The Desert Lion’S True Colours

By Ikechi Hayden

As an undercover agent for the FBI. Leon Brown takes the lead in the biggest drug case in US history, only to come to the horrifying realisation he has been fed a lie and his government has it's own devastating agenda. What should be the most rewarding assignment of his career becomes a time of self-realisation as lies, half-truths and heavily guarded secrets from his past are inexplicably linked with a conspiracy that could have devastating consequences for us all.

The Desert Lion's True Colours - a trilogy, is our first introduction to Leon Brown as he returns to the streets of downtown Miami as the heir to his recently deceased father's empire.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Aug 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9781467889858

Book preview

PROLOGUE

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With warm water running down his face, Leon raised his head up from the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He had got home at 4:00am that morning and passed out on the bed next to Kerry - his girlfriend of just over three years - However it was now 5:45am and he was trying his best to shake off the effects of the night before. Unwanted bags had formed under his eyes, which despite the hour forty-five minute rest, were still heavy and dark. His usual firm, chocolate skin looked puffy and uneven in colour and the two days stubble randomly sticking up through his face was not doing him any favours.

Leon kicked off his boxers - leaving them where they landed and pulled him-self away from the sink and into the shower. With his arms raised and hands pressed up against the tiled wall in front of him, he let the steaming hot water beat down onto his weary shoulders. It was the closest thing he could get to a massage for now, to ask Kerry to rub him down after his late appearance would be the same as setting her up for murder.

The water was just hot enough for him to bear and the tiny pulsating streams of H2o were starting to do their job. Trying his best to relax, he stood motionless for a whole ten minutes; however the repeating mental video of the night before was putting his athletic, 6'1, 190lbs body under strain. He had said no to the cocaine, but yes to the marijuana. For work reasons he could not leave the State of Florida so he said no to the T.I concert in Atlanta but yes to the Young-Money after-party on Miami Beach. He gave a resounding no to the hookers but a sly yes to the strip club. Then when it was time to leave he refused to give into peer pressure and said no to the two ecstasy pills but reluctantly said yes to the three flaming Sambuca shots - which now left him with arguably the worst hangover ever. To make matters worse, his work day was going to be filled with meetings, one of which was with the head of his department. It was not going to be easy to hide his body’s rebellion to the weed and liquor he had plied it with, less than twelve hours ago. He was already on his 2nd written warning, so today was going to be like walking a tight rope.

Leon raised his head to allow the water to fall directly onto his face and with both eyes closed; the corners of his mouth gave way to a smile. Not because anything was actually funny but because of the weird irony of his current situation. If it were a different time or maybe if he was a different person with a different life, then last night would have been great. Unfortunately, - depending on what day you asked, - he was not living another person’s life and he definitely was not happy. Sure he caught a few laughs, chilled with his boys and flirted with the half-naked women who flitted around him however that is not where he wanted to be. If he had a choice he would have kept his promise to Kerry and been at home making love to her. Regrettably, he did not have a choice, the moment had passed and it was now 6:00am on a Friday morning and he was already late for work.

He stayed in that position for another five minutes before actually lathering up in an attempt to wash away the unmistakable Miami club smell of weed, cigars and liquor. Ten minutes later he was back in front of the mirror - dry, with a white Ralph Lauren towel wrapped around his neck. Now looking half decent he smiled at his reflection and said ‘Now that’s more like it.’

As he reached down for the toothpaste, something caught his attention in the mirrors reflection to which he immediately turned to see Kerry, curiously peeping round the door of their en-suite bathroom.

‘Good Morning.’ She said.

‘Morning’ Leon replied hesitantly.

Still mostly behind the door she said ‘What time did you get in, this morning?’

Leon let out a sigh and turned back around to face the mirror. He knew the question was going to be coming, so he simply replied ‘I’m not sure, three - maybe four.’

