The Syndicate 3

by Brick

My hand went around Shanelle’s waist. I gripped her so hard that she yelped, which stopped her in midsentence. I wasn’t trying to shut her up, but fuck, I needed to kiss her, and I did. My mouth claimed hers, and I felt her lips soften and accept my tongue. I felt refreshed and energized by her touch. Felt pride that she had figured this shit out.

  “Don’t you ever in your life do anything like this again . . . unless you have backup like you do now.” I smirked, then pulled on her back and removed twin guns from her hips. I pivoted, then sent two rounds into the skulls of approaching Knights.

  It seemed that Shanelle and I were on the same wavelength, because she took her semi and let that bitch sing at the same time. Our gunplay was like a dance. I hopped on her bike and held my baby’s waist as she started it up.

  When she did so, my mouth almost dropped again. “You brought the family too?”

  “You know I had to, baby. This is a family affair,” Shanelle said with pride.

  Ahead of me was a masked goon. I knew the body type from anywhere and the mask with the Joker face on it. Squatting on a bike was Jojo. That kid leaped off his bike to rush a towering Knight.

  Like some type of demon, Jojo sent his fists hard into the bastard’s face, tagging him left, then right, then leaped up to kick the Knight in his chest, sending the guy backward. When the Knight stumbled, Jojo followed by leaping on him and slicing him across the exposed areas of his uniform. Blood flew in the air, and Jojo didn’t stop. Clutching his hands together, he brought his fisted hands down on the Knight’s head, sending the guy’s helmet flying and allowing Jojo to leave his blades in that dude’s skull.

  I was blown away. I hadn’t seen Jojo in this light, with this much aggression. When Jojo continued bashing that dude’s face in, I realized that I saw myself. I had just done the same only seconds ago. My baby brother was beasting, and though it worried me, I got it. He had a lot of angst to work out.

  “Jojo, get low,” shouted a female voice that I recognized. Looking in the direction from whence it came, I saw Inez. She was sprinting forward like the former track star she was. In her hand was a goddamned flamethrower.

  “Where the hell did Inez get a flamethrower?” I shouted near Shanelle’s ear.

  My baby gave a laugh and kept riding through Knights. “Blame the Thieves and Cory.”

  All I could do was gape. Inez lit that shit up, set a bunch of Knights on fire, then removed a gun from her hip and pumped steel into the running bodies. To the left of her, I could see Cory rushing in toward her. He hooked her around his hand and spun her. I could see him mouthing something to her, and she grinned brightly, then let that flamethrower go off as they turned in a full circle, as if dancing.

  No one was getting close to them, and no one was walking away unscathed from their flames.

  “Von, jump and roll,” Shanelle shouted. When she did, I made us lean, so the bike could slide over the flooring of the massive entryway. Both of us let off our guns, then leaped and rolled away, taking out a wall of Knights.

  Sweat poured down my face, and in the chaos of smoke, fire, fighting, and shooting, I could see my whole family being flanked by Syndicate members, like Nighthawk and even Jai. Monty was by the doors, boxing like Ali, throwing his knee up in MMA style, then bringing down a pole. Near Jojo was Navy. That kid was a tactical one like me. His love was making shit go boom and, from what I was seeing, using a machete. He ran up on Knights, hit them with a one, two, three, then lined their bodies with grenades. After swinging his machete upward, to open up some throats, I watched him rush off. The second he did, whoever he’d touched blew up like a glass plate that had been sitting on a hot stove too long.

  Everyone was handling business. I felt Shanelle come my way and help me up. As best we could, we fought our way out of the entryway. I swung left; she swung right. I managed to lift her up and toss her on the back of a Knight who ended up being a bulky-ass woman. Shanelle took the chick down with ease, choking the chick with her forearm.

  The battle was of epic proportions, but when the smoke cleared, it was the Syndicate who was left standing. We fought our way out of hell, and we still had one level to stop on. Afterward, we headed out. Once we were in the clear, I spilled everything I had learned about Luci as fast as I could.

  “Why? Why would he hurt Mama like that?” Shanelle asked, with anger in her eyes.

  “That’s what we need to find out, babe.” I looked around for Luciano, but all I saw was his empty wheelchair and no Lucky. For that matter, I didn’t see Uncle Snap, either.

