Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
P arker couldn’t believe his eyes. He had to be seeing things.
The moment he heard the voice, he knew it was her, but how was that possible? How had she gotten out of San Diego without his help?
Hell, how had she survived the fallout of a plan that had gone horribly wrong?
As his gaze took her in, memories of their last day together swarmed his mind. Gone was the scared, quiet sixteen-year-old girl who he had vowed to help get out of California.
In her place was a well put-together woman dressed in an expensive-looking floral blouse and white skirt. The makeup on her tawny-brown face was flawless, and her long micro braids hung loose down to her waist.
If it weren’t for her grayish-brown eyes, Parker wouldn’t be a hundred percent sure it was her—the girl he’d met in high school. The girl who he had befriended despite the hatred between the people they associated with. And the girl who worked with him to set up the war between the Disciples and the Kingz.
“Elena?” Her name came out as a whisper while he tried to make sense of this.
Stunning, narrowed eyes stared back at him. “Knuckles?” she finally said and moved closer but stopped a few feet away. “Oh my… You’re alive? I thought—”
He wasn’t sure who moved first, but before Parker realized it, they were in each other’s arms. He hugged her fiercely and was glad she made it out of California alive.
When they finally released each other, he said, “I can’t believe it’s you.”
“You two care to fill us in on what’s happening here?” Chelsey asked, and her words snapped Parker out of his temporary fog.
Shit .
She was probably thinking more was going on here than it actually was. He and Elena had never been anything more than friends. Two kids who had plotted and had been willing to risk their lives to get out of bad situations at home.
He moved back to the chair he had vacated and reached for Chelsey’s hand to pull her into a standing position.
“Sweetheart, this is Elena. I…she…we…”
He stopped and sighed, struggling to get his thoughts and words to cooperate. Shock had rattled his brain, because he still couldn’t believe she was standing in front of him.
Parker turned his attention to Chelsey. “Elena helped me start the war between the Kingz and the Disciples. Her brother, Calvin, was the leader of the Disciples.”
When Parker looked at the woman again, she was still staring at him as if he were a ghost. “Elena, this is my fiancée, Chelsey.”
“ Fiancée? ” Rock said, surprise in his voice. “When did that happen?”
“Last night,” Angelo responded before Parker or Chelsey could answer.
Everyone, including Elena, congratulated them, and Parker barely registered Chelsey showing everyone her ring. He still couldn’t get over seeing little Elena and her transformation. He had so many questions, but if she was like him, she didn’t want to remember the past. Still…
“Elena,” he said.
“Kamora,” Elena corrected with a gentle smile. “My name is Kamora. Like you, needing a new start, I changed my identity. The other day, when Rock mentioned Parker, Parker Wilcox, I had no idea he was talking about you.”
It was interesting that Rock hadn’t enlightened either of them about the other. How long had he known that they once knew each other? When Parker had more time, he’d try to unpack what that meant. For now, though, he was just glad to see her.
“You look different…yet the same,” Kamora said, shock still marring her face.
That had been Parker’s main concern when that photo of him and Journey showed up on TV and the internet months ago. Anyone who knew him as Junior or Knuckles from back in the day would probably do a double take. He’d had minor work done to his face, but he still looked like Junior. Yet, most would believe Junior was dead. Or at least he was supposed to be.
“I can’t believe it. You’re alive,” Kamora said in awe.
“Funny, I was thinking the same about you.” Parker wanted more than anything to know what happened that day in San Diego and how she got to Miami. “What are you doing here?” he asked instead of voicing all the other questions floating through his mind.
“Okay, I’m still a little lost here,” Angelo said, looking from one person to the other.
Hearing Angelo’s confusion reminded Parker that Rock knew all along his connection to Kamora. He wondered what else the former drug lord knew.
After introducing Kamora to Angelo, Parker gave an abbreviated version of their past. He made it clear that he and Kamora had never been a couple. They’d just been two people who had befriended each other and realized they had a lot in common.
“We attended the same high school and had a few classes together. During a conversation, I realized she was indirectly connected to the Euclid Disciples, the Kingz’ biggest competitor.”
“Despite that, we formed a friendship of sorts,” Kamora added. “Then one day, I showed up at school with bruised ribs, and Parker asked what happened. My brother had used me as a punching bag the night before, and I was ready to get away from him but didn’t know how I could.”
Parker was glad she hadn’t mentioned that he had offered to take her brother out. She hadn’t wanted him to get involved for fear Calvin, who was ten years older and just as ruthless as Wolf, would try to kill him. With her brother being her guardian, Kamora hadn’t wanted to make him mad because she had no one else. Their parents had died, and she’d been left with her drug lord brother.
“When we planned to start a war, Knuckles and I… Sorry, I mean Parker and I had a meetup location planned for that night. The plan was to leave California together, and then eventually go our separate ways.
