Coder: Book Five (Princes of Prophecy)

by L. Ann Marie

  “No matter what happens the Brothers will always be crazy and they’ll show for everything. You think Alex will come to give him a bath?”

  They laugh. “He might. His nights are pretty full. He’ll have to give someone up.” Prez says.

  We hear the chopper. Fuck. Taylor stands up. “I’ll get him in some clothes to meet the family.” He’s smiling down at him while he walks away.

  I look at Prez he’s smiling as he watches him. The baby might be good for Taylor. He looks at me. “Yeah.”

  I make another coffee and start a new pot. Putting the coffee on the table I tell Prez I’m getting a shirt. I can hear Taylor talking softly as I walk down the hall. I get a shirt and pull it on. As I’m walking through the door I’m surprised Taylor’s right here looking at me. He has tears in his eyes and I look away. He hugs me tight with one arm. “Mucimi.” I don’t get it. He lets me go and hands me the frame with the letter in it. “You don’t explain a fuckin’ thing. Give this to Mom.”

  I nod blinking. “Yeah.” We hear them come in. I wipe my hand down my face and walk down the hall. Taylor isn’t behind me and I wonder if he needs a minute or he’s giving me one. Everyone is in the kitchen and I can already see Dad is pissed. Shit. I take a breath and hand him the frame. “Before you yell at me you need this.” He takes it and pulls Mom over to read it with him. She cries and I turn away not knowing what to do, so I sit at the table. Uncle Steve is here with Uncle Danny. I throw them chin and wipe my hands on my thighs. Taylor comes in and Uncle Steve takes Mucimi surprising him. I just smile.

  “What’s his name?”

  I look at Uncle Danny. “Mucimi. I didn’t have the letter until after I named him, but it’s right.”

  He nods. “It’s a good name.”

  My dad puts the frame down in front of him and looks at me. “What can I do for you?” he asks as he walks around the table.

  I stand up and hug him. “Just be you Dad.”

  When he lets me go I see Uncle Steve handing Mucimi to my mom. I sit and Taylor smiles at me. He was right so I throw him chin.

  “Let’s go see his room.” Uncle Danny gets up and walks down the hall. I follow smiling. Badass is going to take a hit today. I guess this is as good a way as any to deal with it.

  Before he starts looking around he turns to me. “I’m proud of you Brantley. You call me if you need me. Yeah?”

  “Thanks Uncle Danny. I will.”

  He gets on with the room design and I breathe easier. It’s going to be a tough day and I’m glad for the distraction. We hear people coming in, but he doesn’t stop and I’m glad he keeps me busy while they all get the reason they didn’t know.

  Prez comes in and throws chin to Uncle Danny. I watch him walk away and look at Prez. “Jeremy is here along with the regular crew. He has Mucimi. You take the time you need. No one will throw questions at you Brother. They get it now.”

  I nod relieved. “Thanks Prez. How do I set up daycare?”

  “Lily’s got you covered. Nick will be here around noon. If you need anything call. I’m holding Princes back until you have a minute to breathe. Right now you have MC and your family. If they get to be too much Taylor will get rid of them.” He man hugs me.

  “Thanks Prez.”

  He walks out and I take a deep breath. When I get back to the kitchen it’s packed. “Fuck.” They all look my way. “I didn’t expect all of you.” Joey laughs and hugs me.

  Uncle Danny laughs. “The Brothers are coming to get the shit we need to build Mucimi a room.” They follow him out.

  Jeremy and Taylor stay. I’m glad because we have every old lady here and I don’t want to be left alone with them. Jeremy laughs and hands me the baby. “He’s good.”

  I smile down at him. “He is.” When I look up everyone is watching me. Fuck this is weird. “Mom, can you watch him while we get his room emptied?”

  She nods with tears rolling down her face. “He hasn’t cried yet. I want to hear him, but I don’t want him to cry,” I say nervously. I have no idea what the hell to say with everyone watching.

  She nods and kisses my cheek. “You’ll get to hear it as soon as you’re late with a bottle.” Everyone laughs. I kiss her cheek and walk back down the hall glad to have something to do.

