Queen city ruby, p.1
Queen City Ruby, page 1
Alex Cage
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ALSO BY ALEX CAGE FEATURING ORLANDO BLACK
Carolina Dance
Stories
Queen City Ruby
Sunshine Scandal
Once You Go Black
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Queen City Ruby
An Orlando Black Story
Alex Cage
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, places, and situations were all created from the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner and are not to be interpreted as real. Any parallels to actual people, places, or situations, living or dead, are completely coincidental.
Queen City Ruby. An Orlando Black Story (Episode 1)
Copyright © 2018 by Alex Cage. All rights reserved.
Excerpt from Sunshine Scandal copyright © 2018 by Alex Cage. All rights reserved
www.AlexCage.com
ISBN: 978-0-9982285-8-7 (ebook)
All rights reserved. No portion of the book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any other information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the author.
Request to publish work from this book should be sent to:
Alex@AlexCage.com
Table of Contents
Readers List
Books by Alex Cage
Title Page
Queen City Ruby
Excerpt from Sunshine Scandal
About the Author
IN MIDTOWN MANHATTAN while the night still covered the sky, a limousine stopped at a red light. In the back of the limousine sat a well-dressed man. He held a suitcase in his lap. On either side of him were two expensive and highly trained bodyguards. In the front driver and passenger seats sat two more.
The man patted the suitcase impatiently.
One of the guards noticed. “Mr. Geltz, we're close to the building,” he said.
Geltz nodded.
Without warning, a loud boom flowed from the front of the limousine.
The guards in the back with Geltz pulled out their guns. One of them opened his door. The other reached for his own door handle, but the blade of a sword penetrated the roof of the car and stabbed him.
Geltz hollered in fear as the surviving guard pulled him out of the car.
“Let's go, sir!” the guard yelled, before a small knife pierced the side of his neck and dropped him to his knees.
Geltz fell back onto his butt. He looked to the hood of the limousine and saw nothing but an inferno of fire.
“Aaaahh!” Geltz screamed as he crawled to his feet and raced towards his high-rise office building.
Geltz staggered into the front entrance, his face and designer dress shirt drenched with sweat. One of the guards working the security station rushed to his aid.
“Th— the— they’re coming, sound the alarm,” Geltz panted.
“What? Who’s coming, sir?”
“Just do it!”
Geltz stumbled past and in the direction of the elevators while the guard dashed behind the security station and slapped at a red button.
An annoying noise filled the lobby area and lights began to flash all around.
Two individuals entered the building. One was a red-haired woman who was covered in a tight scarlet suit similar to what scuba divers wear. It shined and was made of flex Kevlar. The bottom half of her face was covered by a thin cloth mask. Two automatic handguns were holstered around her thighs, and she wore two knife-holster straps across her body. On her feet were some stylish black knee-high boots. Matching black gloves ran up to her elbows. Her partner was a husky, fair-skinned guy. He was dressed in army fatigue pants and a long-sleeve, army-green shirt. Lightweight body armor covered his chest and back. He was carrying a holstered side-piece, and in his hand was a flamethrower. Like the woman, he had a mask covering the bottom half of his face. As the two walked in the front entrance, about ten guards came swarming into the front lobby and surrounded them.
The woman carefully scanned the room. “Ready for this, Sir Fourth Degree?” she said.
Her partner rotated his shoulders and tilted his neck. “As always, Madam Satin Fox.”
“Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air!” one of the guards commanded.
Geltz was standing behind the guards, near the elevators. He had his shoulders back, his chin raised, and a smirk across his face.
“Are we doing eyes on the birdy?” Fox asked.
Degree nodded. “Yeah, eyes on the birdy.”
“Remember to close your eyes this time.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Fox and Degree looked at one another then raised their hands. Degree had nothing in one and the flamethrower in his other. Fox had a flash grenade in one hand. The grenade dropped and rolled to the center of the guards.
The guards’ gaze followed the grenade until it exploded in a flash of white light. Then they blindly shot in the direction of Fox and Degree, but it was too late. The two had already scattered—Fox to the left and Degree to the right.
Fox unholstered her guns and fired off rounds, hitting three guards.
Degree waved his flamethrower and a line of fire streamed out and lit up the lobby with an orange hue.
Six guards were covered in flames, screaming and shooting bullets into the ceiling as their bodies hit the floor.
Geltz scurried towards the elevator door and started hammering away at the button. The two remaining guards moved to cover him, shouting and frantically shooting into the lobby.
Fox holstered her guns and removed two small throwing knives from her straps. She threw the knives and pierced the chests of the two guards, knocking them to the floor.
Geltz was still fighting with the elevator. Fox and Degree stood side by side, facing him.
“I got five of them,” Fox said.
“I got six,” Degree grinned.
