“Come on, Demetri. We have work to do.”

  “Vegas, why didn’t you mention the scope you found and the connection to the murders in New York?” Demetri asked as we walked toward the castle.

  “Because until we actually get a meeting with the board and present our evidence, I don’t fully trust the minister or his flunky.”

  Vegas

  46

  There was a knock at the door as I lay across the bed in room 602 of the castle. I got up and let Demetri in, then sat back down on the bed. Instead of taking a seat, Demetri hovered over me like the Incredible Hulk with a grim expression on his unshaven face.

  “You were correct. There was a sniper on the castle wall, and he was targeting one of the children, most likely your son.”

  I’d had a feeling he was going to say that when I asked him to search on the security cameras for the day of the war games match. I specifically asked him to check the northeast wall to see if we could find a sniper.

  “I can also tell you that whoever it is, they have intimate knowledge of the castle’s surveillance system.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because they chose the one spot on the wall where the closest camera is almost three hundred meters and at a very bad angle.”

  “In other words, you could not make out his face,” I said. We had hit a dead end.

  “As always, you are very astute. There is, however, one interesting bit of news. The sniper was unsuccessful—not because he was a bad shot, but because it appears we have a friend.”

  “A friend?” I sat up quickly. “What are you talking about?”

  “I was unable to determine where she came from because of the camera angle, but a bald, weaponless woman attacked the sniper before he could get a good shot off. She knocked them both into the moat. Very courageous, but otherwise insane.”

  “Did you say she was bald?”

  “Yes.”

  “Marie,” I said with a smile on my face and admiration in my voice. “Son of a bitch, she actually made it.”

  There was a knock on the door. Demetri looked at me, and I nodded to let him know it was okay to open it.

  Nevada and Ivan came into the room wearing sweatsuits with the school emblem on the front. Seeing the two of them was like looking in a way-back machine at me and Demetri when we were students.

  “Hey, Dad.” Nevada walked over and threw his arms around me. It felt good to hug my son, considering everything that had happened over the last few months, and especially the last few days. There was no way I was going to chance putting him in harm’s way anymore.

  “Hey, son.”

  “What’s going on?” Ivan mumbled, flopping down on the sofa. There was definitely more tension than affection between him and his father.

  “Why would you drop on the couch like that, you big loaf? Dontcha care if ya break it?” Demetri yelled at him.

  Ivan’s face turned beet red. “Sorry. I was just sitting down.”

  I watched as Nevada made sure to carefully sit beside his friend.

  “Son,” I said, “there are a lot of things going on right now, most of them I don’t understand, and things are quite dangerous. So, I think you should go underground for a while.”

  Not surprisingly, Nevada protested. “We already agreed that my being here made sense and you trusted—”

  “That was before I found out there was a sniper out there the other day who had a bullet with your name on it. You’re lucky to be sitting here having this conversation.”

  “A sniper? What are you talking about? When?”

  I turned to Demetri for help. “During the war games, there was a sniper perched on the northeast wall,” he explained. “He most likely planned to use the gunfire from the games to disguise his shot. I saw the footage myself.”

  Nevada took his time to process what he was being told, looking from me to Demetri to his friend.

  “Are you sure they’re after me?” he asked.

  “I can’t be sure of anything right now, but I can’t take a chance on being wrong.”

  Nevada shook his head in frustration. “Where am I supposed to go, Dad? You said yourself we don’t know who’s behind all of this, but whoever it is, they’re powerful. Sending me home isn’t going to help. That’s the first place they’ll look.”

  “I wasn’t planning on sending you home. Just to a safe house until we figure this thing out.”

  “But I’m squad leader. I can’t leave my team. They may be in danger too,” Nevada said.

  Ivan spoke up. “I’ll go with you. The whole squad will go. Who better to keep you safe?”

  Nevada looked just as surprised as Demetri and I did. “Are you serious?”

