Vengeance is Mine (Lime and Dark_Times)

[Lime]

Evan had married a true innocent, Suki Takashi, a third generation Japanese-American. When Suki surrendered her virginity to her new husband, she could not have been more in love with him. Unfortunately, someone had inserted video cameras strategically in the honeymoon suite and her tender initiation had been captured in full HD video and then streamed over the Internet. When Suki's brother found himself watching his sister and her husband fucking, he exploded at Suki. He blamed Evan and called the police, the attorney general's office, and the FBI. He dragged Suki home to her parent's house. The shame was too much and she killed herself.

Three month's later, all charges against Evan Black for invasion of privacy, pornography, unlawful videotaping were dropped on the three month anniversary of his wife Suki’s death by suicide. The newspapers screamed out voyeuristic headlines like “Lack of Evidence Frees Honeymoon Pornographer Evan Black.” Oh sure, Evan might sue, but it would be expensive and the tabloids and newspapers would simply say he was a public figure and they had no malice when they printed their bilious crap.

When tall, black-haired man walked down the Los Angeles county courtroom steps for the final time a free man, his former best friend watched from across the street. Lyle Peterson had once been a stand up cop and later a decent private investigator. But a love of online video poker and other forms of gambling had lead him deep into bankruptcy and the kind of debt where you end up with broken bones if you didn’t pay your markers. He hadn’t shaved in three days and was hung over from a week long debt. Guilt at what he had done when he installed those private video cameras into Evan Black’s honeymoon suite was slowly killing him. But what was done and done.

As he watched, Suki’s older brother Kevin appeared and began to scream obscenities at Evan. Kevin was another man consumed with guilt. He had discovered the pornographic scheme and instead of handling it quietly, he had exploded in rage, making it a public and humiliating event. When his sister killed herself, he could either turn his anger inward or blame her husband. He had chosen the latter. Maybe one day, he would learn that Evan Black was entirely innocent of all charges.

 

[Dark_Times]

Evan stood silently on the sidewalk for a moment, taking in the scene around him and relishing in the relief that all of that was finally over. Though this was short lived when he once again realized that his reputation was ruined and that whoever had done this was still out there.


He sighed and ran a hand through his hair ignoring the media crowd around him and the shouts of abuse and ridiculing comments that filled the air. He looked across the street at his pick-up, a rather beaten up black twin-cab though he'd bought it as his first and never felt the need to change it.


He crossed the street and pulled his keys out, he had plan to form, he was going to find whoever had done this to him and he was going to make them pay dearly for it. His eyes met those of his once best friend, he stood beside his truck for a moment then pulled open the door and got in. If Lyle had anything to say then he'd walk over, and maybe Evan would listen to him.

 

[Lime]

Suki’s brother watched as Evan crossed the street. He didn’t see how the video tape of his sister could have been made without his brother-in-law’s assistance. It just made no sense, but the Court had cleared him dismissing all charges. He had researched the internet operation that had broadcast the pornography, his sister’s initiation into sex. The IP addresses had proved useless. They operated overseas through phony businesses and accounts. Perverts like him paid good money for these real people videos.

He still felt sick to his stomach knowing that he had unknowingly participated in it. He had reacted badly to the shock of seeing his sister like that. But he wasn’t sure what to do next. He had talked to his cousin, a police officer, who had provided him with a copy of the police file. It really did look like his brother-in-law might have been taken advantage of. But if it wasn’t Evan, then who was it?

Lyle hurried across the street to where Evan stood beside his truck. His eyes were bloodshot and he hadn’t shaved in several days. “Hey buddy,” he called out, I heard the news. Fuck yeah, I always knew you were innocent.” Although Evan did not know of his guilt, he still found it difficult to look his oldest friend in the eye. They went back to grade school. Evan had saved his butt on the playground more times than he could count.

