by L. Wilder
“And then what? I don’t want to wait on this thing with Booker.” Murphy turned to Riggs as he said, “We need names and locations.”
“I’ve got some, but I’m still working on the rest.”
“Give us what you’ve got, and we’ll start with them.”
Riggs slid a folder over to Murphy as he said, “Booker bought a warehouse on the corner of Tigrett and Second. I’m working on getting surveillance for both the inside of the warehouse and the surrounding area. Booker has a security system in place, so it’s going to take some time for me to get access.”
“And what are we supposed to do until then?” I pushed. “Just wait for them to make their next fucking move?”
“No. I’ve got some thoughts on how we can show them who they’re fucking with.” Riggs stood up as he said, “These guys think they chopped off the head of the snake by getting to Gus, but they were wrong. They’ve got the rest us to contend with now, and we’ll show them, and everyone else, we’re a snake with a hell of a fucking bite.”
“We’re all ears, brother,” Moose replied. “Tell us your ideas.”
“With the cops involved, we’re gonna have to play this thing smart and make it look like Satan’s Fury wasn’t involved.” Since the shooting, the cops had been in and out of the hospital and the clubhouse, asking questions to not only Samantha but to several of the brothers—me included. Without the security footage from the restaurant, they hadn’t managed to get any leads, and we needed to do whatever it took to keep it that way. I watched as the monitor quickly changed to a picture of Frayser, one the biggest gang-ridden areas around. “I’m thinking we stir up some trouble among the gangs ... a few gang tags painted in just the right places and maybe a drive-by or two. You know how they feel about someone encroaching on their territory. It wouldn’t take much to get them fired up. I know it’ll take a little work, but if we can get the talk going about the Genocide, it won’t be long before the neighboring gangs will be set on taking them down.”
There was no missing the concern in Shadow’s voice when he shook his head and said, “I don’t know, Riggs. Starting up a war between these gangs seems like a whole lot of fucking trouble just to try and keep the cops off our backs.”
“We can’t afford to have the cops looking into us. Hell, they’ve already been asking too many questions. The last thing we need is for them to start monitoring our every fucking move.” Riggs shook his head. “We’ve already been down that damn road, and I don’t know about you, but I got no desire to go down it again.”
“I think Riggs is right. If we can make the cops think there’s a war on the rise, they’ll be more focused on that instead of us. We’ve just gotta make it look like another gang is responsible for bringing the Genocide down.” Blaze nodded. “If we play it right, it could work.”
“Okay, then. When do we start?” I replied.
“The sooner the better,” Moose replied. “We divide up. Shadow, Hyde, Bone, and Murphy will handle the drive-by, while Riggs goes with Blaze, Gauge, and Gunner to tag some walls and set a couple of fires. Just enough to get some rumors started.”
“You gonna tell us who we’re hitting?” Murphy asked.
“Desmond Michaels. He’s one of Booker’s main guys.” Riggs brought his face up on the monitor. “He has a place out in Frayser. He and a couple of members are known to hang out there. Usually in the yard smoking dope and fucking with their cars. I figure they’ll be a good place to start. Once we’re done there, we’ll hit Chris Carter’s place. He’s one of the Fallen.” The Fallen Ones were another local gang who were known for creating mayhem in the projects. While we hadn’t had any issues with them, there were plenty of others who had, so it wouldn’t be a surprise that they were involved in a drive-by. Riggs slid a piece of paper over to Murphy. “Trust me when I say, this guy and his buddies have it coming. Before we do anything, I’m gonna need you, Rider, and a couple of the prospects to go pick up these two cars.”
“What for?”
“We’ll be using them for the drive-bys. One of them is registered to Booker’s second in command, and the other is registered to the leader of the Fallen Ones. We’ll use it to hit Michaels.” Riggs seemed to have it all figured out. “We’ll go there first, so it’ll look like a counter attack when we head over to Carter’s place. From what I can tell, neither of the vehicles should be hard to swipe. You’ll find the Camaro parked in the back of the strip club, and the Mercedes is at one of the section-eight housing complexes.”
“Got it. I’ll get it taken care of.”
“We gotta be able to do this shit without any innocent kids or ol’ ladies getting hurt, and I want Antony Booker alive,” Moose announced. “When Gus recovers, I want him to have the opportunity to face the man responsible for putting him in that fucking hospital bed.”
“Understood.” Riggs nodded. “Let’s meet back here around seven. We’ll sort out the rest of the plan then.”
“We’ll be here.”
Moose stood as he said, “Consider yourselves dismissed.”
When the brothers started to disperse, I walked over to Murphy and asked, “You need any help getting the cars picked up?”
“Nah, man. I got it covered.”
“Okay, then I’m going over to the hospital and check in on Gus.”
“Sounds good. Let me know if anything’s changed.”
“Will do.” As I started to leave, I told him, “Give me a shout if you need a hand with anything.”
“You know I will.”
