The Syndicate 2 Read online

  “Debrief us, Shanelle,” I softly asked of her, holding her hand.

  “They . . . they . . .” she stammered. “Baby? They kicked in Mama’s door and came at us hard. Roughed us up. A motherfucker put their knee in my back. I was pressed to the floor. They had Navy by the hair. Knocked Jojo’s glasses off his face and broke them. I know he can’t see shit.”

  Shanelle bristled in her constrained anger then immediately went to detailing everything else that had happened. “We have to get them out.”

  “You went in and tried?” I asked calmly when really I was ready to jump out of the car. They put hands on my family? They put hands on Shanelle?

  “Yes, but they are playing stupid and won’t tell me if they will be released on bail,” she explained.

  “Let’s go,” was all I said. I climbed out, helped Shanelle out, and walked near my uncle.

  With a slap to my chest with his hand, Uncle Snap gave me a look that had me chilling for a second. “I’ll speak for them since I’m Jojo’s guardian now, and I’ll see if our lawyer is here,” he said.

  “Yes, sir,” was all I had to say at that moment just to keep calm.

  Once we stepped into the precinct I made sure to observe everyone. Cops and nobodies moved around us as if we were invisible. White noise indicated the busy atmosphere as people moved through the place. Stale cigarette smoke mixed with old coffee annoyed my senses. Then Shanelle bristled at my side as she squeezed my hand near her side.

  Copping her from the side of my eye, I noticed her nod ahead of us. I wondered who she had noticed and a part of me hoped it was one of our family; but it wasn’t. When my gaze focused on an older white dude who reminded me of Andy Griffith, I grimaced. Next to him was his plump, Homer Simpson–looking friend.

  “Stillwaters and Monroe,” she whispered to me, never breaking her poker face.

  “Of course.”

  I chuckled and it was as if they heard me, because both men looked our direction, locked eyes on Shanelle, then chuckled themselves. We watched them come our way. Uncle Snap was busy talking to a receptionist who played like she hadn’t seen Shanelle before or heard of our brothers.

  “Ms. McPhearson, what a joy to see you again. Come to drop off more trash?” Stillwaters taunted.

  “You know what? I will . . .” Shanelle made her way to him, but I stopped her by stepping in front of her, blocking her with my body.

  Adjusting my blazer, I looked down at the floor and shook my head while inwardly chuckling at the disrespect. I knew that I was going to let Uncle handle this, but shit didn’t always go the way it was supposed to, now did it?

  “Very unprofessional of you to taunt my fiancée like that. Aren’t we supposed to be on the level of showing why some cops’ lives matter? Huh?” I asked snidely, stepping close to Stillwaters while staring down at him.

  That tension was back. Stillwaters took to his full height as if to intimidate me, but wasn’t shit I was scared about in the building, not even the fucking roaches hunting for doughnuts. So, we both stood glaring at each other. My jaw tensed and my lips curved in a slanted smile, taunting him.

  “What did you say to him, McPherson? That sounded like a threat,” I heard the Andy Griffith lookalike say. Stillwaters smelled like beef jerky and ass.

  Silence overcame me and I never took my eyes off Stillwaters while I ignored Monroe. All it would take was one snatch of his fucking windpipe and me falling on him to slice his throat, then lights out for his ass. That’s all it would take and I could kill him in a blink before anyone would even know it. Or, I could light him and his partner up with my Glock. No remorse for either kill. I’d say I was provoked and that it was self-defense. You know? Standing my ground. All he had to do was get froggy.

  I knew I was thinking foolishly. No matter how angry I was, I knew I couldn’t harm a fed in a police station and get away with it.

  “McPhearson, I know you’re angry about your brothers, but it would be ill advised to go head up with us in the middle of a police station, son,” he repeated, adding emphasis on the “son” as if to stir my already rising anger.

  Because I had leather gloves on, all you could hear was the slight straining of that fabric as my fists clenched, and our breathing.

