The Binder

Listening to the water lap away at the edge of the lawn as the wind caresses my face. I can only smile. We did it. WE DID IT! We saved one more. This one was a little bit harder to handle for me. I knew Samantha’s grandmother personally. She was a friend, family. I had stood and looked her in the eye and promised to be there for her granddaughter. I will not stop now. Right now, I want to just sit here. Inhale the sweet scent of nature and good wine. Tomorrow will come soon enough, and I’ll fight more idiots then.

BEEP! BEEP! Is it wrong to want to take a bat to your alarm clock? I managed to avoid work all day yesterday. Can I pull it off again today? I have 5 meetings scheduled. I know one will be all about Francisco. The others will be about budget and why we used the plane to fly between 3 states in 2 days. These people act as if I don’t do a damn good job. These little shits need to realize I was catching the things that go bump in the night before they could wipe their own asses. Five more years. I can retire in five more years. “You over there lying to yourself about retiring in 5 years again?” Sigh, that morning voice still does something to me.

Turning slowly to my side and running my fingertips over his face. Francisco; forbidden fruit, love of my life, father to my children, my husband. There is no paperwork filed anywhere in the US or any territory. He is mine. I am his. We’ve been together since I was 15. Forty years of my life.

“Why do you always show up unannounced?” Eyes squinting at me, “Do you not want me to come home anymore?” He knows that’s not what I’m saying. This is the frustrated woman in me speaking right now. I wish I could take him to the company parties, have a picture of us on my desk, take a Sunday drive, get ice cream, or just shout out loud, ’This is my husband!’ The reality is that is not who we are and I knew that when I went into law enforcement.

To avoid an argument, I roll over on top of him batting my eyelashes. “OH! No no no you aren’t just going to roll on top of me woman. You can’t just use my body after acting like I can’t come home.” Slowly raising up on my knees sliding my hands under his pillow. For a man who says he doesn’t want me on him, he immediately settles himself, so we are now perfectly aligned. Leaning in to kiss him,” WOMAN you haven’t even brushed your teeth!”, “Oh shut up and kiss me. Let me see how late you can make me today.” With a dramatic indulgent sigh, he hugs me close, “Fine. I am telling the boys how you use me like I’m some toy.”

Chapter 1

Walking into this unmarked building I slowly put on my work armor, mentally. I have to let go of the wife I was a few moments ago, the love I treasure. I am now Agent Sanchez. Never knowing who exactly is watching through the many cameras hidden around the building I put my work mask on. Inhaling deeply the strength I need and exhaling all the things I wish I could be. Mental count down 3-2-1, “Agent Sanchez. Good morning.”

Placing my briefcase, purse, firearms, badge, keys, and coffee on the table I walk through the metal detector. “Good morning Cedric and Rodney. How are you guys this morning?” Rodney with a flirtatious smirk; “Happy to see you.” Rodney is every bit of 6’7 and all muscle, with milk chocolate skin, hazel eyes with the longest thickest lashes I’ve ever seen, dimples, and a bald head. He was young, to me anyway. Everyone knew Rodney was married. His wife is 5 feet 2-inch stick of dynamite. He was a flirt, and we all knew it but we also didn’t indulge him. Ms. Georgia Ann did not play about her man. Regardless of her fiery attitude, she is the best analyst I have ever worked with. It had taken a few years to acquire her.

I could hear the tell-tale sounds of that infamous stick of TNT coming down the hall. Georgie wore 5-inch heels every day and the click of them on the tiles always announced her arrival. I think she did it on purpose. “Rodney, save that dimpled smile for Georgie. I do not want her yelling at me.” “Aww. Mrs. Sanchez, she won’t mind.” Gathering my things off the table Cedric and I share a knowing look. That distinct staccato of a powerful walk was announcing the arrival of a powerhouse. Rodney’s demeanor changed quickly, and he was all business. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t going to watch the show.

Leaning against the table with my arms folded I watched Georgia Ann approach us in her tailored skirt suit. It was charcoal gray with blue pinstripes. She had a baby blue shirt underneath with a broach at the neck. Her shoes matched her suit and had a blue gem at the toe. There was a binder under one arm, and she had a cup of coffee in her other hand. Where Rodney was smooth mocha, she was buttery caramel with striking green eyes. If she didn’t have on make-up, you would mistake her for a child. Only if you were looking at her face. Georgie had an hourglass figure. If she were taller, she would be the perfect swimsuit model. If they featured real women. I laugh sometimes, women are paying good money for a figure like hers so they can walk around half-naked. Georgie is walking around in a 3-piece tailored suit.

