Chapter 42: Chapter 20: Tragedy

MANDY

I was sitting with the girls, on edge, waiting to hear about the shipment run. Jessie, Luis, and Carlos are here also, but they keep pacing the floors.

No one says anything. We just keep looking at our cell phones, acting like we may have possibly missed some info. They should have made it by now, but still no word.

The minutes pass by, and just as I am about to say something, the alarms start going off. The boys run over to the security cameras and see a shootout happening in the lobby. My phone starts ringing and it’s Nate.

“Nate, the sirens are going off. What’s going on?”

“Get the girls and go into the secret passage down to the basement. Get into the safe room and bolt it behind you. Do it now! We are on our way! Stay on the phone with me!”

I quickly grab the girls and hand my cell to Kerri as we head to the old conference room. The guys follow us, and we can hear gunshots coming from the stairs.

We can hear them getting closer, and it seems to take forever to get to the passageway. There’s a secret door at the back that opens to a secret elevator that goes down to the basement.

I run up to the wall while the boys stay at the doorway watching and listening for them to break in. I quickly punch the code in, and the wall opens up to the elevator. The moment it opens and right when we jump in, we can hear the apartment being broken into.

The guys start running toward us, and we scream for them to hurry up. They are almost to the door when we see the intruders come running around the corner.

We hit the button for the elevator to close, then we hear gunshots ring out and Jessie falls into all of us right as the doors shut. The elevator starts going to the basement, and I start screaming at Jessie.

“Jessie, where are you hit?”

“It’s okay. It’s just my leg. Give me something to tie around it.”

Everyone starts looking around. Jocelyn quickly takes her shoelace out of her shoe and starts tying it around his leg. By the time we get it tied tightly, we have made it down to the basement.

We get everyone out and into the safe room and bolt the door behind us. It takes Luis and Carlos both to push it shut and pull the lever down to lock it in place.

I run over to Kerri, grabbing my phone, and Nate is still there. I can hear him screaming my name.

“MANDY!! Pick up the fucking phone! Did you make it!! Where the fuck is she!”

I quickly put it on speakerphone so I can talk and get everyone situated.

“Nate! Nate, baby, we made it! We are in the safe room. Jessie has been shot in the leg, but we are okay!”

“Oh my God, Mandy. Thank God. Okay, we are almost there. Only about ten more minutes. Did you see who it was?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“I did, Nate. I saw who it was,” Jocelyn says.

“Who was it, Jocelyn?”

“I saw Ricardo’s drivers. I don’t know their names, though.”

“Okay, just sit tight. We have everyone coming to the building.”

I hang up. We know we are safe here and can just hang out. It is an enclosed cement safe room, which has a few rooms.

The main room has couches and chairs with a table. The back wall has a kitchen area with a fridge and a walk-in pantry on the left. On the right, there’s a hallway that leads to a couple bedrooms and a bathroom.

The girls are snuggled with their guys on the couches as Jocelyn quietly cries into Jessie’s chest.

After what seems like twenty minutes, we hear commotion and yelling on the other side of the door and start to panic because it seems all muffled. We can hear beeping, and the lock slowly starts to unlock.

The boys jump up, helping Jessie onto his feet, then they pull their guns and point them toward the door. I grab the girls and run down the hallway to a back room where we wait, thinking this is it.

We can hear the door slowly open, and Nate and his dad yell out that it’s all clear. Me and the girls come running back out, and I run into Nate’s arms.

“Is it bad upstairs?” Jessie asks.

“We lost about twenty guards,” Nate says. “Ten are injured and on their way to the hospital. We think the ambush was a diversion to get the building’s security to a minimum.

“For those we lost, we will have to do paperwork and arrange funerals. A few had families and kids, and we will arrange for the families to be taken care of also. We will head over to the condo apartments and notify the families.

“Also, I need to tell Rhonda that Wayne got shot. I will call Rock on the way over to gather the three wives into the office for some privacy.