  “Gentlemen, please. We don’t have time for pissing contests and marking territories. Please break this up. There are civilians here.” The scent of light perfume brushed against my nose, with that of a woman’s hand urging me and the assholes apart.

  The face of a sista appearing in front of me had me stepping backward just to get her out of my space. I was too pissed to register her beauty, but I could hear others around me murmuring about it.

  “Who are you?” I asked as I slid my hand back to take Shanelle’s.

  No more than five seven with a bushel of breast-length curly, natural hair, the woman who spoke was dressed in dangerously form-fitting slacks, and an African screenprinted blazer that accented breasts any man or woman would want to touch. She stood looking back and forth at us with black half glasses and a slick smile across her brown face. For a swift moment, I swore she had a Glock hidden on her; but there was no way that she’d be allowed to bring that in, so I was tripping.

  “Unless you want me to file a formal complaint for harassing my clients, especially Ms. McPhearson, I’d advise you to please give us some space, Agents, and go back to your work.”

  We watched the woman before us turn on her heels and stare undauntedly at both cops. Stillwaters snarled at me and Monroe only gazed at me with a smirk before both men walked away.

  As the hallway grew quiet, the woman turned back to us with an infectious smile then held her hand out. “Mr. McPhearson, I will be the woman getting your brothers out. Hello, I’m Jai St. Clair, your family lawyer, but today I’m you brothers’ representative. Nice to meet you all.”

  At her lapel was a broach that, if you looked closely and knew where to look on it, had a symbol that matched my own on my ring. It was then that the name St. Clair rang in recognition. The woman before us was one I had interest in bringing into the new Syndicate. One with a history rich in dealing with both crooked cops and mobsters, because her own ancestor was one of the baddest mobsters in Harlem back in the day. This woman’s bloodline was rich with such connections and it had me glancing at my uncle in appreciation.

  Before me was the great-niece of Stephanie St. Clair and I knew she’d hold us down without a blink of an eye. God bless my uncle Snap and Mama for having such provisions set in place.

  Chapter 2

  Shanelle

  “Okay, now that we’ve spoken to Monty and Naveen, the more serious charges are on Jojo,” Jai said.

  The woman was beautiful. That wasn’t lost on any of us, but she was also about her business. There was no way we should have been allowed to see any of our brothers because of the serious charges thrown at them, but Jai made it possible. She took no shit and gave a look of death that made the nuts of each man who tried to test her shrivel up into their stomachs.

  Monty and Naveen had been charged with possession with intent to sell. Monty had an unregistered gun on him so they threw in a weapons charge.

  “Talk to me,” Javon said as we walked down the narrow hall to where they were holding Jojo.

  Correctional officers passed us. They paid us no mind. The place was cold and dank. The correctional officers were like zombies who bullied the humans inside the jail no matter what the charges were. I’d seen them treat every last person like an animal. It sickened me. As tough as nails as I claimed to be, I knew I never wanted to see the inside of this place unless I was sure I could walk right back out on my free will.

  “Felony drug possession. Felony drug trafficking. I know he’s only seventeen, but in the state of Georgia that makes him an adult.” She stopped walking and looked at us. “He was manufacturing drugs?” she asked with a frown on her face that said she didn’t understand. “In the house? I know Mama taught y’all better than this,” Jai said. She gave me and Javon a look, one an older sibling or adult would give to show their disappointment.

  “I knew about the Mist, okay?” Javon admitted. “But all this other shit, I had no idea.”

  “He has a lab, in a basement. Nobody thought to check on what a seventeen-year-old was doing while locked away in a lab in a basement?”

  “No, we didn’t. We never suspected Jojo had it in him to manufacture and sell drugs down a freaking pipeline,” I said.

  “The boy was always down there working on some science project, Jai,” Uncle Snap said. “Even when Mama was alive.”

  “We don’t know how he was able to pull this shit off,” Javon said.