She slowed her steps and looked at all of us slowly putting the coffee on the table. Turning to Rodney, who we see flinch slightly, “You are flirting again this morning?” I can’t look at Cedric if I do, I will laugh. She tells him, “I’m taking my coffee back.” “Aww, Georgia Ann doesn't do that. You know I was running late this morning. Please let me have this cup.” She was squinting her eyes at him, and I could only cling to Cedric trying not to laugh. Rodney is cowering behind his podium now hoping she will give him this coffee. Georgie takes a step towards him, and he flinches… flinches. Without turning toward, us, “What do you guys think, should I give it to him?” Taking a deep breath. I look at Cedric and we shrug, “Hmmmm. Yeah, let him have it. We have other fish to fry today.” She hands him the coffee and growls at him a little bit. I notice she had drunk from the cup first because there is lipstick on one side of the cup. Shaking my head, I grab her by her arm and so we can get the day started.

Chapter 2

My meetings are going to start in about 20 minutes, so I need to get whatever briefing from my team done quickly. We can communicate via messenger, but it will be a lot easier if they can give me a brief rundown first. “What’s in the binder Georgie?” Taking a deep breath like she needs to align her chi, she says, “We received this in the mail. It was a brown paper package addressed to you.” Now, this would have angered someone else, but I handpicked my team and anything that comes to me at work can be opened by any of them. “Did you have it checked before you opened it? Did it come from someone we know, another team?” With a haughty sniff, “Of course I had it checked. It was addressed to you with no return address.” That brought me up short. What are we getting into now?

We made it to my office, it was an open space with a glass box in the center that gave me a little privacy from my team. I normally left my door open because there was really no reason not to. Everyone was present and working on something, but they stopped as I walked through. “Gather in the center everyone we have a few minutes before my meetings start. Rapid-fire debriefs for now and we will message as need be.”

Jaxon was my assistant and had a cup of hot tea ready for me. Taking it from her hand I pointed at the agent furthest to my left and they started firing off new leads and updating me on the information. We had three missing women two had domestic violence reports filed and one was a young single mother. It was Georgie’s turn, and she was flipping through that binder. I stood there staring at her and she held one of her little fingers up. So, I guess we all needed to wait for her to be ready. “The clock is ticking Georgia Ann. If you aren’t ready, you can message me.” Sighing loudly, she says, “All three of the women mentioned are listed in this binder along with any female children they have.” You know those moments where you feel like the pit of your stomach has fallen and everything around you slows down. This was one of those moments.

I needed to take a deep breath to center myself and gather my thoughts. Everyone on my team had stopped and they were looking at me. “I want a copy of that binder made for everyone in this room. Research all the names starting with the three we know are missing. Divide it up in a way that works best for you. I need to know who’s alive and who isn’t and then we can formulate a game plan. I have three meetings today.” “Two meetings today.” Jaxon my assistant interjected. “The one at 915 this morning has been canceled.” “Why? I was going to make it.” “It wasn’t about you. The woman with the children is related to a General working at the Pentagon.” Shit, this thing was going to become a complete shit show before it even started. “Flannigan said he would take your paper report in place of a verbal debriefing and that the 11 o’clock meeting would be about anything you find out about the missing mom.”,” Georgie, what is the mom’s name?” “Wednesday. Her name is Wednesday.” She whispered. “Mom.” The agonized whisper of my son. Cutting my eyes toward him I can only shake my head. “I need a few moments guys. Start working on the copies and assigning sections. I have a few phone calls to make.”

I’m in this damn fishbowl room I can’t break down even if I want to. My personal phone is vibrating. It’s a text message from Francisco. The boys just told me. I will stay the rest of the week. I will go with you on this hunt. We finish this one way or another. Mi Amore. There is no point in looking at any of my sons. They always know when their father is home and there was no point in thinking they would keep this quiet.

