Targeted

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:


Chapter 4 (Thorns in the Side)

What little Jade knew about the Spanish mafia wasn't going to help in their escape. She knew that like other mafias, they operated on a global basis and the particular crime family they were involved in must operate in just a few of the countries that the Spanish mafia as a whole operated in.

She sat with Cat and Robbie in the back seat of a dark vehicle, driving through a pair of gates and up to a large compound. She didn't know what country they were in, nor had she any clue of how to get help.

Looking at her friends, she could see the horror in their eyes. Robbie was already bruised from having been beaten on a couple of times, and Cat's face was red with tears. "We'll be okay," Jade whispered to them, "We'll get out of here." She knew her words were only empty promises, but she had to try and do something to give them some sort of hope.

She looked to the driver and raised her feet, digging into the back. "Hey, you up there!" The driver grunted and in the rearview she saw him glance back. "Where are we? What does the Sidero family want with LA? If we're going to die, at least inform us." The man smirked cruelly and shook his head.

"You should be lucky that you are not in Spain right now. Our new head is busy with important family business and unification talks and cannot be bothered with you." Jade jerked her head back, mildly offended. "Nor are you in LA, where as we speak, the Sidero crime family is busy wiping out common street rat gangs in an effort of global expansion."

He said enough, more than she expected. California was about to become the first state to be taken over by the Spanish mafia. "Are you saying…the Spanish mafia want to take over the United States?" Her friends' eyes grew large and the driver began to laugh.

"Now there's a dream. There are already multiple crime families within the Spanish mafia established within the US; but the Sidero family has established the most political status within the states-just so happens to be California with a base in LA."

"You talk like you have even the governor in your pocket," Cat muttered.

"They do." Jade's blood ran cold and she leaned forward, gagging on her own saliva. "The head of the Sidero family has been living in Los Angeles since he was twenty years old, put there by his father-who was the head of the family for a large amount of time. Since then, he has gained friendships and connections in the political and business world…and now his youngest child stands poised to wipe out any street gangs that stand in the way of a complete market for us. The Sidero crime family will usher in the bloodiest era yet."

"You can't be serious!"

"Several gang leaders have just been eradicated by the Sidero family within the last week alone. We know how to hide, we know how to stay in the shadows…in fact, the assassinations of those gang leaders look to be done by the gangs themselves."

"Why us?" Jade looked around to get a sense of her surroundings. The sky was very arid, with little clouds. All of the buildings were brown and looked to be built with stone. The compound itself had one main building, large and looming as if to overlook the entire country. "Why kidnap us?"

"Because you insulted the crime boss."

"We weren't trying to insult Raul."

"Raul?" The driver mocked them with a laugh, causing them to exchange nervous and unsettled looks. "You didn't offend him, and besides, he's the underboss of the Sidero family."

"What?"

"You insulted our newest head of the family, and fortunately for you, she is too busy to bother with you. She wants you to be held until she is ready to deal with you and your friends…but she also wishes to have the others brought to you first."

Instantly she knew who the others were. Thinking of Beck, her heart began to sink. Even Tori didn't deserve this hell, and Tori got a card just like the rest of them. "You'll never get them," she whispered with a growling voice. "You'll never get them. You got us, but you won't get them. I swear it."

"Keep dreaming, dear. They're already trying to rely on help that will never come. The police and politicians of Los Angeles are more corrupted than ever. Your friends will be ignored."

"I hate you."

"Hate away, I am only a lowly associate."

"You never answered where we were, you know." The boat they'd been on stopped at some shore and they'd been dragged to an airport where they flew to some other location. "Far as I know, we've been all over the world by now."

"That helps avoid any tracking."

"Figured as much." She clenched her fists. It was surprising how talkative this associate was. If she could keep him talking, he'd give all the information she needed; and hopefully before someone bumped him off for flapping his gums. "Just tell us where were are."

"Yeah," Robbie spoke finally, "Also I overheard some guards talking about like the major hubs that the Sidero family has…it sounds like you're only in the western part of the world. Why is Spain the only one over on the east?" The driver shrugged.

"They're not. The Sidero family has major networks in every country, every continent. The major members of the family are on the western hemisphere because the western scope is where they are continuing their expansion. Known associates and trusted confidantes of the family have been given other countries."

"Oh…"

"I have said far enough. To answer your question, you are in the country of Peru. Headed by Helena Sidero and her father, Carlos. You are fortunate, they are among the softer side of the family."

Just then, the face of a woman in her twenties jumped in front of the driver's side window. She was olive-skinned, had brooding dark eyes and long black hair. Jade noticed how similar in appearance to Trina she looked, but thought little of it.