  “And right under your nose,” Jai added sarcastically. “Not a good look for a leader of a syndicate, now is it?” she asked before pushing open the door of the room where Jojo was.

  Javon bristled. I could tell he was about ready to snap, but he kept his cool. We had to remember Jai was on our side and just doing her job. At least, that was what I kept telling myself so I wouldn’t punch the woman in her face. None of that mattered, though. As soon as we all walked into the dank room, Jojo stood from the black folding chair he had been sitting in. The room was no bigger than a bathroom in a one-bedroom apartment. The dark gray walls were in stark contrast to the white marble flooring.

  I knew Jojo couldn’t see worth shit. So the look of fear on his face while his hands were cuffed in front of him broke my heart. Without his glasses, his baby face was more noticeable. He was indeed just a kid. He backed into the wall behind him, looking as if he wanted to run away.

  “Relax, Jojo. It’s just us,” Javon said.

  Jojo visibly relaxed and sighed, but he still didn’t sit. “I can’t see,” was all he said.

  I we
nt into my pocket and pulled out the spare glasses I was able to find in the mess the Feds had left in his room. “Here,” I said.

  I placed the glasses in his hand and watched his eyes come to life behind them. Jojo looked from me to Jai to Uncle Snap. He glanced at Javon then dropped his head. I hugged him. I just needed to feel my baby brother in my arms again. It was good to see he had no bruises, but the orange jumpsuit was way too big for him. The white socks and prison-like flip-flops he had on made him look awkward.

  “Have a seat, Jojo,” Jai said to him as she took a seat at the small, round table in the room.

  He did as she asked him once I let him go. The rest of us stood as Jai spoke to Jojo.

  “You have some pretty serious charges against you right now. So what I need you to do is tell me the truth from beginning to end. First, start by telling me how long you’ve been doing this. The only way I can help you is if you tell me the one-hundred-percent truth,” she said.

  Jojo brought his cuffed hands up to scratch his head. “Started junior year,” he said.

  “What the fuck, Jojo?” Javon asked. “Before Mama even died?” The disappointment in his voice was so real that it almost made me want to cry.

  Jojo’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah. I was . . . was trying to make . . . I had this idea that I could make enough money for her to go on a trip for a while when I left for college. Before I knew all this about who she really was, I thought she was some broke old lady, bro,” he said with a frown as he shrugged. “So I was going to hand her this money and tell her to just relax for a minute.”

  “Jesus H. Christ, Jojo,” Uncle Snap muttered.

  Javon ran a hand down his face and took a deep a breath. By the time Jojo finished running down the list of all the drugs he had made and all the places he had been selling them, I was left speechless.

  Jai pulled out all the evidence they had against Jojo, from pictures to video recordings. The more she showed us, the less and less I started to feel like my baby brothers would be coming home, especially Jojo.

  “This is serious,” Jai said once we had left the jail and were standing outside. “We’re going to have to call in some favors. I’m going to have to maneuver things so we can get him in front of a friendly judge, if you get my meaning. They haven’t set bail for any of them, but I can change that with one phone call.”

  “How soon before we know something?” I asked.

  “You guys don’t worry about that. Let me handle this. Understand, Raphael? Javon? Let me handle this. No underhanded tactics unless I’m pulling the strings. If done right, Jojo, Monty, and Naveen will be walking out of here with minor offenses, if any at all. What you need to find out is who snitched. They have an informant somewhere. Get rid of the informant and I can sink the whole case from there,” she said. “For now, let me work on getting bail set.”

  “How much?” Javon asked.

  “How much what?”

  “If you get bail set, how much will you need?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Mama has provisions set in place. I have access to certain things,” Jai assured us before walking off.

  “The girl’s good,” Uncle Snap said.

  “I for damn sure hope so,” I said.

