Rogue Chapter 6

Rogue

Chapter 6

Edward Masen Sr

“He is your son.” my father points out the obvious.

“He is your grandson, and your point is?”

“This is the right thing to ask.”

“I disagree, times have changed father, I get that you don’t want things to change, but they do. I don’t like this idea. This isn’t 1920 anymore. We are in the year 2016 and people don’t arrange marriages any more!”

“Bullshit.” He shoots back waving his hand at me, “you don’t think, so what about in the old countries?”

“Those old countries are lost in time, this is America. It doesn’t happen here in America.”

“It happened in England and that is not far from America, and it wasn’t that long ago.”

“No, it didn’t.” I look at him shaking my head.

“Yes it did that cute little girl with the dimples...what’s her face...and not long ago...she is dead now...you know? Lady something or other.”

“Princess Diana?” I chuckle.

“Yeah that's it her...she didn’t love that son of a bitch, yet she married him because she had to. That was an arranged marriage. They didn’t even know each other!”

“How do you know she didn’t love him?”

“You seen the guys puss. He is not the most attractive looking man out there, but he was a prince which means...she married him because she had to, and now...her son. He married that girl he married, because he had to.”

“Prince William dated her. They fell in love, got married had babies and are living happily ever after. Not the same thing. Edward doesn’t have to marry anyone he doesn’t choose to marry, and I for one do not agree to this.”

“Not until we arrange it he doesn’t. Son, I expect you to convince all of them. Do not go against me on this.” I glare at him.  

“How can I convince him when I don’t believe it myself, besides, this Swan girl, is an implant. We are Irish, she is not. She hasn’t been raised in this life. She entered into it because of her father which I still can’t quite figure out why he chose the path he has taken. The Swan family makes no sense. Where did they come from?.”

“But you and I both know they seem to be good people. We feel it in our bones. I do. You must. We have avoided some of the harsher realities of this life son. We focused on businesses where people didn’t get hurt. Gambling, Loan sharking, arms dealings, prohibition back in the day. We never ventured into the territories the Italians had like slaves, human trafficking of innocent children. We didn’t dabble with drugs until recently, that of which I am not proud of. Then, along comes Edward our miracle child out of nowhere and he is talented beyond words to the age of this old finagled machines people use...what do you call them...you know the little ones and the ones that are bigger, with keyboards, and those micey things.”

“Computers father.” I chuckle.  

“Yes, yes those. He does things with those and he seems to generate money that for the life of me I don’t understand how that little machine makes us money, but he brings in more money than any of our self made men.”

“I know, you don’t have to tell me. He is good at cybertheft, he targets businesses, he invests with crooked investors who are stealing from hard working people. Something I am not too sure is a victimless crime.”

“The smartest thing you have done son, was send that boy to college. Don’t feel bad about it. Better than him running the streets with the Italian scum. I never liked those people. The Swan family did us a favor. We could never trust them.”

“He was already smart. It has nothing to do with me.”

He goes on and on trying to convince me. “And that girl of Swans, she is smart too, imagine the empire those two could build? I won’t be here to see it, but I know it will be something else.”

“I can’t argue with you there.”

“So, we nudge them, we talk to her father and see if he is willing to agree. This sets the other business in stone.”

“You seem to forget something.” I eye him.

“What? I forget lots of things. I am surprised most days I remember your name, so tell me what else have I forgotten?”

“People are going to die. Many people in Los Angeles are going to die. I can’t even calculate the number of people Swan is planning to eliminate to clean up those streets. It truly doesn’t seem humanly possible. I am still not sure I believe it can be done.”

“These people you speak of, they are rotten to the core, the same people that have committed horrendous crimes against humanity. They kill innocent bystanders, sell drugs to children, and fathers who should be home taking care of their children, mothers too. I feel no sympathy for any of them.”

“They are still people.”

“And you care suddenly? Why son?”

I stand up and begin to pace.

“It is a lot of people father, and our son, my flesh and blood is going to be in on this. Worse, he could get hurt.”

“I doubt that highly, you see the way that girl looks at him? Well, I do, she is already hooked on my grandson, I know. She will protect him with her own life if she had to. It is there already, I seen it in her eyes. His good looks come from me. How could she not be attracted to our Edward?”

“Wow, you really are senile. She looks at him like she wants to kill him. Did you see the way she considered it when she held that butter knife in her hand.”

He waves me off, “Naw, that is just foreplay for those two.”

I laugh when the doorbell rings, shaking my head at the fact that my father even knows what foreplay is. I make my way over to the door and unlock it, letting in Swan.