  “Baby, you see Uncle Snap? Lucky? Luciano?” I asked, trying to catch sight of them through the smoke.

  Fresh air hit us, and I was thankful for it.

  “Um . . . wait.” My baby reached for something on her hip. In her hand was a tablet. There was a sudden whoosh, and I looked up. My baby was operating a drone.

  “On everything, I’m in love with you woman,” I said, impressed.

  Shanelle chuckled and showed me her tablet. “They are by the old gardens. They’re getting in a van. . . . It’s the Knights. They have them.”

  Looking up at the sky in annoyance, I sighed. “Trail them. I need my thigh wrapped, and we need to go now.”

  “Already on it, baby.”

  And, sure enough, she was. Shanelle led us to a slick Audi. Several Thieves appeared. She gave them orders, and soon, after I had my thigh wrapped, we all were out on the street, trailing the van of Knights and ready to end this shit for the last time.

  Chapter 29

  Shanelle

  “I’m still in shock at what you revealed,” I said as rain started pelting the car.

  I hit my wipers and maneuvered the Audi like I had been trained at NASCAR. Javon told me that along with Snap and Lucky, Lucky’s mom, Deedee, and his sister, Giana, had been taken.

  “Yeah, I was shocked too, and I’m trying to figure out how Mama didn’t see it. Then again, there are so many possibilities why she wouldn’t have noticed,” Javon said.

  “I had to look at Luci’s father in order to see King in him. Luci clearly looks like his mother. King looked more like their father, Christophano. Luciano lied about a lot. When I first met him, he said Mama had come to New York in the late eighties, when she lost the baby. I assumed he meant around eighty-nine. However, it had to be in ninety. That’s when Mama and Snap hooked up. Even then, he was lying to cover his tracks. And that ain’t even the half of it.”

  I whipped the car around a slower-moving vehicle, looked in my rearview to see Creed and his men right behind me. Their bikes were in a cardinal-point formation, which showed they were in fight mode. Song had already sent her people. A car revved up beside me. Montego let his window down, then gave a hand signal that he was speeding ahead. I nodded. Mixed in with Creed’s people were our siblings, who were riding their bikes like they were warriors.

  “Did he say why he did it?” I asked, glancing at Javon, then back at the road. I felt as if Absolan’s men were leading us someplace. They were speeding, but not in the sense that they were trying to get away.

  “No,” Javon said. “Slow down. I think . . . I think Absolan wants us to come to him. Just slow to a normal speed and follow the van, baby.”

  I did as he said. And it was weird the way upstate New York was set up. Most people thought it was all hicks and farms, but as we raced behind the van with Uncle Snap, Lucky, and Luci, we passed several upscale suburbs. Maybe those who were wealthy didn’t always like the hustle and bustle of major cities like New York City. Anyway, it was clear that the area wasn’t all farmland and Amish people.

  However, as we continued on, Amish country did come into view. Houses that were clearly lit by candles and lanterns made me feel as if I’d driven onto the set of Little House on the Prairie. Montego’s and Creed’s men stopped when I did. The van we had been following turned down a dirt road that led to several small houses. The area was surrounded by robed figures.

  “Quiet as fucking kept,” Javon said. “We need
to get our security game on this level. These niggas multiply like fucking maggots and roaches. Pull in, baby, but slowly.”

  I nodded as I saw Song sitting atop a hill, hair whipping in the wind as she held her helmet under her arm. All her people were sitting on their bikes and were lined up like they were ready to run into battle.

  “Damn, baby, you really brought in the cavalry,” Javon said.

  I looked at him and smiled. “Honor wouldn’t stop crying. She was insisting I come to get her father.”

  Javon chuckled as he rubbed his injured leg. His face was bruised. He had scratches and cuts littering his neck. He was dirty and kind of smelled, as if he had walked through a sewer. Baby looked like he’d been in all-out war. I reached out to cup the back of his head. My fingers hit a knot. He winced, then moved my hand.

  “Chill, baby. Took a hit back there. Shit hurts,” he said, then kissed my palm.

  “Did a medic look at you?” I asked.

