The Bee Keeper

by Vincent, Tracy D

  “And how’s that?” I shift toward him, feeling skeptical about anything that he could say.

  “There’s a chance that we could cause issues with several of your father’s associates and place you at the head of the family?”

  Again, I raise my eyebrow at him, only this time I cross my arms, too.

  “Think about it. We cause issues with his associates and it looks like it comes from him, then they’ll make sure that he’s taken down and you can rise. We’ll make it something that he can’t muscle his way out of, I promise.” He has such a hopeful look about him.

  “Okay. How would you manage that?”

  “We’d convince the senator that your father is looking to sell his secrets. He’d do anything to keep them hidden away. Even if that means taking care of your father. The senator would be desperate, Maya.”

  I really don’t like what he’s implying. My father wouldn’t go down without taking casualties along the way and I don’t want to be one of them. “I don’t think you realize how dangerous this can be for us, Edward. My father can be vindictive and if it fails, we die.”

  “Maya, you have to know that I would never agree to anything that would put you in danger. If I didn’t fully believe in this plan, then I would never agree with it. If you don’t like it, then we won’t do it. I’m with you. So, hear out my plan, okay?” He gets on his knees in front of me, holding my hands.

  “Okay, tell me of this plan of yours.” If nothing else, I can warn my father of it happening.

  “We need to gather evidence from your father about his business dealings with the senator. These documents need to look like they’re from your father to Geoffrey so it can look like he’s being welcomed into the family fold, so to speak.”

  “Why would my father ever do that?”

  “Because of his love for prostitutes and drugs, he’d make a great person to work under your father. Plus, he has the Wright name so people wouldn’t question him. But this briefcase would look like it is your father selling the senator’s secrets to Geoffrey who then bribes the senator to keep his mouth shut and let him go. But what will really happen is the senator would attack your father because he’s taking away his son, and proving himself untrustworthy.”

  “And how does this not implicate us if poo hits the fan, Edward? Geoffrey would sing like a canary if he were busted. So, explain how we’re safe?”

  “I have so much dirt on Geoff that I can have him put away for several lifetimes and the senator couldn’t fight against it. I have phone records, videos, everything. Trust me, Geoff won’t say anything about me. And that would mean that you are also safe by default because I made sure that he knew if you were ratted out, I’d leak everything.”

  “Maya, darling”—he grabs me into a hug—“I know you can lead this family. You’re one of the smartest people I know. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get what you want without the guilt of having to pull the trigger yourself. Your involvement is minimal. Gather intel, hand it to your most trusted person, and have it delivered to Geoffrey for confirmation. That’s it. Do you trust me, sweetheart?”

  “Yes, you know I do. But this is serious, Eddie, and I have to think about it.” I kiss him lightly on the lips. “You need to go home now before it gets too late, you know I can’t sleep with you here.”

  “So, you agreed to do it. How did you go about gathering the intel on your dad?”

  “That was really simple. I just logged on to his computer and gathered it all, printed it up, and hid the traces that I was there.” I tell him without blinking an eye.

  “How did Phillip get involved then?”

  I looked at Dr. Miller then, my throat closing off.

  How do I explain how I got Phillip involved? How do I tell this man about the torrid sex we have and that I used that as a means of manipulating P.A.? I want to tell him. I start to cry again because I don’t want to hurt anymore. I’m finally starting to become numb. My father will be so disappointed in me. I’ve mentioned the family and I haven’t lost a finger or a toe or anything. I’ve only been chemically burned.

  Dr. Miller sighs and starts to spray my arm that doesn’t have the IV in it. It feels like I placed my arm in lava, the burning is so intense. And I feel bits of burning on the flesh of my hip and breast where they’re closest to my arm. I scream and scream and the only noise I can hear is my heartbeat pounding in my ear.

  He stops spraying me, but that doesn’t stop the burning. The skin is blistering and the blisters are popping and I can hear them. I can feel my skin splitting open through the burning. I can’t think, it all hurts too bad.

