Masters Ring

Chapter 50

	It was an intelligence puke's idea of a smooth operation: a dumb
intel puke.
	Robert allowed me to change the plan enough to clip the sharp
edges, but the Council waited too long to bring the reporter to the
attention of an Enforcer. If they were that unsure of our abilities, they
should have let one of the Foot believe they had been promoted, and
dispose of them afterwards.
	The other two Enforcers would probably have chosen a different
method also. I thought a random mugging gone deadly violent was harder to
trace back than a robbery where the owner got home sooner than expected.
On the street, the mission could be aborted by walking away; in her house,
I had no choice but to kill the reporter even if cops surrounded the
house.
	I thought of those things on the way to her house; once inside,
there was only emptiness.
	I heard the others fidgeting as their impatience increased. The
female Brothers were in the house with me, but did not know how to wait
quietly. I marked it down as something they would need to learn.
	The front door opened.
	The reporter stepped inside the door. She talked to herself as she
looked over the mail that accumulated while she was on assignment. She did
not behave as if she noticed the van outside.
	She dropped her keys onto the table by the door and walked down
the hallway to the living room. I closed my eyes as she reached to turn on
the lights.
	"What the..." she gasped noticing the missing pieces of her living
room.
	Two steps put me in position behind her. She did not notice me
until my left hand covered her mouth. I bent her backwards and stabbed
into her chest with the knife in my right hand.
	The hesitation at the last second was intentional; she screamed
into my hand as the blade violated her. I pulled it out roughly and
stabbed her with more power than necessary. The third stab was unsure; the
fourth one panicked. Pressing the knife into her, I made my arms tremble
as I set her down.
	The female Brothers were breathing hard when I looked at them.
	"Tell them," I ordered.
	I would have preferred to leave all the Brothers outside, but the
four of them together might have reinforced each other's desire to do
something stupid.
	Bitch #1 talked into her radio mike while I cleaned the knife and
sheathed it. Asshole and Average Brother walked into the house through the
back door. Asshole looked down at the dead body and then at me. He
crouched down to study my work.
	"I could have done this better," he criticized standing up and
staring at me. "You're supposed to be a killer."
	"Finish the job," I said to all of them.
	He shook his head and walked to pick up one of the items on our
list. The death of the reporter excited him. Average Brother studied the
body also, but did not make any comments.
	"Assholes!" Bitch #2 whispered. "We killed an innocent woman, and
the two of you are whipping it out to compare sizes."
	"I killed a woman," I told her. "You are robbing her house, and
not doing it quietly either."
	A botched house robbery!
	I was going to have a short conversation with the Brother that
planned the sanction.
	The Asshole did not remember to pull out of the parking spot hard
as if someone had left in a hurry. I understood Anna's difficulties with
getting the present members of the Foot to listen; they were amateurs that
thought a title made them seasoned professionals. The arrogance needed to
be beat out of them before they would listen to a 'has-been' like Anna.
	We pulled into the warehouse and got out of the van.
	The four Foot Brothers watched as I burned all my clothing and
handed the knife to a Sibling to shave it into metal fillings. They smiled
and shrugged at each other obviously thinking that I was taking things too
seriously.
	"WOOOH!!!" Asshole yelled. "Man! What a fucking rush! Did you see
that bitch lying there? Iane is going to get some action when I get home.
WOOOH!"
	He spun in a circle with his arms raised to the ceiling.
	My kick caught his knee from the side; his arms lowered in shock
as he instinctively reached for the pain. His neck made a familiar sound
when I grabbed his head and twisted.
	It takes power and technique to break a neck like that; I had
both. He made it easier by being surprised, and reaching for the pain
instead of the danger.
	The three Brothers freezing to watch the dying Asshole collapse
disappointed me. They took a step back when they looked up and saw two
9mms pointed at them.
	"Does anyone think they can do that better?" I asked standing over
the twitching body.
	Asshole showed bad instincts by not striking back or moving out of
my reach when I broke his knee; the lack of aggression was a mistake.
Faced with a similar problem, Average Brother reacted incorrectly also; in
his case, aggression was the mistake.
	He reached for his sidearm and met a bullet. They did not get
along well so I introduced two more to his chest.
	The two female Brothers showed good instincts by putting their
hands up to ensure I did not think they were reaching for a weapon.
	"I don't like to repeat myself, but you might have been
distracted," I said. "Do either of you think you could have done that
better?"
	"Jesus! You're fucking crazy!" Bitch #1 exclaimed.
	"Not an answer," I said.
	"NO!" Bitch #1 screamed when my hand tensed on the gun that was
pointed at her head.