After leaving the conference room, I headed out to the parking lot and got on my bike. As I rode over to the hospital, I thought about everything we’d talked about in church. I had no idea if Riggs’s plan would actually work, but honestly, I didn’t fucking care. I was itching to take down Booker. I wanted to make him pay and pay big for what he and his fucking crew had done to Gus, and I didn’t give a fuck about the consequences. Cops or not, Booker’s days were numbered. When I walked into the waiting room, I found Samantha sitting in her usual spot while the two prospects we had keeping an eye on her were sitting across the room monitoring the exits. Thinking back on what Riggs had said about Booker’s crew watching us, I was glad to see that they both were staying on top of things and making sure that Samantha was safe.
I knew Samantha would rather be in the room with Gus, but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. Since Gus was in the ICU, there were only certain hours she could spend with him. I walked over and sat down next to her, and she put her magazine down. “Hey, I wasn’t expecting you to come by here today.”
“Just wanted to see if there’d been any change.”
“Not yet. I was able to stay with him a little longer this morning, but I’m not sure he even knew I was there,” she replied with disappointment.
“I’m sure he did.”
“I hope so.” She shrugged, then asked, “How did it go with church?”
“Good.” Club business wasn’t discussed with anyone—not even with the president’s ol’ lady, but after everything she’s been going through, I had to give her something. “We have a lead on who shot Gus.”
“Really?” she asked, sounding hopeful. “Who is it?”
“You know I can’t say.” As much as I wanted to update her with what’s been going on, I couldn’t. It would only put her in jeopardy if I told her any more than I already had. “Just know, we’re gonna take care of it.”
“I don’t want any of you boys getting hurt, Bone.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. We’ll be just fine.” I could see that she wasn’t pleased with my response, but there was little I could do to ease her mind. “Just keep your focus on Gus, and let us worry about the rest.”
“I wish it was that simple.” Her eyes dropped to the floor. “You boys and that club mean so much to Gus. His whole life is wrapped up in you guys, and I don’t want him to have to lose that on top of everything else.”
“Gus isn’t going to lose anything,
Samantha. He’s gonna pull through this thing, and when he does, we’ll be here waiting for him to step back into his role as president.”
“Thank you, T-Bone. I really appreciate you saying that.”
“I said it because I meant it.” I stood up and asked her, “What can I get you from the cafeteria?”
“A cup of coffee and a chicken sandwich would be good.”
“You got it.”
I went down and got her a bite to eat, then did my best to keep her company. When the nurse walked in the room and told her it was okay to visit with Gus, I said my goodbyes and headed back to the clubhouse. I wanted to make sure that Murphy and Rider were able to get the cars that Riggs had told them to pick up. To my surprise, both vehicles were already parked up front when I pulled through the gate. Murphy and Skillet, one of our newest prospects, were standing by their bikes when I walked up. “Looks like you got the job done.”
“We did,” Skillet answered proudly.
“Have any problems?”
“Not really,” Murphy answered. “They were both parked with easy access, and we were able to grab them without anyone seeing us.”
“Awesome.” I glanced down at my phone to check the time. “It’s almost seven. Anything else that needs to be done?”
“We’ll need to grab some more ammo and then get Riggs to give us the exact locations of where we’ll be going tonight.”
“Good. Let’s do it. I’m ready to get this shit done.”
“You and me both, brother.”
We all headed inside and started prepping for the night ahead. The plan seemed pretty cut and dry, but I’d done this sort of thing enough times to know that nothing ever goes exactly as planned. Sadly, tonight would be no different.
12
Alyssa
“Have you talked to your brother?” my mother asked. “I’ve been trying to call him for days, and he hasn’t answered.”
“He’s fine, Mom. He’s just busy with club stuff.”
“Are you sure? It’s not like him not to return my calls.”
She’d called during my break, so I didn’t have time to go into a lot of detail with her. “Yes, Mom. I’m sure. He’ll call as soon as he gets a chance.”
“Well, okay. If you say so.” She paused for a moment, then asked, “What about you? How are things going at the restaurant?”
“Things are really good, actually, and if they keep going like they are, I might get promoted again in a few weeks.”
“I’m not surprised. You’re a natural, Lyssa. I have no doubt that you’ll go far.”
“Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate that.”
“What about the house? Are you still liking it?”
“It’s great. I can’t wait for you to come down for a visit.”
“Well, since you mentioned it, I was thinking I might come next weekend. If you’re too busy—”
“Next weekend would be fine. I have to work, but I’ll have some time to visit.”
“Great. Maybe Clay and Landry will be around so I can visit with them as well.”
“I’m sure they’d enjoy that.” I glanced down at my screen, and when I noticed the time, I said, “I hate to rush, but my break’s almost over. I better get back inside.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to you soon.”
After I ended the call, I walked back inside, washed my hands, and returned to my spot in the serving line. Usually, we were really busy and time flew by, but for whatever reason, on this particular night we were extremely slow, making the evening seem like it was dragging on forever. When we were at a complete standstill, I turned to Miguel and asked, “What’s the deal tonight? We’re so dead.”
“No idea. Might be a concert at the Forum or a Red Birds game. Whatever’s going on, I hope things pick up soon. I’m bored out of my mind,” Miguel complained.
“I can’t disagree with you there.” I looked over at the clock and groaned. “We’ve got another two hours of this.”
