CANARY

by Tijan

Ash

  I woke up when I felt the bed move.

  Raize leaned over me, kneeling on the bed. “Want to start crossing names off your list?”

  That got me awake, wide awake.

  I sat up. “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  “I don’t know what that means.”

  He went to the closet, grabbed new clothes, and started changing. The clothes he pulled on were still black, but they were tighter, more form fitting. The hood of his long-sleeve shirt was a mask he could pull over his face.

  My mouth went dry. I hugged my knees. “What’s going on?”

  He sat on the bed, pulling boots on.

  “What do you think is happening?” He stood and began moving around the room, grabbing things, putting them in a bag. He tossed a second bag on the bed next to me. “You need to put all your personal items in there.”

  “We’re running?” I’d not anticipated that.

  “I got two guys out there who want to switch allegiance to me. What do you think that means in this world?”

  “Someone’s going to die.”

  “I gotta make a choice. No way am I going to trust them to go back and change their minds. They either get dead or their bosses get dead.”

  He went back to work, removing a section of the wall to show a safe. He opened it and my eyes almost bugged out. I got up and went over to have a look. Money. Weapons. He had passports, driver’s licenses.

  I felt like I’d just had sex with Jason Bourne.

  He kept stuffing everything into the bag. When it got full, he grabbed another from the closet and tossed them by the door.

  My head was spinning. Again. “You’re going to kill Carloni and Bronski?”

  “Yep.”

  He moved around me as I stood in just a T-shirt that fell to the tops of my thighs. I grabbed the end of my shirt, wringing it in a ball. “What’s that mean?”

  He had another bag ready to go and stopped behind me, tossing it to the door. “That means we’re going to war.”

  I whirled, my heart in my throat. It was a common sensation by now. “What does that mean?”

  He paused and let out a soft sigh. “Your list aligns with my boss’ timeline,” he said flatly.

  “You didn’t tell him—”

  “No. I went to Roman. I reported in, and he decided it was time. I left that team behind for surveillance on Marco. They called in, said Carloni was down in Texas.”

  I stumbled back, but he caught my hand.

  “Carloni made a move. He might’ve done it behind my back, I don’t know. Maybe Carloni found out I’m really working for Roman, not the brother Carloni answers to. Again. I don’t know, but Roman made his decision. I got the order to take Bronski and Carloni out.” He was quiet. “You gotta pack everything you want because when we leave this house, it’s going to get torched. Everything is going to change.”

  He tossed the mattress, flipping it over and shoving aside the frame. There was another safe in the floorboards, this one much longer. Raize began pulling out gun after gun.

  We were going to war, and he had an entire arsenal for us.

  33

  Ash

  I’d never been in a mafia war before. That’s the stuff you see in movies, but being one of the foot soldiers, I didn’t know what to expect. I thought we’d kill Bronski right away, but that didn’t happen. We were five weeks in, and my experience was as follows: we’d set up somewhere, we’d wait, Raize would get a call, he’d go off—sometimes he took Cavers, sometimes Jake, and a few times me.

  Then he’d come back, usually bloody, and we’d change locations.

  Repeat.

  Basically, Raize got his orders and then he gave us orders. We followed them.

  What had changed was that our shit was out in the air—not that any of us talked about it. And the it was Cavers’ first boss, Jake being under Carloni’s control, and the relationship between Raize and me. But nevertheless, there seemed to be an easier camaraderie between all of us.

  Raize no longer cared if I rode alone in a vehicle with Cavers.

  Cavers said more than a few words here and there.

  Jake went back to telling jokes every now and then.

  And something inside of me was thawing.

  The only one that hadn’t changed was Gus. He got pets from everyone. He’d plop his head in anyone’s lap, and that human was obligated to rub his ears.

  34

  Raize

  I went to the coordinates I’d been sent, and an hour later, headlights came toward me.

  This was how my meetings with Roman Marakov always began. Three cars drove up this time. Sometimes it was one, sometimes two, sometimes a truck and a guy gave me a phone. This time, all three cars circled around me, and when they came to a stop, Roman’s head of security got out of the front seat in the third car. He walked around and opened the back door.

  Roman Marakov emerged, taking a moment to regard me, smoothing down the front of his suit.

  This, also, was habitual. The three-piece suit he wore was his uniform.

  I waited until he approached.

  He dipped his head in greeting, his security fanning around us. This, also, was routine, but it was an act.

  “Clay,” he said.

  My first name.

  “Roman.”

  He grinned. “I’ve been getting regular reports of your team hitting my family locations. You’re doing good work.”

  I nodded. “I’m doing what you sent me to do.”

  “It was three years ago when I told you to start working for Igor. You’ve proven over and over that you are a worthy fighter for me. I am appreciative of your work.”

  Roman never complimented me. I waited because he was working up to something, and fuck, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t like it.

  He smoothed his suit again, standing as straight as he could. “Having said that, we’re changing our scope. I’m going to step in as the new head of our family’s operations. I’d like you at my side when I do that.”

  “What?” No. I did operations in the field.

