by KJ Dahlen
Brinn shook her head. “Luther sold me to the cartel. I was waiting to be transferred or picked up in another town when these guys rescued me.” She didn’t want to say anything about the details to Joey. Just in case someone put things together and got the right answer. She wasn’t sure she trusted the man who was playing both sides.
Moose growled. “What does he know about her that would bring Luther down?”
Joey shrugged. “I don’t know but after Luther killed her mom, Craylon broke into their house and had searched it carefully. When he came out, he was in a good mood so whatever he found, he knew it was worth something.”
Moose looked over at Brinn and asked, “Any idea what he might have found at Luther’s house?”
Brinn began to tremble. She remembered well the break in Joey was talking about. As soon as she heard the door open, she ran to hide. But she still heard the men moving from room to room. She was well hidden, not even Luther knew her hiding place.
It was only when she knew the house was empty that she came out of her secret place. Then she went around straightening up the mess they left. She knew if Luther came back and found the mess he’d flip out and she didn’t want to catch that end of his temper. It wasn’t until she got to her mother’s room that she found what they were after. A lock box of her mom’s had been broken into. She never knew what her mom kept in that box but it had evidently been worth her life. “He found my mom’s lock box, “ Brinn finally spoke. “I never knew what she kept secreted away in there but whatever it was, he took it away with him.”
“It could have been information on who your real father is or was.” Python surmised.
“Or who Luther really is and what he did.” Cobra shrugged. “We won’t know until we ask him, now will we?”
Joey shook his head. “You won’t get close to him to ask him anything.”
Cobra barked a laugh. “Oh boy, you have no idea what we can and will do, but you’ll learn and so will Craylon and the rest of them.”
“Which is why we need to know who the man behind the mystery is,” Cotton added.
Brinn shook her head. “But we don’t know who he is.”
Moose frowned at her. “You said he marked his territory and you said his men wear his tat, what does the tat look like?”
Brinn sighed as she got up, went over to the printer, and grabbed a piece of paper from the tray. Grabbing a pencil she went back to the table and began to draw what looked like a patch of some kind.
When she finished, she turned the paper around and showed it to Moose.
Moose studied it for a moment then turned it over to Gunner and Python.
Finally, Joey looked at the drawing as well and nodded. “Yeah, that’s his symbol all right.”
Cotton took the drawing and glared at it. “Fucking hell.” He swore under his breath.
“You know that symbol son?” Python asked. As he fixed his gaze on his youngest son.
“Yeah, I fucking know this symbol.” Cotton gritted his teeth as he spoke. “So do the rest of you. She missed part of the design.” He grabbed the pencil and drew it in to complete the design. Turning the paper around, he showed his dad and the rest of them.
“Aw hell, “ Python grumbled. “You gotta be shitting me? Really?” He pushed his chair away from the table, threw back his head and swore out loud. “Fuuuckin hell!”
Brinn cringed and planted her face in Moose’s chest. His arms wrapped around her shoulders and he held her close to him.
Joey looked at Cotton and whispered, “I take it you know the mystery man.”
“Yeah we know who he is and this is going to get real bloody before we’re done,” Cotton admitted.
“But this is the closest we’ve ever been to that bastard and we aren’t going to let this opportunity go to waste.” Cobra glared at them all. “This time, we nail that dirty fucking bastard.”
“What the hell are you all talking about?” Joey wanted to know.
“Twenty five years ago, we confronted the cartel at a warehouse in Odessa,” Python began to explain, “There was a gun battle and a fire but we didn’t start either. We were there to run the cartel out of our town. We didn’t want them to get settled there but before the fight really got going, we were caught in the crossfire. We fought back and it wasn’t until later we discovered that one of the cartel’s own began the shooting. He used us as an excuse to kill one of his own family. Then he started the fire to hide his own crime of murder.”
Joey paled. “Who was the man he killed?”
“Luis’s oldest son, Jesus Brago,” Python told him. “In that fight, Luis lost more than just his son though, he lost a few of his upper echelon and he barely escaped with his own life. Luis always blamed us for the shooting and the fire but it was one of his own that took out Jesus.”
Joey used his fingers to comb the hair away from his face. His skin had gone utterly white as his eyes held a crazy expression in them. “Who is this man?” he whispered.
“Arturo Brago,” Cotton whispered his name. “He’s Angel Brago’s second born son.”
“Holy shit!” Joey swore. He turned stunned eyes to Cotton. “No one in Laredo knows who this man is. They know he’s dangerous but they don’t know that much about him.”
Brinn turned her head to look at them. “Luther knows. He knows damn well, who this man is and he knows exactly what kind of man he is. And I think this Arturo knows who Luther is as well. Luther or Cristo has been waiting, I think for the last seven years for his day of reckoning. He knows it’s coming and he knows he’s been living on borrowed time but he doesn’t know when the axe is going to fall. That’s why he’s been so unstable lately. He knows his time is almost up.”
Joey just stared at her. “He just doesn’t know who is going to get to him first, Arturo or Craylon. One or the other and that’s going to be the fuse that lights Laredo on fire.”
