He took a couple of steps toward Miles and suddenly lunged toward a dumpster in the corner.
A bullet scraped the skin on his face, but other bullets all hit the dumpster. Cody heard Miles’s loud curse. He tried to stuff the drive into the crack between the wall and the dumpster. However, Miles’s blood-curdling howl brought Cody to look.
Cody stood up and saw Lana’s slim figure in the dim alley. She was holding a gun behind Miles’ back. Miles was on the ground, crying in pain as he covered his left thigh.
“Aimed for the dick, missed it,” Lana released a forced smile.
Was she here to help him? Cody did the math in the shortest amount of time.
Right, this woman did want to separate his Mom and Dad, but she was also a White family member.
Miles tried to drag her family down. Of course, she would resent him.
Cody nodded at Lana, “I need to send something to the city center. I saw you have a gun. Can you cover me?”
The way Cody looked and talked was so much like that man.
As Lana admitted she was messed up, she still would do anything for that man she loved.
She nodded, “You go first. My car is just out of the alley.” Cody ran in the direction of Lana’s car.
However, right before Cody could run out of the place, a loud gunshot caused him to look over his shoulder.
Lana was already lying in a pool of blood. Miles just shot her behind her back. She looked up with tearful eyes and cried at the top of her lungs, “RUN! Cody! RUN!”
****
Linford and Enzo stood before the old man sitting in the wheelchair. Enzo’s hands were trembling. He couldn’t believe the guy who planned all this was the guy he respected the most in this world.
This man before him taught him the honor and courage of a man, but he also killed his brother. And he even threatened to kill his family.
“Why Teacher?” Enzo clenched his teeth, “Why?”
“Are you boys hungry?” The old man smiled gently. He acted as if he didn’t notice the raw anger and disappointment in his students’ eyes.
“I’m having a craving for burgers. Those damn doctors told me I couldn’t have fries anymore. I say I’d rather lose a couple of years for some nice cheeseburger. Remember that restaurant at the corner of the street where we used to go a lot?”
“Stop this!” Enzo thundered, “You need to answer my questions!”
“I don’t owe you any answers, Enzo,” The old man said calmly, “I’m the one who trained you and shaped you into a great soldier, Enzo. You owe me a lot.”
“Do I owe you my brother’s life then? Does this world owe you anything? Why are you killing everyone?” Enzo’s tears rolled down his cheeks.
Linford had never seen his tough brother cry like this before.
“Put down the drive on my table and leave my house, boy,” The old man whirled his wheelchair around and faced Linford and Enzo with his back, “Put it down and have a meal with me. After that, you can walk away, and I can pretend none of this has ever happened for the old days’ sake.”
“I’m afraid it will be more than a meal, Teacher,” Linford’s voice was cold and clear in the big house, “You’re gonna get the Bradley House on the same boat with you, aren’t you? You want us to be your next Johnson. So those businesses wouldn’t end up in your enemies’ hands. You want us to be your new dogs, don’t you?”
“Can I live that long to enjoy that much wealth?” The old man looked over his shoulder, his eyes as vicious as a snake’s.
“You won’t. But your children will. All of them are in important positions in the government, aren’t they?” Linford asked, “They will need a lot of money if they want to be a part of the election. You told us to serve our people when you trained us in an attempt to make us perfect soldiers, Teacher. Is this how you train and nurture your children? By supporting them with all that dirty money from your illegal businesses?”
“So your house is the residence of saints? You’re immune to money, power, and positions?” The old man asked sarcastically.
“We want money, power, and positions. But we will never cost anyone else’s life, so we can get it! Do you really think you can still order us around after what you did to our brother? We probably got more spines than you think.” Linford’s whole body was trembling in pain as he thought about Clyde. He wouldn’t give out any chance to get revenge for his brother’s death. The old man stared at him for a while. At first, he did want Linford. He wanted to make Linford his left hand since the boy was smart and talented. Yet Linford was too smart, and he was too self-assured for his own good.
On the other hand, Clyde was just about the right amount of intelligence and obedience. However, after years of training, the dog he trained had become a wolf, and that wolf had almost snapped its sharp teeth around his neck.
He had no choice but to eliminate Clyde.
“I never wanted Clyde to die. But he wouldn’t listen to what I said!” The old man hissed between his teeth, “And you two just never learned from your brother’s experience. You guys should have listened to me. You really should have.”
The old man claps his hands, and a group of men bursts into the room.
“Get them both,” the old man ordered darkly.
Click!
The click of metal was loud and clear in the room. The old man looked incredulous at the pair of handcuffs on his wrists.
Linford and Enzo exchanged a look and let out a long breath. They thought they would have died here today. But clearly, Cody had just sent the evidence to the government on time. And the police had made it here on time to keep them alive.
Cody walked through the parted crowd, tossing the drive up and catching it again, “You two are okay? I finished my mission.”
“We saw that,” Linford smiled proudly, “Good job, son.”
“You’re welcome,” Cody nodded, “By the way, you did a shitty job. Why didn’t you leave me any guns when you dropped me in the forest? You call yourself a good father?”
“I wouldn’t be a good father if I left a gun to my five-year-old son,” Linford pulled a face.
“Well… I’m not an ordinary five-year-old, am I?” Cody arched an eyebrow.
“You two… Don’t start any fights before we get home. People are watching.” Enzo said weakly.