CHAPTER 172 Omen

*Joy*

*The sun was setting*... *its beautiful orange and red rays streaked through the sky as day turned into dusk*.

*I was standing outside on the Cohen's view deck*, *admiring the scenery*. *I felt a certain calm settle within me as I watched the sun's orange-red light kiss the quaint town of New Salem down below*.

"*It's time for us to leave*, *Mrs*. *Cohen*." *I turned around to find Liam standing behind me with a pleased grin plastered on his face*.

*Mrs*. *Cohen*? *I looked down at myself and found myself wearing a white gown*. *In my right hand, I held a bouquet of yellow and black roses*.

"*Come on*, *Virtue*," *he murmured*. "*People are waiting*." *He grabbed my hand and led me towards the front entrance of the Cohen Mansion*.

*I actually went through with it*. *We were married*. *And now we had to leave for our honeymoon*. *I exited the double doors of the mansion to find a group of women standing in front of a limousine*. *They screamed with glee and excitement*, *in anticipation of the traditional bouquet toss*.

"*Virtue*, *you need to toss your bouquet before you enter the limousine*," *I heard Lisa's familiar voice say*. *I nodded my head absentmindedly before positioning myself at the top of the front steps of the mansion*.

*One*... *Two*... *Three*...

*I swung my hands upward*, *releasing the bouquet in the air*, *to the delightful cries of all the single women in attendance*.

"*Wave goodbye*, *Virtue*," *Liam said*, *rather impatiently*. *I shook my head*. *I needed to say goodbye to Cristos*, *Sebastian and Xavier first*.

*Where were they*?

*I turned around*, *expecting to find them standing behind me*, *but they were nowhere to be found*.

"*Chip*? *Chip*, *I'm about to leave for the airport*," *I cried out*. "*Where are you*-"

"*You're looking for Chip*?" *Liam asked*, *a sinister smile on his lips*. "*He's over there*." *Liam pointed to a group of mercenaries who were holding Cristos*, *Xavier and Sebastian at gunpoint*. "*You think I didn't know*?"

"*K*-*k*-*now what*?" *I stuttered*, *my tone anxious*. *How did we not see this coming*?

"*That you*, *my darling*, *are Joy Taylor*," *he admitted*, *stroking the side of my face with his knuckles*. "*And those three men are the underbosses of the Blood Disciples*. *If I'm not mistaken*, *I believe Veronica Ortiz has been looking for the Blood Disciple who killed one of her favorite underbosses*. *It would be such a pity if your friends would die*."

*Liam took my wrist and began to squeeze*. *I bit my lower lip to prevent myself from crying out*. *I didn't want to give him the satisfaction*.

*I had to do something*... *I couldn't let Liam get away with this*. *With my free hand*, *I cautiously began lifting the skirt of my gown*. *Underneath it was my gun strapped to my thigh*.

"*What do you want*, *Liam*?" *I asked sweetly*, *pretending to feign ignorance*.

"*I want you to be a good little girl*, *Joy*," *Liam said*. "*I want you to negotiate a little deal for me with the bosses of the Blood Disciples*. *I want them to kill Veronica Ortiz and all her little minions*."

"*And if I don't*?" *I asked*, *staring at his cold gray eyes with all the rage I had for him*.

"*Then I'll have to kill your three friends*... *not before I rape you in front of them*," *Liam answered*, *his voice dripping with malice*. "*Just like old times*." *He kissed me forcefully on the cheek*, *his saliva dampening my skin*.

*I quickly took out my gun*, *aimed it at his head and squeezed the trigger*. *His blood splattered all over my face as the bullet pierced his skull*.

*I spun around and aimed my gun at the mercenaries*, *however before I could shoot*, *I heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire*, *then I felt something hot pierce my body*.

I woke up with a start, my pulse racing, my breathing quick, my body covered in sweat. It felt so real that it scared the crap out of me.

*It was like a premonition*. *An omen*.

