She swallowed as she wiped her tears and fixed her dress. Turning to me she took my extended arm. With a smile, we walked towards the lunch table where my father sat waiting. Olivia went and kissed his cheek before she sat down, and I shook his hand in greeting. He gazed at me with the same tired look I had grown up seeing, and I wanted to tell him that I understood.
“So, Olivia, have you chosen a spot at the family burial plot yet?” he casually asked her while he poured himself some tea.
Her mouth dropped open.
“It’s quite nice, we have photos engraved into the black marble,” he added, as he took a sip.
It seemed as though everyone in the family had taken to torturing her in some way. But she’d made her bed and now she would lie in it, alone. There was no escape for her. Even though she was out in the open like this, Melody had made sure her orders were clear, if Olivia tried to run, we were to aim for her legs.
DECLAN
I watched her as she punched as hard as she could into his neck. He grabbed on to her arm, and pulled her up and over, until her body slammed onto the canvas of Liam’s boxing ring. Crawling onto her side, she pushed herself up before she wiped the blood from her nose and regained her stance.
Fedel stared at her for a moment before he lifted his arms and took a couple of steps back. They circled each other, their eyes never wavering. Finally, she leaped forward, and he grabbed her waist, trying to stop her. However, she twisted herself, and wrapped her legs around his neck before she flipped him. They wrestled on the ground until I couldn’t handle seeing him touch her any longer.
“Enough. Get the fuck off my wife,” I said as calmly as I could while I walked towards the ring. They both looked at me, confused for a moment, but what pissed me off was the amused look that graced Fedel’s face.
Without another word, he got up while Coraline remained on the ground, taking deep breaths.
“Thank you, Fedel,” she said to him.
I watched as he nodded to us, and I followed his every move as he stepped out of the ring.
“Get ready, we’re going to pay our guest a visit,” I stated.
“I’ll get right on it,” he answered as he walked off.
Turning back to my wife, I saw that she still hadn’t moved.
“You’re being jealous for no reason, Declan.”
“I’m not jealous, I just don’t like watching my wife get beat on by any man.”
She turned her head to me and gave me a small grin. “I had a fighting chance.”
“He was holding back, believe me.”
She looked so disheartened, that I want to kick myself. “Not that you weren’t doing well, because you were. But Fedel has been doing this for decades. There were times you surprised us both, that leg thing you did was…”
Sexy.
“You do know that Fedel’s gay, right?” she asked.
I was completely floored. My mouth opened as I tried to process the words she’d just said. “Did he tell you that?”
“No, but he doesn't need to. Seriously, you’ve never noticed?”
“Noticed what?” I’d noticed nothing!
“Declan, he’s never once had a girlfriend since we’ve know him—”
“Who has time for a girlfriend? He’s busy, I barely have time to have a wife with all the shit Mel and Liam have me doing.”
She laughed as she rose from the floor before she came over to me. “He’s never once talked about woman either. All the other men try to sleep with the maids or their eyes wander when we’re in public. But Fedel…if a woman approaches him, he always says the same thing. ‘Sorry, I’m not interested—’”
“He’s dedicated to his work; the family doesn’t pay to flirt on the job.”
“Speaking of family events, we need to organize a get-together. We haven’t seen them in a few months, I’ll ask Mel and Evelyn.” She snapped her fingers as she remembered.
“I can’t believe he’s gay,” I whispered, still stuck on the first part of her statement.
She rolled her eyes. “Not all gay men run around with rainbows and sprinkles shooting out of their asses.”
“I know, but come on, he would have at the very least tried to hit on me. He can’t be gay.”
She froze as she looked me over. Then without warning, she broke out into a fit of laughter. She laughed so hard that her eyes were watering.
“It’s not that funny.”
“No, it isn’t. Your head is just so damn big, I’m going crazy from the lack of oxygen.”
“Don’t make me pin you down.”
“Don’t make me mess up your face, pretty boy. What’s the Italian word for narcissist?”
Her smile still made me smile, even when she got on my fucking nerves. It reminded me of when we first met…she called me a narcissist then too.
“Hit the showers so we can go; you got pissed at me the last time I went to visit her without you.”
She moved to get out of the ring but I stopped her and kissed her hard. Pulling her to me, I wrapped my arms around her waist as she leaned in and deepened our kiss. As I let go of her, she stumbled forward.
“Seriously, what man or woman in their right mind wouldn’t want a piece of this,” I whispered to her.
Shaking her head at me, she walked off and left me standing there.
“You’re not that hot!” she yelled.
I grinned. “You’re a bad liar, baby!”
CORALINE
I wanted to crawl into a bath of ice and never come out. All of my muscles were on fire, and yet Fedel looked perfectly fine. He sat in his chair, wearing a slim-fitted, black leather zipper jacket, with dark Ralph Lauren jeans, and black military boots.
“Do you need anything, boss?” he asked without opening his eyes.
“No. And you and I both know you don’t think of me as your boss. You don’t have to call me that, Fedel.”
