Phoenix Rising: The Veiðimenn Mob, Book Two

Five

Once they were settled in the room known as the Don’s Den, the teenagers fell silent while they awaited their orders. All eyes were on the pair sitting at the desk. One was older, but still in his prime, while the other was younger, and just inside his rebellious teen stage.

The relaxed way that the young man was sitting amused David, who was standing to the right of the Don. He'd witnessed identical behaviour in Callum when they met eighteen years before, and he found it comical that the phrase “the apple didn’t fall far from the tree” fit the situation completely. Glancing over at Ross, David signed out: 'Like father, like son.'

Snorting a laugh, Ross quickly turned back to the security monitors, and issued a few orders for his team. His dark brown eyes flicked to the pair sitting at the desk, and he sighed boredly. Though it had been months since they lost Hans, the smoothly running operations of their organization never ceased. As long as the memory of their generously dangerous leader was kept alive by his children and their kids, the Veiðimenn would never fall.

"I saw that, Dave," Callum growled.

Ross laughed dryly. Knowing that his cousins were trying to overcome the shadow cast over them by Death the best way they knew how, he was inclined to join the fun. "He's not wrong, Cal. Phoenix is your mirror image in much the same way you were your father’s."

The newly-appointed Don of the Icelandic Mafia sighed heavily. He knew what the men and women around him were doing, but this was not a time to slack off or make jokes. It was a time to plan, a time to tear apart people trampling over their territory like it was their own.

There was a mission to complete, and his son wanted it. He could tell by the look in the teen's dark eyes that Phoenix was pissed to the point he'd go find the squad they were trying to stop with or without his father's permission. His team was more than capable of a simple take-down mission.

They had trained since they were pre-teens, and could each hold their own in a fight. Back-to-back, Callum knew that there was no way to stop the seven friends from doing what they did best: defending each other.

"We found the proof at school today that someone is selling crack between classes," Kennedy said from her place behind Phoenix. Handing over her unlocked phone, she watched as Callum went through the pictures with a hard look. “His name is Craig Dawson, a playboy who thinks he’s bad with a bad attitude and an even worse outlook on women. What Sky and I could gather was that he’s actively trying to plough his way through the school’s female population. He then exploits them for whatever he can while spreading rumours.”

Skylar, while carefully filing her nails into razor-sharp claws, grinned maliciously as she said. “Uncle Callum, both Ken and I have been approached by him, and turned him down flat. He does seem to have a decently sized friend circle, but, like any small-time crooks, if we take down the leader, the pawns will follow.”

“We also looked into his classes,” Lukas commented. Handing over his tablet, he gave the blond man the information. “He’s skating by on fifties or, rather, what the school considers a pass. Jax?”

Smiling, Jaxon also handed over his tablet. “He’s also got a previous record for shoplifting, being a public nuisance, damage to private property, and assault with a weapon. The last one was downplayed because he was – and I quote – “drug-induced to the point he was out of his mind”. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m going to be happy to get him off our backs.”

“Not to mention that Dawson’s been egging on the ninth and tenth graders to widen his sales selection. It’s been eating at me all day since I heard, but I can’t help but wonder if the school will just cover it up or make it public knowledge,” Memphis said.

Ross snarled darkly, remembering a time when his older brother had joined Hans in taking down a heroin dealer because of the same thing. “Likewise, Memphis.”

"I want you to take him and anyone else in that house down tonight," Callum said, pleased that each of them had been working on the provided task without a single complaint. "Your team is as diverse as they come, and the best by modern standards. No bloodshed unless they shed yours first, and you will be armed. All of you have a seven o’clock check-in – do not miss it."

The door to the office opened, and Callum glanced up in time to see Emily start squirming on her mother's hip. His face split into a grin, “Well, hello ladies. How are my girls today?”

"Daddy, I came to see you," the little girl said. As soon as her mother sat her down, the child bolted for her father’s arms.

