Death Pad

Contents

PROLOGUE

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter 57

Chapter 58

Epilogue

About the Author

PROLOGUE

Reno, Nevada

The black night sky was illuminated by the fireworks display originating from the city below. The upcoming city festival week always started with numerous parades and laser light presentations. Boisterous oohs and aahs could be heard from the roof garden restaurant above his suite. Through the half-opened window, he felt he could reach out and touch every colorful burst. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, wet from the icy drink. He was not celebrating like the others. He was pondering the life and death decisions he had gotten himself and others into over the past two years. One part of him wanted to let it go and simply get on with his existence. The majority of his consciousness knew exactly what had to be done, and very soon.

Lying on the bed, he put his arm across his eyes. The visions of the past would not go away. He could hear voices from his blood as it pumped through his forehead. His mental kaleidoscope flashed images of people, places, and moments of disbelief. The exploding fireworks made him clinch his fists. He saw things on fire, bodies laying in final discord. As he slowly slipped into a wanton sleep, the finality of the outdoor celebration crashed into an ear-deafening vibrato. He sat up violently knocking over his half-full drink on the floor. The people above clapped and cheered, as the festivity ended. He went to the window and closed it. He called for a wakeup call in three hours, and then fell into a quick, deep sleep.

The ringing phone for his wakeup call sounded very distant and faint. He finally picked up the receiver and listened to a recording telling him the time and message. After calling for room service, he slipped out of his clothes and took a long warm shower. The earlier drinks had given Michael a headache, but the fresh coffee and light breakfast seemed to cancel it out. After slipping his jacket on, he pulled his 9mm from its holster and ejected the clip. As he rubbed his thumb over the cold bullet, thoughts of not being alive in four hours crossed his mind. Only the sound of the clip slamming back within the handle brought reality back into play. Only time would tell, he thought.

He arrived at the elevator area to find the closest car being held open by one man while a second man stood quietly at the rear of the car. He paused for a moment, and then got in.

Morning Mr. Canon, the man in the rear said.

Scott.

The first man pushed the button for the second floor-parking garage, and then turned around. Mr. Canon.

How you doing Victor?

Right now I’d rather be somewhere else.

We all would, but if everything goes as planned we will be drinking a toast by ten, Michael answered in a quiet but convincing tone.

The elevator doors opened and the three exited. They stood for a moment to watch some people playing slot machines directly in front of them. Allowing a drink hostess to walk past them, they exited the casino into the brisk cool night air. Neither of the three wanted to rush the inevitable. Scott looked around at the mostly empty garage, and then popped the trunk on the Lincoln. Victor reached in and pulled a blanket back exposing three shotguns and two assault rifles. After picking up one of the Remington pumps and a box of shells, he stepped back. Scott picked up two M16’s and an ammo clip bag. As Michael drove them from the garage, the other two fully loaded each weapon for what could be their last hurrah.

Chapter 1

The leaders of the world were not fighting each other for the time being, which enabled the typical politician to go about each day making the same worn out promises. With Election Day approaching, the news broadcasts and papers were full of the empty promises heard by most for centuries. Each electorate still pledged to lower taxes, save social security, create more jobs, more housing…the usual bullshit. Homelessness and crime prevention were always put on the back burner for a later date. Simply put another way, if there were money in it for someone, they would look into it.

The city’s biggest problem had been, and still was, the drug trafficking, and it was now turning into a nightmare of the highest magnitude. The teenager market was the target of one of the largest South America drug experiments to hit the United States in over a century. The drug cartels trained small teams of men to nurture the flow of the newest and deadliest of their products. Within a few months of entering a city, teams usually numbering twenty to twenty-five men, would lower the cities drug prices and start cornering the market on those who could not live without the deadly spices of society. Rival competitors would feel the pinch and go after them. This was their fatal mistake, as the visiting teams would take them down in a quick and bloody fashion. Constant fear of the cartel hit teams, called Canarra, made the rival pushers and gang’s money flow dwindle. Actually, Canarra marketed the same products as the local dealers, only in a different package. Most drug heads snorted, shot up, or smoked the powders, pills, and liquids. A new form of administering the spices of life sprang on the scene, created by several south of the border scientists. The Canarra had the patent, and to them it was just a patch. A simple transdermal injection system was copied from the ones most smokers spent a fortune on. This patch was extremely fast acting, and its contents entered the bloodstream through the skin. For quickest results, the recommended place to wear these patches was on the chest near the heart. Stages of highs grew gradually over the days. The one side effect users did not count on was the sudden stop at the top of the ladder. Depending on the chemical makeup of the first time drug user, right up to the full-blown addict, at any unsuspecting moment, their lives would end quickly and violently. Their body’s immune system would overload, causing a total short-circuit within the nervous system causing instant death. The Canarra proudly marketed the product and laughingly called it LIFE. The news media and the authorities would come to know them as DEATH PADS.

