Chapter 45 It’s On
It was just before eight thirty when Rebecca, Gerald and Ashley completed their evenings work. It had been an intense few hours for Rebecca sitting with the two lawyers as they poured over every detail of her work. Mr. Ashlock was asked to make some key editorial decisions during the course of the evening, these concerned Rebecca’s key allegations and the naming of the people involved in the web of corruption and deceit. On each occasion Mr. Ashlock supported Rebecca completely and as a result she had hardly any of her words removed and only a very, very small amount of re-writing to do.
Mr. Ashlock joined them in the meeting room at about nine forty. They all looked up as he entered,
“Hey William.”
They said in unison.
“Well Ladies and gentlemen are we done?”
William asked of the three of them, Gerald was first to reply.
“That’s it William, as far as we are concerned we are ready to go.”
He said as he looked across to Ashley for her agreement, Ashley nodded to confirm Gerald’s statement.
“Gerald’s right it’s ready, as long as all of Rebecca’s research and the information her source has provided is accurate and true then you’ve got a story that will rip the state apart, if not there will be a shit load of law suits landing in your mail box over the next week or so.”
Ashley said with a solemn look on her face.
Rebecca’s pulse raced as the reality of what she had written and the effect her article would have became all too real and crystal clear in her mind. Her face drained to an ashen white when Ashley talked of law suits and her fingers started to tremble a little. William noticed the change in her demeanor and quickly brushed off Ashley’s last comment.
“They can sue all they want, this story has legs and will run and run and I have done a little checking myself since Rebecca first told me of her story to me……., my contacts have confirmed that there have been whispers for years about some of the main characters tied up in this affair…., so that along with my gut instinct and the faith I have in Rebecca I can say with confidence that I am happy to go to print….., good job Rebecca and thanks Ashley and Gerald.”
Rebecca flushed bright red as Ashley and Gerald both nodded in acknowledgement of the thanks they had just received.
“Now I would like to quickly run over some housekeeping issues with the three of you….., mainly concerning what we will all say and how we will all react when the story breaks in the morning…., Gerald I would like you to prepare a quick legal statement for the media for us both to deliver as needed over the first twenty four hours and Ashley I would like you to do the same for Rebecca.”
Both Ashley and Gerald nodded in agreement and each made a quick note, William continued.
“Now Rebecca I spoke with Ashley earlier today and she has willingly agreed to be your shadow for the foreseeable future, as we have already discussed once this breaks nationally things will get pretty mad around here and Ashley will help you respond to the media as and when needed….., any enquiries are to be passed to either Gerald or myself and I will manage any interviews that are asked of you Rebecca…., it is not that I do not trust you Rebecca but this will all be new to you and we just want to support you the best we can.”
Rebecca’s face lit up as a bright smile formed, her white teeth glinted and her bright eyes sparkled.
“Thanks everyone you’ve all been so kind and helpful.”
Ashley returned the smile as did Gerald.
“It’s our pleasure Rebecca, we were all your age once and just starting out in our careers and in my mind there is nothing wrong with having a guiding hand to help you along the way.”
Gerald said.
“My sentiment entirely.”
William added in support.
“Now Rebecca if you could follow me to my office I just want to have a final chat before this story is sent off to print. Gerald, Ashley I’ll give you both a call in ten.”
William said as he rose to leave the meeting room, Rebecca stood up, picked up all of her belongings from the meeting room table and followed William off down the corridor to his office.
Once inside William invited Rebecca to take a seat and as she carefully placed her belongings on the edge of William’s desk he picked up his phone and called for someone to bring in some coffee and doughnuts. William then proceeded to make a few quick calls on his phone while Rebecca sat silently admiring all of the photographs on the office walls. Once the coffee and doughnuts had been delivered and the office door shut William poured out two strong coffees, passed one to Rebecca and took a sip of his.
“Needed that.”
William said as the dark hot liquid flowed down into his stomach.
“Now Rebecca its crunch time and I just want to assure myself that you are ready for this…., It’s not too late to postpone or pull the plug entirely if you want to….., it’s up to you now.”
Rebecca sipped her steaming mug of coffee and giggled nervously before placing her mug back down on the desk and looking William straight in the eye.
”I’m as ready.”
She said with a smile before continuing.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this and discussed it with my parents again and I am as ready as I’ll ever be I suppose.”
“Great, I just wanted to be sure and didn’t want to push you into something you weren’t ready for, although to be truthful nobody can fully prepare for the up and coming media feeding frenzy that will engulf us here at the Gazette Rebecca.”
“Ummm.”
Rebecca replied.
“And it is you Rebecca that will feel the brunt of the requests for interviews from TV, The Press, Internet bloggers, every Tom, Dick and Harry will be banging on your door trying to get a piece of you.”
“I must admit that’s the one thing that worries me, I mean my family will be hassled and harassed and I want to keep them out of it if I can…, and…, um……., I’m a bit nervous about being hounded, I mean at home.”
