by K. M. Hodge
Jason stalked after her. “What the hell was that, Marianna?”
His former lover whirled around to face him, glaring at him with a fire in her eyes that would make most people quake in their boots.
Jason wasn’t most people, and he stood his ground. He clutched his chip in his hand and took a deep breath.
“I’m putting out a warrant for Zander, unless you want to talk now.”
“I don’t know where Charles is. All I know is that he wants Scott dead. He’ll do anything he can to stop him. The kid isn’t the enemy here. As a matter of fact, I think he’s been taken.”
“Did you help Charles in his escape?”
“No.”
“Is that really all you know?”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
Her expression softened and her shoulders loosened. “What about Manny?”
“He knows about as much as I do. He was dead set against it and wanted to stop Charles.” Jason sucked in a breath and tried to calm himself. “Give the guy a break.”
“None of you thought to try and actually stop him?”
“It’s never as easy as all that. You know that. We’re not the enemy here.”
“Will you go on record with what you know?”
Jason sighed and shifted his weight back and forth. “Yeah, just leave the kid alone. He’s an innocent pawn in all of this.”
“I’m waiting on a warrant to check your wife’s person. If the chip is found on her, I’ll have to arrest her.”
Jason stiffened, the muscles in back and neck forming one giant knot. Any bit of love and respect that might have remained between him and Mari vanished in that instant.
“You obviously have your mind made up,” he said. “We’re done here. Next time you want to talk, I’m calling my lawyer.”
He stalked off and back to his wife’s room, a feeling of dread washing over him. This whole stupid thing might cause him to lose everything all over again.
***
Manny started to drift off to sleep, the fight with Mari playing over and over again in his mind. He didn’t want to lie to her, but he couldn’t put anyone’s life at risk, either. She needed to understand that some wars weren’t worth fighting.
The sound of his door clicking shut startled him awake. Even in the darkened room he could make out the outline of Jason standing at the foot of his bed.
“Ah, shit. Not you, too. I don’t want to be involved in any of this.”
“I don’t think either of us has a choice in this matter, old man.”
“Fuck you. Can’t a man have a heart attack in peace?”
Jason pulled the chair closer to his bed, scraping it along the linoleum floor. “Marianna has a warrant out for Zander. No one knows where the kid is. He and your girl had a fight about Sally, and he hasn’t shown up for his shift.” Jason leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I... uh... I think someone got him. I don’t know who and I’m kind of freaking out.”
Manny rubbed his face and sat up in bed. “Is Julie okay?”
“She’s fine. I just spoke with her a few minutes ago. She’s taking his shift and working her ass off down there. Security is super tight all of a sudden, which worries me, too. One of Charles’ fuckwhit muscle men has been following me around all day. I can’t take a shit without this guy asking me what color it is. He’s outside the door now. It took some convincing to get him to let me come in here alone.”
“Jason, I can’t keep doing this.”
“Well, I can’t sit back and keep doing nothing.”
“I can. I’m done. My baby is safe and that’s all that matters. Life is too short to be spending it trying to take down a killer. There’s always going to be another psychopath. Let someone else deal with that shit. I’m done. I did my part. More than my part. My wife is dead, and I’m sitting here lucky to be alive.”
Jason pulled something out of his pocket and placed it on the tray attached to Manny’s bed. “My one-year chip. The way I see it, life’s too short to sit by and watch the people I love get pulled into this mess again. This kid, he’s not like those assholes from Maryland. From what I hear around this place, he’s an amazing doctor. He can’t go to prison now and lose all this.”
Manny groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. He thought about Mari and the look in her eyes when she’d realized he knew about Charles’s plan to break out of prison. She may not have it in her to forgive him again. Would she go off and sleep with someone else like she did the last time they’d had a fight? His chest tightened at the thought. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. Getting all worked up about it wouldn’t help him now.
“What do you want from me?”
Jason dropped his gaze down to his hands. “I don’t know. I just need to do something. I can’t lose her again. I’m not willing to let that happen again. I love her, and I care about her boy and his future. Scott can’t be allowed to keep sweeping in and destroying my life all the time. He needs to be stopped.”
Manny didn’t want to listen, but he knew Jason was right. The Syndicate had cost him his wife and his health. He didn’t want to lose anything else to them, especially his girls and the one woman who made him want to get up every morning: Marianna.
“Does Mari know about the chip exchange?”
“Yeah, and you know how she is. She won’t let up until she has us all locked up.”
“You’re right. It’s a shitty deal for your wife and her son.” Manny gave a short nod. “Okay, here’s what you need to do. You’re going to have to get one of Charles’ doctors to deactivate and destroy the chip. It’s a secondary GPS tracker that’s released into the blood stream with a sedative. It’ll have to be removed before then.”
“Thank you.” Jason reached for his AA chip and put it back into this pocket. “Mari’s pissed.”
“Yeah, I gathered that the last time I spoke to her.” Manny looked down at his folded hands, translucent and covered in age spots.
