Crew
I stood in the rain staring at Timberly’s stuffed bunny, dirty and wet, and the pink fur soaked from the downpour.
I closed my fist around it and squeezed, trying to ground myself in the aftermath of what had happened.
Blue stood behind me surveying the area scrubbing the footage of the ambush.
While Black paced near the wreckage, speaking low into his phone, pulling every old contact and extra man he had to spare.
He was able to use his contacts in the local precinct, keeping the police away from the scene, so we could collect and clues before they fucked up the evidence.
Our SUV sat crumpled, empty, with bullet casings and glass all around. My heart hadn’t stopped pounding since the first bullet hit the side of the SUV with my family inside. Nova was gone, and our daughter was traumatized.
I had failed them both.
I stepped over the broken glass and twisted metal.
The sound of my boots was heavy as they crunched against asphalt soaked with dried blood and oil.
Ending his call Black stood quiet as always as we took in the scene for a few more minutes.
The twins stood beside me like silent shadows, their thick arms crossed, both their jaws locked tight in hardened scowls.
Blue moved first like a ghost kneeling beside a bullet casing; his fingers brushing across it with surgical precision.
“They hit us like they knew our every damn move. Knew where we’d be and how fast we’d be moving,” I gritted.
“Somebody insides talkin’. That nigga Kyle got his hands in everything.” Black said, voice flat and gravely.
“Are any of the men he brought local or have any connections to Timberline?” I asked.
“Nah, all out of town mercs for hire. The nigga that took Nova is the only one that got away. All the others have been taken to the cleaners or in our office right now.” Blue said, calmly tapping on his laptop.
"We need to find her," I growled, turning to Black. "Now."
Black nodded. "I've got men combing the whole city. We'll bring her home. We need to do this as quietly as possible. You still have a corporation to run. This could cause problems for you if word of this got out."
“I don’t give a fuck about none of that.
Do whatever you have to do to help me bring my wife home.
Nothin’ matters but my family. Fuck everything else.
How did he get this close to my fucking family?
Who could have turned on me? My people have been with me for years but right now everybody's a suspect.” I gritted.
At the end of the day Nova and Timberly’s safety was my responsibility. I already had my own team in place, but it was Black’s fucking job to manage them now that he was head of my security team.
“It was your driver.” Blue said nonchalantly like I should have known this shit. “He’s been fucking Kyle’s sister since she came to town. I pulled his call history and texts. They cloned his phone and been tracking his location for a week now.”
“I’ll have my men bring him to the office.” Black grumbled.
Fluorescent light filtered through a single overhead bulb hanging from the ceiling of the large, abandoned office building in the old industrial park.
This was one of August’s properties that the twins used for interrogating and interviewing guests so to speak.
The silence was thick, broken only by the heavy breathing of the three men tied to the steel chairs in front of us.
The fourth still out cold in the corner, wasn’t gon’ be much use to anyone based on the amount of blood he had lost. I paced calmly behind them as they attempted to keep me in their line of sight.
“I had my wife and daughter in that truck. You aimed your shit, knowing that you were putting them in the line of fire. So I’ma ask this once. Where the fuck is Kyle?”
“Crew, man, I swear I’d never put you or your family in danger, please. You know me man.” Damon, my driver of five years, cried.
“You swear, huh? Was you swearing when you let Kennedy clone your phone and track your fuckin’ whereabouts for a week,” I spat.
“What? Crew. I didn’t know. Come on,” Damon screamed.
“Come on what, nigga? Your dumb ass put my family at risk. Nah nigga ain’t no come on.” I spit, pulling my Glock from its holster, I aimed and put two between that nigga eyes.
A week ago, it wouldn’t have crossed my mind to kill a man that wronged me.
I had worked hard changin’ and making myself a new man.
A respectable law abidin’ businessman. But muthafuckas didn’t want me to be a good man.
They wanted the savage I had been years ago, runnin’ the streets and causing mayhem.