Leon waited for the usual disappointed reply and speculative stare to be aimed at the back of his head but nothing was said in return and no look was given. Surprised by her silence, Leon turned around to see if she was okay but she was already gone - disappeared back into the bedroom and under the covers of the bed they only managed to share for an hour forty-five minutes that morning.

Tired and agitated Leon shook his head. His relationship was suffering and he had nobody to blame but himself. If things were going to work between them, he had to not only tell her the truth about what he did for a living but change his whole way of life. Making a change; - Leon thought about that for a moment but as fast as the thought came it was gone. Change was not an option. He hung his head low and let his shoulders drop as all the reasons why the current status quo had to stay intact.

Within thirty minutes he had shaved, got dressed, left the house and was on his way to work via a minor detour. Apart from the several meetings scheduled for him to attend, today was the last opportunity he had to broker a deal with one of the richest men in Miami – Pyro, an immigrant from Cuba. For all accounts and purposes he was a self-made man, an entrepreneur, someone who knew what it meant to start from the very bottom and work his way to the top. According to the rumour mill he was known to be ruthless in the boardroom and to some, just as brutal in the streets. However none of that was of any concern to Leon - not today.

As he pulled into the parking lot of his building he thought about how much longer he would be working there. He was going to be thirty-six in a couple weeks and the thought of it made him feel old. In his line of work it was becoming the norm for the forty plus generation to be given their walking orders and get replaced by twenty-three year old mini versions.

Leon shook his head from side to side and let out a sigh. The work day had just started but all he wanted to do was go home to Kerry and fall asleep. Exiting his Mercedes he remembered her saying she had a special evening planned for his birthday. He smiled at the thought of that. Yeah, he was in love with her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her but he also knew that one: his career was not going to allow that to be possible and two: resigning was not an option - not now. He had goals he needed to achieve and his job was the only way to make them possible. Shaking his head, Leon let out another sigh and under his breath mumbled ‘Something has to give.’

CHAPTER 1

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With half a smile on his face and with his head slightly cocked to the right, Leon took Kerry’s left hand in his, raised it to his mouth and skilfully licked whipped cream from off the tip of her index finger. Smiling back at her lover, Kerry said ‘What you trying to do to me Mr Brown? Is this your way of seducing me?’

Leon was about to answer her question but was interrupted by the vibration of his cell phone on top of the kitchen counter. For reasons only known to him Leon’s whole body froze. If someone had taken a picture of him at that very moment, his face would have been the snap shot next to the phrase "Scared Shitless". For a split second, he thought Kerry had actually seen his reaction but happily waived it off when he noticed she was not paying him any attention but was using her finger to scoop whipped cream from around the side of the bowl.

Turning the phone over, Leon eyed the name on the screen and the tightness in his shoulders instantly relaxed. It was Jay - Leon’s oldest and closest friend in the world however at that very moment, friend or no friend Leon had other things on his mind. He hit the button on the side of the phone and the vibrations and its flashing lights suddenly stopped. Kerry looked up from the bowl of strawberries she was holding and asked ‘So who was that?’

Leon saw her lips move but what he heard was - that better not be a girl; and you are not going anywhere.

‘She must have seen my reaction after all.’ he thought.

‘Well, who was it?’ She repeated casually.

‘It was just Jay.’ Leon replied with a smile. (Thankful it actually was Jay) ‘We were supposed to be going to this show later.’

As the words left his mouth he could see the glint in Kerry’s eyes flicker. Knowing what could be coming, he quickly added ‘But see… I didn’t answer. I’m all yours tonight.’

While those words were true, right then his thoughts were far removed from where they were standing. Kerry sighed in disappointment. She was not stupid. She knew Leon well enough to know something or someone was messing with her night’s plans. So she decided to take things into her own hands and steer Leon’s mind back onto its previous track.

‘So, Mr Brown.’ she said. ‘. . . Can I seduce you?’