Wednesday was our baby girl. She went missing when she was four years old. I blamed myself. I was running late and the woman watching her needed to leave. She wasn’t paying attention and handed Wednesday to a stranger. We received no ransom request, no leads, nothing. She was just gone. I have been focused on domestic violence cases and staying away from kidnappings and any case involving children. I knew I would enter every space looking for my child and not really be focused. Now I have no choice. The devil has come, and he wants a dance.

Chapter 3

By 11 o’clock I was seated at the conference table with a room full of old men and Jaxon next to me to take notes. Flannigan was the head of this division and we had worked together for years. I had taken care not to look at the pictures of the young woman and I was determined not to look at her now. Clearing his throat Flannigan began the meeting, “We are here because General Caden Alder was notified today that his niece was missing along with her two young daughters. We know her last whereabouts and have pieced together a timetable based on what they know about her life. Sanchez if you’re ready.” Deep breath in. “Yes. Wednesday Alder was last seen Friday evening around 7 pm she had gotten off of work and picked up her daughters from daycare. They had gone to the grocery store and bought mainly items to make a homemade pizza. Her family says it was a Friday tradition for her and her girls. She left the grocery store and headed north toward Cameron Road where her apartment is located. We see her car pass through the light and turn into the complex. We have requested access to any security cameras within the complex. Wednesday is 25 years old, and her daughters Sasha and Fallon are 4 and 2. She works as a nail tech and attends an online school studying business. These are the pictures we have now, and I will share all security footage as it comes in. Any questions?” “I just have one question.” Looking across the table at Jed McEnaney, “Yes?” “Why does she look like you?” I give his smug ass the only answer I can give, “Maybe it’s her coloring. Does anyone else have any more questions? If not Jaxon and I will return my team and continue gathering research. We will fly out later tonight or tomorrow depending on the leads. Good day gentlemen.”

If there was anything else I could do today it would be to walk out of the room with my head held high, my shoulders back, and my eyes dry. Inside I was falling apart. If she looked like me, I could be looking for my child all over again. I had more questions now than I started with. How did she become a part of Alder’s family? I needed Francisco and there was no way I could call him from here. “Jaxon let’s get some food ordered. It looks like it’s going to be a long day.” Rounding the corner I notice my team is packed up. “What are you guys doing? We have a lot of work to do.” Cisco, my somber soft-spoken son, “We are moving this to the house. I told Flannigan when that meeting was over, we were going to be setting up base at home. If he wanted a briefing, we could Skype or Zoom with him from there.” I could tell by the set of his jaw he had indeed told Flannigan. It wasn’t a question. “So have food delivered to the house?” Jaxon asked me. Cisco answered instead, “No the food has been taken care of.” I knew what that meant. His father was cooking because there was nowhere else to channel his rage. “Let’s go people. I’ll see you all at the house.”

I don’t know why I bothered with that statement they weren’t going to move out until I had all my stuff and I was walking out. I knew the news had traveled that the new missing person looked a lot like me. It was a closed meeting so of course, the whole building knew. Rodney and Cedric were out of uniform when we reached the exit. They opened the doors for us then brought up the rear. Raising an eyebrow at Georgie, “I also had a talk with Flannigan. The boys will provide extra security detail and they have a few friends who will be part of our task force as well.” Now I thought this was my damn team. They are making all kinds of decisions today. I appreciate them, they are seeing areas that need to be filled and I’m grateful that they feel empowered to do so. “Let’s move out. See everyone at the house.” I’ll be damned. I won’t even be able to drive myself it seems Cisco is already under the wheel of my car.

Chapter 4

I relax into the leather of the seats. How am I sitting in the back seat of my own car? Cisco and Priest are in the front. My sons. Their brothers, Alfonso and Gryphon are in other cars behind us. I am fighting so hard not to let my mind wander and lose my shit in this car. I will hold myself in check until I get home. Suddenly the speakers come to life with the sounds of Jay-Z’s The Black Album. Catching my sons’ eye in the mirror I can only smile. He knows his mama. I need these lyrics and hard-driving beats to distract my mind. There is nothing better than selling drugs in my head to distract me from emotions I can’t process right now.

