Back Over the Cooper River （Mount Pleasant）…
The loud alert sound of Mont’s bat phone woke him from his slumber. His arm was wrapped tightly around his wife Xena. He wanted to wish the alert away but knew that wasn’t how it worked. If he of all people was getting an alert, it had to be detrimental. Trell LaMont Smith Jr. hated detrimental shit. He kissed his baby’s neck which caused her to stir in her sleep. Outside of his touch, Xena was a hard sleeper.
Mont’s lips went to her ear. He kissed it before he spoke. “Baby, I have to go handle some business. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Xena rolled over to face her husband. Although her eyes were sleepy, they still offered him love. She kissed his lips. “Be careful and make it back to us.”
“You know I will. I’m going to jump in the shower.”
After a final kiss, he climbed out of the bed sure to grab his bat phone on the way into the bathroom. He started the shower, then looked at the recipients of the alert and who sent it. Only he and Jacob had the access to see who sent it and who received it. Mont’s brow furrowed as he went through the recipients list. What the fuck! It wasn’t out of the norm for the alert to be sent from Mauri because almost all of them were. This recipient list was out of the norm and more than that, the rendezvous point was The Ranch.
The recipient list put urgency in getting ready. His shower lasted less than ten minutes. When he walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, he stopped. His eyes landed on the chaise in their room. Xena laid out his clothes as well as his guns. These were the small things that made him love her more and more every day.
She was in the center of their bed fast asleep. She always slept there when he wasn’t home. After he walked over to bless her forehead with a kiss, he hurried to get dressed. Before he left the house, he peeked into his son Tre’s room. His son was his twin. He’d recently made it to the double digits in age, so you couldn’t tell him anything. Mont blessed him with a forehead kiss.
Mont made sure that he was affectionate with his son like his father had been with him. It was important for Mont that he instilled what healthy love looked like. Next, he popped his head into his daughter Xia’s room, who was a year younger than her brother. She was her mama’s little Amicette who was on her way from a girl to her pearls. Xia had been involved in the youth affiliates of her mother, auntie, great auntie, and grandmother’s sorority since she was four years old as a Pearlette.
Mont’s children meant the world to him. Early in his and Xena’s marriage they thought children was a dream that wouldn’t happen. God saw different twice. The Big G hit them with a boy and a girl, before Xena had to have a partial hysterectomy.
When he got to the bottom landing of his stairs, he was not surprised to see Brandon, his best friend, waiting for him. He lived in a house down from him in Washington Circle with his wife, Mont’s sister Tana. “What it do?”
“You know what this about?” Brandon immediately asked. It had been a long time since an alert went out. He knew it had to be serious though.
Mont sighed before he responded. “Nah, I don’t, but I know it’s about to be some shit.”
Moments after Mont prepared a cup of coffee, they were out the door on the way to The Ranch. The Ranch was on his family’s property; therefore, it didn’t take long at all to get there. Over the years, a few more back roads had been laid to provide multiple exit and entrance points. One of the roads led directly to Christianson Circle which was about five miles to the left of Washington Circle in the Six Mile neighborhood.
Mont and Brandon pulled up to their destination. There were already six cars there. He didn’t see Mauri’s car, so she must have been on the way. “Let’s get in here.”
“What’s up, Nephew?” Smoke greeted Mont as soon as he entered the door.
Mont took in the people scattered throughout the home that had also been renovated and expanded over the years. This was not the only location the organization had to handle business. The Ranch was where it all began and only certain people in the organization knew where it was. Not all were privileged to experience this location.
Smoke, Choppa, Codeine, Khiajah, Lamik, and Mauri’s parents Zaakiyah and Reece, as well as Jacob and his wife Galiana, were in the house. If Zaakiyah and Reece were there, that meant whatever happened Mauri did not intend to lead on the tech side. The smell of coffee permeated the air. Based on the recipient list, Fiona and Croy were also alerted. The fact that everyone in the house was related by blood or cum outside of Croy and Fiona brought pause to everyone. It was at that moment that Mont realized his baby sister Taelyn was not on the alert.
“Ain’t shit, Unc. Waiting for Mauri to see what the fuck is going on.”
Although they had secured communication with their network, they still preferred to communicate face-to-face. Fifteen minutes later Fiona, Croy, and Mauri arrived seconds within each other. They all watched Mauri rush to her designated workspace. She booted her system at the same time that she used the remote to turn on the monitors around the room. Mont didn’t like her silence or demeanor. Mauri was always professional, but whatever this was, it was personal.
