Twin Souls

by D. M. Mortier

  “Damn, man, you think of everything,” Jerome said in awe, moving closer to inspect the contents of the bags and boxes.

  Terrence also started inspecting the guns, ammunition, explosives, and dismantled chemical devices. As Terrence’s muscle man, Neo also looked things over.

  “Well now, this looks like good shit, Terrence,” Jerome said. “As your middleman, I’m glad you’re here to make the decision about the additional merchandise. Are you interested?” Jerome turned to Terrence, who was still squinting suspiciously at the Algerian, obviously doubting the caliber of weapons being traded.

  “My organization is interested,” Terrence said. “With the increase in violence between the police and the African American community all over the country, we have to be prepared for anything. We have to protect our people.”

  “I’m hardly interested in your domestic politics, gentlemen,” André said. “But I’m glad that it has brought you to me. There’s more where this came from. Are you prepared to finish this deal?”

  Terrence nodded. “Jerome, you may proceed with the transfer. I have to get out of here.” Terrence stared at André, his lips curled in a sneer of distaste. “The stench in here is intolerable.”

  As Terrence started to leave the room, he turned to Neo. “Please stay and look after my interests.”

  Neo nodded his head and remained behind as Terrence and the other agents left the room.

  Terrence, the delusional bastard, has no idea he’s about to be arrested. Rico thought.

  “All right then, let’s get this shit over with.” Jerome grinned at André. “You have your banking information right?”

  André nodded.

  “Spaniard, you’re up,” Jerome said. “Bring your ass over here and do your thing with that computer of yours. We need to get this transfer done.”

  Rico pushed off the wall and approached the table where the laptop sat. He punched in a few keys, hiding the back wall that would nullify the transaction once it was approved and viewed by André. Rico took the banking information provided by the Algerian and keyed in the agreed purchase price once Jerome had haggled with André. Jerome doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing. Andrè charged him three times the going rate, dumb fuck! Rico clenched his teeth and completed the money transfer to André’s account in the Cayman Islands.

  As André’s men handed over the bags to Jerome and his boys, Delarese and Tamara burst in the room without knocking. “Jerome, what the hell is going on?” Tamara demanded. “You sold the kids and Cherone without telling us?”

  “What the fuck? We ain’t got to that yet.” Jerome frowned at her. “I’ll call you to bring them in when I’m ready. Don’t disrespect me again!”

  “We’re not disrespecting you,” Delarese said, “but I don’t see why you had to move them already.”

  Rico stood on the balls of his feet, ready to spring into action.

  “Look Del, I don’t know what the fuck y’all talking about,” Jerome said.

  Jerome’s irritation with his sisters’ intrusion is almost comical, Rico thought. Around those two, he looked more like a petulant child than the gangster he tried to portray.

  “I’m interested now in seeing what you’ve got for me,” André said. “Bring the young ones in.”

  “But, Jerome,” Delarese said, “they ain’t—”

  The door burst open, and Federal agents and Sean swarmed into the room with guns drawn.

  “FBI, you are all under arrest!”

  From the screams and shouts from the first floor, it was evident that there were agents in the nightclub.

  “This was a fucking setup!” André screamed as he pulled out his gun out and shot Jerome point blank in the head. Edmond tried to rush Andrè, but André shot and killed him before he could get a shot off. Neo took out André before he could inflict any further harm.

  With instincts that had protected him all his life, Rico moved like a ghost to avoid the bullets from the Algerian’s men.

  In the barrage of gunfire that ensued, he, Neo, and the FBI agents eliminated every threat. When all of the dust had settled, all of André’s men, two of Jerome’s gang members, and Delarese were killed.

  Rico and Neo were arrested and pushed in the back of a waiting Escalade while the agents rounded up all of the remaining gang members and Tamara.

