ParkField Daunthill
Felicia Dilli's residence
Dimitri chewed on hot spicy chips as he walked through Felicia's residence. Diane had informed him that it may take a while before the action begins so he could make himself comfortable before that. Apart from the many artifacts placed around the house, there wasn't much to behold in here. He noticed a picture on the wall of a little girl snuggling a teddy bear next to a fireplace. The image lacked the professional touch which every other piece of art around the house had. Iva had really changed over the years, if he hadn't spent so much time with her, he would've mistaken the subject of the picture for someone else. After their training sessions with Ryan, she would tell stories of her getaways from the Royal avenue with her aunt and how much fun it was. Dimitri's blinking rate shot up as and the lining of his eyelids began to feel wet.
He remembered how his mum constantly tried to get him to reconcile with Daunthill. She would take him and Cole for impromptu drives around the city and they would have picnics at quiet locations. Picnics with real food and not the crap diet that his father attempted to get the whole family into. Dimitri shot himself back to reality, he sniffed in and rubbed his sleeve over his eyes. He had a purpose for being here, the tears could wait until he was done. His phone vibrated in his hoodie pocket. He read the message preview on his home screen; "Jacob's unto you."
Dimitri shook his head and slid his phone back inside. The boy pulled the Glock from his waistband. With the gun on his right and the bag of chips on the left, he walked down the stairs to prepare for his surprise visitor. He arrived at the living room and Jacob revealed himself with a gun aimed at Dimitri.
"Well that's disappointing," said Dimitri "Diane's usually more effective with warnings"
"We're leaving now," ordered Jacob
"Nah" Dimitri shook his head "I ain't leaving here until I get what I came for?"
"And what is that?"
"Vengeance, isn't it obvious?"
"Look Dimitri, I know how you feel"
"Stop it!" Dimitri yelled. He dropped the chips and, with both hands, aimed the Glock at Jacob. He took a few steps forward and gazed right into the man's eyes. "You know how I feel, you've had your family murdered right before you by a man in a Santa cosplay?"
Jacob sighed "That's... not what I meant"
"Well what did you mean huh?" the boy asked "Several years ago I watched my uncle get shot by some idiot and I did nothing. I think about it all the time, I ain't making the same mistake again."
"Look Dimitri, you're hurt and it makes perfect sense why you want to do this, but I assure you that killing this man wouldn't heal you"
"Don't give me that morality bullshit." Snapped Dimitri "I didn't come here to heal, I came to kill a murderer."
"This will change you kid. Don't let Diane pull you into this madness."
"You should've told Santa Claus the same thing before he showed up at my place."
"Kenneth needs..." Jacob paused as he heard a door swing open. The two moved up the stairs and watched from the railings of the stairway. Two men appeared were Dimitri and Jacob had stood in the living room. Another set of two came in but this time they weren't alone, one of the men unto Felicia Dilli while the other handled Iva. Dimitri crushed the air between his jawbones as he clenched his teeth. Iva had a thin trail of blood on the side of her head, and she seemed physically exhausted. Felicia on the other hand seemed rather calm. She adjusted her head in the neck brace as she was pulled towards the couch and unto it. Iva was dropped next to her. The hostage had their hands shackled along with tapes over their lips.
The men who dropped them walked over to the other to join the others who had come in before them. Their footsteps made funny noises as they crushed the glass pieces from the centre table which had been shattered earlier. The men stood in a line like they were making way for someone to come in. Then a lanky dude in a leather jacket walked majestically into the scene. Dimitri remembered Diane's words "you'll know it's your guy once you see him." Dimitri gaped at the man and gripped his gun ready to walk down the stairs and blow his brains out. Jacob patted the teenager who was already rising subconsciously. Jacob shook his head at the boy and lifted an index finger.
"Miss Dilli" the lanky dude fiddled with the semi-auto in his hand. He walked to Felicia and pulled the tape from her mouth. "I'm an Anderson Ma'm and when we Anderson's want something, we tear through flesh to get it."
"Note taken" Felicia tried to nod but she looked pathetic with the brace.
"I'm sorry for your niece's condition but she gave me no choice when she got in my way."
"Okay, Andrew," said Felicia, "I think you've proved your point about getting what you want by all means."
"You're going to die today, Felicia," Andrew pointed out "That doesn't bother you?"