	"Fuck no!" Bitch #1 said at the gun pointed at her.
	"I'm glad we could have this discussion on our relative
qualifications," I said.
	They waited thirty seconds before speaking again.
	"Aren't you going to put the guns away?" Bitch #2 asked staring at
the 9mm I still pointed at her.
	"I haven't decided not to kill you," I said.
	She tensed but managed to control her instincts before they put
her in the untenable position of being dead.
	I nodded with approval.
	"Fuck me!" Bitch #1 forced out harshly. "You're the Ekat!"
	"WHAT?" Bitch #2 exclaimed looking at her.
	"The fucking Bloodline Brother!"
	Bitch #2 turned to stare at me.
	"An Ekat Enforcer!" she said in horror.
	I watched as she turned, got down on her knees, and puked; all
while showing better instincts than I gave either credit for by keeping
her hands up.
	"I guess not everybody is a fan of my family history," I said.
	"I've read the profiles," Bitch #1 snapped. "Every Ekat was the
child of a Brother, even the first one. For all intents and purposes,
Ekats were the children of the Brotherhood. There's shit not in the
records about our past, but the Ekat genealogy is perfectly preserved.
There's even a detailed biography of every member of your family until the
line was lost. I couldn't tell you the name of anyone who sat on the
Council two hundred years ago, but I can find out on what day each of your
ancestors lost their virginity."
	I chose not to point out that she was babbling; it might have
offended her.
	"Nobody knows how it happened, but it's like loyalty was bred into
the line," Bitch #2 said after wiping her mouth on a sleeve. "The least of
you was fanatically loyal, the worst..."
	"The worst hunted down two rebellious Bloodlines until every
living representative of it inside and outside the Brotherhood had been
killed," Roderigo said from the door the Sibling had exited with the
knife. "The Brothers would have been satisfied with the removal of the
Bloodline's Siblings, but the Ekaterina did not take chances with a danger
to the Brotherhood. It was a pity; both times the Ekaterina were at their
strongest as a line, but pursuing those vendettas cost them."
	"They should have been stopped!" Bitch #2 told him.
	"How?" Roderigo asked. "By killing them? The Ekaterina were
children that Brothers could love completely because they always chose us.
A child sometimes throws a tantrum; a good parent knows to ride it out.
Eventually, even the Ekaterina hatred burned itself out."
	"Killed itself out!" Bitch #2 insisted.
	He shrugged as if the point were irrelevant.
	"Roderigo," Bitch #1 said. "The reactionary assholes on the
Council cannot possibly believe they can control an Ekat. You've read the
histories, an Ekat Sibling was bad enough, but a Brother would be ten
times worse. An Ekat Enforcer is like releasing a plague in a crowded
city."
	Roderigo ignored her words and walked up to the Asshole's corpse.
He poked at it with his foot and shook his head.
	"You're dead and I still can't stand you, Kyle," he said with a
smile lighting his face. "You were a fucking asshole!"
	"Roderigo," Bitch #2 yelled as he walked to the second corpse.
	He crouched down and passed his hand over the eyes to close them.
	"Roderigo," Bitch #2 exclaimed. "This is exactly what we were
working against!"
	"Kyle was an error of judgment, Evelyn," Roderigo told her calmly.
"He should never have been allowed to touch a Brother ring. Let's not get
into my thoughts on Kyle putting his hands on a Sibling; David might
misinterpret my enthusiasm on the subject."
	"You're insulting the dead," Bitch #1 told him angrily.
	"He doesn't mind, Charmel," Roderigo answered pointing at the
Asshole's corpse.
	"It doesn't mind," I said.
	They turned towards me.
	"What?" Roderigo asked.
	"A corpse is an it, not a he," I told him. "It doesn't mind."
	Roderigo raised an eyebrow and nodded in agreement.
	"You got to love the whole black and white view of the world that
David has," Roderigo said looking at the women. "I imagine it's oddly
comforting. Siblings certainly seem to like it; at least, if what I hear
about his recruiting efforts is true. At the end of this school year, he
will probably have brought in more Siblings than the two of you combined."
	"Roderigo, I know you admire Ekats," Evelyn said reasonably. "But
even you have to admit they were insane. This is what we've been waiting
for; the Council has gone too far."
	"And what do you propose I do about it?" he asked her folding his
arms in front of him.
	Evelyn opened her mouth but snapped it shut when I pointed one of
the 9mms at Roderigo.
	"Whoa-hup!" he said showing me his hands and putting them back at
his sides. "I see what happened to John; I stopped thinking there for a
second."