William sat silently thinking for a moment or two before replying.
“Ok…., ok, don’t worry, I completely understand your worries for your family……., now this is what we will do. You said you had a friend that you could stay with for a couple of days, is that right?”
“Yes Jerome said I could stay at his.”
“Good well you call Jerome and arrange to stay at his place for a few days, I’d like his contact number and address so that Ashley can meet you there and pick you up for interviews or press briefings……, so if you could also ask Jerome if that will be ok with him…, I’ll call your parents and tell them to direct any enquiries to my office and to simply say that you are staying at friends for the time being. I’ll add a request in my press briefing to ask that your family is left alone and that you will be available for comment by making arrangements through me personally……… is that ok?”
Rebecca’s face lit up once more with her radiant smile.
“That sounds like a great idea.”
She said reaching into her pocket for her cell phone.
“No Rebecca please use the office line and for the next week or so don’t use your cell phone, you can use one of our company ones. Any journalist worth a dime will be able to get your cell phone number and there are some unscrupulous people out there who might want to trace you or hack into your messages…………, you know like the scandal in the UK where people connected with News International are alleged to have hacked into peoples voice messages.”
“Ugh huh.”
Rebecca said as she concentrated on every word William said.
“Now call Jerome and speak to him and I’ll call your parents for you and discuss the situation with them ………, what’s your home number again?”
William said as he picked up a pen and awaited Rebecca’s home number. Rebecca told William her number and he scribbled it down on a pad on his desk. While William talked with her parents Rebecca called Jerome.
Jerome was in a noisy music bar deep in conversation with a friend when his cell phone rang, he had to go outside onto the sidewalk to hear her clearly. He sounded distant to her at first and a little strange but he assured her that he was overjoyed to hear from here and immediately accepted her request to stay at his home for a few days, he also allowed her to give William his contact details and address and arranged to pick her up at her parents at midnight.
Rebecca quickly asked William if he thought she would be home by midnight which he confirmed saying,
“You’ll be done in about twenty minutes.”
So she told Jerome that she would be home in half an hour and he could come round whenever he was ready after that, they said their goodbyes and Rebecca pressed end on her cell phone. She stood silently thinking for a moment or two, she was a little confused, Jerome seemed to be on edge or stressed out about something, his voice seemed strained and he didn’t sound like his normal happy self. She pushed those thought to the back of her mind for the moment, whatever it was he would tell her at some point, ‘he probably had had a bad day at work or something’, she thought to herself as she waited for William to end his call to her parents.
Jerome thrust his cell phone back in his pocket, raced back into the bar, he talked quickly with his friend, who was not too pleased that Jerome was leaving because he thought that the two of them sill had much to discuss. As Jerome turned and raced outside his friend shouted after him.
“Done know about you bud I’m feelin really shit about this an can’t sleep much at night.”
Jerome wasn’t listening, he ran across the sidewalk and street dodging through the light traffic to where his pickup was parked opposite. He jumped in and in seconds was roaring off into the night, the frown that had been etched on his face all evening softened and turned into a gentle smile as he thought of Rebecca.
William’s call to Rebecca’s parents was longer than he expected because he had to answer a deluge of questions from two very concerned parents. While William talked Rebecca got up from her chair and wandered around William’s office studying his photographs in detail. In the corner of the office was a photograph of William standing in a boxing ring alongside The Dalai Lama and Sugar Ray Leonard who both stood in boxing kit with gloves and boots on. The photo simply said ‘1987 who would have thought it’, Rebecca made a mental note to ask William about the picture as she walked quietly around William’s office examining the pictures and the framed news stories in detail. She heard the faint rumble of thunder far off in the distance, she stopped and parted the blinds, peeking out into the darkness beyond. Far off to the west she could make out the faint flashes of lightening on the horizon that announced another storm approaching, As she let the blinds fall back into place and returned her gaze onto the photo covered walls William finished his call with her parents. He looked up with a smile on his face.
“I’m glad I had that conversation with your parents, I think I have allayed most of their fears and they sound like really nice people….., how did you get on with your friend?”
“He’s gonna meet me at home later and take me to his for a few day…., he said he was more than happy to and here’s his address and home phone number.”
Rebecca said as she handed William a slip of paper with Jerome’s address and phone number scribbled on it.
William immediately tapped Jerome’s details into his cell phone then tore the slip of paper into tiny pieces and put it in the trash bin next to his desk.
“Well Rebecca, are we all ready to go then?”
William asked as he picked up his desk phone in one hand and waited to dial a number.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Rebecca beamed back with a mixture of nervousness and excited anticipation. William nodded and tapped two numbers into his phone, the phone in the meeting room rang once and was answered by Gerald.
“Hello.”
“Gerald we’re ready now if you and Ashley would like to come down to my office for a minute or so then we’ll be done for the night.”
“Ok, see you in a moment.”
