Owen Blackbourne...
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The Ghost team had just sat down to brunch, the septs had taken up the morning and were having their late morning nap. Sang and Iris exchanged a long glance as the men tucked into their food. The men had nearly finished eating when Axel noticed neither of their birds had eaten much and were more involved in a private conversation than their meal. He put down his cutlery with a deliberate clatter and eyeballed his women,
'Spill it, jewel, flower...' His voice was deep, dominant and unrelenting. Iris looked down but Sang stared Axel in the eyes, trying to communicate that there was a storm about to break over their team,
'You know from the conversation we had yesterday with Pops and Papa Phil that Iris and I made contact with Victor of the Blackbourne team,' the Toma team sat forward in their chairs tensely as Sang spoke. They did know this. From a relationship point of view, they weren't concerned about it - the twins would not have allowed them to touch them last night if they weren't sure of their commitment to the six of them. Still they were not happy that their birds looked so distressed and worried. Something was wrong. Iris continued,
'I got up last night to run my usual security checks while you were all asleep. While I was in the process of checking the electronic and internet security, not just Victor, but the whole Blackbourne team made contact. My uncertainty must've somehow communicated itself to sissy and she came to join me to find out what I was disturbed about,' Sang took over the explanation of the IM conversation,
'My primary purpose in tracking Victor down was to get our hands on the unedited video from the Blackbournes to find out what the board clearly doesn't want us to know. I asked if they'd sent us a video message back the beginning of November. After they said they had, I asked if they could send us the original file. I also told them why I needed them to do so,' Axel and Raven exchanged a swift glance,
'Did you confront them about leaving?' Axel asked,
'Not directly though I did make it clear that I was not happy with them... On that note, you should be aware, they know about the septs...' Raven responded immediately,
'Oni prosili uvidet' malen'kikh medvedey?' (Did they ask to see baby bears?) His voice was deceptively quiet, Sang and Iris could see the vague tremor of anger running over his hands,
'Not yet. But they will,' Sang's voice was soft and gentle as she watched Raven, Brandon, Kevin, Marc, Corey and even Axel clenching their fists to control their anger with the Blackbournes and the stress of the unknown impact their involvement with the septs could have on the Ghost family,
'I meant what I said to you six the day after the septs were born. You are their daddies. Right now all the Blackbourne team are is their fathers. You've been there to feed, change, bathe, play with and soothe them when they were cranky at all times of the day and night. The Blackbournes have a long way to go to earn the title of daddy,' Raven relaxed. There was no way in hell he'd let those pricks come in and push him and the rest of his brothers away from their babies or their birds. If Sang needed the bastards to be happy he had no problem with sharing, but he would not tolerate being pushed out because of their hang ups!
'And... they won't even get the opportunity to try for at least another year probably two based on what was on that unedited video we saw last night...' the room was silent as the Tomas processed that last sentence. This stress was about the assignment the Blackbourne team was on? Why?
'What is on that video, sweet pea? Do you know what assignment the Blackbournes are actually on? Did they say, is that why the board edited the video?' Brandon asked, asked on behalf of the Tomas, confused about what could be so objectionable and cause such trouble, they'd all been on tough assignments, but that was what they were trained for,
'Yes, they have explained what their mission is. But no that is not the primary reason the board edited the footage,' Sang looked into each of their men's eyes trying to gauge how her news was going to go down. Her eyes lingering just a fraction of a second longer over one Toma. His brow furrowed at her particular look of concern for him,
'Although the assignment is a nightmare, the real problem is the.... client, not the mission,' Axel looked completely puzzled as well as frustrated now,
'There are vetting procedures for clients, jewel. How can the client be the problem?' Sang swallowed hard and Iris kept her eyes assiduously averted from all the Tomas eyes to prevent being obvious whose eyes she was genuinely avoiding,
'Apparently our ex chairman was responsible for even more serious issues than the ones we are aware of. Aside from being a bigot. He organised the client and the assignment the Blackbournes are on in a rogue exercise. The client contract was signed by Andrews directly, no vetting applied to either the client or the assignment,' both Axel and Brandon sucked in a shocked gasp. Those protocols were in place to protect everyone! What had that stupid fucker Andrews done? Were the Blackbourne team in danger? What happened to the Andrews team of birds?
