<>Liam's POV<>
We weren't followed. My suspicions rose. Me and Nova were on high alert. We watched our surroundings carefully. We didn't take the risky way to the motel, so we hid out at Wagner's home, deep in the south side the day before the exchange.
"Keep that money hidden. Don't get jumped." He warned.
His home was warn down. The scent of cigarette smoke infested the place.
The fresh scent of weed simmered through the air.
"Sorry. My roommate must've been getting lit." He said.
"We weren't followed." Nova nervously twitched.
"Yeah, that's good right?"
"Good, sure. But unexpected. What if they're watching us right now?"
"They were probably too focused on Frank to go after you two."
"They thought Nova was a hostage for a while. They would defiantly go and try to save her."
"Let's just be grateful then. Want a beer?"
Nova accepted and fidgeted with the cap.
"Dad's gone. We have no way of paying the ransom. Will is going to die." Nova said.
"Don't say that. We'll figure something out."
"How, Liam?"
"We can break dad out." I suggested.
"Don't be ridiculous. We break dad out of jail just go put him in the dangerous arms of his nemesis?"
"Is this the part where we choose then? Our brother or our father?"
Nova was silent for a moment. She then met out a sigh.
"Look. We get Frank out, Will lives, Frank dies. We don't show up with Frank, Will dies. Frank goes on trial and would probably receive the death penalty. So in a matter of speaking, yes. We need to make a choice."
I couldn't tolerate her inconsideration. I pulled up my hood and went outside, slamming the door on the way out.
I felt around my pocket for a cigarette and lit it. It was a habit I didn't do too often, but probably more than I should. In this business, I needed all the chill time I could get.
I thought about what Nova was getting at. We had to save Will. She thought trying to free our father was foolish. I wondered how much she really cared about him. My dad was more useful than Will could ever be.
I squished the butt in the ground, and pushed down on it with my heel. I didn't want to go back in. The choice was impossible.
"Have you decided?" Nova stood up.
"You can't ask me to decide something like that!"
"Think of it this way; what would dad want? Tell me. Don't lie." She crossed her arms.
"He would want us to save Will, regardless of what happens. You know that. You know what we have to do." She continued.
"We have to save our brother."
We figured out a plan with Wagner.
"Gather everyone on our side. Dealers, suppliers, gang members, old friends. We have to prove that no one messes with the Merlin's."
We rallied everyone we could on short notice. Every ally we had in the city, I located. We called them all to Wagner's. He pushed past the sea of people over to me.
"Boss, they're getting angsty."
Boss. The sound of it tickled my ears.
Nova stood up tall.
"Everyone! EVERYONE! OVER HERE!" She blared out.
It was mostly men, with a few women mixed in.
"We called you here today because we need your help. Our brother has been kidnapped by the King's and Rossi's. They've teamed up and plotted against us."
"Where's Frank? Huh?" A crowd member questioned.
"Yeah, why ain't he talkin' to us about this?" Another interrogated.
The group muffled with sound.
"Frank has been taken into police custody." I spoke up.
That shook up the room even more, the volume of their panicked voices escalated.
"Lemme guess, we're gonna break Frank out?"
"Yeah! Let's do it!"
"Save Frank!"
The crowd agreed.
"No. We aren't saving Frank." Nova announced.
"What?"
"And why da fuck not?"
The crowd of goons were not pleased.
"Frank is in police custody, that's the safest place for him right now. If the Rossi's or King's got ahold of him, they'd tear him limb from limb."
"We can't let him stay in that pig sty!"
"We have to. It's better this way." She said.
It hurt her having to admit we were leaving our father behind.
"Better? Frank would rather die honorably then be captured by the hogs."
"He would want to protect his son. You know that, and I know that. This way, maybe we can protect both of them. Then and take the fucking King's down along with the Rossi's." Nova said.
There was a moment of silence.
"What's then, princess?"
"Tomorrow, when we meet them to trade off, we'll be waiting for them with an ambush. The second Will is out of harms way, we obliterate every last Rossi, King, and all their followers. We get rid of them, save my brother, then we break my father out. Once we kill the Rossi's and King's, the rest of my family can come home."
Out of the corner of her eye, Nova looked over at me.
"The entire family."
"You swore loyalty to my father, if that means anything to you, please join us. Frank wasn't a bad guy. He was a friend to us all."
"Don't talk 'bout him like he's dead. But hey, I'm wit' you."
"Thank you, T-Bone."
"We got yo' back, girl!"
"Yeah, us too. For Frank."
"For Frank."
Nova handled them better than I expected. She was charismatic and spoke passionately. Maybe in another life she could've been a lawyer or politician. Maybe she'd be in law school right now.
We assigned jobs to our followers.
"Were are we meeting em' at?"
"We're supposed to be delivered the location real soon." I told a dealer.
"One more thing." Nova cleared her throat.
"If I find out that there are traitors among us, like our good friend Glaccki, I'll slit your throat and paint a picture with your blood." She said with an all too real smile.
We couldn't afford to have anyone betray us, not now.
War was coming.