Blackness Takes Over & Blackness Awaits (66 page)

“Jesus Christ, Shanny eat a doughnut would ya?” he says as he runs his hands over my protruding spine.

I let go and push back from him.

“Don’t start. Sully gave me a tongue lashing last night. I get it,” I warn.

“I knew I liked these guys,” he says moving in our house. The guys were right this is a little weird.

“No ski mask this time?” Kavy asks from the hallway. I know it’s not necessary to point out that Nicky has never been here nor was he one of the guys wearing a ski mask. Here we go.

“Left it at the hotel,” Nicky replies without missing a beat. Kavy smirks and offers a nod. Male communication is so fascinating.

I lead Nicky into the kitchen where Cally, Sully, Finn and Kavy are all piling their plates sky high with Gates Barbecue.

“Got a bit of everything. Load up and we’ll talk,” I instruct Nicky. I pile a plate to the brim with brisket, fries, beans, coleslaw and bread. I’m shooting for a pound and a half a week of weight gain.

“She always eat like that?” Nicky asks the group as we sit around the breakfast table.

“Only since O’Sullivan called her gross last night,” Cally says with a dimpled smirk. Nicky chuckles.

“She had the strangest motivation as a kid too. When we were playin’ that day I was tryin’ to convince her that she could fit through the dog door on her guest house. She kept refusin’ sayin’ she’d get stuck. Finally, I told her she probably couldn’t because she had a really fat head for a little girl. She plowed through that door and locked it so I couldn’t get in for fifteen minutes,” Nicky says with a smile.

“Served you right.” I look around and my boys’ faces are softer. They see what Nicky brings me.

“You know she played volleyball in college?” Sully asks Nicky. Nicky nods ripping pieces of meat from a rib. “Well there was an annual mud volleyball tournament that the frats did. Only men allowed. It was for charity so Kid wanted to play. Some guy told her that she could play if she could prove she could compete with men on the same level. Kid asked ‘Are you callin’ me a girl?’ The dude told her if she didn’t know she was a girl he could show her. Kid tackled him and held him to the ground until he admitted she was a man and he was a little girl.” The whole table is in fits of laughter. All of us remembering and Nicky hearing it for the first time.

“Served him right,” I say looking around the table at happy smiling faces. This feels good.

We continue to eat and tell stories, mostly about me. When we’re done eating we all clean up dinner together and then head into the great room to get down to business. After Finn and Kavy explain what we know Nicky gives us his insight.

“I’ve dealt quite a bit with drug cartels through the years and this stinks of them. We need a man inside the operation. I have a guy that’s been working another mission that just finished; he’ll be perfect for this. Once we find out how they’re runnin’ the drugs we can send him into the operation to collect intel. Shouldn’t take more than a month for him to get what we need. It’d be different if we were tryin’ to take down the cartel, that’s a long process. Takin’ down traffickers is pretty simple. The thing you have to consider is the cartel will not take kindly to the Yateses bein’ arrested. My guess is they’ll be taken out so they can’t rat. I know your man hates this chick but she’ll very likely end up dead. You think he’s down for that?”

“I don’t know. That’s pretty extreme don’t you think? You really think they’ll kill her and her father?” I ask shocked. I don’t know why I’m shocked, but I am.

“I think we could try to put them in protective custody and that almost never works. The reason these cartels continue to run, is they leave no one behind to rat. These idiots climbed in bed with this cartel they knew the risks.”

“Look I hate this bitch, but dying for takin’ Kel away from me seems a bit much. I don’t know that I could live with that,” I say honestly.

“Could you live with Kellerman marryin’ her and havin’ his baby mixed up in cartel business?” Nicky asks pointedly. I blanch. “He’s workin’ for Yates. He could already be in danger. You need to leave emotion at the door and think safety right now. That wedding announcement went out in the news. You think the cartel didn’t see that?” FUCK! Okay now I’m pissed. She could have put Kel’s life at risk…the baby at risk.

“Send your guy in. Try to keep Cassie and her father alive if you can. Can you get Kel clear of the cartel?” I ask hoping he can.

