Page 59 of Stand: Part One

“Hello, General,” I answered, keeping my tone low but polite as Scott and I stepped outside. Scott instantly turned his head in my direction, all his attention now focused on the conversation I was about to have.

“Davis,” he replied, the disdain in his voice abundantly clear. “I think it’s time we have a chat.”

Straight to the point. As always.

“When.”

“Tonight. Ten o’clock. You know where,” he said and hung up.

I rolled my eyes at the dramatics and pocketed my phone, preferring to just ditch the old man and ignore the summons. But if he wanted to put his nose where it didn’t belong, then I’d have no problem reminding him of the roles we were all expected to play.

“Was that who I think it was?” Scott asked.

“Tonight at ten o’clock,” I confirmed with a nod.

“This should be interesting. I’ll alert one of the units.”

The meeting would be a huge waste of time, but I would indulge the old man, if only to remind him how insignificant he was to me. He’d been a decent resource in the past, but I had long outgrown his usefulness. He knew this, but he still liked to throw his weight around every once in a while to convince himself he still had sway. Tonight, I’d make sure he’d never question his relevancy in my world again.

17

A Complication

Exiting my car, I stood outside the remains of a familiar nearly burned-down warehouse. Listening carefully, I watched for anything and everything to catch my eye, noting if anything seemed out of place. We’d always agreed to meet alone, and while I had five of my soldiers on standby not too far away, I intended to abide by the agreement. We were just here to talk after all.

As I headed into the warehouse, the heavy, rusted door creaked when I pushed it open, revealing musky air and dark shadows inside. The place looked like a bomb had blown up inside it, which wasn’t too far from the truth, but it still held a purpose for meetings such as these.

My footsteps echoed slightly as I clocked the older man standing in the dim moonlight that filtered through the large hole in the ceiling, his back to me. I would have called him foolish if he had been any other man, but he knew he was safe, so being a condescending old prick was a privilege he could afford. Until now.

“I hope you didn’t request my presence to waste my time with nonnegotiable terms, General,” I declared firmly as I closed the distance. “I have a great deal of things to tend to.”

In response to my tone, he sharply turned around to face me, the wretched, scarred face of a tired, aging man leering back at me. His signature scowl was a permanent fixture on his face that only deepened as his steel gray eyes practically skewered me. It was nothing personal. The man hated everyone, including his nephew.

“Then I’ll make this brief, though it’s less than you deserve,” he growled, stepping around some of the scattered rubble. “Surrender your brother to me now, or you will surrender a hell of a lot more by the time I’m through with you.” His voice was scratchy, dry, and irritating. The result of far too many cigars over the years.

“Ah, so you were the one who picked him up last night,” I asserted, my eyes catching his admission with the curl of his scowl. “Very intuitive of you to watch out for your nephew like that, given the stupidity of his actions.”

“Compared to the stupidity of your brother’s impulsive actions?” he retorted quickly. “Matthew wasn’t the one who carelessly started a war.”

“He may not have started it, but he certainly escalated it when he threatened my wife last night. That alone is a death sentence.”

He scoffed, shaking his head. “Your petty grievances do not interest me,” he snarled. “You will hand over your brother and right what has been wronged.”

My gaze narrowed at his false show of confidence. “If that is your only demand, then allow me to be even more brief than yourself. No.” I then turned away and headed back for the door. At least it had been a predictable waste of time.

“You dare turn your back on me!” he shouted. “I could bury you in the deepest, darkest cell a hundred feet below the surface to rot in for the rest of your life for the crimes you’ve committed! You would never see the light of day!”

I stopped in my tracks and turned to show him the sneer on my face at his little threat. “As true as that may be, General Rainer, given the numerous war crimes you’ve committed around the globe and your connections to multiple criminal empires, you’d be buried right there next to me. We could even be cellmates.”

He grunted at my rebuke, but it was only a bluff. He knew his hands were just as filthy as mine, and I had the mountains of dirt to prove it. Leverage was always the most formidable of weapons.

“So I should just have you both killed then, is that it?”

I shrugged. “Only if you want to spend your prison sentence alone.”

The hardness in his eyes became piercing as he stared me down, the clear rage emanating from his round body making his face turn red.

“Enough! You know our laws. Your brother knew what he did, and what must be done to right it. Unless you want a war on your hands the likes of which you’ve never even dreamed of, you’ll deliver him to Matthew no later than tomorrow evening.”