Her words were spoken with enough seduction and intrigue to draw Leon in. He smiled as his mind went back to the conversation before the phone rang and said, ‘Yes of course. You can seduce me anytime you want.’

‘Oh really?’ she replied with a smile.

Taking a strawberry from the bowl, she slowly rubbed it over her lips, moved the pointed end of the strawberry into her mouth and gently bit down into its soft skin.

‘These are nice; here have one.’ She said, holding the fruit out in front of Leon’s mouth. It was so close the sweet, juicy aroma instinctively caused him to lick his lips. He opened his mouth slightly and while still looking into her eyes he took a bite. Smiling he said ‘Wow - that is good.’

‘I told you…’ replied Kerry with a chuckle.

Raising an eyebrow Leon said ‘What? What’s so funny?’

Kerry shook her head at first, almost as if she was too embarrassed to say but after her giggles calmed down; Kerry gave Leon a broad smile and then started singing:

‘Do you ever think about Pussy and Crème/ Hmm, Hmm, Hmm, Do you know what I mean/’

Recognizing the nineties ‘112’ melody and seeing that unmistakeably mischievous grin on Kerry’s face, Leon could not help but laugh. He was about to give his version of the song but once again, the mood was broken by the flashing lights and the annoying sound of his phone vibrating on the counter top. This time Leon could not hide what Jay would call the Shook-Look register across his face.

‘Go! You better answer it.’ She said coldly.

Each word spoken was like a jab from Mike Tyson’s fist. He could feel her hurt deep within his own chest. So trying to avoid a probable issue, Leon quickly moved to disarm the time bomb impersonating as his cell phone. As he went to hit the power button he noticed the name on the screen. It was a call he had to answer but surprisingly one he was not expecting to get for another day or so. Without looking back at Kerry he picked up the phone and moved away from the kitchen counter to the dining island. Trying to compose himself for the ensuing conversation, he took in a deep breath, let it out slowly and then put on a broad smile, - hoping it would be transferred down the line.

‘Yo Black. What’s the deal dawg?’ He said calmly.

‘I’m at the SPOT…’ The voice came down the phone quick, straight and cold. ‘. . . What time you gonna get here?’

‘Yo Black…’ Leon replied hesitantly. ‘. . . I didn’t think.’

The voice on the other end of the phone cut him off mid-sentence. ‘That’s the problem Leon.’ He said. ‘. . . I think you have our roles confused. This is MY business, so you don’t get to think. I pay you to do what I tell you. You do know time is money right?’

Leon did not answer.

‘Well if you didn’t know, right now you’re fucking up my business! So HURRY UP NIGGAH, or you’re gonna be outta time and money!’

Leon ended the call without saying a word. While he hated being shouted at, he knew in this situation the less spoken the better. He rubbed his head and looked up to see what Kerry was doing and to his surprise she was looking directly at him. Leon caught the feeling she was actually trying to look into him, into his thoughts and then thought about how much he really hated that. He never liked people trying to read him and now Kerry had started doing it, he knew it was time for him to leave.

‘I gotta go babe, I’m so sorry.’ He said. ‘. . . Black needs me to go over the months takings at the club.’

It was only after Leon had spoken he realised his words not only broke the silence but possibly the bridges that were trying to be built that evening. Kerry bowed her head and looked down at the bowl of strawberries. Wanting to bring a smile to her face Leon walked over to Kerry and gently kissed her on the neck. He slowly raised her head, anxiously awaiting the hurt he would see in her eyes and as if on cue there it was; beautiful dark brown spheres drowning under the weight of tears that couldn’t be held back any longer.

‘I’m sorry shorty…’ He said. ‘. . . I’ll make it up to you. I promise. When I get back, we’ll pick things up where we left off aight.’