William knew what a momentous moment in Rebecca’s young life the publishing of her story would be and was eager that she was the person who physically released her story with one click of a mouse button. He had already personally designed the layout of space on the front page to receive her article and for safety’s sake had had a back up story ready. This was about the changing weather patterns they had experienced over the last couple of years in central Louisian aand the extreme heat and humidity of the summer which could be a result of global warming.
While William and Rebecca waited for Gerald and Ashley to arrive Rebecca asked William about the photograph of him with The Dalia Lama and Sugar Ray Leonard.
William explained that in 1987 he was sent to cover the speech given by the Dalia Lama at the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in Washington DC. It was at the reception afterwards that politicians and celebrities from the worlds of music, film, TV and sport were introduced to His Holiness and one of the people introduced was Sugar Ray Leonard. His Holiness seemed as star struck as Sugar Ray Leonard seemed and the two of then chatted for a good ten minutes about various subjects but most notable was boxing. Sugar Ray Leonard looked stunned when His Holiness told him that he had followed his career closely since his gold medal win against the Cuban Andrés Aldama in the 1974 Olympic Games and that as a young man he himself had enjoyed boxing, and as he said with a proud mischievous smile was ‘quite good’. The outcome was that Sugar Ray Leonard asked if his Holiness had time in his schedule to spar for a couple of rounds at a friend’s gym in the city. To his surprise His Holiness said that he would make time and immediately accepted. The outcome of the conversation was that two days later the pair met up at a sweat soaked boxing gym in downtown Washington DC, both got gloved up and sparred for three rounds to the delight of a selected number of invited journalist and William was one of them hence the photograph.
“You must have a million stories like that.”
Rebecca said as her eyes once again scanned the photo festooned walls. A knock on the door announced the arrival of Gerald and Ashley.
“Come in.”
William called out, Ashley entered the office followed by Gerald who closed the door behind him and took the seat offered next to Rebecca.
“Well we are all ready to go so let’s get this thing started.”
William said as he stood up from his desk and invited Rebecca to take his seat, as she sat down William leaned over her shoulder and selected her article from a long list of files and dropped it into the blank space on next morning’s front page.
“Well Rebecca it’s now up to you…, so if you are ready right click your named file once with the mouse and that will release it into the printing process for tomorrows paper.”
Rebecca looked up from the screen at the three expectant faces that surrounded her and without hesitation looked back at the computer screen and left clicked the mouse button once.
“That’s it, it’s done.”
She said with a huge smile.
“Good job Rebecca.”
Announced William as Rebecca rose from her seat to accept the outstretched hand of Gerald.
“Well done Rebecca.”
Gerald said before moving out of the way so that Ashley to give Rebecca a hug.
“Well done Rebecca now let’s see what the morning brings….. , and don’t worry I’ll be with you for the ride.”
“Thanks Ashley I’ll need all the help I can get.”
Rebecca replied as Ashley stood back from the hug
“Aah, and good news, Rebecca’s friend will put her up for a few days to keep her away from the press pack for a while so Ashley I’ll text you the address and phone details in a moment……., don’t forget Rebecca we’re right behind you, now unless you have anything else to discuss with us why you don’t get yourself off home see your parents and get packed for your few days away at Jerome’s.”
William said before giving her a big hug as well. Rebecca thanked them all for their help, gathered up her belongings, putting them safely in her bag then arranged for Ashley to meet her at nine am at Jerome’s before saying her goodbyes and dashing out of the office. Since clicking the mouse button once to send her article off to print, her pulse had risen and her body was being flooded with adrenaline. She was full to bursting with excitement, anticipation and nerves and looked forward to having a big hug from her parents then getting safely to the refuge of Jerome’s home. As she walked along the sidewalk towards her car the distant flashes of lightening and rumbles of thunder to the west seemed much closer to her. When she reached her car she opened the door, threw her bag into the back seat and jumped in, she was just about to turn the ignition when she remembered that Lottie had asked her to call when her story was sent off to be printed. She took out her own cell phone looked up Lottie’s number and then using the company cell phone provided by William dialed Lottie. The phone rang four times before being answered by Lottie.
“Oh I am so glad to hear from you my dear, how are you?”
Lottie said in a calm soothing voice.
“I’m very well thank you.., I’ve got some good news it is done, so all will be revealed in the Gazette in the morning and then nationally the next morning by arranged syndication.
“Well done my dear and thank you for the call…, may I ask how you are feeling?”
“Yes of course……, I’m feeling excited, nervous and my belly is full of butterflies but apart from that great I suppose…. Oh yes I nearly forgot I’m staying at a friends for a few days, Mr. Ashlock said it would be a good idea so that my parents are not hassled at home to much and one of his company lawyers is going to shadow me to help with interviews and questions from the press.
“Excellent my dear it sounds as if you’re being well supported and it’s a good idea to stay at a friends’ for a while….., I did notice as my phone rang that this is not your usual cell phone number?”