The other people on the team are already at the house and the boys are parking the cars behind the house out of the view of the street. I turn to question Cisco and his response explains it all, “Dad called in his team.” Of course, he did. I guess all the secrets will be out today. Walking through the door my now quiet house has become a bustling center of monitors, people running around on headphones with tablets in their hands, and in the center of all of that is Francisco. I can’t hold it back anymore I need to let this go. I run to him and let him hold me as I break down and just be the mom who lost her child, the wife who needs support, the angry Black woman. I know everyone is looking and trying not to look at the same time, but I don’t care these are our people, our village and I will not hide my emotions here in my home. Once I have exhausted my tears and ruined his shirt, “Are you done now?” Cupping my face and tilting it up he asked the only other question I needed to hear, “Ready to go hunting mi amore?” Slowly smiling, showing as many teeth as I can I nod my head.

Francisco raises his hand in the air and all the noise stops everyone turns to look at us. He says, “We will go to the dining table, sit and eat, then we will go over the situation and make a plan. We will answer all of your questions as well.” As everyone started to end their calls and remove their headphones, he handed me a handkerchief. As I reached for it, he looked at my face again and said, “Oh… maybe you need to go wash your face. You look crazy.” This bastard. I need this.

Once I finished washing my face and changing my clothes, I came into the dining room and there are 15 people around my table. I have the seat right next to Frankie. The men are all standing waiting for me to sit. Once I’m seated, they all sit down. I look to Frankie; I’m really shocked we are really going to do this? He smiles and nods his head. The time has come to step out of the shadows. Here we go. Before I could start to try and answer all the questions, I know my team has been wanting to ask. In comes Flannigan, “Sorry I’m late did I miss anything and please tell me there is still some bread. Frankie, you better have made enough food for me to take some home to Sarah. If I come home and she can smell your garlic bread on me she will kick my ass.” Now I have questions, turning I look at Francisco and sit back in my seat with my arms folded. This clearly isn’t my story to tell. He’s been keeping secrets.

The silence in the room is kind of loud at this point. At one end of my table is a division head of the FBI and at the other end a crime boss. Apparently, Francisco has been keeping secrets and my boss has too. I know I’ve been keeping my own, but this is not okay. Flannigan looks around the table and finally says, “Should you explain, or should I?” Francisco replies first, “I will explain. First, we need a sweep of the room. This isn’t about a lack of trust in you and more about the snake in your division and the covert software being run on all of your devices.”

Everyone submitted all their devices for scanning and three were found to have a back door program that was actively running. The quickest way to deal with that was to create a black-out space in the dining room. My son and his gadgets. With a small black box, he is able to block any signal within a small space and make it a vault. Everyone served themselves and then we all sat and waited for Frankie to start talking. Clearing his throat, he starts with, “30 years ago I decided to go undercover with a local gang. It was a logical choice because I am racially ambiguous, and it was a Latin gang. I knew the dangers involved and I didn’t trust my superiors at the time. I spent the 6 months before I was to infiltrate this organization and set up a network of my own. It wasn’t easy. Most people around us knew I was Black. My Dad had been on the force and was killed in the line of duty. We had decided early on to not divulge our marriage to the people around us and Toni never revealed much about herself anyway. We had 3 of the four boys already and Priest was on the way. She was in school anyway on track to join the FBI, so it made it easy to keep our private life private. Fast forward to the month before I was ready to go under, Jed McEnaney Sr was taken down. He and about 10 other cops were finally outed for their criminal activity. He blamed me because I was always out in the street. I had not been able to get much information from the gang because I was too new. I knew they had some inside connection, but I didn’t know who it was. I was told there was a hit out for me and to watch everyone I spoke to. I immediately stopped my normal routine and went all the way undercover. Sometimes the best thing to do is to hide in plain sight.

