Above all Else

by Sophia R Heart

  It seemed Kellan hadn’t gotten round to saying much while I’d gotten the drinks.

  Kellan pulled the car over onto the side of the road and turned around with a leveled a look at Max. “I’m not going to beat around the bush, man. Have you heard anything about crooked cops on the force?”

  I blinked at how quickly he’d come out with it. I’d always thought of Kellan as tactful... intelligent, and competent, in the way he handled matters. I was beginning to reconsider that now.

  Max’s face stilled, his mouth opening and then closing silently. “I wasn’t expecting that.” Max rubbed the back of his shaved head. “Please tell me that those rumors have no credibility behind them.”

  It was good that there was already a seed of doubt there. Maybe Max would be more receptive to what we had to say.

  “So you’ve heard something, then?” Kellan pushed, eyeing a car that drove past us.

  “Yeah, I’ve heard something, but there’s always talk like that floating around. Doesn’t mean it’s true,” Max said, his brows furrowed in concern. “What have you heard?”

  “It’s not what we’ve heard, but what we know,” I said, shifting in my seat so I could look at him properly. It made sense that there were rumors floating around. An operation of such magnitude couldn’t have gone unnoticed for long. Speculation and suspicion were bound to rise.

  “And what do you know?” Max asked.

  “Not here,” Kellan said firmly as another car drove by. “We’ll go back to Phoenix’s place. You met him once, remember?”

  “Yeah.” Max nodded. “Funny guy. Bit strange.”

  “That’s him,” I said with a small smile hovering on my lips at the accurate description.

  “I’d rather we headed to my place,” Max said, meeting Kellan’s eyes.

  He was wary and unsure about whether we could be trusted... that was clear in his gaze. It was reassuring. Immediate apprehension, or trust, would have been a cause for concern.

  Kellan frowned, his eyes landing on me for a small second. He nodded once. “Fine.”

  “This might just be the biggest, most stupid mistake of my life,” Max muttered, leaning back in his seat.

  I felt a flash of sympathy go through me. His world was about to be tipped upside down.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  * * *

  - THEN -

  Five Years ago

  I SAW KELLAN CLIMBING up the stairs as I was headed down to grab a snack. He was supposed to be at work so I was surprised to see him. He glanced up, hearing my footsteps, before he quickly ducked his head. He had on a black cap that I’d never seen before, pulled low over his face so that it cast a shadow over half his face and obstructed it from view.

  “Hey–” my greeting faltered as he brushed past me, bounding up the stairs and into the bathroom. He wasn’t quick enough, however, to keep me from seeing the nasty shiner he was supporting. I hesitated on the staircase for a moment, before turning to go back up the way I’d come.

  I paused outside the bathroom door, hearing him rustling around inside. After a brief hesitation, I pushed the door open.

  Kellan spun around, not having expected me to follow him in. “What the fuck?” He tried to shut the door on me, but I stuck my foot in the way.

  He’d taken the cap off, and I had a clear, unobstructed view of his face. There was a red ring around his left eye and the entire lid was swollen. It looked deeply painful and would probably only look worse tomorrow as a black eye set in.

  “What happened to your face?” I peered up at him, seeing that he also had a split lip.

  “Nothing.” He grabbed the cap he’d left by the sink, and pulled it back on.

  “It’s too late to hide your face, I’ve already seen it,” I said.

  He held the bathroom door open for me. “Just leave.”

  I stepped back a little, stung. He’d been staying with us for a few weeks now and he’d never been so short with me. He was distant, yes, but never so abrupt.

  “Fine,” I muttered, walking past him. He stepped back, bumping into the railing on the wall where Mom always kept towels. He hissed in a breath, clutching his abdomen. My eyes zeroed in on a dark stain on his jacket. “Were you stabbed?” I blurted out, my eyes growing wide.

  “Don’t be stupid,” he said shortly. “It’s just… a few bruises.” One hand still clutched his stomach, the other ready to slam the door shut in my face.

