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“I’m all the family you need,” Malik whispered, his voice trembling. “You’d choose your son over me? After everything I’ve done for you? The drive is the last piece. What we need before we can take everyone else down. Then we’re free.”
“The flash drive doesn’t worry me. It never has. If it made my brother feel better, makes my nephew feel safe, I’m fine with him having it. I won’t hurt him. I won’t give him cause to use it against me. This life I lead, it’s full of shit I can’t escape. I loved my brother. I love my nephew, even though he grates on my last fucking nerve at times.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I knew you’d try to get it.” My dad shook his head. “You’re the one who orchestrated all of this. The break-ins at Dexen’s home. You went to the Lynx house and broke in there. If you think I didn’t know what you were doing, you were wrong. I even knew Alan was alive. You can’t make a move without me seeing it. I let it play out to try and figure out what your endgame was. Then you brought my son here.” His voice dropped low. It was the dangerous tone I’d heard him use more than once. “You put a gun to my only child’s head.”
“For you,” Malik insisted. The gun pressed harder to my temple. “I did this for you. For us. Fuck, can’t you see how much I love you?”
“Mal, I’ve loved you for so long, but I had a feeling this day would come. It’s why I never pursued anything with you. I knew how you felt, yet kept my own emotions locked down.”
Jesus, what was I hearing? My dad and Malik were in love with each other? It wasn’t that far-fetched but the thought of them being together… No, I wasn’t going there. Mostly because I couldn’t stand my dad, and Malik was the biggest piece of shit on the planet.
“What day?” Malik asked, his voice barely a whisper.
“When I’d have to choose between you and my son. If I had given in and let myself love you fully, given myself to you, I wouldn’t have been able to make the decision.”
A gasp was heard drawing my dad’s eyes to my right. “What?” I heard Alan ask. “This is like watching a soap opera. Very entertaining. Continue.” How Malik or my dad didn’t put a bullet in his head at that very second, I didn’t know.
“I don’t want you to choose,” Malik replied like Alan wasn’t there.
“I made my brother a promise before he died. It was around the same time he told me about the flash drive. He asked me to promise to watch over Perry and Jordan. To not let anything happen to them.” It took my uncle to get my dad to promise that? I felt so loved. It was no wonder I was so fucked up. “You betrayed me, Mal. You kept Alan alive when I told you to kill him. You brought Jordan here and risked his life. You’re pointing a gun at my son.” My dad’s eyes shimmered with tears. “You hurt me, Mal.” Then his gaze met mine. “Goose.”
My eyes widened, realization dawning on me.Oh fuck.My body went lax, the gun slipping over my temple as I fell to the ground.
A trigger was pulled. A shot rang out loud in the room. The sound of Malik’s body hitting the floor behind me shouldn’t have been a surprise. My dad could have killed Alan. But no, he chose me over the man he loved.
My dad gave me the trigger word no one else knew. He taught it to me when I was in kindergarten and loved playing duck, duck, goose. He told me if he ever said the word goose to me, it meant I needed to duck. He drilled it into my head whenever he got the chance. He took a game and made it a safety measure. Every time someone said the word duck on TV, or in conversation, he’d look at me and say goose. I’d nod, understanding what he meant but not doing the action because it was our secret. No one was the wiser. They thought we were playing a game. Malik didn’t even know. I remembered it like it hadn’t been decades since I’d last heard it.
But we weren’t out of the woods yet. Alan was still alive and when I finally turned to look at him, I noticed he had a gun of his own. Aimed at my dad.
33
DEXEN
We followed Jordan Sr.’s directions to a T. Greer punched in the code to get into the garage. Barry stood waiting for us near an empty parking spot. Nothing was spoken when we got out. We didn’t know who was listening or what we were walking into. Greer and I each had a gun tucked into the back of our jeans, hidden under our shirts. I would have much rather had it in my hand, but that would have drawn more suspicion if someone saw us.
My hand itched to hold the gun, my fingers twitching with intent. Somewhere in here was a man I loved, and I didn’t know if he was alive or dead. I’d like to think if he was dead, Jordan would have told us. But he didn’t. He said to get here. That was what we did as fast as we could.
The back of the building, where we were, had a flight of stairs we ascended until we reached the lobby level of the building. There were guards standing with their backs to us. Barry waved us over quickly, so we weren’t spotted. I heard him say something to them then he was back with us, leading us down a hall to an elevator meant for deliveries.
The elevator felt like it took days to take us up. It stopped halfway to the floor Barry selected. I was ready for the shit to hit the fan but when the door opened and Barry saw who was on the other side, he relaxed. It must have been the second guard Jordan mentioned. He nodded to us and got in. A ding and the slowing of our movement told us we were here.
Barry put his finger to his lips before we got out. His gun was raised, as was the other guard’s. Greer and I took out our weapons, holding them at the ready. The hallway was eerily quiet, the sound of fabric rustling from our clothes and coats, our shoes on the carpet, were the only things to be heard. Slowly, we crept up the hallway. I could hear men talking. The closer we got, the more detail I could make out. Jordan Sr., Malik, and… No, it couldn’t be.
Just outside the open door, we paused and pressed to the wall. We heard everything Malik and Jordan said. We heard Alan’s voice. Jesus, I thought Malik put a bullet in his head. I pushed that aside to focus on the words Jordan Sr. spoke. It was surreal. He knew the whole time about the drive but didn’t do anything about it. Malik recently found out and took matters into his own hands.
Malik really did go against him. He did this on his own without the man he cared for knowing. I couldn’t even blame him. Had it been Greer or JJ, I would have done the same thing, consequences be damned. I wouldn’t want anyone having that kind of leverage over them. Fuck, this was a mess, and we couldn’t see inside. I had to trust JJ’s dad to handle this and protect him.
I could hear the brokenness in Jordan Sr.’s voice. Could make out how much this pained him. “You hurt me, Mal.” Then he uttered the word, “Goose.”
A shot rang out. The sound of a body crumpling to the floor. That was when Barry moved, when we followed. We got behind Jordan, the four of us with our guns raised.
One of the men I loved sat on the ground beside Malik’s body. My gaze met his briefly. It was long enough for me to see he was okay.
Alan’s eyes were wide and mine fixated on him. I made the mistake of not killing him myself before. He hurt Dominic. He conned JJ and me. One bullet and I could get rid of him permanently.
“Are we keeping him alive for a reason?” I asked.