“Son of a …” Fox sighed.
Another man stepped into the building. His feet crunched across the glass and debris on the floor until he stopped in between Fox and Degree. He wore a fitted, dark grey flex Kevlar suit. His right thigh holstered a Glock with an extended mag, and attached to his back was a katana blade. Like the other two, he had a mask that concealed the lower part of his face, leaving his frigid eyes exposed. He had brown skin and a low fade haircut. He walked towards Geltz.
Geltz had nowhere else he could run. In a reflex of desperation, he banged the elevator doors.
As the man continued to walk towards Geltz, he noticed one of the guards that Degree had toasted was still alive and worming around on the floor. With one smooth stroke he removed his sword and cut the man’s throat.
Fox glanced at Degree. “Slash Hood is cleaning up your mess. Looks like you left one alive, so it’s a tie,” she said.
“Argh…” Degree grunted.
Hood approached Geltz. “The elevator won’t work. I disabled it,” he said. “You have something that doesn’t belong to you.”
With his sword Hood tapped the suitcase Geltz was holding.
“What? Wait… I paid for this,” Geltz pleaded.
“You mean you used your money to step on the backs of poor men and women.”
“Well… they were fed and housed,” Geltz nervously responded.
“What about the people whom you murdered for your precious stones? What about the poor little boys and girls who died so that you can make money?”
“It's the cost of doing business. Surely a man such as yourself understands…?”
Hood cast a stern gaze on Geltz. “You and I are nothing alike. You disgust me!”
Hood swung his sword, severing the hand Geltz was using to carry the suitcase.
Geltz fell to the floor, squealing in agony and holding his arm.
Hood picked up the suitcase with Geltz’s hand still attached. “Consider this atonement for your sins.”
Hood, Fox, and Degree exited the building as police sirens wailed in the distance.
FIVE DAYS LATER in the mountains just outside of Asheville, North Carolina, a worker sprinted out of a mine.
He approached his supervisor. “Sir, you have to see this.”
The supervisor followed the worker into the mine, where there was a group of diggers surrounding a seven-foot hole in the earth.
The worker pointed to the cavity. “There.”
The supervisor moved close. Inside the hole, slightly buried in dirt, lay a ruby. It was oval-shaped and had the pattern of a crown gleaming under its surface. The supervisor brushed the dirt from the gem and held it aloft in amazement.
“Is that it?” the worker asked.
The supervisor nodded. “This is it… This is the Queen Ruby.”
ONE OF THE other men stepped away from the group and crept outside. He didn’t look like he belonged in a mine; he was a handsome guy with dirty blonde hair—the pretty-boy type. Pretty Boy found a quiet place, removed his phone from his pocket, poked at it, and held it to his ear.
“Hey, it’s Balin. They have it,” he said. “Yes… You guys can start making your way down here…Got it.”
Balin hung up the phone and looked back towards the mine entrance. A smile crossed his face.
NEARLY SEVEN HUNDRED miles away, in the heart of an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of New
“Pretty Boy confirmed they found the ruby,” he said.
Fox lay stretched out on an old worn sofa. “Oh, that cutie… Why doesn’t he ever call me?”
“I think he’s afraid of you,” Degree chuckled.
“Aw, shucks… Well, a girl can always dream.”
Degree walked towards the staircase, passing a few empty boxes, a pile of trash, and an armored truck on his way.
Hood was on the second floor of the warehouse, sitting with face towards a window with a view out over the Raritan Bay. His legs were crossed and his eyes were closed.
Degree casually approached Hood. “Balin confirmed it’s there. Are we still leaving early tomorrow?”
Hood, with his back to Degree and his eyes still closed, slightly nodded.
“Okay… I’ll start making the necessary arrangements,” Degree said before heading back downstairs.
Hood remained seated. He opened his eyes.
TWO DAYS LATER in the metropolis bank town of Charlotte, North Carolina, a black Viper GTS pulled into a parking garage. Orlando Black exited the car. He had a meeting to attend. Over the years, he had met with the worst the world had to offer; but this meeting was a different beast. Black ducked out of the parking garage and zipped across the street. The meeting location was a restaurant with an outside patio area which flowed into the much larger concrete entrance to the NASCAR Hall of Fame museum.
Black spotted his contact and walked to the table where he was sitting. The man was wearing a light-colored suit with a tie. He had a bald spot forming and glasses slipping down to the tip of his nose. He looked up.
“Hi, Mr. Black,” he greeted.
Black nodded. “Hi, Joseph.”
Joseph slid a folder of documents across the table to Black, who immediately scanned the contents.
Joseph had his fingers steepled, anxiously watching. He used one finger to adjust his glasses, then slowly eased his hand into his pocket.
Black directed his attention back towards him.
