Targeted

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A/N:


Chapter 8 (The Threat)

"You are doing too much." The new head of the Sidero crime family looked towards her sibling through the lens of the computer, her eyes were like fire and her lips were curved into a disapproving scowl. "We need those gangs. They may seem insignificant, but they are in fact a large source of our products."

"I've only destroyed the city gangs that refused to cooperate or work with us," replied the younger sibling. Miss Sidero opened her narrowed eyes a bit and the scowl on her face started to relax as she began to see where her sibling's logic was. She'd been concerned that the child had become unstable and too wild with power, but perhaps this wasn't too out of control. "Those that are with us, that we are able to pay off, I have left alone."

"I see. Bear in mind that city gangs are like ants, you may stomp a few out but there are always more in the woodwork somewhere. If you aim to eliminate a single gang, you better eliminate the entire unit. Even still, be cautious, because you don't want those that you attack to rise up and take you out."

"They won't. We have Los Angeles. We have the police, the government, the gangs that are with us, and a number of business."

"Don't get cocky. That is my warning to you. Always expect someone to be waiting to eliminate you…Trust nobody." Miss Sidero crossed her arms and reclined in her chair. "Beth is holding Jade, Cat and Robbie. I discovered that Jade was pregnant a while ago, so I am refusing to allow her to be harmed. I'm told she's been getting bold, so I am allowing her friends to be used to silence any thought of rebellion in her."

"Understandable."

"And her boyfriend? Any news on him?"

"He seems to be trying to locate her. He and his friends, Andre Harris and Sam Puckett." Miss Sidero froze, her brow starting to furrow. She'd been afraid of this, not of Beck or Andre trying to rise up but of the Puckett family getting involved. Perhaps if Sam was kept safe, they would not attack the Sidero clan during this time.

"See that nothing happens to Samantha. I do not want the Puckett crime family to rise up; or the Bensons, for that matter. We do not need a war among mafia clans right now."

It was bad enough that Beth had pressures from the Martinez Cuban crime boss in Havana, and with Carlos's branch in Peru having been eliminated, this was not the time to have two large mafia families attacking them.

"By the way, the incident in Peru." Miss Sidero narrowed her eyes further and growled lowly. "That was the result of my cousin's foolishness, I know. Putting them in the same place as their weapons…I knew Uncle Carlos was weak and Helena fresh off the block, but I was not aware they lacked the intelligence that they did."

"It is my understanding that Marcos informed Jade of a great deal about our family, Sister." She took a deep breath and raised her enclosed hands before her lips.

"I see." Her eyes closed over and her nostrils flared. "I will order his tongue cut out, so that he cannot speak about our family any longer. Uncle Carlos is battling his final stages of cancer…have Uncle Manuel take over Peru and allow Carlos to pass with mercy."

It was known what this meant, she was ordering Carlos's death in the form of a mercy killing. She did feel pain for him, having lost his entire family the way he did and she didn't wish for him to suffer any longer. "I will tell our father to ensure this, Sister. What will you have me do with Jade's boyfriend? He may become a threat."

"Ensure he does not become one." She waved her hand in the air and chuckled softly. "String him along, make him forget about this plight of his. I will send him a message as well, to remind him of what may occur should he continue his hunt."

She lowered her hands and stared back at her sibling sternly. "But be cautious with how you treat the city gangs. Most mafia clans dislike them, true, but we all respect that they are a source of revenue, and we need them on our side. Los Angeles is yours to do as you wish, but if you play too much, you may find it taken from you."

Her sibling froze, staring back at her with raised eyebrows and parted lips. Seeming to understand, the teenager gave a brief, trembling nod. "I see. I may have offended some of the gangs."

"Give me the names of the leaders you believe need reinforcing, and I will attempt to smooth things over with them. My fiancé's uncle has powerful pull in Los Angeles as well, with the Russian mafia dipping their hands into many of the city gangs; if anyone can bring them back to the light, he can."

"You believe so?"

"Of course, many of those gangs are compiled of the city's youth and he is well respected among them. I'll have him smooth things over with the gangs. In the meantime, I want you to focus on bolstering our hold in California; and I also want you to talk to our associates in the other states, it is becoming time to give our connections across America the strength to become the dominant crime family."