There are 7 men in my network. I will only mention Flannigan because he is in the room with us. We had one face-to-face meeting before I went under. We had figured out that McEnaney was not in charge and the corruption went up a lot higher than any of us could deal with at the time. This was going to be a very long game of cat and mouse. I came home as much as I could. We spoke to the children in ways they could understand. Then Wednesday was on the way. Like a lot of fathers, I was so excited for a little princess. I made a mistake; I spoke about having a baby girl and being done with building my family. One of the new recruits was a nephew of McEnaney. I didn’t put it together until today. Sean Ennis was the guy I oversaw showing how the street business worked. He never told the gang about my family, but he was feeding McEnaney the information. Once Wednesday went missing and we had no leads I never reported to my superiors, and they never tried to pull me out. There were attempted hits put out over the years. I kept moving up until I was the head. I had also been cleaning it up as I went along. We hunt traffickers, we only deal with marijuana now that it’s legal, we hunt cops. All of this has to be done covertly and I’m very good at making the story believable. There are a lot of dead bodies I’m responsible for. Now, this has come full circle and Jed McEnaney has finally shown his hand. His Dad is supposed to be up for release in a few months. He’s 85 years old and still just as mean as the day he joined the force. This meeting isn’t only about Wednesday. This is about you all joining in the fight. What questions do you have?”

Chapter 5

No one had spoken a word. No one had taken a bite except Flannigan. He had finished a plate of pasta and was on his second plate. Georgie spoke up first, “It makes so much sense now. I tried looking into you for years and there were records beyond a certain point. I didn’t understand McEnaney’s obsession with you. Your work is so different. There were so many times he would come to me and tell me to start looking into you again. He even said I should befriend you since ‘you people’ seem to get along whenever you’re together. I kept saying you were Afro Latina, and I am not.” I could only laugh. “Well about that. I am Black. My Dad was adopted by a family with the last name Sanchez, and he took it as his own. Both of my parents are Black. Like Frankie, I can pass for a few things, so I never explain.”

Rodney sat up and stated, “I am technically a part of McEnaney’s team. Cedric and I both. We aren’t really privy to much since we only ever get assigned to the security duty.” “That’s not exactly true. You’ve been a part of my team for the past 6 months. I had requested Flannigan move you over so I can start bringing you in on-field runs and get you integrated slowly. There is that policy of no married agents on the same team so we have to make it look good.” Flannigan waved his hand back and forth and speaking with a mouth full of food, “Don’t worry about that. Your payroll cost code was changed to mine and I can send agents where I want. You’re good and there is no need to report anything to Jed. If he bothered to do his paperwork himself, he would see he only has 3 people that have to report to him. They’re all his lackeys and will be going down with him.”

I was overwhelmed and decided to just let this rest for now, “Everyone eat up before the food gets cold. I know there will be more questions and we have all night. Cisco have you put boxes all over the house? Frankie who is patrolling outside?” “Yes, ma’am there are boxes around the inside of the house and one outside. They will allow for calls and internet.” Looking at Frankie with my eyebrows raised, “I’m waiting.” Exasperated, “They are my men love. They are mine.” Ok. I really don’t need to know more than that.

Lunch ended with most of the food consumed and everyone was ready to get back to work. The binder had been divided up and Flannigan had a copy as well. There were names on that list that belonged to affluent white families, and he would take point on those. I need to sit down and look at all of the information they had gathered already. The team had taken over my sun atrium in the middle of my house. My sanctuary was now ground central. I wasn’t upset. I would sacrifice all of this to bring my baby back. Coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me, Frankie asked, “Are you ready to look at the images?” I could only nod my head. Taking my hand he leads me over the left side of the atrium. The wall of windows and glass doors looking out at the lake. There is a high back stool waiting for me in front of the console table. “Hold my hand love.” I whisper. Looking up I see the stern faces of my sons on the other side of the room ready to share all the information they have. The funny thing 2 work with me and 2 with their dad. You won’t be able to tell which two do what, they are all tall, muscular, and tattooed. Francisco Jr, Alfonso, Gryphon, and Priest. I almost feel bad for anyone that comes up against them. Almost.

Chapter 6

Cisco the oldest takes point, “Everyone, I will be giving you updates on logistics, and tech data. Alfonso is following the money trails and any contracts. Gryphon has been digging with other personal data and has most of the images gathered of the people involved. Priest was able to gather some of the DNA from... Wednesday’s car and apartment. He says he will have some results in about 20 minutes so he will go last.” They ran through all the information and used string and pins to show how each person was connected. I am just trying to not get my hopes up. She may look like my baby but, there are a lot of people who look similar to her.