  “Please…” I beg him.

  “Answer the question, Maya,” he responds coldly, and sits down.

  I only cry harder.

  “Oh come on, you big pussy. You should be able to take all that I can dish out. Your father would spit on you right now if he could see you. You’re begging me, Maya. I thought you made people beg. You’d make a piss poor excuse for an underboss. Timo is right to choose someone other than you.” His voice is still calm, almost challenging. I hate him. I wish I could rip the skin off his face.

  “Fuck you.”

  “Tell me what I want to know, Maya. You control this pain. How did you get Phillip to agree to go against your dad?”

  “I fucking asked him, okay? I sucked his dick and then I asked him. At first, he laughed, but then I promised that I’d fuck and suck him until the day he died if he would do it, but if he didn’t, he could kiss my ass goodbye because I wasn’t going to be around a man who couldn’t man the fuck up.”

  He pours a bucket of icy water on my arm and the relief is almost instant. He dabs salve on it, and though it makes me cry out, it soon starts to go numb. Then he covers it with those cool, wet blankets that he has over my legs.

  My teeth start chattering and I start shaking violently.

  “Not yet Maya, I’m not finished with you yet.” He drapes a warm blanket over all of me.

  “You gathered the information from your father’s computer, compiled it, and made it look like you were going to invite Geoffrey into the family and were handing him the intel on his father. This was supposed to accidentally get into Edward’s hands and he would take it to the senator, who would then confront his son and your father. This would cause him to take Mr. Hauer to war and possibly—potentially—kill him, correct?” He doesn’t wait for my answer. “Then you’re supposed to rise to the rank of Underboss under your Uncle…Grandfather Silvestro. Edward would then marry you, and somehow, he aspired to become the senator and you would both live life deep in power and influence. Did Mr. Champlain ever explain why he was giving the briefcase back instead of going through with the plan?”

  I shake my head.

  “What did he tell you then?”

  “He said that it was the wrong time and that I needed to hang on to the briefcase for a little while. He knew of the safe in my closet and felt that was the best place for it, while we bided our time.” The warm starts to lull me. My eyelids feel heavy and the urge to sleep strikes suddenly.

  “So, he never told you about Mr. James’s demise?”

  “No, I was already in New Leonsburg with my girlfriends when I found that out.”

  “Did he ever ask for the briefcase again?”

  “Yes, over lunch on Friday.”

  “What did you do with it?” His voice sounds like it’s at the end of a very long tunnel.

  “Nothing, it was gone.”

  “Do you know who has it?”

  “Dr. Miller, can I take a nap?” I can’t keep my eyes open anymore. I just want to go to sleep.

  “Not yet, Maya. I need to know who has the briefcase.”

  “I’ll tell you when I wake up.”

  My cheek stings and my head snaps to the side. It takes a moment for me to realize that he just slapped me.

  “Wake the fuck up, Maya, and answer the question. Who has the briefcase?”

  I blink at him, not fully compre
hending what he’s asking. “What?”

  He picks up a medicine dropper and holds it over my eye, prying the lids apart. I can see the drop fall and I try to shut my eye, to blink, anything—something. The scalding liquid coats the surface of my eyeball and everything in my head starts shrieking. It feels like my eye is melting out of my face. The hot tracks cause my temple to burn and blister as well. Tears pour out of the other one.

  I want to rub my eye so badly, but I can’t move my arms, I can only lay there and thrash my head around.

  “Answer the question and all of this will end, Maya. Who has the briefcase?” I can hear him in my ear.

  “My father. My fucking father has it!”

  I get a sting on my neck, then fire explodes in my head going toward my ear, then blackness.

  I fucking hate being in Mapleton. I hate being around this fucking family. The whole goddamned lot of them. This isn’t a city like Hartford. This barely constitutes a town. But Silvestro Scarelli likes it here and who am I to argue with the boss. I would love nothing more than to put a bullet between his eyes, but I’d have one between mine before I could lower my gun. Instead, I bide my time until Antonio takes over his position.

