One by one little red dots appeared all over each of the cars. No car or glass was one hundred percent bulletproof and I’d be happy to prove it to them.
Instead, the back door of the second town car opened. All I saw were a pair of black snake leather shoes and brown cane as he got out. “You Callahan's sure know how to welcome a man.”
“Ju-long of the Tàiyáng,” I whispered, gripping on tighter to the gun in my hand. His hair was slicked back and he wore an eye patch covering his blind eye. The scar running from the tip of his hairline to his cheekbone looked worse in person. “You are a long, long way from home old man.”
“The current events of this city made it impossible to stay away.”
Closing my door, I walked forward. His one good eye dropped to the gun in my hand, his bodyguards each holding their weapons up to me. He lifted his gloved hand and they dropped their weapons.
“Are you not going to tell your men to back down as well?”
“I see no reason why I should do so. After all, our families aren’t on the best of terms at the moment.”
He nodded, gripping his cane. “Exactly why I have tried to get in contact with you, but it seems my calls go unanswered.”
“Your letter was delivered loud and clear, though.”
“What letter?”
Son of a bitch. “The letter delivered mere seconds after you took a shot at a local school my child, along with my nieces and nephews, attend. That letter.”
He frowned, leaning in closer to me. “Obviously, there is some sort of misunderstanding at play here.”
“There is no such thing as a misunderstood bullet, Ju-long.”
The wind howled, blowing over us with such a force that it felt like knives were slicing across my face, and yet neither of us moved, neither of us looked away.
“I recognize that you and your family are in quite the dilemma. However, I hoped it would not cloud your judgment to such a degree.” He reached into his jacket pocket and I lifted the gun to his head. He lazily stared at it before pulling out the cigar and placing it to his lips. One of his men came around with a light, burning the end of it before running back. He took a long drag of it and blew the smoke from his nose. “My family and our people have nothing to do with the current events of this city.”
“So you’re telling me you’ve been framed.”
“Quite excellently, I might add.” He inhaled the smoke, the end of the cigar glowing red and ash falling slightly with each drag. “As such, I personally came to this godforsaken city to speak with Liam, but like I said, my calls go unanswered.”
“And you knew where I was, how?”
He snorted. “Let us not get hung up on the logistics.”
“I’m the one brother who cares a lot about the logistics. How did you know where I was?”
His eyes narrowed and he paused, smoking, his grip on the cane so tight it looked uncomfortable. “Listen carefully to me, boy, I am not the same as the vermin who crawl on their backs for you people. Whoever is after the lot of you has no nothing to do with my family, and as such, you should be thankful that I have cleared the air, or else your family would chase its own tail right into a trap.”
“Excuse me if I don’t believe you—”
“Whether you do or not is not up to you. It is up to your boss. Or will you be making the executive decision by yourself? Maybe it is you who decided to betray your family and take over; seems far more plausible. If so, call me when you are through and we can make a new deal between us.” He placed the cigar back into his mouth, turning from me and heading back. However, he didn’t get into either of the two now useless cars. Instead, an Escalade pulled up right behind them and escorted him back.
I stood watching for a moment as the rest of his people poured gas all over the cars, then moved back to mine.
“Sir?” The Bluetooth connected.
“I want eyes on Ju-long at all times. However, no one, I mean no one, is to harm him until Liam gives the order. Am I clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
Stepping on the pedal, I sped right past both cars as the flames engulfed them. None of this made sense…if it wasn’t the Tàiyáng, then who?
I didn’t even need to search for a station to hear news on Mel; everyone everywhere was talking about her.
“In a press conference, the surgeons at Merry West have confirmed that Governor Callahan is alive though her condition is critical. The chief of surgery does say however they remain hopeful…”