“When you didn’t show,” she said, looking at Parker, “I knew I had to come up with a backup plan. So I reached out to a cousin in LA and paid him to give me a ride to Vegas. I figured I could get lost there for a while.
“He was the only one who knew where I was, and he thought I was visiting a friend. He had no clue I had run away from my brother. Nor did he know anything about me setting the Disciples up for war.
“When Calvin put the word out that I was missing, my cousin told him where I was.”
Parker already knew this story was going to get worse before it got better. When Kamora stopped speaking and shook her head, his gut clenched.
If only he could’ve helped get her out of San Diego as planned. What she must have gone through…
He didn’t want to think about it. When searching for her, he had learned that her brother was dead. He hadn’t known when or how, but…”
“This is where I came in at.”
Parker’s attention jerked to Gavin, who had been quiet up to this point. Actually, neither he nor Rock had said anything for the last few minutes.
“Rock and I were in Vegas on business. Let’s just say we found Kamora in an alley before that piece-of-shit brother of hers could do even more damage to her.”
Kamora snorted. “He’s being modest. They saved my life.”
As she recounted how Calvin and his friends beat on her, Parker was taken back to that night with Wolf in the warehouse. He wouldn’t wish that type of bodily punishment on anyone. Especially not a woman; or in her case, a young lady.
A stab of guilt pierced Parker in the gut. He had failed her. She had only been sixteen and so desperate to be free of her brother. She had gone along with his war idea probably without considering all the ramifications.
“I’m just glad he’ll never be able to hurt anyone else,” Kamora said. “Gavin took care of that.”
Parker glanced at Gavin who seemed to only have eyes for Kamora. Interesting. There was at least a ten-year age difference between the two, but it was clear there was more than just friendly interest in Gavin’s eyes.
Parker was getting ready to ask her more questions—like what role did she play in Rock’s organization—but Rock cleared his throat.
“Maybe you two can catch up later. For now, Kamora, what did you find out about Wolf’s assets?” Rock asked.
“Right.” Kamora carried the file folder as well as a laptop over to the table in the corner, and everyone followed. She spread the contents of the file across the table and logged into the computer. There were photos of homes, cars, offshore accounts information, stash houses, and a host of other documents.
Unease swept through Parker. How had she gotten all this information? Had it been legally attained? Instead of asking, he listened as she gave details about where Wolf’s personal homes were located. Anger rolled through Parker when he realized two homes were in his mother’s name. One in Puerto Vallarta and another in Cancun.
As Kamora continued filling them in on everything, he faced the fact that he had clearly underestimated his father. Parker had managed to dig up some of this information over the last few months, but there’d been so much he hadn’t found.
Concern crept in. Would they be able to take Wolf and the Kingz down without ending up in jail?
Or worse…ending up dead?
As if reading his mind, Angelo said, “Remember, we agreed to do this legally. We all have contacts we can reach out to, but we must ensure they operate aboveboard.” He looked pointedly at Rock.
“Man, how many times are you going to remind us?” Rock said, irritation in his tone.
“As many times as it takes,” Angelo responded without missing a beat.
For the next couple of hours, they scoured over the information, and they all compared notes.
“We have an undercover ATF contact,” Kamora said, referring to the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agency. “Rock has heard of a possible gun deal that Wolf is involved in, but instead of him…interfering,” she glanced between Rock and Angelo, “we’ll reach out to our ATF contact and see if he’d be able to somehow broker that deal. Then, if all goes well, they can arrest Wolf.”
“Okay, but before we do that, I’ll need to reach out to the gun trafficker Wolf is expecting to meet with. The guy who owes me a favor,” Rock said, his gaze darting to Angelo as if expecting him to say something.
When he didn’t, Rock continued. “I’ll talk him into stalling the meetup before eventually canceling it. That’ll give the ATF guy a chance for him and his people to set up a fake deal with Wolf, and then they can arrest him.”
“Good idea, but we need ATF to wait until everything else is in place before they take Wolf in,” Parker added. “Otherwise, Elder, Wolf’s second-in-command, will pick up where Wolf left off. And I want Elder and the Kingz shut down right along with Wolf.”
The more they talked, the more Parker realized how hard it was going to be to hit Wolf from all sides at the same time. But together, he believed they could do it.
Parker had already been in touch with Luis, the only one in Wolf’s crew who he trusted. Luis was ready to cut ties with the Kingz, and normally, the only way to do that was by death.
Parker was offering him another way out. Along with the help of Angelo and his DEA contact, Luis would help the agency and Parker get as much insight into the drug side of the Kingz business. With that knowledge, they would know how to attack and destroy it.
Then Parker and Rock would help Luis and his family disappear.
Hours later, after narrowing down a plan of action and who would handle what, it became even more paramount that they strike every aspect of Wolf and the Kingz’s operations at once.
Hopefully, the Kingz wouldn’t catch on until it was too late.
This had to work.
His future with Chelsey and his plans of running Rock’s security depended on it.