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Chapter
3
My brain was racked with questions. I knew my worst fear came true. Being told my mother was murdered confirmed
the thoughts I had five years ago. A few
months after her death, my father started dating a woman named Mona Jenkins; a
woman that was ten years younger and looked like she just walked off a photo
shoot. They were married within a year
and forcefully took over our lives.
She started barking demands and making us do the cooking and
cleaning in the house so she could relax.
Steven and I were the only ones left, but we couldn’t see what our
father liked about her. I was thankful
when I graduated high school and managed to leave the house. Going to college was the perfect excuse to
escape; letting Buffalo become my new home.
Steven felt the same way but chose to go to community college while
working at a local bank. He saved his
money and ventured out of the house as soon as he could.
After being away for the last couple of years, I learned the
past would always catch up to me; it just took the Benefactor’s call to make
that happen. My biggest fear was for
Mike and Lilly. He knew Mike’s name and
Lilly was the only other person I discussed personal matters or opinions
with. They were innocent bystanders of
my demented thoughts and were now forced to make the same decision I had to
make.
Mike has always been like another brother to me. We met the first day of high school and
bonded over watching pro wrestling. We
were the class clowns; even caused one of our teachers to let us teach the
class. One of the greatest memories we
shared was taking the final with Mike wearing a sombrero and I wore my leather
jacket and sunglasses. At the end of the
test, we stood in front of the class said our goodbyes and did the “Too Cool”
dance out of the classroom. Despite all
the hysterical times we shared, he was always there as my best friend;
including when my mom died.
Lilly was a different story.
We had a lot of fun together, but I always think back on the times we
just sat at her house watching movies.
We met a few months before the accident.
She became my rock when mom died.
Every night we sat on the porch of her house; staring into the sky for a
couple of hours. We didn’t need to talk
to feel at peace. I just needed to hold
her in my arms. For years I wanted to
tell her how I felt, but always thought she wanted to be just friends. It was enough to keep me at bay, but not
enough to keep me away from her.
But now everything changed.
The Benefactor’s call made sure of that.
I was forced to let my paranoia seep in; wondering if we were going to
be arrested now or after I helped the Benefactor. The knock on the door broke my
concentration. I ran downstairs to
answer it. I was met by the cold
winter’s air blowing through the doorway; making my skin feel like I had been
outside for hours without a coat. When I
looked up, there was a man with blond hair wearing a black suit holding a
briefcase.
“Are you Mr. Lancaster,” the man asked immediately.
“I-Uh-can I help you?”
“Mr. Lancaster, I am Special Agent Fields with the FBI. I need a moment of your time.”
My heart began to beat faster as I stared at the man at my door. “Uh-how can I help you?”
“I’m actually here to assist you. The Benefactor sent me here to discuss your
upcoming mission.”
“I didn’t agree to anything yet.”
“None of that matters to me.
I’m here to deliver this briefcase to you. It contains classified information. I suggest you look over everything carefully
before he calls back.”
Agent Fields handed me the briefcase and shut the door behind
him as he left. I raced upstairs and
opened the briefcase immediately. There
were five files inside. The first
contained a simple mission declaration.
Mr.
Lancaster;
The information
in this file is highly classified information.
You have been recruited to serve your country as part of a new branch of
military for the government. You and your
friends have been chosen because of your morals and desire to make the world a
better place. I hereby give you that
opportunity. You will be helping us to
eliminate certain evils in our country.
I will provide evidence of their crimes and entrust you will help to
dispose of them. The evidence we
obtained would not be admissible in court and the targets would be free to
carry on as they see fit. There is much
at stake with these tasks, but the reward will make this country a better
place.
The Benefactor
I put down the file instantly and wanted to throw up at the
thought of killing another human being.
I joked about the world being a better place without all these evil
people, but didn’t actually plan on killing them. I would be a pawn; a mercenary for some politicians
hidden agenda. But something caught my
eye as I backed away from the files. A
piece of a picture was hanging out of the second file. It looked like a license plate I thought I
recognized. I opened the file and found
pictures of my mother’s car accident along with a note pinned to the inside
page.
Andrew,
your first mission will be to obtain revenge for your mother’s death. You will eliminate her murderers; your father
and step-mother.
I read the
file and noticed a copy of the original police report was included with more
paperwork. It noted the cause of death
was a fatal car crash leading to a car fire.
However, the rest of the information attached revealed the truth.
There was a report written from the lead detective in the
investigation. A crime analyst observed
the wreckage and had the car towed to his mechanic to look over. The official report from the detective and
analyst documented: The
rear axle was manipulated. It appears
that it would dislodge if the car was driven in excessive speeds. This would cause the car to spin out; forcing
the victim off the road. The rear
passenger side tire had been tampered with as well. There were shredded pieces of rubber found
near the site of the accident. The
damage done could have been in part to spinning out of control or may have
occurred prior to the accident. There
was also a book of matches found in the backseat. We are still awaiting further investigation,
however it seems foul play might be involved.
There were more pictures of the accident and the crime scene,
but was followed by four more pages of documents. The first was another notation from the lead
detective. I
met with Mr. Lancaster today; he was very uncooperative upon questioning on his
whereabouts the night before and the day of the possible homicide. Further questioning is required and a
possible search warrant needed. Mr.
Lancaster remains the primary suspect at this time.
The next was a copy of a date book entry from the lead
detective. The page copied was March 22nd, with the entry
listed: Job interview with Mr. Lancaster
at 1pm…Porter’s Restaurant in Melville.
The third page was another police report was written only three days
after the supposed interview between the detective and my father. There is new evidence that supports a
defect in the vehicle. The husband’s
alibis have confirmed his whereabouts during the nights in question. He left for a business convention two nights
prior to the investigated time frame, and did not return until after the time
of death occurred. Mr. Lancaster is
being removed from the suspect list and closing the investigation.
The final page contained a handwritten note. Andrew, I located the lead detective from
your mother’s case, and had my people personally interrogate him. We attained the information privately which
led to the Intel provided. We also
procured his employment history at your father’s company. His official start date was a year after your
mother’s murder; however he was listed on Mr. Lancaster’s payroll as of March
23rd. The former detective is
currently in our custody and confessed to the cover up. Everything has been kept off record up to
this point and the decision to move forward is entirely up to you. I will call you soon in regards to the
mission
The Benefactor
As I read the notes, an email popped up on my computer saying
Project Justice; please reply yes or no.
I started to type no. But I
looked back at the pictures from the crash and replied yes instead.
