A few weeks had passed since Carl's attack on Lincoln and while he was still in pain, it was nowhere near as bad as it was. His limp was almost entirely gone and he had been taking his arm out of the cast every so often when the pain was minimum. His face had swelled up and was now beginning to return to normal. Another thing that surprised him during his injured period was how his annoying girlfriend Jordan had taken it. She had been showing up to his house to check with him a bit more often and had also offered to help him sell the product he was given while he took it easy. But today, he had decided to go to the Sunset Canyon retirement home. Not that he wanted to but he needed to confront his Grandfather about... everything.
Lincoln stepped through the doors and into the old retirement home, raising an eyebrow as he noticed that the nurse, Sue, was nowhere in sight. An irregularity considering she was somehow always watching both the residents and the visitors at the same time. The woman must've had secret passages in this place. Lincoln looked around at the familiar residents, feeling a pang of guilt as he knew that apart from Scoot who willingly paid for Casagrande drugs, the rest of them were unknowingly being given drugs to make them less bothersome to deal with by Sue. He had no doubt however that his grandfather knew Sue's scheme and had long since thwarted it. Lincoln continued to walk through the old folk home, looking over at a new resident. Some old man in a wheelchair and a bell strapped to it. He continued his walk toward his grandfather's room, still noticing the lack of Sue.
"Pop-Pop, it's me," Lincoln said as he knocked thrice on Albert's door. No response. "..Pop-Pop!" Lincoln said again, raising his voice, and again, he was met with nothing but silence. Could it be that his grandfather was out elsewhere? surely not, he had kept the tracker in his shoe so Albert would've known he was coming. He knocked once more and decided to walk back down after again getting no response. He supposed he'd wait near the reception desk or perhaps talk to the new old man while he waited for his grandfather to return.
Lincoln tapped his foot, gazing every so often at the time as he continued to wait as he had been doing for the past 30 minutes. "Still nobody at the reception desk?" he said aloud to himself. He got up and walked behind the reception desk and into a room in the back which was also empty. He looked around the room not noticing anything of interest. He was about to walk out before he did a double take. The vending machine in the room had been moved ever so slightly. Lincoln made his way over to it and with a small effort, pushed the machine a few more feet, revealing to him a false wall. "...The hell is this?" Lincoln pushed the wall to the side to show a hidden stairway down into the dark. "Oh great, a fucking underground lair," Lincoln said with a huff as he began to head down.
As he got to the bottom of the stairs, he found a corridor stretching out in front of him, countless shelves going alongside it. To no surprise, the shelves were littered with stashes and stashes of drugs. He and Clyde had sold to Sue before but never this many... Had she been buying from multiple dealers? still, there was so much, so much that it couldn't have all been from dealers... Was this bitch buying boxes straight from the Casagrandes? if so, then why was she bothering with buying more from dealers?
As Lincoln made it to the end of the corridor, he came across a door. He grabbed the handle and opened it, revealing to him a sight that horrified him. Sue was tied down to a chair, blood pooling around her on the ground and who else would be standing beside her but his monster of a grandfather? "Pop-Pop?! what the fuck are you doing?!" Lincoln shouted causing the other two to look at him.
"Lincoln, my boy! You've caught me at an awkward time." Albert said with a chuckle as Sue coughed out blood, uttering the word "Help..." Lincoln quickly gazed around the rest of the room to see empty boxes everywhere. Presumably once all filled with drugs. "What is this?! what have you fucking done to her?!" Lincoln asked, his voice full of confusion and panic.
"Relax my boy. I am nearly finished here. You should stay and watch this, Lincoln. Seeing this might just toughen you up my boy and give you some guts!" Albert said with a smile. None of this bothered him whatsoever. Lincoln took a shaky breath and composed himself as best he could. "L-Listen, Pop-Pop! I came here to tell you that... I know. I know about the tracker in my shoe and that you've done the same to the rest of the family." Lincoln reached into his pocket and pulled out the microchip, showing it to Albert whose smile had vanished and was replaced by a vacant unreadable expression. "I've come here to tell you that-" Albert put his hand up, silencing Lincoln. "I know what you've come to tell me. I know what you have planned."
Lincoln looked his grandfather in the eyes, a rage coming over him as he began to connect the dots. "You... You were watching me on that night?! you fucking LET that happen?!" Albert responded with a nod. "I did. Rest assured, If I thought for one moment that he was going to kill you I would have intervened. But I know the Casagrandes and they weren't going to kill you unless they absolutely had to." Lincoln was seeing red. His own Grandfather, the one who always went on preaching about having Lincoln be like him was comfortable with letting him get beaten with a baseball bat and left there? "Fuck you. You don't give a single shit about me or anyone else in our family! I'd bet if Carl had tried to kill me, you wouldn't have done a damn thing! Hell, for all I know you're working with those drug bastards! is that what all this is?!" Lincoln gestured to the empty boxes, ignoring how a sharp jolt of pain went up his arm as he did so. Albert simply shook his head.
"No. This? This is simply Sue here buying from the Casagrandes to keep everyone here high and mellow so she doesn't have to work for a living. She has recently put two and two together that I was not taking what she was trying to give me and now... I have to deal with her so she doesn't try to resort to other methods of getting rid of me." Albert reached behind him picked up an already bloody knife and turned back to Sue. "WAIT!" Lincoln shouted, causing Albert to turn back around. "If she's been buying boxes of this shit, why was she also buying from dealers?" Lincoln asked while putting his arm back into the sling. "Why do you think, my boy? the answer is quite simple. Sue herself is addicted. She buys from local dealers near the end of each month to fuel her own addictions."
Lincoln huffed and rolled his eyes. Was every motherfucker in this city on drugs? "Now, Lincoln, let's talk about this little plan of yours." Albert put the knife back down, sparing Sue's life for a little longer at least. "...I need to stop the Casagrandes. Tell me why you believe Carl wouldn't kill me." Albert folded his arms. "Quite simple, really. Your sister and my beloved granddaughter Lori's currently dating a member of their family is she not? I doubt they would kill you or any other member of the Loud family in fear of Bobby finding out. The Casagrandes are many things but the one thing they value above all is family. Only their own family, of course."
Lincoln looked down at his feet, thinking to himself. His Grandfather did make a good point... "I'm guessing you heard Carl's threat. You really think that was nothing?" He asked. Albert nodded his head. "I do. Carl is young and eager to prove himself to the rest of his family. Making threats and beating you was him trying to put you back in line. Now the question is, will you? Or do you plan to go through with bringing down the world's most powerful drug family?"
Lincoln thought for a few minutes about his Grandfather's words. What he said made sense and despite how he despised his Pop-Pop, he knew that he was the most experienced about these things. "...Maybe you're right," Lincoln said, his voice low. "Maybe I need to... think about all of this." Albert who had already turned his back to Lincoln picked up the bloodied knife again. "But whatever I decide, know this Pop-Pop. I won't have you spying on me or the others with these chips any longer." Lincoln threw the microchip to the ground and smashed it under his foot. Albert let out a chuckle. "If you say so, my boy." Before Lincoln could respond, Albert shoved the knife into Sue's arm. She didn't even scream and barely reacted to the action. How long had he been torturing her down here? "...Why don't you let her go?" Lincoln asked timidly.
Albert turned his head slightly. "You gonna make me?" Lincoln stood there in silence for a moment before slowly turning around and leaving down the corridor.
To Be Continued