  Speaking of one of these fucks that I hate. I hate Antonio the most. He put his slimy dick into my Nicola. I can’t say that I ever loved her. Even then, I knew I didn’t love her. But I wanted her and she was mine. I don’t let anyone touch what’s mine. She was beautiful and everything I wasn’t. My parents were broke immigrants. Thinking that this was the best place to raise their son. They never got away from eating shit sandwiches and working on their hands and knees.

  The first time I saw Nicola, she was sunbathing in the back of the Scarelli mansion. It was then I knew I had to make her mine. And I did, until that rat bastard started sticking his greasy fucking mook dick into her pussy. The worst part of it all, they’re brother and sister. His sick fuck of a father decided to rape Lenora Scarelli, his cousin Aberto’s wife, for months until that fucking sow got pregnant with my sweet Nicola.

  Antonio made me kill my wife and I’ll forever hate him for it. When he becomes the boss of the Scarelli family, he’ll be surprised to see my backside and all my connections. I’ve been building them for years. If I even let him have the view.

  Loyalty isn’t built by respect or fear. Loyalty is built on secrets. And if you’re the man holding everyone’s secrets, everyone is the loyalest motherfucker in your arsenal. And I have a lot of loyal people.

  Not only do I have many personal connections, I also have my fingers in many honey pots. Some businesses I own, some I have investments in, others I make sure stay safe for a small fee. Some of these are legit and some not so legit, but my best business has always been dealing in everyone’s private miseries. Their failings or stupid mistakes they don’t want anyone else to know. I know and I use them as collateral.

  But here I am, stuck with these assholes again until tomorrow. Then I will get to go home and see my daughter.

  She’s also mine. Like all the secrets and businesses, she’ll go where it best suits me. She looks just like her mother, except she has my mother’s white-blonde hair and our blue eyes. If she didn’t have these, I’d have doubted whether or not I was her father. But there’s no mistaking that she’s mine with her coloring. She not only has my family’s coloring, but she is also stubborn, just like her papa.

  “I am sorry to call you all into a meeting like this today, after having sent you all home to your families the day before yesterday. We received word last night that an entire shipment of weapons has been stolen from our cargo ship. It was docked in Abbington getting ready for unloading into the warehouse when it happened. These guns were on the way to you, Timo. So, you’re going to have to figure something else out until we can find the culprits and handle the situation.” Silvestro sits on his throne at the head of the table. His once-black hair is almost completely gray now and lines carve deep trenches in his face.

  “I’m good. We just got a shipment in from down south. Instead of guns, we’ll be pushing drugs this time,” I tell him. I don’t tell him how much I have. I’m doing twice what he thinks I’m doing and I have guns. I get those from down south as well. All that fucking money isn’t going in his books, only what he knows. Fucking mooks. I hate them all.

  “Good…good. I have Vincente looking into the matter. When he gives us the head count, we’ll know it’s done. The next topic up for discussion is Antonio’s son’s wedding. Giovanni will be getting married at the cathedral in three months’ time. He’s marrying Moira O’Hara from the Irish.”

  The table erupts in passionate voices, all rattling on in Italian. Silvestro raises his hands for quiet. “We decided to put our differences aside and work with one another. As you know, in New Leonsburg the Russians have moved in and are trying to take over our territory. The Irishmen are getting hit even harder. So, we’ve joined our families together there in New Leonsburg to take out those commie bastards.”

  I lean back in my chair, just soaking it all in. The O’Hara family is not a large family. They could easily be absorbed into the Scarelli family, but for one thing: Niall O’Hara is one prickly bastard and as stubborn as they come. He might have let his niece marry Giovanni, but I can promise that he’s not willing to come into the fold. This is a temporary truce at best. Old man Si knows this, too. Which is why Giovanni is picked and not Antonio Jr. Giovanni is expendable.

