Page 27 of Exhale (Out for Justice #8)
Nearly a week later…
L ucas rubbed the rag over the black camouflage face paint to remove all traces. He then changed out of his dark clothing and opted for one of his Brioni pinstriped suits with a white DIOR collared shirt.
Damn, it had been good to see Jordan the other night, and he planned to see much, much more of him in the future.
Everything was coming to fruition since he, Black, and Micah had come back from New York to California all those months ago.
The falling out between him and Black wouldn’t matter in the long run because once Black was out of the way, he would have Micah by his side, and nothing would ever come between them again.
“Sir, there’s a phone call for you,” Mark, his assistant, said, handing him the phone.
Lucas took the cell, recognized the number, and jerked his chin, indicating Mark should leave.
Once alone, he spoke. “What can I do for you, Nix?”
“It’s Senator Nix.”
“Aren’t you a former senator?” Lucas said with a bored tone, walking to the wall of windows that overlooked the city of Los Angeles. It looked busy outside, but there inside his penthouse, it was quiet with soft music playing.
“We keep the title, ass.”
“What do you want?” Lucas said flatly.
“It failed.”
“The hit on the former SecDef?” Lucas asked.
“What other failure can there be?” Nix snarled.
“Not my problem. I gave you the information. You should have sent someone better. You should have sent me.”
Lucas smirked when he remembered how he’d gotten the information. Micah hadn’t even known when he let it slip about the whereabouts of the former Secretary of Defense.
But then Micah wouldn’t be on guard against him. They were friends and had been through thick and thin and everything in between. Their past was so tightly woven together that nothing would ever separate them. They had even exchanged several phone calls over the past few months.
The last call came to mind.
“Where are you?” Micah had whined.
“I’ll tell you soon.”
“Why not tell me now? Black and me can come get you.”
“Don’t tell Black that you’re talking to me,” Lucas warned.
“Why?” Micah sounded confused.
“Because he hates me.”
“I don’t get it.”
“I don’t either,” Lucas lied. “Just don’t let him know, please.”
“I won’t,” Micah promised.
“Lucas!” Nix snapped into the phone, bringing him back to his penthouse and the view. “Don’t forget who put you where you are today.”
“I haven’t forgotten a damned thing, but don’t you forget who helped Remy run your operation out here all those years,” he retorted just as harshly. Reminding the man that with Remy now dead, there was only him left to get shit done.
“I’m low on produce. I need a shipment as soon as possible,” Nix grumbled.
“How many?”
“Ten.”
“That won’t be cheap.”
“I have a high-end client who will pay top dollar,” Nix said.
“I’ll call you when it’s on the way,” Lucas said and hung up.
He didn’t ask about the assassination attempt because he’d done his part. He’d given the location to them. Now it was up to whoever to get the job done.
Straightening his tie, he gazed at himself in the mirror. He was a far cry from the boy without a home who ran on the streets. He’d clawed his way up from the slums, and he aimed to stay at the top.
Striding out of his rooms, he headed down the hallway. He had a meeting to attend, and then he’d need to change into his street clothes to hang out at the shelter just in case Jordan contacted him. He had gone by there a few times, even though it stank to hell, and he hated the whole scene.
His purpose in locating Jordan had been simple. Get close to Jordan and closer to Micah. Even though the story about tailing Jordan had been bullshit, Jordan didn’t know that.
Lucas had connections with some very high-powered people who could give him all kinds of information.
Smiling, Lucas headed toward his study.
In the shadows, Black stood across the street from the high-rise penthouse and waited.
He was patient. He knew his prey would come out sooner rather than later. And when he did, it would be the last thing Lucas ever did.
It was just over an hour later that Lucas emerged from the front doors, walking with his head tucked down.
Dressed down was an understatement. The man looked just like a vagrant. To Black, Lucas’ appearance was carefully crafted down to the ratty gray sneakers and greased stringy hair.
It was all a facade.
Lucas was a trained killer.
Black knew firsthand because he’d personally trained the guy.
But Lucas was a bad seed.
The guy was just born plain bad, and there was no fixing that. Black had tried through the years to get it through the guy’s head that he didn’t need to be evil, but Lucas got off on being a sick, twisted psychopath.
When the man slipped between the buildings, Black shoved away from the wall he’d been leaning against and followed.
Just before Lucas reached the end of the alley, Black called softly.
“Lucas.”
Lucas spun around, knife in hand, glaring at him through the distance. What Lucas didn’t know was that Black had placed a padlock on the rusted metal gate that led to Main Street.
“Leave me alone, Black.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“You’ve been gunning for me for months,” Lucas snarled, his hand tightening around the handle.
“That’s because you’re a rotten apple,” Black said almost conversationally.
“You should never have tried to get between me and Micah. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, it’s sickening!” Lucas snarled.
“We’re not related.”
Shock swept through Lucas’s gaze. “But…”
“That’s just what we told people so CPS wouldn’t take Micah into custody.”
Lucas stared at him as if he had horns, but then threw up his hands.
“So what? Micah was mine first!”
“Your mistake was trying to rape him,” Black said flatly.
Horror swept through Lucas’s eyes with the knowledge that Black knew everything.
“I didn’t,” Lucas said, but his voice shook.
“The fuck you didn’t. I was there, I tore you off of him. I saw you run, but what you didn’t know was that I followed you.”
Lucas’s eyes went wide. “Not possible.”
“Yeah, possible. I saw you tear off the hood you wore. I saw you, Lucas, in the fucking light. I should have killed you then and not left it until now.”
“You can’t kill me! Micah and Jordan will never forgive you.”
“I’ll live. You, on the other hand, won’t. How many more boys have you raped?”
“None!” Lucas hissed angrily, but Black wasn’t sure he believed him.
“In this life, I have zero regrets, except letting you live. Not to mention you had a hand in that assassination attempt.” Black closed the distance between them by a foot. He was still a good distance away, but close enough.
“Fuck you! I saw you kill Remy! He didn’t die of cancer like you told us,” Lucas sneered. “You’re not so innocent.”
“Just like you, Remy deserved to die.”
“You think you’re some saint? You’re just street trash like the rest of us,” Lucas said, desperately looking for an escape in the dark, deserted alley.
Those were the last words Lucas ever spoke.
Black avoided the stabbing blade and flipped Lucas around. He pressed the man’s face into the wall and avoided the skillful kicks. He squeezed until Lucas gasped and stopped struggling.
Using gloved hands, Black pulled a syringe from his pocket, flipped the cap, and stabbed it into Lucas’ arm before he hit the plunger. He left the needle hanging and let Lucas fall to the ground.
Black walked woodenly from the alley, careful to cling to the shadows as he reached the locked gate. He removed the padlock and left it open as he disappeared through.
Lucas had been fucking scum, but the man’s words still rang in Black’s ears.
You’re just street trash.
“Don’t give me any shit,” Black said when he answered the phone over an hour later.
“You said within a week!” Viper snapped. “What the fuck else do you need to get the job done?’
“He’s dead.”
A pin could have been heard in the deadly quiet.
“You should have led with that, jackass,” Viper muttered.
Black chuckled darkly. “Don’t forget to deposit the money.”
“Done. Now get your ass to Nevada.”
“Not without Micah.”
“Bring him along,” Viper said, ending the call.
Black rubbed at his mouth and tucked his cell phone in his pocket.
Now he had to find a way to get Micah out of California and over to Nevada without the man finding out what he’d done.
And that probably wasn’t going to be easy without a whole lot of lying.