“Yes that’s right Mr. Ashlock gave me this one to use for a while so that if any journalist try to find out my cell phone number and follow me or try to hack into my cell phone it will be of no use because I will not be using it for a while, I’ll be using this one.
“You have certainly been well advised and supported my dear…I look forward to the mornings paper and reading and I will contact you on your new number in the coming days, good luck and speak soon.”
“Thanks, bye.”
Rebecca replied.
“Bye my dear.”
Lottie responded before ending the call. She immediately picked up her phone and tapped in a number. The phone rang once before being answered.
“Hello”
“It’s on….., tomorrow morning in the Gazette and the next morning nationally by syndication.”
Lottie said.
“Thank you, just what we’ve been waiting for.”
The voice said before hanging up.
Lottie replaced her receiver and stood up from her armchair.
“Do you fancy a drink dear? I certainly do.”
She asked her husband who was dozing in and out of sleep as he fought a losing battle to keep his eyes open and watch Citizen Cane to the end. He blinked his eyes open and looked up at his wife with a sleepy smile
“Thanks, I’ll have a large JD on the rocks please.”
“One JD on the rocks coming up.”
Lottie replied as she poured herself a large scotch on the rocks. Johnny Walker Black label was her favorite and she could certainly hold her own where the consumption of alcohol was concerned. With the drinks poured she returned to the comfort of her armchair and picked up her phone again, she dialed a number and waited a couple of seconds before it was answered.
“Good evening I have three urgent packages for delivery tonight, one to Ville Platte and two toBaton Rouge… Yes that is correct tonight, my account number is four, one, four, four, five, two, seven………, yes that is my correct address….., yes…, they are expecting them by 7am and will be there to sign for them……., yes that’s correct….., yes there will be someone up until one am.., yes.., yes thank you sir and good night.”
With that Lottie replaced the receiver, took a large sip of her scotch, rested her head back into the softness of the armchair, cradled her glass in her lap and closed her eyes with a playful smile on her lips.
Bootsie turned to his assembled team with a smile as broad as theMississippi.
“It’s on.”
There were some shouts of ‘Good job”’, and ‘Yeah’, supported by a round of applause from all present.
Bootsie reached across his desk and took a large hand rolled Cohiba Behike Cuban cigar out of a highly polished mahogany cigar box. He held it up to his nostrils to smell its sweet musky smell then lit it and watched as a plume of blue smoke rose up from the cigar’s glowing end, he motioned to his team to help themselves. Bootsie had been told earlier in the week that it was highly probably that he would be informed that the final phase of project Akendo would be initiated that night. He had changed his mind and the decision made a couple of weeks prior to not all meet up again as the Akendo Project team and decided to assembled the team for one last time in his office.
They had been asked to all be there by seven at the latest and at six forty five the team was complete with the arrival of Earl and Curtis Langford and Glenn Anderson. Donna, Bootsie’s PA ushered them in and turned to close the door.
“Hey Donna, please stay if you want this is the culmination of months of hard work and you are a key member of my team. I mean what would I do without your assistance?”
Bootsie called out to Donna, Donna stopped in her tracks and turned back into the office, with a big smile on her face and a feeling of pride in her heart she closed the door behind her and walked back to join the assembled team.
Earl, Glenn, Quentin and Donald had all taken up Bootsie’s offer and were savoring the delicate flavors of the cigars they smoked. Curtis, Dilip, Claude and Donna all had politely declined a cigar and chatted while the others lit up. The mood in the office was buoyant with smiles and laughter but still there was a slight tension still evident; Bootsie blew out a long plume of smoke then returned to addressing his team.
“Now as of tomorrow morning the shit is sure gonna hit the fan and Kellar’s ears will be burning…., It’ll be like stirring up a hornets nest with a stick. Initially the story will be out in the Ville Platte Gazette then on Sunday morning it will be syndicated nationally inThe New York Times, USA Today, The LA Times, The Washington Post and the Times Picayune……. Now what that means is that if Saturday morning is hectic then on Sunday morning and for the foreseeable future we will probably be expecting a hubbub of astronomical proportions, Press Journalist, TV Anchors an all, they’ll be all over this like flies on shit.”
Bootsie took another big puff of his cigar before continuing.
“As I see it and as I said earlier, Dilip will field any enquiries about my opinions on the unfolding scandal. Donald and his head of PR will field any enquiries about the role ofLatham, Kellar and Bond in the Akendo project, the line that Donald will follow is that Latham, Kellar and Bond are the commercial lawyers for the project and in light of recent revelations he will be reviewing their involvement.”
Everyone present nodded as Bootsie took another large puff on his cigar before continuing.
“What this means is that Donald can call a temporary halt to the development project and publicize that…, then over time Donald will wind it up completely…. That leads me onto the involvement of the Anderson Langford Corporation in the Akendo Project. Any journalist worth a peanut will eventually find out their initial involvement so Curtis has agreed to respond to any enquiries about their involvement.”
