by L. Ann Marie
The pussy finally falls and Dakota comes over to us. He taps his mic turning it on and talks to Ops for cleanup.
I see movement and shoot the asshole. Jess turns her head. “Sorry Jessica. Let’s get you out of here.”
The shit hanging off the machine is pretty gross, brain isn’t all pretty like in books all put together. It’s chunks covered in blood, I can see where women don’t want to see that shit. Dakota laughs behind me.
At the door Jess looks at me. “Why didn’t he come in with the hand gun in the first place? A rifle isn’t practical for what he wanted to do and with one arm no less.” She just watched me spread his brain across a machine and she asks about his plan?
I can’t help it I laugh then Dakota does. Jess gets pissed and starts walking. “Jess stop.” She does and I walk up to her wrapping my arms around her. “He was trying for HS. Dakota broke his arm in training. It’s funny because I was thinking he would never have made regular Security let alone HS and you’re questioning his intelligence.” She stops and I hope Prez cut the feed for me. Acting like a pussy on the feeds isn’t what I want them watching.
“Put like that I can see that as funny.” She smiles up at me. I kiss her and walk her to the other end of the hall where people are waiting. Prez is in my ear asking about feeds. He sounds pissed. I stand waiting to hear who is fuckin’ up the feeds.
“Swear to God Ghost you don’t answer me I’m coming down there.”
Me? “Prez I’m on. I haven’t touched my mic or the feeds.”
“You’re back up. Close the plant so cleanup can get in there. I’m sending Brantley and Jason to check the feeds for interference.” He sounds relieved.
What the fuck? I turn around and see Dakota looking down. He did it. As soon as it hits I throw it out. Fuckin’ guy covered for me jamming feeds? He looks up embarrassed. I throw it out and tell him to close the plant. He talks to Aponi and Tip and walks out the door.
I pull Jess with me and follow him to his bike. “Ghost to Ops One. We’re out. Going to dinner.”
“Roger Ghost, I’ll meet you at the Club at seven.”
“Ghost and Eagle Eye out.” I shut my mic off and drop the earpiece under my hair.
“Thank you,” I say. He nods throwing his leg over. “Let’s go get dinner so Jess can tell us about her play date.” They laugh and we ride to the restaurant downtown. I keep my thoughts light until I can think this through.
At dinner Jess explains about the new belt. She’s got it up already. I’m so fuckin’ proud of her and tell her, she’s beaming telling Dakota about the recycled material they can get cleaned and ready to go right away. They talk about barrels and the town pickup with a program promoting recycling that lowers the waste bill. I just watch smiling like a pussy. They’re both so passionate about reusable materials and cleaning up the environment.
Our food is gone and we talk about the run coming up. Jess wants to go and I want to take her so it’s settled. She gives me a funny look. “What?”
“Jared said I can stay with him if I want.” She looks embarrassed.
Stay with him? No fuckin’ way. “What about work?” She’s staying! My heart is going to beat out of my chest.
She looks me in the eye. “Dads say they can have a lab built in a month. I can work through the virtual program and conference when I need to.” She looks at Dakota then back at me. She’s nervous?
Shit the virtual isn’t out. “He’s safe. He probably knows more about it than I do. So you’re moving here?” I am not assuming anything here. Dakota laughs and I give him a look.
She’s embarrassed, looking down, I lift her chin so I can see her face. “Yes. If it’s okay with the Princes. I can help too. I just don’t want to be so far away. I never see you. I can get a house, Dads will help with whatever I need.” She’s talking so fast and not letting me answer so I kiss her to shut her up.
“You are not living with Jared. I have a house. What about your Security?”
She has tears in her eyes, but she’s smiling. “Dads have two on me now.” She looks at Dakota.
“We know, but what about when you live here?” They are not letting her go that easy. She looks at Dakota then back at me. “Jessica it’s okay to talk in front of him. He can read you, but more importantly we trust him with our lives. He’s one of Jeremy’s guides.”
She looks at him. “I was taught how to block from Jeremy and you can read me?” Her face turns red. I’d like to know what that is all about, but leave it for now.