  I backed down. Leaving the bathroom, I headed straight for Mom and Dad’s bedroom. They were out on a double date tonight with some old friends. I knew that Kellan would kill me if I called them. So I grabbed some of Mom’s old pain medication from her bedside table and then ran downstairs to get an icepack out of the refrigerator.

  I knocked on the bathroom door, a little breathless after rushing around. “Kellan?”

  “What?” His reply was short.

  “Can you open the door?” I said, growing exasperated.

  To my surprise, Kellan opened the door a moment later. Sticking his head through the small gap in the door, he looked at me wearily.

  “Yeah?” he said, his voice lacking the sharpness it held earlier. He’d taken his shirt and jacket off. I could see his shoulder, the rest of him remaining hidden behind the bathroom door.

  “Here.” I handed him the painkillers and the icepack, not asking him any questions, even as curiosity burned through me.

  He blinked, surprised.

  “Thanks,” he said quietly – the gratitude clear in his eyes – before he gently shut the door.

  I stared at the closed door for a moment before shaking my head. He’d looked at me like I’d moved heaven and earth for him when all I’d done was grab him some painkillers and an icepack.

  - NOW -

  Max’s apartment was a mirror image of Kellan’s. It was modern, with an open floor plan, and minimalistic decor. It differed a little though, as it actually held some personal touches. There were framed photographs on the walls, some dirty magazines littered around, and even a bra on the floor. I’d only met Max today, but his apartment didn’t surprise me one bit.

  Gingerly, I nudged the black lace aside with my foot before I took a seat on the edge of the couch. Max, who’d been pretty somber on the car ride after Kellan’s revelation, grinned unrepentantly.

  “Some aspirin and liquor wouldn’t go amiss right now,” Kellan said, sounding strained as he shut the front door behind him. His hand was curled up in a small ball at his side.

  “Yeah, of course.” Max grabbed some aspirin out of a kitchen cupboard and handed it to Kellan with a glass of water. He also took out a bottle of something that looked expensive and slid it across the counter. Kellan caught it with one hand and took a big swig straight from the bottle. Snagging a bag of frozen peas from the freezer, Max placed it carefully on his jaw. “Shit, that’s gonna be tender tomorrow.”

  “You’ll live,” Kellan said, examining his hand. “Fuck, there’s glass in the skin.”

  “We need to go to the emergency room,” I said, horrified.

  Kellan shook his head. “Can’t. Don’t know who we might bump into there. It wasn’t just cops that were mentioned on that list.”

  “What if your skin starts to heal around the glass?” I argued. “I’m no expert, but I don’t think that would be good. Do you?”

  “List?” Max asked, lowering his makeshift icepack.

  Kellan took another swig and turned to Max. “We found something. A flash drive that Mario had. The guys behind the break-in at their place were trying to find it…” He told Max everything that we’d found on it.

  Max was – understandably – appalled. “There can’t be that many backstabbing bastards on the force!”

  “According to the information on the flash drive, there is,” Kellan told him, wincing as he moved his hand. The skin there stretched and began to bleed again.

  “I’ve got some bandages,” Max mumbled, getting up. He
looked dazed. Worried, and angry.

  “You’ll need some disinfectant, too,” I told Kellan, not liking the look of his hand.

  “Water will have to do.”

  “What–” I gaped as he moved towards the sink and shoved his hand under the tap. He didn’t make a sound, even as his face paled, and his jaw ticked. I bit my lip, wincing in sympathy.

  Max came back out of the bathroom with several packets of bandages in hand. “Here.”

  “Do you have a pair of tweezers by any chance?” I asked, taking the bandages from him. I motioned for Kellan to take a seat at the table.

  “I’ll go have a look.” Max rubbed his head, and walked back towards the bathroom. He came back out only a moment later, tweezers in hand.

  “Okay, let’s do this.” I exhaled, taking a seat across from Kellan.

  “I can do it myself,” Kellan said.

  “With your left hand?” He’d damaged his right. “You won’t be very precise – or quick.”