"Marcos, what are you doing talking to them?" Helena yanked open the door and sneered ferociously. "This is not 'let's get friendly with the captives'. You are lucky I do not put a bullet in your brain right now!" Jade flinched and looked at her friends.

If this was one of the softer relatives, she didn't want to meet the harder ones.

Helena pulled open the back door and grabbed Jade by the wrist. "Get out of the car." Jade tried to pull away, but the woman yanked her with such power that she almost flew to the ground outside. "I care not like my cousin does that you are pregnant. If you fuck with me, I will fuck with you."

Jade coughed as dirt rose to her face. "I-Okay." She wasn't submissive, but there was a time for fighting and a time to remain calm; and this was the time to hold back. "I'm guessing your cousin is the head of the family we somehow pissed off?"

"You guess correct. You already know more than you should have." Marcos exited the vehicle and bowed his head, looking like a puppy getting scolded. Helena shot him a glare and took a deep breath. "She would shoot you were you stand for the offense, Marcos. You are lucky I like you."

"Yes ma'am."

"However I will tell her how you spilled your guts to them, and if she orders your death, I cannot stand in her way."

"I understand."

Helena snapped her fingers at Robbie and Cat, who were taking a while to get out of the car. "Hurry up, hurry up, we have work to do." The girl rolled her eyes and sighed. "I swear she gave her sister the easy job, can't possibly imagine why. She hardly has to do any work taking over the territory she's been given. I've had to do everything in my power to expand in this area."

Helena seemed just as chatty as Marcos was, but certainly only when annoyed. Jade wanted to keep her talking, only without asking the woman obvious questions. "So Helena, you seem young." Helena raised an eyebrow and sighed.

"I am twenty years. Two years older than our esteemed new head, which should make me head; but that's okay, she is the daughter and granddaughter of the last two Sidero family leaders. Not to mention, she's the one doing the most for our expansion."

There was some level of bitterness in her tone, and that spoke volumes to Jade. At the same time, she didn't want to outright question whether Helena was bitter or not. "You want to lead the family? You're the oldest?"

"Oldest of this current generation, yes. My grandfather, however, was four years younger than her grandfather. Therefore Jorge became the head, and his son would become the next. Therefore it is my cousin that leads the family."

"What is she so busy doing that she's sent the ones that pissed her off somehow to you?"

"Unification. She's marrying the next heir to a Russian mob family." A sick smile swept across Helena's face. The woman folded her arms and pulled her lips apart to reveal a toothy grin. Jade's stomach churned violently and she took a shaky step backwards, already fearing what that marriage might bring. "This unification will ascend the Sidero crime family to great new heights. The two families will be individual, though united as one, all our territories will become one; and the Sidero family will stand at the top of the Spanish Mafia. This is a bloody new age we are entering into, and I could not be happier."

"So why worry about all the street gangs out there? I mean, like Marcos said…" Helena rolled her eyes and shot Marcos another glare. "Wiping out the gangs of LA?"

"In order to stand at the top, we have to be at the top. Eliminate competitive markets that have no business being in a market where the sellers are also users of their own product and buyers will flock to us. So we stand to rid ourselves of the pests."

This wasn't hard to understand, but Jade couldn't help but to feel like eliminating gangs wouldn't be easy. "What if they were to rise against you? I mean for as many gangs as there are out there…"

Helena scoffed. "They are nothing. They are puny, pathetic, drug-addled freaks that stand to be so uncoordinated they would sooner implode from within." She put her hand to her chest and threw her head back. "Why the Sidero family is doing them a favor, getting rid of them by outside means rather than let them suffer with a terminal disease."

"So, genocide in the form of mercy-killing?"

"Basically." Helena dropped her hand and looked to the side. Perhaps the Sidero family was more afraid that the gangs would stand to be a threat to them. "We've spoken enough, it is time to take you inside."

"Or you could let us go. I mean, we have no idea where we are so we'd probably just end up dying before we even got close to finding a way home." It was a statement not to be taken seriously. As Helena cracked out laughing, Jade took a breath of air and motioned for Robbie and Cat to follow along as the woman guided them inside.

"So…Sidero…How come I don't remember that name ever in LA, if they've been there for so long?" Helena opened the door to the compound and glanced over her shoulder.

"Not always does a crime family keep a public hold on the name that goes with the family. The founding head was named Sidero, his son was Sidero, and that man's daughter was Sidero. Juanita, however, took upon her husband's name. Her son headed the family for the longest time and now his daughter stands to give us the greatest expansion-she will take on the name of her husband most likely, but at the root of it all, our family will always be known as the Sidero family."

