by L. Ann Marie
“That’s right Little Brothers. I need to get to work. Is there anything I need to know before I leave?”
Mucimi is throwing me pictures, but it’s Phoenix that speaks. “The people at the pipeline get hurt. An elder did a bad thing and the people get hurt.”
Teller touches my arm. “The reader lady is going to get hurt today too. The bad men think she hurt their Brothers.” Jesus.
I look at Dakota. “We must get to work to stop that from happening. Thank you, boys. You have grown in your abilities in a very short amount of time.”
Mucimi stands up and hugs me. “Love you little man. I got the reader.” He nods with tears in his eyes. We take the boys back to the classroom and wave to Holly.
Done slaps my back as I’m walking out. I throw him chin. He’s happy to see the cut. Outside Dakota stops and calls Prez. While he’s telling him what the kids said, I find my reader. She’s home and appears safe. I look for her Security. Fuck! I pull my helmet on. “Guardian on. Lightfoot, are you with me?”
“Roger Guardian. Mimer’s pulling, but something’s happening at the reader’s.”
“I’m on my way now. Get someone for the Security Brother, he’s out.” I fly out the school gate with Dakota following. “Get Eagle Eye on with us.”
“Roger Guardian.” I hear the clicks. “Eagle Eye you’ve been switched to Protectors control. Guardian, Security is down. We have a truck being tagged now. It’s on your boards.”
I look, but decide I don’t need it right now and make the corner just as two bikes are coming our way from the other side.
“Lightfoot, have them take the truck. It’s the fuckin’ lunatics again.”
“They’re regular Security Guardian. HS is leaving now.”
Fuck! “Eagle Eye get to the reader, she’s in a closet hiding, a pussy is at her door. I got the truck Lightfoot.” I pass Security and they turn around following me. Before the pussy gets out of the driver’s side I see his vision aiming at me. I shoot and stop at the door pointing my gun at the passenger. “Hands up or I’m shooting you where you sit. Lightfoot get Security on him.”
“Roger Guardian, they have him.” One guard opens his door while the other has a gun trained on him.
“Get Clean-up here and we still have Security down.”
“Roger Guardian.”
The reader screams and I run. “Move my bike!” I yell, making the corner.
I’m up the stairs and in the apartment as Dakota is holstering his gun. “Clear Lightfoot. We need Clean-up in the apartment.”
“Roger Eagle Eye.”
I take my helmet off and flip on my mic walking in further. I find her in a tiny closet off the hall. “I’m opening the door.”
“I have a gun!” she yells back.
“No, you don’t. Dean, we took care of the lunatic in your house. You know Princes have readers and we protect them. I’m here with Dakota and we’re both readers. I’m the man your sister brought the boy to. We aren’t a threat to you. I’m opening the door.” I turn the knob slow. She’s scared out of her mind so I keep moving slow. “It’s okay. We’re here now. You’re safe.”
She’s crying and watching me. “I can’t read you.”
I nod. “That should be a comfort. You can read the men that want to hurt you.” I want to help her up, but I don’t want to touch her. “I can’t touch you Dean.”
She’s not moving. “I couldn’t read the guy in the room.”
I look back at Dakota. I didn’t see one already in here. He walks down the hall and throws me a picture of the guy on the floor with blood around his head. ‘An aluminum bat Brother.’
“Guardian, Sniper and Ghost are coming in.”
“Roger Lightfoot.” I look at the girl. She’s still terrified to move. “My Brothers are here. They aren’t going to hurt you either. I can have Ops call your sister and let her know you’ll be at Security. You’ll be safe there.”
She relaxes. “Princes Security?”
“Yes.” Taylor and Jessie walk in and she tries to burrow her body deeper into the closet. I look at Taylor. ‘Help her out. We can’t touch her.’
He throws me chin and moves closer bending down. “I’m Taylor, Christian’s brother. We’re going to take you to Security. You’ll be safe there and Prez will get you somewhere these pussies can’t reach you. Yeah?” He puts his hand out.
She looks at me with tears running and a red nose that I think is adorable. “I can read him.”