“Yes. When you are excited I can. I saw your mother’s programs through Jeremy and my uncle. You block your work effectively. Unless you are talking to me about it I cannot read it.”
She relaxes and looks at me. “Dad K says he can trust the Princes, but he will ask that I get High Security from Little Ben. I can help where I’m needed here to help with that cost, but he says they will pay it.” She rolls her eyes. She has no idea how much money she has and they seem happy to leave it alone. I decide I should too. I look at Dakota, he nods.
“I’ll talk to Prez. When are you moving?”
She giggles. “I’m already here.”
I kiss her. “When does your stuff get here?”
“Dad dropped my clothes at Jared’s. The lab has to be built and Security arranged, but they already bought the land and I wasn’t waiting for Security to be arranged. They’ll have to do that from home.” She’s determined and I’m ecstatic.
“Is Red moving down?”
She looks sad. “No, they wanted me to have a handler here, but Mom talked them down.”
I watch her. Why is she sad? “Why does it bother you?”
She looks at me for a couple of seconds. “I’ve been working with him since I was eight. It will be different without having him right here. I don’t want someone new, but Red is Mom’s handler. She was willing to work with someone new, but she gets the stuff I work on out to people that need it. He should stay there.”
I smile and hug her. She’s going to miss the old guy. “With all the fuckin’ helicopters around, like taxis in New York, I’m sure we can get you up to see Red regularly.”
She pulls away and looks at me like I’d lie to her. “Jessica your family alone has five fuckin’ choppers. It won’t be a problem. We’ll arrange Security to the yard and your fathers can handle it from there. They’d like that.”
She’s bobbing her head up and down with a big smile. “Do you think Little Ben would let me work off the costs?” I laugh.
“Babe, I’ll cover your Security. It isn’t a problem.”
She’s bouncing with excitement. “I can’t wait to tell Mom!” She slides out of the booth and starts walking.
“Jess stop.” She does. “Dakota can you go with her? This isn’t the yard and you’re not on HS yet, Jess.”
“Oh.” She’s embarrassed, but too excited for it to last.
“I’ll call Prez while you talk to your mom.” She spins around then looks back. When Dakota makes it to her she starts walking and dialing. I laugh. She’s cute.
I hit Prez. “Did Baxters talk to you about Jess staying and needing HS?”
“Yeah, I told them I’d let BS stay until she told you.” I fuckin’ hate vision shit. “Now that you know I’ll pull them and get HS on her. You and Dakota are on Jess, Jessie. I’ll give you the schedule tomorrow. Now that that’s taken care of I need to eat before I get to the Club Brother.” He hangs up.
I put my head in my hands and laugh. Fuckin’ Brother. Outside I repeat what he said for Dakota. We watch the SUV drive away.
At the Club Prez welcomes Jess letting the Brothers know she is mine. Another fuckin’ Brother touches her I’m shooting him. Dakota wants to know who touched her. I just wave it away. She dealt with it so I’m not worried. Kevin has been training her since she was twelve. She can take care of herself. He nods and I remember to block.
Hyde is here and in good spirits. He looks like shit so Prez gives him a couple of days. He asks if he can
help in the garage and I laugh. Fuckin’ Brothers don’t stop. Prez gives him a nod and some words that have him smiling. Since I saw him, had a beer with the guys, and have the schedule for Jess’ Security I’m ready to go.
Prez and Dakota come with us. We ride in formation and I miss Dakota on my side. I stop when Prez does. “Holy fuck! You think it’s bright enough?” I laugh and shut the bike off. He’s shielding his eyes looking at the roof. “Fuckin’ friends he stuck with left him there?”
I put my hand up to shade my eyes and look, he’s still there. I turn and yell to the guard. “Get someone up here to cut him down.” The guy starts moving. Guess he’s ready to come down.
“Brothers would have had your back. You wouldn’t be up there with a true Brother around,” I yell to him. His head bobs and Jess laughs.
I take my girl to her new home. Fuck that makes me smile.
