“Kershaw can’t refuse the offer. I’m right, and she knows it. None of the other families have offered friendship, and she won’t side with the troops. A fruit ripe for the taking.”
Ethan sighed heavily. “Don’t betray her. More people will come after you than you can count.”
“I’m not stupid, Ethan. I told the truth. I actually like the woman.” She tapped the driver’s seat. “Let’s go, Michael.”
Since they got back on the road, Ethan didn’t speak. He only stared out the window, observing the crazy that was beginning to consume the city again. Perhaps, like her, he worried their car, or escorting vehicles, would be attacked. The streets were still relatively unoccupied, except for lunatics screaming at the few passing cars, among others. All was calm, at the moment. Lilith could only wonder what thoughts were storming in her brother’s mind. She asked him.
He responded simply saying, “Barriers, fences, protests, riots…”
“Would you prefer dirt roads? Maybe defecating in holes in the ground?” asked Lilith. Ethan only looked at her. “Things are bad, sure…” She turned her head to observe the world outside. “We still have it better than most places around the world.”
“And you still live like a queen.”
“You’ve never approved of anything I do.”
“Odd. Those have been my thoughts exactly about you. I’ve certainly never appreciated being considered the little one.”
She laughed. “You technically are. We’ve been over this.” As always, Ethan was having none of it. “Are you bitching about something as petty as giving you a pet name you don’t approve of?”
Ethan shifted his body a little more toward Lilith. “Small example of a larger problem, Lilith. A problem we’ve had since childhood. You do as you like, to whoever or whatever.”
Lilith scowled. “I’ve done what I can to protect you and everything you care about. I’ve had your best interests in mind since we were kids, even when you didn’t know what I was doing. I protected you and Kayla when you were in exile, I made the other families pardon your exile, I killed Tabitha and half her clan for you, I –”
“Stop!” growled Ethan. “I get it.”
Ethan’s face… His sour, spiteful face… Years of teaching herself to suppress emotions, and they were no match for her own brother’s apparent hatred. He wasn’t even trying to conceal it. She felt the urge to cry. “You never thanked me for any of it,” she said almost at whisper volume.
“You’ve killed people, struck a few deals, blackmailed, manipulated, and scapegoated all for my sake? Is that what you’re saying? That I’m supposed to be thankful for how you’ve ruined – sometimes destroyed – lives just for me? What’s next, big sister? Killing Kershaw just in case she turns on you?”
Following a moment of cold silence, Lilith tapped Michael’s seat twice – the signal to pull over. “You okay, Lily?” he asked.
Michael had nearly slammed the breaks, pulling over only ten feet from an intersection. Lilith knew the risks of exposure, particularly in a neighborhood outside the boundaries of her turf, but she doubted anyone expected to find her there. She exited of the car, stumbling onto the sidewalk, then walked across the adjacent parking lot toward a large store. Whatever surrounded her, she didn’t care. Once she put some distance between her and anyone else, she sat between two cars. A tremendous urge to cry overwhelmed her, but using the best of her strength, she resisted.
–––––––
The sun was starting to set.
Michael had turned the car around, not to alter course but to take an alternate route than the others escorting them. Despite her best efforts, since Lilith had returned to the car, there was nothing but silence. Michael made attempts at small talk here and there, but nothing helpful. Hearing Ethan apologize was what she wanted to hear, but he did no such thing. Now, the only lingering option was stifling how she felt, again.
An opportunity to converse about something substantial arose when Lilith noticed Ethan sitting uneasy, shifting and adjusting constantly as they neared downtown. “You’re uncomfortable,” she observed.
“Old feelings,” he replied.
“Feelings of what?”
“Fear… Doubt.”
She understood easily. The location was his problem. He was searching for his daughter last he had been there. “Not knowing if a loved one is alive or dead?” she said. “I imagine that’s worse than knowing one way or another. But you taught Theia well. Even I knew she would be okay. She’s a tough girl. Tougher than I was at that age.”