  The ride home was a quiet one. We were down five siblings. Two dead. Three locked away. My body, soul, and heart couldn’t take anymore. Since Mama had died, all hell had broken loose and it didn’t appear it would go away any time soon.

  I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that Jojo had been slanging drugs since the eleventh grade. It didn’t make sense to me. How did we not see that shit happening? Granted, Javon and I had moved out, had our own places, so we hadn’t been around every day. But how did Mama not know with all those damn cameras she had around the house? Jojo had always been quiet, so we thought nothing of the time he spent in his lab. He always completed his homework and always had some new science project he was working on. Where in the hell had he found time to make and market new drugs?

  “How did Mama not know or see that Jojo had been making drugs in her house?” I asked once Javon and Uncle Snap followed me into the house. The place was a mess. Furniture had been turned over. Pictures had been knocked from the wall. Papers and glass were strewn all over the place.

  “I’ve been asking myself that same question,” Javon said.

  Uncle Snap shrugged. “Maybe she did know. Maybe that’s how he flew under the radar for so long,” he answered, causing Javon and me to stare him down.

  “What?” I asked.

  Uncle held his hands up like he was being robbed. “I’m not saying that was the case. I said maybe. Wasn’t too much you could get past that woman, especially not in her own house.”

  “I ain’t got time for this bullshit,” Javon said, tossing his blazer to the side. “We have to get our brothers out of there. I just made a power play that isn’t going to go over too well with a lot of families. The Commission has already prepared for war just in case, all because of a call I made. I can’t be worried about if my little brothers are safe while locked away in a jail cell. And where the fuck is Melissa?” he thundered.

  Javon had said so much that I didn’t even know where to begin with the questions. “We need to talk about Melissa,” I said.

  He and Uncle turned to look at me. “What now?” Javon asked.

  “Something odd was going on with her just before the Feds came through.”

  “Something odd like what?” Uncle asked.

  “She kept looking at her watch, glancing out the window. Shit like that. And then when the Feds busted in, she was gone. Had disappeared before I could even blink.”

  “Like she knew they were coming,” Javon said, lips pressed together in a tight grimace. It’s like he was conflicted about what to think.

  Uncle looked like he had aged another ten years. “This is too much. Too much coming at us all at once,” Uncle said.

  “I need time to digest this, to process all of this,” Javon added. “Don’t say anything to Melissa about her behavior. Let me scope her out on my own. See what my instincts tell me.”

  “Right, nephew. For now we got product to move and people to see.” Uncle looked around. “And we gotta clean my woman’s house.”

  Before we could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. The fact that all three of us grabbed guns and crouched low told of the paranoia we all felt.

  “It’s chill,” Javon said once he had looked outside. “It’s the old lady from across the street.”

  He unlocked the door and smiled at the lady while hiding his gun behind his back. Ms. Lily had been on this block for a long time, even before we had. She was an old German white lady who liked to smile and plant flowers in her front yard. She never did more than wave or speak in passing, unless she wanted one of the boys to move something in her basement or take some trash out.

  “How you doing, Ms. Lily?” Javon greeted her.

  “I’m well. First, I wanted to know if you children were okay. Lots been going on ’round here since Claudette passed on,” she said. Her eyes roamed Javon’s face like she was searching for some kind of answer to the madness.

  “We’re fine, Ms. Lily,” he said.

  “Neighborhood talking. People wanting to know what y’all got going on over here to have all this shooting and police presence. We never had no madness like this before.”

  Javon gave a wry smile. “We’re just as stumped as you are, Ms. Lily.”

  “Naw, you ain’t, boy. Saw your brothers being carted out of here in handcuffs. Claudette must be turning over in her grave.”

  Javon’s jaw clenched and he moved his weight from one foot to the other. “Is there something you need, Ms. Lily?”

  “Yes. Need you to come help me with this stuff I got in my basement and take out my trash.”

  “Is it possible I can help you tomorrow? We have a mess here we need to clean up right now,” he said.