I sat up on my bed, wiping the small beads of perspiration from my forehead while taking deep breaths to steady my breathing. I glanced at my bedroom window, quickly noticing it was still dark outside.

I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, clutching my silk camisole against my chest, willing my heartbeat to slow down.

*I knew sleeping was a bad idea*.

I would have gone to sleep drunk, but today was a very big day. It was against Xavier's code of conduct to be hungover from the night before, when lives were at stake.

I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and looked at the time. It was still a few hours before sunrise, but I couldn't go back to sleep. Instead, I decided it was better to get up and head downstairs for some coffee.

I pushed the blankets off of me, jumped out of bed and walked to my en suite to wash my face. As I peered at myself through the bathroom mirror, I saw the dark circles under my eyes.

Honestly, I haven't gotten much sleep these past several days. I thought I could rest easy in Chicago, but even after a massage, I still couldn't sleep. I felt... troubled. Despite being one of the true heroes of the massacre at Highland Oaks, somehow, I felt responsible.

I wanted to tell the people the truth, however, I couldn't. Rather than telling the townsfolk Liam was the mastermind, I, instead, provided comfort to the bereaved families in an attempt to find my own solace.

Aside from the massacre was the peculiar situation of Lisa Murdock. Last Sunday, Lisa received the grim news her husband was believed to have committed suicide. In turn, she announced the passing of her husband during the opening ceremony of the Spring Honey Bee Celebration, but that wasn't all she announced though. She also told the townsfolk that she'd be running for councilman as Cris Murdock's substitute. It came as quite a shock, but judging by the pleased expression on Liam's face, it was obviously planned.

I sighed. *And now the day of reckoning has finally arrived*...

I put my robe on and exited my bathroom. As I walked through the darkness, I noticed the light coming through the cracks of my bedroom door. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had problems sleeping in this house.

I heard hushed voices coming from below as I exited my room and walked down the stairs. The chatter suddenly stopped; they must have heard my footsteps.

Cristos appeared at the bottom of the steps. "Virtue, you need to get some sleep. Look at you... you look tired," he scolded.

"Bad dream," I mumbled before giving him a kiss on the cheek. I entered the dining room and saw Xavier, Sebastian and Kiki all seated with a cup of coffee in their hands. "Obviously, I'm not the only one who can't sleep. Give me an update. Did you guys find out where Noah is?" Yesterday, Noah unexpectedly disappeared. Liam had hired him and his men to build a small stage on the front grounds of the mansion, however only his crew showed up with an alibi that Noah was called away on important business.

We tried tracking his phone and his car. His pickup was parked at the Hughes residence with his phone conveniently inside it. We couldn't ask Sarah where he was knowing she'd find it highly suspicious.

"Max called earlier and told us a private jet landed on a private airfield in Bismarck a couple of hours ago," Xavier answered. "We took a look at the manifest and found they had two passengers flying in from Texas. Unfortunately, the passengers used aliases. Max is on his way to the airport right now hoping to get some answers while De Luca is trying to get some info from his contact in Texas."

"How about Link?" I asked, pouring myself a steaming cup of coffee. "Any word from him?"

"Nothing yet," Sebastian answered this time. "He'll call us later in the morning."

I sat down on an empty chair beside Kiki, glancing at the map lying in the middle of the table. There were numerous pins surrounding a circled area on the map. It was where the Blood Disciples planned to take me captive, so I could be delivered to Pete. Our initial plan included an ambush, but when Liam told me he couldn't get out of making a small speech at New Salem High, we made other plans.

Once we were done with Pete, I would go back to New Salem secretly. Here, I would finish what we had started... with fireworks.

Through an anonymous tip, the Bismarck Police will find me caged in an abandoned building, tortured. From there, I will go back to New Salem as Mrs. Cohen and continue the work Liam left. The Angels of Darkness would have no choice, but to deal with me and the Blood Disciples.

The plan sounded simple enough, but Pete was unpredictable. He had hired a group of mercenaries known as the Black Hawks, who, although were less skilled than the Blue Rogues, still posed a huge threat. Xavier had sent for all his men in California to serve as his small army against these hired guns.