I’m fuckin’ glad she can’t read me. Dakota laughs. “Then you see he isn’t going to hurt you. We’re all about the helping Dean.” I smile hoping it puts her at ease.
“Yeah,” she sobs out and takes his hand.
He pulls her up and tries to hold her to his chest, but she moves away fast crying with her head down. He looks at me wanting to be anywhere, but here. “Let’s go before more pussies show.”
I smile. “Lightfoot, is there an SUV close?”
“Roger Guardian. Right outside. I have your bike heading to Security.”
Taylor is relieved. The girl laughs. “I’m not usually such a wimp. Sorry mister.” She steps further away and grabs a towel from the closet wiping her face. When she’s done, she looks at me. “I’m ready Christian.”
Jessie cracks up and Dakota is smiling. I shake my head and give a nod toward the door. “Jessie, Dakota and Taylor will follow us to Security.”
She follows Jessie and Dakota out. “Can you tell them not to call Serenity? She can’t leave work again or she’ll get fired.”
I nod. “Did you hear that Lightfoot?”
“Roger Guardian. Prez is on his way with the MC Officers. He wants her in the meeting room.”
“Roger Lightfoot.”
She gets to the SUV and Taylor opens the door. “You’re married to Beth?”
Oh fuck. ‘No! Don’t say anymore!’ She looks around him to me and nods.
“Yeah,” Taylor says looking back at me.
“One of them is Justice’s Dad?” She points to Jessie and Dakota.
“Jesus. Yeah. Can you get in so we can get to Security?”
Taylor’s hands hit his knees. Fuck. I look back at Dakota. ‘Delta isn’t here. He connected that Beth is one they go for.’
Dakota moves fast. “Breathe Brother.” His hand is on Taylor’s head.
“Yeah. I got this.” He doesn’t stand up, but his head isn’t too bad.
Jessie watches wondering what the fuck is going on. I throw it to him and his eyes narrow on the girl.
“Guardian, you need to move out. A car and van are heading your way.”
“Roger Lightfoot. Taylor get in the SUV. We need to move now.”
He stands and looks at me with hard, determined eyes. “I’m not letting these fuckers out Brother.” He’s breathing heavy, but not shaking, I nod.
Jessie pulls him to his bike and I run around the truck. “Keep him safe Jessie.”
They’re gone before I’m in the truck. Jacob is telling them where the car is. “Eagle Eye we’re headed to Security.”
“Roger Guardian. I am right behind you.”
I pull out and floor it. “Lightfoot get the school covered and let Prez know the old ladies have a threat. We need the Clinic and Center covered by noon.”
“Roger Guardian.”
We get to the corner and I stop a car coming our way. Dean braces her legs and holds her mouth, but doesn’t make a sound. “We’re good Dean. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She cries. Shit. “It’s been so damn long since I’ve been safe.”
I see that’s all that’s in her head and relax. We make the next corner and I see a vision of a van coming at us. “Eagle Eye the van will try for us from the front.”
“Roger Guardian.” He flies around us and I slow down.
“Eagle Eye and Guardian, LP1 is coming up on your left.”
“Roger whoever you are.”
“VP, Guardian. We switched you to Ops when Prez got in.”
“Roger VP.” I stand on the brake pedal lifting my ass off the seat. “Jesus he’s fuckin’ nuts.” The SUV’s rear end swerves and I let the brake up then hit it again. Uncle Danny jumps a car and hits the driver of the van then Dakota hits the tires slowing it down. I stop the cars coming our way and veer around the van speeding past them.
“You’re clear Guardian. LP1 and Eagle Eye, Prez said to get him here and stop fuckin’ around. He’ll keep the traffic away from them himself.”
“Roger VP,” I say smiling. What part was fuckin’ around?
“Roger VP. I will keep his tires on the ground,” Dakota says and I laugh. He can’t, but I’m not telling Uncle Danny that.
“No more stunts VP,” Uncle Danny says then laughs jumping the front of a car. The car stops short and I move it back so I can pass. “Not my fault there, VP.”
