Changing Affection

Chapter Forty

Ezra kept pushing the man forward. He had listened to Ezra and hadn't spoken a word. The man stopped suddenly and when Ezra asked him why he stopped, he responded, "The bunker is up there. The door is easy to see."

Ezra nodded as he pulled the man over to a tree and sat him down. He knelt in front of him and pointed his gun between the man's eyes. "Do not say anything. Do you understand me?" He took out a rope and wrapped the man's arms against the tree, tight. "If I hear one tiny peep come out of your mouth." He pushed the end of the gun up against his forehead. "I'll blow your brains out, understand?"

The man nodded quickly.

"Good." Ezra stood back up and walked the rest of the way to the bunker, slowly. He saw a ledge up ahead and got down to his knees. He crawled over and looked over the edge to see the bunker door against the hillside. Ezra scoffed slightly at the huge metal door against all the greenery. It wasn't really concealed like he had thought it would be.

He shook his head as he focused on the two guards outside of the door. He knows I'm here, he thought to himself. Jearon wouldn't be that stupid to just leave two guards outside. Ezra reloaded his gun and took a couple of breaths as he pulled on the trigger. Two bullets went through each of the guard's foreheads before they knew what was happening.

Ezra got down to the door and looked at the keypad next to the door. To him, it looked like a fingerprint recognizer pad. He looked at the guard that was closest to the keypad and grabbed his hand. He brought his thumb up and placed it down on the keypad. Ezra held his breath as he waited for the keypad to hopefully recognize the man's thumbprint.

Finally, the keypad glowed green, and the door opened. Ezra winced as he heard the loud noise that the door gave when it swung open. He dropped the man's hand and held his gun out in front of him.

He slowly stepped into the bunker. No one was there to apprehend him. He thought this strange, but he knew that Jearon was wanting to kill him himself. Ezra kept his gun up as he traveled down the long hallway. He figured that the door at the far end was Jearon's office.

Ezra heard movement behind him. A gun was pressed to the back of his head, and he heard a deep voice say to him, "Don't fight, Ezra. It'll only get worse if you do."

Ezra held up both hands and let the man standing behind him take his gun. "You're really believing all the lies he tells you, Joseph?"

There was silence for a couple of moments. "You know I have to do his bidding, Ezra." Another pause. "Not everyone can run as easily as you can."

"I didn't run."

"In a way you did."

"He wants me dead, Joseph," Ezra sighed. "He wants to take my woman away from me."

Joseph sighed as he started to push Ezra towards the door at the end of the hallway. "Listen, I'm just doing what I'm told, Ezra." His voice dropped to a whisper. "You should be our leader, Ezra. No one believes that Jearon is a good leader for any of us."

"He used to be," Ezra retorted. He didn't know why he was still protecting his former best friend. Jearon had done everything against him, but he still had a protectiveness over the man that he grew up with and used to think of as a brother.

Joseph stopped him just for a moment. "Survive, Ezra. You're the stronger one." He pushed him forward and Ezra stumbled a little before he regained his footing.

They walked in silence for a few, long minutes until they came up to the door. Joseph reached around with his other hand and knocked on the door three times. They waited until the door was opened and Joseph pushed him forward.

Ezra took a look around the room and noticed how bare the office was as compared to Jearon's office back at the warehouse. Ezra noticed how full the room was. He now understood where all of his guards had been. Here. Protecting him.

Coward, he thought to himself.

He looked around at the many faces that he recognized. There were four new faces that he didn't know, but that didn't bother him. The men that he did know held an expression that he couldn't place. He couldn't tell whether it was fear, malice, or determination.

A cough brought him out of his thoughts and his head swiveled over to Jearon sitting behind the large desk. Ezra smirked as he noticed that his shoulder was still wrapped up.

"Isn't this a great surprise?" Jearon was smiling, but his voice was icy.

Ezra shrugged, his hands still in the air. "I think you knew that I was coming." Ezra motioned to the men around them. "Did you miss me?"

Jearon's smile faded. His eyes turned dangerous. "Shut the fuck up, Ezra." He banged his good fist on the desk and stood up quickly. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time." He started to walk around the desk and stood in front of it.

Ezra needed time to think about how he was going to get out of this. He decided he needed to stall Jearon for as long as he could. "Why didn't you just kill me in the warehouse? You had me tied up but did nothing. You had the chance there and you never took it."

Jearon rolled his eyes. "I'll admit. That's when I should have done it." He gave Ezra a smirk. "But that woman charmed me. There was just something about her knowing that you were going to die that made me excited." He chuckled as he watched Ezra's hands clench. "Perhaps even her watching you die was going to make me even more excited." He stepped closer to Ezra. "By the way, how is my future wife? Is she doing, okay?"

"Fuck you," Ezra seethed.

Jearon laughed. "You're funny, Ezra." He turned around and motioned for one of the men to give him a gun.

"Why are you wanting me dead, Jearon?" Ezra wasn't ready. He still needed to fight for Aubrey and his child. He needed to be the one who makes it out of here alive. He needed to keep Jearon talking.

"Power, you fucking idiot," Jearon sneers at him. "I want power and you're in the way of it." He grabbed a gun from one of his guard's hands and pointed it straight at Ezra's forehead. "Once you're gone, all of the power will be mine."

Ezra rolled his eyes. "You're delusional, Jearon."

"Am I?" Jearon pressed the gun against his forehead. His eyes were wide and crazy.

Ezra clenched his teeth. He waited for a couple of moments until Jearon smiled. "Goodbye, Ezra."

Before Jearon could pull the trigger, Ezra reached across him and pushed the gun away from his face. The gun flew out of Jearon's hand and stunned him from the sudden movement. Ezra took this moment and slammed his fist against Jearon's face. He was able to get two more punches in before someone grabbed him from behind.

Ezra's arms were trapped behind him. He was extremely strong, but whoever was holding him back was stronger. Ezra struggled against the man and didn't see another one of Jearon's guards come over and knee him hard in the stomach.

Ezra groaned as he doubled over. The man behind him still held his arms firmly in place behind him. Ezra was roughly pushed to his knees. Jearon knelt down and wiped off the blood that was coming out of the corner of his mouth.

"You've still got some fight in you, huh?" Jearon glared at him. Suddenly, he punched Ezra hard causing him to taste blood. "What do you have to say now?"

Ezra looked at him and then spit the blood that was in his mouth at Jearon's face. Jearon stood up quickly and wiped the blood from his face. "That's fucking it!" He grabbed another gun out of a holster and aimed it at Ezra's head once again.

Ezra stared right at Jearon. A lot of thoughts were going through his head, but what he kept thinking about was how he had already failed Aubrey. He had failed her by not being able to kill Jearon. He failed her by not keeping her safe. He had, as well, already failed his unborn child.

Ezra closed his eyes and waited for Jearon to pull the trigger. His mind was constantly on Aubrey. He wanted her to be his last thought.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a gunshot ringing in his ears.