Local and state police had no luck in stopping the flow of the patch. With their every civil right covered and protected, Canarra moved throughout the city virtually unscathed by law enforcement. All of the federal agencies files were thin, let alone their work force. Anyone who opposed Canarra’s operation simply disappeared via a hit and the Canarra hit team would vanish without a trace until next time. The DEA, with only a fifth the budget as the larger federal agencies, went nowhere with the problem either. The Cartel knew this and acted accordingly.

Chapter 2

Michael C. Canon was a very successful mechanical engineer for a remote-controlled model toy company. He liked going to work everyday mainly because he owned the business. He held twenty-nine patents and enjoyed the best of everything. He never forgot the up and down struggles to be competitive, the pain of small business red tape, and the costs or how long it took him to get to where he was.

He often thought back to his father working from sun up until sun down as a rubber tire vulcanizer at a local tire recap company. Though the work was hot and strenuous, the money was very good. His mother was a court stenographer and excelled in high profile cases. Growing up with all the necessities of a kid, there was no weekly monetary allowance for him to indulge as he saw fit. There were, however, small cash awards for doing things like washing the family car, mowing the lawn, running errands for the neighbors, etc. He learned very quickly how to spend wisely. He looked forward to going to the local movie theater for the Saturday matinee, as his father would kick in an extra fifty cents. The additional monies he accumulated, away from the savings program his mother had him in, went for airplane and car models. He and his father would carefully put each assembly together. The fascination for this type of creative learning toy allowed him to move into the field of engine-powered models and eventually to flying them remotely. In his first year of high school, his father came down with pneumonia that he would not recover from. It was now just him and his mother to keep things together. When he graduated, he went into the Navy and excelled so fast he was offered Officers Candidate School. Tragedy struck him again when his mother succumbed to a heart attack in his final year. He knew in his heart his parents both lived and loved life to the fullest. Like he was taught, he served his country most honorably for six years.

The Navy lost a fine officer when his tour was ended. Thoughts of other things in life crowded his mind. He had met a fantastic woman named Susanne at a prior Navy function. The term love at first sight played a big part in them being married a year later. Her parents had died a few years earlier leaving her with a healthy inheritance of her own. With no credit ratings to speak of, the two of them bought a home in the valley and opted for a fifteen-year mortgage. Within a month, Michael went to work for a struggling remote-controlled toy company. His introduction of airplanes to go along with the company’s toy car and truck lines took him to the top of the business. In a few years, he was able to purchase the company from the retiring owner.

Michael and Susanne’s love culminated into two teenagers, Chris and Jennifer. He and Susanne had worked miracles to keep them out of harm’s way, but even that had not been enough.

Teens of today had another agenda, which, differed from the old days of Michael and Susanne. Jennifer had found the slut look, plus the every widening assortment of body part piercing and mini-tattoos. Chris went the other way and worked part-time with his Dad testing the remote-controlled mega-toys. Chris had some teen influence on Jennifer, but not enough to turn her. Susanne was four months pregnant so her parenting thoughts slipped back into ones of less stress and planning for their third child.

Chris was All-Varsity in school and his best friend was Theo Washington. They had both lettered together in football and track. Theo’s father, Darren, worked with Michael in engineering designing the remote-controlled boat line. Chris’ third inseparable pal was Alvin Pritz, Allie for short. When not working at the company, to find one of them, simply look for the other two. Allie’s father, John, was on Michael’s Board of Directors, plus co-owner of a company producing video surveillance equipment such as cameras, monitors, and listening devices. John had the expertise in the field and Michael became his silent partner by financing him to get started.

