He tried to call, but she didn’t answer. Ten minutes later, he parked behind the Charger. He hopped out as Steve’s truck pulled up. His shoes sank into the grass as he walked toward his father’s grave. Daron could see Aunt Bee off in the distance on her knees with Cameron comforting her. He approached them, but Cameron held her hand up. He stopped moving.
“It’s my fault they’re dead, Rook told me I shouldn’t go back.” Brandi ran her hand over the grey stone using her fingers to trace the name. “I snuck back because I had to tell Roger he wasn’t going to get away with it.”
Daron inched closer, careful to be as silent as possible. He wanted his aunt to continue talking.
“What did he do?” Cameron gently rubbed Brandi’s back.
“Roger was using his daughter to traffick young girls.”
Cameron’s head snapped toward Daron, whose heart slammed in his chest.
“Darius was helping me move so that I’d have a safe place for Shane when he came back from visiting his father.” Brandi turned, resting her back on the headstone and putting her focus on Daron. “But I should’ve listened to your father when he said we’d come back to help her later. I just couldn’t stomach leaving her in that environment.”
“What happened?” Daron lowered himself to the ground next to her, wrapping an arm around Brandi as she sobbed.
“I looked out the window,” she replied between sniffles. “And I saw Roger’s guy messing with your dad’s car.”
Daron couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Why didn’t you stop him?”
“I tried, but by the time I reached the front porch, Roger was there. He held me back.” Brandi’s head dipped forward. “Roger and I fought. I raced up the stairs, trying to get to the phone but Roger yanked me down by the leg. By the time I managed to get away and to a phone ...”
“Dad wasn’t answering.”
Cameron left the two family members and stood next to Steve to give them some privacy.
“Everyone assumed he got in an accident coming home from Bishop’s place.” She pulled away from Daron and wiped her face with the palm of her hand. “He was on his way to pick up some groceries and supplies for me. Then he was supposed to swing back, grab my luggage, and drop me off at one of Bishop’s spots.”
Daron stood, then helped his aunt up from the grass. His mind reeled at the news. It was one thing to think his father died in a tragic accident but to know he was murdered. He needed a moment to process.
“Cam, would you mind taking my aunt home?” Daron maneuvered Brandi in the direction of the Charger.
Cameron wrapped both arms around him, squeezing him tightly. “Call me if you need me.”
Steve approached him as they drove off. Both Daron and Steve’s phones chimed simultaneously with an incoming text.
Reese and Amarion will be moved out of the city tomorrow night.
CHAPTER 24
Daron was grateful Cameron had come to the house after dropping Brandi off. They were able to create a plan to rescue Amarion and Reese while taking down the bad guys. They put together the piece of the puzzle he’d been overlooking.
Cameron called her brother Jason to assist simply to ensure they didn’t get someone that had been bought off. The only way to pull this off was to use the Emperor’s Suit. He’d called a meeting with the kings to get some much-needed help but he couldn’t, in good conscience, let all them wear these suits worth billions if the tracker hadn’t been installed. He made those last revisions and tweaks.
He entered the state-of-the-art conference room where coffee, tea, juice, and petite cut sandwiches graced a platter sitting on a wooden credenza. Daron had expected the credenza to be empty since this Castle meeting had not been planned in advance. The Kings were known for their healthy appetites for knowledge, building community, and good food.
“Is this emergency meeting about installing those protective shields?” Dro pulled out one of the navy executive chairs at the semi-circular conference table and dropped into it.
“No.” Daron placed a laptop bag and a small duffle on the table. “I need help breaking into Marquise’s mansion to save two of my young men.” He was frustrated that Marquise was allowed to walk away.
“How do we know it isn’t a setup?” Vikkas placed a steely gaze on Daron. “You did inherit your membership from a criminal.”
Kaleb and Dwayne’s heads snapped up from their devices and their gazes locked on Daron.
“I thought we’d moved past that.”
“Past?” Vikkas shot back.
“Maybe we should talk about the reason you didn’t mention that Kaleb was on property the day Khalil was shot.” Daron glared at Vikkas, challenging him to say something else.
“Whoa, shit just got real,” Jai said, sitting back in his chair.
“Hell, we didn’t know any of that.” Shaz put his elbows on the table and propped his head up on his hands. “I’m all ears.”
“No. We’ll have to deal with that topic another time.” Daron grabbed the laptop bag off the conference table.
He only came to them instead of using his people because he thought they had a vested interest in taking Marquise and Adesh down. He had less than four hours to make this happen or he’d lose his window of opportunity. “I don’t have time for this. We can discuss all that other stuff later. I have two young men to save and a couple of criminals to take down. All I need to know is who is in so I can stop wasting time.”
