Discovered (25 page)

Layla felt the room
spin, sure that she would faint from the shock and horror of seeing James
murdered before her.

With his last breath,
James looked over at her and called her name in a raspy, labored voice, then he
shook his head again before falling to the floor.

“Take him across the
hall and sever his head,” Robert said to Sam. “We can’t be sure that a knife
wound to the throat can kill him for good.”

Sam grabbed the
shoulder of James’ jacket and dragged him out of the room, leaving a bloody
trail behind in his wake.

Layla was convinced
she would collapse from fear and certainly wanted to. Her heart was practically
beating out of her chest. She whimpered in horror, too weak from fear to even
manage to cry with any enthusiasm.

“Not pretty, was it?”
Robert asked, snickering. “And poor Arthur is currently driving frantically to
the same end.”

Layla moaned, trying
to find her voice, shaking uncontrollably. “Why?” she finally managed to blurt
out. “Why kill him if he hands over what you want?”

“It’s really pretty
obvious,” Robert replied “Mr. Vallen has a staggering amount of wealth, enough
to make him one of the richest people on earth.  I can only imagine the
resources he could buy to find me again, and to steal back what he’s about to
give me.”

Layla realized that
Robert’s assumption was the absolute truth and didn’t doubt that Jay was
walking into a trap. She felt bitter, anguished tears well up.

“When I’m finished
with him, I already have a plan in motion to get my hands on Orton and his cute
little wife, along with her brother. All I have to do is to tell them where
their beloved Arthur is being held captive, and they’ll come running for him.”

Layla felt sure that
she was about to lose any ounce of composure she had left. She had to swallow
to hold down the bile that was rising up her throat.

She would never know
how long she sat in mind-boggling fear before she saw Robert glance at his
watch. “Ah, Lover-boy should be arriving right about now,” he finally announced.
“I’ll just go let him in.”

Jay

Jay crossed the Bronx-Whitestone
Bridge doing everything in his power to bury every horrific scenario that
played out in his mind. His insides were churning, his composure ripped apart by
taunting images of all the ways Robert could be hurting Layla.

This was doing him no
good. He needed to focus on the job at hand and not let his imagination run
rough-shot. He tried to still his mind, knowing that whatever was happening to
her, he would have to face that when the time came. But as God was his witness,
Robert would be torn into a thousand tiny pieces if he’d laid one hand on her.

He turned onto
Northern Boulevard, pulled the car to the side of the road and threw the shift
stick to
park
. He ran both hands through his hair and breathed deep
until he felt confident that he had his emotions under control. With one more
deep sigh, he put the shifter to
drive
and pulled out into traffic.

After circling the
block twice, Jay parked the Mercedes in the vicinity that Robert had
instructed. He jumped out of the car and took a large, quart-sized crystal
bottle from the back seat. Cradling it in his arm, he shut the door and leaned
up against the car to wait.

A frosty nip in the
air caused him to shudder inside his leather jacket. With his free hand, he
turned up the collar of his jacket for what little comfort the tiny gesture
could offer. He looked up at the stars, asking Lucia for help, feeling
confident that his prayer would be answered.

Robert approached
from the left holding a gun down at his hip inconspicuously.

‘Show time,’
Jay thought, walking calmly forward.

“You don’t mind if I
just give you a little pat down, do you?” Robert asked.

“Don’t bother,” Jay
answered, taking the gun from his pocket and handing it to Robert.

“Nice weapon,” Robert
said, looking over the gun with appreciation. He stuck it into the waist of his
jeans.

“So is yours,” Jay
responded. “But haven’t we already established the fact that it’s useless?”

“Useless in killing
you maybe, but not useless in slowing you down long enough for me to inflict
some real damage.”

“True,” Jay said,
nodding.

“May I?” Robert asked,
making a move to put his hands on Jay’s waist.

Jay held his arms out
and allowed Robert to pat his waist then on down his legs to his ankles.