  He placed my hand on my thigh, then exited the car. I was going to kick his ass. Rain drenched him, and he didn’t seem to care. I hopped out behind him, set to fuss a little, until I saw the doors open to the van. Uncle Snap and Lucky were shoved out, with their hands tied in front of them. Luci was just kicked out of the van. The old man fell to the ground, hard.

  Lucky growled, then tackled the guard who had done it. For his affront, the guard got the butt of a rifle to the back of his head. He went down on his knees, then was out like sack of potatoes. Blood trickled down his neck. A shrill cry lit up the night. Giana fumbled down the steps to her father. She fell and rolled down the last step, then crawled in the mud to Luciano.

  “Papa,” she cried, cradling his head, trying to pull him closer. “Papa!”

  He was alive, but barely.

  “Call off your people,” said a voice at the door.

  I looked up to see Absolan looking at Javon. He also looked like he was dancing with death. He was beaten and bruised, but the look of determination as he held a gun to . . . Who the fuck was that?

  “Mama?” I said, damn near gasping.

  I made a move toward the steps. Javon snatched me back. I felt our siblings rush forward.

  “Stop,” Uncle Snap yelled. His voice was clear and crisp. Something else was there that I couldn’t put my finger on.

  Since Javon had snatched me back, I held out my hand to stop the rest of them. Jojo damn near plowed into my back, causing me to stumble and Javon to grunt in pain, as I’d bumped into his leg.

  “That’s not Mama,” Javon said. “That’s her sister.”

  It clicked for me then. I’d read about Mama’s sister, Deedee, in her journal after Javon had told me about seeing her last year when he visited New York.

  “Her sister?” Inez repeated, like she hadn’t heard him the first time, gazing up at Deedee like she was seeing a ghost. “Looks just like Mama . . .”

  Deedee looked stressed. Her hands were cuffed behind her back, and her silky straight gray hair got tossed around by the wind. Blood was leaking from her mouth. Her dress was ripped, and her feet were bare. She looked like she had been in a fight too. She was Mama’s sister, so I knew she had some fight in her.

  “Mama got a sister?” Navy asked.

  Clearly, he was just as shocked as I was, to the point where he’d forgotten I told him Mama had a sister.

  “She looks just like Mama,” Monty whispered.

  Jojo tried to move forward again. Cory jumped in front of him.

  “I—I just need to see for myself,” Jojo said, trying to move around Cory. “Just let me see for myself.”

  Cory shoved him back. “Not now. Now ain’t the time, Jojo. Chill.”

  Tears rolled down Jojo’s face. “I just need to see. . . .”

  Javon looked at Jojo. “Later. A’ight? Later. Get yourself together out here. We’re in the middle of a war zone.”

  “Call them off, Javon,” Absolan shouted again.

  I turned to see Creed, Montego, and Nighthawk walk up to flank Javon. The message was clear. The Syndicate came as a unit. You messed with one, you messed with all.

  “Can’t do that, Ab. See, I’m not too hot on that chick next to you, but you have my uncle Snap here, and you have Lucky. That poses a problem for me and for the Syndicate,” Javon said.

  Absolan looked at Luci; a flicker of pain and regret crossed his eyes before they turned to slits.

  “Fine. I’ll let them go. Leave Luciano,” Absolan said.

  “No,” Giana cried.

  Javon tsk-tsked, then said, “See, I would, but then Lucky would just find his way back here, guns blazing and shit, and we all know what would happen.”

  “Let him, then. He can die beside his treacherous father,” Absolan spat.

  Javon moved forward a bit, and a shot rang out at his feet. My husband threw his hands up and did a three-sixty spin.

  Damn near foaming at the mouth, he yelled, “Stop fucking shooting at me, nigga. I’m about sick of you troll-ass motherfuckers.” He turned back to Absolan. “If another motherfucker takes a shot at me, we gone turn these here goddamn farm hills into World War III. Try me!”

  I cocked my head to the side and stared at him.

  “Just walk away, Javon. Take your people, your family, and walk away. You don’t understand what is going on. You are a good kid—”

  Javon tilted his head. “I know very well what’s going on, old head.”

  Absolan cut his gaze at Luci and then back at Javon. I turned my attention to Lucky, who moaned on the ground. He was finally coming to. One of the men in robes yanked him up. Another dragged Giana, who was kicking and screaming, away from her father.

