The Thorns Under Pedals

Chapter 16:

“Why can’t you do anything right?” Carlos yelled in Jorge’s face. The two of them were on the lowest floor of the parking garage. The two of them were waiting for Andrew Williams to get out of a meeting so that the three of them would be on their way to San Francisco. There they would be listening to boring excuses from a branch of the company that could not get their jobs done. Carlos was itching to get right to the part of taking out the man in charge to have Andrew take over. This was what Mr. Williams wished to help keep his son away from the city where he could be killed. It was not unusual for the son of the Williams family business to go off on trips but no one besides Mr. William, Andrew and these two knew that they would be staying until they found out who the killer was.

“Me?” Jorge muttered curses under his breath. “I was not the one that went on a killing spree on every enemy on the list we were given to drive the enemies into hiding.”

“You were supposed to clean up properly so there would not be marks to lead them to know who had done it.” He fumed. His blood was boiling with anger at being forced to flee the area. All he had done was work his ass off like he always had but his partner clearly could not handle his job to clean up the work like he was supposed to. Andrew had both lectured them on the mistake of clues that could start to add up to them if the cops were smart enough. Luckily their boss had connections in the department to tweak details in reports. However, that did not stop the spread of words around the area to the list of suspects. This resulted in the suspects becoming more guarded or fleeing.

Jorge clenched his hands into fists at his sides. He took deep breaths trying not to let Carlos’ overwhelming energy beat him down to a child or smaller, a bug in his way. “I did clean up. Someone just had to take control of showing all the things being wrong to make me miss things each time.” The words were spoken quietly and through gritted teeth.

“You have been working with me for this long. You should know how to do your job. Not still messing up on cleaning.” Carlos growled. “I work my ass off every day. I do the most dangerous s**t of this job while you're back up. You need to start pulling your weight, not dragging me down with you.” Carlos stabbed his index finger into Jorge’s chest repeatedly.

A vein began to pulse at Jorge's temple. He bit the inside of his bottom lip. Yelling in frustration when the other person was already raising his voice would not do anything. Nor did trying to defend himself when Carlos would not listen. However, as Carlos kept poking him Jorge lost control.

"Poke me again and you will see a side of me that you've never experienced before. Then you can clean your own s**t from now on." Jorge's voice dropped in a whisper as the anger he felt shone in his eyes.

"W-what did you just say?" Carlos, stunned a bit by the unusual reaction, stepped back. For a moment confusion replaced the anger but that was only for a moment. It came back with a force. "Did you just threaten me, boy?"

Jorge took the step of distance and leaned in an inch from Carlos's face. Jorge breathed out, "It's a promise."

With a growl Carlos shoved Jorge hard on the chest into the car next to them. A groan left Jorge's lips as pain throbbed through his system. That only stopped him for a couple seconds before he threw an uppercut punch flinging Carlos's head back.

Carlos, seeing the garage spinning, had his hand against his truck door. He was leaning heavily against it. The taste of metallic liquid filled his mouth which he spit out.

Jorge grabbed Carlos's shirt forcing him upright against the truck. "Not such a hot shot now are you?" Jorge growled.

A chuckle left Carlos's lips which surprised Jorge. Jorge got his response by a punch straight to his gut making him lean forward spitting up saliva. "What was that? I couldn't quite hear you."

Jorge lunged his shoulder into Carlos's stomach forcing a groan. Carlos clenched a fist and covered it with his other hand before slamming it down on Jorge's spin. This started a coughing fit from Jorge as he went down to a knee placing a hand to his back.

As Jorge shuffled away Carlos stood taller rolling his shoulders. Carlos began cracking his knuckles. "You can't do anything to me Jorge. You're nothing but weak." Carlos cracked his neck. "You're just another disappointment that can't shoulder this job to make your old man proud. If he saw you now he would be tossing in his grave wondering what he did wrong to have a son like you."

Jorge's breathing slowed and his heartbeat was all he could hear pounding in his eardrums. Red dots filled his vision as his head jerked up and a deep thundering growl vibrated in his throat. "You bastard. Don't you dare talk about my father."

"What are you going to do about it? Cry like the b***h you are?" Carlos smirked.

Jorge slammed Carlos full body down to the road in an instant. Jorge's fist continuously rammed into Carlos's face as Jorge straddled him. Blood stained his knuckles and the cold road that dug into his knees. Carlos shielded his face with his forearms as best as he could once Jorge could not be shifted off. Carlos tried to yell at Jorge in threats that turned to pleading to calm the guy down but Jorge could not hear him. Jorge was past the point of reason and as the minutes ticked by Carlos could no longer hold his forearms up that were numb from loss of blood.

“Not such a useless, weak, pathetic b***h now am I?” Jorge snarled as his dominant fist knocked Carlos right next to his left eyebrow. He didn’t wait for an answer as he continued beating Carlos even around the man’s forearms. Vaguely Carlos felt his nose break along the other aches and pains.

