Chapter Thirty-Five
Most of the units I have all over New York are used to store items we import from the docks. If the feds are looking into one, all items at that warehouse would be brought here to the training center.
The men who show the most potential come here for what we consider basic training. It’s exactly what it sounds like: They work on their gun, fighting, and knife skills. When we see a recruit showing potential, and their lead believes they would do well being placed on Lincoln's team, they run drills.
Lincoln’s team gets called in if something happens at the docks. They also handle the day-to-day duties, like ensuring everyone pays off their debts. They focus on handling the men and women in the higher bracket, leaving everything Lincoln wouldn’t bother with to all the other leads and their men.
The last set of buildings are used as offices for our tech crew. This is where Ace spends most of his time. A few months ago, Lincoln hired him to lead the I.T. men; from what I have been told, he has handled it well. Thankfully, I don’t have to babysit him as much as I thought I would.
Stepping into one of the offices, everyone falls silent as I take my seat. All the leads from Hawkins’ and my territory are here with the top men from their crew. Each Lead has an equivalent to a Capo, their second in command. Each branch has a computer wiz and at minimum ten men each .
Docks one through four are lower on the totem pole. They keep the men who rank low during their training because they aren’t in charge of any of the crucial imports. The lead at Dock Five is Marcus. Over the past few weeks, we have had that dock closed off because the feds had been on his ass about the drugs being imported there. So now we are using it as the primary training site for all recruits and Hawkins’ men.
Dock Six is Conner. He handles distributing the drugs to the inns for the boys to sell. His men deal with making sure dealers pay their debts.
Lastly, Lincoln oversees Dock Seven and the storage units. Since he is my Capo, he has the most responsibility out of all the men. Dock Seven is where we store the other half of the drugs imported from Mexico.
Besides his daily duties, Lincoln also checks in a few times a month with our pilots, who fly worldwide to pick up goods that have been specially requested: Guns, hard-to-get alcohol, and even banned cigars. However, his main job is to keep all underground gambling rings functioning. Other than the drug trade, gambling is where the money is at.
Men with large pockets walk in there and lose millions of dollars without a second thought. However, occasionally, we get someone who bites off more than they can chew. For any debt less than fifty- thousand, Lincoln sends the name to Conner, and his men take care of the issue, but for anything over, Marcus gets the pleasure of making sure we get what we are owed.
As I glance around the room, I sense the tension pouring out of the men. Hawkins only has five men here, and every one of them is in a staring match with one of my guys. I glance at Lincoln, who shrugs. Nobody other than Hawkins, Lincoln, and I know about the mole, but there is an unquestionable history here .
“Do you boys want to get started, or do you want to fight it out,” I say as I lean back in my chair, cross my arms over my chest, and raise my eyebrows to my hairline. When nobody answers, I let out an annoyed sigh. “As we all know, this war is just beginning. We have already lost so many great men from Manzo’s first attack, and I don’t want to lose any more of my men because you can’t keep your high school bullshit out of my damn office.”
“We are a team now. You will be working closely together from here on out. Our men are already training with Ryker’s, so you boys better get used to each other. Keep in mind these men.” Hawkins pauses and points to my Leads and their second hands. “They are the ones who will have your backs when Manzo decides to strike again. If you can’t get along, I’m sure I could find someone willing to take your place.”
The men stiffen as I scan each of them. “I want this war over before it begins. I don’t want to have to notify any more families that their loved ones are dead, so here’s what we are going to do.” I grab the thick folder from Lincoln and open it to the first page.
“Docks one through four, you will stay the same. Your focus is importing everything we need for the new club opening. Dock Five, however,” I look at Marcus who is leaning against the wall in the back of the room. “Because the feds are still investigating you, Marcus, you will become lead of Dock Six and Conner,” He straightens when his name is called. “You will oversee keeping the men in training in line. I want you to take over Dock Five so we can focus on strategy.” He nods and grabs the first set of papers. “These are the names of the most promising men. I want Lincoln to continue to be updated about any progress the men have shown. I want the rest of the leads to look for men with enough potential and send them through basic training.”
“All of my leads here have been through basic training; you will train your men and ensure they make it through with flying colors. If you find a weak link, you will demote them back to the streets, where they will continue to sell for either me or Ryker. You all were trained by Lincoln, one of the best fighters, so there is no excuse as to why your men aren’t going to get the same training you got. Understood?” Hawkins says, and all his men nod.
“For those who haven’t watched the news, Marcello’s daughter Bianca has resurfaced. She is now under my protection with the help of Hawkins, and she is to be kept safe at all costs. Every day, a new lead will be in charge of her well-being. I have hidden her at a safe house, and you won’t know the location before you check in with either Lincoln, Ace, or Hawkins. She will be moved daily to a new location in case one of you is followed.” I hand Nolan the first location but grip the paper tightly so he can’t pull it away. “You will not make contact unless her life is in danger, and I don’t think I have to tell you that if anything happens to her, I’m sure Marcus would love a new toy to play with. ”
He crumples the paper in his hand when I let go and slinks into the back of the room to read the location so nobody else can see it. “Nobody is to know about the location she is being kept at other than you and your secondhand. The men you bring with you won’t know where it is until you arrive.” Lincoln says as he stares down Nolan. I look over to Hawkins and nod at him to take over.
