"Episode 12 - I'm not bluffing"

We didn't use the headlights when Vincent drove up the road towards the industrial site. They were all dead buildings, like un-dead half rotten zombies. We parked a mile away from the targeted warehouse, the van with the soldiers already went ahead. They all had guns with silencers.

The second van, that Markus went with, were filled with bleach and black body bags. After they shot everyone dead, some of the men would carry each body to both vans in a black body bag while a couple of others would make sure the bleach destroys any evidence of blood.

No body, no investigation.

Then, they would be incinerated in a mortuary that the Mafia often used with no questions asked. It's what the Capones did. It was a pretty smart plan and that's where the FBI or the local police couldn't do anything and that frustrated the hell out of them.

The radio beeped. "Eyes on the target. Over." Xavier sent 8 men on the field and two snipers, on the roofs of separate warehouses. They were all to fire at once.

All head shots so they couldn't fire back and create a commotion.

"Okay, on my command." Leo spoke into his brick radio. "Aim." He paused. "Fire,"

Our window were rolled down, the air outside was still. A soft hissing sound split through the atmosphere. If we weren't concentrating, we wouldn't have heard it. Then, it was pure silence.

"All clear, Boss, all clear. Over." It was the same man who spoke before.

"Good. Activate phase two of the mission. Over." Leo commanded. Phase two for them was to help the cleaners bring the bodies back to the vans, while the others cleaned up the crime scene, including destroying all the electronics.

"Once they get the hostages into the vans, we'll move straight to my workshop." Xavier picked up his phone. Leo watched the rare view mirror with disdain.

"What time is it?" I asked Xavier. He looked at me, pausing. I dipped my head behind the driver's seat, hid my face with my hair. With my eyes, I indicated for him to look at the passenger seat. He caught When he caught Leo staring at him, Xavier rattled out the time and turned his screen off.

"What are you going to do with the Hostages?" Leo asked me."

"I will used them to negotiate with Nathan. He'll go anything for his family." Rubbing my face, I sat back. A nervous energy buzzed out of my body in sweats.

"Are you going to let him go?" Leo raised an eyebrow.

"You want to kill an FBI agent?" I challenged, condescending. "That's not very smart is it?" He frowned but became distracted when we all heard an engine roaring towards us.

"We have the package." The same man spoke again. I remember seeing him. He was the one who instructed the team and took the lead when it came tactical plans. He might at have been ex military.

"Let roll." Xavier commanded

It was around 8pm when we got back to Mountilse from Portland. The van rolled in first, the men took the hostages, took them inside the workshop. I shed my coat but kept my guns. Entering the workshop, I inhaled the musky scent of wood. The scent took me back to a memory of Gabe and I walking into the Lodge for the first time.

"They are over there." The man from the radio was finally in front of me. He had brown eyes and military hair. He looked Samoan or Hawaiian. He handed Xavier a phone.

"What's your name?" He looked at me then, eyes travelled down my body in a curious manner. His face remained stoic, while he absorbed all the extra gear I was carrying, just like him. Bulletproof vest with guns.

"Nahele." He extended his hand to me. "Nice to meet you."

"You're ex military?" I finally extracted an expression from him. A satisfied one.

"Army, yes. How can you tell?" He held onto to the bulletproof jacket from it's shoulder.

"My husband is Ex Navy." Visibly his demeanour changed. A form of respect and concern settled over his face.

"I understand now. You do what you have to do." He gave me a small smile before taking his team out.

Leo, Xavier and I went inside to find two girls around 10 years and a woman who was Nathan's wife. She looked terrified and so did the kids. I wished I felt something seeing them quiver in fear but I felt nothing.

"Can I have the phone please?" I presented my hand, palms up to him. It belonged the main man who was in charge of keeping the family in that warehouse. He must have had to be in contact with Nathan to keep him updated and vice versa.

I stared at the unlocked iphone and swore. "I'll be right back." The woman had a duct tape over his her mouth, she used her throat to scream for me but I walked out, absolutely uncaring.

"Where's the body of the man who you got this phone from?" I asked Nahele. He quickly opened the side door and looked in the body bags until he found him. The man had a bullet in his head, dark eyes brows and hair. I didn't remember him but I didn't care. Stepping inside the van, I took out his arm, used his thumb to unlock the phone.

Changing the password quickly, I left the van, thanking Nahele. Getting back, I finally faced Nathan's wife. My heart nearly beat out of my chest. I felt like I was about to throw up. The time had finally come and I locked eyes locked with hers. She had blue eyes and black hair. The lady's eyes widened, she tipped her head towards her crying kids pleadingly.

"Honey, do you think that because I'm a girl, I'll have mercy on your kids and let them go?" I squatted down, phone in my hand. She frantically nodded. I gave a theatrical sigh of appointment.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm the only unstable one in this building who wouldn't bat an eye before torturing your kids until they die to get what I want." My voice was low and cold. Her eyes widened, she looked up, eyes switching from Xavier to Leo, pleading to help her. Her kids started to cry and that irritated me even more.

