I honestly had no idea if my plan would actually work. I also understood the slight irritation from my daddy and Joshua when I had explained what I had done when I got back. My daddy understood why I had come clean to Tatiana but he also did explain that for all I knew it could have been a trick. Admittedly I don’t know that much about Tatiana aside from what I had only recently learned, however it was the truth that Tatiana has also shown that she doesn’t want this life. All I could do was hope that maybe this all would work out.
So when there was a knock on our hotel door. I walked over to answer it while, Joshua and my daddy stood a few feet back. Hands out ready to summon netrix weapons and I could here three sets of low growls coming from our two jaguar and one cheetah spirit just in case we were meet but armed men that worked for Mr. Wallace.
Or worse, Katherine and Vitani.
However much to our relief (and surprise) Tatiana was standing in the hallway. She was wearing a large hoodie that probably was too big for her. It was dark red and it’ hood completely covered her face as she lifted it up. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans and nearly spotless white tennis shoes. “Can I come in?” She asked, showing more nervousness than I had heard from her since meeting her. She usually had a very attitude filled voice however now she was scared and nervous.
“Yeah,” I said, stepping aside and letting her walk in beside me. She slipped her large hoodie off her shoulders and hung it up beside my coat. She was wearing a black shirt underneath that had a cute white design of some character I had never seen before. “Do you want something to drink, water, tea, soda, fruit juice?”
“I guess tea.” Tatiana walked around looking at our large hotel suite. “Wow, so you are truly rich aren’t you.”
“We are rich by American standards, Tarun Gold is worth a lot of money.” I explained as I took her into the living room to sit on the couch. “You aren’t wearing a wire right?” I asked.
Tatiana rolled her eyes, as she lifted up her shirt exposing a slim stomach. She turned around and showed me her back, no sign of a wire anywhere. “Do you want me to remove my freaking pants next so you can check there or-”
“No!” I said feeling my face flush deeply and than I saw that teasing smirk appear on Tatiana face that made me pout a bit. “You and your cousin really need to talk about modesty with someone one day.” I said thinking back to the few sleepovers I had with the girl. How I had seen far more of the girl than I had ever even seen from my friend Beatrice.
“We have been told not to be ashamed of what we got.” Tatiana answered, but then tenses as my daddy walked into the room. His long brown hair was down out of his ponytail, he was not wearing his suit right now rather white sweatpants, and a matching tank top.
In either hand he was carrying two cups of the tea I had made for myself, him and Joshua. (Hoping that it calms their spirits down while I explain what I did) “It is a pleasure to meet you, Tatiana.” He greeted, his large goofy smile working at 100 percent. “My name is Jonan Whisperwind, Verona’s father and I suppose technically Katherine Blackthorn ex husband.”
Tatiana looked up at my daddy with wide eyes. “Um well it nice to meet you, Mr. Whisperwind.” She had a tone of respect in her voice that I had only heard her save for some adults we had seen. A tone that I don’t think existed in Trinity unless her daddy scolded her. “Oh my god….” Her eyes shifted from my daddy onto Joshua who had just come into the room. He was also wearing dark sweat pants and a tank top, he and my daddy had prepared for a fight just in case. His long black and green dreads hung freely around his head like vines, he had a decent build, his arms looking like a sculpture had made them out of clay. “H-Hi.” She said in a hushed voice, her cheeks turning a bit darker in a blush. I could understand why, after all I used to have a crush on Joshua like every girl in my class. (Until I meet Cody)
Joshua gave her a simple two finger salute before sitting down in a chair opposite to us while my daddy sat on the living room floor nearby. A moment later our animal spirits came into the room one after another. Thanani taking his usual sleeping spot near one of the windows, Aisu laying on the couch beside me and Wally sitting beside Joshua. “There are a lot of you here.”
“Well it takes a village to take down an operation such as this.” My daddy answered. “It is good that you came here Tatiana, I know that this was not an easy choice to make.”
I had to elbow her a bit as her eyes had been locked on Joshua for far too long. She coughed a bit into her hand before straightening up. “Well… in comparison to what may happen, maybe being a snitch is more helpful than good right now. Might be the only way to save me right now.”
“What do you mean, little one?” Thanani answered, his tone far more gentle with her than he had used with me in a while.
Tatiana's hands started shaking, so much that she had to set her tea cup back down. “First before I even say a word about what I think is being planned.” She turned her nervous red eyes onto my daddy. “Your daughter promised me that I would be okay and that when this is all over. I could come to the island, I could learn in a safe place. Learn how to control this new jepei with people that could train me. That I could enroll in this academy and never come back to New York again. That I could stay in the dorms or even with your family. Is that all true? Cause if not I am walking right out that door and you will never see me again!”
My daddy’s smile softened, a fatherly smile that I swear had some kind of secret powers trapped within it cause it could calm anyone down. “I give you my word, that you will be protected. With good enough proof, Tarun has a deal with the United States that we can take anyone under 15 years old onto our island, if they are being abused or are in an unsafe environment by their own parents. It is a part of something called The Jepei Child Act of 1979. So after this if you can start collecting information that you are in an environment like this. I will present it to a judge here and then to one of our council members, Lord Kanu Asherman. You will be allowed onto the island with no issue. I promise you that.”