  “Pick him up, Fabian,” Absolan said to someone.

  A big, tall, brawny man with a messy man bun pushed the hood of his robe back, then yanked a frail Luci from the ground. Fabian walked Luci to the front of the porch. Deedee dropped her head and sobbed. Uncle Snap stood statue still, hands still behind his back. He looked more like a soldier than a hostage.

  “I take it this has something, well, everything, to do with that day in the summer of nineteen eighty-five, correct?” Javon asked.

  Absolan nodded once, then looked at Snap. “I had nothing to do with that. In fact, I told Luciano to let it go. But he was young and stupid, as we all were at one time. He is—was—my friend, and I’d have taken his secret to the grave with me, but old age has made him an even bigger fool.”

  “What happened to Cavriel?” Javon asked.

  “We were to meet to discuss the Commission, as we always did. The time had come for us to relinquish seats to the younger generation. Cavriel made the mistake of saying Lucky didn’t get to have a seat, because of his bloodline. Luci got upset about that. Then Cavriel reminded him of the brother he’d killed because of the very same thing. He threatened to tell you and Lucky. Told Luciano that he and I had already discussed the matter privately and that another of the sons should get the seat.”

  “I didn’t even want a fucking seat,” Lucky shouted. “I made my own fucking way. I never asked any of you motherfuckers for shit,” he spat. Anger had his wet face red. “All these fucking years y’all pretended to love me, care for me, but as soon as you think I wanted that seat of power, my fucking bloodline is a problem?”

  Lucky was hurt. I could tell by the way he sent Absolan a long pained look.

  “So Luci killed Cavriel?” Javon asked.

  “Sliced him like he was an enemy. Then he came after me,” Absolan said.

  “So all this shit is because the Old Italian wanted to keep his secrets buried. Here we were thinking someone had come and declared an all-out war on the Commission,” Javon said, then chuckled.

  Luci croaked out, “It wasn’t supposed to play out like this.”

  The old man looked sickly as rain pelted him. Blood seeped down his upper body and soaked the thin pants he had on. If Fabian let him go, he’d fall to the ground.

  Lucky said, “I thought someone was trying to kill yo
u and us. What did you do, Pops?”

  Luci gave his son a pained look. “King was my brother,” he said. “I killed him,” he finally admitted.

  Deedee sobbed louder. The woman sounded as if she was choking on her own tears.

  “Why?” Lucky asked. “Mama was good to you. She was always good to you. She jumped in front of a fucking bullet for you. She lost a child because of you.”

  Uncle Snap’s head whipped around so quick, I was sure he had whiplash. “What?” His question came out as a hard demand.

  I looked at Javon. Clearly, he had never revealed to Uncle Snap what he’d found out upon first meeting the Old Italian. Just like he hadn’t told our siblings about Mama’s sister. Over the last year, things had been hectic and chaotic. I knew we wouldn’t hold it against him. Uncle Snap might be a different story. Lucky glanced at Uncle Snap, then looked at Javon, wondering if he had revealed too much. Uncle Snap followed Lucky’s gaze. He looked at Javon with bewilderment in his eyes.

  Javon shook his head, then stumbled a bit, like he was trying to get his thoughts together. He looked at Mama’s sister. “You knew, didn’t you? You may not have always known, but at some point, he told you. And he told you while Mama was alive.”

  The woman neither confirmed nor denied it. She just sobbed harder. Regret was written all over her features.

  Luci looked at his son, then said, “I couldn’t tell you. You were too close to Claudette. Your loyalty to her would have caused you to—”

  Before Luci could finish, with his hand still locked behind his back, Uncle Snap rushed forward and kicked Luci in the sternum like he was a Spartan. The old man went flying backward from Fabian’s hold. Luci hit the steps of the small house so hard, it sounded as if his spine had broken.

  Giana broke free of the men holding her and went after Uncle Snap like a madwoman. Mama’s sister yelled for her daughter to stop. Inez rushed forward and yanked Giana off the only man we knew as a positive father figure. She tossed Giana by her hair and yelled for her to stay away. Giana went Frisbee flying into the mud, her jet-black, wavy hair sticking to her face.