The Family Business 3(43)

“O,” I shouted as Orlando picked up. “Is it true?”

“It’s bad. I ain’t gonna lie. It’s real bad.” He sounded as broken as I’d ever heard him, even more than when his baby mama took off with his son.

“Where is everyone?”

“We’re at the hospital,” he answered.

“So, he’s not dead?” I asked, sending up a split-second prayer that my father was still alive.

“Nah, but it’s not looking good,” he admitted.

“What hospital are you at? I’m coming.”

Sonya placed her hand on top of mine as she drove, offering me some of her strength.

“We’re at Long Island Jewish, but you can’t just show up here. There’s a bounty on your head.”

“Man, f*ck that. I’m coming.”

“Look, go home through the tunnel and let me figure out how to sneak you in here.”

“No, I’m on my way!” I was screaming at him now.

“Don’t.” It was Vegas’s voice on the phone now. “We need you to be smart, because if anything happened to you, Mom would not make it. Just give us an hour, that’s all. Plus, you need to get Sonya to the house so that she’s safe. We’ll figure something out.”

Where Orlando had sounded broken, Vegas sounded calm and in charge. I realized that he was talking sense. “Fine,” I said. “We’ll go to the house, but if I don’t hear from you in an hour, know that I will be on my way.”

“Of course. You’re a Duncan. And, Junior, this isn’t your fault. This is the life we live, and it was only going to be a matter of time.”

I hung up, hoping that one day I would come to believe, like Vegas did, that I wasn’t to blame for all of this.

Sonya and I drove in silence. Finally, as we approached the family compound, she asked, “Should I be here? I mean, this is all my fault.”

I reached out and touched her face. “You’re a part of me. You’re my family, so you need to be where I can keep you safe.”

“But your mother hates me,” she protested, unable to contain her worry. “She’ll blame me for what happened to your father. For going back on my word to stay away from you and setting this all in motion. And she won’t be wrong.”

I shook my head. “You tried to stay away, but I wouldn’t let you. I wouldn’t give you up.”

She still looked uncertain, so I tried again to convince her. “Sonya, here is something you don’t know: When my father met my mother, they were not supposed to be together. They were on two very different paths, but they fell in love, and sometimes love forces you to make a choice. They went through a whole lot of challenges because of their choice, but that’s just what you do when you love someone. Trust me. No matter what she said to you, my mother understands this, and one day she’ll admit that to you.”

“I can’t stop loving you,” she said.

I squeezed her hand. “Good, because I don’t want you to. Ever.”

Sonya fell silent again, and my mind traveled to the image of my father lying in a hospital bed, fighting for his life. I would find the person who gave the order and the one who had carried it out. There was no place on this entire planet where they would be safe from me. The only way I could free myself from guilt would be to kill the bastards who did this.

When we got to the safe house, I directed Sonya to drive the car into the garage. As soon as the garage door lowered, I hit a button and the floor slid open, revealing a rig that lowered the car into a sub-basement. Once we were down below, the floor closed again, so that there was no trace of our car ever having been there.

Sonya looked surprised, but of course she was. This was some James Bond type shit that allowed us to come and go like ghosts if we needed. I led her through a maze until we arrived at an underground bank vault, where I put in the combination. We stepped through into a stairwell that led us upstairs to another solid steel door with another combination, and then through one more door that opened into a back room. I touched my thumb on a keypad that validated who I was, and then we were safe.

As we entered the main house, I spotted Harris seated at the kitchen counter. He didn’t even bother to let us get all the way inside before he went at me.

“Where the hell have you been?” he snapped without acknowledging Sonya at all. “Do you know what happened to LC?”

“Yes, I know, and that’s why we’re here,” I answered, working to steady my voice because I probably had a five second window before I jumped all over his ass. Sonya, sensing my mood, reached out and grabbed my arm.

“Well, it’s a little late considering whose fault all this is.” He glared at me.

“Fuck you, Harris. And unless you want the next blood that’s shed to be yours, you’d better step the hell back,” I threatened.

“Well, I’m the one here helping your mom and your family as you run around with another man’s wife,” he continued boldly. If it hadn’t been for London rushing into the room, he would have wound up face down on the floor.

“Harris!” she shouted, getting her husband in line. “You okay?” She came toward me, wrapping her arms around me. “I’ve never been so happy to see anyone.”

We held each other tight for a minute, until she noticed that I wasn’t alone.