“Alright, I received an alert on my system a little over an hour and a half ago from Taelyn’s locator. When I checked her location, she pinged at her condo with all of her other locators. As you all know, I take extra precautions when it comes to family.” Mauri’s voice held a tremor because her anxiety was at its peak.
Everyone in the house listened attentively. They were all trained not to react without all of the information. She let them know that she tapped into her surveillance. Without further explanation, she pulled up the footage. Mont’s entire heart dropped to his feet from what he saw on the footage. Professionalism aside, that was his fucking baby sister.
Choppa let out a venomous laugh. “Who the fuck is that lil nigga right there?”
“Um, that’s her boyfriend Kevin Bird. He’s one of our assets.” Mauri answered his question.
Smoke stepped forward. “Excuse me. Did you say this fuck nigga is one of our assets? As in, he’s employed by Christianson Enterprises?”
Smoke, Choppa, and Codeine’s eyes traveled to Mont. By now, he had taken a seat with his face in the palms of his hands.
“Yes, I pulled his file already as well as ran an extensive check. He’s been with the organization for almost two years. He’s a professor at the College of Charleston. Based on conversations that I’ve had with Lyn, he’s been in his feelings about not being selected for missions.” Mauri tapped on her keys. “I can back the camera up to earlier in the night. They had an argument.”
Choppa’s head tilted from side to side. “Nah, ain’t no way I want to potentially see my niece having sex or some shit.”
“You won’t. Lyn is still a virgin,” Khiajah said mindlessly. Right now, she didn’t give a fuck. Lyn had come to her about potentially losing her virginity to her boyfriend because he was pressuring her. Khiajah told her that was the number one sign that he didn’t deserve to have it.
Mauri knew that information as well about Lyn’s sexual experience. There was an age gap between the cousins, but because of the extensive work they did together and Lyn being Mauri’s protégé, they were extremely close. “I can set my system to not display that if applicable.”
She rewound the surveillance, then tapped her keys a few more times. The footage did fast forward a little. The men in the room groaned because if it did that, then something sexual had occurred. Between Mauri and Khiajah, they did know that Lyn was proficient with her fellatio skills. Hell, they were instrumental in the lessons to get her there.
They all listen and watched Kevin bitch about his position in the organization. Once the footage got back to the start of the kidnapping, Mauri stopped it.
“Fuck! We just had a conversation about cutting this nigga loose not even two days ago!” Jacob felt this was on him and Mont. For a month or so, they felt a sense of disheartenment from Kevin. They gave him a little more of the benefit of the doubt off the strength of Lyn.
Lamik cleared his throat. “I got two fucking questions. One: What’s the fuckin’ move and two: Who the fuck is calling Trell?”
The tear finally released from Mont’s eyes as he remembered the conversation he had with his father when Jacob and Mont made the decision to formally bring Taelyn on board. She wanted to be a part of the organization since she was a teenager. Trell made Mont and Jacob put her through extra shit to ensure that she was ready, and it was what she truly wanted. It was much like he required Choppa, Smoke, and Codeine to do when Mont was onboarded.
“Son, if anything happens to my baby girl, something is going to happen to you. I get that you have cousins, uncles, a best friend, and all that shit in the organization, but this is my baby girl. Don’t think for a moment that I don’t love you or love you less than my girls. I’m not saying that, but what I am saying is the love is different. You’re a father so you know that. Don’t let anything happen to my baby girl, LaMont Trell Smith, Jr. If she so much as gets a papercut, me and you will have a problem.”
His father’s words were loud. Mont knew that he would have to be the one to make that call. “I’ll call him.”
He stood, then walked outside to the porch. The line picked up after the second ring. “Dad, I need you to come to the back.”
Although Trell was not a part of the organization formally, he had a bat phone and got down when it was necessary. Trell let his son know that he would let the live-in nurse know that he was stepping out. Over the years, Tae’s dementia had progressed regardless of the medications. There were now days when she didn’t recognize her children in their adult age. There were days that she didn’t recognize her children altogether. A year ago, Trell hired a live-in nurse and beefed up security in the house because Tae started to wake up and decided she wanted to wander from the house.
