“I miss y’all so much, Cory and Inez. I do. I wish . . . I wish I could do all this shit over. Wish Jojo would have picked Mama up. Wish we could have spoken to you two better when we found out y’all were having problems. I’m so, so sorry,” I spoke quietly to myself.

  “You okay, sis?”

  I jumped then turned to see Trin behind me. I quickly wiped my eyes with the paper towel in my hand. I stood and walked over to the stove to stir the spaghetti sauce. I’d been crying so much that my nose was stuffy. I couldn’t even smell what I was cooking. Gotdamn baby had me all emotional. “Yes, I’m fine,” I lied. “How are you? Everything okay? Monty treating you well?” I asked her, trying to deflect.

  “Yeah, I’m cool. We’re chilling. Shit’s been crazy as fuck around here, though.”

  I sighed then put the spoon I’d been stirring with on the counter. “I know. Would you believe, before all of this, our family was pretty normal?” I asked then laughed.

  She smiled then nodded. “I always think the same thing about me and mine before shit popped off.”

  I nodded. “Your brother and his crew okay?”

  “Yeah. Javon got them on some kind of mission. So they’re in these streets doing what they do.”

  “That’s good to know. I’ve been trying to figure out how and where our product was taken.”

  “Oh, yeah. The Ink, right?”

  “Yeah. Traced it to a warehouse in Florida if my notes are correct. I need to make Javon aware of this as soon as he comes in.”

  “Damn, you’re good,” she said.

  “When I need to be. If you look here,” I said, pointing at the world map, “it left Brazil on time. Arrived in Cuba when it was supposed to, but that’s where shit got muddy. After it left the water at the port of Miami, we were robbed. Ink hasn’t been seen since. My cousin, Trey, says some of his boys in vice down that way have been hearing about some new shit that’s about to hit the street. Supposedly some black cocaine. We’re the only ones in the state who had access to that shit. That tells me that’s our product they have.”

  She turned her lips down with raised brows. “So when do we go get that shit back?”

  I looked at Trin and smiled. She was always ready to go. She reminded me of Inez in a sense with that personality trait. “When my fiancé says move, we move,” I said.

  “Fa’sho. I’m ready.”

  We were quiet a minute while she looked through all the papers I had on the table. “You know Monty’s pretty shook up about what y’all’s sister did. He said he didn’t ever think Melissa would play family like this. He doesn’t get it,” she said.

  “Shit, none of us gets it. We never saw this coming.”

  “Right.”

  “But we can’t cry over spilled milk. We have to figure this shit out before we lose everything and everybody. Our family can’t take another hit.”

  “Tell me about it. With the way Javon just put Rize on, we can’t do shit but help out, and look out for y’all, too. Rize coming up in ways we couldn’t imagine and, if all goes well, my bro is still trying to get a seat at the table. He understands he gotta work for that shit, though, you feel me? We ain’t looking for handouts. We don’t mind working like hell for that seat.”

  I smiled at her tenacity and I knew she was the right woman for Monty. I was about to tell her that when Dani walked in. My smile faded and so did Trin’s. She looked at me then glanced at Dani.

  “Hey,” Dani said. Her voice came out like she was a little girl instead of a grown woman.

  “Hello,” I said, then turned back around. I opened the package of ground turkey so I could cook it.

  “Whaddup,” Trin spoke.

  “Is it okay if I have some of the apple juice in the fridge? Jojo said it was yours and I had to ask you,” Dani said.

  “I don’t care,” I answered.

  I heard when she walked over to the fridge and opened it. Heard when she closed it. I was hoping she got the fuck up out the kitchen as I didn’t like being close to her. I didn’t even like her being in the house. I hated that she slept in the room with Jojo. I was going to have a word with Uncle and Javon about that shit. No way they would have let a grown-ass nigga lie up with me, Inez, or Melissa. No fucking way.

  “I know you don’t like me, Shanelle, but I love Jojo,” she muttered.

  “He’s a kid.”

  “I’m only four years older than he is.”

  “He’s a minor.”

  “Not in the state of Georgia. He’s seventeen so he’s considered an adult.”