They had the connections, they had the politics and the law on their side; it was the competition they needed to sway. The competition would either be bought or eliminated, if they did not see the light, then they would be taken out.

"When the Kennedy family didn't see our grandfather's plan for the country, they were taken out and patsies had been used so no one suspected our family; the nation's leaders will see our plan or they will fall as well."

"I have to ask, how much do other mafia families know about ours? It seems that Samantha has already been given some information on our family from her own…"

"They know a bit, but as far as other families know, our influence in the world is small. They believe we have only the state of California, but we have a hold in every state; and our greatest competition is and has always been the Italian mafia families…we have never had New York; but we shall soon."

"Excellent. I will refocus on my tasks, and I will ensure that Jade's boyfriend soon forgets and will not see the trap that we have planned for him." Miss. Sidero grinned, her eyes flashing with a bone-chilling evil. "Pity they're all just a footnote in our plans. Do you think we can buy the Italian Mafia?"

"So long as the Pucketts and Bensons hold high regard among the Italian families, no. We cannot gain the unity we need as we have with the Irish families and Russians."

"We have to try. Perhaps befriending either Samantha or Freddie will work? They have a friend in Italy, I know this…" A lightbulb went off in Miss Sidero's head and she started to grin.

"Let's keep that in the back of our minds. We don't want to take action, and risk angering either of them; but if it can benefit us to reach out to their friend…we shall."

Beck sat at the table in the Vega living room, holding a deck of cards in his hand and growling in frustration. It was far too difficult to focus on poker now, not when he couldn't stop thinking about those that were not with them. "I can't do this," he muttered. Tori looked over the top of her cards and reached over with a frown.

"It's okay." She ran her hand along his forearm until his eyes drifted up into hers. "I know it's difficult. I miss them too. I'm scared, but I know Daddy's doing everything he can to help."

"It's not enough," Andre muttered, "It will never be enough." Andre was right, more so than he realized. Every waking moment spent trying to relax or get their minds off their friends was hell; and even worse was the feeling that their own time was running out. "How long until they come after us, huh?" Andre dropped his cards on the table, his voice quaked with anger. "They tried to get us once, how long until they come after us again? We can't just sit around doing nothing, we can't just pretend they're not out there."

"We're not a threat to them." Beck's shoulders sank and the corners of his lips tugged back slowly. "We're too insignificant, they don't see us as a problem."

"Exactly." Tori's voice rose, swelling with optimism. "Why would they come after us unless we did something to make them think we'd be an issue? We're just minding our own business, doing nothing at all."

"Yet somehow we offended the newest head of the Sidero family." Beck laughed disbelievingly and shook his head. "How?" He smacked the side of head, letting his hand slide down his face. "We've never even met this person, if it isn't that Raul guy. So how could we have possibly offended that person in any way?"

"I don't know."

"I mean even Mr. Vega said, and Sam's family seemed to imply, the Sidero family has more than enough shit going on right now to be worried about us. So, we would have had to do something really fucked up for the newest head to want to take us out."

Andre reached over, smacking the table. "Keep in mind who got taken away, Beck." Beck furrowed his brow, his chest flickered in and out. "Robbie's dad was the District Attorney, strictly against crime organizations. Jade's father has political leverage of some sort…maybe it wasn't us. Maybe they took them for leverage."

"Jade I'd understand, if that were true. They killed Robbie's family, they have no reason to keep him alive, Andre. How do we even know if-" Just then, the doorbell rang and Tori flinched. She threw her gaze to the door and slowly rose from her seat.

"I-I'll get that." She made her way to the door, hesitating for a moment before opening it. Beck and Andre turned to look freezing up when they saw a well dressed man with a box in his hand. "What's this?"

"For Mr. Oliver," the man said. "A message from the Sidero family." Beck froze, watching as Tori carefully made her way to him. She handed him the box and he stared down at it, uncertain whether he wanted to open it.

It took him a minute, but he finally mustered the courage to open it, gasping when he saw a bloody thumb. A letter was enclosed, and upon it was written a threat.

"Cease your investigation, or Mr. Shapiro will lose the rest of his limbs. Your girlfriend and your friends will be returned safely to you once our plans have finished; but for that to happen, you must be silent."


Thoughts?