"Will Chef be bringing breakfast?" I asked, my tummy grumbling.

"I don't know. He's currently at the Jensen's," Cristos answered, typing away on his laptop.

"Noah's house? Why in the world is he there?" I asked, surprised.

"The private nurse came knocking at his door around midnight," Kiki answered. "She had an emergency to take care of and since Noah has been MIA, she asked Chef to keep an eye on Noah's mom until she came back." She picked up her tablet and showed me the screen. "He's been bugging the place and snooping around. He found a steel door protecting the basement and it's passcode protected. Bo wants Chef to break into the basement, but Dina advised not to. She said if Chef does, Noah will know and it will blow his cover. Anyway, Chef placed a camera right outside the door instead... for a peek."

"A steel door, huh," I said, swiping through the footage of the CCTV cameras Chef had placed inside the various rooms of the house. I found Chef cooking in the kitchen while Mrs. Jensen sat in her wheelchair beside the kitchen table watching him. They seem to be getting along. "I don't remember that ever being there. What do you think is inside the basement that needs protecting?"

"Probably money and documents," Kiki answered. "Noah is old school. He doesn't use computers since it leaves a paper trail. I suspect he's someone important... if not to Liam, maybe Pete."

"Finally, someone who agrees with me," Xavier said loudly.

"She doesn't count," Sebastian argued, "because she's your sister."

"A sister who is usually kept out of the loop," Kiki spat back. "Come on, Dom... Don't you find him oddly suspicious? Noah suddenly disappears without a trace and now we find that there's a steel door in his house? There's something about him that doesn't add up."

"Well, we can always kill him after," Cristos murmured, staring at the screen of his laptop. "Right now, he isn't our priority. Anyway, I have nothing on Liam. He has been busy rummaging through his father's documents all night. I guess he didn't find anything of use since he's sound asleep at his desk... again."

"Any word on Pete?" Sebastian asked. Cristos shook his head.

"He's going through burner phones like they're candy," Cristos answered. "But he's close by. He had his people trace Sam's cell-"

He was interrupted by the loud ringing coming from Xavier's phone.

"It's Max," Xavier said before answering. "What do you have for me?" He paused listening intently to whatever Max was saying. "Okay. Get the hell out of there. If the police are there investigating several murders, for sure they have someone scouting the area." He paused again.

*Murders*?!

"Alright. Text me once you're at the safe house. I'll have Dina look for a limousine through the CCTV footage. They couldn't have gone far," Xavier said before hanging up. He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "Police are currently at the private airport. Apparently, someone called in to report several dead bodies. Max did some eavesdropping and he heard a flight attendant tell the police they had two male passengers, one, young, in his twenties and the other in his fifties or sixties, while the airport personnel told the police the last vehicles to leave the airport were an SUV and a limousine." Xavier quickly dialed a number on his phone. "Dina, I need you to hack through Bismarck CCTV footage from a small private airport heading into the city. Keep an eye out for an SUV and a limousine, possibly traveling together." He paused, listening to Dina. "What? The CCTVs in the city are down?" He sighed and hung up. "The CCTVs in Bismarck have been down since yesterday. She suspects someone hacked into their server."

"It has to be the Blue Rogues or the Black Hawks or both," Cristos muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Remember I told you a group of non-locals came to the pub last Monday. I overheard them saying they have a big fish coming in Thursday night or Friday morning." All of us stared at him, surprised an important detail like this was overlooked. "Didn't I tell you guys about this?"

Kiki and I shook our heads, but Xavier and Sebastian nodded theirs, then looked knowingly at each other. They fucked up.

"I'll have Sam and Link fly in from Chicago," Xavier muttered angrily. If someone knew something about the Blue Rogues, it was Sam. "Sebastian, call De Luca. We need to know who among the Angels of Darkness is here. Fuck! This is a problem."

"Sure is," I murmured, remembering how I died in my nightmare. "Pete has backup."