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Can You Find Me?
Chapter 2
"Excuse me." Kory looked to see a tall, handsome man with green eyes standing beside her delivery truck.
She smiled. "Yes."
"I just want to say you did a beautiful job back there. You made my sister's wedding perfect."
"Thanks, but I didn't do anything except set up and arrange the flowers. If there is someone you must thank, it should be the wedding planner or the father of the bride for paying for the wedding."
"You're too modest. I've known Shelly for a long time, and she never planned a wedding this beautiful."
"Including yours." She nodded toward the ring on his finger.
"I—"
"Davey, it's time for pictures!" The bride said, waving her hand in the air from a far.
He looked at the bride, then back at Kory. He sighed and walked away.
"Why do men marry if they are going to cheat?"
"I can't say." Dick said, coming from inside the back of the truck. "But I do understand why guys would shoot their shots with you. You're an amazing woman."
"Save your sweet talk for a woman who hasn't dated you and knows the skeletons in your closet."
Dick placed a hand over his heart. "Kill a man's confidence."
"Your confidence is too big for that." She gave him a wink and turned her back to him with a grin on her face.
"Well, that would boost any man's confidence."
She heard the smile in his voice as she picked up another plant. She missed her relationship with Dick. It had been easy, fun, and, at times, dramatic. But it was in the past and they had moved along. Besides, she couldn't go back to Dick or any man in her past. They could no longer understand her since the dark chapters of her life.
Pushing the thoughts aside, she said, "It's your ego that you need to work on."
"It's my enormous confidence that gives me my big ego."
Kory rolled her eyes. "And your lame jokes."
"I can agree with the jokes. I've been trying to work on them. Everyone tends to laugh at me instead of them."
She turned around to face him. Concern graced her beautiful face. "Dick, don't tell me you are still telling your knock-knock jokes."
"Those are my best ones."
"Dick no."
"No, what?" Vic asked, coming around the truck. He jumped in the back of the truck with flowers in his arms.
"His knock-knock jokes, I can't believe that he is still telling them."
"Actually, Kory, he's gotten better with them."
She tilted her head slightly to the left and gave him a pitiful look. "Vic, not you too. You used to be the cool one."
"Seriously, his jokes have gotten better. Dick, tell her one."
"Okay," said Dick, "Knock, knock."
Laughter rang as Garfield walked down the hallway of the organization's headquarters. His grin widened as his chest rumbled from the soft chuckles that he allowed to escape.
Although he had heard the story a million times—since he was always the one to tell it, he still found the restructure of the organization to be funny.
"That's why I always said climbing to the top is a messy business." Gar reiterated the story punchline." The guys' laughter prolonged.
"Then why did you leave if you had all that power?" The youngest of the two guys, Dawn, asked. The shift in the atmosphere was immediate. Gar stopped and turned, seeing Joey elbow him.
Gar composed himself, keeping the smile on his face. He reached and touched Dawn's shoulder. "I'm going to give you some advice that you shouldn't ignore. " The young man nodded, and the friend stared at Gar with curiosity. "Crack is whack. Now say it with me."
"Crack is whack." The three of them said together. Confusion written over their faces.
"Good," said Gar. "Now wait here while I go and give the boss my report."
The men nodded, and he turned and walked away. As he headed closer to the door, he heard Dawn say, "He left because he got hooked on drugs? So, he was in rehab this whole time?"
"I guess so. Drugs are never good for business. Too many people end up getting hooked on their own supplies."
Gar stopped listening to the rumor that he just created. He had never been in rehab. He was never hooked on drugs. The reason for his two-year absence from the organization was a secret. A secret that, fortunately, those who knew kept.
He stopped in front of the door that was guarded by two of Raven's trusted guards, Tony and Nick. Unlike the two men, who he left farther down the hall, they knew why he had left the organization.
"Is Raven in there?" asked Gar. "I came to give her my report."
Nick, the bucky Danish, spared him a glance, looking him up and down, before staring over his head. Gar wasn't surprised. Gar's once long-time friend hated his guts.
Tony, the easy-going Italian, was more understanding of Gar's past decisions, so he answered, "You have to wait. She's in a meeting with the lieutenants."
"Nothing serious is going on?"
Tony opened his mouth, but Nick interjected. "It's nothing you should be concerned with. She will see you when she is ready." His words caused Tony to give the shifter a shrug.