Tatiana nodded her head as she folded her hands together. “And what about my sis- my cousin I should say, what happens to her? Your daughter said she might be sent to prison on your island.”
My daddy grew a bit serious. “It depends on how much blood might be on her hands. Technically speaking she is protected under the law I just mentioned. She is also protected under another law for all jepei users. The Forced Combatian act of 1691. If a child under 15 years old has been forced or groomed into being a fighter used for evil, she would spend a minimum of three years in Tarun Island rehabilitation center, or our underground prison known as the deep. There she would go through mental exams to get that darkness out of her and then she would be placed in the hands of a master or grandmaster to keep her safe and raise her right.” He then smiled once more. “So in three years time once this is all over, there is a chance that my wife and I will have two more girls in our home. Because we would be honored to care for you two unless you decide to stay in the dorms or even find another forever home.”
Tatiana looked from me to my daddy and then she closed her eyes. I’m not sure why she nodded her head the way she did, maybe it was to tell herself that it was okay, or maybe someone else was telling her it was okay. “O-Okay,” she responded. “I will tell you everything I know, but we might need more than tea for this.”
“Well I know the best barbecue spot in the city, and luckily for us.” My daddy held his phone up. “They deliver.”
“If you are talking about Uncle James Barbecue, you can use my reward’s card.” Me and my daddy looked at her with the same expression. “What?” She asked with a shrug, “I go there every week.”
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After an amazing meal (one we got for 50 percent off thanks to her rewards’s card) and after Tatiana had left us with so much information we nearly ran out of space in my daddies small notebook. Joshua went with Tatiana to make sure she got back home safe, while my Daddy and I spent the better part of an hour going through all of this information with Office Cooper who was the leader of the Wallace Operation as she called it. The woman had arrived a few minutes after Tatiana had left with Joshua, judging from the hungry expression on her face. We should have at least ordered something for the woman.
“Tatiana Wallace huh,” Office Cooper mumbled as she looked over on her computer. “I would have never expected that she would be the one that would tell us all of this, and what you have found is honestly very worrisome.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked as I set down a sandwich and a tall glass of soda that I had made.
“Thank you, dear,” she said before growing serious once more. “Tatiana Wallace is an odd ball in this, if she hadn’t said anything I would have never suspected her.” She turned her laptop around so we could see it, and I could see Tatiana’s forced smile as she was in a school uniform. “She attends one of the highest rated private schools for girls in New York. She is a straight A student for the most part, she is one of the highest rated gymnasts for the 13 to 15 age group. She has skipped a grade and will be a sophomore in high school next year. All of her teachers have great things to say about her. However, I can see that recently her grades had slipped a bit, enough to keep her A average but instead of her usually 97 percent or higher, she has been slipping to the 90s and 91s.”
“Well maybe, she can help tutor another young lady that has been struggling with her grade recently.” I sent a pout filled glare towards Thanani.
“They aren’t that bad.” I mumbled. “D’s are still a passing grade technically.”
“Anyway,” Office Cooper said, though a smile was on her face as she looked at me and Thanani. “The concerning part is if what Tatiana says is true. Then we are at a disadvantage, because if Hezekiah Wallace is truly looking to control the entire drug trade of America and start to move into Mexico and even some of the darkest spots of Canada. It would give him a lot more power than we can even handle.”
Tatiana had shared with us what her uncle has been truly planning to get from all of his new moves. To control every state in America, to be the king of the United States and with all of his connections he has now. He could hold this empire forever, he could have anyone killed, any new information found on him burned. He could start to work his way into some more crooked police officers as he has apparently been doing. He would be untouchable and the worst part was according to Tatiana once she and Trinity were ready to start running things on their own when they were 18. He would then take the next step and not run for mayor, but run for governor of New York. From there he would run for president of the United States one day. “He told us all of this two months ago, and has been pushing for us to get better each day. Trinity will be the head and I am supposed to be her helper, or maybe even send me to Atlanta once he has more control there.”
“And that fact that Tatiana’s grades and even her records in gymnastics have been taking a hit. In the last two months she had dropped from a 4.0 to a 3.8, her records having gone from five straight first place titles, to placing 3rd, 4th, and 2nd in her recent events. This all seems true.”
“So can’t we go arrest him now or something?”
“That is where this gets complicated.” An annoyed look started to spread across the hispanic woman’s face. “We can’t move in just yet, while Tatiana’s words are very much interesting, we need to start looking into things deeper. Chaos and Order has officially been closed for most of the year after what happened. We have a warrant to bring HEzekiah In for questioning about what we found in his club. However, the problem is we don’t have enough to arrest him. All the people we have questioned have said they have no idea, even one poor girl in the footage with that cocaine. She claimed that it was her idea that she decided to do it on her own. It’s unfortunate but without any true evidence, or witnesses we cannot truly put him behind bars.”
“His people are loyal to him, which makes me worry about some of the things that Tatiana might have told us.” I looked over at my daddy as he said that. “Do not get me wrong, Verona. I believe a lot of what she has told us and I have already sent Joshua to go look into a few things to confirm them. However, there is a phrase. Blood is thicker than water.”
