Of Kings and Aces

47| The Gates of Hell

ACE's Point of View

The air was heavy, and none of us could really talk without choking. We left the warehouse as soon as the doctor, who happened to be Vince, allowed us to take Jacob to the 'hospital'. 

We exited the main highway, and the streetlights were now few and far between. The road started to narrow until the cement came to a complete halt, and we continued on a dirt road. There were a few electric posts but no streetlights, so we continued to drive in darkness save for our headlights.

"Ace, bro, will you be all right?" Chino looked at me worriedly as we drove to another warehouse that Beau owned. We would meet there and put an end to all of this. Jaxx was seated behind the driver's seat, closely watching a sedated Jacob strapped at the back of Jaxx's SUV behind the passenger seat. The plan was to go to the warehouse and him with Brigs. 

Just before the ninth round, the admiral showed up and told us to finish the game. We were running out of time, so Jaxx conceded to injecting Jacob with a cocktail mix of sedatives I got from Vincent. 

Chino convinced the decent doctor it was for the greater good because he was also against the idea. As luck would have it, they were friends from college, and Vincent owed Chino many favors from the crazy things he put our friend through.

"I have to be. I can't face Beau pale and sick and looking like he could just flick his finger at me and I'd die in an instant," I sighed.

"You better get your shit together, Ace. I'm too fucking tired to put up with his bullshit. And I'm really worried about Jake. Are you sure that Vincent guy gave us the right dose?" Jaxx complained. I could understand his agitation, but I was just too spent to reassure him.

"Oh wait, he's waking up!" Jacob moaned while Jaxx and I stared at him expectantly. However, he just fell back to sleep. His breaths were deep and steady.

"I guess it was the right dose," I murmured. "Jesus, where is this place?"

"It's in the gates of hell, that's where," Chino replied without humor, his grip over the steering wheel tightening.

"Don't you have an extra shirt in this car?" I asked Jaxx as I looked at the shirtless, knocked-out man beside him, bothered that he might get hypothermia from the full blast air conditioning.

"I'm wearing it. This guy lived in London. Nineteen degrees is a warm sunny day for him," Jaxx reassured. "At least he has his trainers on."

Five minutes later, Jacob regained consciousness and was about to start round ten at the backseat when both Jaxx and I subdued and calmed him down. We explained what just happened and told him that we had to meet Beau at his designated spot.

I told him I knew that he was being blackmailed. I knew what he did and how he blocked the hacker. All the information he wanted was in a hard drive, but it was also equipped to erase all data itself with one wrong entry. And I made sure they would make that mistake. Everything was in a hard drive. All he had to do was hand it over to Beau in exchange for Brigs.

The part of the hard drive in exchange for Brigs was a lie, of course. Beau wanted Jacob and the hard drive. 

But we could not tell him that, not yet. I know it will hurt him, and I don't know if he will ever forgive me or if he would give me the chance to explain. But this was all a necessary sacrifice to get everyone out alive – Jacob, Brigs, Jaxx, Chino, and maybe even Carlo.

"You complete and utter git! You could have just told me about this beforehand. Then we did not have to beat the daylights out of each other!" Jacob groaned.