“We can get Kellerman clear. In a company as big as Yates there’s always a way to cover tracks. We’ll draw any concern away from him. He hasn’t been there long enough to garner any attention. We’ll use him in the media as the duped fiancé,” Nicky explains in a confident tone.

“You don’t think the cartel will come after the baby, do you?” I ask cautiously.

“Nah, killin’ kids isn’t really their M.O.” I breathe a sigh of relief at that. I’m going to have the baby strapped to me 24/7 to keep it safe.

“Do you think green is gender neutral, Nicky,” I ask sweetly completely changing the subject. The guys in the room moan and throw their heads back in disgust.

“What?” Nicky asks thrown by the reactions and change of subject.

“Do you think green is gender neutral?” I repeat enunciating clearly.

“Kellerman is havin’ a boy. Paint the fuckin’ room blue!” Kavy shouts. My eyes bug out of my head.

“What do you mean he’s havin’ a boy?” I ask Kavy harshly.

“I forgot to tell you. He said he was havin’ a boy when I texted him this mornin’.”

“You forgot to tell me?”

“Yeah.”

“You forgot to tell me?”

“That’s what I said.”

“You forgot to tell me!!!” I scream and lunge at him. He easily catches me, but I land a good punch in the middle of his chest causing him to gasp. I wrap my legs around his waist and start to squeeze. He’s immediately tapping out, but I don’t let go.

“Anything else you forgot Aaron Kavanagh?” I ask using as much pressure as I can manage.

“No,” he breathes out in a whisper. I hold the pressure a moment longer then I let him go. He falls back on the couch heaving his lungs.

“Fuckin’ shit Kid. You’re stronger than you used to be,” Kavy complains still catching his breath.

“That was some show,” Nicky compliments me.

“I’m always glad to entertain,” I say with a smirk.

“Stay away from her legs if you know what’s good for you,” Cally warns Nicky.

“Noted,” Nicky responds shooting me a look. Nicky and I have talked about me drowning that guy in the bathtub. I haven’t told anyone else. He told the feds he did it to protect me and it was swept under the rug (kind of scary the power secret three letter agencies have). The other members of Mancini’s team that lived through the ambush know I did it, but I doubt they’d be believed if they decided to tell. I still feel nothing about that incident. I feel no guilt, no remorse…just nothing. I’m sure that’s an indication that I’m pretty jacked up, but I’m not complaining. I don’t want to feel anything about that whole time in my life. I’m good like this.

We spend the rest of the evening going over the Yates information while Nicky makes calls and sets up meetings and other secret shit. It’s weird being friends with someone that can’t really tell you what they do or how they do it. It’s kind of cool too. My BlackBerry vibrates on the counter. I grab it to see a text.

Kellerman: You’re gonna have a son in 11 weeks. I love you Kiddo.

Kid: Love you too, Kel. See you soon.

I’m going to have a son in eleven weeks!

May 21, 2014

Shannon

We have a system. Nicky’s guy (still don’t know his name) was sent in by the DCA a little over three weeks ago. Sent in where? We don’t know. Secret mission or covert op or whatever this is, leaves me and the boys in the dark. We’re all more than okay with that, because the intel that’s coming back to us is completely fucking whacked.

So here’s how it works. Nicky’s unnamed operative is undercover within a shipping company somewhere that’s somehow connected to all this shit. He must be undercover as an accountant or something because he sends Nicky daily account information from the shipping company. Every evening Nicky sends me pared-down intel, I then take that intel and meet with Butch at the hospital. I visit with Mia and Butch goes through the accounts and whatnot, giving me his insight. I send Butch’s notes back to Nicky when I get home and we start again the next day.

Great system right? I have no fucking clue. I don’t know if we’ve found anything helpful for Kel. I’m convinced the stuff we’re looking at is a front for drug trafficking, but I don’t know if it links back to Cassie. Nicky is keeping typically quiet, only telling us our work is good. Nicky agreed to let us run through the intel because his team is swamped with missions right now and ours would fall to the bottom of the pile according to him. When I asked Butch to help he jumped at the chance saying he feels indebted to me for everything I did with Mia while he was away. I informed him he’s not indebted to me because I love Mia and thus went a round-robin of “I need to thank you” and “no thanks necessary”. Anyway, he agreed and has been instrumental with help.

