Barber Shop Ink - Book 3: Riverworth

by Penny Blush

  Morningstar his motherfucking niece.

  It took a few seconds for it to compute but then I realised who the fuck she was. Memphis and the dumb-shits he has working for him call her Hedge.

  Stupidest fucking nickname I have ever heard.

  I have known who she was for a few weeks, but I have been sitting on the info waiting until I could use it. They wanted to play these stupid fucking cat and mouse games then bring it on assholes.

  I am done playing and now it was time to take the fight to them.

  Chapter 36 Apollo

  I’d been hanging back watching, waiting to see what would happen. What they would do. What she would do.

  So far, they had done nothing worth mentioning to my commander. He wouldn’t care about the shit they had pulled, turning up everywhere he was taunting him. It was childish schoolyard pranks but, what they had done was pretty fucking funny to watch.

  Nicholas Vex thought he was king shit, that he was untouchable, that he was strong enough and tough enough to play with the big boys. What they had done, how easily they could get to him proved just how vulnerable, weak and small time he was.

  They had fucked with his head, undermined him with his men. They had basically pantsed him in the middle of the schoolyard in front of the girl he had a crush on and all stood back pointing and laughed.

  Vex, being the typical bully, would not take being humiliated lying down and retaliated. I could have told them they were playing with fire. They could only push Vex so far before he snapped. The photos they had repeatedly sent to Vex were the catalyst for the shit storm that was now raining down on them.

  It was time I spoke with my uncle.

  I stood back in the shadows watching as Charlie walked into his office made himself a whisky neat and sat at his desk. He lent back in his chair resting his head on the back staring at the ceiling. He looked like a man completely wrung out but who knew he still had a-ways to go.

  “With everything going on it was surprisingly easy to get in here,” I said stepping from the shadows as Charlie leaped to his feet drawing his gun.

  “Whoever the fuck you are, you’re about thirty seconds away from being a stain on my wall,” Charlie said aiming at my face his arm steady.

  “It’s good to see you Uncle. Too bad it’s not under better circumstances.”

  “Davan?” His voice hushed, his aim lowering.

  “Charlie.”

  “What tha? Where the fuck have you been, boy?” Charlie asked placing his gun on the desk pulling me into a hug. Not just any hug but a giant bear hug. He hugged me like he missed me, like he actually cared about me.

  “It’s classified,” I replied not knowing what to do with his unexpected affection.

  “Oh my God. Does she know? Jupiter does she know you’re here? That you’re alive?” He questions were filled with happiness and shock.

  “No, she doesn’t and for the moment it needs to stay that way.”

  “What? Why? Davan she deserves to know. You do not understand how fucking ecstatic it will make her. She thinks that you’re dead.”

  “Charlie, she can’t know.”

  “Why the fuck not?” He demanded.

  “Because I’m here on a mission. My target is Morningstar.”

  Charlie reached for his gun.

  “Stand the fuck down Charlie, the last person I would hurt is Jupiter. I have been trying to figure out a way to not blow a mission that has taken up a chunk of my life, all without getting court marshalled and with both me and my kid sister coming out alive.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re not going to…”

  “Of course, I’m fucking not. She’s my sister, what the hell’s wrong with you?”

  Charlie place his gun back on his desk but within reach and picked up his whisky glass.

  “I told you Charlie. I told you when she stayed with you, not to get her involved in any of your shit. I warned you what would happen,” I said stabbing my finger on his desk.

  “Well that’s the sixty-five-dollar question isn’t it Davan. Why am I still alive? I’m sure this is not the only time in the last decade you have gotten close. So, I ask again. Why am I still breathing?”

  “I don’t know,” I sighed exhausted.

  I’m so tired, tired of being away from my family, of not being able to speak to my sister, of the military, of secret covert missions. I’m just plain tired. I’m done. I had already let my commanders know once this shit with Morningstar was dealt with I was out, and I am going home.

  This was my last mission.