Ethan scowled. “Never bring this subject up again.”
“Stop punishing me. I didn’t betray you.” Lilith’s voice was weak. Ethan sat in silence.
As their car crossed over the long Fremont Bridge, Lilith eyeballed the exact building to which they were headed. Then, she looked at Ethan again. He was breathing deeply, clenching his right hand tight.
“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you, sis,” he said. The words were absolutely shocking to hear from him. “I don’t trust anyone anymore. Maybe you could have helped find her if I had just asked. I’m sure you understand why I didn’t.”
Lilith nodded. “I understand why you thought I betrayed you. We’re even now.”
Sometime later, Michael dropped off the twins in an alley. Several minutes after he drove away, a camouflage-styled pickup truck with a covered bed drove up to the alley. No need for words; they opened the back, rolled in, and closed it up just as the driver hit the gas. Lilith leaned up, minding her unsteadiness from the bumpy ride, spotting their transport convening with multiple other military vehicles.
“You trust this guy?”
“Well, he’s risked his life to spy for me, and without him I’d likely be dead already. Not to mention, he’s been with us since he moved here. But to answer your question, no I don’t trust him.” She studied the situation. “We’ll have to wait until his platoon rolls out. That’s the only way he’ll get away with dropping us off close.”
“As your brother, and subordinate, I feel it’s my job to advise aborting the mission. At least, leave the job to us and stay out of it.”
She turned to look directly at him. “Your job is following my lead and protecting me. Don’t try talking me out of anything. My being present is the only way to assure the job is done, and done correctly.”
While waiting for the truck to roll out, they laid flat. Every minute there was no movement, the more Lilith worried.
Their driver’s name was Lance Foley, and he joined the war effort shortly after America had turned on itself. He fought for the Republican and Democrat troops loyal to the president, but had a change of heart when his squad raided a neighborhood five miles south of Seattle. He had retreated further south with his family, choosing to hide, attempting to wait out the war. In short time, he learned there was nowhere to hide, though. As he phrased it to Lilith, “allegiance reaches all.” Those loyal to the troops he had abandoned caught wind of what he had done and someone attempted to assassinate him. At a different time, an angry mob targeted and nearly killed his family. He retreated further south to Portland, where Lilith’s men found him during one of their own supply raids. Lilith personally offered Lance’s family protection and food, in exchange for service. The very next day, Lance returned to the forces he abandoned, explaining his actions in thorough, sentimental details. He was ultimately pardoned by General Alexander and rejoined the ranks. Ever since, he faithfully fed Lilith every bit of information he acquired. She didn’t trust the man, but she also had no reason to doubt him.
As Lilith and Ethan laid in that truck, Lance could have turned them in at any moment. The fact they remained unseen reassured her that there was no reason for alarm.
An hour passed before the group became mobile again. Ethan had fallen asleep. Lilith didn’t wake him until they were moments from being dropped off at their destination. With a quick shake, she woke him and prepared to open the back. Foley digressed from the other vehic
les and backed up into an alleyway, where the twins promptly leapt out. Swiftly running to the driver, she said, “Pick us up in exactly four hours. If we’re not out here by then, wait another hour, and so on…” she told Foley.
“I’ll do what I can,” said the Sergeant as he drove off.
The KOIN Tower – a red brick high-rise that stood as the third tallest in the city – was their location. Atop the building were multiple apartment suites, designated for highly wealthy people back in the day. That was where Lilith planned to meet an old friend. An old friend who wasn’t expecting her.
Lilith led the way as they snuck in through a less visible back-door entrance. It brought them into a kitchen, still unused and uncleaned from the days of the ruin. One of her men spotted them once they reached the main hall. They had been positioned in specific, admittedly uncomfortable, secret locations throughout the first floor over the past week. Too many people in too short a time span would have been suspicious. After having patiently waited for many days, Lilith’s presence now signaled that it was time.
