“What about Debra?”
His face fell. “I lost her. But so has Father. Whoever has her now have enough power to stay off the radar. But I’m not going to give up. Even if it kills me, I’m going to find her and I’m going to kill whoever hurt her.”
I nodded, because his thoughts mirrored my own.
“Why now?” Rome asked. Judah shook his head not understanding the question.
“Why come out the shadows now?”
Judah looked at him surprised. “So, you haven’t heard? You might want to turn your phone back on or check the Chicago headlines. I’m sure your men have been trying to contact you.”
Rome frowned before he took a seat back in front of his computer, his hands flew across the keyboard before his face contorted in rage.
“Mutha F****!” He hissed snatching up his phone turning it on. It instantly began to ding with the calls and the text messages he missed.
“Thanks to your digging you’ve marked you and your whole family for death. My brothers were safe as long as they weren’t aware of what was happening to them. It’s the reason I had to die. Once I became aware, I became a danger they could not allow to live.”
I walked around the table to see what Rome was looking at.
“Dammit!” There were images on his computer screen of the whole top level of his apartment building burning.
“They dropped a bomb on your place forty-five minutes ago. The papers read that it was a gas leak. Good thing nobody was hurt.”
“Bullsh*t nobody was hurt. My computers were in there. Somebody gon’ have to die for this!” His phone rang and he turned around to take the call.
“What the f*** happened?” He barked into the phone.
Judah continued to speak to me. “You two believed you had defeated a monster with the little stunt you pulled today. You could not be further from the truth. You may have defeated a small monster, but you’ve awakened a dragon. And it’s not going to stop until you and everybody that knows the truth about it is dead.”
“Who the f*** is they?!” Rome hissed coming back in to the conversation.
“I suspect the same man that has my little sister. Every time I get close to finding out who it is, something happens to throw me off the scent.” His gaze fell on Rome. “Which is why I’ve come to recruit you. I’ve been watching you for a while. To say that I’m impressed with your technical ability is an understatement. I believe you will be a great asset to the team.”
“What team?”
“I head up a small group of men who handle a wide range of things from security to search and rescue.”
Rome and I both lifted an eyebrow. “Search and rescue?”
Judah chuckled. “Yep…”
“So, you CIA?” Rome asked.
“I’m what I need to be to accomplish my mission at the time.”
Rome threw up his hands. “Yeah, cause that’s real clear, it’s not cryptic at all.”
Judah chuckled. “I figured a smart guy like yourself would understand.” He put his hand on my shoulder, none to gently.
“Since all your chances for running for president are shot now, you might as well come into the family business. Thanks to your little stunt, I’m going to have to pull all three of you. Who knows how long Naphtali and Levi have before they try and take them out as well? Alone, they may have a chance at succeeding. Us together, they have no chance in hell.”
I agreed. If this dragon he spoke of was that big, it would take all of us together to bring it down. Alone, it stands a chance of defeating us. He must have seen the compliance in my eyes. The smile that was more like a grimace grew on his face.
“Welcome to my world, boys. The first thing we need to do is kill you and everybody you love.
********
Joseph
I could not breathe easily until I laid eyes on my wife and child to know that they were okay. Judah had not lied. We needed to leave now. On our way to the hospital, Rome hacked into the security feed of my penthouse. It had been ransacked and my computer stolen. We didn’t have long before whoever that was made their way here and I needed to get Journey, Ayana, and Abigale to safety.
Judah assured me he had an excellent doctor on his team that stitched them up and got them back together when needed. He said he was one of the best in the world. That knowledge did little to stem my worry. Last I saw Journey, she was in stable condition, but not well enough to move.
And then there was our baby she carried. The doctor said he didn’t know if the little one was going to make it. If only I could turn back---
My thoughts stalled as I took in the man walking down the hall towards us. I had never in my life seen anything like him. He was a big man who wore a black cowboy hat and duster. He didn’t look as if he belonged in this day or time. His fathomless dark eyes took us in as he passed.
Something in the very pit of my being responded to him. For some strange reason, I felt a strong kinship to him. He must have had the same effect on Rome and Judah, because they too turned their heads to watch him as he continued out the door, the duster blowing behind him, making him appear as if he had black wings.
I didn’t know what I expected when I rounded the corner into Journey’s room, but it wasn’t the sight that greeted me. She sat up in the bed bright eyed and glowing. As soon as she saw me she raised her arms to me.
“My King!” She cried as her big beautiful eyes pooled with tears.
As I