“Not if we get there first.” Python growled.
Chapter Six
Python turned to Joey. “Whatever comes next ,you’re out of the game, boyo. You’ll be waiting for the end of this game in a cell.”
Joey just glared at the other man. “At least give me a chance to get my woman out of the city and to a safe place. At least give me that much.”
Python shook his head. “Son, you’re lucky to still be breathing at the moment. I don’t like being played and you going back in the city for your girl, just isn’t happening.”
“But she’s my family.” Joey tried to get him to understand.
“And this is my family!” Python roared. “You should have come clean with us from the beginning but seeing as if you hadn’t been outed by Miss Brinn, you’d still be playing us against them and hell boy, I can’t overlook that.”
Joey looked over at Brinn and snarled, “You little bitch! You just cost me everything I hold dear. You and that slut of a mother you had, should have just stayed gone. Craylon had plans for you, did you know that? Plans that would have turned the whole city over to him and he promised us a place in his new plans for the city. He would have screwed over the other leaders and became the one true leader.”
“Enough!” Gunner yelled, loud enough to rattle the windows.
Joey erupted from his seat and tried to rush at Brinn with his hands stretched out to wrap around her throat.
Two men grabbed him and held him back while she turned into Moose’s chest.
Moose quickly wrapped his big strong arms around her to protect her from the attack. Standing up with her in his arms, he took a step back.
Python stood up as well. He swung his heavy arm at Joey. His big fist plowed into the other man’s jaw and the hit was so hard Joey dropped to the floor immediately. Python glared at the men as he ordered, “Put this fucker in a cell. Strip him of everything in his pockets and take his shoes, then put a guard on his dumb ass.”
He turned to Gunner. “I know this is your house but you would have done the same thing.”
Gunner nodded. “I would
have.” He turned to Brinn and Moose. “Are you okay?”
Brinn was buried so deep in Moose’s chest she didn’t know where she began or he ended. Her whole body was shaking so bad as her arms were wrapped around his neck and they were almost too tight.
Moose’s nodded at him as his arms were tightly wrapped around her. He stepped away from the others and just held her while murmuring in her ear, trying to get her to settle down.
Brinn had never been as scared in her whole life as she had been the moment Joey turned toward her, when he came after her. There had been so much hate in his eyes that she could feel it burn her soul. Not even Luther had looked at her like that. Luther scared her, but the rage and hate in his eyes hadn’t reached that level.
Moose’s voice cut through her daze and she felt safe in his arms. Eventually, she came out of it and back to him from her safe place as the sounds of the clubhouse reassured her she was still alive and she was safe.
When she looked into his silver grey eyes, she could see fear and something else in his eyes and she had to wonder if the fear had been for her. Had he really cared what she was experiencing? Then she saw relief in his eyes.
He whispered, “Are you back now? You know you’re safe here, as long as I’m alive, no one will ever hurt you again. I got your back sweetheart.”
“You really mean that, don’t you?” she whispered back.
“You bet your sweet ass I do.” Moose growled softly in her ear.
In her present position, she was face to face with him and suddenly, she got the urge to kiss him. She wanted to feel a little bit of the promise of passion in his eyes when he talked about protecting her. She licked her dry lips and before she could change her mind, she pressed her lips over his.
Moose groaned and took over the kiss. Crushing her mouth under his, he poured everything he had into that kiss.
The noise from the room faded.
Brinn was stunned. His touch had started a fire in her soul and she didn’t want to stop. Her heart pounded in her chest, but this time it wasn’t from the fear and all she wanted was to reach out and hold onto this feeling.
Someone cleared their throat and Moose reluctantly broke the kiss to turn his head and glare at the men in the room.
“Get a fuckin’ room you horny bastard,” Python grumbled at the display of affection coming close to getting out of control. “We don’t have time for this shit right now.”
Moose lowered his forehead to Brinn’s and noted her red face. “Fuck you old, man.” He growled.
Brinn startled as she whispered, “Isn’t he your president?”
“Hell no, I’m a Savaged Soul, but he is the leader of the Hades Demon’s. I will give him the respect that goes along with that but we are working together to bring down the cartel.” He nodded at Gunner, “He’s my president. I owe my allegiance to him and my brothers.” He turned to look at her. “But I found you and I’m keeping you. I will also kill to keep you safe and I will die for the same reason. You may not want to hear this yet, but you belong to me and that’s just the way it is darlin.”
“Does that mean I’ll have a home with you?” she whispered.
“Yep, you best know it baby.” Moose smiled.
“Okay.” She nodded and looked around as her cheeks flushed to see they had shared that kiss in front of everyone here.
“Well now, that that’s settled, can we move on now?” Gunner asked. “We need to know as much about the city and the people as we can get.”
Moose sat down again at the table, keeping her in his lap.
Brinn looked up at Gunner and asked, “Can you get Joey’s girlfriend out of Laredo before shit hits the fan?”
“Why would we do that?” Gunner asked. “He knew what he was doing when he came here. He knew the risks.”