  I took his hand carefully in mine, making sure not to touch his knuckles. There were pieces of glass embedded in the raw skin there. There were other small cuts his fingers, but thankfully, most didn’t contain any glass. Using the tweezers, I pulled the first tiny little piece of glass out. I quickly moved on to the second, not wanting to think too much about what I was doing or I’d risk getting squeamish.

  “Why the hell do you have tweezers, man?” Kellan asked. His face was still strained, but there was a flash of amusement in his eyes.

  “Ex-girlfriend left loads of her shit around,” Max said, leaning against a wall as he watched me work. I glanced at him and snorted softly. His eyebrows looked way too nice to be anything but groomed.

  Kellan remained quiet as I worked. Max grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and switched on the TV, though he didn’t seem to be watching it. His eyes remained distant and pensive.

  I struggled to get out some of the glass that had gotten deeper under Kellan’s skin, feeling Kellan’s eyes on me the whole time, watching intently.

  Once I was done, I double checked to make sure I’d gotten every last bit and reached for a bandage. I wrapped it carefully, but tightly, around his knuckles, half-expecting him to pull back and snap that he could do it himself.

  He didn’t, though. Instead, his eyes remained soft.

  “Thank you,” he said quietly when I finally let go of his hand. I glanced up at him, and our eyes meet.

  “Does that mean we’re even?” I said lightly, and he looked puzzled. “For being the reason your hand’s like that in the first place,” I clarified.

  “It wasn’t your fault. I’m... I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.” He glanced away, a muscle moving in his jaw. My mouth dropped open. I could count on one hand the amount of times I’d heard Kellan utter an apology. “It wasn’t you I was angry with. It was the image of that fucker with his hands on you–“ he bit off the rest of his words, eyes narrowing in rage.

  “Well, they weren’t on me for long. He was on the ground a second later, though I kinda wish I’d also kicked him while he was down,” I admitted. “It’s something my twelve-year-old self would have done without blinking.”

  I chuckled a little, but it faded quickly as I reflected on what I’d just said. It was true; I would have kicked someone for pissing me off when I was younger. I might even have done it a few years back. I wondered when that had changed, when I had changed.

  “People change,” Kellan said, amazingly picking up on my thoughts.

  “So have you,” I said softly. “You’ve changed.”

  “I have?”

  “Yeah. You’re more... serious now. I mean, you’ve always been kind of serious, even when you were getting yourself into all sorts of trouble. But these past few years, these past few weeks especially... it seems like it takes a little more effort for you to smirk.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I didn’t want him to think that I had been analyzing his every move – or that I was so aware of when he did and didn’t smile. I barely held back from thumping my forehead on the table in front of me.

  Kellan merely looked thoughtful, mulling over my words. “You’re right,” he said, sounding surprised.

  “I am?” I said, surprised that he’d actually agreed with me. “I am,” I repeated, a smile beginning to form on my face.

  His lips quirked into a genuine smile, in return.

  “You guys done?” Max called out, effectively shattering the atmosphere. Kellan leaned back in his chair as Max stood up from the sofa, beer bottle in hand. He looked down at us. “Good. I wanna see this so-called list for myself.”

  * * *

  The house was uncharacteristically quiet when we stepped in, Max in tow. Walking further into the hall, the distinct sounds of roughhousing reached our ears, coming from Phoenix’s den. I pushed the door open, stepping inside the room just as Phoenix jumped up.

  “Oh yeah, beat that, sucker!” he said, doing a little victory dance in front of the TV. I was positively certain that there hadn’t been one there, attached to the wall, when Kellan and I had left earlier on in the evening. Axel sat on a couch in front of the TV, controller in hand. I was a hundred percent sure that the sofa hadn’t been there before we’d left.

  They were playing video games.

  I rolled my eyes. It seemed boys would always be boys, no matter how dire the circumstances.

  Kellan cleared his throat from beside me. “It’s good to see that you’ve been productive while we’ve been gone.”

  Phoenix’s head jerked in our direction, surprised. Axel, seeing Phoenix’s face, turned too. He smiled when he saw me. His fingers closed together, he brought his hand to the side of his forehead and saluted me – the sign for ‘hello’.