John Pritz had grown up across town on the so-called other side of the tracks. His father was a police officer, which played a big part in his staying on the straight and narrow. Basics in good learning came on behalf of his mother who taught elementary school. John degreed in electrical engineering at the local junior college. After a stint in the Navy, he returned and accepted a teaching certificate at his college. He honored his parents and the entire community to be one of the first blacks to be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Engineering. He taught for three years before his world began to crumble. His parents died in an auto accident in route to hearing him speak at a local event. His wife of two years left him shortly after, taking all their monetary assets and moved across the country. Divorce papers followed quickly after. It was not long before his ability to teach suffered to a point the college asked him to step down. His world had gone from one of high esteem to no place but down. The country had fallen into a recession, which made for a very tight job market. John was out of work for over a year and was falling deeper and deeper into debt. It may have been fate, or a stroke of strange luck, that he rear-ended Michael’s car, who knows.

Michael had actually heard John speak several years earlier at a chamber of commerce luncheon. At the time, he was impressed with the young man. As for the accident, there was little damage and nobody was hurt. Michael was on his way to lunch and invited John to join him. As lunch talk would go, Michael put John on to a small electronics company that had a position open. John stayed in touch with Michael and they became very good friends. They played golf together and through Susanne, John met his wife, married, and began a family. Because of economic times the company John worked for was about to declare bankruptcy. Michael, well aware of John’s capabilities, dedication, and their friendship, purchased the small company for little to nothing. This was one of the best investment deals Michael ever made. John never looked back. He excelled to new heights and shared everything he had with Michael.

A long time friend of John’s, Darren Washington, actually took advantage of a major cutback at the company he was engineering at to go to work for Michael on John’s recommendation. The three thrived and created so much it was hard to think it was all due to a minor fender bender a few years earlier.

Chapter 3

Canon Aeronautics’ shut down at noon on Friday to give the employees a head start on the special weekend. Michael was going over some last minute details when his secretary, Marsha, buzzed, informing him his daughter was in the lobby. He slipped his jacket on as the door to his office opened.

Hi Daddy. How come the place is so empty?

The company outing is this weekend. I wish you would change your mind and come with us, Michael said, as Jennifer kissed him on the cheek.

Be serious, those things are for you old people, and besides I’ve got better things to do, she answered, as she jumped in the chair in front of the desk and sat on her feet.

Really, and what may I ask do you young people do when we old people go to the mountains? You know I really worry about you.

Oh Daddy you know, go to the movies, to the malls, just hang out.

Well Chris is worried about you too. I just wish you could spend a little less time with your friends and more with Chris.

What does he know? What do any of you know about my friends, or me? You just don’t want me to do anything I want to do! she said, raising her voice in anger.

That’s not true Jen, we only want what’s best for you, he answered, coming around his desk to be near her.

He bent down and put his arms around her. She was very uneasy, as they had gone through this conversation before at home many times. He put his hand under her chin and slowly raised her head up.

Let me see those beautiful brown eyes of my little girl.

As her eyes met his, a little smile broke out on her lips and he noticed a small trickle of blood coming out of one nostril.

Hey, your nose is bleeding. Are you all right?

He put his handkerchief on her nose, as she held her head back. She told him her nose bled at times but everything was fine.

He loved his daughter so much and hated to see her going through the phase of growing up she was in. Pouring her a cold soda he returned to his desk, and then inquired as to her coming over to the office.

I want to do some shopping this weekend and need some money, Jennifer said.

I thought you had been saving up your allowances for clothes?

Fine, if you don’t want to help me I’ll find someone else, Jennifer said loudly, springing up from the chair and heading for the door.

Hey, settle down. Come here Jen, Michael said.

She stopped short of the door and turned around. He motioned for her to come to him. A slight smile crossed her lips, as she walked over to his chair and sat down on his lap. She knew only too well how to play on his emotions. He also knew how she played, but he saw no harm in her doing it within reason.

I worry about you and just want you safe, Michael said, as he moved some hair off her face. You know this is going to cost you a dinner with the family at that new Mexican restaurant in Sparks when we get back. Now how much do you need?

He pulled his wallet from inside his jacket pocket and took out a hundred-dollar bill. She took it with one hand and smilingly held out the other.

Who loves you? he said, as he pulled his wallet back out of her reach.

Mom and Chris.

And? he asked, slowly bringing his wallet closer.

You Daddy, I love you the most, she said smiling, and then pulled two more large bills out.

Hey, do I look like the National Bank? Three hundred dollars, what are you going to buy, a fur coat?

Maybe, she said, as she hugged and kissed him all over his face. You’re the best. Have fun on your trip.

He watched her quickly exit the room, and