 

[Dark_Times]

Evan turned his head slowly, "Lyle, it's been a long time, where have you been all this time", his voice portrayed no real anger towards Lyle just disappointment, he picked his friends carefully. He gestured towards the passenger seat, "Shall we catch up on things?", he didn't like to loose out on old friends, Lyle most of all as he was his oldest friend.


He cast a quick glance over at Kevin, he would need to be talked to and soon. Perhaps he knew something about who had done this to him, if he knew nothing then he would be treated as if it had been him who set him up. Evan also planned to try and persuade Lyle into helping him track them down.

 

[Lime]

Lyle offered a shaky smile. “Yeah man, it’s all good. I lost my job down at the plant. But I was doing okay until the numbers started turning against me.” He slid his big body into the truck beside Even. He wished he could take back what he had done. But it really had seemed like no one would get hurt. Even wasn’t the kind of guy who watched hard core porn and certainly, Suki would never watch that stuff. It had been easy cash and no one would have been the wise. He didn't say anything to Evan, but the truth was he blamed Suki’s brother Kevin. The asshole was the reason Lyle's life was shit now.

As the truck pulled out of the parking lot and merged into traffic, Kevin and Evan’s eyes met. The message from Kevin was, I still think you might be the guy, Evan, but I’m reserving judgment. His brother planned to dedicate his life to finding out who had destroyed his sister’s life. When the truck pulled to a stop at the corner, Kevin snapped a picture with his cell phone. He didn’t recognize the man next to Evan, but he planned to find out who he was.

Meanwhile, Lyle rambled about how life was fucked up these days for everyone and how sorry he was about Suki. She was such a sweet girl. If her brother hadn’t gone off like that, she’d be alive today.

 

[Dark_Times]

"Lyle, I want to ask you to help me with something, but first can you open the glove compartment and pass me the cloth bundle please", what Evan didn't mention was that the cloth covered a large caliber handgun. He was driving towards the edge of town, to an abandoned house where the kids would all meet up, back in Evan and Lyle's early days.

"Though, I need to know I can trust you, because right now I don't know who to turn to", this was true, though he played it out like he felt helpless, really he'd just grown cold and hard over the period of the trials. He no longer felt anything but rage, and Lyle's old employment record, made him a useful asset.

 

[Lime]

Lyle listened to Evan’s words and nodded eagerly. Reaching into the glove compartment, he dug past the registration papers and dealership book till he found the wrapped cloth bundle. The truck had the kind of massive glove compartment that meant a man could store just about anything he wanted in there except his tool box and that would fit behind the seat. Handing the cloth bundle over to Evan, he said almost eagerly, “Sure Evan, I’ll do anything you want.”

The guilt of betraying his friend even if what happened really wasn’t his fault had been killing him. So the chance to do a favor for Evan was something he would leap at. He glanced out the window. “Hey this is our old neighborhood,” Lyle said with a surprised smile. They had grown up in a rough section of town, but Evan had done very well for himself and until he started gambling, so had Lyle.

“You can trust me with anything Evan.” Lyle’s voice had firmed up. “Hell, I’ll help you bury a body if you need me to. Just say the word.”

 

[Dark_Times]

Evan stopped the truck and shut off its engine, "It will be more than one body that needs burying", he removed the cloth from the gun, it was a Desert Eagle. He turned and looked Lyle straight in the eyes, "I'll need you to find my the link to the company the owns that site, that person knows where I can find the men who ruined me".


Evan smiled was cruel, "Then I'll end the life of that link, and move off to find every other person involved", he slipped the gun into his jacket. "Now, who might know where I can find the link?", his voice was calm and cold.

 

[Lime]

If Evan had been a trained interrogator questioning Lyle in a darkened room with a spot line shining in his eyes, he would not have expected a greater reaction than when Evan pulled that Desert Eagle from the bag and asked for the link to the porn company.