Satisfied that Jay
had no other firearm concealed, Robert stood up straight. “Why did you bother
with a weapon?” he asked. “You could have shot me before I reached you.”

“And you could have
shot me back?” Jay responded. “The gun was a knee-jerk reaction. As of now, I
don’t know where Layla is or who is holding her, or what arrangements you’ve
made in the event that you don’t return.”

Robert nodded. “Where’s
the stuff?” he questioned.

Jay pointed to his
Mercedes then watched as Robert walked over and looked at the barrels through
the back window.

Seeming satisfied,
Robert sauntered back over and gestured for Jay to follow him. “You must really
like that little girl to hand over something so precious,” he said as he led
Jay toward the stones steps.

“Only love is
precious,” Jay replied casually, following Robert down to the heavy door. “All
the money in the world added to an unnaturally long life is meaningless without
it. Trust me, Robert; the only thing that has kept me going for so long is my
family. If you don’t have people worth living for, this will be a hell on earth
for you, after a while.”

“We’ll see,” Robert
replied gleefully. “It’s funny, I explained to Layla earlier that showing
weakness to an enemy is a major mistake, that it could be used against you.
Layla is innocent, I know, but I thought
you’d
be aware of that. Yet,
you paraded your weakness around for all to see.”

Jay laughed and shook
his head. “You consider her my weakness?”

“Isn’t she?”

“No, Robert, she’s
the very opposite. She’s my greatest strength.”

 Robert stopped short
and looked at Jay with perplexity written on his face. “You would willingly die
for that girl?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

“I’ve lived too long
without her,” Jay responded. “To endure more years that way would be a fate
worse than death. But you have all those hard lessons before you,” he added,
smiling confidently. “And you don’t strike me as a man who would be willing to
listen to the wisdom of those who have lived many years longer than you.”

“I prefer to find
things out for myself…yes,” Robert agreed cordially.

“
Arrogance
is
a weakness, Robert. Didn’t your mama teach you that?”

“I didn’t know my
mama, and my dad was a drunk and a drug abuser,” he answered.

“Explains a lot,” Jay
replied.

They walked down the
hallway in silence for a few moments until Robert turned left and gestured with
his hand for his guest to enter the room before him.

Jay stopped short.

Layla looked nearly
demented from fear. He had to fight the urge to run to her and gather her into
his arms. Instead, he walked casually over to her and put his finger on her
lips. He looked deep into her eyes and shook his head slightly; just enough
that only she would notice, trying to communicate a vague warning that she should
let him do all the talking.  He took a deep breath and kept his eyes locked
with hers until he saw her expression soften ever so minutely, content for the
moment that his presence was giving her minor comfort. She nodded once, letting
him know that she understood the warning.
‘That’s my girl,’
he thought,
smiling down at her.

“He brought all of
it?” Sam asked Robert.

“There are six
barrels in the back of his Mercedes,” Robert replied, nodding.

Jay witnessed Layla’s
eyes fill with horror at Robert’s reply.  Her lip quivered. Jay placed his
finger on her lip again and narrowed his eyes. “So can I take my girl and go
home?” he asked, turning to face Robert.

“Not so fast,” Robert
replied. “How do we know that you brought us the real stuff?”

“I brought a sample,”
Jay answered, nodding to the bottle he held in his arms. “Let me demonstrate.” He
walked over to the table and set the bottle down.  He took the switchblade from
his inside pocket, opened it and ran it across the palm of his hand, cutting
the skin wide open. Blood dripped down his wrist. “Watch, gentlemen,” he urged,
holding his bloodied hand out, palm facing forward.

Jason gasped as he
watched the skin on Jay’s hand knit back together before his eyes.

Jay gestured to the
wound on Robert’s hand and nodded. “Drink some and see what happens to that cut
on your hand,” he urged.

Sam dug into his bag
and pulled out a bundle of small paper cups then lined them up on the table.

Jay raised his
eyebrows. “You came prepared?” he asked incredulously.