  Cherone watched the monitors along with Dominic and Damien as the entire sting operation unfolded. Dominic had at first tried to get her out of the room once the deal started to unfold. But she starting crying and whimpering for Rico, pretending that she could only be soothed by the sight of Rico on the scene. And once she got the water works, the two fierce SEALs immediately caved. Yes! I can get used to this.

  The violence displayed didn’t upset her in the least. I’ve seen far worse. She was both saddened and awed by the takedown. Adam used to be one of these amazing men! As at first Jerome and then Edmond were killed by André and then Delarese had died trying to escape the room, Cherone grew numb with shock.

  How could my life change so swiftly? I wasn’t close to any of them, but to see them killed, hurt and arrested. God now I truly have no one! Perhaps Rico will take care of me as he promised. He’s Adam’s friend, right?

  But Rico didn’t return to the hotel that night, so Dominic took her to a smaller hotel room and told her they would collect her the next day. The female agent who stayed with her was nice, but she was not Rico. Cherone obediently changed into her pajamas and got into one of the double beds the agent indicated. As soon as the agent began breathing in deep sleep, Cherone sneaked out of the room and went in search of Rico.

  Rico?

  She moved down the back stairway to the floor beneath, sensing Rico’s presence despite his lack of response.

  Rico?

  Go to sleep kid.

  Moving on instinct and a power to sense Rico, she entered a room she was certain he was in. It was as if she was irrevocably linked to him and could find him anywhere.

  “What are you doing here?” Rico asked before she had gotten an inch over the threshold.

  Perhaps he can sense me too.

  Cherone calmly closed the door. “I’m going with you.”

  “Sorry, kid, that’s not possible.” Rico’s expression remained cold, unapproachable.

  “Anything is possible if you want it badly enough,” Cherone argued.

  “Look, pequeña, I’m sorry about your family. But you’ll be taken care of tomorrow.”

  “I can take care of myself. You won’t have to do anything.”

  “Still not an option,” Rico insisted. “You may have to testify. You’re a material witness. You know what that is?”

  “I know what a witness is,” Cherone said. “And I know if I testify, some very bad people won’t like it.”

  “We’ll protect you,” Rico said. “That’s a promise.”

  “But what about after that?” Cherone asked. “What will happen to me?”

  “Well, I suppose you’ll become a ward of the state or something,” Rico said. “Foster care and all that.”

  “And what if I don’t want to do foster care?” Cherone asked.

  “You won’t have any choice,” Rico said. “You need someone to be your guardian. What are you, sixteen?”

  Cherone smiled. “You think I’m sixteen?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “I just turned thirteen,” Cherone said. “Thanks for the compliment.”

  Rico’s eyes widened. “It wasn’t, um, meant to be. You’re really only thirteen?”

  “Yes. So?”

  “Just saying.” Rico sighed. “I came out of foster care, it ain’t that bad.”

  “What if I found someone to adopt me?”

  “I guess that could happen, but …”

  “Look, I just need someone to be my legal guardian for five years, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Once I have a guardian, I’ll do the rest.” She stepped closer to him. “You know … maybe you coul
d be my guardian.”

  Rico sighed. He pressed a discreet button behind his ear. “Come to my room. We have a problem.”

  Cherone stepped back. “We have a problem? We don’t have a problem. You be my guardian, and there will be no problems.” She smiled. “So where are we going to live?”

  Dominic, Neo, Damien and Sean walked into the room.

  “It seems we have a future SEAL here.” Sean grinned. “How did you escape your room?”

  “My babysitter fell asleep,” Cherone said.

  “And she picked the lock to get in here,” Rico said.

  “She’s definitely a future SEAL,” Sean said.

  “Don’t encourage her,” Rico muttered. “She seems to think it’s a good idea to live with me as her guardian.”

  Dominic turned cool eyes on her. “Well, that’s a relief. At least we don’t have to fight that battle.”

  “What? I don’t know what to do with a kid.” Rico looked at his teammates as though they had lost their minds. They all started smiling at him, even the usually humorless Dominic.

  “I don’t even have a roof over my head,” Rico said.