“Stop.” Carlos weakly muttered as one of Jorge fist cut up his bottom lip in an impact. A streak of blood slid down the corner of his lips and towards the center from the cut. Parts of his gums were pressed into enough to open with metallic blood filling his mouth from his teeth. “You can’t handle what happens if you continue.” The words were much more spaced out when spoken then what Carlos wanted but with a continuous pounding going to his head that he was lucky they were clearly spoken at all.

“Can’t handle it?” Clearly that was the wrong thing to say because in response Carlos felt a hand wrapped around his throat applying great pressure. His already dizzy vision at the edges was now nauseating. Instinctively his hands covered Jorge’s trying to pry the grip loss. Pink to light red his face turned from the lack of air. If he could see clearly he would notice the pure icy rage was directed at him. “You forget that I clean up after YOUR murders. My hands are as bloody from the killings as yours. Yet my body has been covered in the victim's blood as I lift, drag, and move them alive or their corpses. All YOU do is finish them off and make them bleed to death.”

Carlos’s ears were ringing making it difficult to hear Jorge. Yet the portion he had heard was full of spite and dripping with hatred. Of himself or of Jorge he could not be sure. However, Carlos could remember a time that he felt a bit like Jorge in the beginning. “Yes. Their death…” Carlos stuttered out and gasped for air, “taking someone's life... it haunts you in your…dreams and life. You can’t...handle the emotional..force pulling you into the…shock and horror.”

“We’ll see about that.” Jorge leaned in close to his face and breathed out. Crack. Carlos could not hold back the wince and roar of pain that came from feeling the needle pain as well as burn. Jorge had forced his knee right on his left shoulder with all his weight cracking the blade out of place broken.

“Hey!” A voice shouted in the distance. Neither of them seemed to hear it or the shuffling of feet rushing towards them. Not one pair of feet but multiple. Only when Jorge was pulled off Carlos and tried to fight out of the stronghold did either one of them recognize Andrew or the security guards restraining Jorge. Carlos breathed a sigh of relief through his cut lips.

“What the hell is going on here?” Andrew glared at both of his bodyguards chillingly. One guard held onto one side of Jorge while another restrained the other side. Meanwhile the third was down on his knees looking over Carlos. With a groan Carlos with the help of the guard sat up and held his left shoulder.

Neither one spoke up and just stared at each other menacingly. Nothing they said would ease the raging lecture that would be hurled at them any moment now. Nor would either of them be calm enough to speak. Jorge was just beginning to cool off from the fog that it would be just as easy to slip back into that haze. Carlos in so much pain in his face wasn’t even sure he could speak clearly.

Andrew gritted his teeth seeing as they would not answer. With his gaze he sent from one man to the other Andrew made it very clear what he thought of this childish display. “I don’t have a need for short fumed airheads. If I can’t trust you to behave yourselves then I have no need for you. See yourselves out and don’t return.”

“What?” Carlos mumbled in protest, turning to Andrew. “You can’t just toss us away when you need someone to protect you from that murder.”

“Oh. I most certainly can and I just did.” Andrew calmly stated though his eyes and aura radiant a deathly warning. “I could do much worse than fire you. Now go home to the families you have left” The underlying message that both of them understood without hearing out loud was that he could kill them here and now without any hesitation.

With that Andrew turned and walked briskly away. The guard next to Carlos helped him to his feet and into his truck while the two guards that still had held Jorge escorted him. Carlos’s voice rumbled in protest at Andrew and anyone that could hear him. When no one responded he resorted to blaming Jorge. He however, said nothing and just let the guards drag him forcefully away. From the speakers in the truck I had heard it all. As Carlos appeared in the video feed a smile lit my face with a twinkle in my eyes.

Click. I turned off the feed and pushed back my chair. Quickly I stood and stretched my arms over my head. With a slow turn of my head over my shoulder I got the eyes of my helpers asking. With the silly smile still spread along my lips I spoke with such conviction and warmth, “It’s finally time. Are you three ready to help me?”

One after the other my helpers pawed the ground before growling in the back of their throats. “Let’s go then.” I said as I made way to get the items I would need to kidnap the bulky shaped men that would sure put up a fight. Adrenaline began bumping hyperacting my sense of awareness. I was ready within thirty minutes. In my car with my three helpers discreetly hidden in the back so none of my neighbors or people on the streets caught sight of the dogs I now owned. In the now fading light I headed to the first disenation for my plan. A plan that took months to formulate and finally was going to be executed. All the waiting and information gathered would be of use. I just needed to make sure that I did not let my cautiousness slip by and ruin it by misjudging their actions.

I looked up at the sky with its beautiful colors as my mind turned to my brother. Tonight I would find out what these two knew about him that was hidden from me and I will avenge him. “They won’t get away. I promise.” I whispered imagining his features as if he was right in front of me before they changed to his bloodied corpse. “They will pay for it.”

Growl. I glanced in the rearview mirror to see that the middle dog was growling staring straight ahead. Silently I wondered if the dog was agreeing with me but I didn’t spend too much time pondering that detail. They were probably hungry and this one that seemed to be the leader of the three was voicing it. Well soon they will have their food but once this was all over.