'When Andrews was sacked, Skugga found out who the client actually is..... the second most powerful Bratva in Russia,' Sang's eyes swung to Raven, who had gone completely still and cold,
'Their leader goes by Vasily Turgenev; but Skugga discovered his real surname is.... Ravensthal.'
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At nine pm, the teams were all returning much later than planned as there'd been some unexpected activity on the assignment to handle. Owen, Luke and Victor were the first team to return from their surveillance that evening. As the three got out of the gunmetal grey BMW, Owen and Victor stopped cold. There was something tucked inside the outer door,
'I'll check it out,' Victor spoke quieter than a whisper. Luke froze at his brother's words and tone, looking up from the bags of takeaway and drinks he'd been corralling. Owen scanned the house and surrounding area for any threats, fingers unbuttoning his shirt to extract the concealed weapon her wore from its holster. Both men edged toward the front porch and their teammate who was assessing the fist sized package in the doorway,
'It isn't a bomb and I can't detect any evidence or residue of something chemical,' Victor again spoke lowly. Victor pulled out his mobile and checked that all house perimeters has remained unbreached otherwise during their absence. Once he was satisfied the house was safe to enter, he flicked a thumbs up to Owen and Luke. Luke quickly returned to the car and grabbed their meals before rejoining his brothers on the porch. They entered the house as a unit,
'We'll wait for the others to open the package. Are there any markings at all on the packaging?' Victor shook his head, while having a long pull at the straw in his drink.
Victor decided to check the surveillance around the exterior of the house for the arrival and departure of the delivery person. By the looks of things, the individual arrived about 45 minutes after they'd left. But as they were wearing an oversized dark hoodie pulled up over their head and obscuring their face, Vic was unable to identify much except the person was slight but tall. He couldn't even be certain of whether the person was male or female.
After Vic disclosed the lack of intel from the exterior cameras to Owen and Luke, the three ate quietly while waiting on the other two teams to arrive. They'd just finished their food when they heard first one and then almost immediately the other vehicle pull into the driveway. They could hear the rustle of fast food bags and conversation between the remaining six, North being the most recognisable as he grumbled,
'How the fuck can you eat that shit? It's full of sugar, salt and chemicals and has zero fucking nutritional value...' the conversation trailed off as North, Gabe, Silas, Sean, Nathan and Kota entered the house and noticed the tension in the room and the package on the coffee table in front of the sofa,
'Is it safe to open?' Sean looked at Victor who nodded. Sean gestured for Vic to proceed. All nine sat down and watched as Victor opened the box to show a compact burner phone and a key. Silas picked up the key to examine it,
'It's an airport locker key,' Victor was assessing the burner phone,
'It's simply a burner phone, no extra chips or wiring. Seems safe enough. Either whoever left this intends to ring us - unlikely. Or they've left us a message which hopefully will explain the key,' Sean, Owen and Silas shared a long moment of silent communication before Sean spoke,
'Turn it on,' Victor pushed the power button and was proved right immediately as the message icon flashed that they had 1 message waiting. Victor walked over to the television and quickly set up the electronics to reflect whatever message he was about to open to the entire team on the large screen, while Owen snatched up the remote to turn the tv on.
'You are compromised. On two fronts - bad crow and Volto2. Be ready. Tallinn airport. Aides.