Wiping her true feelings from the corner of her eye, Kerry decided to give the night one more chance. She smiled, dipped a strawberry into a little cream and placed it into her mouth whole. Though this gesture was erotic in itself, Leon couldn’t help but notice the look in her eyes didn’t go with the motion. They both saw the gigantic white elephant in the room stampeding towards them and not wanting to be hit by its trunk of embarrassment, Kerry decided to speak first. ‘Make sure you take care of yourself.’ She said. Despite wanting to say a whole lot more, that was all she could come up with. It pained her to feel like she was being put to the side - again. Kerry loved Leon dearly, but she was no fool. Something was not right. She wished she could say he was cheating. It would make everything so much easier. She would have no problem leaving him if he was sleeping around behind her back. When she was growing up, she had to watch her mother be mistreated and abused, cheated on and cast away like old clothes and so she swore she was never going to let that happen to her. Granted, she never really thought Leon was cheating however after three years and two months she could not shake the feeling he was into something she would hate. Her only saving grace was that she believed Leon would never hurt her and with that she did what all of Leon’s true friends did; she gave him space.

Leon picked up the jacket Kerry had given him as a present earlier that evening and walked towards the door. He heard Kerry mumble something along the lines of ‘what a birthday this turned out to be’ which caused him to pause for only a second before picking up his keys and walking out the door to his Mercedes CL-65 parked in the driveway.

Once inside, he hit the start button on the dash and the 32-speaker, ‘BOSE’ sound system kicked in and the bass of ‘Out-Kast’ shook the cream interior of his car. Turning up the volume the treble accentuated Big-Boi’s words as they flew out of the speakers:

"She was my Spottie ottie dopalicious angel . . ."

Leon mouthed the words and started rhyming the lyrics before he put the car in reverse to back-out the driveway before heading towards his given destination.

CHAPTER 2

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Twenty minutes later, Leon pulled up in front of the ‘SPOT’ - a small club located a block away from Las-Olla’s Boulevard. It was the new trendy hang out for young rich twenty-something’s, sports personalities and ballers. The music was always on point and the interior of the club was very plush. When describing the place the phrase ‘Urban Chic’ would be thrown around quite a bit. Leon remembered the owner of the club tell him he got the same designers responsible for decorating Club Movida in London, Crush in Japan and Sway in Paris to pimp out the ‘SPOT’. Every time Leon walked into the Club he would imagine how cool it would be to have his own place. It was a Thursday night and the SPOT was packed. As Leon walked past the line and up to the entrance he could hear the low din of the bass trying to tear its way outside the club doors. The doorman’ – who was called King spotted him approaching and raised his fist. Leon tapped the doorman’s fist with his and spoke first.

‘Yo, what’s good King?’

‘Nothing man,’ he replied in his distinctive southern drawl. ‘. . . just trying to keep the riff-raff and kids outer your boss’ spot.’

Unwittingly, King’s word’s touched a nerve and Leon’s smile instantly vanished. ‘My boss… ?’ Leon questioned. ‘. . . yo check it. That boy Leon, don’t have no boss - got it?’

Leon could tell King was a little thrown by his third person reference, so he took the pause as his cue to exit the conversation. Leon walked passed King’s 6ft 8, 270lbs frame without saying another word. Not paying any attention to the who or what was going on in the SPOT, Leon entered through the oversized double doors and took an immediate left, through another door that led to a flight of descending stairs. As he made his way down he could hear the melody of a different type of music playing from what was in the main part of the club. Halfway down Leon recognised the tune to be Buju-Bantons "Boom Bye-Bye". When he got to the bottom of the stairs a tall muscle bound man in a pair of Converse, navy blue Dickeys and a white tank-top came out of the shadows and stood in between Leon and another door. Leon quickly noticed two things: one, this guy was new to Black’s security, which meant something was definitely wrong and two, the guy’s physique was - for lack of a better word - strange. He was well over 7'ft. His legs made up at least three quarters of his height but they were thin as stilts. His upper body however was abnormally large. Leon could see what could only be described as muscles, climbing on top of muscles to make room for more muscles. ‘One word . . .’ Leon thought ‘. . . steroids’. He felt sorry for the guy but at the same time strangely envious. The guy looked comical; he could easily have been a character from the Dragon-Ball Z cartoon.