I really was sick in the head. I used be like those girls one. Kidnapped, terrified and wishing for someone to come and save me. But they had an option. The girls were on either side of their mother, the light from the wall illuminated the only part we were standing on. The darkness behind the family gave the whole situation an ire feeling.

I turned to the older daughter.

"Do you want to go home?" I asked her. She finally stopped crying, nodding fervently. "You can definitely go home. I don't want to hurt you or your mother." I paused. Looking through the call record, I found a couple of saved numbers but only two that stood out. Boss and Bastard.

My heart jumped.

Choosing to ignore the 'boss' I clicked on Bastard.

"Do you want to talk to daddy?" I asked the girl. She nodded once again. "If I call him now, would you give him a message?" They all nodded.

"Okay, here's what I need you to say. Tell daddy to give me back my husband and I'll hand you all over, unharmed." I shrugged, like it wasn't a big deal.

I pressed the call button and pulled off the duct tape off her face. "No crying, be a big girl and you go home." I told her.

I used face time and waited as it beeped, connecting the call. We all held our breaths, waiting to see what will happened. I only heard footsteps from the garage, other than that, no one moved.

Suddenly, Nathan's face appeared on the screen. The first thing he saw was the ceiling until I moved to face the girl.

"Amelia?" He breathed out. "Oh sweetheart. You're okay." He kept repeating himself, asking insane amount of questions about where her mother and sister is and how were they doing. I clicked my finger at her, pointed to the phone.

"Oh! Dad. The lady..." She stuttered, terrified out of her mind. "The lady wants you to give her back her husband."

"Husband? Who?" I turned my phone and came face to face with the man who I once thought was a friend. Now, he was the enemy. I indicated for Leo to put the tape back on her mouth again.

"Elena?" He whispered, eyes so big, terrified.

"It's Lucia. Remember me? You drugged me and tired me up to a chair all night." I taunted, my blood boiled, raised my internal temperature. Sweats broke out as Adrenalin surged though my body. "Where's Gabe? I need to see him."

"If you HURT THEM." The phone shook in his hand. His threat meant nothing to me. He kept going on and on about how he'll hurt Gabe if I did anything to him. Having heart enough, I pulled out a gun and pointed placed it against the girls temple. She screamed form her throat.

That shut Nathan up. "Okay. Okay. He's here." He stuttered.

I looked at the screen and there he was. My life. My heart dropped at the sight of him.

"What the hell have you done to him?"

Gabe was still unconscious. Head lulled to the side like a rag doll. He wasn't physically hurt but but for a split second, I thought he was dead. For split second, my life collapsed.

Xavier came over behind me to get a look at the screen. A sharp inhale masked his gasp. "We need to get him back."

"Nathan. Bring him to me and take your family home. It's as simple as that." I ordered.

"It's not as simple."

"You don't want your family?" I turned the phone to show Nathan the shock faces that his family was wearing at that moment. "I guess he doesn't want you all back."

"NO! I didn't fucking say that. Jude's on his way." He blubbered incoherently. I quickly turned the phone around. "I had to show him proof that I have you but I knew he'd order his men to kill my family so I took Gabe. But I didn't didn't reveal where you were. Insurance. I would trade you with my family. But I guess that's gone to shit now." I didn't care for his self pity.

"Now, I'm trading your family's life with Gabe. You have an hour. Get to Mountisle town centre parking garage. Put Gabe in the passenger seat so I can see him and leave the car. I'll do the same with your family. If that fails, I will not hesitate to use your children to gain favours from men like Jude. Trust me, a young one, goes a long way." I cut the call, his horrified look was the last image I saw.

"That's hard core." Leo nodded his head in approval.

"I'm not bluffing." I pocketed the phone.

"We need to get out of this town, all of us." I told Xavier, folding my arms. Leo, him and I formed a triangle as we spoke.

"I'm not afraid of Jude. If he's coming, we can take him on." Both Leo and I stared at Xavier.

"That's not very strategic." I said softly while Leo looked down right pissed. "Not only will you lose men for no apparent reason, you'd also put yourself at risk of investigation." I put my hand on his arm while he mulled the information over. "Think about it, we are not thugs. We are born Mafias, our parents didn't build Empires but war. They built it via espionage."

He exhaled, understanding down on him. "Yes, street war will also be hard to clean up."

"Impossible." Leo chimed in finally.

"I'll go speak to Nahele about leaving." Xavier left swiftly.

"You're very smart." Leo complimented out of no where. Xavier was gone a while. We were both sitting on a bench across from the hostages.

"Thank you." I shrugged.

"You have the potential to run an empire. I guess it's in your blood." He scoffed.

"Thanks again." I was trying to give him the cold shoulder.

"You don't like me very much." He half smiled that didn't meet his eyes.

"You're disrespectful to Xavier." I laid it out straight.

"He's my best friend." He averted my statement.

"You love the power."

"Who doesn't?" Leo was right. Who didn't love the power. Sighing he decided to say something but stopped. He knew I'd tell Xavier because that's where my loyalty lied. "You were very brave through out this whole ordeal." He stood, followed the same rout that Xavier took.