  I turned to face that bitch so fast, a piece of the meat I was putting in the skillet flew across the room. If Trin hadn’t stepped in front of me, I’d have laid hands on her.

  “Even if that is the case, by the same law he was a minor when you started giving him pussy. He was sixteen freaking years old, Dani,” I yelled.

  I heard feet scrambling upstairs and then heard them running downstairs. I knew Jojo would show any minute. As if on cue, my younger brother, who was taller than I was, came rushing into the kitchen. Dressed in baggy jeans and a black sweatshirt that read NERD IS THE NEW SEXY, he may have been tall and stocky enough to look like a grown man, but he had a baby face that made you remember he was just a kid. Yes, his voice was deep and he was wise beyond his years but, to me, he would always be my kid brother, Jojo. My heart damn near broke in three when he stood in front of Dani.

  “Leave her alone, Shanelle, please,” he said.

  Behind his black-framed glasses, his eyes told me he meant it. That angered me more. The thought of Dani turning my brother against me, the thought of losing another sibling for any reason, made me see red, the blood kind.

  “Fuck this child-molesting bitch, Jojo. Fuck her. Don’t send her to ask me for shit,” I yelled.

  Jojo cast a glance down then turned to Dani. He took the apple juice from her hand and placed it on the table. “Okay,” was all he said; then he took Dani’s hand and walked out of the kitchen.

  I was so angry that all I could do was shake my head. I went back to the oven to stir the sauce and turn the meat on. Once done with that, I walked back over to the table. By then, my anger had overtaken rationality and, before I knew it, I flipped the whole fucking table over. Papers went flying and the dishes on the table crashed on the floor.

  “Whoa, sis!” Trin said.

  I’d forgotten she was there. I stood by the window. My anger wouldn’t allow me to explain to Trin why I was so angry. There was not one of us kids who hadn’t been touched inappropriately at some point in our lives. None of us; and to know that shit had effected Jojo to the point he purposely sought out older women sickened me right along with the anger I felt. I knew he couldn’t help it in a sense, but that made it no better.

  Yes, Dani was only four years older than Jojo. To some, they wouldn’t see it as a big deal, but because this was a pattern with Jojo, it was a big deal to me. I opened my mouth to say something, but a movement in the backyard stopped me. A cloaked figure was standing in the bushes staring at me. At first I thought I was tripping. I grabbed my gun from the kitchen drawer. Trin was right on my ass.

  “Something popping off?” she asked.

  I didn’t answer. I got to the back door just in time to see the figure running away. I shoved the screen door open and hopped off the porch.

  “Turn the food off. Tell Monty to lock the house down. Get Navy to call Javon and get everybody in the bunker,” I yelled over my shoulder.

  I took off running full speed ahead. Whoever was in the cloak had a head start on me. He, or she, was running so fast through one of the neighbors’ backyards, their shoes were kicking up dust.

  “Hey!” I yelled.

  I didn’t know why I was yelling. It wasn’t as if they were going to stop and talk to me. I chased the person down the street, then realized he had zigzagged through a yard and was heading toward Ms. Lily’s again.

  “Yo, Shanelle,” I heard Navy calling behind me. I knew he was running too, judging by how close he was to me. “What the fuck? Shanelle, why you running?” he asked again.

  “Somebody was watching the house,” I said.

  The person jumped over a car then ran through a group of kids who were playing. They were all bundled up, which reminded me it was cold outside. A woman was coming from her house with a trash bag yelped and tried to move out of the way a second too late. The figure damn near ran through the woman and into her house.

  “I see him,” Navy yelled. “Go left. I’ll go right.”

  I did as he suggested. He went one way and I went the other. By the time we met up at the end of the street, the person had all but disappeared.

  “Fuck,” Navy spat. “The nigga was just right there!”

  I huffed and puffed as I hid my gun behind me in the waist of my jeans then pulled my shirt over it. I turned left then turned right. It was as if the person had disappeared into thin air. “Damn it,” I breathed out. It was only then that I realized some of the Thieves had been running with me too.

  “If you had given us a heads up, we probably could have cut him off when he darted across the street,” one of them said.

