time since Junior told us about Sonya being married, I had my entire family safely under the same roof. As a mother, nothing was more important to me, especially after Vegas informed us that our situation with Xavier was far worse than weâd expected. In spite of the fact that Minister Farah was a high-ranking member of the Nation of Islam and a mentor to Vegas, it turned out that there was little he could do to help us other than make a few pointed phone calls. For all intents and purposes, we were now on the verge of war with a lovesick Islamic radical who had an army of well-trained Black Muslim hit men at his disposal.
As LC spoke, I felt a pair of strong hands massage my shoulders. I turned, smiling at Orlando, my middle child and our companyâs CEO. He leaned down and kissed me. My momentary calm was interrupted as Harris stomped into the room with a scowl. Not that it should have worried me. As legal counsel and the only immediate family member who wasnât born a Duncan, Harris always seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. Today was no different, except his facial expression and body language told me that something was horribly wrong.
He motioned for Orlando to join him then headed across the room to LC. âWeâve got a big problem.â
âWhat now, Harris?â I could hear the stress in LCâs voice. This whole situation had him under a lot more pressure than he wanted to admit, and it was starting to show.
âI just got a call from one of my guys with the New York State Department of Corrections. Charles Brown, aka Brother X, escaped from prison four hours ago.â
âWhat do you mean, he escaped? I thought we had people with eyes on this guy twenty-four/seven, Orlando?â LC turned to our son.
âWe do, Pop,â Orlando replied, maintaining his calm. âAt least weâre supposed to. Iâll check with our people.â
âYou do that,â LC demanded. âHarris, how reliable is your source?â
âVery. Heâs one of the deputy commissioners.â
âYeah, Iâd say that was pretty reliable.â My husband scanned the room, making eye contact with everyone present. He had their attention. âOkay, nobody leaves the compound without a bodyguard and my consent. And that especially means you, Paris. Weâre the hunted, not the hunters this time. I donât want anyone going off the reservation until we know what we are up against. Is that understood?â
LC locked his gaze on Paris until she nodded. âYeah, I understand,â she said, âbut why donât you just let me and Sasha take his ass out? I donât like the bitch, but she does come in handy in a fight.â
Sasha rolled her eyes as LC answered Paris. âBecause killing him will only make him a martyr to his men. The last thing we need is for them to take up his cause. That would be even worse than blindly following his orders like they do now.â
âHeâs right, Paris,â Harris said. âBut what I wanna know is where the hell is Junior? Itâd be nice if we had our head of security to coordinate things, considering this is his mess.â
âHe drove Vegas and Marie to the airport about an hour ago, Daddy,â Paris replied.
My heart sank as I realized that I did not, in fact, have all of my children safe at home with me. No one had even told me that Junior and Vegas were going out.
Apparently LC was not pleased either. âRio, get Junior on the phone. I donât want him taking any detours on his way home,â he said grimly.
âWhat is Vegas doing at the airport?â I was trying to stay quiet and listen, but I didnât like the direction things were going. With this man Xavier escaping from prison, I didnât have to be a rocket scientist to realize his next stop was to put a bullet in my sonâs head. This was not one of those times I was going to sit back and shut
Caroline Adderson, Ben Clanton