Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 180

Michello POV

Call number one on my list.

Call Maria. Get her to leave for safety.

'Hello! Maria's soft voice answered the phone; it sounded like she had been crying; maybe she had already heard about Horandeze, or maybe because he had not returned home yet, it left her worrying.

'Red Alert, Red Alert. Critical condition. Return to base.' I said to Maria in a calm voice. She knew what that meant. Our situation here was volatile, and she had to return to the yacht immediately. Horandeze was down, and being called critical meant he was not coming home. We all lived on the edge of our seats in this line of work, the unpredictability of it all a constant source of suspense. Horandeze has lived a charmed life, and Maria should count her blessings that she had him for as long as she has. If Maria follows her training, she will pack everything up and be on the yacht in half an hour. If she takes longer, the police or someone less friendly will come to get her. She is vulnerable at the moment. With the boss down, she is a walking target. Even back home, she might be in danger, so when she makes it to our home country, she will go to a safe house and live there for however long it is deemed necessary.

'Understood. Is there any chance at all that we can get him out?' She sounded hopeful, but we all know that if a code red is called, some will be left behind or wounded, if not already dead.

'None,' I replied. I knew what she wanted to hear but could not indulge her with hope, no matter how much I would love to. Maria hung up the phone, and I was relieved one job was done. If she followed instructions, she would be fine. The men will protect her for now. She had been part of this kind of lifestyle long enough to understand some outcome. This is the first time the code red was on her husband, he has been very lucky over the years.

Call number two on my list.

The prince is the head of the syndicate worldwide.

'Speak,' the kind of voice encourages me to speak fast and to the point. In the background, some lady breaks out in a high-pitched laugh, and I am glad I do not need to be near that person and pretend to enjoy their company. Part of being a royal, I guess, you got to suck up to everyone and put on the toff attitude.

'Red Alert, Red Alert. Critical condition. This man always makes me a little nervous when I talk with him, but I always have been when I deal with him.

'The accounts from that branch?' He sounded like he was at a party, and the background noise got quieter as if he had gone to another room and closed the door, shutting out the party noise.

'Cleaned out, we assume, by the police.' I replied it was too quick and clean to be anyone else.

'Call the banker, let him know to shut all accounts down in the other sections, and send them to the one here. Please get rid of all links to us and tell all businesses in that sector not yet affected by this condition to shut down immediately. 'He sounded like he had entered his office, and I could hear his finger typing madly on the keyboard.

'Time frame?' I asked, as I know our men would ask that question.

'Five years should do it. Could you tell me if it was a betrayal?' His voice was firm and determined. He had made plans for this to happen, and he was activating the shutdown as we speak to all areas that had dealings with this country. 'No, greed. I genuinely believe this downfall was all about Cynthia and Bret.

'Not sure if that is worse or not. One of the young ones?' He always distrusted the young people getting involved in the operations.

'Yes.' The shorter the answers, the better. I learned over the years that I have dealt with this man.

'I see, and Horandeze?' His voice was a little sadder asking this; he had known the man for a very long time.

'He will be lucky to live through this; if he does, it does not look good for his ability to perform. Deep down, I feel he would have been better off not living.

'Take him out. He would prefer it. I do not want him to be a target; it is better for those trying to protect him. Plus, he was always a fit man; take that away from him, and he will be a shell and would loath it.'

'I agree; it is best he does not linger, either; I do not think he would want to. I will get Hector on the job! I was busy writing down whom to phone next and what needed to be done to close this country off of our syndicate activities. 'The greedy?'

'Dead.'

'Good, saves me having to order that to happen. What about Peter?'

Jail, awaiting trial.

'You know what to do he cannot make it to the mainstream. The judge and the congressional representative all need to go. All the top, is the chief of police still chief?'

'No, in jail, too. The wives?' I asked, hoping not to get what I, deep down, knew was coming.

'Are they arrested?'

Yes, only Maria is safely on her way to safety.

'Dispose of them all. Leave no loose ends, including the ex-chief. It does not need to be done all on the same night, but get the order out there!'