Chapter Ten
Eagle Eye
“Need you at the PD. Calm the men down and show them the new training they’ll be getting. We have new bikes being delivered for them.”
“On it Prez.”
Grabbing my keys, I call the Chief in the town that needs cleaning, asking if he has rogue officers he would like to get rid of. He has maybe six. I tell him I may be able to make a trade for by the book officers and he is excited. I jump on my bike and race to the PD.
Officers are yelling in the roll call room. Driscoll is standing at the front with his arms crossed. He smiles when I walk in. “You want to know what is going on? Sit down and shut the fuck up.” A cop pushes me and I swing around pulling his arm then his cuffs. I cuff him to an officer on the side of me and start walking again. Everyone shuts up. “Sit the fuck down or turn in your badges. That would make my boss happy. We have three towns that do not need a PD for anything, but the cute little sign in the window reminding them of Mayberry. We can and will make that happen if you so choose. Yes, we are letting you make that decision.”
When everyone is sitting I nod at Driscoll. “Your old Chief was taking payouts from DeMarco.” Men start mumbling. “The Princes gave the information to the States Attorney and he will be prosecuted. There are other charges, but I don’t give a fuck about what else he did with your budget so I’m not getting into it. You can get that from the warrant or evidence or wherever else it may be. Again I don’t give a fuck. What you need to know right now:
“One, my name is Driscoll DeMello and I was appointed as your new Chief yesterday while the old one got arrested.
“Two, this is the Princes of Prophecy’s Secretary, Eagle Eye Lightfoot. Most people know him as Dakota Lightfoot. Yes he merged with LB Security. As you saw, your training doesn’t even come close to ours. You can try to prove me wrong, but I’ve seen him break the arm of a Brother that outweighed him by a hundred pounds. If your focus is to prove how much better you are, I’ll give you a minute with him right now.” He is crazy.
I look at him and the nimrod I cuffed comes up with a smile on his face. Fuckin’ Driscoll. He lunges for me and I flip over him catching his neck and pull his gun. When I land I spin him around with his gun at his head. I see it has no bullets and decide to play. “It fuckin’ pisses me off to be paraded around like a circus act. Tell me, does he keep it loaded?” I pull the trigger and it clicks to everyone wincing. “You walk around with a gun it had better be loaded. I will not wait for you to stop and load.” I drop the nimrod. “Drop your badge and get the fuck out. If I hear about a union rep looking for information I will find you and scalp your pretty boy head, then leave you for dead on the Indian burial ground.”
I give Driscoll a look. “I just wanted their attention Brother. I like my hair.”
I smile and turn. “Am I done?” No one moves. “Continue Driscoll.”
“Three, as you can see we don’t play well with others and we don’t like all the fuckin’ rules. If you run drugs we will get rid of you and that doesn’t mean taking you to court. If you beat your wife, we will beat the fuck out of you and help her get safe. If you hurt kids we will hurt you in the same fashion. No, we don’t have a problem raping men with a police baton dry to make sure he remembers to leave little boys alone. We do not tolerate bullying, racial profiling, or any other standard you were used to. Every person in the yard is as important as you are. We demand respect and will give that back to you.
“Four, your job is basically the same, but you will be trained as the Princes are. I can tell you now you will never make it to Eagle Eye’s level. These fuckin’ kids have been training since they were in diapers. I know this personally. I was HS for the MC and Family Security for the kids. They can all kick my ass.” The men laugh. Driscoll nods to me.
“Before we get into training I want to ask, is there anyone here that cannot put aside the rules to keep citizens safe at all costs? That would mean anyone that is a stickler for the rules.” A couple of cops look at the same guys. One raises his hand. “I have a PD the next town over that is willing to trade me six rogue officers for six rule sticklers. You keep your pay, pension, and rank.” I have eight raising hands. Driscoll laughs. “I only have six spots I will try to get you transferred close. Leave your name with the Desk Sergeant when you collect your personal belongings and I will be in touch by the end of today. You are dismissed.”
“I have a shift; we need to cover the patrols,” one says standing.
