Chapter 28

When Jordan and Davina came out of the bathroom, Jordan looked at Carter.  “Good to see you again, Mr. Carter”, she said.

Carter looked her over from head to toe.  “Same to you, though I do wish that our meeting hadn’t been under the circumstances that it was.”

Jordan shrugged as she climbed back into her bed.  “It happens, I suppose.”  She smiled.  “I see you brought me flowers.  Thank you.”

“Yeah.  I looked online to see what your favorite flower was.  Carnations and baby’s breath.”

“Yellow carnations at that.  You paid attention to my wiki page.”

“I did.”  He set the flowers on a table then sat down.  “I came to deliver the flowers, to apologize, and to offer my assistance.”

“Apology accepted, the flowers are beautiful, and your assistance in what?”

“You don’t strike me as the type to let someone beat the hell out of you and not seek revenge.”

“You’re right; I’m not that kind of person.  But, you’re going to have to be specific Mr. Carter.  I can’t read your mind, as much as I wish it were possible.”

“Are you sure that you want your wife privy to a conspiracy to commit murder?”

Jordan looked at Davina.  “Say no more”, Davina said as she stood from her chair.  “I’ll go get something to eat from the cafeteria.  I’ll be back in a little while.”  She kissed Jordan briefly and headed out of the room, making sure to close the door behind her.

“Ok, she’s gone.  So, how are you going to help me kill the mother fucker responsible for this?” Jordan asked Carter.

“Well, I have information on Mr. Grissom that you and your family don’t.  For instance, I know exactly where he is right this moment.  I know his schedule.  I know each and every one of his sins and vices.”

“And what do you want in exchange for this information?”

“All I ask is for three hots and a cot and to meet the legendary Morbus.”

“You want to meet Morbus?  My father’s former bodyguard, my band’s bodyguard… the man who takes his name from my father’s most famous song.”

“Yes, Morbus.  Translation- Sickness in Latin.  I’d love to meet your father as well, but from what I understand he doesn’t live in the country anymore.”

“He doesn’t.  He and my mother live in Israel now and have for the last five years.  They were here for a month not long ago.  They took my kids home with them while I heal from the beating your former boss gave me.”

“Again, I am very sorry for my part in that.”

“Stop apologizing.  Give me what I can use right now and I’ll make a phone call to my brother to see if we have the room at homestead.  If Grissom finds homestead because you’re spying, he’s not the only one that’s going to die.  Do you understand me?”

“I would never dream of endangering your family.”

“Yeah, I think I’m going to let Morbus be the judge of that one.  Because if you cross me, I’m not going to be the one to end you, Mr. Carter.  I want that perfectly clear between us.  If you cross me and my family, you sir will face Morbus and he will take great delight in putting your miserable life to an end.”

---------------

It had been nearly a week since the warehouse burnt and he still hadn’t heard from Carter.  So, Grissom decided to do a little bit of snooping.  He had a couple of his men head over to Carter’s apartment to check things out. 

The men walked into an empty apartment.  The only things that remained were paper scraps that had nothing to do with anything in particular.  The head goon, Peters, pulled out his phone.  “Mr. Grissom, no one’s here.”

“What do you mean no one’s there?” Grissom asked.

“I mean that the place is completely empty.  There’s nothing here but a few scraps of paper that look like his kids’ homework.”

“How is that possible?  His family should be there.  Are you morons sure that you have the right place?”

“Yes Mr. Grissom.  We have the right address.  He’s not here and neither is his family.  We have no idea where they could have disappeared to.”

“Are there any traces that there could have been other people in there recently?  Video cameras?  Anything?”

“No Mr. Grissom.  This is one of the few complexes that don’t put cameras in.  It’s in the ghetto.”

Grissom groaned.  “Get your worthless asses back here.  There’s nothing you can do if they’re not there.  I’ll just have to figure out a different way to flush that fucking traitor out.”  Once they hung up Grissom started making phone calls.  He was going to put an end to Thomas Carter if it was the last thing he would do.  There was no telling where Carter or his family had gone, but if anyone could find out, it would be his connections.

But what no one knew was that with all this high prices that Grissom was willing to pay in the event that one of his targets was actually eliminated, he didn’t have the money.  He was willing to pay several million for each of the Draiman’s and now for Carter.  But, York Industries’ stocks had been falling rapidly.  No one was buying his products anymore and he was being frivolous with the money that was left.  So, no matter how much he was willing to pay he just couldn’t do it.

And if his contacts ever found out he would be a dead man for sure.

But, but the time his contacts found out that he was going broke he’d be dead.  Jordan Draiman would make sure of that and there was nothing anyone could do to avoid it.  So it was written, so it would be done.

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Jake had started to sink.  He was going to a place that he’d never been before.  He’d been mad, he’d been pissed.  But never had he been murderous.  He wanted to personally put a bullet between the eyes of the son of a bitch that escaped the night they rescued Jordan.  After seeing the condition that his twin was in when they rescued her, he wanted to taste blood and would do whatever was necessary to slake that bloodlust and protect his family.

But, he’d learned from the best how to hide just how angry he was.  His mother was the queen of hiding her emotions from everyone but his father.  And so it was that Jake could hide just what was running through his mind every morning when he woke up from everyone but his wife.