'We already knew Volto knew we were here because of the last package. But if Volto has been triggered then whoever they are potentially knows we've made contact with Sang or at least that we've made contact with our families... there's a leak somewhere...' Sean's face was grim as he spoke,
'What the hell does Volto2 mean though?' North asked the obvious question,
'This seems to indicate there are two Voltos,' Nathan growled. There was an air of dismay amongst the team,
'Makes sense, if you think about it,' Gabe stated directly,
'Before we received that picture and note of Volto threatening Sang's life if we didn't leave her, Volto was creepy but seemed to want Sang's safety as a priority - which is a big change in behaviour... But this is seriously questionable intel since we've no idea who it's from. We should be prepared but not take it all for gospel,' Sean, Owen and Silas shared a glance of agreement with all of Gabe's thoughts,
'Bad crow is clearly Vasily Ravenstahl. He must know where we are but I don't get what he'd have to be pissed about. We handled the situation today to his benefit...' Silas pondered out loud. Owen pushed for action,
'I think we should go see what our mysterious benefactor has left us at Tallinn airport. We may need whatever is in that locker. We only have two and a half hours until we make contact with Sang and Iris again. We need to leave now if we're going beforehand.' All nine nodded before locking up and heading back for their cars.
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Victor was in the backseat of the Beemer checking all security via his mobile while they were enroute to the airport when he realised the team had received something through the secure JPEG back door from Uncle,
'Hallelujah,' Victor's face was split into a wide grin. Owen checked via the rear view mirror and Luke physically turned in his seat to see what had his brother so excited,
'Erica's friend hadn't thrown out the envelope the Christmas card Sang sent came in. Looks like we can dump Florida and Texas from our short list of locations to check for Sang and the babies. They are somewhere in Napa Valley, California,' All three were grinning like Cheshire cats,
'Message the others, Vic,' Victor's grin stayed on his face all the way to the airport. The haystack that particular needle was hiding in just got a whole lot smaller.
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'Blyad'. Interesno, yesli by mladshiy brat ubil papu, chtoby poluchit' etot titul, ili etot ublyudok prosto reshil uyti v otstavku, chtoby on mog trakhnut' bol'she shlyukh ... Chert!' (Fuck. I wonder if baby brother killed off Papa to get that title or if the fucker just decided to retire so he could bang more whores... Fuck!)
'Tebe nuzhno vremya, prezhde chem my pogovorim ob etom, mishka Teddi?' (Do you need some time before we talk about this, Teddy Bear?) Sang asked Raven gently. His head snapped back up to her,
'No, we speak about now,' he sighed running his hand through the longer portion of hair in his faux Mohawk. He'd prayed he'd left his biological father and brother behind, but the bastards just refused to stay dead to him,
'Vasily was younger brother, 1 year. My father was Ivan Turgenev Ravensthal. Ivan was Pakhan of Bratva. I don't know he is dead or retired. Most likely dead. Controlling bastard. I do not think he give up power by choice to brother.
They have no limit. Steal; trafficking- drugs, women, workers, weapons; embezzle; bribe; murder; rape; torture; anything... they do if they want.
I was trained from birth to be next Pakhan. Father made sure his children had no traceable identity from birth. I was to join as Brigadier at 18. I did not want that life. Father told me join or die.
I had older sister, 4 years, Galina. Lina want to marry second son from other Bratva. Father contracted with someone else to marry sister. Make himself big money. He say no. She run off with man she love. Father find her, torture her, allow his two top Brigadiers to rape her, murder her. Same for man she married.
I didn't know until too late. I found them leaving interrogation room, father laughing, talking about finding a whore to fuck since he was hard from watching his men rape his own daughter, sister's blood still warm on his hands...' Raven shook in remembered rage,
'Our mother died when I was 5, sister like mother to me and brother; I loved sister...' Raven's words trailed off while he struggled to keep his composure,
'I take my guns and leave. After father told me join or die, I planned exit. Offer take brother with me. He say no, almost caught because of brother. Become ghost. Can never go back. I was 17,' Raven finished his story in short, emotionless words but when Sang looked into his eyes, the depth of grief and hatred was as painful to absorb as his story had been to listen to. So she cried the tears her Crow wouldn't allow himself to cry,
'Ne plach', plevok. Moya zhizn' byla by pustoy, a dusha - isporchennoy. Moya yedinstvennaya grust' - moya sestra zaplatila za moyu svobodu uzhasnoy smert'yu,' (Do not cry, spitfire. My life would have been empty and my soul corrupted. My only sadness is my sister paid for my freedom with a horrible death.)