Lyle turned dead white. It was as if Evan had pointed the gun directly at his head and his mind flashed to ‘Little Tony,’ the man who had hooked him up with the deal. Fuck, Lyle thought. If I give up ‘Little Tony,’ the fucking link points right back to me. But he owed Evan something.

“Shit Evan,” Lyle said. “I know some people who have contacts. Give me a few days and I bet I can get you a name.”

Jesus fucking Christ, Lyle thought as he spoke. Evan is serious about killing these people. Maybe I ought to just drop off the face of the earth for a few days. He owed so much money in gambling debts and to his dealer; he likely was going to be killed if he stuck around.

He had another though if ‘Little Tony’ hears that Evan’s nosing around, then Little Tony would see Lyle as a possible weak link. He tried not to shake as Evan stared at him talking in that flat, calm voice, but he looked like a man falling apart.


Evan stopped the truck and shut off its engine, "It will be more than one body that needs burying", he removed the cloth from the gun, it was a Desert Eagle. He turned and looked Lyle straight in the eyes, "I'll need you to find my the link to the company the owns that site, that person knows where I can find the men who ruined me".


Evan smiled was cruel, "Then I'll end the life of that link, and move off to find every other person involved", he slipped the gun into his jacket. "Now, who might know where I can find the link?", his voice was calm and cold.

 

[Dark_Times]

"Lyle, I don't have a few days", he pulled out a phone from under his seat, "Call whoever might know and arrange a meet, I hate to be pushy but you must understand my reasons". His eyes had become hard, just like back on the playground in school every time he'd face down a kid more than twice his size, only now he was armed and on a mission.


Evan's thoughts drifted to the car awaiting him in his garage, he had set it up to allow him to kill everyone involved in this plot, and monitor police to aid his escapes every step of the way.

 

[Lime]

If anything, Lyle looked whiter as he pulled out his cell pone and dialed a number. "Hello Julie. Is Tony around?" He listened for a moment. "Yeah, it's important. Have him give me a call. Tell him I need to move quick." Nervously, Lyle hung up the phone. "If anyone knows anything, I'd say Little Tony is the right guy."

The minutes slowly ticked by, the tension in the car growing greater with each minute. Suddenly, Lyle's cell phone rang. "Yeah, can we meet? I got something you'll want to hear. Yeah, yeah," Lyle muttered grabbing a pen and jotting down an address.

He smiled sickly at Evan. "He wants to meet at a warehouse on the South Side. But he doesn't trust anyone else. So I got to meet him alone. You can wait outside and when I have some information, I'll come out and share it with you." Lyle thought that he could come up with something once he met Little Tony. There had to be a way to get something to give Evan that wouldn't end up with Lyle's balls in a vice.

 

[Dark_Times]

Evan's cold eyes locked with Lyle's, his voice became somewhat feral, "If he knows anything he dies, how do you expect me to shoot him through a wall?". His face froze,"Is there something your not telling me Lyle", his right hand was sitting inside his jacket, whether or not it was on the gun would be a mystery.


"Because Lyle, I won't be giving out second chances to those who try to screw me, not anymore", he sat there facing Lyle, calm and still awaiting his reply.

 

[Lime]

Lyle gave a nervous grin. "Look, the guy's just nervous. He's in a dirty, ugly business and he knows people want to get him. I've used him as my bookie and I've borrowed from him. So he's willing to see me. I'll bring my latest payment and while we're talking I'll pump him for information." His skin tone was a sickly grey and he was gripping his jeans as if to keep his hands from shaking. People like the guys you want, they used fake addresses, drop boxes, disposable IPs. You bust in there and Little Tony is going to shut up and not say anything. But if I say I need money or am looking for a way in, he'll talk."

Lyle was telling the truth from his point of view. He just wasn't telling Evan that he had already needed money and asked for a way in. The way in had had been provided was wiring his best friend's honeymoon suite. There was no percentage in telling Evan that news, not with him holding a gun and looking ready to cap half the United States if he thought they had anything to do with his wife's humiliation and death.

