Barber Shop Ink - Book 3: Riverworth

by Penny Blush

  “Georgiou what’s the plan here?” I asked pacing the floor of the basement room of Brian’s pub.

  “Relax Charles, you worry too much.”

  “Worry too much? I think I am worried plenty,” I replied slamming my hands on my hips. “She’s my niece, practically my daughter. I’m entitled to worry.”

  “I know this Charles and I love her as if she was my granddaughter, my flesh and blood. But, this is business.”

  “Business? Jesus Georgiou even I’m not that cold hearted.”

  He just shrugged in reply.

  “Fine, let’s leave her out of this for the moment. What are your plans with Vex? That bastard must pay for what he’s done. She was out Georgiou. Jupiter was out. She’d recovered, moved on and made an amazing life for herself. My niece was out, and now she’s back in. Jupe was out.”

  “This weighs heavy on my heart also,” Georgiou sighed looking weary for the first time since I’ve met him. “But, it was her choice to return. Her actions sealed her fate. Even if it was just a conversation. She could have contacted either one of us to discuss the situation with Mr Vex.”

  “Would you have listened? It was made clear to her what would happen if she ever contacted anyone from this life again, that included us.”

  “They all do. Those who are lucky enough to get out,” Georgiou said taking a seat at the head of the conference table.

  “What’s the plan here? I need to know if we are walking into a trap.”

  “If this was a trap do you think I would be here?” Georgiou asked raising an eyebrow. “I want to see how things play out.”

  “You want to see how things play out?!” I shouted slamming my hand on the table.

  “Remember who you are talking to old friend,” Georgiou stated reminding me that although we are friends, he is the man in charge.

  “I apologise. I meant no disrespect,” I said taking a seat. “What do you mean you want to see how things play out?”

  “I would like to see what my son and Mr Vex have to say for themselves. I would like to know what all parties have to say for themselves including the lovely Morningstar.”

  “I just want no one acting impulsively,” I said looking at all the men stationed around the room, Georgiou’s and mine. “This is more than just business this is family, we need to tread lightly.”

  “Business is business Charles. Whether or not it involves family,” he raised his hand when I argued. “The circumstances may be a little different in this case, but it is to be handled the same. They will each be allowed to present their case and then we; you and I, will decide their fate.”

  He says he wants to wait to see how things play out, well so will I. I will see how things play out and I will act if I need to. I will betray old allegiances, I will kill my old friend if it comes to that.

  I will protect Jupiter.

  I failed her before. I will not do it again.

  I should have helped her recover from the attack in Scarlet. I should have gotten her help, let her heal. Let her get back to her sweet naïve happy life where she knew nothing about the monsters that live in the shadows.

  That’s what I should have done, but I didn’t, and I will regret it for the rest of my life. I didn’t protect her then, but I will now.

  We have history Georgiou and I, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t put a bullet in his brain to protect my niece. I will do anything to protect Jupiter even if it means giving up my life for hers.

  Chapter 25 Vex

  “Is everything set? Are we ready?”

  “Yes Boss,” Eric my right hand replied.

  I was sitting in front of my computer watching the live feeds from the basement of the pub. I had been watching ever since my men installed the cameras. There has been nothing of interest happening apart from a few days ago when there was a city-wide blackout that knocked out all the cameras. I asked why the hell battery powered cameras blacked out when the electricity went out. My tech guy explained that that amount of power going out all at once caused an electromagnetic shock. I was about to lose my shit at the inadequacy of my team when they came back on line. I had video and lost audio.

  “Does everyone know what to do?”

  “The men are all briefed Boss, everyone knows what to do.”

  “They better, I want no fuckups. Everything needs to be done to plan if we all want to come out of this alive. I will shoot the fuck out of anyone who fucks this up, you hear me Eric? I have been planning this for too many years and I will not fail because of some asshole who doesn’t know his job.”

  “I’ll make sure everyone knows the plan,” Eric said leaving the room.