  “Y’all didn’t see him in the yard?” I asked.

  “You told us we could break for lunch. We were in the front of the house.”

  He was right. Shit had been quiet on the home front so I’d had pizza and Chinese delivered for the men. They had been on duty nonstop until that moment.

  I took a deep breath then said, “No more breaks. If you get hungry, you eat at your post. If you need to piss, do so outside and make sure someone is watching your back. The only time you leave your post is to shit and even then make sure it’s covered until you get back.”

  All the men nodded and a collective, “Yes, ma’am” rippled throughout them.

  By the time we made it back to the house, I was tired and my chest hurt because I had been running in the cold with no protection. Monty came storming up from the basement.

  “We good, sis?” he asked me.

  I shook my head. I was a bit confused. “I don’t know. I . . . I think . . .” I paced around the front room. “It’s weird is all.”

  “What, Shanelle?” Navy asked me.

  I kept moving my mouth but nothing came out. I looked at Navy, Monty, and Jojo, who had a blank look on his face. I knew he was mad at me, but I was glad he came to check on me. All three looked concerned. And I felt as if I was losing it.

  “Don’t think I’m crazy, a’ight? And this stays between us for now, but it was almost as if I was staring at . . . Cory.”

  Chapter 19

  Uncle Snap

  “I’m telling you right now, the who’s who in the Mexican Cartel have no fucking idea who organized their people to be a part of this,” Montego adamantly said. “They wouldn’t intentionally start a war they know they can’t win.”

  “Something has to be done about this, Javon! It’s been seven damn days and we have nothing,” Creed shouted. He was angry. He had taken a huge loss. Ten of his men had been gunned down. They all had families, wives and children.

  “We’ve been here seven damn days. We’ve traced every lead and we got shit, bro,” Lucky added.

  Javon looked haggard, worn out. He’d gone above and beyond trying to find any lead he could and we still came up short.

  Lucky said, “I don’t like us being a target not knowing where the shit is coming from.”

  Javon glanced at me then back at the five people surrounding the table. “I have one more possible lead and then I think”—he sighed—“I’ll know exactly who’s gunning for us, or at least who had something to do with it.”

  Creed leaned forward. Miguel’s son, Montego, put his glass of tequila down and sat straight up. Lucky leaned to the side to study Javon. Ming’s daughter’s eyes narrowed as she zoned in on Javon. Nighthawk folded his arms across his massive chest then tilted his head.

  “You got something?” Lucky asked.

  “I do,” Javon said.

  I knew it was a knock to his pride for nephew to admit what he was about to, but he said it had to be done. Said he needed to show his hand to also show the Syndicate he could be trusted.

  “Talk to us,” Nighthawk’s booming voice said. Luckily, he hadn’t lost anyone or had any injuries. His security at the Reservation was Fort Knox tight.

  I didn’t agree with what Javon was about to do, but it was his call. “I think my sister, Melissa, is connected to this in some way,” he said.

  Lucky quirked a brow. Creed sat back like he had been punched. Nobody else moved a muscle.

  “I don’t know how or why. Just going with my gut instinct. She’s disappeared. She took all the money from the club and cashed her part of Mama’s insurance check. Luckily I had a good mind to change all the pin numbers and authorizations on the other accounts a week after Mama died or I’m sure she would have cleaned me out.”

  “So what are you going to do about it?” Song asked. She was a spitfire. I could tell she was deadlier than her mother just by the way her eyes shot venom Javon’s way.

  “I’m with Song,” Montego echoed. “How you gone handle this, holmes?”

  “First, I need to find her. I need to make sure she hasn’t been kidnapped or forced to do anything against her will. Once I make sure of that, I’ll know how to proceed,” Javon answered.

  Montego, who looked like a darker version of his father, frowned. “As the man taking my father’s place, I need to know if I got a right to search for your sister. My papi is dead, sí? And I need a little revenge for that affront.”

  “My mother is barely hanging on, still needs a machine to breathe. I need—and when I say need, I mean like I need oxygen—to find out who did this,” Song’s baby soft voice said.

  “I lost ten men,” Creed said.

