A CEO's Child

The Bar

Anissa was quiet most of the trip over to the bar. Her squad, fifteen of them instead of thirty, because they'd lost so many when battling the methies, were happy, cheerful and excited to be going out together since all the gloomed they'd been through in the past few weeks. She felt like groaning, she hadn't even been to any of the funerals. She now felt even worse for that. She must consolidate the families this week sometime and explain her absence. 

Jack was the one that drove their van. They went to their normal bar, Soaks Up. No one seemed to sense that their captain was aloof. They always gave her shit, but tonight seemed to stray from it without saying anything.

At the counter, when some of the others struck up some pool games or began to eat their food, Jack approached her. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly did I interject when I picked you up?"

"It's better you didn't know," she responded softly, and then knocked back a shot of whiskey. 

"Then what can I do to make it better? You never seem this...down."

"Some cheese fries and more alcohol," she glowered at him, as someone gave her a refill. It was on tap, at whose expense she didn't know nor particularly cared. Jack just nodded, sure thing. 

"Hey I'd like some cheese fries and curds down here please!" Anissa really appreciated her co-captain sometimes, and she was beginning to wonder if he'd perhaps replace her someday if not soon. Her personal life seemed to be getting in the way of a lot of things. Her husband was pregnant, on a mission to repower his job, all while wanting to buy a farm house. He'd failed to mention he'd owed life debts, was not just a solider but a mafia member and now his family was out to get him for reason she didn't know why. 

Jack fixed his friendly brown gaze back on her and she sighed. "What's new with you?"

"Nothing much, the team misses the captain. We also miss action. How's you leg been healing up?"

"Not as good as I was hoping, and not working it properly isn't helping...but my home life keeps getting in the way." She tossed back another shot. 

"Our team is growing bored with recruitments. We are probably going to have a new assignment soon, and you need to get back in the saddle fast." He shoved back his dark hair, his already dark eyes growing to near black with an emotion she couldn't read. "Rumor has it, we might be used by some higher ups. The CIA....for foreign nation interception. We might be having an extended business trip."

That caught her attention, to a point she flicked away her shot glass and leaned a forearm on the counter as she pivoted to him. "Jack. I'd advise you to tell me in private later. This is not a tale for the Soaks Up bar counter. 

"There are no ears here. This place is used for a reason." It was strange because it was like the bar hand had disappeared. Probably to make her cheese fries, she surely hoped. 

"Then keep it borderline dismissive information."

"Here's the gig. A weapon mafia, from across the seas is shifting power and growing in size."

She quirked a brow at his dramatics. "So? How and where do we fall under that juristic ion. We are suppose to take down drug rings under the police's command." 

"The ring is adapting to drugs, specifically acids. Worse yet, there is some sort of connection for it to be dragged into America."

"Jack," Anissa sighed. It sounded fun, very fun, she'd give him that. But no one in her whole team had any sort of investigative skills. They were the brawn not the brains. 

"Anissa," Jack responded with a growl, as if realizing what she was thinking. "Just hear me out. If our contracts get signed over we don't have a choice. They want our team to be an ambush. It's not like we have to do any deep digging. We just suit up and fire when we are told to."

"Yeah and look how that worked out with a bunch of crack boxes."  

"This time, it won't be the inexperienced police force. Besides, like I said recruiting is near over. We will be likely joining another SWAT team or gaining new members, and we'll know sometime this week." 

Cheese fries were suddenly pushed in front of her and she ignored him to start eating. She didn't even want to consider work. 

"You want to know why they are so eager to assign us to this?"

"Not particularly." In honesty she didn't know why she was so anti-work. She just wanted to be left alone at the moment. She was irate beyond words with her husband, and she wanted to fix that but didn't know how or where to even start. Their whole marriage he'd lied to her about who he really was.  "I'm sure they'll debrief us." 

"Anissa." Jack put his hand on her wrist, and she looked to him with his wide, honest eyes. "Once again your husband is the center of this. It's his bloodline that's at fault here."

                                                                                          ****************

She let Jack walk her up to their quarters. Her mind reeling. She'd known her husband had been in the mafia, but not that he was the mafia per say. That his family ruled and controlled it.  She had told Jack none of what she knew yet. Something about this wasn't lining up.  It was too coincidental that immediately after his sister showed up, demanding a life debt to be paid that suddenly she was being assigned a case to take his family down. 

Anissa was tipsy, glad she could lean on her co-captain. All the stress had lead her to drink far more than she should have. Jack paused suddenly, and she hear him slide his pistol off his thigh. 

Her reeling, yet somehow still groggy mind registered the busted off door to their complex. Jack made a shushing noise and pressed them to the wall. She instantly began feeling around for a gun but she didn't have one, so she was forced to duck and stay behind him.

The mess that met them was horrifying. The penthouse might as well have been upside down. Furniture was broken, there were a few holes in the walls, the TV and important stuff was somehow fine but the reek of alcohol that greeted them was choking. It was nearly as destructive as the state of the complex. 

She shoved herself around Jack to take in the full spectacle of her home. What in the hell had happened? Had there been an attack? The door was ripped clean off but that didn't....

Anissa spotted a large form, with a distended stomach sprawled on the remains of their expensive c-shaped couch. Venyamin was snoring like a cold deiseal engine trying to start. She'd never hear him make such an offending noise. There was a bottle of spilled vodka near him. 

She spotted his sister, Viorica sprawled on the kitchen floor, barely peaking out. She must have been laying in either food or vomit and Anissa was not about to walk over to find out. 

Jack was gaping at her as she was gaping at him. The hell had Venyamin gotten into in the small time she'd been gone!?

"Venyamin Khariton Velhadden!" Anissa screamed at the top of her lungs so loudly perhaps all their downstairs neighbors on all 59 floors and perhaps the surrounding blocks could hear too.