"I see. Because Sidero is the root."

"Yes. Now quit asking so many questions, I have told you more than you need to know." They were led into a basement and guided down to a couple cells. "Katrina would have my head if she knew how much you just learned today…"

Jade froze as all of time seemed to slow around her. Turning her eyes, she felt the pounding of her heart against her chest. Each beat, like a drum, seemed to echo in her ears.

Maybe she misheard, it was the only thing that made sense. If nothing else, it would have been an extreme coincidence.

She could see though the color draining from her friends' faces as they were guided into some sort of cell. Cat spoke next, her words sounded much deeper to Jade than normal.

"Why does your boss hate us?"

"Because you are nothing more than a thorn in her side." Helena slammed the gate door shut and narrowed her eyes. "Do not become a thorn in mine, which you are on the verge of as you ask far too many questions for my liking; and more than one is too much for her liking."

Jade waited for Helena to leave before she started looking around. A newfound panic filled her veins as she gripped the bars. "I have to get us out of here. We have to do something."

"Get out of where?" Cat fell into a corner, whimpering for a minute. "We're in the middle of a criminal stronghold. How the hell would we escape something like this?"

"Well for one, they don't seem to want to kill us."

Robbie shot her a skeptical look and Jade instantly recanted. "Okay, they want to kill us. They seem to have orders not to." During all of the talking with Marcos, Jade had her hands wedged between his seat and the door. Her finger had grabbed a ring of keys, which she didn't know the use of; but if she had to guess, she'd say one of them went to this cell.

There were many barrels and crates here in the basement, some of which she was almost certain were flammable. At least, she smelled oil coming from somewhere. "Here we go." She began trying the keys on the door of the cell, earning shocked looks from Cat Robbie. Eventually she found a key that managed to pry open the door. "Got it! Let's get out of here."

Lowering her bound wrists to her waist, Jade was the first to exit, keeping a watchful eye on the basement door as Cat and Robbie left the door. "Okay," Robbie began, "I very much can see where the 'thorn in the side' comes from. I also believe Marcos when he says we're being held by the 'softer' side of the family…so why are we trying to piss them off right now?"

Jade rolled her eyes and turned to him, speaking with a harsh whisper. "Because if we can escape from here, we might be able to go home. Maybe warn Beck, Andre and Tori. Maybe get Mr. Vega to get the police to help somehow." Cat bit her lip and exchanged a nervous look with Robbie.

Maybe it was denial, maybe disbelief, Jade just wanted to believe either Helena misspoke or she misheard. If nothing else, she wanted to believe in coincidence.

"Now." She looked to the barrels and grit her teeth. "Let's cause a distraction. Robbie, do you still have that lighter in your pocket?" Robbie paled and Cat raised her eyebrows at him.

"How do you know I even have a lighter?"

"Come on, Beck told me you smoke." Robbie was the second longest friend Beck had, right after Andre. The trio had been inseparable from their last days in elementary, so they knew everything about each other; this included the fact that Robbie began smoking at the age of fourteen when his brother went overseas. "You have a lighter you always carry with you."

"My brother's, yeah…but I don't smoke that often. Not anymore." Robbie was speaking more to Cat now, because she was giving him what appeared to be an evil eye. He cleared his throat and reached into his pocket. "I'm shocked those people didn't take it from me."

"In their defense, what're you going to do with a small little lighter? They seemed more interested in making sure we didn't have weapons on us." Robbie handed her the lighter and she picked up a small crowbar on the ground. "I'm going out on a limb here and say the people at this compound are a bit careless…this helps us."

"Either that or they're expecting something like this to happen." He paused, his eyes darting to the door. "What are you about to try and do?"

"Like the basement on fire." She began smashing the barrels and crates with the crowbar, earning startled screams from her friends. "Robbie, I know you don't want to lose your brother's lighter, but…"

"It's just a cheap lighter." He began to tremble, his lips uttering whimpers every few seconds. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Test the door, try to get that damn thing open, and throw the lighter down at the oil. Hopefully I can pick the lock."

"Think it's locked?"

"I'm almost certain it's locked, Robbie." In what world would captors keep their hostages locked up somewhere with an unlocked door.

They made their way to the door where Jade tried the knob. Once she confirmed it was locked, she grabbed a small bobby pin from her hair and started to work on the lock until she was able to successfully pick it.

It was better to do it this way than to draw attention by smashing the door open with the crowbar. "We are so dead," Cat whispered. Robbie whined before going down to light the spilled oil on the floor with the lighter. Once done, he ran back to the door and shut his eyes.