	I brought the gun back to its original position.
	"Let me explain," Roderigo said to the women. "There are two
problems with your present position; other than being in an Enforcer's
sights. First, I do not have to admit the Ekaterina were insane because I
don't believe that. Treasured? They absolutely were. Raised with the
highest expectations? Yes, but each had several hundred loving parents.
They were, as you say, the Brotherhood's children. Second, I like being
alive."
	"What?" Charmel said.
	"The Council did a run-around our little movement," Roderigo told
her sadly. "They believe it is very difficult for a movement to maintain
its momentum if the leader is subverted; not a strategy that I was
prepared for. I used to suspect Robert, but now I'm thinking Anna planned
this. You can't really do much about a grandmother though, sometimes they
do know what's best for you?"
	"But you're the one that started our movement against the
Council," Charmel told him angrily.
	"As you might have noticed while David's guns are pointed at your
heads, killing me is always on the back of his mind," Roderigo answered
reasonably. "Did I mention that I like being alive?"
	"You can't be serious," Evelyn said to him.
	"Oh, it gets worse," Roderigo announced. "David as the stick is
bad enough, but the carrot might have... Who am I trying to kid? The
carrot would have made me give up my plans. At least, the unimportant
parts, namely you two and any other Brother that was backing me."
	"You'd be betraying us if you did that," Charmel told him.
	Roderigo stared at her curiously.
	"Did you somehow come to the conclusion that I wasn't using you?"
he asked. "I have a vision for the future of the Brotherhood; the
opposition offered me everything and their price was significantly less
than yours. There's no hard feelings on my part, someone just offered me a
better deal."
	"You won't get away with this!" Charmel threatened.
	"I would be careful, Charmel," Roderigo warned looking at me.
"Enforcers are the only ones allowed to kill Brothers to prevent things
from getting out of hand between Brothers. We played our hand; we lost.
I'm not holding a grudge against the winners; they were better players."
	"What are you talking about?" Evelyn asked.
	"We were outmaneuvered; I thought the Council had been a little
slow to take up arms against us," Roderigo replied. "I was wrong; the fact
is they had a better plan than I did."
	"Fuck the Council's plans," Charmel said raising her voice. "We're
almost there, Roderigo."
	"I did not want what you wanted, Charmel," Roderigo said staring
at the Average Brother's corpse. "Do you know the Ekaterina myth?"
	"Which one?" Evelyn asked tightly.
	"The one where the last test of a Brother was putting him in a
room with an Ekaterina Sibling," Roderigo said. "The Brother was
instructed to give the Ekaterina an order; if the Sibling obeyed, the
Brother was given a crest. If not, the Brother was killed."
	"That's the kind of shit we need to put an end to," Charmel spat
out.
	"I read something once," Roderigo said thoughtfully. "Reality
becomes story; story becomes legend; legend becomes myth. I think Kyle's
corpse is testimony that the myth might be factual history."
	"You have to be kidding!" Evelyn said surprised by his words.
	"Did you think Kyle was worthy of the ring you wear?" Roderigo
asked her seriously.
	Neither woman answered him.
	"David is a plague upon those that should never have been allowed
into our home to play among our Siblings," Roderigo said in a hard voice.
"I find that comforting; I have more faith in the Ekaterina ability to
judge the worthiness of a Brother than the selection committee's."
	"You're as crazy as the Ekat!" Charmel told him.
	"Being given an Ekaterina Sibling to crest was considered the
greatest compliment the Council could give a Brother," Roderigo said to
all of us. "The days of Ekaterina Siblings are coming again. When they
arrive, I will be worthy of that honor."
	"So you've made up your mind?" Evelyn asked him.
	"There was no mind to make up," Roderigo answered. "The Council
has chosen my path. David carries the past and I am the future. I have
won! I hope you are a part of that future, especially since I've bet quite
a bit of money on your survival."
	"WHAT?" Charmel grunted loudly.
	"The Council has a pool on how many of the Foot David will kill,"
Roderigo told her. "Anna says six and I figured she should know. She
killed four of the Foot during her transition period. I don't think the
two of you are a part of the six my grandmother is counting though. If
either of you make it necessary for David to kill you, I'm pretty sure I'm
out of the pool. Not that I care if he kills all of you since that could
only benefit me."
	"Why is that?" Evelyn said between her teeth.
	"I need the option to kill David available to me, at least for the
near future," Roderigo told her honestly. "He doesn't believe the present
Foot can get that job done. It makes you useless to me, so I'm hoping he
manages to bring you up to a level that I can be almost confident that I'm
going to get a David corpse if I need one produced."