Raven stood and strode around the table to Sang. Easily lifting her from her seat, reseating himself with her cuddled into his lap. He needed the love and connection as much as Sang did,
'The board is being short sighted hiding this from us. There may be things Raven could tell them about the inner workings of the Bratva to assist in their dealings with them,' Axel mused out loud,
'Did it occur to you eight that all we wanted to do was to protect Raven, the twins and the babies from these sadistic fucks?' Mak and Phil stood in the doorway. Mak's face was grim as he spoke. Sang sat up, her back ramrod straight, Raven's body stiffened behind her,
'Did it occur to you that by not telling us you were leaving us exposed to an unknown potential enemy without warning or sufficient preparation?' Mak looked affronted, Sang was unimpressed,
'Do you not think I've had the MC watching over this place since we found out?' Iris sighed in irritation with her father,
'I'm sure that has caused even more friction within the ranks than was already there because of you splitting your time between the club and the Academy. Mak's face was resolutely stubborn,
'I am the President. They follow me,' Iris showed her disgust,
'They deserve better than that from you, Dad and you know it,' The fact Iris had called him 'dad' for the first time in nearly two months made it easier to bend his neck to her and admit,
'Maybe.'
'This is a pointless discussion now because we do know,' Axel was finished with the politics and wanted to make it clear that the Ghost team would take the necessary precautions and that the MC could deploy their men in a manner that was in their best interests without reference to the Ghost team,
'We will be handling our own security from now, Mak. If we need help, we'll ask for it, ok?' Axel didn't really want to tweak Mak's nose about this, just establish some ground rules. Raven however was not satisfied with this comfortable compromise,
'I understand little spitfire's anger now. I had to protect myself since a child, I do not need you or the Academy protect me! Fuck! I say this once only. You and the board ever do this again. I leave. Never see me again!' Before Mak could make a snide comment, Iris and Sang spoke as one,
'We are a family. Where he goes, we go,' Phil put his hand on Mak's shoulder as it drooped in defeat,
'We understand you loud and clear. It won't happen again,' Sang pinned him down with a hard glare and then a cold smile,
'You're damn right about that!' Both men gave Sang a suspicious look. She simply smirked at them both while the rest of the table chuckled slyly. She clearly had a plan in play. After finding out she and Iris had used the time they thought they'd been 'pouting' to locate Victor and get the original video for themselves, both men realised Sang's power plays were ruthless and meticulously planned out. Fucking hell, what was she up to now?
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The Blackbourne team had sent in Silas and Victor with the key to extract whatever was in the locker. The rest were in protective and surveillance mode in and around the airport area where the lockers were located.
On opening the locker, there was a large heavy duty canvas duffle style bag inside. The Silas grabbed the bag casually and left the terminal. The rest of the team remained in case their 'benefactor' was there and made a move that gave their identity away. After half hour the team left in ones and twos.
By the time all three cars of team members made it back to the house there was only fifteen minutes to spare until it was time to contact Sang and Iris. Victor had completed a sweep of the canvas duffle by the time the last team returned. There was definitely some 'heavy' metal based items in the bag but no evidence of something ominous,
'We have five minutes to peek, but a thorough look will have to wait,' Sean stated. Victor carefully opened the duffel bag and was transported to Christmas Day for techies. He swiftly pulled out nine new mobile phones in untampered with packaging,
'Those are factory modified Katims, fellas. One of the most secure mobiles in the world which have been modified to have full smart phone capabilities and additional security restrictions. I'll go over each with a fine tooth comb, but if this is legit, we all just got upgraded,'
Victor also pulled out three Alienware m17s also with a list of bespoke upgrades along with a top of the line, smart phone accessible home surveillance system that was not actually available for purchase yet.