Gar sighed and pressed his back against the wall near the guards. He really hated the atmosphere around him within the organization. Almost everyone either tip-toed around him or they straight up hated him. It would take some time for people to fully trust him again. Fortunately, he was good with people.
"So, Tony, how much of your wife's money did you lose last night on the game?"
Tony chuckled. "Come on, you know I stopped gambling with my wife's money a long time ago. That's what my girlfriend's money is for. Besides, I took your advice and bet on the Hawks. I was able to buy both of them a nice dress and some lingerie for my troubles."
Gar straightened up just a little and placed his hand over his chest. "Tony, I'm hurt. I gave you the tip, but you didn't even buy me anything."
"Sorry, man. I don't know what size dress you wear," Tony teased.
"A size twelve. Don't forget."
"Gotcha. I'll remember it for next time."
"Good, because I expect one next week. The Rams and the Bears are playing. You know you should bet on the Rams. The Bear's star player isn't worth—."
"Woah," said Nick. "Don't go around making false accusations. Blaire is just getting warmed up on the court."
"How long is it going to take him to get warm up? Tony, do players usually need four games to warm up for one?"
Tony shrugged. "I don't know. I thought most players got warm up before the game started. Maybe Blair's different."
Nick, who was a passionate fan of Blaire, said, "Blair's different. He's one of the greatest players alive. It's just his team isn't giving him the support that he needs."
Gar and Tony looked at each other. "Sounds like a bad player if the star player can't get along with his teammate. I'm just saying." Tony held up his hands.
"That has nothing to do with being a skilled player, right, Gar? You and I have watched his games since he was in college. You know that he is talented."
"We watched them." Gar agreed. "No one could score like him."
"See," said Nick proudly.
"That was in college. What has he done lately?" asked Tony.
"He got a point," said Gar.
"Are we watching the same games?" asked Nick.
"Apparently not," answered Tony.
"You know what? You, me, and Gar"—he pointed at everyone—"we're going to watch the Rams versus the Bears at my house. That way we can make sure that we are all watching the same game."
"I'm not coming unless we are betting on it," said Tony.
"Fine. I got on a grand on the Bears."
"Ok, I'll match it."
"Don't come crying about your money when you lose. Gar, who are you betting on?"
Before he could answer the door opened behind them, causing their back to go stiff. They rushed to move out of the way as the tops of the organization filed out of the room.
Gar didn't recognize many of them. It wasn't strange since all the tops that were there when he was were murdered.
"Gar, come in." Frank's voice traveled from the room.
Gar moved from the wall to the door, where he paused. "I'll place a grand on the Rams. I'll see you then."
Nick gave him a tight nod now that their conversation had been interrupted and its effect diminished. As Gar stepped into the room and the door closed behind him, he wasn't worried that Nick would cancel their date. Nick was a man of his word and Tony wouldn't allow anyone to cancel a bet.
"Report."
Gar glanced at Frank, who spoke, then at Raven, whose eyes remained on the paper in her hand. "After we left Moe's, we'd check out several establishments that we thought X might have ventured to. We discovered that all the establishments, whose security systems that have been tampered with, contained private storage units and were located on the west side of our territory. We suspected that X either got the information that he wanted or he didn't have time to search the north and south sides.
"We should tighten up security. I doubt that the men here would be able to stop him, but they might be able to alert us of his presence and we can reach him before he gets what he wants. Also, I think we should move some of our important merch to the headquarters' private collection, change the shipping routes, and bump up any delivery that we can. We need to throw off anything that X might be planning. "
"Is that all? It has been a week since we assigned you to X's case."
"Don't underestimate me, Frank." Gar held up an USB. "Here is the list of activities that X had been up to in the last month and a half as well as locations that he had visited. There is also an updated list of his contacts and associations in Jump City. From the information that we've gathered, we suspected that X had left town. But maybe something else could have distracted him for a while and he will be back soon."
Gar tossed the USB to Frank, who caught it and said, "Good job."
"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you." His eyes drifted to Raven. Her attention was still on the documents.
"That will be all," said Frank. "We'll contact you if we need anything else."
"Sure. In the meantime, I can—"
"You can go until we need you."
He locked eyes with Frank. "Sure. Have a good day, Rae."
He turned and walked out of the room.
"He did a good job."
Raven glanced at Frank before turning her attention back to the moving city outside of the window.