Curtis nodded.
“Any questions so far?”
Bootsie asked, his team all shook their heads from side to side, so he continued.
“I spent a good few hours earlier in the week speaking with my main fixer and we all know who that is, we discussed how the story is likely to evolve. Now as we speak a file has been sent to the state attorney general Mr. William Still inBaton Rouge, the18thjudicial district attorney for West Baton Rouge Mrs. Melissa Dorris andthe 13thjudicial district attorney for Evangeline in Ville Platte a Mr. Clement Ratleff… Now it might seem like over kill but Kellar’s head office is in Baton Rouge, there is a vipers nest of all sorts of corrupt deals centered on Kellar’s Ville Platte office and as we all know the web of corruption seems state wide possibly with a national and international reach but we will let Mr. Still take that on at a later date.”
Bootsie looked around his office to a sea of beaming smiles before puffing again on his cigar then continuing.
“What this means in essence is that their will be a media storm over the next few days which should if I understand things correctly be fuelled early next week when an amount of warrants are issued…….. Now Kellar will not go down quietly and will obviously put out extremely strong denials via the press for the first few days then the screw will be tightened as the warrants are served…. I can tell you all that based on the evidence we have gathered and the information we have provided Kellar is more than likely to have a number of government agencies after his ass as of Monday.”
A cheer went up from the team upon hearing this and a couple of high fives were thrown in for good measure.
“That’s all well and good everyone but I need to remind you all that apart from the spokespeople mentioned you all know nothing, none of us has met or had any meeting discussing Latham Kellar and Bond or the Akendo Project, you only know what you read in the papers over the coming days and weeks or see on the news on TV…. Now I must stress this…”
Bootsie said with a stern look framing his jaw and projecting out from his piercing eyes, the room grew silent and the smiles dropped from the faces of the assembled team.
“We are only as strong as our weakest link and once that gives our project will unwind and we will all be up shit creek.”
Bootsie sat silent for a moment, rolling his cigar in between his right index finger and thumb as he slowly scanned the room, one by one looking directly into everyone eyes, letting his final words sink in. Everyone nodded in agreement before Bootsie leaped up from behind his desk and went around the room shaking hands and thanking everyone personally for their contribution over the last few months. The mood in the room lightened noticeably as Bootsie cracked some jokes; they continued chatting amongst themselves for ten minutes or so before saying their goodbyes. Dilip stayed on with Bootsie an extra hour to run through a couple of important issues that had come up earlier in the day before he too left. Bootsie sat alone in his office for a while quietly thinking until a call from home interrupted his thoughts. He got up, turned off the lights, walked out of his office then closed and locked the door behind him. As he walked off down the corridor a grin spread from ear to ear.
Chapter 46 A Midnight Drive
A soft knock on his front door echoed in the drunken mind of Clive as he staggered about in his kitchen. Holding the walls for support he made his way unsteadily along his hallway to the front door and after a little fumbling with the handle opened it.
The head butt that split thebridgeofClive’s nose, splintering bone and leaving a bloodied pulp was delivered by an extremely muscular twenty one inch neck. As a searing pain exploded behind his eyes, Clive sagged forward clutching at his bleeding face. A powerful right hook was immediately delivered by a massive fist to the left side of Clive’s jaw, snapping the bone cleanly in two, sending powerful rotational forces directly to the brain stem area, instantly knocking him unconscious. The blow was like that of a an old steam hammer and had such force that his head jerked violently to his right and his lifeless body fell forwards out of his front door into the waiting arms of his two assailants. They steadied his body holding the limp carcass upright between the two of them while one leaned forwards and quietly closed the front door. Supporting him on each side under his arms, Clive was dragged head lolling forwards down his front path and driveway to where their car was waiting. The trunk was opened and with consummate ease his lifeless body was dumped inside. The taller of the two men quietly closed the trunk and jumped into the front of the car alongside his accomplice who had already started the motor. Drive was selected on the gear shift and drove off silently into the night.
Once out of town they built up speed as they took their cargo to its destination. A couple of loud thumps and dull screams announced that Clive had regained consciousness.
“He sure is squealin like a pig.”
The driver said as he took a long pull on his cigarette. He yanked the steering wheel violently right then left, then right then left again causing the car to rock alarmingly from side to side, in the process catapulting the unfortunate cargo in the trunk around like a ball bearing in a pin ball machine. Both men laughed as they head the dull thuds and thumps that came from the trunk as Clive crashed from one metal panel to another.
From Clive’s point of view, in his drunken state he had successfully negotiated the drive home, got into his house and was about to fix himself a late night sandwich when he heard a quiet tap on his front door.
“Holy shit, who the fuck is that?”
