Chapter 2 Silas
Waiting in the lobby was souring my mood. That was unfortunate for the poor bastard currently tied up in my interrogation workshop.
I had spent the better part of the last hour deciding whether it would hurt more to pull out his fingernails or his teeth. As my patience thinned, I decided there was no reason to choose.
Both would suffice.
The click of General Green’s office door cut through the noise of my thoughts. His previous appointment exited at a near run, boots sharp against the marble.
Captain Cade Green, the general's son.
Restrained irritation locked his jaw tight and stiffened his shoulders. Everyone knew the Green brothers, the general's prodigal sons. Cade and I had crossed paths a few times while his unit was stationed in Falcon City. He noticed me immediately and changed course to greet me.
“Special Officer Mercer,” he said, stopping short and offering a curt nod.
“Captain Green,” I replied, polite enough.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he added. “We were finishing a debriefing.”
“I figured I’d be waiting,” I said with a shrug, letting a smirk creep in. “I always budget extra time for appointments that end with someone being unhappy.”
His eyes flickered with understanding, just briefly, but he didn’t comment.
“I hear your unit just grew,” I continued. “Rumor has it you picked up an omega deserter. Haven’t seen one of those in a while.”
“Yes,” he said, without divulging much else. “Hiding in plain sight.”
The intercom buzzed before I could push further.
“General Green is ready for you now, Special Officer Mercer,” the secretary said.
I nodded once and moved past Cade, already done with the exchange. Whatever was happening inside that unit was his problem.
The general’s office smelled faintly of old leather and polished wood. He didn’t look up as I took a seat across from him, eyes still fixed on a folder spread open on his desk.
A photograph sat face-up inside it.
Red hair. Pale skin. Omega.
Pretty thing.
I wondered briefly how long she’d last with Cade's savage unit. Especially that feral brother of his, and the wolf shifter. Guy gave me the creeps with his glowing yellow eyes.
“Special Officer Mercer,” General Green said at last, closing the folder and sliding the omega's photograph out of sight. “Just the man I needed.”
“How can I be of service, sir?” I asked, voice smooth despite my frustration at having to wait so long.
His summons had surprised me. The general and I met briefly before, but he usually funneled requests through my superior, Arca Internal Enforcements Division or AIED Director Bill Mallory.
Although I suppose when a general called you in personally, it meant someone had finally become too big to ignore.
He didn’t waste time.
“Director Mallory tells me you’re very good at acquiring information,” he said, studying me. “Particularly regarding Falcon City’s crime families.”
I held his gaze. “My brother and I run the Organized Crime Compliance Division within AIED.”
Interest sparked in his eyes.
“Our division is dedicated to monitoring criminal leadership,” I continued. “We track deserter alphas operating outside Arca control, investigate treaty violations, enforce compliance, and prevent expansion before it requires open force.”
He leaned back, weighing my words.
“Then you’re exactly who I need,” he said. “If you had to guess who this meeting concerns, who would you name?”
I didn’t hesitate.
“Marco Bellini.”
The general grinned wide.
“Good,” he said. “That means I won't need to bring you up to speed much. What do you know about him?”
“He assumed control of the Bellini family after the death of his father, Enzo, a few years ago,” I replied. “And he’s already proving himself dangerous.”
“How so?”
“He’s violating the Arca Criminal Agreements openly,” I said. “Buying off our personnel. Moving narcotics through the bases. Expanding his enforcement numbers by recruiting alpha deserters.”
I paused, letting the next part settle.
“And he’s trafficking omegas.”
The general's smile vanished.
“When Enzo Bellini was alive, Marco restrained his appetites,” the General said. “He kept a few omegas, which Command found acceptable. That restraint no longer exists.”
He leaned forward. “He currently controls twenty omega assets.”
“Twenty-one,” I corrected. “My sources confirmed a new acquisition last week. Traded through the Russo Crime family.”
His jaw tightened.
“I sent him an order,” the general said. “Non-negotiable terms including the surrender of his omegas and reduction of manpower. Silence was his only response.”
I exhaled slowly. “I suspected it would be sooner or later.”
“Command anticipated it as well,” he said. “Which is why your unit will report directly to me and your new focus will be Marco Bellini solely. He’s gone rogue, making him a threat to Arca’s authority.”
He fixed me with a stern look. “Though we can’t remove him outright. That creates instability and chaos, which is never good in a place as tempestuous as Falcon City. What do you recommend?”
“We dismantle his leverage,” I said. “Bellini’s power isn’t just money or violence. It’s access. Omegas are his most powerful currency. He rewards loyalty with them. Punishes dissent by withholding them. Trades them to secure alliances.”
I leaned forward slightly, my eyes betraying just how interested I really was in Marco Bellini.
“Take them away, and his structure collapses. His lieutenants and enforcers will lose incentive. The other crime families will stop shielding him. Once Arca recovers most of the omegas, Bellini will become expendable, and it’s likely every alliance will turn on him.
The general nodded slowly.
“That is your directive,” he said. “Except I don’t want most of the omegas.”
He met my eyes. “I want all of them. Every last one."
He continued, “In exchange for your work on this special assignment, your unit may retain one recovered omega of your choosing.”
I inclined my head, eyebrows raised. “I’ll begin extracting information immediately. Bellini knows how valuable the omegas are, keeping them distributed across many locations. He has eyes everywhere, including within Arca now. Recovery won’t be fast, clean, or easy.”
“I’ll authorize whatever you need,” the general said. “This is a top priority.”
“Then it’ll be done,” I said.
Green gave a curt nod, already looking ready to end the meeting, but I spoke again before he could dismiss me.
“Sir, I have a request.”
He had offered our unit an omega, which surprised me.
In our unit, there were only two members: my twin brother and me.
Command usually only assigned omegas to units of four or more.
Which meant one thing. We’d made enough noise to be noticed and become important enough that Command was willing to bend its own rules.
And they didn’t do that unless they were pleased with what they saw.
Most units would kill for an omega. But what the general didn’t know is that for us, the omega wouldn’t be the real prize when this was over.
I wanted something else.
Badly.
His eyes lifted back to mine.
“What is it, Special Officer?”
“I’ve been keeping tabs on Bellini for a long time,” I said. “He’s well-connected. The amount of intel he’s sitting on could be extremely valuable to AIED. To Arca.”
Green leaned back slightly in his chair, studying me.
“When we destabilize his operation,” I continued, “I want to take him alive for questioning.”
A pause settled between us.
“My brother and I will conduct his interrogation. And when he’s finished giving us everything he knows,” I added, my voice colder now, “I want permission to end him. His death will send a clear message to the rest of the crime families.”
Green’s eyes narrowed slightly as he considered the request.
The silence stretched for a few seconds.
Then he gave a single nod.
“Agreed. When the time comes, he’s all yours.”
Relief coursed through me. It was all falling into place. Our careful planning was finally getting us closer to our end goal.
“Thank you, sir.”
I leaned back in the chair, lacing my hands behind my head as I waited to be dismissed.
Somewhere across the city, locked in my workshop, a man was bleeding onto concrete, waiting for me to decide which part of him went first.
I would call Knox as soon as I finished carving flesh, to fill him in on the general's new orders.
My brother and I were about to be very busy.