  I looked at Demetri to see if he had anything to say to his son, but he stayed tight-lipped. My heart went out to Ivan. He was trying to step up and be a man, and his father seemed to have no opinion on the matter.

  “I appreciate the offer, Ivan, but I don’t think that can happen,” I said.

  “Why not?” Nevada asked. “They should be allowed to come if they want. One of the most valuable lessons we’ve learned here at the school is loyalty. They put us in squads because they want us to learn teamwork.”

  “There is no I in team,” Ivan added, sticking his hand out for Nevada to fist bump.

  I thought about how my own squad had banded together back in the day. We stood by one another whenever we were facing adversity. As much as I wanted to protect Nevada, I couldn’t deny that soon enough, he would become a man, and I would no longer be able to shield him. He appeared to be ready for that a lot sooner than I was. Maybe I needed to let my son make this decision for himself. He had already shown me so much growth in the short time he’d been at Chi’s.

  “Okay,” I relented. “If they want to go, I’ll talk to the headmaster.”

  “They’re gonna say yes. Trust me,” Ivan said confidently. “We’re a team.”

  “Let’s go,” I said, and we headed for the door.

  To my surprise, Demetri finally offered his voice to the conversation. He stop Ivan with a hand on his shoulder.

  “Bravery begins in the heart and extends to the mind. It’s not anything you can think about. You have to feel it. I am very proud of you, Ivan.” He hugged his son, quite possibly for the first time.

  The lesson Demetri imparted was one of the first ones we learned from Minister Farrah when we were students, and they were words I’d come to live by. That didn’t mean I wasn’t still concerned about our sons. They had demonstrated bravery, and I knew it was in their hearts, but I also had to be smart and think about the best way to keep them safe.

  “Gather up your people and meet me at Demetri’s,” I told them. “We’ll leave from there in the morning. See you in a couple of hours.” I hugged my son again.

  Nevada asked, “Where are you going?”

  “To see the minster and find out when the hell he’s planning on having this board meeting.”

  Nevada

  47

  “Find Richard and the girls. They’re probably still in my room. I’ll go get Natasha,” I instructed Ivan as we rushed back to campus. As much as I hated the thought of leaving school, having my squad with me made it a little easier to accept this time. There was also the fact that if someone really was after me, there was a chance that my team was in danger as well. Being together meant that we could look out for one another.

  I went to Natasha’s room first. It took a little longer than usual for her to answer the door. As I was about to knock a fifth time, I heard her yell, “Who is it?”

  “It’s me.”

  The door cracked open.

  “Sorry. I know it’s late, but I need to talk to you.”

  Natasha grabbed my hand and gently tried to pull me inside her room, smiling seductively. “My roommate’s gone with her squad. You can come in and we can talk here.”

  I pulled away. “No, we don’t have time.”

  “Why can’t we just talk here?” Natasha pouted. “Is this about kayfabe?”

  “Natasha, not everything is about you. Now come on. This is an emergency.”

  “What’s wrong?” Her eyes became serious.

  “I’ll explain in a bit. Just get dressed and pack an overnight bag, then meet me at my room. And hurry.” No longer having the time or patience to reason with her, I turned to walk away. By the time I made it to my room, Demi and Arielle were both ready to go.

  “Ivan gave us a head’s up. He went to get Richard,” Demi said.

  “We got your back, Nevada. Whatever you need,” Arielle added, pointing to the duffle bags sitting by the doorway.

  “I appreciate that. I really do,” I told them. “But let’s talk to my dad first and see what the plan is.”

  The three of us headed out and met Natasha in the hall. I could tell by the look on her face as we approached that she wasn’t pleased. Frankly, with everything going on, I didn’t give a shit.

  “I thought you said you wanted to talk,” she said, arms folded. “Why are they here?”

  “Because they need to be, just like you. Now, lose the attitude. This is life and death.” I snapped.

  She stepped back to let me pass.