He said out aloud as he turned and staggered out of the kitchen towards his front door. On reaching his front door he opened it after a little fumbling for the handle. Through the fog of alcohol a flash of blue white pain exploded behind his eyeballs as he felt his nose implode. Instinctively his hands rose up to the area of the injury. The next thing that he was aware of was opening his eyes to find himself in total darkness, lying on his back with the sensation of being gently bumped and jolted around, he was completely and utterly disorientated.
“What the fuck is happening?”
He shouted out as he continued to be gently bumped around in the darkness. He tasted a warm, salty iron like liquid run down the back of his throat and holding his hand up to his face felt a warm ooze trickling across his lips and chin. As he licked his lips and tasted the soft warm liquid his mind confirmed the taste, blood, he was bleeding and quite a lot. A stunning jolt of pain from his lower left jaw suddenly announced itself to him as its daggers of agony coursed deep into his brain. Gingerly he lifted up his right hand and felt the left side of his face, it was hugely swollen with something sharp protruding out of it. He screamed and kicked out with his feet.
“Help! Help!!”
Echoed around in the darkness, suddenly violent movements sent him crashing first headfirst into metal then feet first into metal the other way. His forehead struck one of the large bare metal hinges of the trunk lid, slicing it open like a meat cleaver then he was sent feet first the other way, then back again this time smashing the left side of his jaw against a hard cold metallic surface. Again violent blue white purple pulses of pain detonated in his jaw and within the millisecond it took for these impulses of pain to drive deep into his brain he was for the second time that night unconscious.
The two men laughed and joked as they drove on through the night, outside lightning flashed and thunder rumbled and crashed overhead as the wind driven rain lashed against their windshield. The wipers worked overtime to clear the torrent of water from their view as they sped through the darkness along narrow windy tracks and back roads. They drove for about half an hour before slowing and pulling off of the small blacktopped road they were on onto an even narrower dirt track. By now the storm was directly overhead and their onward journey along the dirt track was almost continually illuminated by the vivid and at times blinding flashes of pure white, white blue and white purple bolts of lightning.
“We is only got a short ways to go now……, anyhow Auh ain’t gettin out in this hey-ya storm, all that water……., ain’t gonna be any good for my arthuritis in muh foot.”
The passenger said to the driver as the storm continued to ravage the countryside.
“Hold yuh potato and don’t be such a fool, we is gonna waid a bit, Auh’m gonna park up he-ya an waid…. Oh no Auh won’t, Auh’ll get out an get as wet as a gators belly……, you must think Auh’s born on crazy street gettin out in that rain or sumpin.”
The driver replied in an irritated and slightly sarcastic manner as he braked hard and brought the car to a slithering stop. While the storm continued its rampaging course across the skies overhead they sat listening to the radio.
“We got any beer?”
The driver asked after a short time tapping absent mindedly on his steering wheel.
“Yep sure do.”
His companion replied, he leaned into the darkness of the back seat of the car and after rustling about for a moment or two produced a six pack of warm beer.
“He-ya.”
He said as he handed one of the cans to the driver before cracking one open for himself.
“That’ll be fowar cans fuh me an two cans fuh youze…. , seein as youze drivin an all.”
He continued with a mischievous smile before guzzling half of his can down in one go. He let out an almighty burp that almost matched the crashing of the thunder for its noise and ferocity. Both men burst out laughing before proceeding to have an impromptu burping contest between them. It took a good hour for the storm to pass over and move off to the east, the thunder and lightening where still close but the torrential rains had subsided. Clive had obviously regained consciousness some twenty minutes earlier and was trying to make his presence known to anyone who may be near. Both men started to get annoyed by the noise of the continual thudding and dull screaming that was coming from the trunk. They had tried to drown out the noise completely by turning the radio up but the thuds and bangs Clive made as he thrashed about in the darkness of the inside of the trunk were still an annoying distraction to their listening pleasure.
“Best we gets on a gets this thing done.”
The driver said as he turned the ignition key, revved the engine, switched the headlamps on and drove on further along the track. In another few minutes they slowed again as they approached their destination. They turned left off of the narrow track and very slowly drove in between the dark trunks of trees. They weaved their way carefully between the densely packed oaks, bumping up and down quite violently at times as they drove over the remains of rotting trees stumps or branches that littered the forest floor. The beam of their headlamps that bounced up and down as they made slow progress through the forest, in conjunction with the ever distant flashes of lightning cast eerie shadows that bobbed and danced around them.
“Better watch out or the Rougarou will catch yuh and suck all that sweed blood of yourne.”
The driver said with a laugh as his accomplice smashed his head hard against the inside of the car roof.
“Ain’t no whurwolf gonna bite my ass.”
Came the reply before he was again jolted violently upwards and slightly forwards, this time slamming his forehead against the windshield.
“Shit.”