  “You know, she would be all of our responsibilities,” Neo said with a grin.

  “Yeah, Ghost,” Damien said. “We’re not leaving this on you. Adam asked all of us to look out for her.”

  “Hey you guys didn’t answer me before about knowing Adam. Did you know him?” Cherone asked. “My brother Adam?”

  “Yes, Adam was one of us, a part of our team,” Dominic said. “Adam asked us to look out for you. He knew what Jerome planned for you.”

  “See? Even Adam knew you’d be perfect for me, Rico,” Cherone said. “He already chose you for me.”

  “Well, I’m jealous.” Sean frowned. “I’m the nice one, the fun one. Why don’t you live with me?”

  “Because my brother picked Rico,” Cherone said.

  Dominic laughed. “Adam sent all of us to look out for you.”

  “He meant Rico, I’m sure of it,” Cherone insisted.

  “Determined kid,” Damien grinned.

  “And Rico promised to protect me,” Cherone was undeterred.

  “But that was before when you were in danger,” Rico said. “I never said I’d protect you forever.”

  “It doesn’t have to be forever,” Cherone said. “Five years. That’s all I’m asking.”

  “But I’m unmarried, and I’m only twenty-three,” Rico said. “No judge in the world is going to give custody of a thirteen-year-old girl to me.”

  “I’ve already initiated plans to get around the custody issue,” Dominic said.

  “See Rico, this is fate,” Cherone smiled.

  “Are you sure you’re thirteen?” Rico grumbled.

  “That’s what my birth certificate says.”

  “Come on guys, y’all can’t seriously be considering this,” Rico scowled.

  “Looks like you pulled the short straw,” Neo laughed.

  “Rico, don’t worry. I will take good care of you,” Cherone promised solemnly.

  “Man, this is fucked up,” Rico muttered.

  Cherone smiled serenely. Operation Rico has just begun!

  Chapter Four

  Three years later…

  RICO LOOKED ON as Cherone thoroughly enjoyed herself on the dance floor with her classmates. He was happy that she had settled into American Heritage a private high school in Plantation Florida he and his mates had enrolled her in. Despite his initial objection, Cherone had come to live with him. While Dominic had been named her general guardian, the rest of them were her special guardians. He had purchased a house in the upscale neighborhood of Coral Gables and hired Raymond and his wife Clara to help him with the feisty teenager. They ensured the smooth running of the house in Rico’s absence and provided stability for her. With Dominic, Neo, Sean and Damien also playing uncles, Cherone seemed happy enough.

  Over the years, Rico had rarely been in residence and hardly saw Cherone. Cherone had done most of her own rearing, treating all of them as older brothers to follow around and emulate.

  He was an orphan himself and had no idea what his real name was. The sisters at the St. Mary’s convent had named him Enrique Ricardo Zayas. He had grown up in an orphanage in Puerto Rico constantly on alert from being ambushed by the bigger boys in the home. It wasn’t until he was eighteen and joined the U.S. Navy that he had felt a place of belonging. When his SEALS team retired, he thought nothing about remaining accessible to the government for covert operations. It helped that his commander, Dominic Stone, continued to lead most of these missions.

  Nothing about Cherone was easy, especially because of their telepathic connection. She had explained about her great-grandmother, but that shit still didn’t make sense. Thank God she could only read his mind when he reached out to her. Otherwise he would have been fucked. There was no way a teenage girl would survive reading his dark thoughts, and he wanted her to enjoy her life as a child after the hell her family had put her through.

  Unlike the typical teenage girl, however, Cherone was more interested in his intelligence work than enjoying more girlie endeavors. Anything he and his mates did, she wanted to know how to do and wanted to perfect. She learned gun precision from Sean and Neo, close combat fighting from Rico and Damien, and Rico taught her how to throw knives. Sean kept telling her she would be the first female SEAL. Dominic disapproved all of it, but Cherone stubbornly insisted on the training.