“But she’ll come around. You didn’t see her, man. She loves you. This business will blow over and maybe you two can find some peace together. Maybe we all can. We certainly earned it.”
“Ellie called,” Manny said, changing the subject.
Jason stood and stretched his legs. “Yeah?”
“Chris came home to the house broken into. Blood everywhere.”
“What?” Jason stared back at him, wide-eyed.
“Cops still don’t know what happened. Her and Chris are at a hotel now, but they’re going to be staying on base for a while.”
Jason shook his head. “I don’t think I want to know.”
“I know what you mean.”
Jason opened the door to the room and a massive man crept inside.
Must be the muscle keeping us all under lock and key.
“Hey, big guy, I need you to get a hold of your boss. It’s kind of important. We need to renegotiate the terms of our agreement and we need to do it in person.” Jason folded his arms across his chest, prepared for a fight. “Which means a little field trip will be in order.”
The man simply grunted, walked out of the room, and closed the door behind him.
Manny stifled a laugh and shook his head. “Be careful, Jason. I know Charles is trying to come off all reformed, but he’s a cold-blooded killer. Don’t get so caught up in all of this that you forget that. These are dangerous men you’re dealing with.”
“I’ll be careful. I promise.”
Chapter 14
MDNA Headquarters
Unknown Location
June 30, 2026
5:00 AM
~~~
Zane awoke to the sound of laughter. He groaned and sat up in bed.
Two young men, with pink hair pulled up into man buns, stood in his doorframe, covering their mouths and whispering to each other.
Zane grimaced and squinted in the dim light.
What the hell....
“All right, twinkie-dinks, move it along,” Jude said, pa
rting the men and walking into the room.
Zane checked the time and groaned again. So much for a nice relaxing kidnapping.
He slid out of bed and threw on his jeans. “What’s going on, Jude?”
“The twins have a little crush on ya. Don’t mind them.” He sat down on the edge of the bed while Zane dressed. “Charles wants to talk to you in the main room.”
“What’s so important that I need to be up at this hour?” Zane grumbled as he slid on his shoes without bothering to untie them.
“I don’t know.” Jude rubbed his forehead. “Things have changed. I’ve been usurped and Charles is in charge now.” He chuckled to himself.
Zane rolled his eyes. “Really?”
His friend shrugged. “What? I think I’m funny.”
“Let’s go get this over with.” Jude threw his arm around Zane’s shoulders and led him down the hall to the open space he’d seen the day before.
The room buzzed with action. Young men and women milled about or stood hunched over devices.
The palpable energy they gave off set Zane on edge. What did they want from him now?
Jude patted him on the back. “Check ya later, kid. I gotta get back to work.”
He watched as Jude walked away. The uneasiness sloshing around in his gut became more pronounced and he swallowed hard.
From across the room, Charles looked up from a mini that a young blue-haired woman was showing him. “Zane,” he called. “Good. You’re up. Wonderful. We have some things to discuss.” Charles motioned for him to come closer.
“It’s five. Can’t I have coffee first?”
Charles laughed and patted his arm like they were pals or something. “Marco, get the boy some coffee. We have a long day ahead of us.”
“Us?”
The old man laughed again, a fake one that sent a chill down Zane’s spine. He knew Charles had killed at least three people and abused his wife. Behind the philanthropist façade was a man capable of violent fits of rage. Zane would need to tread carefully and, most importantly, bite his tongue. He had a way of putting his foot in his mouth that had landed him more than a few punches to the face. According to Jason’s book, it sounded as though his biological father had suffered from the same problem.
“You paying attention?” Charles snapped his fingers in front of Zane’s face.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m listening.”
The men and women in the room all started to gather around.
Charles beamed as he looked over the crowd. “It’s so wonderful to finally be able to come here and see all your hard work in action. I’m so proud of all of you. Yes, there have been a few setbacks, but now things have turned in our favor. I know you are all eager to get back to work, but I want to introduce to you a young man I know you all are very excited to see here, Zander Ride.”
Zane stiffened at the introduction as every eye in the room turned to gaze at him. Did they expect him to say something? “Um... hi.”
A wave of nervous laughter rolled over the room and he relaxed a little.
“All right, get back to work.” Charles smiled.
Soon the room’s buzz of energy returned, like a persistent fly, as the people resumed their work.
Charles clasped hold of Zane’s arm and guided him away from the others. “We have a meeting today.”
“Oh? With whom, or do I not even want to know?”
“We’re meeting with your new stepfather.”
Zane’s breath caught in his throat. Did he just say stepfather? “Jason?” When the hell did they get married?
Charles nodded.
“Anything else I should know?”
A young man walked up to them with a steaming cup of coffee. Charles smiled and handed the cup over to Zane. “Yes, you’re going to be a hero when all this is said and done.”
Zane sipped the coffee and mumbled into the cup. “Just like dear old Ma.”
***
St. Rita’s Hospital
Danville, Virginia
June 30, 2026
8:00 AM
~~~
Marianna paced back and forth the length of the hallway. She’d been on hold for over an hour and her patience was wearing thin. “I need that warrant and I need it now.”
