Chapter 11
Colt
“Sorry, but I’m with Thor on this one,” Maverick said.
“Pretty sure none of us trust a fucking DEA agent,” Dean said.
“If Colt says he can rely on her, then I will,” Duke said.
“Well, we all know that. The two of you are practically butt buddies. And now family, right?” Jace asked.
“So, you don’t trust my opinion, either,” I said.
“I don’t fucking trust a damn DEA agent, Colt. Why the fuck are you?” Jace asked.
“I don’t know. She could be an asset if we play her right,” Jagger said.
“Finally, someone with some damn sense,” I said.
“We aren’t working alongside a DEA agent, and that’s final,” Dean said.
“Honestly Dean? Your split-second bullshit decision to go charging in without preparation was what put us in this scenario in the first damn place. Why don’t you own up to that?” I asked.
The room fell silent. And I mean, utterly silent. But, I wasn’t backing down. My ass wouldn’t have had to save Maverick and I wouldn’t be in this damn mess in the first place if it hadn’t been for Dean going off half-cocked. I felt Duke step up to my side. I didn’t have to look over to know it was him. And shockingly enough, Jagger stepped up to my side as well.
“The fuck you doin’, prospect?” Dean spat.
“Look, I haven’t been part of this club long, but I’m with Colt on this one. The shootout was premature, and I know we’re capable of better,” Jagger said.
“What is this? Some kind of fucking mutiny?” Dean asked.
“No, but you have to admit, you’ve been a little unhinged lately,” Duke said.
“Unhinged? The hell you mean?” Dean asked.
“Selling your daughter off to the highest bidder for a job?” Jagger asked.
I held my hand out and placed it into the young man’s chest. He needed to back down. He had no fucking clue what he was getting himself into. I held my arm out to stop Duke from charging Dean when he bucked up. I shouldn’t have opened my damn mouth. This wasn’t the time to be getting into shit like that.
Maverick and Jace stepped up to Dean’s sides before Thor stepped in between all of us.
“Not the time,” Thor said.
“He’s right,” Dean grumbled.
“We need to focus on what’s going on with the cartel. We can address shit like this later,” I said.
“There’s no shit to address,” Dean said.
“Trust me, there’s plenty of shit to address,” Duke spat.
“Look, my stance is this. This Olivia woman or whatever, is with the DEA. She’s with an organization that craves putting men like us behind bars. All she’s going to do is use us to take down the cartel, and then find a way to take us down as well. They always pull that shit,” Maverick said.
“Oh, like you’d know from experience?” I asked.
“Stories, Colt. Stories of other clubs that met the same fate like the one I’m fucking talking about. Have you lost your mind making a deal with this woman?” Maverick asked.
“Just listen to me and hear me out. Olivia’s looked into the files the police have on us. And trust me, that took me by surprise. Because I’m pretty sure we fucking grease those pigs hands so that they don’t have any of that shit on us,” I said.
“We’ll deal with that later,” Jace said.
“But, she’s read through them all. She knows that the people we are connected with—the Dead Souls and the High Rollers—.”
“She knows we’re connected to them!?” Dean exclaimed.
“The whole fucking town does!” I roared.
The room fell silent at my roar, and this time Jagger was the one to put his hand against my chest.
“Tone it down, Colt. Take a breath,” he murmured.
I drew in a slow breath through my nose as my eyes connected hard with Dean’s.
“She’s seen that neither of the clubs we roll with have ever dabbled in drugs or been brought up on drug charges. She knows something isn’t right. She’s already told me she knows it was none of us that killed the officer that night. She knows that there was another gang involved just because of the sheer amount of ammunition shells and casings on the fucking street and parking lot. And you want to know who’s fault that is?” I asked.
I rose my finger and pointed straight into Dean’s face.
“It’s yours. I didn’t put those casings there. Sloppy work without a plan did,” I said.
And while Dean’s nostrils flared, he didn’t try to correct me.
Good.
“I know the risk that comes with her potentially screwing us over. I know what could happen when playing into the DEA’s hands. But this was my only fucking option. If I didn’t get caught by the cops, they would have found Maverick where I hid him, and that wasn’t going to fucking happen in his condition.”
Maverick nodded at me in thanks.
“This woman is good,” I continued. “She read me like a fucking book without me saying a goddamn word to her. She’s a fucking shark, and if we don’t give off the impression that we’re on her side and that she’s on ours? She’s going to drown us just because she can. She was my only ticket out of that place because all of you assholes dragged ass cheeks trying to come up with something,” I said.
“You didn’t have a bail set,” Dean bit.
“And when the hell has that ever stopped you before!?” I exclaimed.