Felicia sighed and rolled her eyes before returning her eyes to Andrew. The lanky fellow kicked some glass pieces away and scrubbed his feet on the rug. He stared at the blood below and grinned. "You know I really thought Jaward could take care of you that night. He seemed like an effective guy.
"But" Andrew looked at the broken TV "you two seem to have some big balls."
Iva mumbled something through the tape over her lips. Her cheeks inflated and the veins on her neck rose as the words endeavored to escape her sealed lips. "I'm sorry princess but I don't speak that language." Andrew smiled.
"Now Felicia you were the one who brought us here" Andrew aimed his gun at Iva "So tell me where the flash drive is, or I'll start from her legs and then work my way up to the head."
"I told you already it's in this house"
"And I'm asking you to be specific."
"No," Felicia negated "Your daddy sent you here to get the drive. I've given you a big clue to where it is, telling you the exact location means I did your whole job for you."
"I don't like this, she's too confident" Andrew turned to his men "Take a walk around the house and make sure we don't have any friends lurking."
One of the men took a step back and his boot crushed something. He looked down to see a half bag of spiced chips on the floor. The man lifted the thing to have a closer look.
Jacob turned to Dimitri as he pulled a grenade from his armour. The African whispered the words "Trust me" before pulling the pin and dropping the grenade downstairs. The grenade generated a sporadic reaction from everyone in the room. All the men dove in scattered directions. Andrew tossed himself to the ground while Felicia and Iva shut their eyes and bowed their heads. Jacob sprinted down the stairs and fed Andrew's men with bullets while they attempted to get off the ground. one of the men had attempted to run all the way back where they came in from. Jacob found him squatting with his hands on his head near the backdoor.
"Freeze" Jacob ordered. The man slowly looked up to see Jacob, who took the clear shot and put two bullets in the man's knee. "Ahh!" the man screamed his lungs flat.
Jacob discarded the empty magazine and got to reloading his gun. A loud noise followed by a sharp pain in his leg forced the black man to the ground. Jacob turned to see Andrew aiming the semi-automatic at him.
"Sorry man, nothing personal" Andrew fired at Jacob's neck.
"No!" Dimitri shouted as he pulled the trigger on Andrew. The gun clicked but nothing projected from the muzzle. Andrew lunged himself at Dimitri and caught the boy by his throat. The two lost their balance and landed on the floor halfway in the living room. Andrew forced his thumbs into Dimitri's windpipe. "Your gun jammed you orphaned fool. Now it's time I finish what I started."
Dimitri felt his head swelling, red lines formed on his eyes as his grip on Andrew's arm loosened. He stared into Andrew's evil eyes, what a devil. The teenager's sight began to falter, he began to see bright coloured particles floating around the air. At this rate, he wouldn't even get the chance to take his let breath. This wasn't so bad though, dying while chasing a purpose. Finally, he could rest as he drifted from this world to join his family. It would be nice to see Cole again and give him a nasty noogie.
Dimitri was still savouring his afterlife when he felt sudden relief. His windpipe hurt as it strained to take in as much air as possible. Dimitri blinked continuously and coughed. He turned to see Iva stepping continuously on Andrew's head. She backed off after a couple stomps and two people, a man, and a woman, barged into the house from the front door. They aimed their guns at, the concussed, Andrew on the floor. Dimitri felt the rage building in him again he forced himself off the floor and grabbed the gun from the man's hand. The teenager fire recklessly at Andrew until the clip of the firearm was empty.
"Freaking bastard" Dimitri tossed the gun.
***
Prestige hospital
Fellwalk Daunthill
Kenneth stared at the illustrations in the frames of the hospital wall. The pandemic had forced every health centre to update the content on their wall. All the talk about hand sanitizers and staying at home tired him out. The detective could hear the subway surfers theme song from behind. He turned to see Kayland's eyes fixed on a phone. "Do you ever stop playing that shit?"
"Not a chance," Kayland kept his attention on the screen. "hey any word from Jacob yet?"
"Nope, once I get a report from the doctors I'm gonna find him."
Kenneth stretched forward a bit to have a look into the hallway. The doctor handling Nina stepped into view and he sprung up to meet her. "Hey, doctor,"
"Hi," The doctor turned to him with a forced smile "No need to ask, she's doing fine. There were a few signs of physical assault, but she'll be good. It might take a while before she wakes up though."