  ***

  Taylor

  I close the door glad that everyone left. Brantley looks relieved. “Thanks Brother.”

  I throw him chin. “You sure you don’t want to stay at my place while they’re here?” Uncle Danny has the walls out of the whole back of the house.

  “Thanks, but we can stay here. The couch is comfortable and he slept on me last night.” He’s embarrassed and looks down. “I didn’t want to let him go.”

  After reading the letter I wouldn’t either. “I get it. Just letting you know you’re welcome there.” He throws me chin. “You want to be alone or you good with me here?”

  “No, stay. I could use a beer and some normal.” He gets up and walks to the slider.

  I grab beer while he covers the baby with a blanket. “They got everything. Your fridge is packed.”

  He laughs. “Because I need the extra food to feed him.”

  I hand him a beer and sit on the side of him. “I’m glad we have them, but they are overwhelming sometimes.”

  “Yeah. At least they didn’t have time to fill a trailer.”

  I crack up. After Sheila I don’t think they’ll be sending trailers anymore. “When do you go back to work?”

  He looks at me. “Prez told me to take some time. With everyone working here I think it’s good, but once it’s done I’m not going to have anything to do. Feeding every four hours isn’t going to keep me busy. Lily handled the daycare so I can go back whenever.”

  “You think you need to keep busy? They’re putting in an office here. You don’t have to rush it Brother.”

  He nods. “You’d think I’d be nervous about leaving him, but the daycare is good. I know he’ll be taken care of. I need to get back to work. I have shit to do and people counting on me to do it.”

  I look at the sky. He’s something else. With the baby and finding out Trina died he’s worried about everyone else. He wouldn’t be Brantley if he wasn’t worried. I smile. He’s been a good brother since we met. I remember him being lowered from the chopper when I ran away. We’ve always looked out for each other. I’m happy to be here for him.

  “How’d you get the day? You were scheduled for Ops today.”

  I smile. “Prez put Aaron on and told me to take a couple.”

  He laughs. “Aaron thought he was too young for the PD and he’s a lead in Ops.”

  “Yeah. Driscoll is sending him to school. Jax says he doesn’t need it for anything more than confidence.”

  He nods. “That’s what Sheila said.”

  “How’s Josè doing with Prez?”

  “Good. He takes a ton of shit off me. I’m glad he’s finished with school. I didn’t think Prez was going to wait for him, but I’m glad he did.”

  “Me too.” I think about how all this is coming together. “When we were kids I never thought it was going to be this good. I’m glad it’s working the way Prez thought it would.”

  He nods putting his empty bottle down. “I know you don’t like talking about it, but how is therapy?”

  He doesn’t look at me. “It’s going. I don’t think it will ever go away, but it’s manageable.” I’m not talking about this.

  He doesn’t say anything and I’m glad. When my beer is empty I take his bottle and stand. “I’m out Brother. Call if you need me.”

  “Thanks Taylor, I will.”

  Chapter Three

  Three months

  Brantley

  “Seriously dude. What are you eating that you smell this bad?” He smiles at me and I laugh. “If I didn’t know better I’d think you’re sneaking Twinkies.” I clean him up using six wipes. Fuck he stinks. I get his powder on him and a clean diaper. Sheila bought me a diaper pail that keeps the smell d
own but I don’t think it can handle this one, it’s fuckin’ toxic. He’s still smiling away. Once he’s dressed I pick him up and get rid of this diaper before I start gagging. “I’m at work, then a meeting at the MC. We need to keep trafficking going. Fuckin’ pussies are still running.”

  Taylor is in the kitchen making a cup of coffee. He takes Mucimi and I walk right out the door, dumping the toxic waste in the barrel.

  Walking in I smile. He’s sitting at the table with Mucimi in his lap holding a little motorcycle. “What’s up?”

  He looks over. “I’m off today and you’re in Mass. I’ll take the little Brother. It’s Officer night at the Club, he’ll already be in daycare later, he doesn’t need to be there all day too.”

  I smile at him. “You just want to spoil him.”

  “Fuck yeah. What good is an uncle if he doesn’t spoil you?”