The man next to him shook as he coughed up blood like he had never seen a dead body.
These niggas out here doing hits on muthafuckas and scared of a little blood and brain matter.
“I… I don’t know where he is. I swear, man. I just did what I was told. Kennedy runs point…” the one covered in Damon’s blood sputtered.
Blue stepped around the man placing his fingers on the pulse point of his neck.
“Ya pulse says you’re lyin'. Ya eyes twitch left when lyin’. Right when guilty. You looked left.” Blue said flatly.
“You want me to start? I don’t need many tools. Just five fingers and time.” Black huffed, cracking his knuckles.
“Start with the hand he used to aim a gun at my family?” I told Black.
Then I stepped over to our last guest. “You can either tell me what I want to know or cutting you up piece by piece will be merciful compared to what I’ll do to you,” I told him.
I didn’t have any more time to play with these muthafuckas.
I needed answers and they were gon’ give them to me.
Picking up a thin blade from the table of torture devices, I gripped it in my hand before bringin’ it down across the niggas face in front of me.
His warm blood sprayed out covering my chest and arm as he howled in pain.
“If you don’t want me to peel the skin off yo’ muthafuckin’ face, talk!
“Okay! Okay! H-He’s in the hollow on the outskirts of town.
” He cried as blood ran down his face and his partner screamed next to him.
“Big old house in the woods… used to be a hunting cabin. Kyle said once he got his family back, they were leaving. His sister has been living there since she came to town plottin’ on your wife.
You were our main target. Once we took you out, we were supposed to bring your wife and daughter to the spot.
Kyle told us to make sure you didn’t walk away from the attack but Kennedy.
She wanted you alive.” He said, sweating and pulling on his restraints.
“Get eyes on that house. Once you make sure his information is real, lock the area down. No movement without me knowin’. I want eyes on everyone that steps in or out.” I spat, stepping behind my victim.
“Already on it. I’ll confirm and alert you and our team as soon as I have something,” Blue huffed.
“Pick a safer job in ya next life bitch.” I said to Kyle’s goon before snapping his neck.
“Black, finish him,” I said, ready to get this shit over with.
Black stood from his torture with a huff like I was interrupting his fun.
He stepped behind the screaming man without a word then silenced him with a quick twist of his neck.
“What now?” I said still brimming with murderous energy.
“Go home to your daughter we got this. We’ll let you know when it's time to move.” Blue said, still focusing on his laptop like we weren’t just in the midst of torture and murder feet away from him.
But he was right. I wanted nothing more than to go home but I couldn’t look Timberly in her eyes and tell her that I didn’t know where her mother was or when she was coming home.
I needed my wife back. Now.
“She needs you.” Black said, obviously reading my mind.
“Call me.” I said.
The house was too quiet when I entered. Too quiet.
Despite the added additions of Tyra, DJ, Del, Pops and Janelle who had volunteered to stay here since Nova was taken, the house still felt empty.
Closing the door behind me I locked it and set the alarm as I moved through the foyer.
I could hear Janelle bellowing orders on her cell from the family room where she had been stationed since she arrived.
I followed her voice to where the noise was coming from and just like I thought Del was next to her with her laptop and headphones on no doubt coordinating all our plans with Blue.
Not bothering to interrupt I headed into the kitchen and found Pops nursing a glass of brown with a similar look of vengeance in his eyes.
“You get anything outta those pieces of shit?” Pops asked, not even looking up from his drink.
“Yeah. Enough. Once we shook the trees we found out that Kyle might have her somewhere out in the hollow. But you and I both know nobody lives out that way. Maybe some bootleggers or a few of the homeless dudes from town living in tents, but no houses. My people are checking it now just in case. If they find anything we’ll move in. ” I told him.
“Why aren’t you waitin’? You could be walkin’ into a trap,” he asked, finally looking up with bloodshot eyes.
“I know Pops. But I have to try no matter the cost.” I said. My brain was working overtime plotting revenge on Kyle.