations.
“Hey look there’s the big dipper!” Emily exclaimed pointing to the left at a group of stars. Jen looked and stared and shook her head puzzled. Emily laughed and tried to explain to her how to find the patterns in the sky. Both girls ended up laughing pointing at other “dippers” they saw. Jen sat up suddenly when she saw a stream of light heading through the campground. Emily sat up as well, her body tensing.
“Was that a ghost?” Emily asked. Jen rolled her eyes. “No way, ghosts don’t float around with headlights attached to their bodies. It was a car. But why is there a car coming up here?” She asked.
Emily shrugged. “It wasn’t your parent’s car was it?” Jen shook her head. “No, my parents headlights aren’t LED’s. Whoever’s car that was has those really expensive lights on it. Emily got up and started heading into the woods. Jen looked up and stood abruptly. “Hey, where are you going?” Jen asked. Ignoring her friend, she kept her trek following where the car was heading.


Erik saw the headlights coming up the drive and bumped Lena who nearly choked on the smoke from her cigarette. “Shit Erik are you trying to do kill me?” She hissed. He rolled his eyes at her and slipped his gun into the back of his belt. Looking back at his two companions he smirked.


“It’s show time.”


Emily and Jen scurried up the wooded path silently as they could. Up through the clearing at the welcome building was the car with the fancy headlights. Another car was parked into one of the spaces in front of the building just a bit farther from it. They crouched down low as they saw two men stepping out of the parked car heading into the view of the headlights. The doors opened on the other car revealing two other men heading towards where the other two were standing. They were holding a small black bag in their hands. Dialogue was being enclosed between the two groups. One of the men from the parked car nodded to the other one. He went back to the parked car and reached into the backseat to grab something. Carefully, Emily crawled up closer to the trees within hearing range of the people.
“Emily what are you doing?” Jen whispered frantically. Emily turned and put her finger to her lips and turned back towards the group. She picked up the low murmurs of money and merchandise. Out of nowhere one of the men holding the small bag began to struggle and let out a guttural cry. His partner turned to look and the man that was standing in front of the parked car drew out his gun and fired. The other man inside the parked car shot his head up to see what the commotion was about. Emily watched in horror as the man shot crumpled to the ground and the other fell to the side. A red head woman stepped out into the light.
“Jeez Erik what the fuck! This wasn’t what we planned! Ben yelled. Erik ignored Ben’s frantic chatter and turned to Lena.
“You okay?” He asked. She smiled and winked. “Didn’t even hear me coming.” She responded. He turned back to Ben who was standing and gaping at the two of them. “Change of plans, I didn’t want to risk them trying to kill us.” He said. He picked up the bag and headed back towards their car. Lena went and grabbed one of the men and proceeded to drag the body over to the dealer’s car.
“A little help would be nice.” She yelled out. Erik walked over and helped her lift the first body into the driver’s seat and then proceeded to do the same with the other body into the passenger’s seat.
Jenn crawled up behind Emily with a camera in her hand and began to snap pictures. Emily turned and blocked Jen. “Are you crazy?! They’ll see us!” she hissed.
“I turned off the flash, relax. We can take this stuff to the police.” She replied. “We’ll be the town heroes for capturing these people!” She whispered. Emily shook her head. We just witnessed a murder and she’s thinking publicity.
“We need to get out of here so they don’t catch us.” Emily said turning and snaking her way back towards their packs. Jen followed but didn’t see the large branch underfoot. As she stepped down a large snap echoed through the woods. The trio and the girls froze in place.
Erik and Lena reached for their guns and began scanning the outskirts of the woods for movement. Ben reached into the passenger side seat and grabbed a flashlight and slowly began to shine through the wooded areas. Emily headed towards Jen and grabbed her arm muttering something under her breath.
“What?” Jen whispered shakily. Emily pulled her arm hard and whispered “run!” Jen took off in a rush. Emily coming behind. She could see the flashlight capturing onto the trees behind her. She could hear the sounds of footsteps gaining. Gasping, she felt her feet come out from under her as she hit the ground beneath her. Scrambling she got up hearing a male voice close behind yelling to stop. She could hear the footsteps coming fast behind her and a pair of arms grabbing her and sending her and the person sprawling to the ground. Thrashing wildly, she fought with her captor hitting him square into his privates sending a rather satisfying yell to her ears as she tried once again to scramble away. She had managed to get a few feet before another pair of arms caught her. These were much stronger and held tight to her squirming body.
“Let go of me!!!” she yelled kicking and clawing. She heard a muffled grunt and felt a sharp prick in her arm. Yelping she began to feel dizzy, the world began to fade around her as her body slowly descended to the ground. Last thing in her view was a pair of bright blue eyes staring at her.