After Lilith and Ethan walked up to the second floor, two more followed a half hour later. After reaching the third floor, two more already positioned on the second floor followed up a half hour later, and so on and so forth. Lilith stopped at the elevators which led to the suites. There, she waited one final time, for the rest of her men to arrive as planned. Timing was everything, or this operation would fail. Other rooms, including a cafeteria, restrooms, and of course, offices, were on that floor, and that’s where everyone hid until it was time to proceed to the designated suite.
Waiting for the rest of their people to arrive wasn’t the greatest test of their patience. The true test was waiting for their target to arrive…
Around ten o’clock, someone finally had. One man; one Lilith recognized but was not the primary target. She personally greeted him as he stepped up to an elevator. Drawing a knife to his throat, she whispered, “Take us up.”
“Krohn? What the hell are you –”
“Take us up!”
The man trembled as he opened the door. Lilith signaled her brother and Shane and four of his men to enter the elevator with her. “Take his card. Come up as quickly as you can,” she ordered the others while forcing the man inside. He brought them to the top floor. Of course he’d occupy the top floor, she thought. Upon exiting the elevator, Lilith demanded, “Show me where he sleeps.”
“Look, Krohn, I don’t know why you’re here, but I can promise you –”
“Show me!”
“Where he sleeps? Are you kidding –”
Lilith took the man by his hair, dragged him to the nearest bathroom, found the shower, and then slit his throat. She dumped the man into the tub then closed the curtain. “Find his bedroom,” she told her men, returning to the hall.
“Boss,” said Shane. “The Verbecks are still powerful.”
“Dante formed his own clan from the remnant of Tabitha’s. He’s head of the Loper family. At this point, ‘Verbeck’ is just used for marketing.”
“You don’t believe they’re anything to worry about?”
“For now.”
Just as the last of her forces arrived, one of them reported, “Ma’am, they’re coming. Their cars just parked. Looks like Dante has a full escort.”
“Of course he does.” She turned around. “Ethan, you able to fight? This is going to be messy.”
Ethan slowly spoke. “It’s my job.”
Those who carried the weapons and ammunition began to distribute. First to receive theirs was Lilith, who was given a machete, her preferred weapon, since she already possessed a pistol. Once the men were armed, they hid all over the suite, but attempted to stay close to the elevator.
One minute turned to five. Five minutes turned to ten. The moment that elevator opened, Lilith aimed her weapon. As per usual with missions in which she was part of, she would make the first move. An easy enough code to follow. As Dante’s people stepped into the suite, the boss was talking about General Alexander. Some of his men were joking around. They clearly suspected nothing.
Lilith fired the first shot the moment Dante’s legs came into view. With her 20-gauge, she blasted off the boss’ right knee. The rest of her men followed her lead without a second to lose.
The slaughter ended in less than a minute. As planned, Dante was the last to survive. Lilith had her men move bodies for an opening in which she could speak to the man.
“Bitch,” he growled, writhing on the floor, holding what remained of his right leg. “You fucking bitch.”
“I can make this quick for you, sir, but first I need a confession.” She grabbed the split in his leg, jamming her thumb up along the bones. Dante cried louder. “Why did you want us dead? Don’t you remember what happened to Tabitha when she tried the same thing?”
Dante wouldn’t stop crying until she relinquished. Clenching his teeth, hyperventilating, he finally said, “We had peace. Until… Until you fucked it up. You fucked it up. All of you! Things… were… getting better.”
Lilith shook her head. “The attack following Ritter’s hanging? I had nothing to do with it. I started no riots, I ordered no attacks. I didn’t deserve your betrayal.”
“Just kill me. Kill me!”
Ethan dropped his rifle and stepped up to them. Lilith turned, seeing pity in his eyes. She ordered, “Don’t put him out of his misery yet.” Her attention returned to Dante. “There are more sides to this war than just us and the troops. Everyone fights for themselves. Just like the old days when your boss and my mother were allies: everyone wanted a cut. The Matriarchs were allies and best friends once, but it wasn’t enough. These days, there’s no room left for allies. There is only victory or death. You picked the wrong side, Dante. Your side will lose. They started this war. Whatever the cost, they can’t win, not even if this drags out for another twenty years.”