‘Dang… ! I didn’t know the hulk had a black brother!’ Leon said smiling.

The guy did not reply, just motioned Leon to assume the star position so he could pat him down. As his huge arms started their vigorous search Leon backed away.

‘Hey, hey, I don’t know you like that dawg.’ He said.

The guy stepped back with an expression Leon took to mean ‘you interrupt me again and I’ll kill you’.

Leon let out an uneasy chuckle. ‘I’m only joking.’ He said.

Without taking his eyes off the guy Leon retrieved his gun from its home, - tucked away in the crease of his back - and handed it over, handle first. The guy snatched the pistol out of Leon’s hands.

‘I know you gotta carry something else.’ he demanded. ‘Nahh man…’ replied Leon. ‘. . . Ask your boss. It’s just me and my P-266.’

The guy looked at Leon suspiciously.

‘I don’t believe you.’ he said and immediately started to pat Leon down again.

Feeling confident Leon had no other weapons on his person the tall guy turned to open the door behind him. A large cloud of smoke bellowed out, carrying with it the distinctive smell of Black n’ Mild’s and Weed. Leon followed the guy into the room and immediately heard the words, ‘So you finally decided to show, huh?’

Leon looked towards the direction the words came from and was immediately drawn to the fully stocked bar - at least three meters out from the wall to his left. Behind the bars counter were glass shelves with mirrored backing and Crystal-cut tumblers with brown and clear liquor placed throughout. The main reason why it caught Leon’s attention was because the bar itself was a gigantic fish tank, filled with different coloured stones and tropical fish. Black – the person who had initially spoken was sitting on a caramel-mocha leather couch to the right of the bar with his right-hand-man - and nephew - Perry, sitting on a stool to the left.

‘He’s clean.’ said the tall muscle-bound man handing Leon’s P-266 to his boss.

Black casually introduced his new muscular bodyguard to Leon. ‘Bo, Leon. Leon, Bo.’

Bo turned around and looked at Leon with slight disappointment in his eyes. It was as if Leon did not quite match up to the image he had conjured up in his head from all the stories he had heard.

Black peered around the shoulders of Leon as if expecting someone else to show up.

‘So what, No Jay?’ he asked surprised.

‘Nah, not tonight,’ Leon replied. ‘He had to go handle some business.’

Black frowned for moment before saying, ‘Word? I thought you two niggers were joined at the dick. Does your Shorty know you dipping out on her with a dude?’

Leon refused to answer.

With a snort, Black looked down at the brushed chrome, semi-automatic P-266 in his hand and for a split second looked confused but then smiled and said ‘With all the dirt you’ve done for me in the last three years, you still carry this thing? Don’t you watch CSI… ?’

Leon did not reply.

‘Dang, you is one sentimental mother-fucker!’ He said chuckling.

Leon did not need super human hearing to know Black’s words were filled with sarcasm, which only solidified what he already knew - something was wrong. It had to be. Aside from the life-size action figure he had hired, Black was acting differently, he was acting weird – he was asking too many questions.

‘Yo, what’s the deal Black? What’s up with all the questions… ?’ Leon said finally - trying to say the words as cool and as calm as possible. With a roll of the eyes he continued ‘. . . How long have you known me? I’ve been working for you and coming into this spot for three years and now for no reason, you gonna have the black Hulk man handle me! What the Fuck!’

Black slowly looked Leon up and down and after a short pause said ‘Leon, you’re a smart guy. You know exactly what is going on.’

‘I do?’ Leon replied surprised.

Shaking his head Black said ‘I was the one who decided to help you out and now you got your shit together…’ He paused long enough to heave his 300 lbs. of the couch and then after letting out a sigh, said ‘. . . I have to hear you’re trying to fuck with my business.’