  I sit, drinking my coffee and wondering how I would have done this if it weren’t for my Brothers. “Jeremy and Jacob are flying back with us. They’re watching him tonight.”

  “Shit. You need to stop letting them stay. They bring him shit every time they show.”

  I laugh. “He’s got a new motorcycle in his hand.”

  “It’s fuckin’ cool.”

  Since he feels that explains it, I’m not arguing. I just shake my head. “Don’t feed him shit he shouldn’t be eating. His shit is toxic.”

  He laughs and I let him. He’s got the next diaper. I kiss my boy. “Call me if you need me Brother.”

  “I will.”

  Since I don’t have to pick up Mucimi later I ride. It’s still a little too cold for him on the bike. HS is waiting at the gate. He stays at my side up to Princes Security. In the lot he waits and watches me walk in then heads back for Sheila and Eliza. I used to feel funny having a tag, but even Dakota has HS. If he can deal with all the running he does I can handle the shuttle.

  I grab the new files on my desk and head to Ops. Chevy is on and he looks beat. “Rough night?” I look for everyone and check the schedule against tracking.

  He hands me the alerts. “Mucimi isn’t at daycare.”

  I nod and take the alert off him, switching him to a family day. “Taylor’s got him today.”

  He smiles. “I didn’t think you forgot him.”

  Laughing I tell him, “Not today.”

  Prez shows in town three. His schedule doesn’t have him at an appointment. “Prez?”

  “Meeting with Driscoll. Josè called it in. I didn’t switch him because I don’t know where he’s going after and I wanted you to know to watch him. He has time blocked, but nothing written. Josè wasn’t helpful.”

  I smile. He could have another meeting, is meeting Lily, is riding, or is taking the kids somewhere. Since I was the closest he’s ever had to an assistant I know how the blank blocks work. “I’ll find out.”

  He looks relieved. I read through my alerts. “Why is Cade on the list?”

  “He’s out of the tracking area, but he’s at his girl’s house.”

  Okay. “Why is he on the list at all?”

  “He made HS a couple of days ago.”

  Nice. All of HS are tracked so I put him in the right place in my head. Then look at my boards. Towns are funny, you have days when tagged visitor cars pepper the grids and days where there’s nothing. Today, tagged cars are everywhere and it’s just after eight.

  “Anything you’re watching?”

  “Town three. Prez is in the middle of a lot of away people. Off the big slab there is another big pocket of away and another at the dock. Separately I wouldn’t be concerned but all together they make me nervous.”

  Jason comes in throwing chin and sits at the lead station. “Give me a random check on a couple of these visitor tags.”

  He rogers me and starts typing. “I got it Chevy. You look like shit, go get some sleep Brother.”

  He slaps my back. “Stay alert Brother; it feels like something is coming, but I’m not getting what.” Shit.

  I throw him chin and pull my phone. “Dakota, Chevy is just leaving. He says he feels something coming. Am I adding Security?”

  “It would not be a bad idea.” He stops. Fuck.

  I try to think of how to get more without the questions. I’ll go with easiest. “Anything else you can tell me?”

  He takes a couple of seconds making me impatient. “Your ability to move quickly will be helpful today.”

  I write ‘add Security on women and kids’ and hand it to Jason. Dakota isn’t saying anymore. “Thanks Brother.”

  “I did not see Mucimi at daycare.”

  What? “Taylor has him.”

  “It is good to have uncles and better when they are HS.”

  I can hear him smiling, but the hair raises on the back of my neck. “Yeah.”

  “I will be in soon Brother.”

  I hit Taylor. “Brother there’s shit going on, but I’m not getting anything but a vague warning. Dakota says it’s good to have uncles but better when they’re HS. I doubled up on Security for women and kids. He asked about Mucimi not being at daycare.”

  I listen to his fucks in every language. He’s just like my dad. “I got him covered. We were headed to the docks, but we can fish here.”

  I smile; he’s going fishing with a three-month-old. “Gotta go.” I swipe him off.

  I look for Darren and see he’s in his office. “VP, I have a warning, a shit load of visitors tagged and Prez in the middle of them. The warning seems to be aimed at the kids, but I think Prez is tied.”

