There were two things that bothered Cole about this seemingly straightforward attempt to ambush the exchange. The first was that he recalled that car being parked near his house as they rode out earlier and the second was that he recognized one of the men. His mind flashed up the memory of seeing the driver once with Antonio.

 

If they had the tracker already in Brian's saddlebag, why park so close to the house with four men in a small Honda that could be easily spotted? With four men in that car, in his neighborhood, they would be noticed and make people nervous. They could have been on another block or even three blocks away where they would never be spotted. Wasn't it more likely that they slipped the tracker into Brian's saddlebag after he arrived and came into the house? And if so, who were they really after?

 

Knowing that the driver was likely one of Gabriel's men suggested that Gabriel was still after retribution for Antonio and Davis -- or for taking Nicole in the first place. But Gabriel declared the war over, yesterday, and paid a million dollars in damages fees for doing exactly the same thing. Cole didn't ask if the man was insane enough to call a cease-fire and then continue to attack. The answer was of course he is.

 

At the gas station, Cole requested that Brian hold back on reporting the failed and faulty ambush.

 

"All right, I'll do that, but can you tell me why?"

 

Cole gave him his gut feelings on the matter. "This could throw everything back into war mode. As it is right now, Gabriel is nothing to the club. Nothing. In other words, open game."

 

Brian processed, "You're going to kill Gabriel."

 

Cole nodded, "And I want him to feel safe enough to come out of that fortress of Lou's men to start making his regular rounds again."

 

"Where you can reach him," Brian concluded.

 

"Yes," Cole nodded. "This is personal, Brian. You don't have to do this and I won't be angry if you report the ambush and what I've just said. Nothing will change between us. But I want him, Brian and I don't want to wait a month to get at him."

 

"I already said I was going to do as you asked and nothing has changed my mind yet. If your suspicions are true, and they make more sense than the fumbled drug deal raid theory, Gabriel is going to keep trying.

 

"Besides, the drug deal raid theory is wholly based on the idea that someone knew I was making a run this morning when I only learned about it last night close to midnight. Jim and Bear, to me, are beyond reproach. On top of that, it suggests that those men knew what run I was making, but not to who. The customer is a regular drop. How could they know so much and miss connecting and obvious information? No, I don't buy the drug raid idea either. They were after one or both of us. It was a hit squad, not a drug raid."

 

"I want at least three days to let the dust settle and watch Gabriel before a war is begun again. If I end him, no war will be required," Cole noted.

 

"Want some help?" Brian asked, "He just came after me, as well. The man is a psychopath and needs to be put down."

 

"Won't turn you down, that's for sure," Cole told him, "but right now, I have a date with serious wallowing and I intend to wallow and try to make sense of what happened yesterday, because it still doesn't fit. It just doesn't. I mean, if she really wants to just leave like that, sure, fine. But god fucking damn it, she didn't want to do that when I left her. And then less than two hours later, she just flips? She never felt like someone who acted without some planning and prep work. It just doesn't work. But she left on her own and went back there willingly." Cole closed up his gas tank and hung the hose a little roughly.

 

"I'm missing something. Likely, something obvious," he mumbled.

 

"Let's make this drop and get a beer," Brian suggested.

 

"Let's do that," Cole agreed.