Kiss The Ring

It was sensational news of course. Prominent businessman’s wife gunned down by police after an altercation, especially coming so soon after the assassination attempt on Gerard Way. There was to be an enquiry of course and the appropriate noises were made saying how could such a terrible thing happen. The Iero family made no statement, just announced a funeral and the world started to move on. Gerard came around a week later and that was the big story of the day.
Problem is, things can be deceptive. Things written down and presented on TV never quite give you the whole story. They covered the funeral sure and that Frank would be stepping away from the limelight for a while to grieve and that Gerard was being moved from hospital to a private clinic but they never saw the story within.
The heads of the other various crime families came to pay their respects, each of them aware of the underlying current and eager to see which way the tide would turn. After the wake they gathered in the long conference room to see how Frank Iero would deal with being treated like a bitch. There was a camaraderie between them but the chance to stab a competitor in the back was there too.
What they saw however told them that it would be a bad idea. Frank sat at the end of the long table, Mikey and James standing behind his chair, armed to the teeth. Ray sat to the right, all of them silent. It was Frank’s face that told the story. The charismatic manipulator was gone, the ready smile that had helped him to become accepted in society had been lost. All that remained was the dead eyed killer, the man that had first killed at the age of fourteen and had kept on going until he was head of the family, until there was no-one left to kill.
The icy efficiency had allowed Frank to carry on, to bring Gerard home to be looked after by his own people, to make it appear he had been beaten. Now he had a plan and surveyed the men around the table. He trusted none of them but needed them to see it through.
“I thank you all for coming and for your words of comfort, it is good to know that I have friends. You all know now that I have an enemy, one who wants to eliminate me and that whoever it is has control of the police and, most likely, the federal authorities. I need your help.”
They had expected this and the head of the De Marco family spoke for them.
“We would love to help you Frankie but this is not our fight.”
Frank smiled coldly.
“You really think they will stop when I’m dead ? You are all targets but I am giving you the chance to remove the threat without risk to your families.”
There was a silence before De Marco spoke again.
“What do you want ?”
“A diversion. There are targets I need to get to but to do that I need the police and the feds to be occupied. Therefore I will give you guns and I want you to burn the city to the ground.”
No-one spoke. There was really nothing to say, it was clear that Frank was not joking and all the men around the table knew that he meant to start a war.
“I want a riot gentleman, a riot that will have every cop out on the street. Kill who you want, take what you want, I don’t care. Just make sure the fuckers are occupied.”
There were murmurings around the table. De Marco looked back at Frank, a little unnerved by the sight of James and Mikey so clearly holding automatic weapons.
“We will keep what we want ?”
“As I said, I don’t give a fuck what you do. All I need is manpower.”
There were nods of agreement from around the table. All the families had various scores to settle and none of them had better weapons than Frank.
“You send us the weapons and keep our names away from this. Tell us when.”
“Three days time.”
De Marco looked horrified.
“That’s not enough time, we need to organise.”
Frank fixed him with a chilling glare.
“You don’t need to organise for chaos. Nobody will know of your involvement and I will bring down the bastards that killed my wife or die trying.”
“Very well. I hope you find your justice.”
The men stood to leave, shaking hands with Frank and having whispered conversations with Ray. Frank himself had already lost interest. There was nothing to focus on but his desire for revenge, to have the pleasure of killing the people who fucked him over. Even Gerard’s continuing recovery had only cheered him a little, he hadn’t been able to tell Gee yet. It was still too painful but it had brought Mikey and James fully into the family. Loyalty and family ties had overcome their reluctance to tie themselves down. Now they only had one objective : Kill Em All.
“Oh and gentlemen ?”
They turned back, noting the madness in his eyes.
“You fuck with me and I will hunt you down. You stay with me and we will be more powerful than ever.”
Frank watched them all leave before sitting back down. Ray, Mikey and James joined them at the table to go over the plan again. It was fairly simple, three targets. The man that had shot Gerard, the policemen that had killed Linda and the snitch that Sharon had identified. They knew where all three were, it hadn’t been hard once Mikey and James had started knocking on doors and Frank had started calling in favours. All were guarded by police and feds. Hence the need for the diversion.
“You know the teams and the targets. Once we have them, bring them to the warehouse downtown. We can get to grips with getting information there.”
Mikey and James exchanged grim smiles. There was no doubt about how that information would have to be gained, that the time was coming to relieve every bit of tension that the last few weeks had brought. There would be blood. A lot of blood. While all around them a city burned, you really couldn’t ask more than that.
“Alive is the important thing right ?”
“Yes boss.”
“Ray, you have the cover story ready ?”
Ray nodded. Off all of them he was the most uncomfortable with what Frank was about to do but he knew there was no means of stopping it. So he did what he did best and planned.
“As of tomorrow you are officially out of the country with Nancy and Gerard. A Swiss health spa to be exact. Nothing will indicate that you are in the US for the next four weeks.”
Frank smiled at him, the man was a damn genius.
“Good. When we have the targets we are gonna find out just what and who the fuck this is. Then we are gonna stop it.”
Ray looked up.
“And the riot you are intending to start ?”
Frank shrugged, the hard gaze returning.
“Collateral damage. The government started this, they fired the first shots. What happens now is on their consciences, not mine.”
“You think the families can be trusted.”
“No but they are too scared right now to do anything. They will wait to see which side wins.”
The four men stared at each other. All had different reasons for doing this, for being involved but they shared a common goal and a common focus. They would live or die together.

Notes