“Every single street in this town is covered in surveillance feed. The Princes are more than able to cover your patrol. Please leave before Prez gets here with the bikes. Jessie will shoot you for whining.” I tell him and smile as he huffs out stomping his feet. “We do not do whining,” I tell them.
Jason comes in with a laptop smiling. “Prez said he is an hour out and to show the training promo.”
“You will see young people in positions of authority. Do not give them shit. They will beat the fuck out of you or shoot you. We do not like or do court,” Driscoll tells them. Jason is carrying and not one cop says a word. I think this will work well.
“While Jason sets up the video I will tell you about training. You will be training for the next two weeks. You will not have to ride and shoot, you will not have to ride at all. Your job is the same, but with less paperwork.” The men like that. “Your badge is as much of a symbol of Brotherhood as our patch. We get Brotherhood. We do not run drugs, we do not traffic women or children. We have a complete division, sort of like a task force, that is working to stop those trades in our territory. We will be joining them again when this move is settled and stable. You can be part of that. We take care of our own and we do that by any means necessary. If we find you to be of a like mind and spirit we will promote based on those qualities. If we find that you abuse your position and abilities we will strip you of your badge and more than likely of your ability to do any job involving a gun.” I can read two that will give me shit. I ask their names and one guy rolls his eyes. They are problems for the PD and not well liked. Good. I need this and walk to Driscoll while the video plays.
“My problems?” he asks taking the names.
I smile. “No. Mine. You will get all the support you need through your Brothers as always. Prez does not want to repeat mistakes. You will have Brothers working with half your force for one month while your force is training. When training is done you will have the men you need to police the town.” He smiles.
“Thank you Dakota, sorry for putting you out there. It’s the only way to show not to fuck with the young just because they are young.” I nod, but he hugs me.
“Step away.” I growl at him. He does and I lean on the table. “Fuckin’ Brothers always hugging,” I whisper trying to catch my breath.
“I didn’t know.” He’s upset.
I nod. Jason sits on the table by my hand with his leg touching me and I throw what I can. He is one of Tiny’s kids, but knows exactly what to do. When I open my eyes I am calm. I walk out to get a drink and hear the bikes.
When I get to the sidewalk Todd steps to my side. “I’
m your shadow until Jessie gets here. I’d appreciate if you’d let me ride beside you when you leave places. You know, if telling me where we are headed is asking too much.”
I laugh thinking about flying here today. “I was not told I had a shadow. Now that I know I will inform you of my movements.”
He smiles and throws me chin.
Prez pulls in with Jessie beside him. Todd salutes and walks away. I laugh. Ten bikes are on a wrecker. Vinny is unstrapping them when Prez asks if I am okay. I roll my eyes at him and walk back in. They laugh following me. The video is done playing and the men are asking Driscoll questions. When Prez walks in Driscoll stops and acknowledges him.
“It’s good to see you have questions. My name is Ben Knight. Most call me Prez or Little Ben. I realize I’m not little, but my name is handed down from my uncle Ben James, President of the MC Mass Chapter. Our charter is part of that Chapter. This is my SAA Jessie LaPonte-James. He was in charge of training for the MC and is our trainer until a Brother returns from SEALs next month. Do not fuck with Jessie, he’d just as soon shoot you, than put up with your disrespect. I don’t say this as a threat he actually shoots people that piss him off. You’ll notice your old Chief limping when he goes to court. Jessie will aim for the feet or head depending on how much pain he wants you in.” He looks around and smiles at Jason who is nodding his head. “You can go back to work Jason. I want the hologram boards up so Bull can start training them on how they work.”
Jason jumps off the table and runs out with his laptop. “You will see teenagers working IT or riding with Security. You do not mess with our Brothers. They all have open carry permits and their aim is perfect. You saw the video. Our HS or High Security are the elite in Security. To get into HS you need to be able to ride and shoot hitting your targets at higher than eighty miles an hour. Every kid you see carrying can do that. The next level of Security is Family. This is tougher to get on because we take care of our women and kids and don’t trust easily. We protect what is ours.”