There were four gun cases in the bottom of the bag they didn't have time to look over and an envelope with a safety deposit box key for Owen Blackbourne at the Versobank AS.
Kota returned from Victor's office with his laptop,
'Let's get set up for contacting Sang and Iris, we've got just over five minutes,' As he'd done earlier, Victor linked the television to his laptop so that when they used his new secure face to face program, the whole team could see Sang and Iris and in return they'd be able to see all of the Blackbournes,
'Can you repack the new gear and set it aside please, Silas?' Silas quickly and carefully did as he'd been requested and set the bag in the closet,
'Ok, we're all set, when ever they come online, we're ready,'
Suddenly Victor's security sensors were picking up movement from three sides of the house's perimeter,
'We have company, men,' All nine drew weapons and stood in a circle facing outward. Vic quickly cued up three reinforcement protocols via his mobile as a loud, hard knock came from the front door,
'Come in,' Sean called out to their unexpected visitors calmly. The door was thrust open as two large enforcers were the first through the door followed by a heavily muscled man with dark brown hair and eyes who needed no introduction as similar as he looked to his elder brother. None of them seemed disturbed by the withdrawn guns and posturing of the Blackbourne team,
'Vasily Turgenev, we were not expecting you this evening,' Sean greeted their guest who gave them a shark like smile,
'There's no need for the hardware, gentlemen. We are here for a peaceful conversation and perhaps a negotiation,'
'If that's so, why do you have two more teams hidden and waiting at the back kitchen door and side patio doors?' Vasily smiled again before speaking into his smart watch,
'Go home,' Victor watched his surveillance cameras and trigger points show the two teams melt back into the darkness as they left,
'Is there an issue with the handling of today's events?' Asked Sean point blank,
'Not at all. I was satisfied with the actions and the result,' Owen kept quiet waiting for Vasily to reveal his true purpose. The nine men reholstered their weapons as a sign of good faith and took a seat on the sofas. Vasily mirrored their behaviour and casually took a seat in the wing backed chair closest to the door back facing the television, his enforcers taking up a standing position on either side of him,
'I'm sure you won't be surprised to know I've been keeping eyes and ears on your team since your arrival. That became more challenging once you were aware of who I am and took preventive measures. Congratulations, Victor Morgan you successfully made remote surveillance impossible,' Victor watched Vasily carefully, his charming smiles never reached his emotionless, dead looking dark eyes making him extremely disturbing viewing.
The sly smile that came over the Russian's face next was far more believable,
'However, as long as my men don't touch the windows or doors, if they are close enough, they can overhear the most fascinating conversations...' the smile slipped and an intense visage overtook Vasily's face,
'I'm just going to reach into my breast pocket for my mobile now,' Vasily carefully pulled out his mobile with his fingers and pressed play,
'You are a master in martial arts, hand to hand combat and over the past couple of years you've been learning from Raven of the Tomas about weapons, both guns and knives,'
They recognised Kota's voice from this morning as they discussed the new team structure. More importantly each one of the Blackbournes knew exactly why Vasily was sat in their living room and what he wanted. They were going to need to think up a delaying tactic pretty damn quick. A movement on the television screen caught their eye and each of them froze,
'I would strongly advise you not to lie to me now. Is the 'Raven' you refer to Yevgeny Ravensthal?' Vasily waited for an answer, believing the shocked silence of the Blackbourne team was to due to his question. He was mistaken,
'Chto s toboy, malen'kiy brat?' (What's it to you, little brother?)
The Vasily swung around showing a real emotion himself for the first time, stunned shock. On the screen was the heavily muscled and tattooed brother he hadn't seen for eight years.
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I'm guessing these weren't the secrets you were expecting to see in this chapter, lol?
Keep the comments coming and vote if you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks guys! 🌟
Next chapter will be up on Tuesday, until then 💋