  “Our family has had enough unnecessary loss of life. As much as I may hate you Charlie, I don’t hate you enough for your death to be another black mark on my soul.”

  “If you’re not here to see your sister, and you’re not here to kill me. Then why are you here Davan?” Charlie asked leaning back in his chair looking tired and frustrated.

  “I’ve lost her,” I breathed.

  “I’m sure that once she gets over the shock of seeing she will get her head out of her ass and forgive you. You haven’t lost her yet Davan.”

  “No. I mean I’ve lost her. I have had a line on her ever since the car bomb, but now I’ve lost her. I can’t locate her. I’ve checked every system, every camera. The tracers I planted on her and her bike have been disabled. I can’t find her Charlie. Where is she?”

  “You got close enough to put a tracer on her and her motorbike and she didn’t see you? How the fuck are you still alive?”

  “She maybe Morningstar but she is still my sister. She hasn’t changed that much.”

  “Charlie,” Malcolm interrupted busting in to the office, the door slamming against the wall. “Miss Jupiter she’s…” his voice trailed off, drawing his gun as he noticed me in my standard issue bad-guy gear. Black cargo pants, black military boots, long sleeved black tee.

  “Malcolm stand down,” Charlie sounded tired as he swallowed the rest of his whisky. “This here is Davan my nephew. Jupiter’s brother.”

  “What were you going to say about her?” I demanded to know crossing my arms over my chest.

  “Really? You’re Davan? Where have you been? Does she know your back?” His questions much like my uncles coming at me in rapid fire.

  “Malcolm what were you going to say about my sister?” I barked my patients less than paper thin.

  “She’s taken off,” Malcolm replied.

  “What do you mean she took off? Fuck Malcolm I told you to keep an eye on her,” Charlie snapped standing and punching the desk.

  “Charlie please you know as well as I do that Miss Jupiter is just as determined as Morningstar. She lived in his house for years, she knows every inch of the property if she wanted to get out without detection she could. There was no stopping her.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked pissed that my question about her taking off hadn’t been answered. “They are the same person. Jupiter is Morningstar. Morningstar is my sister. Now where the fuck is she?”

  “No Davan. They are not. Miss Jupiter always talks like Morningstar is just an alter ego. Clark Kent takes off his glasses and oh wow didn’t see that one coming, he’s Superman. No, Morningstar is a total and utter different personality. Everything about her changes when she becomes Morningstar. The way she walks, talks, even her speech is different. When Morningstar takes over, Miss Jupiter is no more. You can see it in her eyes, she’s gone.”

  Well, that explains why it wasn’t until I saw her tattoo I realised that Morningstar was my sister. I could see it now, all the changes, the differences between the two, it was everything physical, speech, mannerisms. If the two women were standing side by side no one would believe that they are the same person, they’re just so different.

  “Speaking of which, what do you mean she’s gone?” I asked again.

  “She got a text and took off,” Malcolm replied.

  “What text?” Charlie asked as his phone pinged.

&nb
sp; He took out his phone and clicked on the message, his thumb furiously swiping at the screen. Charlie looked up at me with panic in his eyes. For a man like Charlie to look panicked, I knew something was wrong. I snatched his phone off him and scrolled through the photos he had received in the text.

  “Shit. Fuck. Shit.”

  Charlie must have gotten the same text that Jupiter had. No wonder she took off. They had received a series of photos of Memphis, Jax, Cassidy and the guys from the shop. I knew who they were from pictures that Jax had sent me over the years. There were pictures of Jax and Memphis at the gym. Cassie at the doctor’s office. Memphis sitting by the river. Jax and Cassidy curled up on the couch in the living room. Memphis a sleep in their apartment. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through until I found Jax’ number.

  “Jaxon,” I said when he answered the phone.

  “Dav, dude you okay? This regular contact thing is becoming a bit of a habit should I be worried?” he asked laughing.

  “Jax I need you to do something for me,” his laughter stopped at the seriousness in my voice.

  “Dav, is she okay? Is Jupe okay?”