  “There’s something going on, and it involves everyone. My dad needs to talk with all of us,” I continued.

  We met up with Ivan and Richard out front, then headed to Demetri’s cottage. As we got close to the house, Ivan stopped us.

  “Do you guys see those shadows?” Ivan whispered, pointing to one of the windows.

  Something was wrong. Very wrong. The blinds were closed, but the lights were on inside, and I was able to make out the silhouettes of two, maybe three men.

  “That’s not my dad,” Ivan said.

  “That’s not my dad either,” I replied.

  “Could he possibly have friends visiting?” Arielle asked.

  “The only friend my dad has is in a bottle,” Ivan said suspiciously. “I am going to go see what’s going on. You guys stay back.”

  “Not a chance in hell,” Demi said, placing a hand on her hip. “I’m not going to let you walk into that mess by yourself.”

  “Maybe if they see all of us, they’ll be less likely to act up,” Natasha said.

  “When you say all of us, do you mean, like, all of us all of us? Richard asked.

  “Cut it out, Richard. We all go,” I commanded and waved everyone on. “Ivan will go in first. I’m behind him, and then the rest of you follow.”

  Ivan and I got close to the door, and we heard yelling and thumping like a scuffle was happening.

  “Where the fuck is it, you drunk piece of shit?” A voice came from inside the house. Then we heard a thud and someone groaning.

  “Dad!” Ivan burst through the doors. The four of us were right behind him.

  Ivan’s father was doubled over on the ground with blood covering his face. He’d been beaten pretty badly. Standing over him were three men in ski masks, each with some sort of weapon in his hands.

  “I–Ivan, get out of here, son.”

  “No!” Ivan ran over to his father. He looked up at the three big assailants with hatred in his eyes. ”Why did you do this to him?”

  “Your father has something that belongs to us and is trying to show it around,” one of them said, flexing the hand that held a set of brass knuckles. ”We want it, and we want it now. You can either talk him into getting it for us or get hurt too.”

  “We’re not scared of you!” Arielle spoke up. ”Are you even supposed to be on campus? Because you don’t look like you belong here.”

  “How about you go back to your room and play with your dolls, you little bitch?” One of the other men said. He was holding a thick black club.

  “Or I can just call campus security to take care of you.” Natasha held up her phone.

  “I can do better than that. Smile, you bastard. You’re on Instagram live,” Richard yelled.

  As the assailants realized they were being filmed, their energy instantly shifted. I was prepared to fight, and Ivan’s stance indicated that he was too. Instead of attacking us, they rushed toward the back door to leave. They left Demetri with one last threat.

  “Next time, you won’t have any brats to save you. Remember that.”

  Arielle slammed the door shut before they could say anything else. I helped Ivan get his father off the floor and onto one of the couches in the living room. He was badly injured and would need medical attention.

  “Dad? Who were those guys?” Ivan asked, but Demetri focused his eyes on me.

  “Tell your father that they’re trying to kill us all,” he said.

  “Who is trying to kill us?” I asked.

  “He’ll know what I’m talking about,” he said weakly before he passed out.

  Vegas

  48

  “So, what exactly does that mean?” I was standing across from Brother Elijah, a man I had history with. He had turned his back on his father figure, Brother X, to protect my cousin and my family. He wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but I knew he was a man of his word.

  “It means we’re behind you, both the minister and I. He is presently speaking to a key member of the board and has secured support from quite a few others. Tomorrow, they will launch an inquiry into Headmaster Starks’ death, giving you and Demetri Igor the chance to present your case. You have won, Vegas Duncan,” he said.

  “I wouldn’t say I won anything. Winning is a happy occasion. What may come to light is not something I feel happy about,” I replied.

  “I understand your mindset. Let’s just say things are going in the right direction.”

  “Fine. So what about the children? Is it okay if they leave the school for a week or so while we wrap this up?”

  “Yes, of course. We’ll call it a field trip training exercise. They can access their assignments via the internet.”

