Marius
I watched with complete satisfaction as the bottom half of the hotel disappeared beneath a wall of fire and concrete, the explosion blooming through the night like a beautiful work of art.
Flames climbed higher with every passing second, swallowing glass, steel, and screams alike as thick black smoke rolled into the Memphis sky.
Sirens hadn’t even begun yet, but I knew they were coming.
They always came after the damage had already been done.
A slow smile stretched across my face as I adjusted the collar of my coat before sliding back into the waiting SUV.
“Drive.” The tires peeled away from the curb just as the first panicked people began spilling into the streets. Some were screaming. Others stood frozen, staring at the inferno as though refusing to believe what they were witnessing. None of it concerned me anymore.
“You said we were coming here to talk to him.” I leaned back comfortably against the leather seat, crossing one leg over the other as though we were simply leaving dinner instead of the scene of an attempted assassination.
“That was before I caught him making googly eyes at my wife.” My voice never changed.
It never elevated or wavered. If anything, the calmer I became, the more uncomfortable people seemed to get.
They expected yelling. Rage. Emotion. Instead, I gave them certainty, and certainty always frightened people far more than screaming ever could.
Our intention had been simple enough. Elias was supposed to pull Emory aside and remind him exactly where his loyalties belonged before he did something he’d regret.
A quiet conversation, maybe a subtle warning.
Nothing more. Then I saw them. Masina smiling.
Laughing. Sitting across from another man sharing drinks, holding hands, and looking at him the same way she used to look at me.
When they stood and his hand settled against the small of her back as he guided her toward the elevators, every plan I’d made went straight to hell.
I’d brought one of my favorite toys with me for emphasis, and it just so happened to serve a much greater purpose tonight.
“Take me back to my hideout.” I glanced toward Elias in the driver’s seat. “And Elias, so help me God, if you speak a single word of what happened tonight to anybody, I will wipe out your entire bloodline.”
Silence settled inside the SUV. The only sounds were the engine and distant sirens growing louder behind us.
“I mean every person attached to your last name.” I continued almost conversationally.
“Your wife...your brothers...your cousins...your grandchildren I don’t even know exist yet.” I leaned forward until my mouth was only inches from the back of his head. “And I’ll start with that gray-eyed bitch you call a son.”
When he still didn’t answer, I reached inside my jacket, removed the pistol tucked into my waistband, and pressed the cold barrel against the back of his skull. “Or...I can end all this shit right here, right now.”
“What’s it gone be, Chief?” The barrel dug into his head.
“Fuck!” His voice cracked under pressure. “I’m on your side, man. Goddamn. I’m on your side.”
“Are you?”
“Yes!”
“Then why you questioning me?”
“I...” His adam’s apple bobbed violently. “I just...I didn’t expect you to kill him is all.”
“And?”
“And...I won’t say shit.” He squeezed his eyes closed for a brief second before opening them again. “Just leave my family out of this.”
“That is dependent upon you and only you, my friend.”
I put the gun away, satisfied with his fear...
for now. Elias had always been easy to control once you reminded him what was at stake.
Men like him loved power until somebody stronger reminded them it had never truly belonged to them in the first place.
Fear had a funny way of making people remember where their loyalties were, and judging by the way his hands still trembled against the steering wheel, I’d successfully refreshed his memory.
For a man on the run, today couldn’t have gone better.
Finding out Sera had offed herself sent pure joy through my heart.
While Emory had it coming for even thinking he could go against me to begin with, Cassian was a fucking mess, and I was ecstatic my point had been proven without me ever having to lay a hand on her myself.
Love had no place in this field, especially with a woman like Sera.
People swore love made you stronger, but I’d watched it do nothing except make powerful men weak.
It clouded judgment, slowed your trigger finger, and convinced you that mercy somehow made you honorable.
All it really did was hand your enemies another weapon to use against you.
In my opinion, the world was better off without her. Good fucking riddance.
Now Aretha, however, had been nothing more than a casualty of war.
Those flowers had never been intended for her.
They were meant for my wife, but Aretha had been close enough to a mother to Kade that her death emphasized my point just the same.
Pain was pain, and grief didn’t care whose name was written on the package.
The message had been delivered exactly the way I’d intended, and judging by the look on Kade’s face before I left, I knew he’d received it loud and clear.
It was time to start cleaning house, because I knew there were now a number of people gunning for me.
Let them come. I almost welcomed it. Hunting was far more enjoyable when the prey convinced themselves they were the predator.
Yuki thought she had the upper hand, but she’d forgotten one important thing about me. I never survived this long by trusting luck. Every one of my safe houses had been built years ago with the understanding that one day this lifestyle might finally catch up with me.
They weren’t just places to sleep. They were fortresses, scattered throughout the state, each equipped with enough surveillance, security measures, supplies, and contingency plans to keep me alive while everybody else wasted time chasing ghosts.
Cameras watched every entrance. Silent alarms alerted me long before anyone got close enough to become a problem.
Hidden escape routes guaranteed I was never cornered, and every inch of those properties had been designed with one purpose in mind: making sure the next person who came looking for Marius regretted finding him.
When Yuki pulled up with her men, I almost didn’t make it out before they stormed the place. If it hadn’t been for my cameras and the hidden bunker tucked behind the bookshelf, I’d have been a dead nigga walking.
Years ago people laughed when I insisted on building hidden compartments, escape tunnels, and surveillance into every property I owned.
