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“When I was a child, we heard about the Huángjia de Mafia coming to our city. The man who was head of the organization was brutal and ruthless. He killed anyone in his path. They do not use guns. Only knives, swords, kama, and stars.”
“Kama?” frowned JB.
“Kama looks like a short-handled sickle. The blade is curved and can easily gut or behead a man. Their weapons are ones of silence. That’s what they pride themselves in. Like modern-day ninjas.”
“You buy into this, May?” asked Luke.
“They murdered more than four hundred people in one night, Luke. All because the boss wanted the village leveled in order to build his home. They are thousands strong, and if they are in the United States, it is not for a sightseeing trip.”
“What was his name? The boss?” asked Eric.
“Huizhong Yun,” said May. Only it wasn’t just her reciting the name. There was an echo in the room as Kat spoke the name as well. May turned to her, tilting her head.
“I texted an old friend,” she said. “He wanted us to know that if this man is here, if he’s searching for Sage, we’re going to need more men.”
“We need more than that, Kat. What did they say?” asked Luke.
“Bao Wu is the grandson of Chen Wu. He’s done a great job of cleaning up his grandfather’s businesses and making quite a success of them. He has nothing to gain by lying to us or giving us false information. He says that Yun has been telling anyone who will listen that he is about to launch the biggest weapon known to man on his enemies. Including the United States.”
“Does anyone like us anymore?” frowned Raphael.
“I love you, baby,” said Savannah as she kissed him. “But you bring up a good point. We’re not on the top of everyone’s favorite list.”
“I think we need to see what else is hidden out at the lodge,” said May. “If everything out there is from the same era, the same location in the Middle East, we may be onto something huge.”
The walk to the Sugar Lodge was long, but it was lovely. Sage took note of all the flowers, plants, and trees. Some she’d never seen before and wondered if they were unique to Belle Fleur.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said, stopping to touch the leaves of a plant. “It’s the most unusual plant I’ve ever seen. Granny had a wonderful garden, but nothing like this.”
“I’m not the expert in plants, but Lindsay and Mama Irene could probably tell you all about them,” smiled Mike.
“What was it like growing up here? I mean, I look around this place and think, what a wonderful playground to grow up in. Hundreds of places to play hide-and-seek. All this amazing history. Natural resources for hunting, fishing, and just observing. What was it like?”
Mike thought about it a moment, thinking it through in his head before he answered. He didn’t give it much thought as a child, but now, as an adult, he realized what a unique and special place he’d been blessed to live in.
“It was amazing,” he smiled. “I don’t think I ever gave it much thought before, but it was wonderful. All of this, we sort of took for granted. It was our family that truly made it all special, Sage. Having my twin, Nate, with me all the time. Plus having my twin cousins, JB and Tobias. Twin uncles. And my grandfathers here. All of my family. I was never lonely. Never.”
“That must have been wonderful,” she said quietly. “I didn’t think much about it at the time, but I guess I was a lonely child. Granny tried to entertain me, always playing games with me, teaching me new things about the jewelry business, but I didn’t have a lot of friends that I could bring home.”
“Why not?” asked Mike.
“I guess it was mostly my own fault. Granny would have welcomed my friends, but I knew that then they would ask why I lived with my granny and not with my parents. I didn’t want to have to answer that.” He nodded at her, hugging her tightly to his side.
“You’re not responsible for your parents’ actions, Sage.” She nodded as they continued to walk with the rest of the team.
Normally, because the Sugar Lodge was so far out on the property, they would take the ATVs. But it was a beautiful day, the first day without biting winds. The sun was shining, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
“Oh, wow,” she said, looking up ahead. “That’s beautiful!”
“It’s great,” smiled Mike. “It used to be the old sugar mill on the property. Then we found some hidden treasure from the Civil War in it. Matthew and Irene couldn’t bring themselves to tear it down, so we decided to make it a safe place for anyone seeking refuge. Whether it’s from other people or from flooding, that sort of thing.
“Over the years, we’ve used it for sleepovers, parties, shelter, just about everything. It has an entire dormitory and kitchen upstairs. There are dozens of old buildings on the property that have been preserved, thanks to Adele and her students.”
“That’s crazy,” said Sage, shaking her head. “It’s just magnificently preserved.”
Following the others inside the building, a few of the men rolled back the large rug in the middle of the room, revealing a latched door in the floor. Pulling the latch, inside they could see the massive safe, one of several placed on the property for emergencies.
Mike pulled Sage closer to the opening so that when the safe was opened, she would be able to see what it held. Luke looked at his father, who stepped onto the platform built around the safe, and began to enter the combination. When they heard the soft click, he pulled on the door, others helping to push the massive steel open.