“We’ve waited a long
time to get our hands on that stuff. Why risk getting it and not taking it
right away, then you pull something stupid like trying to shoot us?” Sam
answered.

“A fair point,” Jay
responded, nodding his approval. “Although, Robert took my gun, so…” He heard
Layla moan painfully behind him.

He opened the bottle
and poured the liquid into the three cups. He held one up to Robert.

“Just a minute,”
Robert said. “How do I know that’s not poison?”

Jay rolled his eyes
impatiently. “Layla and I will drink first then.” He walked over to Layla and
cut the ties behind her back with the switchblade then helped her to her feet.

Robert made a move
forward, ready to pounce at any second.

“Oh, for heaven’s
sake,” Jay moaned. He walked forward and threw the knife unto the table and
raised his hands. “I’m just freeing her arms.”

“No funny business,”
Robert warned, pulling the gun from his waist. “I’d hate to have to hurt
Layla.”

Jay swallowed his
fury and smiled falsely.

“Go on,” Robert
urged, nodding toward the cups.

Jay picked up two of
the cups and walked back to Layla. He handed her one, nodding his
encouragement. He took her free hand in his and tapped his paper cup to hers.
“To us,” he said, staring into her eyes.

He hoped that she
could feel the love emanating from his eyes as he gazed longingly at her.

Keeping her eyes
locked with his, she threw her head back and swallowed the contents in one
mouthful.

Jay drank his back
and turned the cup upside down, showing the men that it was empty. “Are we good
now?” he asked.

Sam placed two more
cups on the table and filled all three with the healing liquid. He handed one
to Robert and one to Jason. “This is it,” he said excitedly and drank the
contents back.

“Wait!” Robert
bellowed a split second later. “How do we even know if poison can kill you?
Bullets can’t.”

Jay turned to Layla
and stared into her eyes again. “Bullets are not made from organic material,”
he replied, never taking his eyes of her, “but since most poisons
are
…”
he trailed off.

Robert and Jason
drank down the liquid in their cups.

Robert held his
injured hand out in front of him, eager to watch the miracle of the healing.

Jay turned back to
Layla and smiled. “I love you,” he mouth silently, gazing at her.

And then he noticed
her eyes swell as she looked past him. He turned just in time to see Sam keel over
onto the ground, clutching his stomach.

Robert’s eyes bulged
as he grabbed his throat and barked out a loud gargling noise.

“…they can’t kill us
either,” Jay said, finishing his sentence. A wide smile spread across his face.

Layla stood aghast as
the three men flailed around, undoubtedly in agony as the poison spread through
them. “How did you know?” she stuttered, turning to Jay, shock rattling through
her.

“I didn’t,” he
confessed, “but I had a feeling.” He turned to look at Robert who was laboring
to breathe. “You see, Robert, a few years back, my brother and best friend,
Joey, decided to eat some rancid pork.” Jay laughed suddenly. “He is one crazy
dude at times. Anyway, Joey threw up violently, but other than that, he didn’t
really get sick.”

Robert pointed to
Layla, unable to get enough air to ask the obvious question.

“That’s partially
thanks to you, man,” Jay answered his unspoken words. “When you shot in the glass
wall of my lobby, a piece of flying glass cut into her neck and through her
artery. I had a choice; I either gave her the liquid or watched her die. And,
like I told you before, I’m just not willing to live without her.”

Robert fell to the
ground, his face turning blue.

Jay put his hand on
the side of Layla’s face. “Don’t watch,” he warned. “This is about to get ugly.
Just keep your eyes on me, okay?”

She nodded,
trembling.

He continued to watch
the scene before him, shielding Layla’s eyes until he was confident that no one
would be following them. “Let’s get out of here,” he said, turning to her.
“Rabidomente, mi amor.” He grabbed her hand and led her to the door quickly.

Before walking through,
he went over to Robert and snatched his gun back. He looked down at a dying
Robert flailing on the ground.
“Pudrete en el infierno!” he said with
disgust before turning his back and walking out of the room.