  I look over to Stefano, Silvestro’s younger son. The one who’s supposed to take my place when I decide to step down. He’s in his early forties and good at what he does. He would make a good underboss…just not over my area. I don’t want Maya doing the job, it’s too harsh for her delicate nature. She doesn’t have a firm enough hand for the types of people that she’d have to deal with. I won’t let Stefano take over either.

  Before any of that happens, I will have to do something about Rodrigo. People assume that he’s my true right-hand man. He isn’t. He was sent to watch over me after my Nicola died. A gift from Si. A couple of years ago, I caught him with Giuseppe and he’s loyal to me now, but only to an extent. Fucking faggot. What is the thrill of sticking your cock in another man’s ass?

  My right hand is now dead. Shot in the fucking face with parts of his body and skin removed. If I find the fucker who did it, I’ll personally rip their head from their bodies. Phillip was ruthless and dedicated. Even to the point that he was keeping Maya in check. She thinks I don’t know of the sexual nature of their relationship. I don’t care, it placates her and just binds Phillip even closer to me.

  None of them understand that there’s very little I don’t know about. And this is why I am the king in Hartford.

  I see Silvestro stand, so I stand and wait for him and his sons to leave before taking my turn. It’s not too late in the evening. By the time I get home, Maya and I can have our dinner and then I can call Regina.

  I leave the Scarelli house and head to my private jet. Once we are given the all clear, we head back home to Hartford. The forty-five-minute flight gives me some time to check in on some contacts to make sure that everything is running according to plan. The drugs are being sold almost as fast as we can put them out there, and the guns are maintaining.

  I call Maya to have her meet me for supper but her phone goes to voicemail. That’s interesting, rarely does she not answer her phone when I call. I call Edward to see if she’s with him, and his phone goes to voicemail as well. That’s also odd. He’s one of the rudest men I know when it comes to answering his cell phone. He will even answer it when he’s sitting on the toilet.

  The driver takes me from the plane hangar to the house and I shower and get ready for my meeting with the capos. I have to address the new information that I got from Si and to adjust to the changes he’s asking we make.

  Everyone other than Rodrigo is loyal to me by choice, not because of blackmail, though I have that on them too. Since Rodrigo came over from Silvestro, he can’t be trusted. Because of that
, we’re having this meeting before he shows up. The meeting with him will be almost an exact rehash of everything mentioned in the first; the biggest difference will be the personal shipments and drugs. So as far as he knows and what he tells Si, is exactly what Si thinks it is.

  I’d kill him if I thought I could get away with it. But he’s nothing but fucking loyal and a relative of the Scarellis’, some distant cousin or some such. You can never tell with these families, they’re all inbred, as far as I’m concerned. I hate those fucking mooks.

  I glance at my phone again. It’s been almost an hour since I called both Maya and Edward and I still haven’t heard anything. I call the housekeeper to my office.

  “Maria, have you seen Maya?”

  “No, sir. She left yesterday with her friends and hasn’t come back yet,” she says, standing in the doorway. She is a portly woman who has helped raise Maya since infancy.

  “Did she call and say she wasn’t coming home?”

  “Her friend Jillian called and said that she started getting sick and her doctor friend was treating her for mild food poisoning, but that she should be home today or tomorrow.”

  “Why did no one bother to tell me this yesterday?”

  “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t know that you weren’t contacted. I thought Maya would have called you.”

  “No, no one called me. Thank you, Maria, I’ll handle it from here.”

  She bobs her head and scurries out the door. Before I can call Jillian to find out what the fuck is going on, my three capos walk in the door. Two are rough and tumble looking, full of tattoos and scars. They realize that they can’t look like that and rise above their current station in the family. Most of these men are smart and understand they’re not going to be getting any higher.

  “Si lost the shipment of weapons in Abbington. Do we know who took it?” I look at John. That fucker’s real name is John Smith. And he’s about as memorable, too. Not too tall, not too short, neither thick nor thin, brown hair and eyes, really fucking unremarkable. But he’s the best man for these jobs.