Jai stood. “I’m in.” But his gaze flickered between Kaleb and Vikkas
Dro, Reno, and Shaz joined Jai. Grant sauntered over to Vikkas as he headed toward the door.
Kaleb looked from Reno to Daron. “I’m sorry man. With everything going on, I can’t afford for things to go wrong.”
Dwayne rose to his feet. “You know I’m an educator. I have a little training from my time at Macro. I haven’t done anything with it since then because that’s not the circle I travel in. Your best option is to get people who are trained for this. Like the police or the FBI.”
“They won’t be the FBI’s focus.” Daron sat his projector on the conference table, scanning the faces of the men who remained.
The four men left The Castle’s conference room, shutting the door behind them.
“We’ll also be attempting to take down Adesh, who was key in bringing The Castle’s security system down.” Daron pulled the devices that compromised the foundation of The Suit and placed them on the table.
“Whoa.” Shaz reared back in his seat. “Why wasn’t he taken in with Terrell?”
“Because his motive doesn’t seem to be money,” Daron answered, “So we don’t have proof he’s involved.”
“He’s been head of security for almost as long as I know about The Castle.” Jai shook his head.
Reno added, “Maybe with the shift in control of The Castle, he felt he had no other choice but to comply.”
Dro typed something into a cell then stated, “Interrogating him could give us a clue on the motive behind the shooting or fill us in on some …” He looked at where Kaleb had been sitting. “Other players.”
Daron was thinking the same thing, that the information would put Dro on the right path to finding the mastermind.
A light knock came at the door and Roc peered in. “Calvin’s here.”
“Send him in,” Daron instructed as he pulled up a 3-D holographic floor plan of Marquise’s mansion, knowing they needed to focus on the current emergency, but by throwing suspicions on Kaleb and Vikkas he’d muddied the waters a little.
“His place has the same state-of-the-art security as The Castle,” Dro explained, moving closer to the image.
“How do we get in?” Jai asked, studying the floor plan, tracing three of the exits with his index fingers.
“If Vikkas had allowed me to continue, he would have realized we’ll be wearing suits, because its reflective and cloaking technology makes us invisible to the naked eye.” Daron noted the disbelief in their eyes.
“Seriously,” Shaz frowned. “How are we getting in? How is that even possible?”
“Walking through the doors.” Daron gathered the items and opened up the laptop so that he could prepare to program the suits for their height and size.
“With those?” Reno collected two bracelets, glasses, and silver discs.
“Yes. You have the choice of wearing a hat.” Daron held a thin, black skull cap out then touched the necklace. “Or this.”
Reno pointed toward the gold-link necklace that matched the bracelets as Calvin entered the conference room.
“Perfect timing. Gentlemen, this is Calvin Atwood, the inventor of the device.” Daron introduced Calvin to each man.
“Nice to meet you all,” Calvin shook each of their hands as he made his way to Daron.
“He’s here to help tailor the devices to you.”
Daron let them choose between hat and necklaces.
Calvin picked up a silver disc. “These are very important. If you have a phone in your pocket and The Suit on, your phone can’t be seen. However, if you take it out without this disc affixed to it, the phone will be seen.”
“We’ll be placing them on anything we might be using while the device is on.” Daron placed one on his tablet. “Let me give you a demonstration.”
He flicked the link on the bracelet on his right wrist and turned on the suit at the same moment the conference doors opened.
“We had a change of heart,” Dwayne announced.
Daron didn’t speak, curious about what the others would say when they realized what happened.
“Where did he go?” Grant asked, scanning the room as Kaleb and Vikkas followed him toward the conference table.
“He standing right in front of you.” Dro chuckled, as he slipped on his bracelet.
Kaleb walked up to the conference table and stared at Marquise’s mansion’s floor plan.
“I thought he didn’t have time to waste.” Vikkas leaned on the wall, eyeing Calvin curiously.
“He was telling us how we’re going to enter the mansion before you returned,” Jai supplied.
“I was just demonstrating The Suit.” Daron turned the device off and the four men’s eyes widened. “As I was saying, this will get us through the doors undetected. The alarm will trigger, but they won’t see anyone.”
“Damn.” Grant blinked twice, holding up the device Shaz handed him for closer inspection. “If I hadn’t seen it for myself …”
* * *
Daron needed all the men to enter the mansion at the same time to trigger the alarm. He had to get in place to record the transaction between Marquise and the recipient of the art and jewelry pieces. The team was dropped off at the edge of the property, just outside of the camera range, in vehicles driven by Steve, Vikkas, and Nicco. Daron signaled to activate the suits. Together they walked up the driveway. One guard was posted outside the door and four circled the grounds. Calvin, Mia, and Cameron were parked across the street monitoring the situation.