  The plan. My plan had been arranged to perfection. The only one walking out of this alive was me. I didn’t give a shit if some of my men die. Let’s face it those guys are a dime a dozen. I just needed me and Eric out alive.

  The cameras were in place, so I could stay one step ahead of those assholes. But also, I wanted to see their faces the moment they realised exactly who got the better of them. When they realised that it was me.

  I killed each-and-every fucking one.

  Once this was all over, I am going to fucking celebrate. I had it all planned. I had a bottle of the finest scotch a fist full of Cohiba cigars and three of Gianni’s kinkiest mob whores. One of which could suck the chrome off a towbar. The whores were happy to take it in any hole I wanted to give it.

  I was going to fucking celebrate.

  I would spend every fucking day celebrating the death of Georgiou, his worthless son Gianni and Charlie that stupid fuck who thought he was more important that he was. But most of all, I would fucking celebrate the death of that psychotic thunder cunt Morningstar. I have special plans for her. I will make her suffer. I will make her pay for killing my brother, for disrespecting me. For having me called to London like a stupid fucking school kid being sent to the Headmasters office.

  I will make it slow and painful. But most of all I will make it fucking last.

  I was getting half hard just thinking about it, about what I would do to her. There’s half a chance I may fucking orgasm when she begged me to just end it.

  But I was getting ahead of myself.

  I watched the monitors waiting and once Georgiou and Gianni entered the basement of the pub, I would make my entrance. I would let them have their little dog and pony show. Let them think they had control and then boom.

  I would end it. I would end them.

  I planned on taking Georgiou, Gianni and Charlie and all their men out and then I would incapacitate Morningstar. Well Eric and my men would, they would do all my heavy lifting. Removing blood from linen is a son of a bitch, and I liked my suits.

  I had it all planned. A warehouse down near the docks. Eric made sure it was in the dodgiest part of the industrial area where there were a bunch of abandoned warehouses. There would be no one for miles. No one would hear her scream.

  I could do whatever I want. I’ll be able to take my time. I was gonna make her bleed. I will make her suffer. I will make her beg for death and I’ll be standing right there when Lucifer Morningstar himself came to collect her ass.

  I looked back at the monitors and saw Georgiou and Charlie approach the pub. Which meant that Gianni wouldn’t be too far behind. This was it, the beginning. The beginning of the end.

  “Show time.”

  Chapter 26 Apollo

  “Copy, Apollo in position, over.”

  I had been in the same fucking position for the last six hours. We had managed to get eyes and ears inside the pub. A crew acting as pest inspectors coupled with a well-timed city-wide blackout and our gear was set.

  Gotta love the classics.

  Each party sent in a crew to sweep the venue before the meeting, they were obviously very trusting of each other. They all found the same cameras outside, not that it was hard, they were decoy cameras meant to be found, but they also served dual purpose to breed unrest, distrust, contempt. We wanted them all looking at each othe
r, so that they weren’t looking at us.

  We were ready for them. We were ready for this to end.

  I can’t believe this is almost over. After close to ten years, it’s finally going to be over. I’ll finally be able to surface. I’ll finally be able to go home.

  It’s hard not to get ahead of myself. I can’t help but allow myself a moment to think of what my life will be like when this is over. I could have a life. My family. I could go back to my family let them know that I’m alive, that I’m safe, that I didn’t abandon them and drop off the face of the earth.

  I know it won’t be anything like a story book ending. As much as I wanted to think they would welcome me home with open arms, I knew different. They would fight and rage and cry. I hope they won’t be too mad at me.

  “Hawkeye to Apollo, confirm your position,” my commanders voice crackled through my coms.

  “Apollo to Hawkeye, in position at apex point delta,” I replied.

  I was positioned on the roof of the building across the alley from the pub. I had the perfect vantage point of the basement door and window. When Morningstar came out the back door, I was putting a bullet in her brain.