His eyes opened and his eyebrow rose. “We aren’t friends, Mrs. Callahan. I work for your brother-in-law and your sister-in-law, and by extension, you. I call you ‘boss’ because they made you so while they’re away. Noted that calling you as such is disrespectful to them. Not calling you boss means that I do not agree with their decision, which means I am questioning their choice. Thoughts like that are dangerous, especially in times like these. And only a fool would question or disrespect them. I’ve made it this long by not being a fool.”
Loyal to the bone.
“If you work for me, then why are you here resting your eyes while Declan is in there?”
“You’re mistaken, ma’am, I was simply listening to our surroundings. Take for example the rat right by the window above us trying to eat a stale piece of bread…”
Glancing up at the dirty, yellow, tinted windows of the factory, I saw the rat that he was referring to, eating what appeared to be some sort of pastry or bread.
“Also, there’s a flag outside flapping in the wind,” he stated, looking to the large red steel doors that stood about twenty feet from us. But they were sealed shut, how could he have heard that?
“There’s also a blue Chevy driving this way, but it’s just passing through.”
Now I was just incredulous. I turned to face him. “How in the hell can you know that?”
He pointed to his ear. “We have men standing post and they’re filling me in.”
Crossing my arms, I pouted. “No one likes a smartass.”
“Yes, ma’am. Now may I go back to resting my eyes?” he smiled and I nodded in acquiesce.
Resting against the chair, he closed his eyes once more as I walked around, and inspected the old rusted machines of the abandoned factory. Everything was so cold, damp, and dark. It made me wonder if Mel and Liam chose places like this to seem badass. Declan was down in the basement dealing with our “guest.” I wanted to join him, but he was still using the training wheels when it came to me. At least he allowed me to carry a gun now, and even though I wasn’t the best shot, I was good enough. I had two kniv
es in my boots that I was able to wield more efficiently, and he’d bought me the same gloves that Mel used, apparently they were made from some fabric that didn’t leave any DNA or fingerprint residue.
“Fedel, how many men do we have?” I asked him, as I jumped up onto the old conveyor belt.
“Within the state, or the country?”
I never knew there was a difference.
“The state?”
“Two hundred and forty-seven.”
“Jesus, really? We pay all of those people?”
“If you want any more information, you’re going to have to ask the boss.” He shifted in his seat.
I frowned, as I stood up and walked slowly along the belt with my arms out to the side as though I was having trouble balancing.
“Fedel, what’s the Italian word for narcissist?”
“Narcisista.”
Well, that was easier than I thought.
“How many people have you—?”
“I’ve lost count,” he cut me off before I could finish what I was going to say.
“I was going to ask you how many people you’ve dated.”
“Are you ordering me to talk about my personal life?”
I didn’t want to order him. “No, but—”
“Then I prefer to not answer your question, ma’am,” he responded, and luckily for the both of us, Declan returned from the basement.
“We’re done here, are they still standing guard?”
Fedel nodded, already on his feet. “Just like you asked, three at night, three in the morning. Also there is a new shipment of snow coming in.”
Why didn’t anyone tell me? Pricks!
“Good. Right on time. I’ll let Mel and Liam know, they’ve been expecting it.” Declan came upbeside me, and extended his arm to help me down. Accepting it, I jumped down as gracefully as possible.
“Did the permits come in for the new marijuana farm?” he questioned.
Fedel shook his head. “Apparently Chicago’s not as liberal as we would’ve liked to believe.”
“Well, it looks as though the bosses are going to have to buddy up to more people in Washington before they come home. They really want a home-based farm, right?” I asked, reminding them both that this was no longer a boys only club.
“What’s happening to our guest?” I added.
They both gave each other a look…I knew that look. It was the same one that Liam wore when he first introduced Mel to the family. It was the look he had in his eye before he was arrested. It was a look that said, “the shit is about to hit the fan.”
I sighed. “Do I have to start making ‘Free Declan Callahan’ buttons?”
TWENTY-FOUR
“The main reason he's in the business is to eliminate his enemies.”
—Lorenzo Carcaterra
MELODY
“Have they noticed you?” I asked him as I searched through the lines of the green code on the screen.
“No, I don’t think so. They’re horrifyingly anal, but they aren’t expecting anyone to be checking on them. Give me a second and maybe I can get us a live feed to make sure this isn’t just some M.I.T. dropout living in his mother’s basement,” Declan replied on speakerphone.
“Already done.” He’d apparently forgotten that I’d been doing this a long time.
Clicking on the web camera, I pulled up the live feed for both of us to see. Part of me did expect to see some loser dropout sitting in his dirty underwear and eating chips, just like the last three organizations we’d looked into.
Kain was coming in handy. It was best not to go to Colemen for this after getting the FBI list from him. So while in the Southeast, Kain greased a few palms and kept an open ear for any rumors of terrorist activity. The problem with law enforcement was that nine times out of ten, they assumed that people were stupid, and to their credit, nine times out of ten it was true. However, the difference was that they didn’t bother to inquire. It’d been a week since Liam first came up with this idea, and now everything was beginning to fall into place. We’d paid visits to bars frequented by anyone who was relevant in the government, and we’d gotten a few names from our venture. None of them seem worth the trouble though, which was why they’d been written off.