One night, about a week after they’d rescued Jordan, Delilah asked him what was going on.  “Jake, what is the problem?”

“What are you talking about, babe?”

“Don’t give me that coy bullshit, Jacob Micah.  You haven’t been the same since you guys came back from rescuing Jordan.  What seems to be your issue?”

He looked at her with calm eyes.  His eyes were so clam she could see the rage inside them.  “Is it wrong that I want to kill that son of a bitch?”

“No, Jake.  Jordan’s your twin sister.  She may be the older of the two of you, but you still have the instinct to protect her.  She’s you sister.”

“That’s not it, Lilah.  I want to walk up to the mother fucker, put the barrel of a nine millimeter pistol to the mother fucker’s forehead and pull the trigger over and over and over until the fucking clip is empty.”

“And that’s normal, Jacob.  She’s your twin sister.  You shared your mother’s womb with her for nine months.  If that’s not normal for twins, then I can’t answer that for you, Jacob.  I work with far too many twins for that not to be the case.  You’re going through something that’s very normal, Jake.  Now, whether these are your feelings or you feeling Jordan’s feelings, I couldn’t tell you.  It could be a combination of the two.  All I know is this is almost the angriest I’ve ever seen you, Jakey.”

“When was the angriest you’d ever seen me?”

“The day Miri was born.  I know you were scared that day, but you were also pissed.  I’d been injured and there was the thought that we could have lost our daughter.  You were a force to be reckoned with that day.  I heard about the ass chewing you gave the ER doctor and the nurse when you arrived.”

“I’m not surprised.  I turned that hospital on its ear that day.”

“If you have the chance to realize that feeling that you have to avenge your sister, then I know you’ll turn Grissom’s life upside down if you can.  Keep doing what you’re doing.  If you need me, I’m here for you and you know it.”

Jake smiled at his wife.  “Even if I need to do like we did on our honeymoon when we visited the concentration camps?”

“Is that what you feel you need to do to ground out a lot of that hostile energy out so that you can sleep decently?  If so, then yes.  Whatever you need, I’m here for you.  It’s my job, my love.”

---------------

When Davina came back to the room Jordan gave her the skinny on what had gone down.  Now, her testimony wouldn’t be admissible in court because it was hearsay.  Jordan called Morbus immediately before continuing to speak to Carter.  “I don’t want your information without him here.  He’s the one that will be able to determine what I can and can’t use to get my revenge”, she explained after she made her phone call.

“I completely understand”, Carter said.  “He was a trusted advisor to your father for many years.  I don’t blame you for having him come up here to check me out.”

“You can’t blame me for too much of anything can you?”

“No.  I never understood my former employer’s obsession with your family.  Every time I turned around he was looking into you and your older brother, or attending some ceremony where one of you were being honored, or going out to get young hookers to pretend that they were your oldest niece and nephew.  The man is an animal, Jordan.  You have no idea.”

“Remember the beating I sustained while I was in his care?” she asked.  “I’m going to be in a cast for about three months because if that animal.  I have a titanium rod in my calf to stabilize my shattered fibula.  They thought they were going to have to wire my jaw shut so as to correct the dislocations.  When my brothers got me out of that warehouse, my brother Jacob had to cut my eyes open to relieve the pressure on the eyes themselves.  My ribs are wrapped to keep them stable as they heal and when I first got here I was on Oxygen.  I was numb from the waist down for the first few days I was here and they kept me sedated.  I think I have a pretty good idea of what kind of animal your former boss is.”

There was a knock on the door before Carter could open his mouth to respond.  Davina moved to answer it.  “Hey Morbus.”

“Hello Davina.”  When she let him into the room, he went straight to Jordan.  “How are you feeling?”

“Like hell.  I’m in more pain than should be possible.  But, once I’m back on my feet, I’m going to need your help getting into shape to go after the bastard responsible for this.”

“You got it Jordan. Now, where’s this tool I’m supposed to check out?”

Jordan pointed to the chair nearest the bathroom.  “Morbus, meet Thomas Carter.  He’s a former employee of Porter Grissom.”

Morbus looked Carter over a few times.  “Why are you here?”

“I’m here to offer my assistance to Jordan in bringing my former employer to his knees.”

“Why?  What do you get out of it?”

“My freedom.  My family is in hiding with a cousin of mine in Washington State.  Grissom has threatened my family.  I have young children, but he doesn’t care.  He will go after what you hold dearest.  I’m sure by now he’s put a price on my head, not that he can afford to pay the bounty for any of us.”

“What do you mean, he can’t afford the bounties?”

“York Industries is almost broke.  He’s run that company into the ground, Morbus.  The stock is nearly worthless and he’s frivolous as hell.  He blows money on whatever he can.”

“And so to see him fail on an epic scale, you’re offering to help us bring him down.  And what you want for this?”

“Just a place to rest and eat for the duration.  After it’s all over, I’m going to my family.”

Morbus nodded slowly.  “I don’t know you well enough to trust you near the homestead.  Instead you’ll stay with me.  My wife and daughter are out of town so it’s just me and my son’s.  This way I can keep an eye on you.”

“I certainly understand your skepticism and I’m willing to do whatever you feel necessary in order to help make this happen.”

“Good, because now you’re going to get the hell out of this room so that Jordan can heal.  From there, I’m not sure, but I’m sure I can think of something to keep you busy.”