  “I’ll be right down. Add to his detail, but keep them back.”

  “Roger VP.”

  Jason looks up at me. I look at the tags. “Get two HS on Prez. Keep them at least a hundred feet from him.”

  I hit Jax. “I need some extra eyes in town three, grid twenty-four and close to the compound.” He’s covering it and will keep a watch. “A presence at the dock wouldn’t hurt.” He’s got two making their way over now, but will add a third. I feel a weight lift off me and watch my boards. Darren walks in scanning. I was hoping for Dakota but Darren may be better.

  “What was the warning?”

  “Adding Security wouldn’t be a bad idea. He asked about Mucimi at daycare and said having uncles is good but HS is better. Taylor has him. My ability to move fast is helpful today.”

  “Fuck. What have you done?”

  “Added Security to women and kids. Two HS to Prez. PD presence where tags are grouped except the big slab and have Jason running random checks on tagged plates.”

  He nods watching. I can see our Brothers moving where they’re supposed to be. “Jason do we have anything on the plates?”

  He nods, but doesn’t look up or stop typing. “I pulled IT to help, we have a stolen outside. No, two stolen. I’m tagging them red.” I watch the recognition board. I didn’t ask for outside, but I’m glad he did them.

  When the third red goes up Darren calls Prez. “Shit’s brewing; I need you to stay alert.” He hangs up looking at me. “Get me a board with the alternate running.”

  “Roger VP.” I walk to the Security door. “I need two running an alternate source board.” It’s a shit job, but an important one. Ryan throws me chin and calls for two IT.

  Back at my console, I ask about aerial. VP is watching the tagged. Fuck, four stolen. “Get me Josiah and Dakota.”

  “I am here VP.” Dakota walks in.

  I text Josiah.

  “I need aerial up and ready to cover.”

  “Roger VP. I have Abel en route to the chopper.” He moves to the aerial console and starts switching his monitors on.

  I look at Darren. “You want HS readied?”

  He scans the boards. “Jessie and Aaron are here. Let’s see what’s happening before we call in teams.”

  I look. “Hyde is with Prez. Sheila and Eliza are with Lily and Done is with the kids at the school/daycare.”

  Jason looks back. “Tags moving from outside Coder.”

  “Get me
a Security team running behind them.”

  “Roger Coder.”

  VP watches. “Dakota get Abel up.”

  “Roger VP.”

  Josiah runs in and sits at his console.

  “Get HS One and Two teams readied. Brantley take a control seat.”

  I move to the center console and sit. He’s got Jason calling in to Sheila’s team.

  “VP they’re closing in on town three and the dock’s tags are moving.” I pull a headset on and hand one back.

  “Get Jax up, we’re switching to Ops.”

  Me: “Roger VP.”

  He calls Prez. “You need to move. Tags are closing in around you. Roger Prez.” He hangs up. “Jason get Jessie and Aaron ready. Brantley I need Sheila’s team at the school.”

  Me: “Roger.” I text Sheila and pull Eliza to Security to run an Ops lead. “Jax is on OC VP.”

  He gets Jax closing in around Prez and pulling patrol to follow the dock tags.

  Eliza comes in and VP moves to Jason handing her the headset.

  Jessie tells me he’s ready to roll.

  Me: “Team One ready, Kicker. Team One you’re on with Kicker as lead Ops and Coder on control.” I hate using a road name, but the inner circle decided we’d be safer using them on air.

  Eliza: “I need check in Team One.”

  VP: “Eagle Eye get Abel over the compound.” Darren starts throwing orders. “Kicker get Team One to town three.”

  Jessie’s team checks in and Eliza has them rolling out fast. She’s good at lead.

  Aaron: “Shooter on the side, Team Two ready.”

  Eliza: “Team Two is standing ready VP.”

  VP: “Team Two east.”

  Me: “Team Two you’re on with Kicker at Lead Ops and Coder on control. I need a check in.

  Bull comes in and sets up for Clean-up and Security.

  While we get check in and Eliza rolls them out, I look at the boards and see a pattern with red and yellow but not on the east side. “Bull, IT was running alternate source. Can you find out what’s happening there? East has nothing.”