“Good afternoon, Masen.” he shakes my hand. He has a good solid shake. He is strong, he may be aging like myself, but he is a strong man. He is fit, stays in shape. Still, a soldier fighting a war no one knows is coming.

They aren’t going to know what hit them. But how many are we talking here? Five thousand? I have no clue. No idea on where to start.

“Lunch is about to be served, have a seat Swan.” My father waves for him to take a seat.

“I am not going to beat around the bush here, I am one hundred and three years old. I will be lucky to make it to one hundred and three years old and another day, so here it is...I want to ask for your permission for my grandson to marry that sweet girl of yours.”

I watch his reaction and his eyes dart from me to my father’s.

“As flattered as I am for the offer, this isn’t my call Mr. Masen.”

“Anthony, call me Anthony and no, it is your call. Is she your daughter? Yes she is, so you are the one that has the power to say yes.”

“No, I really don’t.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh heavily.

“Does Edward agree to this?” He asks looking between the two of us.

“It is not his choice, it is ours.” my father argues as Maria brings out three plates of lasagna.

Swan laughs. A loud boisterous laugh. “Can I be in the room when you tell him this?” he teases, at least I think he is.

My father looks at him puzzled then nods, waving his hands, “Sure, sure, so you accept?”

“No, but i still want to be there when you tell him you are arranging a marriage for him. This I have to see.” he continues to laugh.

I join him because he is right. There is no way in any life time, my son is going to marry anyone that he doesn’t love.

“My father’s idea, I assure you, this had nothing to do with me.” I wave at my father.

Swan’s phone rings and he pulls it out, frowns, and points and excuses himself standing up to step away from the table.

“Bella? What is wrong?”

I can’t help but stiffen. I can hear her voice almost screaming into the phone.

Charlie is nodding, pacing, and telling her to calm down. He apologizes. “Bella, please, I know.” he continues to pace and rubs his face in frustration.

His eyes widen, and he yells into the phone, “BECAUSE I LOVE YOU THAT IS WHY! DAMN IT BABY GIRL DON’T LET MASEN EXECUTE HIM!”

I stand up now concerned.

“Look, calm down. We will talk about it later when you return. Please Bella, I am only trying to protect you. We are out now. We have to be more careful. We are so close but with each day that passes, we are also public enemy number one and YOU are my priority! Call Masen’s bloodhounds off him. Let him go. He can take it up with me.”

He turns and whispers, “I love you, I will see you when you get back.”

He returns to the table as I stand here staring at him. “Mind telling me what that was about?”

“Your son is about to execute one of my top men, could you do me a favor and give him a ring and ask him to stand down before we lose someone   important.”

“Why. I want to know why my son wants to kill him first.”

“He has been trailing Bella for me, and I guess your son, clued her in.”

“And let me guess,” My father interrupts, “Masen wants to kill him because he cares for her.” He chuckles.

Swan frowns while I pull out my phone and shoot my son a text ordering him and his soldiers to free the man they have kidnapped.

“Shit that could have ended so much worse.” Swan picked up his glass and threw back the wine in one swallow.

“I apologize, this was between my daughter and me, I should have told her. I would have never been able to explain to you why my man killed your son’s soldiers. Trust me, he gave himself up because he knew that killing these men would surely have started a war between us. I am so sorry.” he apologizes again.

My phone dings and its Edward.

Why is Swan with you?

Uh….yeah...I am so not answering that one. I smile at Swan and say, “No worries, no harm will come to them.”

We all breathe a sigh of relief while my father goes on to explain the marriages of princes and princesses and other shit he rambles on about while I eat my lasagna and try to figure out how to explain to Edward why Swan was here.

Masen

“You can’t be serious Daddy! I am not a little girl any more!”

I watch her simply fascinated by the beauty of this woman’s anger. If she wasn’t stunning before, Jesus. Swan is in a shitload of trouble and I chuckle to myself. I am pretty sure that he has her followed simply because he doesn’t  trust me. This is something new he is doing. Making sure his little girl is safe.  

“How long Daddy? How long has he been following me? You are damn right we will discuss this when I get back and call off what ever guard dogs you have in Los Angeles also, or I swear I will let Masen execute every one of them!”

Fucking beautiful.

She hangs up and stares straight ahead trying to catch her breath. I watch her chest heave up and down, her jaw is set tight.

I try to erase the smile off my face. I don’t want to piss her off further because well if she had a weapon within reach, I certainly don’t want to be on the receiving end of it.

My cellphone alerts me to a message. It is from my father. He is asking me to have Emmett back down from hurting Swan’s spy and the first thing that pops into my head is that my father is with Swan now. Now, I want to know why they are together. He never mentioned meeting with them.