'Yes, sir'

'I want nothing to come back to the royal family. Make sure anyone who knows of my involvement is either dead or out of the country. I will not tolerate being dragged into this incompetence.' He sounded more like what I had expected. He was the second in line to the throne and demanded respect and obedience.

'Whose leads the case?'

'Bob Munroe is now the chief of police, Jackson is running the main show, Pam Jones did a bang-up job hurting us, and Scott and Hank have had their hands on this, too!'

'How so, I thought after Horandeze returned home, all that was put to sleep.

'No, Hank did not like guns on his head to perform surgery, and Scott never got over his Dad being executed, and both have been on our tail ever since. They never stopped hunting for us, and Bob had also been working on it unofficially!

'You have to appreciate how determined they are. They would have been good for us if we could have had them on board, but I have a feeling they would never become one of us. We could use people like them who never give up. The phone went quiet; only his breathing and his fingers flying over a keyboard could be heard.

'Get those tasks done.' he barked the last part at me and hung up. I sighed; this could not get any worse.

Call number three.

The man who heads the banking.

'Good afternoon.'

'Banker, code red, close down the accounts. Send funds to an overseas account as pre-arranged, destroy all connections, and lie low. 'I bark the order, still rattled from talking to the prince.

'How long do you think?' He asked quietly, and he was in a place he could not talk too loud.

'Five years minimum! I responded we all need this break.

'Good god. My wife will be pleased. We can have that six-week cruise she has been dying to go on. Please let me know when you'd like to begin again. You do know how to contact me? He sounded pleased to have a break, and I agree, this was a long time coming. Call number four.

The Prince's man who coordinates the businesses under the prince's control.

'Yes?' The deep male voice responded.

'Code red, time to close down all branches, even those not yet under investigation. Do it now?' I was getting tired of all of this; I wanted to go home, too.

'How long. He asked, and I felt like I was a broken record, repeating the boss's orders.

'Five years!

'That bad will get it done. immediately!

'Make sure you do it quickly and get rid of all trails. Orders from the top.

'Oh, damn, that's bad if he is involved! he hung up, growling something unintelligible.

Call number five.

The contact for assassinations in this country.

'Talk to me. His voice was almost like an order, but I am used to hearing this sort of voice from bosses of all kinds. 'Spider, code red.' I replied abruptly; my day had been long, and I was ready to end it. 'How bad?' typical, what a question.

'His Highness orders you to remove all the tops in jail and finish off Horandeze. My temper started to run close to an explosion.

'Tricky but doable. I found the tops. They are in the old jail. It has been refurbished.' Good, at least that problem was gone; I had wondered where they had sent them.

'Can you get in?' The next issue.

'Yep, I can get it done. Time frame? I have people in there. Of course he does, why am I not surprised.

'As soon as you can. It doesn't need to be done all at once, but it actually needs to be done. Also, the whole syndicate business in this country is now closed, and all shops will cease to be active for the next five years. Could you get this job done and go have a holiday? You have earned it. I am calming down; now I know he has eyes and ears where I need them most.

'What about the police and his little family and friends?' That was a question I asked; while they live, the threat will, too.

'Leave them, the boss ordered. He respects their efforts and allows them to have some space for now. He will review it all later once the heat has gone. They are not going anywhere.' It was good to give them a break. They have gone through a lot, and some of it was because the young ones lost control.

'Once this job is done, I will take a nice holiday and see the world for a while. My wife has been nagging me to go to the sights. I think, that now is a good time to do that! He sounded like he was looking forward to the break, I think we all are.

'You do that. I will do the same, but I might have issues in our country with Horandeze gone.

'Good luck with that Bro. He hung up, and I thought about it. With Peter out of the equation, who is going to step up and take Horandeze's place, he has big shoes to fill.

His cousins are wannabes. They don't have the brains; those with brains don't have the clout. Losing Peter has made this bad. A fight for it all in our country will happen. I don't know if the prince can do much for us. He might have a solution, a person who could take over temporarily to keep the peace while a successor is found.

I'm just glad it is not me having to do that; it has been challenging enough being the second in charge and seeing what the boss had to deal with; that is more than I would like to take on.