  “Yeah man she’s fine,” I lied. “But I need you to do something for me. Charlie just got a text. A series of photos of you, Cass, Memphis and the boys and they’re not just happy snaps. There’s one of you and Cass on the couch in your home, Memphis asleep in bed, the boys in the shop.”

  “What the fuck?!”

  “Jax, I’m in the middle of some shit right now and I don’t have time to talk you off a fucking ledge okay. You need to get everyone together, somewhere safe. Call Mitch, tell him I said you need to be babysat for a while. I don’t give a fuck what you tell the others. Tell them it’s team bonding shit. Just call him, pack a bag and go. Oh, and for the love of all things holy don’t tell Memphis about the photos.”

  “Ya think?!” his tone sarcastic.

  “Just shut up and do it Jaxon. I don’t need to be worrying about your dumb ass too.”

  “Fine. You’re sure Jupe is safe?”

  “Yes Jax. I’ll call you when it’s all over.”

  “God, I so don’t want to know what you mean by that. Just stay safe Dav. Come home alive and bring your sister with you.”

  “Copy that.”

  Chapter 37 Morningstar

  It’s all fun and games until someone threatens my family.

  Everything we had done to Vex so far had been a bit of fun, bullshit childish pranks. Showing up where he had coffee, where he drank and my personal favourite the stunt at the festival. It was all done to show him how small he is, how quickly we could get to him, how easy he would be to kill. Yes, we humiliated him, but any other player in the business would have taken their medicine, accepted their punishment and moved on. Slinking back to the hole where they came from. But, not Vex.

  No, Vex, got all butt-hurt because his boss sat him on his ass in front of everyone. Vex thought that he would have allies in other lower members of the underworld, but once again he was out smarted by his own arrogance and was left out in the cold. Vex went against the code. He threatened innocents. Vex threatened my family.

  No, more Mrs Nice guy. This was going to end and so was his life.

  Even after everything we had done to him, Vex, still hadn’t learnt, well, anything. It was time for him to learn his lesson and I will be his fucking teacher.

  I jumped over the back fence of his property, crossed the yard, broke into the main building and got into his bedroom all without being noticed or tripping any alarms.

  Seriously, Nicholas Vex was too stupid to live.

  It would be so easy to kill him. I could just walk over and quietly slit his throat as he slept, feel the warmth of his blood slid over my fingers as I pushed the blade into his skin. But, a quick more or less painless death was too good for him, it was too easy. Nicholas Vex did not deserve easy. I wanted him to know it was me. I wanted to see the whites of his eyes before I ended his life. I wanted him to suffer.

  “You know you fart in your sleep,” I remarked as Vex woke.

  Vex raised an eyebrow, rolled over onto his stomach hugging his pillow. He jolted from being partially awake to full awake in a matter of seconds, his brain only just catching up with what his optic nerves had seen, his hand shot out searching wildly.

  “Looking for this?” I held his gun upside down by the trigger loop.

  “Guards!” Vex bellowed scrambling up the bed until he hit the wall. “Guards!”

  “I don’t think they are coming,” I said returning his gun to my boot. “I have been standing here for over an hour Nicholas. For over an hour I stood right beside your bed while you slept watching you mutter, scratch your balls and moan. I planned so many ways to kill you Nicholas, not once did I see a guard or hear a patrol. I have to ask, did you specifically advertise for and recruit the most incompetent, disloyal, dopy dumb-fucks known to man as your security or are you just that lucky?”

  “How the fuck did you get in here?” He hissed.

  “That would be thanks to the aforementioned most incompetent, disloyal, dopy dumb-fucks known to man.” I replied dragging his desk chair over spinning it and sitting on it backwards at the foot of his bed. “I quite literally walked right by them, I mean really Nicholas you practically begged me to break in here.”

  “You will pay for this,” Vex swore through clenched teeth.