“Guardian to Eagle Eye, control the fuckin’ lights.”
“You can do that?” Uncle Danny asks as we fly through the light and into the Security lot.
“I can LP1, but did not think to do it,” Dakota says and I laugh.
“Thanks Brothers I’m clear,” I say shaking my head and walking around the SUV fast. Opening her door, I see she’s smiling. She puts her hand on my arm and I move away fast. “We need to get you inside.” I cover her, but don’t let my body touch hers. “Touch affects me.”
She nods. “Me too. I was checking.”
I laugh and follow her up the stairs. We hear shooting and she moves faster. I put my thumb on the keypad and open the door keeping her in front of me. “Take the hall on the left.” Hawk is waiting. I pet his head walking by him. “Good job Brother. Meeting room.” He goes down the hall and waits at the door. I hand him a bone and thumb us in. “Hawk stay. I’ll have a Prospect get you coffee and something to eat. I need to get to Ops, but I’ll be back.” I flip the last board on and pull the control that’s Velcro’d to the bottom of it. “TV if you want it.”
She nods. “Thanks. I should have brought my laptop.”
I stop at the door. “I’ll send one in and have yours picked up. If it’s not tracked, I’ll send it in.” She pales and I wait until she’s settled. “We won’t let them get at you Dean. Mucimi would never forgive me.” I get a nod and step out then lean back in. “The room is on our surveillance.”
She nods looking at the ceiling.
I stop a Prospect and tell him to get her a laptop with limited access and full surveillance. In Ops, I see the whole fuckin’ town with cars and shit happening everywhere. Prez is on Air Ops and Pres is running Clean-up while Darren and Uncle Steve are running HS teams. Jacob is still running and I move closer to him.
He looks from his boards to me and holds his mic. “I’m running Security and Team Three.”
I nod and step back so I can see everything. They all have Security Teams and the MC is mixed in with Princes. It’s different than the MC Ops I’ve seen. Eliza is at the Daycare and Sheila is running a team. I’ve never seen either running and like that they’re out there. I’m impressed with the professionalism everyone has. I see where Jacob is different with me and wonder if the changes will confuse the other leads. Taylor and Dakota are running together and they’re brutal. They don’t ask anything, but keep moving—leaving behind bodies for Clean-up. I look in on Taylor and see he’s all about keeping them away from his Precious. Since his head is clear, I slide out and look for Jessie getting basically the same thing so I stop looking. Watching the process of control and lead, I see how well Terry does compared to the other controls. I’d put him right with Jason who’s running with VP.
Uncle Steve looks at me. “Over here.” I step closer to his console and he motions me in. “Watch. Control is key. Runs Jason, Terry, Billy if you don’t have Brantley.” I nod, I guess that’s the order. He throws me chin and says something to his team that I translate to mean they have cars coming at them from the front within three blocks. He said like four words. He smiles, so I must have got it right.
As he’s watching his boards I notice he’s scanning everyone else’s. He throws commands to the other leads, but keeps his Team running the entire time. I look in and see he’s red. Everything flies by, but he throws it out just as fast as it hits him. When he likes something, he holds it, talks, then lets it go. It’s interesting to see the process.
As the Teams start rolling in, the leads hand headsets in. Prez hands his to Josiah and looks at me. “A little different than the other side.”
I nod. “It gives me a better understanding of how it all works together. It’s different than I remember.”
He cocks his head to the side. I wait for him to consider how to answer. His brain works like no one else I know. Maybe VP, but not quite the same. “I think we’ve come a long way from where we were, but it’s because we have new technology that wasn’t available back then. With that, we have people working to perfect where we are lacking. Being open to new ideas helps with what we’ve learned works and doesn’t. Sharing between the two Clubs helps too. We’re all on the same page so them jumping in here isn’t a problem. The same works for us working with them.”
I nod. “I see how that benefits both. Keeping the process the same is important. Will changing how readers run affect the leads from one shift to another? All these words spoken is distracting when you’re listening, running through a vision and need to guide or get more information.”