He shouted to the laughing driver. As they turned sharply to the right around the large gnarled trunk of an ancient oak, the way ahead of them opened up into a small clearing. The driver stopped and turned the ignition off, he left the headlamps on however illuminating the clearing in front of them, then turned and reached into the darkness of the back seat. He retrieved a small cylindrical object and a flashlight, he put the small cylindrical object into his jacket pocket turned the flashlight on then with a,
“Let’s do id.”
Climbed out into the dripping darkness. The quiet of the forest was disturbed by the thudding, banging and shouting that was coming from the trunk of their car and those noises bounced off of and in between the surrounding trees which only added to the weird eerie atmosphere that surrounded them. They both made their way around to the rear of the car, the driver leaned forward with his right hand and with a click the trunk sprung open. They had already disabled the internal trunk release lever and the mechanism that opened the trunk from the outside had been made inaccessible so that Clive had no way of escape.
As the trunk lid opened the bright beam of the flashlight blinded Clive, his two assailants laughed as they looked down on the bloodied and swollen face of Clive.
“Hey what the fuck’s goin on?”
Clive shouted into the darkness beyond the flashlight’s beam as a large fist grabbed him roughly by the scruff of his shirt and in one motion heaved him out of the trunk and flung him to the sodden forest floor. A boot thudded into Clive’s ribs and he winced in pain before a second was delivered to the back of his head
“Get up you piece of shit.”
The driver shouted at Clive as he curled himself up into the fetal position tucking his head in trying to shield it with his forearms. Another boot thudded into Clive’s side and he let out a moan. Both of Clive’s assailants leaned down and between them dragged him up onto his feet. They spun him around and frog marched him in front of them along the side of the car into the beam of the car’s headlamps then forward into the center of the small clearing. As the group approached the center of the clearing Clive’s eye’s fell upon a small mound of earth that was illuminated by the headlamps and besides it was a long, narrow dark hole. Clive’s mind froze and his limbs locked up as the realization of what he was looking at sent shivers down his spine.
“No!…. No!…. Please No!”
He screamed and without success tried to tear away from the firm grasp that held him from behind on each.
“For fuck sake No!…. No!… What the fuck have I done?….. Please what have I done? “
Came out of his mouth as his screams turned to sobs.
“I ain’t done any of yuh no harm.”
He continued as tears streamed down his face and mixed with the blood stained dribble that flowed from his nose and the corner of his mouth, it ran across his chin and dripped onto the musty smelling forest floor. They stopped and Clive was swung around to face his assailants, the driver lowered the beam of his flashlight so that Clive could make out his face in the beam of the headlamps.
“So you don’t know me then is that ride?
Clive was asked by the man holding the flashlight. Through ever closing eyes Clive strained his brain to make a connection in his memory between the illuminated bearded face in front of him and any and all events in his life. Clive did not reply, he just stood motionless with his brain working in overdrive trying to recognize the face and figure out what he might have done to land himself in such a dire situation.
A stout finger drilled into Clive’s chest and drove him backwards slightly, his trembling legs sagged a little before he steadied himself. His brain was immersed in a massive quantity of adrenaline which made his body shake and quiver, his pupils dilated and huge quantities of sugars were released into his muscles. Without a conscious thought and working entirely on a primitive instinct to survive Clive made a sudden desperate dash for freedom. He turned to his right and within three strides was running for his life, six strides later the cold metal casing of the driver’s flashlight crunched into the back of his head, opening up his scalp like a surgeon’s knife, splintering bone and in the process fracturing his skull. Clive fell forward with a soft thud into the wet leaves and for a second lay motionless. Two pairs of hands reached down and again dragged him up to his feet. All of his muscles fueled by specific high energy sugars reacted at once as he kicked, punched, screamed and hollered, lashing out in any and all directions trying to free himself and escape.
“Looks like we got a wild one he-ya…. , just like a little piggy…, how they say it in thad film…Ibet you can squeal. I bet you can squeal like a pig. Let’s squeal. Squeal nowlittle piggy squeal.”
A voice from behind Clive spat out laughing as its owner struggled to hold onto his kicking, wriggling captive and return him to where they had all been standing in the beam of the cars’ headlamps. Clive screamed and hollered even louder but his cries for help were swallowed up by the dark shadows of the forest. Little did he know that they were the only three people for about five miles in any direction and it was only the creatures of the forest that heard his desperate screams.
“Seems like he’s a few screams short of an orgasm.”
A second voice joined in from behind Clive. Back in the beam of the headlamps they stopped and again spun Clive roughly around, this time slamming his body hard backwards against the trunk of a tree, his head was hanging forward as he sobbed and blubbed uncontrollably. The taller bearded man held Clive in place while the other quickly and roughly bound Clive to the tree with a short length of rope. A rough hand took hold of Clive’s hair and jerked his head up
“So you don’t know me huh?”
