Criminal Royalty

Parlay With The Lees

They were quick to return to the gambling den. The meeting had left the den unprotected, which the Lee boys had taken advantage of by ransacking the building.

As if they had never left France, all of their wartime instincts reared their ugly heads as they surveyed the battlefield. Papers were scattered everywhere, and everyone in the room could see that the drawers had been emptied. However, this was not what the Shelby men noticed. All they could think about was war tactics. Why would the Lees invade their territory only to leave?

Tommy, with his logical and tactical mind, was the first to connect the dots.

"Erasmus Lee was in France."

Such a simple statement and yet it rattled all the ex-soldiers in that room to their cores. Somewhere in this room, on their street, near to them, was a grenade. It was a trick they had used themselves in the war when they gave up ground to the Germans. Now it was being used against them.

Thomas's thoughts went into overdrive. The grenade was clearly not in the gambling den; it would have exploded by now if it had been. Then it struck him like lightning. If the Lee boys wanted to hurt him, there was no better place to hide a grenade than in his car. His mind did a head count as he was about to sigh a sigh of relief that the room wasn't booby trapped. They were missing a man, or more accurately, a boy.

"Pol, Where's Finn?"

When he saw Aunt Polly's expression, his heart dropped into his stomach. Finn, the youngest sibling, was in grave danger. Without a second thought, he dashed outside to his vehicle. For the second time this week, he surprised himself by praying that he would arrive before something went wrong.

Perhaps he was not forsaken by the universe after all; when he ran up to the vehicle, Finn was in it but unharmed so far.

"Finn boy, I need you to get out of the car the same way you went in alright?"

Finn was perplexed; no matter how mature he pretended to be, he was still a child who couldn't comprehend the gravity of the situation. There was no danger in his mind, but his older brother saw things differently. Clambering out was more difficult than clambering in, and his gangly limbs accidentally knocked the grenade over...

Tommy's instincts took over as he yelled for people to take cover, grabbing his younger brother to keep him safe. Again, the fates smiled on the Shelby family, and they all escaped the attack relatively unscathed.

Anyone would have found it difficult to ignore the sound of an explosion. Rose had heard it and dashed to find out where it had come from. Her own nursing skills came flooding back to her just as the men's wartime training had kicked in. Thomas soon had a worried nurse herding them back into their Watery Lane residence. Her job was the one thing she was really good at. Rose was a natural nurse, and she was desperately needed at this time. After a quick scan to ensure no one was mortally wounded, she began to scold the boys for their recklessness. In reality, she was in shock herself, terrified of what might have happened to them.

"What was that all about?" Rose demanded, the first words she had said to Thomas since the Kimber incident.

Everyone winced at her tone as it reminded them of the universal tone of a berating mother.

"It's just business gone bad that's all, don't worry your pretty little head about it," Thomas patronised her.

The others agreed with Thomas that there was no reason to drag her into a family feud; she was merely a glorified babysitter.

"Please spare me Thomas, I'm not an idiot. This was about the Lee clan wasn't it?"

Tommy's expression became tense. That was family business, and despite allowing her to attend a few family meetings, he didn't appreciate her presence. He was drawn to Polly's stare and glared at her. Polly glared back, not liking what he was implying; she, too, was baffled as to how Rose knew.