Jade pushed the door open and looked back, to her amazement the fire was spreading much faster than she expected. "Okay, we have to move carefully." She gripped the crowbar firmly in her hand, ready to wield it as a weapon. "They've got guns, we've got a crowbar. Let's try not to draw attention."

"We don't know the area. We don't know how to get out." The fire was climbing the walls now, and smoke was filling the air. "We need to hurry up, because they're going to be running here any minute now."

"You're right. They are." They exited the door and almost immediately Jade had to use the crowbar to knock out an associate that was guarding the basement.

They ran down the hall, with the fire spreading out and grabbing the rugs and furniture nearby. "Did anyone else get the feeling that maybe Helena and her father were the forgotten cousins?" Robbie inquired. It made sense, because if escaping this particular compound were as easy as it felt, there was no way in hell the Sidero family would be taking Helena and her father seriously.

It didn't take much longer for the fire to continue its consumption of the building. Most of the associates were busy trying to put it out, too busy to notice the trio making their way out.

Eventually they passed an area of the compound where guards were heard trying to open a locked door. "Don't quit now, we have to get Carlos out of there! Helena will be furious with us." Jade stopped and looked over with great concern.

Walking to the basement, she'd overheard conversations from other associates in the compound. One of them mentioned a bedridden leader. Now, Helena clearly wasn't bedridden and she appeared to be in charge, so that would have meant her father was the one they were talking about.

"Should we help them?" She clenched her fists and looked at Robbie and Cat, who were looking to her for an answer. She didn't know what the right decision was. Normally she'd do anything she could to help someone like this, but this was not a normal situation.

"They're just going to kill us," Cat remarked, "But we can't leave a helpless man to die can we? Even though…he's one of our kidnappers."

Jade raised her eyes skyward and started to groan. "God why did this have to be difficult?" She ran for the door, between the two guards that were coughing violently and proceeded to smash through the door with the crowbar.

Inside was a man in his late thirties, early forties. He was gripping the sheets firmly with his hands and coughing violently. At the other end of the room was a wheelchair. "Help me," he said with a rasp, "I'm dying."

The three helped him into the wheelchair, each holding their breath to keep smoke from filling their lungs. Once he was in the seat, they raced out of the compound.

One of the last things they heard, however, was Helena's bloodcurdling scream and the sound of walls and ceiling crashing to the ground. Jade paled and looked back at the compound with a sense of fear growing inside her.

"What the fuck was in those crates?"

Carlos raised his head. "Gunpowder, oil, some alcohol…you were to be locked in a storage room."

The entire house was consumed by fire. By now, because they decided to save Carlos, they weren't going to be able to escape. Virtually every associate that was there would see them and stop them from leaving. Those very associates stood around, watching the place burn as a local fire crew worked to put out the fire. Carlos's voice trembled and he raised his bony arms to his associates. "Helena. Where is she? Where is my daughter?"

It was Marcos that answered. His face was covered in soot and his clothes were burnt. "She didn't make it, sir. I'm sorry…" Jade gasped softly and bowed her head. Carlos dropped his hand and shook his head.

"First my wife, now my daughter. What am I to do? I can barely talk. Stage four, I have not much longer to live and no one to pass my stronghold on to…what am I to do?"

"Do not worry sir, Peru is not lost to us. Not yet."

"How did the fire start? Does anyone know?" Jade glanced to Cat and Robbie, watching as both of them began to shake. "We cannot hold these captives here, we must send them to a different stronghold. One of my cousins shall take them."

"We could just send them to Madrid."

"No, that will not work." Carlos shook his hand in the air. "She does not want them yet. They should be grateful for that."

"She might see them sooner yet, now that this just happened." This was true, they did just cause the death of Helena. Potentially, they might have caused the collapse of one of the strongholds. "We should not be surprised, sir. We were given the weakest compound."

"I must think." With tears in his eyes, he raised a hand over his face. "Take them away. Take them away from here, let me mourn."


Well, they almost got away; or did they? How close to escape did they really get? So they've learned a great bit, but also just took out perhaps the one stronghold that would have been the least harsh on them. Will it get easier on them or harder? Who can say. One thing is certain, Helena gave them a name, but did she misspeak and Jade misheard, or is Jade simply in denial? That said, how will the new head of the Sidero family react once she learns what just took place? Already thorns in her side for the longest time, now they just caused a major problem and the death of one of the leader's cousins. If they weren't in for it before, they most certainly are in for it now, would you agree?