‘What! What are you talking about… ? Leon replied surprised. ‘. . . Why would I try to get over on you? I’m straight where I’m at.’

Black moved in closer which immediately caused Leon to shrink back. Not out of fear but out of sheer disgust. Mixed in with the smell of weed, Black was carrying a strong smell of body odour - stale and unpleasant. His 5'9, 300 lbs. was regrettably all fat and this unfortunately caused him to sweat like a pig. Over the years Leon had often wondered if Black knew he even had a problem or if his father had said anything to him when he was alive. With a slight frown Leon thought someone should say something - but not him.

Black stopped within Leon’s five feet of personal space and watched him closely, trying to read any expression or deviation in his eyes. Leon could see what he was trying to do, so he just hit him with a blank stare and said ‘What… ?’

Black cleared his throat first and then said ‘Perry tells me your clientele got a little bigger last week.’ Despite the fact Black had just made a statement, Leon knew it was a direct question.

‘What are you talking about?’ Leon replied.

Not missing a beat Black quickly said ‘Well, as I understand it, helping me in my business is not enough for you. From what I hear you’re now working for Pyro as well…’

Leon heard the name and for what seemed like minutes everything stood still. Leon knew that Black could never really know the dealings he had with Pyro, but the very fact he was being accused of having any association with the major competition was not a good look. Leon could feel sweat making its way down his back, giving him that uncomfortable, tickly feeling. He looked to Black’s right and saw Perry fidgeting in his seat. Leon then focused his gaze on Black’s beady eyes, smiled and then said ‘Yo, if Perry can prove that, then cool. But until then,’ Leon paused. ‘I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.’

‘Plead innocent until proven guilty.’ Leon thought.

Black took a step forward and frowned. The two of them standing in front of each other looked like a picture op of an upcoming boxing match of professional fighters. Leon was no longer smiling, now his expression was serious and cold.

‘So what’s the deal Black?’ He said dryly. ‘Is that the reason you called me here, to start throwing accusations? I thought we were going to talk about business.’

Black looked over his shoulder at Perry and said ‘you sure you know what you know?’

Getting up from the chair, Perry walked up to Black’s side and said ‘I know what I know and your so called golden boy is playing you unc. He’s working for Pyro… !’

‘Yo, what’s your problem… ?’ Leon interjected. ‘. . . Can you prove that yo? You don’t know what you’re talking about…’

As soon as the words left Leon’s mouth, Perry let his fist rise from the lower right with a quickness that resembled a cobra attack. It would have caught any other guy off guard and square across the jaw but fortunately Leon was not just any other guy and smoothly dodged Perry’s clenched hand. The punch was thrown with so much force the momentum carried Perry’s body clean into Leon’s path; so in one swift motion Leon stepped to Perry’s side and wrapped his right arm around his neck.

‘Don’t be stupid!’ Black shouted.

Firmly holding Perry in what had now morphed into an unbreakable full-nelson, Leon looked up and saw Black’s short podgy index finger wrapped around the trigger of his own gun. Leon could also see Bo – who was standing to his right, also had a gun however he was cradling the pistol in his hand like a small stone and standing in an offensive line position as if he would much rather run over him, than use the gun he was holding.

‘Yo, you can do what you wanna do, but no one tries to disrespect me.’ Leon barked.

He meant every word and everyone who knew him understood he did not take kindly to disrespect. Black started to laugh loudly, ‘You are one brave dude…’ He said. ‘. . . Crazy! But brave. If you isn’t your father’s son, shiii…’

Black’s words trailed off into silence. He looked like his mind had just switched channels and his expression changed with the thought. He was no longer smiling but held a serious frown, causing the wrinkles on his greasy forehead to become more pronounced. They stretched from one side to the other with a slight dip filling in the space between his eyebrows. Leon could see Black’s mind was moving from thought to thought because his expression changed three times in