 

[Dark_Times]

"Tell him you hired security, that your moving up in the world, just get me in there and then get him talking", Evan was getting close to losing his patience, he had bug mics and micro cams in the car back at his place, if he had to then he'd get Lyle to wear those.

There was no way this was going to slip out of his grasp, he had to get moving forwards rather than drifting sideways. "I have an idea", he started the truck again and pulled away, he was going to get his other car.

 

[Lime]

Lyle felt himself sweating. "Okay, okay Evan. I got an idea. The security thing won't work. But I'll tell him your an investor who wants to get in. I'll say I've known you quite a while and you're cool."

Hand shaking only slightly, he called "Little Tony" back. Evan couldn't hear everything, but he could make out the last words, "It's on your head if this investor doesn't work out."

Lyle offered a weak smile. "We're in, let's head down to the port area." He gave Evan the address and time of the meeting.

 

[Dark_Times]

Evan pulled up outside his house, "My old truck isn't exactly the best vehicle for this job", he pressed the garage door remote and as the door rose it revealed a fully restored '69 Dodge Charger. "This car will do everything we need it to do, and its been armored", he shut off the truck and got out.

"Come on", he waved for Lyle to follow, he had his jacket partly zipped up but still open enough to allow him to reach the gun. When he got to the Charger, he pulled open the boot and after taking his jacket off his pulled on a leather harness and began to fill each sheath with its paired blade.

 

[Lime]

Lyle had a new appreciation for his friend's vengeance quest. Evan was not just blowing off steam, he had revealed himself a man of action. "Maybe I should have a gun," Lyle said nervously. "Just in case something goes down." He watched his friend, the friend he had secretly betrayed, prepare for their mission.

As he slid into the beautiful Charger, Lyle had a premonition this would not end well. "The meet is down by the port like I said," Lye revealed. "It's at a warehouse that's used to store electronics and other goods shipped in from China, knockoffs for the most part. But this guy, Little Tony deals in porn in the back. I guess he used to ship girls through their too from what I heard, but now all the girls are run through another location in Northern California. Tony always has some muscle with him. Usually at least two guys. They'll want to search us when we go in, before the meeting. Let me know how you want to handle it."

They had been on the 110 for awhile headed toward Long Beach when Lyle gestured. "Get off here, we're only a few blocks from the warehouse now. We're early still."

 

[Dark_Times]

Evan pulled onto the slip road, once he was back on street level he pulled over to the side of the road, he produced a silencer from a compartment in the door on the drivers side. "If there is anyone on the door, we deal with them quietly, then move inside".

"Lyle, I need you to work with me on this, follow my orders and we will get out of there with the information I need", he screwed the silencer into the barrel of his gun, then pulled out another smaller pistol and gave it to Lyle. "Be careful", he pulled away again.

 

[Lime]

Lyle nodded and slipped the gun into his waist band. He had phoned Little Tony to let him know they were outside. He expected one of the man's bodyguards to open the door. But Little Tony was feeling cocky today.

So as Lyle and Evan approached the side entrance to the warehouse, a man about 5'6" who weighed nearly 300 pounds opened the door with a wide grin. "So Lyle," the man said with a jolly laugh. "What's the rush that you had to see me so quickly." He then nodded over at Evan.

"So this is the new guy who wants to invest in porn and make some money." He held out his hand. "You're a smart kid. Ask your friend Lyle, he made a bundle off me the other day wiring some bitch's room for me. You'll make a fortune off this shit." As his hand neared Evan's, the fat man called back over his shoulder to the men in the back. "Hey, grab some beers out of the fridge. Me, Lyle, and new guy are going to do some business."

 

[Dark_Times]

Evan kept his face cold and straight, he kept his gaze on tony's face even when he mentioned Lyle's latest task, he planned to ask him about that when they got a moment alone.

"So, Lyle been with you a while?", his eyes were moving around the room, scanning for exits and memorizing the positions of Tony's gaurds. He straightened himself up, "What kind of work would I start out doing?".