“It does seem odd,” Office Cooper began. “Why now? Why of all times did she choose to do this? To possibly turn on her family and put her young life at risk?”
“The same reason that Trinity has opened up.” We all turned to look at Thanani. “Because of Verona, again I don’t like admitting this. However, there is a lot of truth in the fact that Verona’s actions have opened paths that we could never have opened on our own. As much as she puts this mission at risk sometimes, and I feel like New York is having an affect on that attitude of hers, and let’s not forget to mention-”
“Isn’t this supposed to be praising me?” I asked, feeling my blush spread all the way up to my ears. My daddy and Office Cooper shared a look before bursting into laughter.
“What I am trying to say,” Thanani started once we had calmed down. “Is that Verona or rather this Cindy act shares their pain. It has caused that girl to trust you and with hope in a new future it might have opened Tatiana’s eyes. There is a new way out of her pain, and anyone in pain regardless of where it is from always looks for a way to make that pain stop.” Thanani set his eyes onto me and a rare hint of a smile appeared on his muzzle. “You have done good, you little stowaway.”
I found myself blinking back tears as I got up and wrapped my arms around Thanani’s large frame. “Thank you, Daddy Thanani.”
I felt one of his paws pat me on the back and when I moved it was Aisu’s turn to cuddle up to my favorite cat dad in the world. I turned back to them to ask. “What do we do now?”
“What we can do is go and confirm these locations as soon as possible. To make sure that Tatiana has told us the truth of all this and if we can confirm that we can start taking them down one by one.” Office Cooper looked towards my daddy. “Hopefully this might cause Hezekiah or your ex… would you consider her your wife or…”
“She is not my wife anymore, you can call her just Katherine.”
“Well this might cause Katherine to get a bit more reckless, cause from what we have seen in the last few days she seems to be a person of perfection.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Ever since you explained to me what Katherine Blackthorn is truly like. I have had two of my agents follow her. She goes to the same place every morning for breakfast and has a meeting on her laptop, she then returns to a hotel we believe belongs to Hezekiah, we have seen them leaving at the same time. She then heads to a large office building in Manhattan, down to Brooklyn for lunch, and then spends the rest of the evening at either one of Hezekiah’s restaurants. From what we have found, she is currently the acting general manager and owner of the facility.”
“I would tell your officers to stop following Katherine,” my daddy said in a grim voice. “Although you could not tell unless another user opened your eyes. Katherine has a very powerful animal spirit, the spirit of the liger. That beast usually follows her for most of the day. Keeping it’s eyes trained on her, if they get a bit too close than there is a chance that Katherine might just pay them a visit.” He let out a sigh as he folded his hands. “I just wish, there was something we could do to sped this fight up a bit more.”
“What fight?” Office Cooper asked.
“When I was surprised and forced to do that interview after the shooting of Order and Chaos, I was on the news. Which means Katherine at the very least knows I am here, and she is probably waiting to come and find me. So she can try and end what she started five years ago.” My daddy’s hands tightened into fists as a dark growl seemed to escape his lips, his jepei aura shifted just a bit and I heard him whisper in a rare tone of pure rage. “It is time we settle this once and for all Katherine. One on One, no interference.”
“You won’t be alone,” I thought to myself as I got up and rested my head against his shoulder. “I will be right there and we will get her together.” I looked over at Aisu who was doing the same with Thanani. “All four of us will finally take her down once and for all.”
It upset me how a part of me didn’t believe those words. Cause I felt like there was something I was still missing, something that would have stopped me and helped me understand one more thing that I had been missing since all of this started.
Because I could have sworn that when I first met Tatiana.
Her last name was not Wallace.
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“Ow!” I mumbled as Trinity pinched me on my arm. “If you are gonna do that, at least cut those long nails!” I said rubbing my arm a bit.
Trinity laughed a bit at me. “See that as punishment for canceling on me the other day.” It has been two days since I had seen Trinity. The last time I had seen her she was going into her dad’s restaurant with Katherine. I had told her I had to leave after Tatiana had attacked me in her anger.
I kinda deserved that.
We were in her favorite SUV and had just left the actual city of New York. I had no idea where we were going but I was keeping track of the places we passed in case I had to bring my daddy and office cooper back this way at some point. “And I told you I had a few things to handle that came up.”
“I know, but it was still annoying.”
“What doesn’t annoy you?”
“You for the most part, hopefully soon to be partner.”
We drove for maybe 30 minutes before we came to a series of short buildings. All of them the same dark gray color that had a series of trucks coming and to and from them. Trinity helped me out of the car and forced a blindfold over my eyes before grabbing my hand and leading me into a loud building like someone was building something. We headed down a series of stairs before Trinity took the blindfold off me.
“Jesus Christ…” I said as I looked out in pure amazement and horror at what I was seeing.
It was an underground chamber that was dim with some artificial light. An underground chamber with a sprinkler system above it that provided water to what I could only imagine was a football field of plants.
Plants that I had a feeling that this was the weed that HEzekiah was famous for.
“Welcome to our empire.”
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