"Objectively speaking, keeping Gar at the bottom level is a waste of his talents. He's knowledgeable, skilled and, most importantly, charismatic. His idiotic appearance and out-going nature makes people connect and open up to him. It makes him more trustworthy compared to your gloomy nature.. He's good for business if he's in the right position."
Raven didn't say anything, knowing that Frank's words were true. Gar was good for business. Her business relationship with her associates that paid business fees had been shaky since he had left.
Gar had made them feel important and a sense of belonging that she nor Frank could duplicate. Even amongst her old lieutenants, he had done an excellent job at handling in-house disputes and keeping the companionship amongst brothers- and sisters-in-illicit activities friendly. And with the other kingpins in the city, he always knew what to say or do to appease them when relations went south.
She honestly didn't know how much of a headache Gar had saved her from until she had to step in and handle certain business matters herself. And unlike Gar, she didn't ease the tension. She buried it under the surface of their skins.
They fear her so they wouldn't go against her. But the moment that they stopped, she didn't doubt that they wouldn't try to kill her. Not everyone was like Moe, who cared about her.
Fortunately, Frank was a good general. His loyalty added to the power that she needed to instill fear. But he wasn't Gar, who helped her balance out things.
"What do you suggest we do with him?" she asked.
"Why not put him in our relation department."
"We don't have a relation department," said Nick, who was driving.
"I know, but I have been watching the news lately and I think it might be a good thing that we do."
Tony, who sat in the passenger seat, groaned. "Who allowed you to watch the news? Everything on the news isn't good for you to watch."
Raven agreed. Frank's perception of things and disconnection with human culture had caused unfavorable results before.
"I think my plan is a good one," said Frank.
Raven sighed. "What is it?"
"We can use Garfield to handle important diplomatic issues within the organization like a foreigner ambassador. He can also lead and train a team that strictly works in gathering information and recruiting new people into the organization. Our numbers have been—."
"No."
"So, it was a bad idea." Although one couldn't tell from his voice, he was disappointed.
"I don't want to recruit anyone to join."
"But our numbers are—."
"We're fine with who we have." She felt everyone's discontentment with her words. "If we have more people, we'll have to cut out the Christmas and New Year bonus. And we have to cut everyone's paycheck to accommodate the new recruits."
"I'm okay with the people that we have," said Tony.
"But we can raise our profit—"
Shut up, she said to Frank in her mind. He sighed.
"Your other ideas are fine," she said. "If you want to give him that position, that's up to you."
"Do you think that's wise?" asked Nick. "He might be good for the position, but how can we trust him after what happened?"
Silence filled the car. Raven said nothing, but she felt all the emotions from her past lingering under her skin.
"He regrets it if it helps," said Frank.
"Regret doesn't reverse the damage. We lost a lot of good men because of his choices," said Nick.
"We are criminals, not saints. And so were they."
"So, we deserve to die."
"No, but I don't think that we deserve to live."
"Everyone deserves to live," whispered Raven. "If we were meant to die, God would have killed us by now."
"Amen to that boss," said Tony. "Now, can we please change the subject? I hate talking about death when we are about to walk into a dangerous meeting."
"He's right. Let's clear our heads and our hearts. I want everyone to be alert. Frank, we'll talk about Gar's position after the meeting. Tony and Nick, if you see something strange or dangerous while we are inside, leave us. You guys are for show, not muscle. Frank and I can take care of ourselves."
"Boss, I'm happy I'm comfortable with myself or that statement would have hurt me," said Tony.
"You are comfortable with being alive," said Nick. "Boss, we'll still be close by in a safe location, just in case you need us."
"Fine, but don't get killed for trying to help." She took the white wig from Frank and covered her dark hair. "If all goes well, we will be out in an hour and a half."
"And that's our final guest."
Dick dropped the file that he was looking at and picked up his binoculars from the table. He and his new partner, Nikki, were on a one day stakeout, gathering intel on the crime lords of Jump City. They were currently holed up in a rundown apartment that overlooked a restaurant that was out of place in this neighborhood.
"The Mist," said Nikki as he watched as a woman in her late twenties to early thirties got out of the black SUV. She stood out with an all white ensemble and hair. She appeared to be a flashy diva who lived and slept off of daddy's money instead of the kingpin of the western part of the city.
"Is she called The Mist because of her appearance or because it is difficult to gain any information on her?" asked Dick.