  “No Nicholas you will pay. You brought all of this on yourself. You should have listened, you should have done as you were told. Georgiou told you to forgive the debt, to pay Memphis back the money you stole from him and that if you did, that all this unpleasantness was over. But then you tried to kill Georgiou, Charlie and Gianni by planting a car bomb. You put Gianni in the hospital, he’s lost his leg because of you.” I rested my arms on the back of the chair, staring at him intently. “Tell me Nicholas, what did you think would happen?”

  “You are going to fucking regret this,” he seethed.

  “Nicholas, you were being taught a lesson. You needed to be put back in your place. Surly even you can see that?”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Then, because you are a complete idiot, you threatened people important to me.”

  “Important to you?” Nicholas laughed like a maniac. “Important to Jupiter Riverworth you mean.” He smiled big like he had just won a competition, as if he had bested me in some way. He sat up straighter, puffed out his chest, his confidence growing. “Oh, don’t look so shocked. I know exactly who you really are and what your uncle is.”

  “Nicholas, you know nothing,” I said rolling my eyes.

  “I know that Charlie is your uncle Jupiter. He let it slip in the alley after the bomb went off he called out ‘Jupiter’ and that is you,” he spat jabbing a finger at me.

  “Charlie is Jupiter’s uncle. I am not Jupiter.”

  “Oh, don’t try that psychobabble bullshit with me. You are Jupiter. The big fierce warrior Morningstar. The fucking monster in the closet, the ghost in the shadows is nothing but a stupid fucking hairdresser. You Morningstar are Jupiter Riverworth.”

  “We may share the same body, but we are two different people. You see Nicholas, sweet little Jupiter went through a bit of a trauma. When that happened, I came into existence. When I am here Jupiter is safely locked away where all the evils of the world can’t touch her. So, if you were planning on appealing to her good nature, hoping to blackmail her into not ending your life, I’m sorry but your shit out of luck because I’m in charge now. And the only thing I care about is seeing you dead.”

  “You do this, and they’ll know. Eric and the others, the rest of my men they will know it was you and they won’t stop until I am avenged.”

  “Avenged? Nicholas, you are a low-level gangster wannabe not a goddamn martyr. Get the fuck over yourself. Your men have a healthy fear of me. Eric, well he might be a tad pissed at having to update his resume and send out job applications for the first time in years, but, trust me no one will mis
s you.”

  Chapter 38 Charlie

  I don’t think my heart can take any more stress, my family is trying to kill me. Not that I would blame them for everything that has happened. But, Davan is here and Jupiter is missing and my heart can’t take any more stress.

  Davan is here.

  I still can't believe it. I keep looking at him for fear if I blink he will disappear, and this will all just be a cruel joke. No one had heard for him for years. Even with all my connections I couldn’t get a line on him. The military wasn’t giving anything up.

  Every week I called that stupid fucking useless family line to get updates. I wanted to get any bad news before Jupiter. If something bad had happened to her brother, I wanted to be the one to break it to her as gently as possible to her. I didn’t want her hearing her brother had died through a robotic recording.

  Even after Jupiter went home, I still called. I called every week. As much as they hate me I still wanted to make sure that my family was okay. Henry had been giving me updates on Jupiter’s reintegration into normal life after she left.

  I took over the business from my uncle and most of his men stayed with me, Henry being one of them. Henry came to me after decades in the business letting me know he was quitting.

  “This is a god-awful joke my friend, even for you,” I said chuckling. Henry was notorious for telling terrible ‘dad’ jokes.

  “It’s no joke Charlie. I need to quit. Nothing you say will change my mind,” there was determination in his tone.

  “Henry, I am not accepting your resignation. So, how about you walk the fuck out of my office and we’ll forget this entire conversation.”

  “I’m dying Kid. Cancer.”

  “Fuck,” I dropped back into my chair staring at the man who was like my brother. “Henry, I’m so sorry. You’re having treatment and shit though, right?”

  “Yeah, Kid I am. Not that it’s doing any good, but I’m doing it.”

  Henry was the only one I would let call me Kid. He was fifteen years younger than me. The guy was born into the life though, so in those terms he was the ‘old man’.