“KILL ME!” he screamed. Ethan readied his pistol, but Lilith waved a hand against him.
“I have a point with this, old friend. Tell me everything I need to know about the General’s plans. What were you two conspiring?”
“You…” he could barely say. “You, Carrie … everyone else. All of you.”
That certainly caught Lilith’s attention. “It’s not just the heads of our clans he wants to wipe out? It’s all of us? Family and associates and all?”
Dante nodded, still cringing hard.
Slowly, calmly, Lilith leaned in to the man’s ear. “Before you die, I want you to know something. For what you’ve done, for what you planned to do, I will make sure not one single member of your clan or your family lives to see tomorrow. Your children, your brothers and sisters, your parents, and your first cousins, too. All of them. Dead to the last breath. And they will know you brought this on them.”
Dante looked at her, begging with his eyes. Lilith unsheathed her machete, impaling him in his side, tearing more flesh open as she removed it, then walked away, leaving him there to die slowly. She passed Ethan, who stared at her. Angry, threatening looks were not unusual of him, but this was different. She had never even seen this kind before. It was a look that had every negative connotation imaginable behind it; an expression only she, his sister, could read. It caused her to stop outright. “What?”
“Innocents…” he said.
Lilith wasn’t sure if that was a question or condemnation. She replied, “It’s what he had planned for us. I have to.”
“You don’t. It’s never necessary,” he growled.
“Of all people, you ought to know this plain, simple truth, Ethan: for every person you kill, someone else will seek revenge. Why else do you think Mom helped wipe out every last Solomon they could get their hands on?”
“Phoebe spared Marcus. She didn’t kill everyone.”
“Only because he was too young to have ever known his family. And guess what? He still grew up to be exactly like his family. He could have sought revenge against us. Hell, for all we know, he had been. We
were lucky he didn’t. Regardless, you’re not getting the point. We kill Dante, but spare his men, spare his family, and one of these days, one of them will come back for us. The cycle never ends. That’s why you stop it before it starts. This is going to happen, so learn to live with it.”
As she proceeded to the elevator, the rest of their men following, Ethan asked, “What about Alexander?”
Lilith faced him as she entered the elevator, but said nothing. Absolutely nothing.
GHOST
JUNE 1993
Phoebe called it ‘the white house,’ because it was the largest house on the street and painted bright white. From the outside, it indeed seemed a fitting abode for a ruler, like a castle. If what Ethan had heard about Phoebe was true, she was a ruler. The three-story house towered above the others surrounding it. It had splendor, it was beautiful, but it wasn’t home. Ethan saw it as nothing more than a long-term hotel.
Eva was now calling herself ‘Lilith,’ much to Ethan’s utter opposition. The name sounded fabricated, like the name-equivalent of plastic surgery. It made her seem like a different person. Their adoption wasn’t finalized yet, which meant the new name was not yet her ‘official’ name; this brought Ethan some hope that the damage would be undone.
It was the first of June, meaning that some days remained in the school year. The twins were exempt for the sake of their adoption into a different district, though. Ethan had mixed feelings concerning school – he had missed every month of it, except September and October. He justly feared he’d repeat a grade for it.
When they walked up those brick steps for the first time, Lilith held Ethan’s hand, smiling. Ethan didn’t feel excited, but he neither felt dread. Phoebe opened the front door and welcomed them in like special guests. To their left was the spacious living room; to their right was the dining room practically large enough to host an entire extended family; and straight ahead were the stairs. Phoebe gave them a moment to explore the living room and guest room at the far end of it. Then, she brought them to the kitchen, which was immediately past the dining room. Finally, past the kitchen was the backyard, but they made another left toward the basement. The basement was equally as vast as the other floors, but with much less content. They were shown the backyard, which looked like a football field could fit in it, and then the third floor which had another two bedrooms and a creepy closet.
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