The Family Business 3(30)

“Are you sure?” Orlando asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure. We had to take out three of X’s men to protect an empty hotel room. Only thing we found was their cell phones,” I told him.

Orlando let out a frustrated sigh. “Well, he’s a big boy. He can take care of himself. Right now I want you two to get outta there and go to one of our safe houses,” he barked into the phone. “I got a feeling it’s about to get real hot once X finds out about his three dead soldiers.”





Brother X





19


I was feeding Lenny and Squiggy while I waited for word from our men at the Marriott. Those rats were the only thing that kept me from punching holes in the walls as I paced the room. Samuel and his men had been over by the hotel for almost two hours, so I was expecting that no-good heifer I called a wife and her punk-ass lover to be groveling at my feet at any minute. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on both of those adulterous infidels.

I’d just sliced off a piece of pear and tossed it to Lenny when Elijah walked in the room looking very uncomfortable. I didn’t have to ask to know that he was bringing me bad news. He stood there staring at me, his eyes looking everywhere but right at me.

“Tell me you have my wife.” I slid a peanut across the table to Squiggy. “Tell me she’s tied up alongside that homewrecker Junior Duncan so she can watch me peel his skin from his body inch by inch with this knife.”

“I wish I could, Xavier, but—” He stopped, screwing up his face as if he couldn’t figure out which words to say next.

“Just tell me what the f*ck happened.”

“As you know, we had Junior and your wife under surveillance at the Marriott. I sent three of our men, including my cousin Samuel, to retrieve them.”

“And?” I said impatiently. “Do not tell me they lost them.”

Elijah looked like he was in pain as he told me, “Worse. I just got word that all three of them were killed, including Samuel.”

I pounded my fist on the table, sending Lenny and Squiggy scurrying away. “That’s impossible. How did this happen?”

“I’m not a hundred percent sure . . .” he started weakly. He knew damn well that I wouldn’t accept anything less than a full report. “All I know right now is that our men were ambushed in the hotel elevator, killed like fish in a barrel.”

“Dammit! You don’t just sneak up on a man like Samuel, Elijah. He was as good as we got. I trained him myself.” I was up in his face now, furiously pointing a finger at his nose. “This is why I wanted to go there myself. If I was there, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Elijah stood his ground. “You know why you couldn’t go there. Your face is plastered all over the news. The cops are blaming you for killing Nugent and Jefferson. Right now, you’re the most wanted man in New York. You’ve got to keep a low profile.”

I fell back into a chair, gripping the arms tightly as I tried to contain my rage. “You’re right.” As much as I needed someone to blame, I couldn’t fault Elijah. He was always looking out for my best interests. “So you’re telling me that Junior Duncan did this?”

“He’s the prime suspect. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t your wife. No woman could do this type of thing to Samuel.”

I had to agree. “Who are these people, Elijah? Have you found out who they are?”

“The Jew was right. They’re not who they seem to be, that is for sure. I’ve reached out to some of our Russian and Italian friends, but no one wants to talk about them. I’m working on something now to get us all the information we need.”

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation. Elijah went to answer it, and when he returned, it appeared as if life had been pumped into him again. “We managed to capture one of their men during a shootout over at your wife’s place. They’ve been working him over the past hour. I thought you might want to see if you can loosen his tongue. He’s just a few blocks away.”

“Let’s go!” I barked, already headed to the door.

“Yo, X,” Elijah called out, stopping me. I turned around to see him holding out a pair of sunglasses and a kufi cap for me to put on. “We’re not going far, but you still can’t risk being recognized.”





It only took us five minutes to arrive at the garage where my men had stashed this guy. Ahmed rode along with us, ready with his M16 to take out anyone I directed him to.

“Is he talking?” I asked as we approached Barack, one of our most loyal soldiers, who was posted up outside the building.

“Nothing, except that his name is Lincoln. No idea if that’s true or not.”

Ahmed opened the door, and we entered the room where Lincoln was tied up. His face was covered in bruises, and blood leaked from his mouth. He had clearly been worked over. Two of my men stood over him, and both appeared sweaty and frustrated.

“Anything?” I asked.

“Not a thing,” another soldier named Kori answered. “I mean, he’s a straight-up soldier. I think the guy has a death wish.”

“Let me be the judge of that.” I approached Lincoln and took the seat right in front of him, removing my sunglasses. “Do you know who I am?”