  It was not difficult to indulge these quirks because Rico knew that with these capabilities Cherone would be able to protect herself. He was especially proud of her proficiency with knives, and that was an easy weapon for her to carry at all times.

  Most days she dressed like a young boy, trailing behind one of them whenever they returned from an assignment. When Dominic and Damien got married and moved out of the country, it was left to Rico, Sean, and Neo to monitor Cherone. It helped that she was such a good kid, because he and Sean were hardly there, their missions often lasting months out in the field. Ray and Clara were there, as well as Neo, who took her to local concerts, to the movies and to ball games. Cherone had grown close to her “Uncle” Neo.

  Though Cherone didn’t have the typical group of girlfriends, Rico and the others were determined that she at least took part in an important female rite of passage: her sweet sixteen birthday party. The party planner they hired did a fantastic job and was a significant help in guiding Rico through the process. The planner assured him that having the party at Club LIV at the Fontainebleau and hiring One Direction, the hottest male band in the country, were the way to go.

  Cherone had been ecstatic when he told her, and she invited the entire junior class. The party became an instant success when students from the senior class begged to be invited as well.

  When she had come down the stairs of their home before the party, Rico had been stunned by her seemingly overnight transformation. Up to that point, he had gotten used to her always in baggy pants and sweats. He had assumed she was going to be a tomboy for the next few years. He couldn’t be more wrong.

  Cherone was dressed in a maroon halter jumpsuit with a silver belt around her waist, her waist-length hair falling like a silky curtain down her back, and she had worn impossibly high black boots. No sixteen-year-old should have curves like that, he thought. And no “uncle” should have noticed them.

  Appalled by his inappropriate thoughts, he had deliberately avoided looking at her after that observation and had immediately called Anna, his current lover, to the party. The guys would have laughed their asses off at his predicament, right after they tried to kick his ass. The man they called Ghost, ever cool and unaffected in some of the most dangerous situations, was losing his shit over a teenager.

  Cherone had been giddy about introducing him to her classmates, relishing in the female envy the girls hadn’t tried to hide. And she had enjoyed his obvious discomfort among them. Rico had remained well out of the way after that, unnerved by the boldness of
the teenage girls.

  You’re not afraid of them are you Rico? Cherone teased him mercilessly.

  Those girls are damn predators!

  Although Cherone’s jumpsuit highlighted her curves, it was still tasteful. He couldn’t say that about some of the girls at the party. With the amount of tits and ass on graphic display, Rico diligently kept his gaze on their necks and higher. Did their parents see them before they left their house?

  Poor Rico! Cherone laughed.

  Rico grunted.

  Cherone was the true belle of the ball, welcoming and exuberant throughout the night. When Anna arrived, however, Cherone’s huge smile disappeared completely. He never usually brought women home with him. His liaisons were always carried out at his lover’s home or at hotels. But he had been seeing Anna for almost two months, longer than he had ever been with any lover. Rico had not anticipated Cherone’s instant dislike of Anna.

  “What is she doing here?” Cherone stared at him in displeasure as Anna entered the club.

  “Be nice, pequeña,” he murmured, watching as Anna weaved her way toward them. The petite blond was a complete opposite to Cherone’s taller curvy body. Where Cherone had flawless dark brown skin, Anna’s was a pale ivory. Cherone’s hazel eyes were usually filled with wicked humor, while Anna’s vivid blue eyes were usually filled with the determined need to succeed. As a senior banking executive for Bank of America, Anna had to be tough in the male dominated field. Anna was a beautiful woman and in the fitted red dress she wore tonight, it accentuated that beauty to perfection.

  “But I didn’t invite her to my party.”

  “She is my guest. I expect you to treat her with courtesy.”

  Cherone ignored him and turned away just as Anna reached them.

  Roni!

  I’m busy with my invited guests!

  For the rest of the night Cherone refused to come near him. Rico was slightly amused by her uncharacteristic behavior. Cherone was always courteous and respectful to adults.