Chapter Twelve

“Spar?” Quauhtli asked with a mischievous glint in his eye. They had concluded their tour of the estate with the martial arts training studio.

Carlos whistled. “I think he’s serious.”

“You know that I could never take you, Father,”

Leuters said.

“Try.” His father’s face crinkled with a smile.

“Prepare to watch me be defeated, Carlos.” Leuters slapped him on the back as he stepped into the arena.

“I’d like to see that.” Carlos scrutinized the father/son duo. They were about as well matched as the Jolly Green Giant and Jiminy Cricket.

“Trust me. It won’t take long,” Leuters promised. He met his father on the mat and offered a half bow. The two men began to spar. Leuters’s father had slowed with age but was able to anticipate his son’s combat tactics as if he could read his mind.

“Was there something that you wanted to ask me?” His father spoke effortlessly while dodging Leuters’s strikes.

“I have a choice to make.” Leuters’s kick caught nothing but air.

“And what is this choice?” Quauhtli stepped to

the side.

“I have discovered a medicine that will help many people. But it’s been made illegal.” His kick landed in the center of his father’s palm.

“According to who?” Quauhtli grabbed his son’s foot and used the momentum to pull him off balance, sending Leuters to the floor.

“The law.” He jumped back up to his feet.

“Whose law?” His father crouched and pivoted his body in a leg sweep.

“The governmental law.” Leuters jumped.

“You say that this medicine will help people?” Quauhtli blocked a punch with his forearm. The two men performed a rapid succession of blows and counter strikes.

“Very much.”

“Then you must continue.”

“If I am caught, the repercussions will be deva-

stating.”

“Then don’t get caught.”

“I am frightened.”

“Then you will be caught.” His father tapped an acupressure point lightly in Leuters’s rib cage, and he fell to the ground. His father stood above him. “I cannot advise you to walk away and spend your life in a safe state of regret. Nor can I tell you to run head first into controversy for the sake of goodness. You ask me a question that only you can answer.” He pulled his son to his feet and bowed. “But there is something that I can give you.”

“What is it, Father?” Leuters returned the bow.

“Your inheritance.” His father opened a weapons chest and pulled out a bronze sword. “Carlos, will you excuse us for a moment?” He addressed Carlos for the first time since their introduction. “I have a message to deliver to my son.”

***

“What did he say?” Carlos asked, shifting the car

into gear.

Leuters had been silent for over an hour. Carlos had respectfully allowed him space to think. He had gone to see his father for answers, but left with more questions. Whatever step he took next would unalterably change the trajectory of his life. It was a weighted decision.

“I vowed to never reveal the message.” Leuters looked out the window.

“What was the sword for?” Carlos questioned.

“To give me power.”

“Power for what?”

“To accomplish my mission.”

“To manufacture MFS?

“To follow my destiny.”

“Does that destiny include MFS?” Carlos held his breath while he waited for the answer. Leuters noticed that his body stiffened in his seat. Something seemed off.

“If I choose,” Leuters answered carefully.

“Have you chosen?”

“Yes. I have chosen, yes.”

“You are doing the right thing.” Carlos exhaled, and his body relaxed. He pulled the car into a gas station. “I have to make a phone call to prepare for our arrival.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be up for a community meeting just yet,” Leuters said, exhaling. “I have only just decided. I’m not quite ready to celebrate taking on the SSA as an opponent.”

“Not a community meeting,” Carlos assured him. “Just a meeting with a financier.”

“Very well,” Leuters conceded. “Make the call.”