	"I was wrong, Roderigo," Charmel said. "You're crazier than the
Ekat."
	"Then my blood should mix very well with the Bloodline," Roderigo
said smiling widely at her.
	The two women stared angrily at him, but chose not to reply.
	"Have you decided whether the ladies will be joining us for the
cleanup, David?" Roderigo asked me. "As extra hands and not part of what
needs to be cleaned up."
	I put the 9mms away and stared at the women. They shared a look
before putting their hands down cautiously.
	Roderigo pulled out a cell-phone and dialed.
	"Only two," Roderigo said. "I thought we were out of it for a
second when Charmel threatened me, grandmother. Have the cleanup crew
drive into the warehouse, the door will be open."
	
						-----
	
	They were waiting in the backyard of my house.
	"Isn't it a little cold to be out here?" I asked sitting down.
	Anna and Robert sat around the table looking very relaxed. I
placed the Asshole and Average Brother's rings on the table and pushed
them towards Robert.
	"I gather this was not a surprise," I said.
	"We expected it," Anna informed me.
	"We can be honest, Anna," Robert said picking up Asshole's ring.
"I was hoping for it."
	"A very elegant trap, Robert," Anna snickered.
	"Trap?" I asked.
	"Kyle's father called in some favors to get his son a black ring,"
Robert said smiling. "He intimidated those members of the selection
committee that he could not buy."
	"He thought he intimidated them, you mean," Anna corrected.
	"Yes," Robert answered. "Kyle's daddy was so proud that his son
made it in as a Foot Brother; it is considered an honor by fools like
him."
	"You put Kyle in front of me knowing I would kill him," I said.
	"He was inadequate, David," Anna told me. "We would have been
forced to deal with him soon anyway."
	"This method was better," Robert assured me. "It gives the Council
an opportunity to drive in a lesson about interfering with the selection
committee."
	"An Enforcer has been sent for Kyle's father," Anna said with
satisfaction. "We rarely use the 'sins of the child' doctrine anymore
since few Brothers raise children that can wear a black ring, but this is
an appropriate return to that tradition."
	"Interesting," Robert said suddenly.
	"What?" Anna asked.
	"The phrase 'Revenge is a dish best served cold,'" he replied. "I
understand it now. It is cold because you admired it long past the time of
its heating."
	"Don't get carried away with your genius, Robert," Anna warned.
"There were others things accomplished."
	"Kyle's father has been an annoyance since he lost out to me for
the Council seat. My predecessor should have known better than to raise
two heirs, and then leave the loser alive," Robert told her. "Allow me a
couple of minutes to enjoy removing that thorn from my side."
	Anna nodded and closed her eyes; it was exactly two minutes before
anyone spoke.
	"Thank you," Robert said to us.
	"You used me," I said.
	"We did not use you, David," Anna replied carefully. "We set you
loose and hoped for the best."
	"You performed quite well, except for this," Robert said picking
up Average Brother's ring.
	"He had bad instincts," Anna told him.
	"And we can't have Brothers running around with bad instincts, can
we?" Robert joked. "Look what is going to happen to Kyle's daddy, and all
of that over those pesky parental instincts."
	"Enough, Robert," Anna said quietly. "I have children, but they
were not allowed near the Brotherhood. Of my grandchildren, only Roderigo
and Stephanie made it back to us. Bad instincts, like reaching for a
weapon with a gun pointed at your head or thinking your child is adequate
when they are not, get people killed. If we are lucky, it's only the
Brother with the bad instincts that dies."
	"At least Roderigo seems to be showing good ones," Robert said.
	"He is my grandson," Anna replied.
	"He has severed the ties to his old allies," Robert said
thoughtfully. "Your plan is working perfectly."
	"Roderigo wants many of the things I do," Anna said looking away.
"He is just too young to understand that sometimes waiting for the target
to come to you is better."
	"I thought you did not want anyone to know the Ekaterina Brother
was the Enforcer," I said to Robert.
	"The Foot as a cell are almost as isolated as you are," Anna
answered for him. "At least, they are supposed to be."
	"I think you're going to set a new standard for isolation," Robert
told me. "It's not very social of you to kill Brothers you don't care for.
I want you to keep doing it, but I'm not going to put myself in front of
you very often. I think after you're done with the Foot, most Brothers
will take up the same policy."
	I looked at Anna.
	She answered my unspoken question about her visits with; "My
granddaughter lives here."
 	"Plus," she continued "I won't protest a bullet when the time
comes, though I would prefer the knife. I always preferred using a knife
so it would be nice to go out that way."