Trell immediately noticed all the cars. He knew that if his son called and asked him to come to The Ranch, then it had something to do with something or someone connected to them. Mont waited on the porch for his father. Trell opened his car door before he turned the engine of his car off. He said nothing when he stepped on the porch with his son.
“Um, Dad, um...”
Mont’s biggest fear since he was a boy was disappointing his father. He knew this news would not only infuriate his father but break his heart as well. As a father, Mont knew that it would break his had it been Xia. There was no need to go into a long explanation.
“Kevin kidnapped Lyn.”
Trell stood there for a beat, then snickered. “Nigga, you got me fucked up.”
He moved around Mont, opened the door to the house, then walked in. All eyes were on him. Smoke was the first one to step to him. “Trell, let’s sit down.”
“Nah, ain’t no sit down. Where the fuck is my baby girl?” Everyone was quiet. “Oh, no one can talk now? Mauri, show me whatever you got that lets you know she was kidnapped.” Trell needed more confirmation than just some words.
“Dad, I don’t think—”
Trell held his hand up in the direction of his son’s voice. Without looking at him, he addressed his son. “LaMont, I love you, but don’t say shit to me.” His attention went back to Mauri. “Mauri, show me the fuckin’ footage now!”
As if she needed permission, she glanced toward Choppa, Smoke, and Codeine. Yes, Mont was the current president/CEO, but this felt like it was above him. Choppa gave her the nod to show the footage for a second time. She backed the footage up to the argument then restarted it. No one said a word while they all rewatched Kevin argue with, then beat Taelyn. Tears released from Trell’s eyes.
After the footage stopped, Trell’s head dropped. He took in a few shallow breaths to calm his urge to choke his son out. He knew this wasn’t his fault overall. Lyn had been with Kevin for a while and wanted to do her grown shit, so she was allowed to. It wasn’t her fault either, but Trell felt like he should have shut the Kevin shit down a long time ago. Trell had a bad feeling about the boy from day one. Any nigga that kissed ass better than a dog licking his own ass couldn’t be trusted.
When Trell’s head lifted, he finally turned to face his son. He walked into his Mont’s personal space. “Nigga, get my fucking daughter back. When you get those lil niggas, save Kevin for me.”
Mont took a short second to gather himself after the front door slammed from Trell’s exit. His emotions weren’t welcomed there right now. “Aright, what we doing to find my sister?”
Mauri had already been to work in the short time that everyone rewatched the footage. She used conversations with Taelyn as her compass. “Kevin has a baby with this chick in West Ashley.”
Fiona pulled a gun from her holster. “Well, looks like we got a collateral damage ho that’s about to get handled. Men, you can sit this one out. The girls got it.”
“Khiajah, see if Khialee is available for an assist?” Mauri asked before she stood, then stepped over to her parents.
Khialee was more of a contractor than an employee with Christianson Enterprises. Like her sister, Khiajah, she was a beast with it on all angles. Galiana was checking her guns ready to put in work.
“Alright, I’m going to lead tech tonight with Reece on the assist,” Zaakiyah said. When she sat in the seat, she tapped on the keys a few times before she grabbed three tablets from the table, then handed them to Mauri. With a smirk, Zaakiyah placed her eyes on each of the women. “It’s ladies’ night. Let’s get it going.”
The men in the house glanced at each other. They all knew what it was. Yeah, the men were with the shits, but the women were the shit. Between Fiona’s psychotic ass and Galiana’s trigger-happy ass, you would think that would be enough. What many didn’t realize was that Mauri was also a beast, but she preferred to be behind the screen. Khiajah was a woman that could kill a grown man with her bare hands. The same went for her baby sister, Khialee.
Khiajah ended the call she was on with her sister. “Khialee said she’ll be here in twenty.”
Khialee still lived on Sullivan’s Island with her husband Harlem Jr. and their two kids, Harlem III and Phy. When Phy was born and her name was revealed, Khialee’s father Khiaere was undone. Everyone missed Phy more than anyone could say. There were days that Khiajah would go sit with Tae and have conversations with her auntie as if she was her mother, Phy. There was no longer a demarcation line between Khiajah and Phy in Tae’s mind. Tae’s mother Jocelyn and her husband Joseph moved back to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina a few years ago. A house was built for them in Washington Circle.
Jocelyn was beneficial with the care of her daughter. She may have missed the beginning part of Tae’s life, but she had not missed a day since she reentered her life. Some days Tae did not recognize her mother either and referred to her as the nice lady that looked like her.