  That was the mission. Watch, wait and see how things play out. I knew enough about Morningstar to know that she would come out on top.

  Morningstar has been a pain in my ass for close to a decade. I knew everything there was to know about her. I could pick her out from a distance but if she was standing in front of me I don’t think I could. You see no one had ever been able to get a close-up picture of her. They were always slightly blurry and from a distance.

  I knew that she was an expert in all forms on weapons. She was an expert marksman. She was a master in at least three forms of Marshall arts. If she wasn’t some crazy psycho assassin bitch, she would make a great agent.

  No one knew who she truly was. No one knew her real name. She just seemed to pop up out of nowhere, wreaking havoc for six years and then nothing. The woman just disappeared, she was a ghost. Morningstar went underground and was totally inactive for nearly four years, then without warning, a few months ago, she popped up on our radar.

  What I couldn’t figure out was why now? Why would she come back? I didn’t get it, she was out. All traces of her were gone. Like she just ceased to exist. She was a cold-hearted killer who didn’t seem to care about a fucking thing. She was out, so what would bring her out of hiding after all this time?

  On one hand I could give a rat’s ass that she was marked for termination – it was for the greater good. I was a killer, it was part of my job, I didn’t just blindly kill people on a whim. There was no pattern to her targets, the only constant factor was that they were all scum. The world was better off without the people she eliminated. The lives I terminated had been sanctioned by the higher ups and their deaths served a greater purpose.

  On the other hand, I needed to know who she was, how she picked her targets and why she resurfaced. She was the most complex assignment I had ever had, and I wanted, no, needed to understand her.

  Was she back because something major was about to go down?

  If something was planned, I hoped that by the end of today it would all be over. I hoped that their grand plan wouldn’t have a chance to be executed – so to speak.

  This goddamn fucking mission that had taken up almost a decade of my life was almost over. It was like seeing the light at the end of a tunnel while knowing that you had to wade through a thousand miles of crocodile infested waters to get there.

  The thing that kept me going was my family. The person I couldn’t wait to see the most was my sister. Jupiter was almost sixteen the last time that we were in the same room together and she was about to turn seventeen the last time we spoke. It always made me shudder thinking about the last time we spoke. I was angry at her, angry at myself, and my stupid stubbornness meant that the last conversation we had was a fight.

  “Hawkeye to Apollo, target three on approach, over.”

  “Copy.”

  The gang was almost all here. Approaching the basement door of the pub was Gianni. Georgiou Marino and Charlie were already here. Fucking Charlie, the reason for our fight.

  Charlie, dad’s cousin had grown up with him and was more like a brother. Charlie was around a lot when I was a kid but once dad found out about Charlie’s side business, contact with him became less and less. He didn’t want anything Charlie was involved in blowing back on the family.

  I was home on R & R when, dad sat me down and explained who Charlie really was. He explained the legitimate businesses were just a front, a smoke screen to hide his less than reputable dealings.

  “Dad why are you telling me this?” I asked, not really paying attention to the fishing rod in my hand.

  Dad had taken me out on the lake, to fish and have some ‘Man Time’.

  “Davan, I’m not telling you this to change your opinion of your uncle. You have a special relationship with him and I think that is great. I am telling you, to protect you. You’re a good kid Davan. I can tell you’re going to do amazing things with your life. I don’t want anything to derail you from your goals.”

  “Okay, Dad. I get it don’t take any job offers from Uncle Charlie,” I nodded giving him a small smile.

  “There’s one more thing,” Dad stated. “Not that I am planning on anything happening to me or your mother,” he laughed. “But, I need you to look out for Jupiter. She’s your kid sister, it’s your job as her big brother to look out for her and protect her.”

  Twelve months later our parents were dead. Six months after that I re-deployed.

  Jupiter and I were always close. We talked all the time either via email or Skype. While I was away, I tried to stay in contact with her and involved in her life as much as possible.