  When he’d sent me in to work for Igor on his behalf, it was a form of mafia undercover work. That’s what I did. I was the guy sent out to kill, to take down. I didn’t do management. I glanced over at Downer, his head of security. I didn’t do that shit.

  “Because of your attacks, Estrada’s pulled back his support of Igor,” Roman continued. “Carloni returned to Philadelphia. Your half-brother’s decided a relationship with the Marakov family is not something he’s open to anymore.”

  He wasn’t my half-brother. “You sent me down to make a connection.”

  “Yes, that’s what I told you, but I really sent you down to test whether Estrada would be a worthy ally. He’s proven that he’s not. Because of this, I’ve decided to stop waiting. I’ll be coming to America permanently. When that happens, I’d like all obstacles for my family eliminated. You’re aware of what I’m saying?”

  “You’re ordering the execution of your brothers and their heads of operations?”

  That meant Carloni. That meant Bronski, finally. I’d been told yes, but not the ‘when’ it could happen.

  That time seemed to be nearing.

  “I am. You requested Bronski two months ago, but you never said why. He’s lower on the ladder for my brother. Why did you request him?”

  All three Marakov brothers came from a long line of mafia background. They were each powerful, each ruthless, but Roman was the smartest. Him wanting me to “come in” and be at his side was alarming enough, but if I told him about Ash, that would be worse.

  “I’ve heard you’ve taken a woman,” he continued. “And that she used to work for Alex Bronski. You care for this woman?”

  I looked around, counting the men, noting their locations. I took a tally of their weapons—the ones I could see, the bulges in their coats, and I could guess at the ones they had hidden. To kill them and attack Roman would change everything for me, for the
group I now considered my unit. This was why I never took a woman. If she was threatened, there was no line I wouldn’t cross and no person I wouldn’t destroy.

  But I didn’t want to start here with this boss. I liked Roman as a person, and I was coming to respect him as a leader.

  He respected me in return, or I’d thought he did.

  “Stand down, Raize.” Downer shifted, coming forward. He had military training, and he recognized what I was doing. “He’s only asking questions.”

  “Uh, yes.”

  Roman looked between us, and it was obvious he didn’t know what had triggered me. “We heard that Alex Bronski enjoyed raping the women in his employ,” he continued. “I was alarmed when I heard your woman used to work for him. Is this the reason you requested permission to execute him?”

  I hated saying anything, showing anything.

  You either killed or you were killed. This, him asking about this, I did not like. I did not want to share anything.

  “Clay,” Roman murmured. “After Downer, you are my most prized man. What you can do in the field is unmatched by anyone.”

  Downer grunted. “Even me, man. I couldn’t do the shit you do.”

  “I sent you to work for my brother. You rose up in the ranks until you got your own territory, and I know what Igor had you doing for him. You shed all of that, cut loose all your employees except for two men and a woman. We’re aware both men had original alliances to Igor, but since they’re both still alive and with you, we’re assuming they’ve officially changed position. Am I correct?”

  “Yes.” I gritted my teeth, because fuck all of this. Now he knew about Cavers and Jake.

  “You trust them?”

  I didn’t respond.

  Downer laughed. “He’s not going to open up, Roman. He survives out there, and not showing weakness is part of that shit. Just tell him what you want to say, but he ain’t coming in. He don’t want to come in.”

  I stared at Downer. I didn’t know what to make of him.

  He seemed to know this as he laughed again, shaking his head and moving back to the car.

  Roman sighed. “Is he right? You don’t want to come in?”

  I eyed him. “No.”

  “You trust your men?”

  I didn’t respond, because I didn’t. But I wanted to kill them less.

  Roman seemed to move on, his eyes narrowing. “Bronski hurt your woman?”

  He knew about her. He knew about Bronski. Why did I have to give the affirmation?

  A sort of exhaustion seemed to settle over Roman, and he looked down. “I know your background. I sought you out because anyone who could evade one of Estrada’s death squads, then get him to agree to a treaty is someone worth having on your team. Estrada is threatened by you, that’s the sole reason he wants you dead. If he wasn’t, he never would’ve let you leave working for him.”

  Why is he saying all this to me?

  This wasn’t what he paid me for. I wasn’t the mastermind of anything, except maybe surviving.

  “What Downer said was correct,” he continued. “I’m aware of your qualifications, but I will need you at times to come in.” His voice grew stronger. “I need a more open dialect between us.”

  “You want me to talk more?”

  Downer snort-laughed from the car.

  Roman shot him a glare before turning back. “Yes, Clay.”

  Okay… “I don’t like being called Clay.”

  Roman’s head moved back an inch. “You don’t?”

  “I go by Raize. Only Raize.”

  “Told you,” Downer called.

  Roman shot him another glare, more pointed. “Maybe you could take lessons from Raize and not be as forthcoming as you are.”

  Another snort. “Yeah. Right. You’d be so bored with me then.”

  A glimmer of a grin showed on Roman’s face. Then he cleared it away, eyeing me. “You like the unit you have?”

  Fuck. I had to talk again. “Yes.”