Maybe it is to let him know he is in charge of the family again since I have been named the new Boss. He doesn’t reply and it pisses me off but I will get to the bottom of that later.

I text Emmett and tell him to let the guy go.

“Your stalker has been released. Apparently our parents are together at the moment, I have no idea why, my father isn’t responding.”

“Sounds like they are up to something.” She seems to have calmed down some.

“I agree.”

“Anyway, I wanted to show you something pretty important.” she flips her laptop around and pulls up a program. I recognize it right away.  

“That is a lot of dots Bella. Why am I not surprised you are tracking them? What I really want to know is how did you get into their circle to track them at all?”

“We have two guys on the inside. They have been in the gang for well over a year now.”

I stare at her in disbelief. “Are you sure you aren’t the feds?”

“Yes Masen! I am sure. Those fuckers don’t know how the fuck to do anything right, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing.”

“And what are you doing exactly?”

She looks at me with the most casual expression, “Cleaning up the streets and making the world a safer place.”

I quirk a brow up at her. “Why am I still here? Why didn’t you have the rest of us taken out? I don’t get it. I really don’t. You seem to be doing pretty damn fucking good on your own.”

“We need you, and your family and your ties. You are not like the rest of them. You have proven that.”

I lean over leaving her little space between us, “How do you know for sure I am not like the rest of them?”

“You know the answer to that question.”

I narrow my eyes at her, “Tell me Isabella, because I swear to God, I will shoot you right here right now if you don’t tell me who the fucker is you planted within one of the families.”

“He is dead.” she frowns.

“Why? Did you kill him?” I wait.

“He had a heart attack.”

“Aro?”

“Yes.”

“That son of a bitch.” I hiss, “He is lucky I don’t bring him back and kill him again!” I stand up pacing for a minute trying to calm the fuck down.

I stop in front of her, pointing my finger, “Look, you are making me look like a motherfucking idiot and I am about ten seconds away from ordering a hit on your father! I want your fucking word Bella! This shit with you ends NOW! No more sneaking around and fucking doing shit, undermining me! You want my help, you better damn well start learning to trust me.”

“Fine. I had to do what I had to do. Don’t hate me for it. I got what I needed and I am where I wanted to be. No more. I promise on my father’s life. I have watched you for a while I truly want to trust you and I will try I really will.”

I sit back down and nod towards her laptop, “Alright, so I need to ask you the most important question of all, how fucking many are we looking to target?”

“I am still working on that final number but I am estimating 150,000.”

My expression falls. I sit here staring at her and shake my head. “There is no fucking way. No fucking way!”

“There is a way.”

“And how do you propose we kill that many people! I don’t have that kind of man power!”

“Between what we have and you, and the ones that will be grouped together, and the rest of my planning, we can do this.”

“Bella, this is crazy. Who came up with this idea any way? You or your father?”

“We both did.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose feeling a headache coming on. “What are your plans for the LAPD when the killing begins?”

“By the time we have wiped out more than half of them, they won’t know where in the hell to start at by the number of crime scenes. They won’t have time to worry about the remaining members left that we will take out.”

“And what about South of the Border? How do you intend on getting rid of them also?”

“They are getting hit at the same time that we hit Los Angeles. We have men inside every compound. The explosives are already in place, well hidden. We had them planted last week. The cartel’s are the least of our worries because they stay pretty much holed up in their fortresses. They think their secret passages are going to save them if the time ever comes, I promise they won’t. The few that aren’t out, are being tracked around the clock.”

She hits a few more icons on her laptop bringing up maps of underground tunnels. They run from Mexico all the way up to the US borders in all states that neighbor it. “These red dot’s here,” she points, “this is the beacon locator that are attached to the bombs. They are at every exit, already buried into the tunnels. They will detonate when I give the order, We will blow them all up to block off all entries into the country.”

I reach over and take her laptop and flip back to the numbers and stats she has again. I read along scrolling down the page reading all this data.

Crips Mostly African American

Membership (est.) 30,000 to 35,000

Criminal activities Drug trafficking, robbery, murder, extortion, burglary, prostitution, theft

Gangs are called sets, and to date, there are an estimated 800 sets.

“800 Sets of gangs? How many is in a set?” I ask.

“Here is the thing Edward, I already explained to you that these types go after their own. It is a common misconception that Bloods only go after crips. That is, the furthest thing from the truth. They go after their own. These sets you are talking about, fight among themselves. They have no loyalty to the Crips as a whole. Think about that for a minute.”