“Yeah, and Bisset’s bad mood isn’t making things any better. He actually blessed me out for being distracted. What the hell is that?” he fussed. “Why does it even matter if I’m distracted when we literally have no dishes going out?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure he’s just having a bad day.”
“We all are.” He shook his head with a shrug. “I’m over it. I just wanna go home.”
“Me too,” Jack added from across the room. “I’ve got shit I could be doing instead of standing around here with my thumb up my ass.”
I had to hold back my chuckle as I thought of an inappropriate comeback for Jack’s remark. Instead of teasing him, I simply smiled and said, “I think the same goes for everyone here.”
“At least we only have a couple more hours to go.”
“Very true. For now, we best get back at it before Bisset pitches a fit.”
“You ain’t lying.” When I turned and started back to my workstation, Jack called out to me and asked, “Hey, you still gonna be able to drop me off after work?”
“Sure. Won’t be a problem at all.”
“Great. I really appreciate it.”
“Anytime. Glad to do it.”
No sooner had we returned to our positions, a large group of people came into the restaurant, and in a blink, we were back to being busy again. It was a welcomed change, making the last two hours go by much faster, but there was one drawback: the unexpected rush caused us to run a little late, and it was well after eleven before Jack and I were able to leave. After we grabbed our things, we headed out to the parking lot and got in my car. As I started the engine, Jack asked, “Do you remember where you’re going?”
“I think so but keep an eye out in case I make a wrong turn.”
I’d picked him up that morning on the way to work, and quickly learned that Miguel was right. Jack did live in a rough neighborhood, but it hadn’t kept him from keeping his place nice. He lived in a small two-bedroom brick house with a tiny porch, and he’d planted monkey grass along the walkway, making it seem more inviting. Unlike several of the homes in the area, he’d also kept his yard freshly mowed and no litter scattered around the front yard. Seeing that he’d put such effort into making his place as nice as possible said a great deal about him. We’d only been driving for a few minutes when I turned to him and asked, “You’re off for the next couple of days, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll be back on Thursday.”
“You have any big plans for your time off?”
“Not really.” He shrugged. “I figure Tony and I will come up with something to do. I’m sure he’s got some project he wants to get done around the house or some crazy place he wants to go. Hell, I never know what the man has up his sleeve, but I always just go along with whatever.”
Tony was Jack’s boyfriend, and from the way Jack regarded him, it was clear that he was crazy about him. I found it endearing the way the two got along, especially considering how hard life had been for them both. Jack had been on his own since he was fourteen, doing everything he could to simply survive, and Tony had grown up in foster care. He’d spent most of his teens bouncing around from family to family until he met up with Jack, and now they were forging their own life together. Even though it wasn’t always easy, they worked hard to make it something they both could be proud of. I smiled as I turned my attention back to the road and said, “What kind of project?”
“He’s been wanting to paint our bedroom furniture. Says we need consistency or something.” He chuckled under his breath. “I don’t know why he even bothers. We found all that shit sitting on the side of the damn road. It was someone’s trash, but he thinks we can make it look like something he found in some magazine.”
“From trash to treasure.”
“Yeah.” Jack chuckled as he said, “Something like that.”
“I think that’s really cool. I have this old antique dresser my mother gave me that really needs some love.” Just thinking about the scratches on the wood and the broken hand
les made me groan. “I bet Tony could do wonders with it.”
“I’m sure he could.” He glanced over at me and said, “We could come by sometime and check it out.”
“That would be great.” When I came up to a red light, I asked, “I turn here, right?”
“Yeah. You’ll make another right a couple of blocks down, and then the house is on the left.”
“Well, how about that. I actually remembered,” I replied proudly.
“Mm-hmm. Sure ya did.”
It was odd how different the area seemed at night. All the gang graffiti painted on the different businesses and homes along with the various people lurking at every corner gave me an uneasy feeling. That troubled feeling only grew stronger as I continued towards Jack’s house. With only a few random streetlights, his neighborhood seemed so dark and dreary, like something you might see in a movie, and although it wasn’t so bad while he was in the car with me, I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of driving home alone. Feeling a little apprehensive, I pulled up in his driveway and parked. After he gathered his things, he looked over to me and asked, “You gonna be okay getting out of here?”
“I think so,” I answered hesitantly. “I have my GPS if I happen to get lost.”
“Don’t get lost. One wrong turn and you’ll find yourself in some real trouble,” he warned. “Use your GPS and use the shortest route to get home.”
“Okay, I will. Don’t worry.”
“I am worried.” His voice was filled with concern. “I don’t like you driving alone out here, especially at night. I should’ve never asked you—”
“Jack, stop. It’s fine.” I hated that he felt bad. It wasn’t his fault that he had car trouble and didn’t have a way to work. I reached out and placed my hand on his shoulder as I tried to assure him, “I’ll be fine. I’ll even text you when I get home. How about that?”
“That would make me feel much better.”
“Well, consider it done.”
As he reached for the door, he said, “My car should be ready tomorrow afternoon, so you don’t have to worry about coming to get me on Thursday.”