“Let me know when you’re in position.” Daron watched as Jai, Grant, Reno, and Kaleb made their way to the front door. He waited until the security team passed and headed to the security entrance.
“We’re here,” Jai announced.
“Same here,” Dro, who was at the back entrance with Shaz, chimed in.
The guard checked his watch as Daron and Dwayne slid behind him.
“Go,” Daron ordered, unlocked the door, then opened and closed it again after Dwayne cleared the threshold. The alarm blared, the man standing at the end of the hall placed a finger to his ear as if he was trying to listen from an earpiece.
A door opened and a man with ash-brown hair and a large belly looked around. “No one has come in or out?”
The blond guy at the end of the hall shrugged.
“It’s unlocked,” he asserted. “You’re sure no one attempted to come out and changed their mind?” The man pulled the waistband up over his gut and stepped in with a hand near his firearm. The blond’s only response was to look at him as though he was crazy. “Alright.”
Daron and Dwayne sidestepped the guard as he searched the small alcove near the door.
“The system must be tripping.” The guard gave a thumbs up to the blond man then returned to his position outside.
“We’re all in,” Dro said.
“We’ll start our sweep,” Shaz chimed in.
“I’ll let you know when the cameras are down.” Daron rushed to the security room, entering a code. It buzzed. Incorrect. He went to the next code. The green light appeared. Daron pushed the door open.
“What the hell?” Four men’s heads snapped toward the door.
“Whoever’s pulling pranks today of all days needs to cut it out,” a man with a barrel chest standing in the center of the room said, before returning his attention to a large flat screen mounted on the wall. “It ain’t funny.”
Daron shot the three men in the chairs with a tranquilizer first, then when he was close enough to catch the remaining one, he took him out. “What did you shoot them with?” Dwayne placed two fingers on one of the men’s neck.
Daron handed Dwayne the gun, then collected the empty shells even though he knew they didn’t contain fingerprints. “Something to put them to sleep while we work.”
A door to the right opened, the security guard’s eyes widened as he stared at his immobilized coworkers. Daron reached for his Beretta. Dwayne lifted the tranquilizer gun and hit the man in the shoulder. Moments later, the man’s body hit the floor.
“Surprised you pulled the trigger.” Daron gave a quick glance at the man writhing on the ground, then held out his fist for a pound.
Dwayne obliged, saying, “Even Jesus turned over a few tables in his days.”
“Point taken.” Daron shifted the guard onto his back so that he’d have feeling in his arm when he woke up. “But we’re going to need to get you the same target practice as Milan,” he said, referring to a shooting incident that occurred with Vikkas’ woman. “That aim was off, bro.”
Dwayne chuckled and rolled the man away from the center station and placed an empty seat in front of the security monitors. Daron stood at the supervisor’s station.
“Okay, system down,” Daron relayed so that all the Kings would know they could cut off The Suit when needed.
With a couple of keystrokes, Daron rerouted the feed to the room where the men were gathered into Jason’s tablet and his own. The only camera recording was the room where Roger and Dr. Oakley were congregated. Why is Roger here? He pulled out the tablet, making sure the feed had come through then checked on Jai, Grant, Dro, Shaz, and Kaleb’s progress.
“You know what you have to do.” Daron left Dwayne monitoring the security team on the outside. He had wanted to take them down first, but Cameron had pointed out that it would definitely alert those monitoring the security. She reminded him that invisible or not, the men were solid mass that couldn’t be “walked” through. Unfortunately, an increased security presence would make it difficult to navigate through the house.
“I’ll let you know if they’re any issues.” Dwayne turned his attention to the screens.
Daron raced out, heading toward the entertainment room wondering where Marquise was as he listened to Dr. Oakley explaining how to administer the drug to keep Reese and Amarion out during transport and how young black boys were now in demand.
“We found Reese but we’ve got a problem,” Kaleb announced.
“What kind of problem?” Daron changed direction, heading for the two men.
“We can’t get to him,” Reno explained.
He hit the hallway where the two security guys were laid out on the floor as Reno and Kaleb peered through the glass window in the door.
Reno twisted the knob. “Look at what happens when we attempt to open the door.”
Daron watched as the back part of the floor lowered, opening as the chair Reese was bound and gagged to tilted back. He turned off his suit, scanning the area
looking at the guards.
Kaleb frowned. “We checked them already.”
Reese shook his head as Daron positioned his fingers in the okay symbol before they opened the door slightly to examine the inner panel. “What did you open the door with?”
A small black key-like device was extended. Daron attached it to the inner panel and the floor closed. “I suggest one of you go in and the other make sure this device stays in place.”
“I suggest you don’t step on the floor behind the kid,” Reno stated as he replaced Daron in the threshold, giving Kaleb the task of getting Reese.
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