"That's great," Kenneth returned the smile "Um... is there a problem doc?"
"Have you been watching the news?" she asked "There's about to be a huge strain on medics, several farmers on the outskirts just got attacked by gunmen. Security predicts that there are about to be a lot more attacks on moving forward. So, we're turning our ambulances to mobile hospitals."
Kenneth pulled out his phone as the doctor walked away. He was about to dial Jayla when she made a perfectly timed into the reception of the hospital. "What are the odds" Kenneth put his phone back in and stood Akimbo "How's the plan going?"
"Good so far, Doyle was a bit reluctant on the idea of empowering people in Daunthill with firearms, but the general pounced on the idea, and he was forced to agree."
"Sounds good."
"Yeah... and uh Takei and Tashiro are working closely with the SOPS to watch for suspicious activity and give accurate direction to police. There are helicopter patrols and roadblocks, from where I'm standing, I think Vazie's done."
"Not until I get my hands on him." Said Kenneth "So it seems like it's all good news, but why isn't your face and tone saying the same."
Jayla stared at the detective. She scratched her eyebrows for a second and looked away. She espied Kayland, on one of the reception chairs, fiddling with his phone. Delivering the news to one less person was slightly comforting.
"Jayla?" Kenneth snapped his fingers "What's going on?"
"It's... Jacob" she stuttered
"What happened to Jacob?"
"The ambulance outside" Jayla pointed
***
Kenneth barged outside and spotted a body being pulled out of the ambulance. "Who is it" he intercepted the medics.
"I'm sorry sir but I need you to..." Kenneth shoved the man aside. He stared at the bloodstains on the whites before pulling the cover cloth down slowly. Most of Jacob's chin had been messed with blood. Kenneth placed his hand on the bullet wound on Jacob's neck. The wound was still fresh. He imagined Jacob, after the bullet made contact, holding onto his neck to try and stop the blood flow from his jugular. Jacob was the kind of man who would fight to stay alive. Why did he let Jacob play the lone wolf on this mission? Things could've been different if they'd gone as a team. With men of their kind, an end like this was inevitable but Jacob shouldn't have died alone.
Kenneth placed shut his eyes and clenched them so hard they began to hurt. He bowed his head and hovered over the body of his dead friend for a few seconds. The medic he'd shoved earlier watched silently to avoid getting on Kenneth's bad side. Kenneth heaved and opened his eyes, he covered the body and moved away. "Sorry about that," he said to the medic. The medics resumed their journey into the hospital while Kenneth stood out there staring at the blood on his hands. The detective turned into the ambulance to see Dimitri staring back at him. Next to Dimitri was Iva resting on his shoulder.
The teenager had welts and fingernail marks on his neck. The ointment over the wounds and the steaming cup of whatever in his hand meant he'd gotten the necessary first aid. Kenneth moved closer to the back of the vehicle. He took off his shades with his unstained hand and frowned.
"Kenneth, I..." Dimitri attempted to explain.
"Shut it kid" Kenneth snapped "you're alive, that's enough of an explanation for me I don't really care for how it came to be right now."
"I'm sorry"
"I don't need that either" the detective rubbed the blood in his hands "I need you to answer all my questions, straight to the point. Who did this?"
"Andrew, it turns out he's Vazie son and also the man I've been looking for."
"Do you know where he is?"
"Dead," said Dimitri
"Who gave you the info that he'd be at Felicia's?"
"Diane"
"Why didn't you mention the plan to me?" Kenneth asked
Dimitri stared at his steaming cup of tea and back at Kenneth. He wanted to say something but what would it matter? His pure understanding of grief these past few days made him understand that there was nothing he could say to Kenneth that would overcome the emotional pain the man had endured. Regardless of the talk about vengeance not being the way to go, the teenager felt a strange relief when he put those bullets into Andrew. But his sorrows resurfaced as he watched Jacob bleed to death.
"It's best if you just ponder on the answer to that question" Kenneth slipped his shades back on "Give Doyle a call, he's been worried sick about you."
Kenneth walked down to the Avalon. He stared at the vehicle for a while before getting inside. The detective docked his phone on the dashboard and set his GPS for Parkfield. It was about time the games ended.