	"Are all of you insane?" Robert asked.
	"You waited two decades to kill your rival," Anna pointed out. "A
knife in his gut, and drinking a scotch as you watched him bleed to death
would have done as well. Enforcers can sometimes be persuaded that a
Brother, especially a Council member, was simply trying to be helpful."
	"It would have served no purpose other than my eternal
satisfaction," Robert said dismissively. "This was better; a lesson driven
home about the selection committee, David sees we don't mind the
occasional freelance removal of a Brother that shouldn't wear a ring
anymore, Roderigo got to watch how quick our new Enforcer is to pull the
trigger, and I still got my satisfaction. If I had done it your way, Anna,
I would have needed to find other ways to accomplish those worthy goals.
There is a limited use for a corpse once it begins to rot."
	"There's plenty of idiots to make a new corpse out of, Robert,"
Anna responded smartly. "Even in the Brotherhood, there's always an extra
idiot or two lying around."
	"There's four less now," Robert told her happily.
	"Four?" I asked.
	"The two Brothers you killed," Robert answered. "Kyle's soon-to-be
dead father, and the Brother that so carelessly exposed a Sibling to the
curious nose of a reporter. Four less breathing idiots."
	"You see, it's started already," Anna said leaning over to pat my
arm. "I told them bringing you in would solve our pest problems."
	"We're not out of the woods yet with Roderigo," Robert told her.
	"As with David, the Ekaterina will provide a more permanent
solution," Anna said.
	"Well," Robert said standing up. "I need to get ready for another
Brother's ring viewing."
	"A ring viewing?" I asked Anna after Robert left.
	"The rings of sanctioned Brothers are displayed to Council
members," she answered. "Robert will enjoy having his rival's ring served
for his eyes to feast on."
	"What about keeping my identity as an Enforcer a secret?" I asked.
	"We're releasing the information slowly," she said. "First the
full Council members, the Council heirs, and now your Foot. Hopefully,
Robert's little fish will strike while the information flow is still in
our control."
	"He or she has to be smarter than that," I told her.
	"You assume the smartest possible enemy, David,"
	I shrugged.
	"Leave room for lucky fools in your planning," she advised.
	I thought about that and nodded.
	"So this is politics in the Brotherhood?" I asked her.
	"Vicious assholes, aren't they?"
	I shrugged again.
	"What do they really want from me?" I asked her.
	"My grandson is right, he is the path to our future," she told me.
"To ensure our survival, he was willing to discard the past. The Council
did not intend to stop Roderigo. They simply disagreed with the idea that
what we used to be should be cast aside so easily to guarantee what we
will become."
	"That doesn't answer the question."
	"Roderigo has high standards for a Brother," Anna said. "He would
have purged Brothers like Kyle and lost support. No one will doubt that
the two of you do not get along, so if you kill those Brothers that should
never have seen a black ring then my grandson loses nothing. Of course, he
has to avoid crossing your delicate sensibilities."
	"You are using me."
	"The Brotherhood has made many mistakes since the Ekaterina was
lost," Anna said. "I'm not of those ninnies that thinks it was because we
lost your Bloodline. Our resolve simply weakened, David. I have not been
in your seat for over thirty years, but I do not think retiring would stop
you. I am old, and I choose not to leave this world thinking I did not
have the strength to do what needed to be done. If what it takes to
correct the errors of our recent past is to set a killer among the wolves
to destroy the sheep that only think they are wolves, then my resolve is
strong enough for that. The Brotherhood has stood for millennia; when I
die, it will be standing stronger than ever."
	"So you expect me to kill the sheep?"
	"No, I expect them to come bleating at your door," Anna said with
a laugh. "In that situation, I don't think there is anything wrong with
serving lamb chops to your family. I prefer a raspberry jelly with a hint
of vinaigrette sourness; Leonard has the recipe."
	I sat outside for a half hour after Leonard guided Anna's
wheelchair away. I replayed what had happened over and over to find
weakness in my actions. The reporter's autopsy described the wounds how I
wanted them seen; a panicked thief cornered, with no way out except to
kill. I would not have chosen that if there were time, but I did what I
could.
	The two Brothers died for their inadequacy; they did not bear
thought.
	I made my way through the house and into the living room. Melisa
and Doris Alex sat on the couch kissing. They broke apart and turned to
look at me.
	"Welcome home, David," Melisa said leaning towards me.
	I leaned down to kiss her. Doris Alex touched my face so that I
would kiss her also. I took a seat across from them and settled back to
watch as they returned their attention to each other.