  He nodded again, one eyebrow rising. “Okay. You have your permission and your orders. Take care of them as you see fit, but I need it done within three days.”

  I—“All of them?”

  That was a lot of hits to plan, coordinate, and execute in three days.

  Roman seemed to read my mind because he inclined his head toward the car. “If you need a fifth member to your unit, temporarily, Downer has volunteered to work with you.”

  My eyes slid over to the head of security, a big man, and he was silently laughing to himself.

  He was a dark-haired version of Cavers, but with attitude.

  One Cavers was enough. My lips thinned. “Noted.”

  “You’re okay with the change of plans?”

  I nodded briskly. “You’re the boss.”

  “Yes, but we won’t be taking on Estrada. Are your sister and mother well? Do you know?”

  “I made inquiries. They seem fine.”

  “That’s something then. Good, but Raize, our fight with Estrada will happen. I promise you that. And if you ever do want to come in full-time, that offer is always open. I know you’re loyal to those you respect. I have no intention of losing that respect from you.”

  I wished for a moment that Ash was with me, that I could ask her if I could trust him, but she wasn’t because I didn’t trust him. I didn’t trust anyone, or I hadn’t.

  I trusted Ash.

  And Gus, somewhat.

  That was enough for me.

  “Reach out if you need assistance.”

  “I will.”

  I usually waited for Roman to leave first. This time was different, felt different, and I left first.

  He turned for his car, and I was gone.

  35

  Raize

  I was almost forgetting which town I’d stashed my team in lately.

  We’d had to move so many times, and we had to be low maintenance, small town, and hidden in the country. I knew everyone was used to nicer accommodations in the city, but for this shit, in this war, I wanted as low key as possible. And since Roman had made it clear I was different, since my unit ran our own rules and our own operations, I could do as I wanted.

  Downer was right, I’d realized. I was used to being out in the field. It felt right to me.

  It’s what I knew, the way I survived.

  Going in? What would that look like?

  I’d slap on a suit? Follow Roman around with a shoulder holster for my guns? Were there politics involved? I had no clue. Would I glare at his adversaries? Do the kill when he ordered?

  Fuck.

  That’s what I did.

  I hadn’t enjoyed being a drug dealer for Carloni, but I was there on orders. I’d fulfilled my mission, situated myself in place where I was able to bring Roman into a move before Carloni. Estrada. Sucked that I’d been coerced to do it, but things were changing.

  I needed to really think shit through.

  There’d always been three Marakovs. Roman ran Russia. Maxim had been trying to move in on New York, but that wasn’t working. Igor ran Philadelphia. Igor and Maxim, both shit stains on humanity, the worst possible fucking people I knew. But the problem was taking care of all of them.

  If I hit one, the others would beef up on security.

  If I hit another, the rest would go into hiding, or they’d start traveling in convoys.

  Roman had said three days. I knew the reasoning. The faster, the better—less time to give anyone time to figure out who was coming, but hell. I’d been hitting the buildings, where they kept their girls, where they moved the drugs. Every target was done a different way. No pattern. No habit. They couldn’t predict who was coming, why they were coming—but I hadn’t gone after the heads yet.

  Bronski was small.

  Carloni was medium.

  Igor, Maxim, they were huge.

  Plus Maxim’s men.

  I’d do them all in one night. One day and a night?

  I’d need help.

  Once it was done, the
landscape would change. I needed to be sure it worked in my favor, according to my wishes. And I needed to decide what those were.

  When I’d worked for Marco, I’d been content with that. I could see my mom every now and then, and I was within the same circles for my sister. I never cared for more.

  Didn’t want more.

  I was good at my job.

  I was loyal.

  Marco should’ve jumped at keeping me. Instead he’d tried to eliminate me.

  When I left, I hadn’t thought about future plans. Surviving and killing was what I knew.

  Now, with Ash, it was time to think.

  36

  Ash

  “I’m cooking tonight,” Jake announced.

  Cavers had just pulled into a fast food joint, but at Jake’s proclamation, he pulled over, turned around, and glared. Jake was in the backseat. I was in front.

  Along with our many location changes, we’d also changed vehicles too many times to count.

  We were now in a Suburban, and I really thought it was Cavers’ dream vehicle. He didn’t let anyone drive unless Raize ordered him to.

  “No,” he growled.

  Cooking was also something he’d claimed, though none of us had particularly fought him on that. Cavers was a decent cook, and he did it healthy, though he also enjoyed his fast food stops. Tonight was supposed to be a fast-food night. Every Wednesday was, and even more so because Raize had to leave for some meeting. He’d said he’d be back late, and he’d only have his second phone on. The first was for normal things. The second was for when we were under attack and had to go to ground—that sort of thing.

  Yep. We were there now, having to plan in case that happened again.

  Jake sighed, laying his head back. “It’s my birthday, okay? I used to cook dinner for my grandma on my birthday.” His shoulders rose and fell. “I kinda feel like we’re more than what we were before. I just wanted to do something special, and the boss isn’t around, so why not? We’re not on the move or anything.”