“MOM!” Priest is yelling at me from across the room. “What?! I heard you.” “No, you didn’t. Will you look at the papers I just handed you?” I had been in a daze. Looking at the pages. “Frankie what does this say?! Francisco helps me.” There in black and white Wednesday Alder, Sasha Alder, Fallon Alder share DNA markers with Priest Ibarra and Cisco Ibarra. Alfonso finally said something, “Gryphon and I were running late but we will get tested as well.” I waived his comment off. Sliding off of my stool. I started to walk away from them, my vision was tunneling, the voices around me were muffled, and then everything went black.

I am standing here watching my wife try to process that our daughter has been found. I knew if I touched her, she would fight me. I might be 6’4 but she is 5’4 of pent-up fury and I’m not having my ass handed to me. I also can’t tell her that the 3 guys that report to McEnaney are in the basement. Gryphon and Alfie know. She thinks Priest is always in on my stuff. None of us let him come in the trenches much. His genius is better used elsewhere. I moved quickly to catch her before she hit the ground. She won’t like that she passed out. I’m only standing because I will take out my rage on the two in the basement. My daughter has been here this whole time. I could’ve passed her on the street. I buried her in my mind so long ago I stopped looking and focused on keeping other families from feeling how we felt. Rodney is there, “I will carry her to the couch.” Jaxon was running ahead of us with a first aid kit. I run a whole organization and I couldn’t figure out who had taken my daughter. I won’t be able to keep Toni out of this. The boys have no idea how vicious their mother can really be. The work she does with the women she helps is controlled. This is personal. I think I want to turn her loose.

Jaxon waves smelling salts under Toni’s nose. She jerks awake and tries to sit up quickly. Her hands are waving and pointing at the trash can. “Get her the trash can fast!” Jaxon yells. All her lunch is coming up. Yeah, she is going to be very pissed off after this. She has held her emotions in for years. Her anger about our life, the despair about Wednesday, the daily micro-aggressions of working in law enforcement, being a single mom with a husband, having to protect all of us. She’s tired. I refuse to hold her back anymore. I want to watch her tear Jed apart. Once she is done, she staggers toward the bedroom and we’re all just standing around. Shocked. Looking at my sons, then at Flannigan. I tell them the truth, “We need to let her lose. Tell her everything you have and don’t sugar coat it. She needs to release rage inside. She won’t welcome any coddling. Flannigan call Sarah. It’s time.”

Chapter 7

The heat and pressure of the water hitting my back and head from multiple fixtures aren't enough of a distraction to drown out the internal screaming. The shower door opens. “I made a decision,” he says. “No more reigns, you run free with this. No rules. Tell me what you want me to do.” He knew I had chained myself a long time ago. Just him saying that I felt something inside of me break. I screamed. The years of unshed tears, rage, feelings of failure, guilt, released in one agonizing scream. I buried my face in his chest briefly then wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his head down. “Call my cousins” Frankie jerked back. “Let me bring whoever they want. The Jones boys we keep out of this one. It’s my family this time.” He could only nod. He probably regrets saying I was free to run this. McEnaney will watch everything around him burn.

Clean again and a little more clear-headed I went back into the atrium. Everyone was working and there was a low hum of conversation. Jaxon appeared on my left side with a cup of hot tea in her hand. “I added two shots of Jose’ Cuervo to it.” Smiling, “This is why you get the Christmas gifts you get.” My other daughters-in-law were great. They didn’t really read the room as well as Jaxon. They were also more suited for hand-to-hand combat and putting bullets in people.

Cisco snaps his fingers, and everyone stops talking and looks at him. “Dad and Alfonso have some information. McEnaney left the office shortly after we did, and he has been at a warehouse for the past 4 hours. We think this is where he is holding Wednesday and a few, if not all, the women.” The basement door opens, and I see my husband and son dragging two agents I know up from my basement. Alfie says, “McEnaney has been calling these two all day and trying to track their phones. They haven’t said much.” I heard a gasp behind me and I knew exactly who it was. Tracey, was one of my newer members. She has been having a relationship with Agent Baugh. He looked away and couldn’t hold his head up.

“How much information were you giving him?” I asked her. “Nothing. I told him we would not discuss our cases. Work was for work, and we were separate from that. Now I know where the bug on all our devices came from. He used my laptop once. I will understand if you fire me.” Shaking my head, “I am not going to fire you, Tracey. Make better choices in the men you lay down with the baby. Now Agent Baugh is there something you want to share with me?” His partner starts yelling about how he needs to stay quiet if he knows what’s good for him, “Sir. Please shut up. You sound like a bad crime movie. Is there something you want to share?” He smirks and says, “I will be sure to make good for those little girls before I choke the life out of them.” The silence that fell in the room after his statement had his look of bravado slipping.