  “Good. I’ll be in touch in the morning.” I shook brother Elijah’s hand, then exited Minister Farrah’s house, headed toward Demetri’s cottage.

  My plan was to find the most secure place for Nevada and his friends to go. Then I was going to take down whoever was behind the events at the Hellfire Club and at Chi’s.

  I was going to need some bona fide help. Demetri was a good ally, but his drinking made him unreliable, and he lacked resources. I pulled out my phone and made a call to the only people I could always rely on no matter what—my family.

  “Hey, son. I’m glad you called. I was—”

  “Pop, Nevada and I need your help.” I cut him off before he could finish his sentence. I’m sure he could hear the urgency in my voice.

  “You don’t even have to ask. What do you need?”

  “I need you to get everyone and head over here. And I mean everyone. Paris, Sasha, Junior, Orlando, the twins, DJ, Big Mike. Everybody, Pop.” My voice may have sounded like I was making a demand, but I was pleading.

  “You got it. We’re experiencing some unusually heavy thunderstorms, but as soon as they pass, we’re in the air,” he replied. “Now, can you calm down enough to tell me what’s going on?”

  “I don’t have a lot of time to explain, but someone tried to kill my son.” I braced myself for my father’s reaction that I knew was going to be legendary. He loved Nevada as much as I did, and they shared a bond almost as close as the one we had.

  “What? Is he all right? Where is he now?” Pop was usually very cool, calm, and collected, but he sounded like he was about to explode.

  “He’s safe, Pop. As soon as you get here, I’m going to have Paris and Sasha take him to our safe house in Milan.” We didn’t really have a safe house in Milan. Our European safe house was a yacht we had moored in Nice, but just in case someone was picking up our signal, I wanted them to think we were headed to Italy.

  “Understood. I’ll make sure it’s secured. I’ll see you in about nine hours. You be safe and lay low until we get there.”

  “I’ll try,” I replied. “Oh, and Pop, can you reach out to Daryl? I’ve been trying to reach him for the past two days.”

  There was a silence on the line that told me something was wrong.

  “Pop?”

  My father sighed. “Darryl was shot earlier today.”

  My heart dropped. I knew it was odd that my best friend wasn’t responding to my texts or calls, but I hadn’t expected news like this.

  “Is he okay?” I asked tentatively.

  “He’s okay, Vegas. Lucky for him, the bullet just missed his heart and went through. He’s in a lot of pain, but he’ll be good as new.”

  I exhaled. “Thank God.”

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be okay. It’s just a lot going on at once.”

  “I can imagine. Just sit tight. We’re on our way as soon as these thunderstorms pass. Be careful until we get there.”

  “I will. You have my word.” I ended the call.

  As I walked toward Demetri’s cottage, I got the sense that someone was following me. I wasn’t sure who or how many, but the last thing I wanted to do was lead them to the kids, so I headed in the opposite direction.

  Nevada

  49

  It was almost two o’clock in the morning, and my dad still hadn’t showed up. We’d placed Ivan’s dad in his bed, and Arielle and Natasha were taking care of him the best they could. There was no doubt in my mind he had a concussion, but we didn’t dare to take him anywhere until my dad got there.

  I dug my phone out of my pocket and checked the screen. There had been no messages since he sent a text to say that my family would be in Paris in the morning. That was at least an hour ago, and nothing had come in since.

  I hit the call button by his name and listened to the phone ring all the way through to voicemail. I repeated that two more times, but still no answer. Where the hell was he? Why wasn’t he answering his phone? I never had to call him that many times to get a hold of him.

  I thought about what had happened to Ivan’s dad. Did the assailants leave Demetri’s place and meet up with my dad? That was only a passing thought, though. My dad was always on alert. He was strong as hell and a gifted fighter. Nobody would be able to do that to Vegas Duncan. Not unless there were a hell of a lot of them.

 

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