  Because of my unit, contact could be difficult. We were the Black Ops of Black Ops. Some of our missions kept us out of contact with our families for months, sometimes years on end. Because of this, special digital drop boxes were set up where we could leave messages for our families and they could leave them for us. Our families could leave photos and video files along with their messages. The units outgoing messages were strictly monitored and redacted if needed, blocking out any information that was not for civilian ears or eyes.

  Even after our fight, I still left messages for Jupiter. I knew that she would eventually get over her snit and want to hear from me. I hoped that she would at least listen to my messages even if she didn’t leave one in return.

  Jax had left me a message to let me know that Jupiter was stubbornly determined to go and meet up with Charlie in Japan. Jaxon said he would be going with her to protect her and keep her safe. It still pissed me off that she didn’t trust me enough to listen to my warning. I knew that if Jax was with her, Charlie wouldn’t try anything.

  I came close to going AWOL when Jax sent word that Jupiter had gone on to London with Charlie and he had returned home. But, Jax promised me that she was safe. He said that she had access to emergency money Charlie didn’t know about and that he could be on the next available flight if anything happened. Jax kept telling me not to worry that Jupiter was safe, that she was happy, and that Charlie was treating her like a princess.

  My concerns that Charlie would get his hooks into her were elevated. Because of Jax, I knew that she was living a happy life thanks to Jax continuing to leave messages and photos in the drop box.

  Jupiter hadn’t left me any messages but Jax assured me that it was because she knew that he was leaving messages for me and that she didn’t want to double up.

  It hurt.

  It hurt so fucking much that after all this time she hadn’t tried to contact me. But, the kid could hold a grudge, I just didn’t think that she would be this stubborn. She didn’t even contact me when her boss was arrested, when she had caught her boyfriend cheating on her or that her apartment had burnt down!

  If she thinks she could be stubborn well, she forgot who she was dealing with. My little sister a
nd I would be having words once this shit with Morningstar had been put to bed and her stubborn ass could just sit there shut the fuck up and listen.

  Morningstar had come out of nowhere. She was like a fucking tornado. She hit hard and fast and left devastation in her wake. The military normally didn’t get involved in domestic matters. But, when it was discovered she had links to the Marino family as well as Charlie, my unit was brought on board.

  The Marino Family and Charlie had ties to terrorism, arms dealings, drug smuggling, you name it they were involved. My team were tasked with taking them out, chief among them being Morningstar.

  Morningstar was an enigma. No one knew who she really was, she never left behind any evidence. No one had been able to track her, if anyone had been lucky enough to begin to tail her, she knew somehow, she would play with them and then she would disappear. She was smoke, a ghost.

  She got her orders from The Marino’s or Charlie but there didn’t seem to be any pattern to her actions. She was given orders, but it appeared that it was her choice if someone died or just thoroughly reminded of where their loyalties lay.

  Her targets were the worst of the worst and the world was better for their passing. Morningstar was a killer, but she was merciful, she didn’t play with her targets. She gave them a choice to confess their crimes and face the law or suffer the consequences.

  I almost admired her. Almost.

  “Hawkeye, Apollo. Fourth target on approach.”

  Nicholas Vex a gangster wannabe approached the basement entrance, channelling 80’s Miami Vice Don Johnson in a white linen suit. I wanted to put a bullet in him just for being such a massive douche.

  Even though I hadn’t been able to leave word for my family that I was alive, they kept leaving me messages, keeping me up to date on what was going on in their lives. It made me feel like I was still involved even though I was a million miles away.

  I knew Jupiter had landed on her feet after her world blew apart and that Jax had a big hand in helping her find her way. Helping her get a job where he worked so he could keep an eye on her. Jax sent me photos of her new life. Jupiter in her new apartment, her with her new work colleagues, in the arms of her new boyfriend-now fiancé Memphis Blue. Jax had assured me that he was a good guy, but I would still be judging that for myself.