Ambrosia took one look at the assembled teens and groaned in frustration. "You're sending them?"

"Unlike my subordinates, my son had ample time to choose to walk away, but he didn’t. None of them did," Callum said as he rose to his feet. "I don't want to talk about this in front of the baby, Amber."

“Agreed,” his wife replied. Blowing out her cheeks, the woman turned to her son, "Are you all certain that this is something you want to do? There's still time to get another team together if any of you are unsure."

"Mom, we’re going to be fine. We all knew when we became friends that happy-go-lucky lives were not for us. I'm an heir, I get it, and so do my friends. I understand you’re worried, but I swear to come back to you in one piece, okay?" The teen said calmly as he got to his feet. He took his mother into his arms and grinned, "Let's not forget that Kennedy likes to play with her prey.”

He glanced at his friends, “Luke and Jax, I want you holed up in the jeep and out of sight. You’re going to monitor the rest of us and call it in if there are issues or when the mission is done. Mark, Memphis, and Sky, you three hit up the areas on the upper floor. Ken, you’re with me on the main floor. No one is allowed to separate for any reason unless they clear it with me first."

Agreeing with the orders the young man was giving them, the team started filing out of the office to get ready to leave.

Stopping him, Ambrosia cupped her son's face, her dark green eyes pleading silently with him. “Don’t you dare cross the threshold of my hospital. You chose to go through with this, so own the responsibility of having lives in your hands.”

Nodding, Phoenix smiled as he took her hands in his, "Mom, my little siblings still need me, and I know if any of us end up in the hospital, Uncle Declan's going to have kittens."

From where she was still standing, Kennedy smiled gently at Ambrosia. “Aunt Amber, I’ll make sure he comes back uninjured. All of us will with the likely exemptions being Memphis and Markus.”

Trace barked a laugh, “Those two start, and you and Sky can go ahead and whoop ass for me and Thomas, Red.”

An hour later, the team waited outside a dilapidated house, hidden by the bushes as Markus used bolt cutters remove a part of the chain-link fence.

Phoenix, sensing that there was still some nervousness amongst them, spoke though the wireless link connecting the seven of them together. "Come on, guys. We got this! You all heard what my Dad said when he entrusted us with this, so let’s make it happen like we always do."

Kennedy scowled at Memphis. Having to hand over a few hundred after he won their gamble, she wasn’t happy. "You’re still an asshole."

"A bet is a bet, Ken. Not my problem you can’t handle loss. Besides, you didn’t specify whether or not we could ask others for information, so that’s on you," the teen shot back.

She pulled out her gun and checked the safety. "Are you taunting me, Memphis? Cause I'm in the mood to put some lead in your diet."

"Say no, Memphis. For the love of God, say no," Jaxon pleaded through the link. "She's a damn good shot, and I don't want to be visiting your grave just because you ticked off Red."

The others laughed hysterically, but quietly. All of them knew that, with or without a weapon, Kennedy Rubin was one person no one wanted to cross.

"Short-fused women are the best to have at your back in the mafia," Lukas chuckled.

Jaxon laughed, "You should see her kicking Dad's ass on the range. I've never seen him get so flustered before I witnessed him lose to her."

"Can we focus here, please?" Sky hissed through the link. "Don Callum needs this done, and Donna Ambrosia is the one I really do not want to face if this goes wrong. Jax, how’s my cam?"

“All systems are a-go, sis,” the teen replied.

“Alright guys, let’s do this,” their appointed leader whispered. Getting into the house, Phoenix noted the mess of used needles, half-empty pizza boxes, and empty liquor bottles scattered across the floor. He watched the others sneak up over the stairs while he and Kennedy cautiously checked each of the lower-level rooms.

With his friends at his back, he felt strong enough to take over the world. Walking though the downstairs, they cleared the basement before moving to the main floor. Moving silently through the hallway, they methodically checked each room before continuing. Finding a few of Craig’s friends along the way, they quickly gagged them while zip-tying their hands behind their backs.