“Harrington was taken from the jail’s infirmary and woke up in the Ravens facility after only serving three months. Ravens had him classified as killed by another inmate,” Mariah added.
Mirage frowned. “So the preacher’s kid wanted to play gangster. How original.”
Meridian set his glass down. “Do these two have any kind of connection to each other?”
Mariah scrolled through her notes, pursing her lips like she always did when she was thinking hard.
“According to behavioral reports, Scar and Gage refused to cooperate with staff or each other. They fought constantly, physically and verbally. They were kept in separate quarters until they were scheduled for termination. There’s bad blood, but no record as to why. The director might’ve misjudged their relationship.”
Jo nodded slowly. “Then that’s where we’ll start. If they hate each other, they won’t be together long after escaping.”
“What’s the orders, boss?” Ex asked.
“We divide and recover,” she said. “Blacks and Browns will take Scar. He’s dangerous, volatile, and most likely to put up resistance. Start in Chicago. Track the South Side Kings. If anyone interferes, you have full autonomy to handle it.”
“Define handle it,” Meridian said.
“We all know what gangs like that are capable of. Handle it however you see fit.”
Meridian’s grin was slight and dark. He liked the sound of that.
Jo turned to the Greens. “Valor, Zorion, you go after Gage. Check his parents’ last known address first, then his buddy Roz. If anyone knows where Gage is headed, it’ll be him. Bring them in alive and unharmed…that’s nonnegotiable.”
Everyone nodded.
Jo glanced at the digital clock on the wall. “The Whites have a pretty decent head start on us. But I don’t want to underestimate them again, so get your strategies aligned. You’re wheels up in forty-eight.”
She closed the holograph projection with a swipe of her hand, making Scar and Gage’s faces dissolve into darkness.
The meeting adjourned, but Meridan remained seated, thinking, plotting.
Ex turned toward him. “Chicago gangs, huh? This is a first.”
He and Ex had fought against leaders of organizations who used genocide to dominate countries, religious zealots who strapped bombs to their chests, arms conglomerates, and terrorists with funds vast enough to start civil wars.
City gangs were a fuckin’ insult to them.
“The goddamn South Side Kings,” Ex sighed. “Is this what we’ve been reduced to, Mere? Going after a group of idiots who entertain themselves by shooting into people’s houses, knocking over mom-and-pop stores, or swiping old ladies’ purses.”
Meridian stood and pulled out one of his smokes now that Jo was gone.
“If these dumbasses like senseless violence so much…” He shrugged. “I say let’s give it to ’em.”
White Ravens
Gage
Gage sat on an overturned bucket with his elbows on his knees and eyes closed. The knocking of a loose panel and the rush of wind across the tin roof were his only company.
The serum in his blood was a poison that wouldn’t let him rest. He could feel his surroundings vibrating and humming in his bones.
He’d waited a long time for Scar to come back, but he’d known the second he heard the footsteps fade, he wasn’t turning around…not for him.
Still, a stupid part of him had hoped.
Selfish prick.
He let out a hoarse laugh. “I’m going to punch you right in the face if I ever see you again.”