“Ma’am, we’re doing the best we can. We’re slammed over here.”
She wet her lips and took a deep breath. “Look, we have a prisoner on the loose—”
“Ma’am, I get it. It’s critical. We’ll get to you as soon as we can.”
Mari ended the call and slouched back against the wall, trying not to focus on the fact that Jason and Manny had been part of all this. How could they knowingly assist the man, a self-confessed murderer, escape house arrest? They would be charged as accomplices, and she would be the one to have to do it. There was one thing she could try and she didn’t need a warrant to do it—well, as long as she did it right.
She pulled up her contact with Virginia Federal Correction and sent a text reporting that Charles had tampered with his monitor and was missing. She still needed definitive proof and there was only one way to do that.
“Can you release the sedative?” she asked, waiting with bated breath for the answer.
“Thanks for the tip, detective. We’ll release the sedative, but if he’s tampered with it, it might not work.”
“It doesn’t hurt to try. He hasn’t been gone long and couldn’t have gotten very far.”
“Yeah, I’ll put in the request. It should go through without a problem. If he hasn’t tampered with the sedative mechanism, a secondary GPS will be initiated. We’ll have our man in no time.”
“That’s what I want to hear, thanks.” Marianna ended the call just as her watch buzzed with an incoming call.
Shit. The lieutenant.
“Marianna speaking.”
“Espinoza, I’m getting calls of you involved with an investigation of Charles MacAvoy. You aren’t in a position to do this. Give everything you found to Detective O’Mally.”
She shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yes ma’am.”
Her lieutenant continued to talk but Marianna stopped listening. She didn’t care that she didn’t have jurisdiction in this matter. She would be the one to bring Charles in, even if it meant she would have to turn in her badge to do it.
***
St. Rita’s Hospital
Danville, Virginia
June 30, 2026
Noon
~~~
Jason’s hands shook a little as he tied his shoelaces. He tried not to think about what lay ahead and the danger he might be willingly walking into. Concern for his new wife and for the boy kept him going forward. In reality, all he wanted to do was run. The hallway outside his wife’s room was quiet with only a few nurses milling about.
No one around to see me panic. Breathe. I need to breathe.
He closed his eyes and took a few calming breaths, and felt a hand touch his arm.
“I’m coming with you.”
Jason opened his eyes and looked down at the disheveled woman before him.
“And don’t try and talk me out of this,” Julie said. “Both my dad and Sally filled me in on what’s going on.”
Jason huffed in irritation. Nothing in the world was more formidable than a woman with her mind made up. “I wouldn’t dream of arguing with you, Jules.”
Her shoulders dropped and she let out a shaky breath. “Good. Let’s go.”
He gave her a small smile. What a pair they made. “All right.” He paused, not really wanting to take the first step.
Julie, on the other hand, seemed ready and willing to jump right from the frying pan into the fire—a kind of stupid bravery reserved only for young people.
He knew not only what was at stake, but how easily it could all go to shit. Been there done that. Got the t-shirt.
Julie’s brow furrowed and her pale lips formed an angry line. “Come on. No sense just standing here.”
Really? Because tha
t does make sense to me.
Julie huffed and rolled her eyes, clasping hold of his arm and tugging him forward.
Ever onward.
They made their way through the hospital and out to the parking garage. The farther away they got from the hospital, the harder his heart beat against his chest.
While he was grateful not to be followed by the goon, he couldn’t help but worry about the kid. If anything happened to Zane, or if Charles refused to cooperate and Sally spent the rest of her life in prison.... He couldn’t let himself focus on either of those possibilities, but he couldn’t stop the thoughts from overrunning him. In moments like these, his anxiety always got the best of him. He longed for a dark room and a bottle of scotch.
Perhaps sensing his anxiety, Julie clasped his hand and walked at a faster clip. The car Charles had sent was parked outside against the curb, and they hopped inside. The pre-programmed navigation system guided the vehicle off in the direction of the bar Charles owned in Danville.
Jason twisted his ring back and forth and watched as the familiar backdrop of his hometown passed him by. The car stopped at the light in front of the Danville Press, and he thought again about how he needed to call Lisa and his staff at some point to check on things at the paper.
“That’s yours, isn’t it?” Julie pointed at the old brick building.
“Yeah, it’s mine.”
“Do you know where we’re going?”
“Charles’ bar.” Jason pointed to the navigation screen. “It’s off the highway.”
Five minutes later, they pulled into the deserted parking lot of the bar. Most of the patrons took automated cars, so the parking lot was used mostly for outdoor events, but today it was empty.
Jason and Julie stepped out of the car and went inside.
The host, a young man with slicked back hair and an even slicker smile, greeted them at the door. “Good, you’ve arrived. Let me show you to our back room—though we didn’t know you would be bringing a guest.”
Jason followed the host and held tight to Julie’s hand as they made their way to the back room. Manny would never forgive him if something happened to her. Hell, he would never forgive himself.
The host opened a heavy door and ushered them inside. “Please take a seat. They will be with you soon.”