I stare at her and start to piece together what she is saying. “You are starting a civil war in between all of them aren’t you? Turning them against each other, or at the very least, making sure there is no alliance and zero trust between them?”

“With my figures, the ones we don’t get, will be so skittish, they will finish each other off, but we are not going to depend on that. It is only an aid for our cause. They have been killing each other for years. We are just going to ramp it up a little. They will have no idea that they are aiding in their own extinction..”

“So, how do you plan to coordinate all this? I mean, my family has no clue as to how you work.”

“We aren’t doing this tomorrow morning, it is going to take time. I will be making many trips back and forth from LA to Chicago. My father and I are moving to LA, but we will be working with you so I will be going back and forth. We have a warehouse out in the desert that is our homebase where everything will be coordinated, I will need you to bring your men to LA in groups for training.”

“Where do you live now?”

“We have a home up in the Pacific Northwest, it is just a small town, my father grew up in. We spend time there every year. It is a nice little house that really is the only constant in my life ever since I was little, but for now we are staying in hotels.”

“Being in the military meant you moved around a lot?” I ask.

“Yes.”

I watch her for a minute and I can see her remembering something.

She finally turns to look at me, “What?”

“It’s nothing.” I shake my head and return to the laptop as I continue scrolling.

“When we land in Los Angeles, I have a few stops to make. I have orders to pick up, it is just equipment to take to headquarters.”

“Do we have a vehicle to transport these orders?”

“Ever driven a Penske before?” she quirks a brow up at me.

I laugh shaking my head, “No.”

“Well I have, I will teach you.”

I shake my head again, why am I not surprised. Is there anything she doesn’t do? “What in the hell are we picking up?”

“Here, let me show you my shopping list.” She steals the laptop back away from me and proceeds to pull up a file and opens it with a list of items that is more than a few pages.

“Everything has been paid, for and I have more than enough to supply every man we send out into the field. We need to have fully armed with working proper equipment. I don’t want anyone out there without having the best of the best. We can’t have guns that jam, bombs that don’t detonate. Everything we have obtained is the best. I don’t skimp on anything.”

The list is for everything from bottles of water, to bullets, to scopes, gps systems, night vision goggles, black dusters that are custom made to hold weapons under them. I shake my head and look over at her, “What are we Keanu Reeves now?” I turn the laptop towards her and show her the long black coat.

“They are excellent at concealing weapons.”

“Isabella, if we plan to do this in the middle of June, I can pretty much guarantee, you are going to have a problem with men in jackets like these. They will stick out like a sore thumb.”

She smiles, “No worries, our war starts on December 24 of this year.”

I frown and turn to look out the window of the plane. That is a little more than six months away. No one will see this coming. I begin to piece it together and it's starting to click.

“I wonder what they will call it.” I mumble.

“Call what?” she tilts her head looking at me puzzled.

“My family was involved in the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. I wonder what they will call this day?”

“It won’t be in one day Masen. For this many people, it is going to take us longer than a week at the very least.”

I watch her scroll over the gang list.

“Stop.” I order.

“What?” she looks over at me as I stare at the screen wide eyed.

“Those are girls!”

“Yes and?”

“We are going to include girl gangs?”

“Just because they have a vagina Masen, doesn’t mean they will not take you out for killing their men. They are going to be worse than the men. Women are ruthless and these girls are not really right in the head, they really won’t be when we annihilate them. Their need for revenge will be a major threat, so yes, they go too..”

I sigh laying my head back against the headrest. The sun is going down and I look out the window as we make our approach to Los Angeles.

“Fasten your seatbelt, we are about to land.”

Just then the lights come on overhead and the flight attendant walks in to check on us, taking our glasses away.

Bella shuts down her laptop and we prepare to land.

I groan at the traffic that is flowing on the freeways below.

“I hope we don’t have to hit freeways to reach our destination.”

“I don’t do freeways/parking lots, so no worries. I know my way around pretty damn well without ever hitting a freeway.”

“By the way, I hope you booked us a room.” I mutter.

“I can assure you, I have lined us up a place to crash at while we are in town.”

I adjust my seat and take a deep breath. I am not a fan of Los Angeles. Don’t get me wrong the weather is beautiful. It is the fucking people that I don’t like.

“Masen?”

“Yes?” I turn to look at her.

“Please tell me you were joking when you made your threat about what is in your suitcase.”

I quirk a brow up at her and shake my head. “No. I wasn’t kidding.” I pull out a key fob out of my pocket.

A small smile forms on her lips leaving me a little unnerved. I swear I think weapons are a big turn on for her. 

“You aren’t the only one that knows how to make something blow up.” I return it to my pocket and look back out the window. 

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