Page 87 of Benga's Rise
“Thank you, Brother. That Badass hand feels good to be holding right now.”
Ricky smiles again. “Never alone, Cort. Similarities seen is how we came to realize this is not just a one-time issue. We’ll work to clear it so it’s not repeated. Prez will be in touch.” He throws chin and is gone.
“Holy fuck.” Hade thinks like I do.
“Nothing in the open room,” Cort says and sits by Web. “You think you can make my office?”
Web is in shock, before he can say a word, Cort says again. “Nothing in the open room. Let’s go to my office.”
“Yeah. He...”
“Not here, Web.” Cort shuts him down.
I take Web’s arm and pull him up then out. He stumbles on the stairs and Cort’s at his other side. “Hade, get whiskey into my meeting room.”
Hade goes around us fast and down the hall.
“Do I tell...”
“Not here, Web,” Cort growls at him. Jesus, Web is out of it.
In the meeting room, he just folds in the chair closest to the door. “What does it mean?”
I close the door and Cort bends down by him. “It means we wait until their Op is done and I’ll tell you how we should go forward. Right now, we don’t know anything but they have another group of kids like yours. We’ll know more when the Op is done. You don’t tell anyone anything. If their Op doesn’t clear the As, it will only hurt them.”
“Shit. No, we can’t tell them now. They’ll be excited and shit, then devastated. Fuck. Who was on? Did they hear?” Now he’s panicking andstands.
I let Hade in. “Sit down, Web.” Cort has him sitting like a dog on command. “Hade, who was in the room?”
“City Ops had Vick, a trainee on surveillance. For us, Chaps, me and a trainee for Control. Two IT trainees for Web and his trainer.” He pours whiskey in a glass as he’s talking.
“Oh, thank God. No As.”
Hade hands me the bottle and Web the glass. “Drink, Brother.”
Web takes a drink with the glass shaking in his hand. “How did they know? The As were in their building.”
Cort turns from his pacing. “But they were in Ops when the one-percenters declared war. Four small albinos in the room would have been noticeable. Anton was on city IT with Jinx. Akai was still on with Main, Allan and Aris were at the back at IT stations, but their hair would have drawn attention. We don’t even register it anymore.”
Web holds his chest. “Do we need to leave if they don’t clear us?” Fuck, the Brother is scared.
Cort smiles at him. “No, Brother. Think about it. They're offering to clear a threat to us because they saw similarities. If they were out to hurt anyone, we would have never heard about an Op from them that hasn’t taken place yet. They have FBI help with whatever they’re doing.”
Web looks like it’s taking some time to get through that. I sit beside him. “I’d say we have more coverage for a shield if the Op doesn’t clear you and the As. If anything, you’re safer now than you ever were.”
He takes that in and smiles. “That’s so good. That feels real good. I know the Masons are there, but I’ve only known the Club since we got here. You trust them and they do good like us. I looked at the websites. They’re good like us.” It’s almost like he’s asking.
I smile. “They are, Brother. You’ll always be safe with us and now we have their backing. You know Cort will do anything to keep his Brothers safe. You’re ours, Web, so are the As, we’ll keep you all safe.”
He nods slowly. “Yeah. I can’t tell them unless we’re clear. What will we do when we’re clear?” It must seem like getting out of jail.
“You stick close to your family and live out in the open, Web.” Cort is smiling.
He laughs. “I can take them out.”
Cort laughs. “We all can, Brother. If the threat clears you, we’re still your Brothers. We’re theirs too. That doesn’t end, Web.”
You’d think he hit the lottery. “Brotherhood above all. Alta can do sports medicine. He took all the classes. This will be good and we’re still family.”