Joseph smiled and lifted a pen. “Now, as your real estate agent, I think these are the best offers you’ll get. Let me know when you’re ready to sign.”
Black thought owning a home was more trouble than it was worth. He never lived in one place for too long, even before his days in the military. When he came back from Asia, he gave domesticated life a shot, but it didn’t work out. So he decided to sell his house. Not for the money, but to rid himself of the attachment and trouble.
SIXTY MILES OUTSIDE of Charlotte, an armored truck wheeled down the highway. The truck left the mountains of western North Carolina near Asheville and travelled toward Charlotte. On the outside of the truck read Sookram Metals Co. and underneath, A Geltz Mining Company. In the driver and passenger seats sat two armed guards.
The driver yawned. “Man, all this driving every day is making me tired.”
“Do you want to pull over and let me drive? I don't want to end up wrapped around a tree or something,” the second guard said.
The driver chuckled. “No, that's okay, we're not that far away and I've seen the way you drive. We have a better chance of living if I drive tired.”
“It will be late before we get back. I don't know why they chose this time of day.”
“Well, that stone is worth nearly a hundred million dollars. The company had to choose a random day and time to transport it. You don't want someone stealing it, do you?”
“Psst… I’m thinking we should just take the ruby and run off with it ourselves.”
A knock came from the back of the truck.
“Hey. Can you two keep it down? Me and the ruby are trying to have some alone time here,” a third guard called.
The two men in the front laughed.
BLACK WAS WRAPPING up his meeting with his real estate agent. As Joseph gathered the documents and departed, Black received a call and answered it while pacing around the patio near the NASCAR Hall of Fame museum.
“This is Black.”
“Hello, Mr. Black,” a woman’s voice responded.
A smile arched onto Black’s face.
“Well, Special Agent Rose Lee. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t good to hear your voice.”
“Same here. Look, don’t forget we’re all getting together tonight. I want to see you there, Black. I mean, you’ll be moving soon…”
As Rose was talking, Black noticed a large, grey armored truck driving erratically down the street. The truck had two doors on each side and a cabin area at the rear. Black continued to listen to Rose as he watched the truck swaying outside its lane.
“So I have to stop by the bank today, but after that, I’ll just head over there,” she said.
The truck swerved across the road, forcing a few pedestrians and cars to evade it and leveling some bollards before it screeched to a halt on the pavement in front of the museum. A dark-skinned teenage kid jumped out of the back driver side door and feverishly raced in Black's direction. He was carrying a suitcase.
From the front driver side door crawled Fox.
Already running from the back passenger door was Degree, growling, “Get back here, you little punk!”
Hood, sitting in the front passenger seat, directed his attention towards the two.
“Be quick about it, and try not to draw any more attention,” he said.
Fox and Degree raced after the kid.
“It’s so hard to find good help these days,” Hood sighed.
Black still had Rose on the line.
“Is the circus in town?” he uttered under his breath.
“Huh? Wha— what’s going on, Black?” Rose asked.
“Uhh… I’ll have to call you back.”
The teenager tripped and landed on the ground about a yard away from where Black was standing. The suitcase slid and bumped into Black’s boots. Black crouched down and picked it up.
The kid crawled to his feet then leaped towards Black. “Hey man, give that back!”
Black just stared at him. The teenager went to throw a punch, but Black grabbed him by his collar.
Fox’s and Degree’s long strides turned into jogs when they saw that Black had apprehended the kid. Black had the suitcase in one hand and the struggling teenager in the other. His eyes were locked on Fox and Degree. When the two made it within three yards of him, they stopped.
Degree patted the flamethrower against the palm of his hand.
Fox was twirling a knife. “Whoa… Tall, dark, and handsome.”
Degree looked at her. “Hey, control yourself.” He then turned his focus on Black and the teenager. “Look, that kid’s a thief. He took something that doesn’t belong to him. So we’ll take him and the suitcase, and be on our way now.”
Degree took a step forward.
The kid pulled against Black’s grip. “No! No, he’s lying!”
“Keep your mouth shut,” Black told the kid. He looked at Fox and Degree. “Who are you?”
“Whoever you want me to be,” Fox said, as she twirled her hair around her fingers.
“I said, control yourself,” Degree said. “It doesn’t matter who we are. We just want what’s ours, and the kid.”
“And what are you planning to do with him?” Black asked.
“Argh… Look, we don’t have time to play Jeopardy. I was planning on putting a bullet in his head. So if you don’t want the same thing to happen to you, I suggest you hand him over,” Degree said.
Black noticed a small number of people gathering near the truck. Some just stared as they passed by, others took pictures, and a few stopped and made a phone call. He also noticed Hood leaning against the driver side door, looking on.
“How about we wait for the cops to sort this out?” Black said.
Degree aimed the flamethrower at Black. “That’s not gonna work.”