“Shannon, come take a look at this,” Butch says from the table at the end of Mia’s bed. I put down the horrid magazine I was reading to Mia and make my way to him.

“What’s up?” I ask flopping into the chair next to him. He looks at me over the top of his reading glasses. His rough scarred face is soft and gentle as he smiles a fatherly smile at me.

“You’ve put on some weight,” he says softly.

“You callin’ me fat, Butch?” I joke.

“You should see her put food away,” Thomas says chuckling from the seat next to the door that he silently occupies every night. “She ate three chicken breasts, half a pound of sweet potatoes and a salad the size of my head for lunch today. Put me to shame.”

“That’s impressive,” Butch says to Thomas his eyes bugging out a bit.

“I’ve gained seven pounds and I feel like a new woman,” I admit with a smile directed at Thomas. He feeds me lunch every workday. He’s a former football player turned bodyguard that loves his body, so he cooks to keep it healthy. I no longer skip meals or inhale salads on the run. Thomas makes me sit down every day and eat at a normal pace. Needless to say, my guys love him and think he’s the Holy Grail of taming me. I cook in the evenings and on the weekends, and I can proudly admit, the guys were right. I looked gross and it was time to get my ass in gear. It’s fully in gear now.

“You look good, Shannon. I’m glad to see you comin’ back into your own. I was worried,” Butch says softly pulling his glasses from his face, his hand rubbing my forearm.

“I didn’t mean to worry anyone, but I get that’s the effect I was havin’ on everyone around me. I’m okay Butch. I was okay before too, I’m even better now though,” I explain putting my hand over his. Bizarre as it is, Butch has become important to me. To think only a few months ago I wanted to have him in prison and as far away from Mia as I could muster. I enjoy spending time with him and watching him with Mia. He loves her the way that my father loved me; it beams from every inch of him. That beam warms me too.

“Okay, enough mush,” Butch orders. “Look at this. Hidin’ drugs for this company is all about bait. A fishing vessel or vessels purchase bait from some company. We’ll call it company A. Company A orders the bait from a local fishery. Then our shipping company, company B, ships the bait supplied by company A to the fishing vessels. Here’s where they’re hiding the drugs. Company B still has bait every time they return to port, yet they deliver a full order of bait for the next round. They aren’t comin’ back with bait.”

“How can we tie this to Yates? Company A and B aren’t their companies.” I’m hopeful we can find a connection because at this point I feel like all we’re doing is damning a shipping company.

“That’s what I just found. Yates fishes for the bait, delivers it to Company B, and picks up anything that isn’t sold,” Butch says with a half grin. “Woulda found it sooner but they’re good at coverin’ company names. I found it here on the port manifest. I guess they haven’t paid off the port officials. The other thing that strikes me as odd is who ships bait? If you’re a fisherman don’t you catch your own bait or buy something locally?”

“Good question. I’ll ask Kel when he texts.” My face gets soft at the thought of Kel and I thumb his pendant. He’s been in contact more since the five week drought. Every few days I get a text from him checking in or telling me he loves me. We don’t talk shop. He made it clear that he wants none of our time intruded upon by this situation and I’m fine with that. He talks to Kavy about business.

“You ready for the baby to come home?” Butch asks stacking up the papers for me.

“Don’t get her started,” Thomas warns. I offer him a glare in return.

“I’m gettin’ there. The nursery is painted and the guys spent last weekend putting together the swing, the bouncer, the stroller, the crib and moving furniture around until I got it how I wanted it.”

“Yeah it was a fun weekend,” Thomas snarks.

“Hey,” I scold. He smiles a sweet smile at me.

“She’s gonna be great at this. Never seen a woman pay so much attention to puttin’ a crib in the warmest part of the room. She had temperature gauges on every wall findin’ the best place. Baby’s won the lottery of moms.” Now Butch offers me a sweet smile. I look at my hands embarrassed. I know I’ve gone overboard, but I want everything to be safe for the baby.