Brinn tucked her hair behind her ear. “He might have but I doubt she did. And if she did, then she deserves what’s coming but that sweet baby is innocent of both its parents. That child didn’t ask to be born to two very stupid people and so it doesn’t deserve to die for their choices.”
“Honey, that baby isn’t even born yet.” Gunner sat back in his chair and watched her.
“Maybe not, but the moment its heart began to beat, that baby is a living person.” She paused then asked, “If Joey or his woman were one of your own, would you care then?”
Python growled as did Gunner, Boone and several of the others.
Brinn just shook her head. “I don’t mean to start something, rather I’m just pointing out that no matter who that baby is or who it belongs to, the poor thing deserves the chance to be born. Like Joey said, Craylon will kill it and the mother if he doesn’t come back.”
They all remained silent.
Brinn took a deep breath and exhaled, “I’m just asking... please save them? Please consider it, at least?” She looked around at them this time with no shyness. “So what else can I tell you?”
“Where can we find this bastard Craylon?” Python wanted to know.
“He has a house on Channel Street but he mostly hangs out at a club called the Jellybean.” She shook her head. “The club is the hangout of most of the west side Rebels.”
“If he did take Joey’s woman, where would he put her?” Boone asked.
She shivered but felt excited that they might have listened to her plea. “Luther used to talk about the dungeon Craylon had. Craylon has a storm shelter he uses as a dungeon.”
“Why would he tell you about that?” Gunner stared at her.
Brinn didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes, so he asked again, “Come on girl tell me. Why?”
When Moose felt her tremble he whispered in her ear, “I got you. Nothing and no one will ever hurt you again.”
She released a huge breath as she replied, “I overheard Luther and Craylon talking about if something happened to him, he should take me to his dungeon and keep me there, that he should maybe teach me to be a good little bitch and train me in the ways to please a man. Then he said Craylon could make a good penny when he sold me.” She paused then said, “But Luther made him promise to keep me a virgin because he could ask whatever price he wanted for me. He said someone should make some money off me as I was pretty much useless in any other capacity. He laughed and said not even my father wanted me.”
Growls could be heard from all over the room.
Finally Gunner snapped, “What does that tell you? You are not his damn daughter, I know that’s what it tells me.”
“How do you get that?” Brinn wanted to know.
“Well, you just said it...He said not even your dad wanted you. Stands to reason if he was your dad, he would have said, I don’t want her, not that your own dad didn’t want you.” He pointed out.
“Then why did my mother make us go and stay with him? Why would she tell me he was my dad?”
Gunner shook his head. “I don’t know but I don’t think he was your father.”
Brinn laid her head on Moose’s shoulder. “Then who am I?”
“We don’t know yet.” Gunner stressed the yet, “But when we go after Craylon, we’ll find the papers he took from your mother. Maybe that will tell us who you are.”
Moose growled in her ear, “It doesn’t matter, you are mine now, and I’ll never leave you behind.”
Tears filled her eyes. “When the truth comes out, you might not want to keep that promise.”
“I don’t care what the truth is, “ he insisted. “I’ll never turn my back on you girl.”
”Just remember you said that,” she warned him. Then she looked over at Gunner and Python. “If you’re going to go into the city, I would not wear your colors. The Rebels are trigger happy and they don’t like strangers, coming in to take over. You’d be better off to stay in the shadows because they’d never think to look there. You can figure things out if you watch the Rebels long enough.”
“What about the other factions?” Boone wanted to know. “Jose, Jax and Martin?”
Brinn shru
gged. “I was never allowed out of the house but the few times they came around, they were just as bad if not worse than Luther. But I do know they were all under the orders of the man you call Arturo. Him, they all hate a lot.”
“What does that mean?” Gunner frowned.
“They all feel they should be in charge and they hate the fact he took most of the money they brought in every week. Luther once pointed out that it was his product they were selling, but Jose pointed out that yes, it was his product but it was them that put their lives on the line every day to sell. It was them that risked jail if they were stupid enough to get caught and it was them that did the dirty work while he collected the money for their efforts.”
Python shrugged. “Well, he had a point, the wrong point but he did have a point.”
“What happened later on?” Gunner wanted to know.
Brinn shivered. “Luther kept telling them they should raise the prices then keep the difference. That’s what he’d been doing for the last few months. He laughed when he told them, what the boss didn’t know couldn’t hurt them.”
Cotton shook his head. “Oh, that’s not going to go over well for Luther or the rest of them, when Arturo finds that out. And he will find out. He has his spies all over the state.”
“Huh,” Python grumbled. “Maybe we should give him a heads up and just sit back and watch them all implode with that info.” He shrugged. “Ole Arturo isn’t going to like the fact his men are stealing from him, I can guaran-fucking-tee that much.”
Gunner just stared at the table for a moment tapping his fingers. Then he looked up and caught her eye. “That might just work to shake up the inner city hierarchy. It might be enough to rattle some cages too. If Arturo even thinks he’s not in charge of the streets he’s got under him, he could make a fatal mistake.” Gunner smiled and said, “He might even start a street war and we could go in and mop up the mess.”
