But where was my right hand man? If he was caught, they would torture him to get information out of him. He was still new to all of this, barely one year into my operations.
As I drove back to the hotel, I thought of Ace and the predicament he was in. He was a quick and strong kid, and while he had more street smarts than the average person, dealing with the thugs and goons of the Inner Circle was in a whole other league. Like the Spartans had tested and started training their young boys at age 7 or 8 into warriors, the Inner Circle also had a similar code, which I was the testimony of, thanks to my own dear father, who had tore out my own human heart himself in an accident that killed my mother and almost killed me when my heart was pierced through, and I had to had it replaced with a mechanical one; my father was a tough sonofabitch who raised me to be a warrior and a killing machine. Ace… had natural fighting instincts, a street smart sense, but he wasn’t as trained in fighting as the men who were after us.
I steered the car into the underground parking lot of the luxury hotel we’d booked and got into the elevator hoping that Ace had found his way back.
The elevator doors opened, and I peered up and down the hall before getting out. All was quiet.
The carpeting was the perfect buffer to my steps as I headed down to my room. Before unlocking the door, I pressed my ear to the solid black oak and listened.
Silence.
I slipped my keycard in and slowly pushed the door back.
“Ace?”
Silence.
Satisfied, I entered the elegant suite and immediately made my way to the bathroom. I turned on the cold water and let it run a few seconds until it became a bit colder and rinsed my hand off.
The cool water felt good on the bruises and as I watched tiny trickles of blood flow down the drain, I tried to make sense of what was happening.
Why had we suddenly been ambushed? Had Stanley recognized me? None of it made sense.
I looked in the mirror at my bruised face. A small amount of dried blood marred my forehead.
Just another scar to add to the collection, I thought as I turned off the water and wrapped my bleeding hand in a white towel.
Heading out into the main room, I called room service.
“Good evening,” I said politely. “I’m in room 1608. Could you please send up a few imported beers, some unsalted peanuts and a bucket of ice, please?”
“Any preferences for the imported beer, sir?”
“No,” I said. “Surprise me. But make sure that ice is solid… not just little chunks of ice floating in cold water.”
“Right away, sir.”
I looked at the room I was sharing with Ace. The large living space took up most of the room with a bedroom on either side. We also each had our own private bathrooms. I was accustomed to the lavish lifestyle and luxury hotels were simply a part of it. It had become something that I hardly noticed anymore growing up as Dante Black, an heir to a billion dollar enterprise. But Ace was still excited and impressed by the degree of luxury money could buy.
From the streets where I found him, Ace was always thrilled with the rich finishes, the high-end treats and the majestic views.
Smiling, I thought of him again, worried about him.
It’d been a chance meeting that had brought us together. The poor kid had decided to hack the system of the wrong Russian and they went after him.
We had quite literally bumped into each other as he ran away from a Russian and I ran in to find a member of the Inner Circle.
I could see myself in his youthful face, the fear, but also the determination. I had immediately set aside my needs and had saved his life.
In return, he'd helped me out when I was in a bind… he’d been instrumental in getting me into a computer security system that I just wasn’t able to break through.
Within minutes, he’d successfully hacked into the system and I realized what a gem I’d found. I hadn’t wanted to lose sight of him ever since.
At 18, he was a good kid, loyal, discreet and talented in his own right.
“So, where the hell are you, Ace?” I muttered into the empty room.
A gentle knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts and brought me back to the pain of my bruised hand.
I headed to the door, but the second I opened it, I knew it was a mistake.
“A little message,” the goon said. “Courtesy of Stanley.”
He pulled out his gun, but I quickly slammed the door on his arm and pushed on it hard, squeezing his arm until he screamed. I ducked down and pulled out my own gun.
Shooting blindly, he waved his gun around until I reached up and knocked the gun from his hand. The man was silent for a second, but I knew better than to think the encounter was over.
He squeezed his arm out of the doorway and as I backed up, he kicked the door open, a fresh gun pointed at me.
But his trigger finger wasn’t as quick as mine. Before he could take aim, I shot him between the eyes, and he crumbled to the floor.
I could hear people down the hall opening their doors.
“What’s going on?” a woman said.
“Did you guys hear anything?” an old man grumbled.
“Damn kids,” another woman complained. “It’s probably just some drugged out fans from that rock show earlier tonight.”
I quickly pulled the dead man into the room and shoved him up against the wall.
Closing the door on the questions and speculations of the people out in the hall, I grunted my discontent. Damn.
Now what?
I quickly headed into my room to pack my bags and then rushed into Ace’s room to shove his things in his bag. With my arms full, I opened the door and peered into the hall.
The curious tenants had all returned to their respective rooms.
Perfect.
I got into the elevator and headed down to the basement parking lot.
Something was going down and I had to find out what it was all about. Instead of going after the Inner Circle, the tables had turned, and now I was on the run.
Chapter 10
Dante Black/Parker James
I drove around for about an hour, not only to ensure I wasn’t being followed, but searching for where to go from there.
The idea of booking another hotel room didn’t sit well with me. If someone was somehow tracking me, I had to assume it was through my credit card transactions. How else could they know what hotel I was staying at? With no cash on me, I finally decided to park in a quiet residential area and managed to get a few hours of sleep in.
The next morning, feeling hungry, cold and cramped, I decided to head down to Malibu. If there was anyone I could trust, it would be Summer’s Aunt Sookie. The spitfire of a woman who treated Summer as her own daughter, had always impressed me.
In her late thirties, she was a vivacious redhead who stayed in shape and took good care of herself. She could give a lot of twenty-year-olds a run for their money.
I knew she had a lot of connections in and around Hollywood. She was an award-winning actress who’d worked with big time producers and who’d hobnobbed with the biggest directors of the industry.
And she had once mentioned doing a movie for Campbell Entertainment.
Hopefully, she’d be able to shed some light on what was going on with Campbell Entertainment as well as let me crash at her place for a while… at least until I could find Ace.