Pres hands his headset to Billy and walks closer. Prez shakes his head no. “The training classes will address some of that, but the leads and controls we have understand and adjust for the people. If Taylor is running, Jason knows what he’ll look for. He doesn’t need the same guidance that Cade does. The same for Dakota, but with Dakota he doesn’t need anything, but a direction. All the leads know how all the Team Leads will react and what they need. The same will happen for you and your teams.”
I nod; this is good. I don’t know if I could change the picture throwing. Pres steps up. “This will be where all Protectors are running Ops from. At the MC, we have more readers, but you’re their lead. VP and Devan will run lead until our leads understand how this all will work. We need the book and the training you, Taylor and Jessie come up with, but for now we’re covered. Once this is up and running, Ops will switch to here.”
I nod, having no clue that this is where they’d run from too. “I had no idea it would be this big.”
He smiles throwing relief. “We didn’t either. We came up with it around three this morning. Danny pointed out that without one central location, the disconnect and you bouncing back and forth was bound to cause problems. It’s a way to keep everything under one control and not drop shit.” I can see that and nod. “Can you show me how you fly?”
What? He’s serious. I look at Prez. He nods smiling. Shit. I look around wondering if he means right here. “Only HS in here it’s okay,” Prez says.
I step away and flip. “I don’t fly, but suspend the time I’m up.” I move slowly to the other side of the room. When I step down everyone is watching. Jesus.
“Are you only able to move from up in the air? Like when you flip?” Pres asks.
I move me toward him about a foot off the ground and stop where I started. “No. Suspending isn’t just in the air. It isn’t always me I move either.” I move him back about five feet.
“Fuck! Don’t do that without warning people. Fuckin’ Danny would shoot you.”
I look at Prez, he shakes his head no so I keep my mouth shut. He looks at Pres. “He hung Taylor and Jessie in the meeting room and moved Darren in from his office while they were hanging.”
“Mase said he lit their sticks on fire while they were up in the air in KC,” Jacob says watching us.
Pres looks at me. “Is that how Colt and Devan got the truck and the weapons?”
I look around. Prez nods to me. “Yes. They can move objects right now.”
I pull the shield and see he has a million fuckin’ questions, but thankfully doesn’t ask them. I throw to
him, ‘I’m not comfortable talking about it in here.’
He’s surprised then smiles. “I didn’t think you were. Can you read me?”
“Yes, when I need to.”
“He is able to read everyone. If he has a need for information he can get it from any person without speaking with them,” Dakota says walking in. It sounds like a warning. I throw him chin. “Do you want the choppers on Surveillance Prez?”
“Yeah keep them up until we have at least two hours of clear then go back to high alert procedures until tomorrow.”
I’m not sure if I should say it. Dakota knows, but he isn’t going to give him anything. I watch him then decide I need to tell them. “This was it Prez. The lunatics had nothing to fight with. Now their army here is minimal. They have four that got out. It’s enough to warn and get more people here, but they have nothing to come at us with right now.”
Both Pres and Prez consider that. “The religious fanatics?” Prez asks.
“The MC will be hit again next week. The readers are safe until the witch hunters are organized again. That’s about two to three weeks out.”
They look at each other and think similarly. “Elizabeth, Devan and Tess are your best readers. They’ll be helpful if you ask them the right questions. Blaze and Blake are focused, but can’t hurt anyone so they don’t talk much. Readers aren’t just going to tell you information. Unless they have the vision to go with it they’ll be nervous about causing future problems. For that you need Tess, Jeremy and Aubrey. The readers will take information to Ally and if I’m not available she’ll get it to Jeremy and/or Aubrey. Based on what they say, it will filter down to you. If I’m available or they call directly to me, I’ll get it to Prez.”
They nod, but Pres still has questions. I let him ask. “When won’t you be available?”
“If I’m on Ops.” He’s going to follow it up so I just answer. “Visions happen all the time for me. On Ops, I see the next thing playing out, have a lead in my ear, the team to direct, and read from all of them—the pussies to my team. I can’t take calls from away at those times so I block—keeping only what I’m doing in my head.”
“Jesus. How the fuck do you run Ops with all that shit?”