“Dad, if you can, call the parents of the seven others and we can have a meeting at the estate this evening. Jocelyn, go with Dad and Jessie to the hospital while I go and deal with the families.”

Nate and I walk out toward the elevator with Kyle and Jesus and a few other guards. It scared the shit out of me when I heard the gunshots and the girls screaming. I can only imagine what was going through his mind.

He keeps holding my hand so tight I swear it will be breaking soon. I think he keeps trying to reassure himself that I am still here and okay. We make it to the elevator and climb in to head up to the lobby.

“Mandy, what you are going to see up on the main floor is beyond anything you can fathom. Know that these men knew what kind of business we were in.

“We have a crew coming with the coroners to deal with everything. I am praying this never happens again, but as long as Ricardo is a threat, I cannot guarantee it.”

I look at him, trying to mentally prepare myself for what I am about to see when the doors open. No matter how I try to prepare myself, it isn’t possible.

As soon as the doors open, I see bodies and blood everywhere, and I grab onto Nate with my knees weakening. These poor men were babies. Someone’s babies. They have mothers somewhere who are going to have to bury them.

We slowly make our way out to the car in front as we take off to go to the condos. I hear Nate get on the phone with Rock to get everything set up.

The drive is extremely quiet. When we pull into the parking spot, I see wives standing around everywhere holding each other. I see Nate walk over to a woman who seems to be barely hanging on. I can tell she is waiting for any info.

“Rhonda, Wayne is okay, but he was shot twice, in the arm and leg. Not life threatening. I have his envelope here and will leave it with you. I added to it due to the injury and will be giving him some much needed time off.

“If you need a ride, let someone know. He should be home tomorrow.”

She hugs me and Nate and thanks us for everything we do. I can’t imagine being Nate, but he does take care of his own. He told me how he found out about their situation and got them from the shelter and gave them a home.

We then turn and head toward the main office. We walk together, and I can only imagine the thoughts going through his head and how he will have to break the news.

When we walk up to the door, it’s already open. The women and Rock are sitting in chairs. Nate takes a deep breath before walking inside.

Our guards go to stand next to each one as we sit down opposite the women. I already feel the tears welling up, because I can’t imagine being in their position at this moment.

“I don’t know if you have been told yet, but there was a security breach at the apartment building today and we had a lot of casualties,” Nate begins. “Unfortunately, your husbands were part of those casualties.”

“Now we will take care of everything and not to worry about anything. We will set you guys up with a plan for us to deposit money each month so you can take care of your kids.

“We won’t kick you out, and you will never have to worry about where you will live. Once you are a part of this family, you are always a part of this family.”

While Nate is speaking, I see the women hold onto each other when they start bawling. My heart goes out, and I can’t hold back anymore. I rush over, kneeling in front of them and wrapping my arms around them.

The guards wrap their arms around them from the back while wailing fills the air. After Nate is done talking, he walks forward, kneels down next to me, and starts hugging them also.

The emotions going through this room are so thick it starts getting stuffy, but no one moves. After what seems like ten minutes, everyone starts to separate and Nate takes their hands.

“I am serious—nothing changes, you three. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to tell Rock or me, and we will get it. We can even get stuff delivered. Either way, we will get it to you.”

They all nod their heads, and we get to our feet. When we walk out, they start walking to the other women and get swarmed by the other men and women.

“Folks, please watch over them and check in on them. They have had a great loss today and will need everyone’s support through these times.”

I watch while Nate shakes hands with the others and the women give me hugs and introduce themselves. I hope I am going to remember names, but I don’t know how Nate keeps everyone straight.

He knows the spouses’ names, even the kids’ names. He even keeps birthdays straight—I overheard him talking to one woman about her son’s party coming up and asking if she has everything she needs.

When we finish and start walking to the car, I think of all the paperwork that will need to be done. Then all the emotions hit me because the week will be filled with funerals.