Chapter 38

Solomon was sitting alone at the cafe, sipping on his coffee and reading the day's paper, when he found himself interrupted by a voice.

"Solomon?" Solomon looked up from the paper and smiled at his guest.

"Well, hello there, Huck!" Solomon greeted him. "How nice of you to join me." He gestured for the man to take the seat across from his.

"What do you want?" Huck asked gruffly. He had been thrown off by Solomon's randomly calling him out of the blue.

"Well, you see, I was just minding my own business at work," Solomon started, "and then I suddenly came across something very… interesting."

"Something interesting like what?" Huck wondered aloud.

"You have a sister, right?" Solomon asked him.

"Yeah, I do," Huck replied. "Well, I DID." Huck's mind was overcome with memories. He and his sister had split up as kids but reunited as adults. And just as they'd begun rebuilding their relationship…

"Oh, that's right," Solomon said, pulling him out of his thoughts. "She died in an accident, didn't she?"

"Yeah," Huck recalled aloud. "She was riding the bus. The engine just blew up all of a sudden and the driver lost control and…" He trailed off, not wanting to speak about it anymore."

"And there were no survivors." Solomon finished for him. Huck nodded somberly.

"No survivors," Huck repeated. "But wait. What does my sister have to do with anything?"

"Well… what if I told you that bus incident, wasn't an accident?" Huck's eyes widened upon hearing that.

"You see, there was someone important on that bus," Solomon continued. "His name was Lionel West, and he'd been trying to be a whistleblower on a certain part of the government. They needed to get rid of him, you understand. And they decided the best way to do so… was to make it look like an accident." Huck was stunned.

"Who… who did this?" Huck asked. All those years he'd walked through his life alone, and then, finally, he'd found his sister Elaine. And then she ended up being taken away from him not too long after.

"You already know who did this," Solomon assured him. He leaned closely towards Huck, to where their faces were practically touching. "It was an order from the top.

"The top being B613. And the head of that organization…one Eli Pope." Having said that, Solomon leaned back into his chair. He sipped on his coffee and watched the pained expression on Huck's face as his world crashed down all around him.

"But wait," Huck said, shaking himself out of it. "How do you know for sure? How do I know you're not lying to me?" Huck started to raised his voice, but Solomon stopped him just short.

"Now, Huck, in all the years we've known- well, been acquainted with one another, when have you EVER known me to be a liar?" Solomon cocked his head to the side, waiting for Huck to respond. He knew the man wouldn't, though.

"Elaine…" Huck said in a whisper. He was still struggling to understand it. His sister had only been a decoy. She'd been killed to cover up an assassination.

"Now, I know this is a lot to process," Solomon said, turning on his fake sympathy. "BUT I have an idea, and I called you here today because I think we can help each other. How would you like to get revenge for Elaine?"

"What?" Huck was taken aback once again. "I can't. He's-"

"He's Command, I know," Solomon said with a nod. "That said, what if I told you that I can help you take him out and you wouldn't face any repercussions for it?"

"Like hell, I wouldn't," Huck replied, as Olivia and all she'd done for him came to mind. He hated Eli, for sure. But could he really kill the father of the person who'd saved his life?

"Now, you know they're not close at all." Solomon said, as though he could read Huck's mind. "In fact, that's exactly why Ethan didn't go to HIM when he was in trouble, because Eli can't be depended on for anything that doesn't benefit Eli. I mean, my goodness! That man has only seen his grandchild maybe twice in her entire life and they live in the same damn city! Olivia wouldn't care if something happened to him.

"And remember - Eli was going to sit on his hands and let Ethan die in that chair," Solomon elaborated further. "All that power B613 has… and Eli did nothing. He let it fall on his own daughter to put herself at risk with a perverted madman just to save her husband."

Solomon could tell by Huck's silence that he'd begun to think things over. So he decided to go for the kill.

"Eli Pope has hurt way more people than you and I have combined," Solomon told him. "In fact, for the right price, I wouldn't put it past Eli to tell Grant where Olivia is or to hand Ethan right back to the President. He's got to be stopped, Huck. Help me stop him."

"Why me?" Huck asked, looking Solomon right in his eyes. "Why not Ethan? He's better…"

"Ethan is trying to keep his wife and daughter safe from the President. I think he's a little too preoccupied with that, to take out his father-in-law. I know I can count on you, though.

"So what do you say, Huck?" Solomon offered. "Can you help me out? Can we help each other?"

Huck's eyes darted left and right, as though he was trying to figure out what to say.

"Boy, you really are such a damn snake." Solomon damn near dropped his coffee when he heard the voice behind him. He turned around, hoping he'd only been hearing things.

But he wasn't hearing things. Ethan Daniels was indeed standing before them, an annoyed look on his face.

"H-how did you…" It dawned on Solomon what was going on and he looked back at Huck. The man had a smirk on his face. "You told him, didn't you?" Now it was Solomon's turn to be annoyed.

"I sure did," Huck admitted. "Ethan told me you would do this EXACT thing."

"You didn't really think I wouldn't find out, did you?" Ethan asked Solomon, pulling up a chair of his own and glaring at his rival. "I know you. I knew you would take the first chance you got to rat me out."

"You know… you're really a pain in my side, Ethan," Solomon spat.

"Funny, 'cause you're a pain in my ass." Ethan snapped back at him. "Now, are you done trying to play sides, or are you going to help put the original plan into motion?" Solomon rolled his eyes.

"I will help you," Solomon said, "but I want something out of all this. And it's got to be more than just you not putting a gun to my damn head."

"I think your life is much more valuable than whatever Grant had to offer you," Ethan replied. "It wouldn't be much use to you if you're dead, after all."

"This is true," Solomon admitted. He was absolutely beside himself that Ethan had ruined his plans once more.

"Now, what DID that madman offer you? B613?" Ethan asked him, and Solomon's silence was all the answer Ethan needed. "Oh, I get it now. You were planning to use Huck as a fall guy while you slithered your way on into Command."

"Are we done here?" Solomon asked.

"No, we're not," Ethan snapped. "You're going to call Grant and give him a message. We'll take care of the rest. And IF I find out that you tried to tip him off…"

"I won't," Solomon said, cutting Ethan off. "Trust me on that one."

"Good. Then we'll see you later." And with that, Ethan and Huck rose from the table, leaving Solomon alone to himself in the cafe.