  Lucky cut in. “They came for the Commission. That cannot, in any way, go unpunished.”

  “While the Rez suffered no losses, the fact is it was a united front against the Syndicate. It must be dealt with accordingly,” Blackhawk said.

  Javon clasped his hands together on the table, his lips pressed together in a hard line. Nephew’s eyes watered a bit. I knew that was more out of frustration than anything. “All right, but if you find her, bring her here to me so I can get the truth from her myself. I’m asking that you don’t kill her before I get to say my piece to her,” he said.

  Montego stood. He was only five ten, but he stood like he was tallest man in the room. The black suit with the white collarless dress shirt underneath fit him perfectly.

  “I can’t make you that promise, Javon, and I’m just being honest. Papi was gunned down while he was holding my son, his grandson. That could have been my boy who got hit, too, but Papi died shielding him. I want you to understand the pain in that for me.”

  “My mother was shopping for my little sister’s graduation. She was doing family shit. I know that being a part of a criminal enterprise comes with this kind of fanfare, but to know a member of the Syndicate’s family has a possible connection to this makes it personal for me because she trusted you. She spoke so highly of you from the moment she left the meeting in which you took over. She believed in you, Javon, just as she believed in Mama.”

  “Mama was good to me. Always had been. That was why I respected you so much. I still respect you and I appreciate your honesty in telling us about your sister, I do. But I lost some of my best men. They died protecting me. I have ten families with over twenty kids to take care of for eternity. This is not an affront to your authority, brother. I’d never do that. As Song said, this is personal. Forgive me if she doesn’t make it to you alive,” Creed said before standing.

  I could see the vein throbbing on the side of nephew’s face. “I understand,” he said so low we barely heard him.

  Creed nodded once then headed out. Montego and Song followed close behind him.

  “I have to run this by the Commission. Not sure how they will respond,” Lucky said while standing. “I’ll get back to you.”

  We remained silent while he made his exit. Once it was only Nighthawk and me left, Javon looked at the Seminole, waiting for his words.

  “If the rest of your family needs protection for any reason, the Rez is available,” he said.

  Javon nodded. “Thank you, Nighthawk. I appreciate that more than you know.”

  “May the Great Spirit be with you, my brother.”

  Once Nighthawk walked out, Javon stood and kicked the chair he had been sitting in across the room. “I’m down three siblings, Unc. I’m about to lose my shit,” he roared.

  “I know, son. I know. Gotta let nature take its course, though. I think they respect you more for being honest about it. It probably would have looked bad had they found out on their own,” I said. “I know that’s no comfort to you right now.”

  Javon looked at me. For the first time I saw something in his eyes I hadn’t seen before. There was fear and that puzzled me a bit. I hadn’t seen that look in his eyes since he had taken over the Syndicate.

  “What you scared of, nephew? If she gets killed, she brought it on herself,” I said.

  “I’m kind of okay with that, Unc. I am. But . . .” He dropped his head then gazed back up at me. “My gut, something deep inside me is having me believe Melissa had something . . .” Javon shook his head.

  “What, son? Talk to me,” I asked him. My head told me where this was going, but my heart, that motherfucker was holding me hostage.

  “Unc, I think she had something to do with Mama’s death,” he said. “If the same men who attacked Mama are working in tandem with her then she was who was in the video. The reason Mama stopped fighting that day. That person she knew.”

  Before what he said could take root in me, he had tears rolling down his face that he quickly slapped away. His eyes were so red you would have thought he was drunk or high. He sent me a long, pained look before his shoulders slumped a bit. His words made my stomach harden. Spots flashed before my eyes. At first my heartbeat seemed to slow then, as if the world around me were caving in, that shit seemed to stop altogether.

  I needed to grieve, but couldn’t. Not at that moment. Not when nephew looked as if he was on the verge of a mental breakdown. I was quite sure if I lost my shit in the moment, it wouldn’t help him any. No. I’d do what I’d been doing since my woman had been gunned down. In my room, late at night when and where none of the kids could see me, I’d let my emotions take me away. I’d let my memories of the only woman who’d ever had my heart drown me in my sorrows.