A voice asked of Clive, he stared blankly forwards looking at both faces in front of him without the slightest recognition registering. The driver reached into his jacket with his right hand and produced the cylindrical object; he looked down at it for a moment, turned it around slightly in his hand and held it up just in front of Clive’s face. He pressed a small button on the top of the cylinder and a fine jet of atomized particles sprayed directly into Clive’s face engulfing it in a cloud of pain. Clive shrieked as the pain delivered by the spray attacked his eyes, mouth and nostrils and racked his mind with convulsions of agony. He tried to raise his hands up to his face but the rough rope held them securely at his sides as he screamed and thrashed about.
Both men laughed at Clive’s obvious distress before sauntering back to their car, the remaining beers where retrieved from inside and they both leaned against the hood watching Clive squirm and struggle as his eyes, mouth, nose and airways started to swell. The searing pain that Clive felt only intensified as it burned the delicate soft tissues of his eyes, nose, lips, mouth and throat. He coughed and gasped for air as his airways rapidly started to close, his face turned a deep red and bloodstained spit and snot flowed freely from his nose and mouth.
The beers that the men drank tasted good and they continued to laugh and make jokes at Clive’s expense. As Clive’s screams and shrieks died to a gasping whimper after a while one of the two men advanced upon him and delivered a second jet of spray directly into his eyes from about six inches away.
The howl of agony that erupted from Clive’s mouth was unworldly and his body convulsed uncontrollably, straining against its bindings. By now Clive’s face was almost unrecognizable, it was bloodied and extremely swollen, his eyes were almost shut and the left side of his chin was almost three times its normal size. As impulses of pain coursed through his body his face contorted into ugly spasms, he mumbled incoherently in between his screams and repeatedly smashed the back of his head hard against the solid oak trunk behind it.
While Clive suffered the two men finished their beers and made sure they put the empty cans back inside the car. They were both starting to tire of Clive’s screams and after the application of another dose of pain to Clive’s face the driver walked back to his car and from under the passengers seat took his old captive penetrating bolt gun that he used in the slaughter house. In a nonchalant manner he walked back along the side of his car and into the beam of his headlamps, past the gaping dark hole to where Clive was secured against the tree. He lifted the bolt gun to the side of Clive’s head and pulled the trigger, the blank cartridge detonated sending the bolt crashing with a sickening squelchy thud through Clive’s skull. Its smooth sharpened metallic mass smashed its way through the relatively thin and defenseless skull bone driving deep into the warm grey mass of Clive’s brain. In an instant Clive was dead and his quivering body slumped forwards lifeless like a rag doll. A knife was then produced by the second man and the rope securing Clive was sliced through allowing the body to fall forwards into the wet and decaying leaf litter. Without a word between them both men quickly stripped Clive naked and dragged his body the short distance to the side of the hole where a boot rolled it over causing it to fall with a splash into the muddy darkness below. While the driver used Clive’s shirt to thoroughly wipe clean his the bloodied bolt of his bolt gun then throw the rope and all of Clive’s clothes down on top of him in the darkness of the hole, his passenger had fetched a can of gas from the rear foot well of the car. He walked over to the edge of the hole and poured the gallon of gas all over the body, rope and clothing then took a couple of steps backwards. The driver stepped forward keeping a few feet back from the edge of the hole then struck a match. Once it had flared into life he flicked the burning match into the hole igniting the gasses with a ‘Whoooommp’, sound before it even reached the liquid gas at the bottom. The initial explosion and flare of the gas shot some ten feet into the air in a bright yellow glow before dying down to a constant dance of flames that rose a coupe of feet above the opening of the hole. Both men stood together in silence as the fire licked out into the night sizzling the wet leaf litter at the edges of the hole. Both of the men’s faces were completely emotionless as they stood for a good half an hour watching the fire burn; they hardly spoke as they watched the flames get lower and lower. In the distance an owl screeched and brought them both out of their deep and distant thoughts with a jump.
“Hell we’d better get finished up.”
The driver said as he reached down and picked up one of two short handled shovels that they had earlier fetched from the back seat of the car. They shoveled quickly filling the hole to the top in no time, making sure that the surface bump was spread out over an area larger than the hole itself and looked natural. They then spread a thick layer of leaf litter over their workings and dragged back a few large rotting branches laying them randomly on top of the replaced leaf litter. Once that was done they scoured the clearing and either side and to the rear of the car for any foreign articles making sure they left no evidence. The driver then got back into his car and while he reversed slowly and carefully, retracing their route back through the trees his passenger followed scuffing his boots from side to side completely obscuring any trace of their vehicle. In two separate places he stopped and with great effort dragged back large slimy rotting tree branches across where they had been, making the route seem impassable. Once out of the tight confines of the forest they drove in silence slowly back along the dirt track before turning onto the blacktopped road and heading for home. The laughter and bravado of earlier had completely disappeared, each man a slave to his deep dark thoughts.
I hope you enjoy your reading. It is available on Kindle and a free copy can be borrowed for download at https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Blue-Heron-Howard-Moore-ebook/dp/B00KK6BWLK..
Howard Moore