They called me paranoid. I called it preparation.
In my line of work, the only difference between paranoia and intelligence was whether you survived long enough to prove yourself right.
That night my preparations paid for themselves because by the time they breached the front of the house, I was already underground watching every move they made from the security monitors.
I watched them tear through every room looking for me.
Furniture was flipped over, walls were knocked into, closets emptied, and mattresses sliced open.
They searched like people convinced I was hiding somewhere within arm’s reach, never realizing I was only a few feet below them watching the entire performance unfold.
I couldn’t even lie and pretend like, had they found me, I would’ve gone out in some blaze of glory.
Anybody claiming they wanted to die in a shootout was either a fool or had never stared death in the face before.
Me? I intended to live. I refused to take my last breath before delivering payback to every single person who’d ever thought plotting against me was a smart idea.
Death could have me when I was good and ready, not a second sooner.
It wasn’t until they finally gave up and pulled away that I climbed out from beneath the house.
I didn’t waste time looking around or trying to salvage anything they destroyed.
Material shit could always be replaced. My life couldn’t.
I packed everything I needed, wiped down every surface worth wiping, grabbed enough cash, weapons, and ammunition to disappear again, then abandoned the property without so much as a second glance.
Safe house number one had served its purpose.
There was no reason to grow attached to a place that had already been compromised.
Sliding behind the wheel of another vehicle waiting several miles away, I started the engine and pulled onto the highway.
The city lights reflected across the windshield as one thought continued circling my mind.
They all believed they were hunting me, but none of them understood the game they were playing.
Hunters only stayed hunters until something bigger decided to hunt them instead.
With one location burned, it was time to stop reacting and start reminding people who the fuck Marius was. It was time to pull up on my sons. Niggas wanted to get active. I was gone show these young niggas not just how to play ball...but how to clear the entire field.
As we approached my second hideout, Elias threw the SUV in park and hesitantly looked back at me.
“I can’t stay—”
“Save it.” I cut him off before he could finish.
“I’ll be in touch.”
I had no interest in hearing another one of his excuses.
The nigga had spent the entire ride sweating, second-guessing every decision he’d ever made, and whining like he wasn’t the Chief of Police who willingly climbed into bed with me years ago.
He’d pissed me off enough already. The last thing I needed was another speech about doing the right thing after everything we’d built together.
Opening the door, I climbed out and shut it behind me. Before walking away, I leaned back down toward his window and held his gaze for several long seconds.
“You remember what I said.”
He swallowed. “I do.”
“Good.”
Without another word, I turned and disappeared toward the house while he hurriedly pulled away from the curb. Smart man. Fear had a way of making people punctual.
Once inside, I locked the first deadbolt, then the second, then the third before finally allowing myself to exhale.
Tossing my coat over the back of a chair, I walked through the quiet house, appreciating the silence that came with being alone.
Every safe house looked different from the outside, but the inside was always the same.
Weapons. Surveillance monitors. Enough food and supplies to disappear for months if I had to.
I’d built each one with the understanding that one day the world would turn against me.
Turns out, I’d been right.
I grabbed the remote off the coffee table and switched on the television just as every major news station had broken into live coverage.
“This is a developing story out of downtown Memphis, where emergency crews continue working through the aftermath of tonight’s devastating explosion at the Peabody Hotel.
Authorities have confirmed six fatalities and three additional victims transported to area hospitals with critical injuries.
The lower level of the historic hotel sustained catastrophic structural damage and has been condemned until engineers determine the building is safe to enter. ”
“At this time investigators have not released the identities of the deceased as families are still being notified. Law enforcement officials tell us there are currently no suspects in custody and the surveillance footage has yielded very little. Sources close to the investigation believe the individual responsible deliberately positioned themselves outside the range of nearby security cameras before fleeing the area. Federal authorities have now joined local law enforcement as the search for the suspect continues.” The anchor continued talking, but I’d already heard everything I needed to hear.
Six dead, three injured, no suspects, no leads.
I reached for the remote and muted the television.
With my luck, and my aim, Masina and Emory were two of the six.
A slow smile crept across my face as I walked over to the bar and poured myself a stiff drink.
Swirling the amber liquid around the glass, I watched the ice melt as my mind wandered to everything that had transpired over the past forty-eight hours.
Sera was dead, Aretha was gone now too, and the hotel was nothing but rubble.
Cassian was broken, Kade was angry, and Yayo was probably loading enough weapons to invade a small country.
Good. Angry people made mistakes, grieving people made emotional decisions, and emotional decisions got people killed.
They all believed I was running, hiding, and surviving...
but the truth was, I was herding them where I wanted them.
Every move they’d made since turning against me had been predictable, and every betrayal only narrowed the playingfield, making it easier to see who deserved to stay standing when this was all over.
I took another sip of my drink before walking over to the wall where a large map of Tennessee hung beneath a collection of photographs, notes, names, and red strings connecting one person to another.
Kade, Yayo, Cassian, Ysis, Yuki, Masina, Emory, Elias, and lastly Majesty.
Each of them had convinced themselves they were players in this game.
None of them realized they were still pieces.
Setting my glass down, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a fresh burner phone.
There was only one number saved inside it.
Smiling to myself, I pressed call. The line rang once, then twice. On the third ring someone answered.
“I was beginning to wonder when you’d call.” I smiled even wider.
“The real game starts now.”