I kept looking at my own phone for the time. The stopwatch read 40 minutes. I was dying inside. My heart beat like a drum. A soft crunch from the opposite direction heightened my senses. Taking out a fully loaded gun, I aimed at towards the sound. Slowly, Xavier emerged from the opposite direction to where he disappeared form.

Putting my gun away, I looked at the three people opposite me. They'd stopped crying finally. The mother kept looking from left to right, from one kid to another. Xavier came and sat next to me, the wood creaked under his weight.

"You heard?"

"Yeah. He doesn't think I'm fit enough to run an Empire." Be both leaned back against the wooden backrest.

"Cruel enough Xavier." I corrected.

"I tried so hard to be not like father, I don't know how I lost the respect of my men." He was speaking to me like we were old friends. I guess we were.

"Was your father not a nice man?" I couldn't put a face to his name. His image was still blurry but his mother's was crystal clear. The blue lady. She had a lovely smile.

"He was a serial cheater. He hurt my mom and I loved my mom. I guess I hated him for that." He was still angry about that situation. It was clear from his angst in his voice.

"But he never abused her though?"

"Emotionally, yes." He still didn't get it. He was too protected by his mother even if he was a killer, he was surrounded by love and always had been.

"He was feared and respected but he never abused either of you, physically. Trust me, he sounds like better than most men I've encountered." It was the truth. "No one said you can't be a loving father and a cold killer. A man who has full control of his Empire and respect of his men."

"My wife, she's not like us." He confessed.

"Lucky her." I gave a half chuckle, trying to mask the bitterness from from voice.

"I don't want to drag her into his mess of a life." Since when did I become his closest confidant?

"So you'd rather live an unhappy life?"

"I'm not unhappy." He defended, vehemently.

"Really? You don't miss the thrill of it all?" It was ironic how I suddenly had an epiphany about my own life when trying to explain his own to him. "We were born into chaos and we thrive in misery. The love of my life has been kidnapped and I'm sitting here, talking to you like we're old friends, catching up."

I finally understood why I was so snippy at Gabe and at life in general for weeks before Gabe's kidnapping. I was bored. Nothing was happening to me. No matter how safe I was, I felt unhinged. I was too much in touch with my emotions and the lack of activity and thrill, I was getting irritant.

I hoped that Gabe would be able to forgive me for it. Xavier swiped a hand down his face, frustrated with himself.

"You know, when we go back, you're coming with us right?" He sounded so sure of himself.

"I don't know, I'd have to speak to Gabe about it." I didn't really know what else I wanted any more. I just wanted Gabe back. That's all.

"You are. You both are. I need you to be my brain. I need you to be my advisor." His firm offer didn't annoy me. In fact I found it to be quite a kind offer.

I checked my phone and found that we still had to wait for 30 minutes. Anxiety clawed up my spine. An electric simmer of vibration sizzled through my body.

"Tell me about me. The one you used to know. It's the reason why you trust me so much right. Because you knew me as a child?" I craned my neck to look at him.

"Honestly, yes. My mother cried for days after she got the news of your families death. Luca was one of my best friends. We were both quite, snobby." He gave a low chuckle. "So, we got along very well. I missed my friends. I missed your mothers food. You with your cute little quips and no front teeth. Also the fact that you weren't annoying made it easier to tolerate a tiny human on boys games night."

This time, I chuckled along with him.

"Then, time passed, we moved on with out lives but I never forgot though. It wasn't something I thought about for months but every now and then, all the good memories would pop into my head. Specially every time I'd visit Miami." He shrugged.

"That's life, All you can do really."

"Yes but I am glad to know that you're very much well and alive. And if your father is still alive we'll find him. He was always kid to me. Always sent me a birthday present until we heard that he was dead. I've grown up knowing he was a part of my life. An uncle. So, I owe him that much." I wished I remembered more but I didn't want to have a mental breakdown like before. I was scared to push myself to remember, just in case the pain was too much.

"Truth be told, I want that back. We used to be untouchable. I want that golden Empire back Lucia and honestly, I need your help to do it." He looked down at me. "Is that too selfish of me?" He sounded slightly vulnerable.

"No, we love the power. There's nothing wrong to love and have the power." I fist bumped his arm, understanding his need for the throne.

"You have to be twice as lethal than you were before. You have to eliminate completion, send messages to people who disrespects and donate money to politicians. Are you ready for that?"

"Yes." He replied without hesitation.

"Then yes, we'll come. As long as you let Ocean and I do some of the killings." I cracked my neck from side to side, popping the knots. "It's been a while since I've killed. I've been missing the blood too much and it's turning me into an emotional bitch."

The lady's eyes widened at my comment. Fear clearly evident in them. I smirked at her as Xavier laughed.

My phone rang, suddenly.

A jolt of electric fear fired around my body for a semi second, leaving me paralysed.

It was the dead man's phone and I quickly pushed fear aside and looked at it.

Bastard, it read.