Of Kings and Aces

48| The Exchange

A man with an assault rifle was standing on the other side of the door. He had a crew cut and was dressed in all black. The tattoo on his right hand was visible. In his hand was a pistol and with his index finger on the trigger. When he saw us, he lifted the roller door, and he let us in. 

Another man inside wearing the same uniform performed a pat-down, ensuring we did not have any sort of weapon with us. Once satisfied, he radioed someone else, informing them that we were 'cleared' and that we would be heading inside. He rolled the door down to the floor once we were all inside and led us behind the tall stacks of container vans where there was a free area.

It was almost laughable how the sight in front of me reminded me of the usual dramatic scene in movies: darkness, a few hanging lights, a lot of equipment or things were stacked up and other people could hide behind and jump out of when necessary. I would have scoffed and rolled my eyes if I were not scared shitless.

Beau and the Admiral were already seated, while two men that looked like the Admiral's recruit from the navy stood behind them. They were both well built with crew cuts. Both wore plain black shirts and plain black pants. They had holsters on their hips and thighs holding their shiny guns and Rambo knives.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't our prized engineer-turned-traitor," Beau sneered at Jacob, who returned his glare. "How unfortunate that your friends sniffed you out before you could finish your end of the agreement."

"You were not fully honest with your deal, Beau. You said you would not hurt anyone, but you killed Greggy and almost killed Ace. He was not supposed to be part of this deal!" Jacob spat.

"I did not kill that mentally deranged doormat. Didn't you read the news? He killed himself," he chuckled mockingly. He walked slowly towards us, each step taunting the restraint Jacob had in him.

"It is common knowledge that Benedict Jackson here is friends with the Camachos. So, I would have needed to pay a hefty price to get what I wanted, and only if both of you would agree. But why do that when I could get things done for free?" he laughed irreverently, eyes wild with his near triumph.

Jaxx reined Jacob in. He ground his teeth while Jacob gritted his, the muscles over their jaws tightening. It was just Chino and me now who were composed. I looked at our lawyer friend for help with Jaxx, but his eyes were busy observing the surroundings while the rest of him stood stiff as a block of cement.

Beau stopped a few steps in front of us and turned his gaze to me.

"And Ace, well, I'm sorry, son. You were just a collateral to ensure our hacker boy did his job to the best of his ability. You're too principled to strike a deal with. But let's just say you were an effective driving force for this vigilante." He was able to pat Jacob's cheek once before the guy turned away.

"Threaten the heart, the mind will yield," Beau chuckled.

"That's enough. Where's Brigs?" I stopped him from talking. If he continued his mad villain's speech, I would not be able to finish my job.

"Eager for your guy, huh? Herman." The Admiral spun on his heels and was followed by one of the men. They went behind one of the container vans. When he returned, they were dragging a limping Brigham with them.

My breath hitched, and so did Jacob's. He looked awful. His shirt had dried and fresh blood on it, his left eye was swollen shut, and a gaping laceration was right above his eyebrow. Blood was trickling down his eyelid and eye, but he could not wipe it away since both hands were bound together in front of him.

"An eye for an eye," Beau said as he held out his hand. I slapped the hard drive down on his hand, not breaking his eye contact. He smirked and waved his fingers, calling for his men. Admiral Fuentabella and another man brought Brigs closer to us. With a snap of Beau's fingers, they pushed him to Jaxx and quickly snatched Jacob.

"What in bloody hell?" he gasped. Confusion and disbelief marred his already bruised face. My heart began to break. I did not dare look at him for fear of faltering.

"What, they didn't tell you?" Beau ridiculed him, rubbing salt on his bleeding open wounds.

"Ace, you said you were going to hand them over that damn information so we would get out of this place alive!"

"Did you think it would be that easy, Mr. Kingston? Did you, for even a second, believe that you'd be set free? That your so-called friends would not betray you?" Beau continued to mock him, laughing at his bewilderment.

"You started this, Jacob. You sold them to us. Did you think they wouldn't be gracious enough to return the favor?"

"Ace, please tell me this is a joke," he begged.

When I did not reply, he looked at Jaxx, who also looked down. That was the nail that hit the coffin. Maybe he could forgive me, but not Jaxx. He was his friend. They even joked about having another fight.

"Fucking bastards!" he cried, hurt lacing his every word. "You fucking, lying bastards!"

He wanted to charge at us, but the Admiral and the guard held him back and began to tie his hands together. "Jackson, look at me, you son of a bitch! You fucking son of a bitch! Was it worth it, huh? Was the fucking deal worth this?"

Jackson looked at him solemnly. I could tell it took every thread of self-control in him not to charge at everyone and run amok. His eyes were cold and sharp, his jaw tensed.

"Every damn penny," he said firmly through gritted teeth.

If you did not know how much Jaxx cared for the guy, you would think he was seething mad. But I knew him, and Jaxx's clenched fists told me he was beyond hurt saying those words, but he had to. He crossed arms over his chest, hiding his fidgeting hands from view as he kept his face angry.

Another piece of my heart broke when I saw the wounded surprise in Jacob's eyes as his face fell. He was broken physically, and now, his heart was, too. The person he trusted the most betrayed him. I can only begin to imagine the pain that was crushing him at the moment. It was definitely worse than that broken rib, worse than a broken heart, and a hundred times worse than that gnawing ache I felt when I thought he deceived us.

Jaxx averted his gaze, clearly unable to absorb the hurt and devastation in Jacob's eyes.

Jacob's shoulders sagged, and he let out a defeated sigh. When he closed his eyes, a tear escaped, but he quickly wiped it off. I bit my trembling lower lip and looked away, rubbing my own eyes to quash the tears that threatened to fall. It was too painful to see. The confident, powerful king cried because the people he trusted most betrayed him. He was not just reduced to tears; he was reduced to nothing but a commodity.

Beau clapped his hands, slicing through the drama. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you, boys. Now, if you will excuse me, we have work to do."

The Admiral dragged Jacob away. His eyes bore through me and begged me to take it all back and tell him this was all a lie. I wanted to do it so much, but I could not. We worked so hard for this, and I could not afford to put it all to waste because of this stupid thing in my chest.

However, as Jaxx was about to walk away with Brigs, the remaining guard pulled him away again and pushed Jaxx to the floor. When I prepared to run to Brigs, the guard held Brigs by the neck and pointed a gun at his temple.

"What the hell?" I asked in surprise and sent an accusing look at Beau. He laughed maniacally, and just as he did, we had another onlooker stepped out of the darkness.

I looked at Jaxx. His jaw dropped and his eyes enlarged as another storm brewed in his grey eyes that were about to turn black with rage.

Chino and I remained frozen on our spot. He looked at me, eyes wide while holding Jaxx down. I shook my head ever so slightly. I could see he was already regretting that he was here, but he really did not have much of a choice.

"Manolo! What is the meaning of this? We had a deal!" he growled and prepared to attack, but the guard reminded him that he had Brigs while the Admiral had Jacob. One false move, and someone was going to have his brains blown out of his head.

"Hello, Jaxx," Manolo Camacho smirked before dramatically sighing. "I never did like you."

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