God, I miss her so much. It’s a constant pain in my chest, made even worse by the fact that she’s been calling me for days and I can’t answer the secret phone I smuggled in with me.
I can’t risk it, not after I heard them all talking about the way they offed Dobson. The news upset me. I kinda liked the old guy after I got to know him and found out that if not for his desire to protect Mel after Cleo threatened to hurt her, he would have been an honest cop.
I went to see him one last time and found my friend dead with his throat slit from ear to ear, a calling card that was my own personal favorite in the good old days of ridding the world of some of the worst animals ever to breathe.
With that visit, I confirmed my own suspicions that someone is on to me. It also let me know that whoever is behind this knew that Miah and Jared would assume it was a message from me.
I would never have done that to the chief, and part of me hopes my brothers would know that, despite the doubts they surely have about me now.
I don’t blame them for doubting me. Heck, some days I have to shake myself and remind my struggling mind that I am not the traitor who turned on his own and is a key player in an organization that wants inequality and civil war.
I have to tell myself constantly that I’m still me, the Roman who loves his family and would die to protect them—something I almost did when I told my brother’s girl Paulie about that bomb in her car.
Most days the battle to remain me is so hard, I have to resort to thinking of Mel and the dreams I have of a life together.
Her image and the idea that we could get married and have a family like the rest of my brothers helps pull me back from the dark world I’ve entered.
I also think about Clari and Miah’s adopted kid and Wyatt and Ellie’s new baby. I’ve heard that another Lane is on the way thanks to Miah’s love for his wife.
I have yet to meet my nephews. But as much as I want to, their innocent lives remind me why it is so important for me to complete my mission.
With Cleo waking and regaining enough strength to have ordered a hit on my family, and Lynn’s imminent arrival, I can’t walk away yet. There’s too much at stake.
I’m so deep in thought that I almost miss the soft scrape of leather loafers out in the hall, and I only manage to retrieve my tools and roll beneath the desk when I hear the door open and voices muttering.
“She’s gone, for God’s sake. What more do you want, Cleo? Lynn isn’t coming in and Paulie is under lock and key. We should focus on finding Lynn and leave Paulie to her own devices. The girl is no threat to us anymore!”
I know that voice and I’m about ready to start cursing Jerry for his foolishness when I hear Cleo start screaming and the distinctive sound of glass shattering.
“You think I care about Lynn and those stupid missile codes? Please, Jerry, I can have new missiles by next week and we all know it! I want that little traitor Paulette and I want to watch her suffer as she dies.”
Cleo spent years blackmailing Paulie and threatening her nephew if the poor girl didn’t toe the line and run her drugs and money for her. The fact that Paulie gained the courage to remove Cleo from the picture while we all moved in is just…reasonable as far as I’m concerned.
Now with Cleo awake and Paulie out of the council like I was hoping for, I have the rare opportunity to play a hand I’ve been keeping close to the vest for months.
At least I would if the damn man would stop hamming it up like he’s auditioning for Broadway. Fucking Jerry. The man is a great asset to have since he’s Cleo’s brother and one of the few people the psychopath trusts, but to come to Paulie’s defence so vehemently isn’t a good idea. I’ll tell him so just as soon as I stop wanting to throttle him.
“She tried to kill me!”
Jerry sighs and I roll my eyes at his tone.
“Cleo, dear, the tox reports confirmed that the toxin was only meant to keep you in an induced coma. The girl couldn’t kill a fly and you know it. Now stop being unreasonable and help me with Lynn, for God’s sake! The woman is a loose cannon, missile codes or not. She could blow the whole operation before we get everything in place.”
The operation, as I’ve pieced together, is to set off a highly lethal biochemical gas at a public event and pin it on a black supremacist group that’s more about rallies and meetings than they are about anything else.
In fact I’ve studied them extensively enough to know that all they are is a band of disgruntled people wanting to focus on equality and human rights in our country.
The gas is the least of my worries, though, and something I’ve addressed with Jerry enough to understand that if we do not move quickly, we could have bombings and missile strikes of major cities on our hands.