“What’s going on?” Vicious asked, looking about the room as Phantom pulled a chair from the wall and sat at the desk next to Sypher, immediately typing away on one of the keyboards.
“Gadget hasn’t checked in, and they are moving Colin. Something is wrong.”
“Reaper, he’s stationary, and he isn’t moving,” Phantom said, getting my attention.
“Who do we have that is close enough?” I asked her.
“No one, but I know someone. Let me call him.”
Nodding, I turned to Ghost. “I want the boys ready to ride within the hour. As soon as we know Gadget is safe, we are heading to D.C.”
“It will be faster flying,” Ghost offered.
Agreeing, I said, “Make the arrangements.”
“Boss, I know where they are headed,” Sypher said, typing away on his keyboard. “Their pilot just updated a flight plan for Maine.”
Turning, I looked at Chaos, who was already moving, “I’ll tell Ghost to change the destination.”
“Pharoah, it’s me. Are you still in D.C.?” Phantom said, talking into her phone. “I need you to make a pit stop before you head my way. Yeah. It’s always interesting here. Look, it’s Gadget.”
I said nothing as Phantom talked to whoever, giving them the address of the Hughes townhouse. The call only lasted less than a minute, and when Phantom hung up, she smiled. “My sister will take care of our brother.”
“Fuck, that’s who’s coming tomorrow!” I shouted.
Smiling, Phantom added. “Don’t worry boss. You’ll love her.”
Sypher jumped up and pointed at his computer screen. “Look!”
All of us looked at several pictures of Gary Hughes raping Catarina. To make matters worse, his father-in-law Edward Lyons Jr was also in some of the photos. “Mr. Valentinetti just sent these. According to his email, he handed them over to the Tribune, and they should be made public by nightfall.”
“Uh, Reaper,” Phantom gasped as she reached for a remote, turning up the volume on one of the screens. We all watched and listened as a news reporter said, “According to legal documents this network received only an hour ago, District Attorney Hughes and his wife, Linda Brentwood-Lyons, illegally adopted all three of their children with the help of her father, multi-billionaire and political financier Edward Allworth Lyons Jr., the principal benefactor and financial contributor to President James Bryant, who it seems has also been implicated in the underground baby brokerage. There has been no comment from the White House, and when I tried to reach out to Mr. Lyons for a comment, I was told he was no longer in the country.
“I have also learned that a second appellate court judge has just overturned a custody dispute between a man named Reginald Buchannon and Gary and Linda Hughes. According to court documents, Mr. Buchannon was never notified of his son’s birth and was petitioning the court for custody of the youngest minor of Gary and Linda Hughes. I have not been able to contact Mr. Buchannon for comment. As for the two older children, they were picked up by D.C. Child Protective Services before they left school. This story is still ongoing. This is Ashley Rivers reporting.”
Fuck this.
It was time for the Golden Skull way.
“Get ready to ride!”
Twenty-Eight
Catarina
Sitting in the airport waiting room, I watched as Reggie, Luciano, Giorgio, and Shadow talk quietly over near the large bay windows. Something was going on, yet no one was telling me anything like all the times before.
Part of me wanted to know, needed to know what was going on with Colin, but a small part knew I couldn’t take the disappointment anymore.
I wanted this over.
I wanted my son back.
I dreamed of the day he would be back in my arms.
I prayed it was soon.
Living without him was unbearable. To make matters worse was knowing that he was alive in this world, and I couldn’t get to him.