"See that guy right there?" Nikki pointed to a tall guy with dark skin. "Be careful of him, we suspect he isn't human and that he has psychic abilities. That's the Mist's right-hand man."
He nodded as the targets disappeared into the building. The other two men in their company drove off from the entrance. Dick placed his binoculars down.
"Sorry for ignoring your question, but I wanted to point out to you who her right-hand man was before they went inside."
"No problem." He was happy that she was excited about her job and not having something up her bottom because he was the new guy.
"To answer your question: both. We don't have any information on her and her pale complexion and all white outfits help fuel the name. Plus, the fact she rarely makes an appearance."
Dick glanced at the file. "So, she just appeared out of nowhere and became the kingpin of the west."
"Well, there were rumors that said she was a crime lord before the big bang two years ago, but we can't confirm the rumors. As you know, a lot of the crime lords were murdered or replaced during that time. Where there were eighteen small-time crime lords, there are now four. Rumor had it she came from the smallest territory at that time."
"How do our guys on the inside gain any information about her?"
"That's the thing. We don't have any guys on the inside. Partly because of their no recruitment rule."
Dick looked up in shock. "No recruitment. What gang doesn't recruit?"
"That one. And no, there isn't a special invite to the gang."
"That's different. And the other reasons."
"Reason. Those who had filtrated were either kicked out or killed the moment the Mist's right hand joined."
"And the only thing that we have on him is that his name is Frank."
"Frank." Dick repeated the name.
"Watch out for him. We suspected he flushed everyone out due to mind reading."
"I'll be mindful of that."
"Good. Let's pack up and head out," Nikki said, gathering the equipment.
"We're not staying for the meeting?" He started to pack up the equipment as well.
"No, another team will come and take over. We also have men on the inside. I just wanted to introduce you to the layout of the land. Our assignment is actually trying to figure out where these new drugs are coming from."
"Isn't that narcotic's job?"
"They are all in the hospital, trying to pump the drug out of their system. It'll be a while before they are back if ever. Until then, you and I are the unofficial members of the narc unit. Are you okay with this?"
"I don't think I have a choice if I want to keep my job."
Nikki chuckled. "You learn fast. The commissioner already hates you."
"Oh, I know."
"Don't worry, she hates me too."
"Does that make us best friends?"
"I think so."
Dick smiled as his phone vibrated. He picked it up and unlocked it. A message from Kory came through the phone asking if they could make it to dinner as a thank you for helping her this morning.
He replied 'yes' and then pocketed the phone.
Vic replied 'no' to the text that Kory sent. He had another engagement that he had to attend tonight.
"Boss, they are all here." He stood from his seat at his right hand's announcement.
"Are all the extras gone?"
"Only the head and their general are in the room?"
"Good." He smoothed down his suit, picked up the duffle bag, and walked to the double doors that lead to the main ballroom.
His general opened the door, and they entered.
"Who the heck are you?" One of six people at the round table asked.
"Stone." He kept his attention on everyone at the table. He wanted to make sure no one tried to kill him before his big announcement.
"Jess," someone called to the woman beside him. "What is the meaning of this? Where's Angie?"
"Angie's dead," said Vic. All eyes at the table shifted and connected with one another. " If you want to talk with her, you can. " He placed the bag on the table, opened it, and pulled out a head void of a body.
They gasped in shock and backed away from the table as their general withdrew their guns and pointed at him.
"Everybody, let's not be hasty." Out of the wall, red beams pointed at everyone except for Victor and Jess. "Everyone can leave this room alive and well or dead and soon-to-be buried."
"What do you want?" A soft voice asked, drawing his attention.
He smiled at the woman. "What every black man wants: a seat at the table. Particularly the seat of the Jump City's southern crime boss. I heard the seat is empty, and I already have had control of Angie's businesses and men. So, I hope you don't mind if I sit down.
A/N:Sorry for going MIA for a long time. Hopefully, I will be around for awhile and writing chapters. Thanks for sticking with me and I hope that you all are well.
I'm thinking about making this story similar to Secrets are Meant to be Kept. It will be a slow burn with more chapters compared to my other stories.
If you are following my other stories: I am placing It's Crowded on paused until I can get the flow of writing again for that one. For Sin against the Family: the Epilogue, I currently working on it. I'm writing the chapters but I won't post them until I reach Chapter 10. I want to make sure that I don't keep starting over again. As for We Became Robin, it status will be the same.
Thanks again for reading my stories and your support. Stay safe.