“Colt, take a breath,” Duke said.
I shook his arm off my shoulder and shot him a glare.
“No. For once, someone’s gonna listen to Old Man Road Captain. Every single one of you might have seniority in position, but no one’s been in this crew longer than myself other than Dean. I’ve given my life to you guys. My future. The whole of my fucking world. I’ve been in a holding tank for three days because the six smartest men I know couldn’t come up with a way to fucking bust me out of a holding cell. Instead, you send me a half-cocked, personally-involved attorney who was looking for more answers for her benefit than anything else!”
My voice roared so loudly it echoed off the corners of the lodge we all stood in.
“The Dead Souls trust her –” Dean started.
“I don’t give a shit who the Dead Souls trust. I would stay up for those guys any day, but when it comes down to it, they are still a different motorcycle club. They are not one of our own, no matter who their president is with. Olivia was the only one that delivered. The only one that had a plan to get me out, and followed through. And yes, the deal we made sucks dick. I gotta call this woman every damn day and feed her information until we solve some shit. And yes, it might destroy our credibility with other gangs if they find out we’re cooperating. But, it really won’t. Not if the other crews have the same motivation we do. No one wants drugs in this area. Not the High Rollers. Not the Dead Souls. Not even those pansy-ass jerkoffs in the neighborhoods across town,” I said.
“You can yell all you want, but I don’t hear you talking about any sort of a plan to protect the people you consider family,” Dean growled.
My nose twitched as the words danced on the tip of my tongue.
“Well, I know you haven’t ever heard of it, Dean. But, it’s called a fucking back up plan,” I said.
In a flash, our President lunged at me. Jace and Maverick reached out for him, but I saw how Maverick winced with pain. His grip released on the old man and Thor had to jump in and pick Dean clear off his fucking feet. Thor tossed our President over his shoulder as he kicked and flailed around like a child. And for a moment, I watched Jace’s face falter. I watched Maverick stare up at him like he was watching some sort of gory horror film.
I peered over at Duke and watched him nod his head as our President threw a tantrum like a five-year- old.
“Put me the fuck down, you hulking buffoon!” Dean yelled.
“Settle down,” Thor said.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do. I’m the President of this damn club. Now, put me down!”
“Stop kicking,” Thor said.
Once Dean had worn himself out, Thor tossed him into a leather recliner. The chair rocked as sweat glistened on Dean’s forehead. He was panting as if he had just run a marathon. Maverick and Jace came and stood behind me, while Jagger and Duke stood at my sides. Thor reached out and stopped the chair from rocking, his eyes glued to the wall and he chewed on the inside of his lip.
The only thing that filled the room was Deans pants until he got his breathing under control.
“We need a backup plan,” Dean croaked.
I watched Thor nod his head before he came over and stood with the rest of us. Perched with us as we peered at a man who looked to age fifteen years before our very eyes. The bags underneath his dimly-lit eyes grew heavy. His hair was disheveled and we realized how much of it he had actually lost over the years. His eyes fell closed as his fingers tapped along the leather of the recliner, and part of my heart went out to him.
Dean was getting old. And it was hard for old, hardened men to know when their time was up.
“My suggestion is that we only feed her the information that is necessary,” Duke said.
I looked over and nodded at him before I spoke.
“We only give this DEA agent the bare minimum of what she needs to put two and two together. That way, the DEA can focus themselves on the cartel while we continue trying to muddle through all of the bullshit that’s kicked up and come our way,” I said.
“And once they’re distracted?” Dean asked.
I looked behind me at Thor and he nodded his head. Like he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Then, we continue on with our plan,” I said.
Dean’s tired eyes connected with mine as I pulled myself away from the group.
“Once the DEA has their heads turned to other avenues, we can take out Diego ourselves,” I said.
I stood there in front of our President. In front of the man that had ushered me into this club fifteen or so years before. The man that had guided me. Trained me. Helped me through more bullshit than I could ever recall dealing with in my life. Dean was the man that helped me navigate keeping my family safe. He was the man who talked hypothetical scenarios with me, knowing damn good and well I was running plans meant for my family by him. He was the one that held me when I cried over my parent’s passing. When I cried over the fact that I couldn’t even show up at their fucking funeral without bringing danger along with me. And as his eyes connected with mine, I watched something roll over them.
Exhaustion.
Dean was fucking exhausted.
“All in favor of the plan, raise your hands,” Dean said.
And as I looked around the room, I saw everyone inch their hands into the air. A unanimous vote for an idea that didn’t come from our President. It was almost unheard of. It was something that never happened.
It also broadcasted more changes to come as our club continued our journey.