“Are you seeing this?” Declan gasped in shock before he chuckled. “We’ve crossed over into a whole other world.”
Pulling off my headphones, I turned to Liam who was lying in bed reading his comic book. I wanted to take the damn thing and chuck it across the room. Instead, I smacked him on the chest.
“What?” he snapped at me as I held up the laptop for him to see. His eyes widened as he sat up. “Holy shit.”
Taking the device from me, he sat rigidly, as his comic book fell to the floor.
“Are those AR-15s?”
“No, those are 1975 Russian APS assault rifles. However, these,” I said as I motioned to the guns on the far side of the wall, “are AR-15s. And those over there are original M1 Garand. My father gave me his on my fifteenth birthday. He had a Bushmaster M17S’, a Colt LE901 and a SOPMOD, which I am certain is strictly for military issue. Liam, this equates to my dream kitchen.”
Was it wrong that I was smiling? The room was an arsenal of weapons that had the potential to make me jealous. On the walls were maps of the different states that lined the East Coast.
“Who are they?” Liam asked me.
“They call themselves Rsamas; the Republic Soldiers Against More American Savagism. They’re a brand new terror cell growing out of—”
“Let me guess, Mississippi?” he cut me off.
“Close—Alabama. Right now, they boast thirteen members that Declan and I can dig up. They are very active on private underground blogs and chat rooms. Most of their action seems to be cyber based— hacking and the sort, but nothing on a grand scale.”
He looked to me. “They look as if they’re preparing for war.”
“Then it’s a good thing we’re here to provide the war for them.”
“Can you be any more excited?” he chuckled as he brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear.
I held the screen for him to see again. “My dream kitchen, Liam. My dream kitchen.”
“Well, it looks as if we’ve found our sacrificial lamb.”
I leaned in as I zoomed over the guns at the bottom of the screen.
“No, Mel,” he said as though I were Ethan.
“Excuse you?”
“I’m sorry, you didn’t hear me? Let me repeat myself. No, Mel, you’re not ordering anyone down south for a few guns. I’m sure you can get them off the black market anyway.” He handed me back the phone, and took the computer from me.
“Not that one, it’s a FN Herstal semi-automatic—”
“Love, I adore you, but can you be passionate about something else right now. Like, I don’t know, setting these guys up?” The comic book nerd smiled.
I never said shit when he spent ten grand on his cartoon books.
“Pussy,” I muttered as I picked up the phone. “Declan?”
“So, I’m guessing this means were doing this?” he sighed into the phone.
“Do you have a problem?”
“No, I’ll get to work. When do you want this to happen?”
I looked to Liam, who had bent over to grab his comic. Angrily, I kicked him in the chest and off the bed. I was doing all the goddamn work while he was just on motherfucking vacation. Just because I knew how to hack, didn’t mean he got to slack off.
“What the fuck!?” he yelled at me.
Smiling, I focused. “Do the tape, then send it to me, we’ll broadcast it tomorrow. Avian’s been doing a pretty good job controlling the fallout from the FBI. I want to strike again before he comes after us.”
“He’s already tightening up the DEA busts around our supplies. It’s as if he knows where all our imports are coming from.”
I’d known that. But hearing it from his mouth annoyed me. Liam stood up and grabbed my legs. Instinctively, I tried t
o kick him away.
“Just get it done.”
“I’ll get right on it. And Mel?”
“What, Declan?” I gritted through my teeth as Liam grabbed my free arm and placed it behind my back.
“Did you know Fedel’s gay?”
I was aware of that, but I was more shocked that he knew. Fedel was very good at keeping his personal life as private as possible.
“Get it done, Declan.” I hung up and threw the phone onto the bed as I tried to wiggle free from Liam’s grasp.
“You know, you’re very abusive,” he whispered into my ear.
“It’s not my fault you’re a pussy,” I replied, as I kicked my leg into his balls.
“BITCH!” he hissed out in pain as he involuntarily let me go.
I hadn’t even kicked him that hard.
Grabbing his shirt, I pulled him onto the bed and sat on top of him.
“And you better not forget it, sweetheart.” I moved to get off of him, but he didn’t let me go.
“Liam—”
“Stop talking. Just sit on top of me until it feels better.”
I tried not laugh. “And how is this helping?”
“Mentally it makes me feel better.”
I roll my eyes as I sat on top of him for a moment longer before I got up. “We have a lot to do today, you’ve been through worse, so man up.”
“Women underestimate how fucking painful this is,” he grumbled as someone knocked.
“Maybe that’s because we are comparing it to the fact that once a month Mother Nature punches us in the uterus for a week,” I snapped.
He opened his mouth, but then closed it, obviously unsure how to respond as I opened the door.
Sedric gave me an odd stare and I could only assume that he’d heard the last part of our conversation.
“Yes?” I asked.
Shaking his head, he handed me a folder and I immediately wanted to smack him over the head! I’d specifically instructed him not to key Liam into this. Now he was going to ask me what the fuck was in it.
“Sedric—”
“Before you start, Liam came to me a week ago and asked me to do the same thing you wanted. There’s no point in me doing it twice. This is everything for all of us, with the exception of Olivia, of course.”