“Cousin. You called?” Now I’m the one with a feral grin. Walking closer to him and getting in his face, “You will tell me everything now. What my husband and son did was tame. Now it’s my turn.” “You BLACK BI-!”, “Tsk Tsk you don’t speak to my cousin like that. I’ll rip your tongue out.” “Let me introduce you all to my cousins Deacon and Prophet. Please bring them up to speed.” Turning to Deacon, “Who else did you bring with you? Pierre, Candy, and Alex.” “Thank you for coming. How did you know?” “We were already on the trail of McEnaney when we got the text. We would have come by after dealing with him. They are in the kitchen eating.”

As my cousins took the two agents to the shed all the information was sent to their phones. My sons are headed my way, “MOM? Why did you call the cousins? They will level this city.” “Do you think I would less for any one of you? The blood that flows behind this is on my hands, not yours. Your cousins will be beside me. You all will come up behind them. I am not leaving you out I just need a different kind of support this time.” My cousins were all ex-military. A couple of my boys had served with them. They were young, strong, loyal, and feral when it came to the women in our family. If they were after McEnaney already that means he must be connected to their missing sister. “Keep working on the warehouse see if there have been any vans or trucks moving in and out a lot lately. When we go, we go fully prepared to fight?”

Chapter 8

The two agents didn’t survive the interrogation. Frankie and the boys wisely stayed out of the shed in the backyard. Night had fallen before I came back into the house. I didn’t’ speak to anyone I went straight to my room and got back in the shower. As the blood that wasn’t my own ran down the drain Frankie told me, Sarah arrived around 5 pm. She and Alex have been cleaning their guns and knives all evening. We know there will be two 18 wheelers arriving at 1 am at the warehouse. McEnaney Sr has been setting up the pickup and drop-offs from jail. The warden was on his payroll. He has a thing for little boys. Turning my head to look in his direction, I’m happy that the steam is blurring my face, “This goes up a lot higher than any of us thought, doesn’t it?”, “Yes, it does. You have 2 hours before we move out. Is there anything you need?” With hollow laughter, “I need you, Frankie. I will always need you. Tell me it will be okay.” “Promise me you won’t go quiet Toni. Let me stand beside you in this don’t run ahead and shut me out. This is our family.” I could only nod. “Did the cousins tell you, these people are responsible for taking Courtney? Stand by me Frankie, but know I am not holding back. There will be blood.” “I know.” With that, he was gone.

I spent the next hour and a half looking over all of the information. We decided we would focus on the local ring first then move out to the other ones in the state and follow the trail all the way to the top. I tried sending Georgie and Tracey home before we rolled out. They refused. Everyone had on black from head to toe when I finally looked up. The cousins had shared a few new toys with my team, night vision contacts. They warned them that they all will appear to have night glow eyes to the naked eye. It helped to scare the people we were going after. I would be wearing a special pair of glasses. “Let’s load up. Everybody better have body armor on. We hit them hard and we hit them together. Where is Priest?” Everybody started watching butterflies. “Where is he? Just tell me.” Pierre was the only one who spoke up, “He is on the roof of the building already. We’ve been in contact for the last 45 minutes. He can see a few women and a bunch of children in the center of the room. They look to be ok so far.”

I asked Flannigan to coordinate the medical assistance needed. Sarah came up and said, “Hey I just want you to know, I LOVE when your family comes to town. I get to stop pretending to be the good little ‘Snow bunny’ for a little while.” “You’ve never been a good Snow bunny.” “True statement.”

“Ok everyone gather around. You all know what we are doing. There will be things we see tonight. Gather any physical information you can. Let’s pray. Lord Thank you for this opportunity to provide justice for these women and children. Please keep us safe going and coming. I ask for forgiveness for any life that is taken by our hands tonight. Be a shield around us and guide everything we do. In Jesus' name, Amen. Let’s go.”