 

[Lime]

Little Tony chuckled as if he and Evan were best of friends. "I couldn't do what I do without the help of people like Lyle."

Lyle looked green. "Shut up Tony," he squeaked out in a nervous tone. "I just handled some stuff a long time ago."

Little Tony felt a flash of anger at Lyle's tone, but he had been told this new guy was a big fish, plenty of money to invest. So he pushed the anger down. "Whatever Lyle," he said. Turning to Evan, he answered his question, "Let me show you the operation. Then you tell me what kind of porn you're thinking of getting into. You can get into videos, we do the kind that look real, like just to college kids fucking like bunnies, they don't even know they're porn starts, or you might want to run pussy like a white slaver, selling the girls? You'd be astonished by how lucrative this business is, you'll make a real killing here. Of course, you got to make sure you don't step on Vic's turf. He's the big boss."

 

[Dark_Times]

Evan smiled slightly and nodded, "This..Vic, where is his turf, I'll need to know so I can stay clear of it until I get a chance to get on good terms with him". He was growing more and more suspicious of Lyle, but he would not act without proper proof he was involved and even then he would wait until he got clear of Tony's warehouse.

"Slaving sounds like a rather interesting and profitable area, I'd need some man power, and perhaps I could take Lyle...as sort of a second in command you know?", he cast a pleasant smile towards Lyle, to get him thinking Evan trusted him.

 

[Lime]

Tony gave a twisted smile. "Vic operates out of TJ and Mexico city. In addition to porn, I provide him with fresh young ladies. He and his men break them in and then turn each one into a steady cash flow. We're looking for someone with brains to start doing the same thing here in the States." He laughed. "More money here."

As he listened to Evan talk, Tony looked impressed. "If you've got the stomach for it, slaving is both fun and profitable. Nothing like having an eager nineteen year old sucking your cock like her life depended on it." He laughed. "It does. But anyway, yeah, Lyle's proved himself in the past. So he'd make a good second in command. But I'd need $50,000 up front as good faith money and I'd want to see if you've got what it takes to break a girl. If you prove yourself to me, then I'll let you into our organization and you'll become a very wealthy man, not to mention, you'll get more pussy than any man alive should ever enjoy."

Lyle gave Evan a sick grin. "I did't do that much Tony. But I'd love to help Evan. He's a good man, like I said. I vouch for him 100%."

 

[Dark_Times]

Evan laughed quietly, it sounded more like the raspy breath of some unholy creature, "The money, I should have in my car, as for breaking the girl I have some useful things for that, you don't mind me bringing in my pistol do you?". He shifted slightly, he was feeling a bit stiff, "I find that if the sight of a gun and promise of death will break a man, then a woman will crack right quick".


He turned to Lyle, "Would you like to watch? It'll help you figure out what you'll be seeing a lot of", he wondered if Lyle would pick up the double meaning. Evan then turned to Tony again, slowly this time, "Also, just do run something past you, if you find any men you wouldn't mind passing my way for work, I punish failure with a bullet", he smiled again, and it was twisted, his new side was on full display now.

 

[Lime]

Little Tony gave a huge belly laugh as his new friend and partner showed his colors. “You’ll do well here,” he said. Then turning to Lyle, he added. “Go get the money out of the man’s car. I’ll show him the little lady we want him to work his magic on.”

Lyle gave a nervous glance to Evan. He was desperately eager to please both Little Tony and Evan, but he didn’t know who to obey. As Lyle hesitated, Tony explained about the girl he wanted him to ‘break.’ She’s kind of special. She was married to Vic’s brother, but she couldn’t keep her legs together. When Eric found out his wife was a cheating whore, he figured she would make a nice new slave. The funny thing is after Eric sent her down to me, he found out she had been siphoning off money from the family accounts. So if you can find out what she did with the money, it’ll be a bonus.”