“Now.” Hawkins claps his hands together, making a few of the men jump. “Manzo has been silent, but we know this war is far from over. It’s only a matter of time before he picks up where he left off. Since you are Leads, you’re on the ground more than we are, and we need a strategy to hit him where it’ll hurt. Do you boys have any ideas?”
The men talk amongst themselves as they devise the perfect way to hurt him. They shoot off ideas like hitting him at his strip clubs or taking down a few of his planes. All those ideas would hurt him financially, but these ideas aren’t personal enough. After Bianca explained what happened the night of her eighteenth birthday and the night she was gifted to Manzo, I want to ensure it hurts the most. Something that would cut him deep and leave a permanent scar.
I know someone here is the mole, so laying my cards on the table right now would be idiotic. The only men I know I can trust are the men on Lincoln’s team. They are all loyal to a fault.
“Enough,” I sigh, and all the men stop talking. “That’s good for today. Nolan, I want a report in the morning.” He nods, and everyone but Lincoln and Hawkins file out of the room.
“Harris is doing great,” Lincoln says, sitting in one of the vacant seats.
“Harris?” I ask as I click the first link to the training videos one of the leads sent .
“The sharpshooter from the first attack.” Lincoln clarifies. “The boy had no prior training before that day and was able to take out at least six men. When I set him up for a round, he was able to hit all his targets. Granted, he could use some work, but I think we should keep him in our back pocket. That’s talent that shouldn’t go to waste.”
I nod once more as I move the videos to the large monitor on the wall so everyone else can watch with me.
We spend the rest of the day filtering out the men I don’t need or want. Most of the men I pick will become leads or second hands and will help train the new trainees. Once we figure out who the rat is, we will need a replacement.
When I get to Lincoln’s group, I focus on Jeremy. I watch as he is set up for a raid. He has to enter the warehouse and get three men out of captivity. I flick through the cameras and count three men on the first floor and six guarding the room where the men are being held. He has to go in with two other men and get everyone out safely, all under thirty minutes. It’s one of the harder tasks to complete when training to be a lead.
He talks with the men as the time starts and spends about ten minutes struggling to devise with a plan before he grabs the mini paintball blaster and slowly enters the building. The other two men run around to enter from the back. Normally, it would be bad to be alone, but keeping your men alive is one of the most essential parts of this. If you die, you are penalized less than if one of your men dies. If you die and they still succeed, you still get enough points to go on to the next task. He takes out the first guy with a shot to the stomach. The other men are notified of his location now, so he needs to act fast.
He runs to the other side of the building and ducks behind a crate when one of his opponents fires a shot at him. He sits there for a few seconds until he hears the click of the back door opening. He stands and fires, taking out the guy distracted by his other men entering. At first, I don’t think he notices the man running down the stairs, but he quickly takes him out and hits him in the center of his helmet. His men search each room, finding two men hiding, while Jeremy starts up the stairs. He waits about halfway up for his men to join him. He whispers something into one of the men’s ears, nods, then runs down the steps and back out of the building.
Jeremy fires, hitting the man who turns the corner and aims his blaster at his teammate. They both clear the area and search two of the three rooms. Outside the door, Jeremy waits a few seconds before he kicks in the door. He shouts at the men to put their hands up, but of course, they don’t listen. Instead, the man closest to the door fires at Jeremy, but he manages to pull one of the other enemies in front of him, so he takes the bullet. He runs to the window and manages to crack it an inch before he is tackled by one of the opponents. After a bit of a struggle, Jeremy gets the upper hand and shoots the man in the stomach. He turns to check on his unconscious teammate. He’s not dead, just injured.
Before the run-through starts, we tell one of the men they will be “wounded” once the victims are found. In this one, they are dealing with a soldier who was shot, and you have to carry him out of the building while getting everyone else out. Jeremy groans, and the window flies open, getting the attention of every man in the room, and an all-out brawl ensues.
Jeremy gets the able man to untie the others. He throws the gun his injured man carried to one of the Victims, who takes down one man while Jeremy continues to struggle with the largest man in the room. He pulls out a rubber knife and stabs him in the side when he realizes he won’t win the fight.
Huffing out heavy breaths, he scans the room and helps untie the last Victim. The third is injured and is limping, so Jeremy helps him up and gives him to the other two victims, who are being led out by Jeremy’s remaining teammate. He grabs his downed ally and drags him out of the room by his hands. When he gets in the hall, I can tell he is frustrated but still manages to keep a level head. That’s one of the main things we look for when recruiting fighters. If you can’t work well under pressure, even if you are a great fighter, you have no chance of walking out of a situation like this alive. He clenches his jaw as he lifts his teammate onto his shoulders, runs down the steps, and out the door with three minutes to spare.
“I think we just found our new Lead,” I say, shutting down the laptop and not bothering with the other videos.