  “For your information, I have been productive. I gathered a great deal of information on the LSG.” Phoenix straightened, attempting to look dignified. The effect was ruined however by his unruly hair, sticking out almost comically around his head. “Hey, man.” He nodded at Max, his eyes glancing between all of us curiously.

  “The LSG?” I asked, walking further into the room.

  “Yeah. The Acronym was mentioned throughout the files. I thought it was code for something, but it turns out that it’s a name,” Phoenix told me. Axel nodded from next to him, putting the controller down on the floor.

  “A name?” Kellan raised an eyebrow, leaning his denim-clad thigh against a desk.

  “It seems as though the LSG were a renowned gang back in the day that were linked with Cosa Nostra,” Phoenix told us, turning the television off.

  “So Cosa Nostra aren’t directly involved?” I asked, thinking it could only be a good thing if the crime ring wasn’t also the Italian freaking Mafia.

  “I’m not sure on exactly how closely they’re linked,” Phoenix admitted.

  “I’d like to take a look at this flash drive – if you don’t mind,” Max said, speaking up for the first time.

  “Sure, man.” Phoenix was moving in a flash. Pushing his glasses up his nose, he switched on several monitors as he made his way towards the main computer.

  I turned towards Axel. ‘Have you really been sat here all day?’ I signed, with a raised eyebrow. Axel had assured me that he’d be studying and catching up on college before Kellan and I had left earlier.

  He shrugged sheepishly. ‘I guess we were blowing off some steam. Distracting ourselves before you guys got home.’

  ‘Sorry, we took longer than we should have. There was an incident at the bar, and then we went back to Max’s apartment. He wasn’t too eager to come back here with us at first,’ I signed quickly, filling Axel in.

  His eyes clouded with concern. ‘Incident?’

  “The LSG,” Phoenix said loudly, as though he was answering a question. It drew my attention away from Axel for a second, and I noticed Kellan’s scrutiny for the first time. I wondered how long he’d been watching Axel and me communicating in ASL. “
They were a high profile gang back in the late eighties. They carried out a huge operation, specializing in drugs, guns, and stolen cars. They made millions. The gang, however, was dismantled and broken apart by a sting operation that resulted in a number of key members and suppliers getting arrested.”

  “So this is copycat behavior? Someone’s restarted the operation up again?” Max said, elbows on his knees as he stared at the screen.

  “It could be that,” Phoenix acknowledged, fingers tapping against the desk. Beside me, Axel’s head moved back and forth to keep up with the conversation. “But looking into some of the incarcerated members, I noticed that most of them were actually released a few years ago. It could very well be that the previous members have gone back to their old ways.”

  “That sounds more plausible than the idea that a slew of new criminals are behind all of this,” Kellan said. “There’s too much work, too much time and planning, that’s gone into this.”

  Pushing away from the desk, he came over and took a seat on the sofa beside me. It was a deliciously tight fit, with his leg pressed firmly against my own.

  Phoenix nodded, pulling up another file onto the screen. “A number of the men were small timers. They were released decades ago, but one man stood out to me. Antonio Rossi. He served the second longest sentence. Another guy...” Phoenix clicked a few buttons. “Ah, yes. Jonathan Wickers is still in prison serving a life sentence. They were able to tie a murder, and a bunch of other crimes, to him. Everyone else is out, Rossi being the last to be released about two years ago.”

  Phoenix brought up Antonio Rossi’s file. The face staring back at me was in its fifties, salt and peppered hair pulled back into a low ponytail. His eyes were dark and forbidding. A gold earring glittered in one ear.

  “The cops were pretty sure that he was part of Cosa Nostra, and that he was behind creating the LSG subdivision. But there wasn’t anything concrete linking Cosa Nostra to the LSG. There also wasn’t any hard evidence linking Rossi to it, so he got a fraction of the sentence he should have gotten. Actually, most of the men, aside from Wickers, got away with small sentences. There wasn’t enough evidence to connect them to most of the higher crimes. They cleaned up well after themselves.”