Leaving out of my front gates I noticed my house was surrounded by guards. I had not thought about guarding my own home. I looked up and Frankie winked at me. The bubble we had built around our life burst in such a dramatic fashion. Now here we are speeding through the night together. Together. They won’t know what hit them.

Chapter 9

Everything happened too quickly. The cousins and Priest came through the ceiling while we came in through the front and back of the warehouse. Jed thought he would use the children as shields for him and his men. Once the power was cut, they were left fumbling in the dark. You would’ve thought the children would be screaming. We were in the dark with glowing contacts on and they didn’t make a sound. When they were told to run, they ran. Wednesday was chained inside one of the offices. I heard Georgie say she had her and they were going out of the back. Tracey was able to gather a few computers and a lot of paper files. They knew to look for any binders or notebooks. Jed’s dad was old school and keeping paper notes would be the way he kept track of things. Once I got word that the drivers of the 18 wheelers were in custody and everyone in the warehouse was out. “Family. Come.”

Jed McEnaney was a sweating spitting mess on the ground in front of me. He was yelling obscenities at me, “You Black Bitch, nigger, whore! I took your daughter and sold her to Alder. He thought he was protecting her from me. I snuck into her room at his house and raped her when she was 10. The blood from her little cunt was so sweet.” I tried in vain not to let my emotions show on my face. He kept talking, “I knew there was something weird about your family. There were no records, and my dad hated your bastard husband. You thought it was such a secret I knew. I watched you and I waited. I paid that stripper to pick up your daughter and bring her to me. I slit her throat. That is why there was never a trail. I hid the body in a Jane Doe grave. It helped that that daycare worker was so depressed she killed herself. Stupid, so upset over a kid that wasn’t hers. When my dad gets out, he will kill you all. We will enjoy it together.” “Where are the rest of the children Jed?” “What? Why are you asking me about anyone else? This is about your bitch of a kid.” “Jed. Every child you stole is mine. I want to know where they are.” He spits at me. “Just kill me! You’re so weak. Kill me!” I heard someone running up and we all stood there in shock as Wednesday flew up and kicked him in the face. She started stomping on his balls and we all stood there watching and listening to him squeal like a stuck pig. Finally, “Hey boys! Don’t just stand there get your sister.”

She broke down then. Frankie leaned over and whispered, “That’s your daughter. Flies into a rage then screams.” “SHUT UP!” I asked McEnaney again if he has anything he’d like to share. He was just rolling around moaning about his little package. “Alfie! Gryphon! Check the offices, please. Make sure we haven’t left anything.” Wednesday is standing beside me and asked, “Are you, my mom? You smell like what I remember her smelling like.” “Yes. I am. This is your family.” She nodded and turned to walk away, then over her shoulder she said, “I think there are people in all of these warehouses. I overheard one of his men talking about it. He was in a cop uniform.” She walked out with her head held high and her brothers behind her. Crouching down beside Jed, “Hey. Can you hear me? I want nothing more than to let my cousins rip your body apart and make it look like a wild animal attack, but I won’t. I am not going to put a bullet in your head either. I’ve arranged something special for you.” I kicked him between his legs and walked away.

We checked the other warehouses there were signs of them being used. We gathered what information we could. We left Jed in the first warehouse, locked in with one window open. Everyone was puzzled about that, everyone except my cousins. Listen let’s get back to the house and debrief. Everyone is welcome to stay. Rodney looked at me and asked, “So we’re just leaving him here.” In the distance, you could hear the distinct bark of hyenas. I looked at him and smiled and said, “Well he won’t be alone for long. Let’s move out people.”

The newscaster was standing in front of 4 burning warehouses. The report was saying the workers at the gas station thought they had heard hyenas early this morning and then there was an explosion. Research shows that these buildings belonged to Jed McEnaney Sr, who was found dead in his cell this morning. I looked over at Frankie, “You called the Jones boys anyway?” “Your cousins are good for some things and my cousins are good for some things.” I can’t argue with that.

We will need to build a relationship with Wednesday and her daughters. General Alder will be here tomorrow. We have a bunch of files to go through. This fight is just beginning. Deacon and Prophet are still here, we will find their sister. As dangerous as they look each of them is walking and holding one of my granddaughters. I heard one of them ask, “Do you kill all the monsters?” I didn’t hear the answer, but I already know what it is. The answer is yes. We’re just getting started.