Darkness…

Tables Turn...

She heard muffled voices in the background. She dreamed she heard footsteps, Jen telling her about James, mom’s smiling face and someone saying to run. Run, run, run kept chanting in her dream. She could see herself running in the darkness, the trees closing in on her, a strangled sob escaping her as the starry night sky began to disappear from view. She could hear screams.
Slowly she opened her eyes and realized she couldn’t move. At first she panicked thinking she was paralyzed. It wasn’t until she felt a twinge in her wrists that she realized that she was not paralyzed but she definitely was tied up with her hands bound behind her and her ankles tied tight. Her mind began to race back to what had happened and remembered someone having grabbed her. She turned her head and immediately closed her eyes feeling a horrible wave of dizziness and nausea hit her. The voices grew louder, she kept her eyes closed and pretended to still be unconscious.
“Damn, that little bitch.” Ben groaned leaning against the car door still grasping his nuts. Lena stifled a laugh as he turned and gave her a death glare. Erik rolled his eyes at him. “You’re a fucking pussy.” He said.
“Fuck you Erik; you didn’t get your jewels kneed.” He said waddling his way into the backseat of the car. Erik shook his head again and went over to open the trunk and throw the bags and her pack in. Emily felt a body pressed up against her and heard someone muttering about her being a sadistic bitch. She must be in the backseat then. The trunk slammed shut jolting her body slightly forward. Lena climbed into the passenger seat as Erik joined opposite to her on the driver’s side. He had a scowl on his face.
“What are we going to do with the girl?” She asked looking at him. He glanced at her briefly before punching in the cigarette lighter and starting the car. He grabbed the lighter and lit his cigarette pulling a long drag.
“I’ll think about it.” He said letting the smoke come out as he spoke. Emily was terrified. This wasn’t a dream, she was kidnapped. Wait, where’s Jen?! They didn’t say anything about the two of them. Hopefully she had gotten away in time.
Erik pulled out of the campground and began to head towards the main highway. He knew now that he was a chopper. Meaning, he disobeyed a direct order and will most likely be killed for it same as his comrades. This wasn’t as he had planned and now they have a witness. Luckily, no one else was present. But it did raise a question as to what she was doing up there alone…
He pulled into a motel twenty miles out of the city limits and checked in two rooms. Lena would be in charge of watching over the girl in the other motel room. The clan climbed out of the car gathering their things as Erik leaned in to grab Emily. He threw a blanket over her to hide her binds and lifted her bridal style out of the car. Emily’s eyes shot open at being lifted. She mentally kicked herself for that. He looked down at her and quietly whispered.
“Make a sound, and I’ll kill you right here.” He said. Emily nodded in understanding and shut her eyes tight. She didn’t want to look at her captor. He walked into the room and dumped her on the nearest bed before turning to shut the door. She began to panic. He’s going to rape me. She thought.

Skyline Corps, South Carolina

Michael was waiting to hear on the exchange. It had been two hours and no one had called in to report the trade. He sent two of his men to go undercover and find them. Within the hour, his men arrived without the trio. According to his men the area was surrounded by police and fire engines. The press was on the scene trying to get answers from the police. Michael began to brood on what may have happened. His cell phone began to ring breaking him from his thoughts. The ID read as Mitchell, one of his undercover cops from the precinct.
Michael quickly answered. “Talk to me.”
Mitchell cleared his throat. “I’m at the campsite. The fire department is here trying to put out a car fire.” He said. He could feel the tense silence on the other side of the phone. Adjusting his tie he kept going. “We won’t be able to ID the car until they put out the flames. I’ll keep you posted as soon as I get some information.”
Michael’s face turned dark.
“You make sure you stay on that case. I want to know everything down to the fiber of that car. You best not fail me Mitch, find my associates.” He said just before he hung up.

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Texte: Copyrighted to all content held in this book.
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 14.09.2011

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Dedicated in interest to my sister, who wanted me to publish this book, in its making.