Chapter 23
Colt
I pulled up to the lodge and prayed I didn’t fucking smell like her. The only time I had was washing myself down a bit at the sink before I threw my clothes back on. Olivia was gone by the time I came back downstairs, and probably for a good reason. But still, knowing she had left before me made me nervous. Was she okay? Were things really good between us? I really could have used one last kiss before the two of us arranged how we were going to leave. Partially because I loved the feel of her lips against mine, and partially because that connection between us was the only thing reassuring my mind that I wasn’t fucking this shit up again.
It boggled my mind as I parked my bike and started for the lodge.
“Thank fuck, you’re finally here,” Duke said.
“Came as quickly as I could,” I said.
“What the hell were you doing that took you so long?” Maverick asked.
“Believe it or not, I’m still a single man,” I said.
“Oh, shit! We interrupted some pow-wow time,” Jagger said, grinning.
“Gross,” Thor said.
“Okay, so I had Dean call church because I’ve got the meet-up between the cartel and the Blood Thugs organized. With the help of Thor,” Duke said.
“Shit, that was fast work. Good job,” Dean said.
“I don’t want my buddy arrested,” Thor said.
I turned my head to face him as he walked out of the shadows and into the church circle.
“I was made a very distinct promise by our DEA agent that no one would be arrested. None of us, and none of them. So long as I feed her the details of the meet-up and she can arrest Diego, all of us are off the hook and off their radar,” I said.
“You better be right,” Thor said menacingly.
“Shit,” Jagger murmured.
“Wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of that,” Dean said.
“No one’s going to be on the receiving end of anything. This is a solid plan. Because we took the time to plan it,” Duke said.
I whipped my head over to him and shot him a look. He needed to keep his mouth shut on anything resembling that fucking “M” word right now. One thing at a time, before our entire crew imploded from stupid ass decisions.
“How do you know this DEA agent won’t go back on her promise?” Maverick asked.
“Because we’ve had some lengthy talks on what’ll happen if she does,” I said.
“Did you fucking threaten a DEA agent?” Jace asked.
I rolled my eyes. “Do I look like an idiot? No, I didn’t threaten anyone. But, we’ve had lengthy conversations about this. There’s a lot about this agent that checks out. We’ve built some trust up, and you know I always go with my gut.”
“Because it’s never steered you wrong,” Jagger said.
“Exactly,” I said.
“Don’t go galloping off on that horse too quickly. What’s the backup plan?” Jace asked.
“Backup plan?” Dean asked.
All of us fell silent at his question. It was like he’d never heard the damn phrase before. I looked over at Duke and watched utter irritation rise in his eyes. But the kicker was that when I looked around the circle, I saw concern in all of their eyes. Even Thor’s. All of them looked at Dean as if he had finally lost his mind, and I wondered if all of them were thinking what Duke and myself had been thinking for a few weeks now.
“We do have one. In case, for some reason, the DEA agent falters on her promise,” Duke said.
“She won’t falter, that much I do know,” I said.
“But if she does, I’ve got a backup plan for that. I also have one in place for if she doesn’t falter on her promise, but the meeting goes south,” Duke said.
“Good. Walk us through them, then,” Jace said.
“We need to take a vote first,” Dean said.
“We haven’t already agreed on this?” Jagger asked.
“All in favor of posting up during this meeting and informing the DEA, raise your hands,” Dean said.
And when everyone’s hands went up except Dean’s, I took another look around the room. Every single one of them stared at Dean as if he had lost his damn marbles. We had no idea what was going on with him. What was running through his mind. But, it didn’t matter. When we voted, no one vote could be leveraged because of position. It was still five-to-one in favor of the plan, so we lowered our hands before Thor started talking.
Yeah. Silent Thor. Talking.
“Meeting’s on the other side of town. Tonight. Nine o’clock. The plan Duke and I came up with is to wear all black and post around the back of the venue. Because we assume the DEA will be coming in hot from the front doors. Dean’s gonna be in the van a couple of blocks down from—.”
“Wait a second. I’m in the van?” Dean asked.
“Yes. Because you’re the best getaway driver we’ve got. You’re our backup plan if shit goes south with the DEA,” Duke said.
Oh, Dean did not like that one fucking bit.
“We post at eight, and hold our positions. Colt, you text the DEA agent and let her know about all this shit. It’s that neighborhood across town. I think everyone calls it Slickville around here. Not sure why. The damn thing’s named—.”
“Crossover. Yeah. I know. So, the meeting is in Blood Thugs territory,” I said.
“Yep. Diego knows he’s taking a risk with that, so I’m assuming he’ll be heavily guarded. We don’t fire unless we think the DEA is somehow defaulting on something. No matter what happens tonight, Diego is either hauled off in handcuffs or killed,” Thor said.
“Okay. If shit goes south with the DEA, we shoot to kill, avoiding the DEA agents, and then race to the van where Dean is. What if the DEA comes ready to fulfill their end of the bargain and they find us all just hanging out?” I asked.
“Already took stock of the territory this afternoon. There’s a decent sewer system that runs through the neighborhood. Wearing all black means, we can creep around the house, stay out of the DEA’s way, and slip into the system in order to get out of the neighborhood unseen. I’ve left coordinates and directions for Dean to follow to get to where the sewer system will spit us out, in case we need to use that,” Jagger said.
“Perfect. Then, let’s get ready,” I said.
The first thing I did was shoot Liv a text message. The name of the neighborhood, the time for the meeting, and I even told her that we’d be posted in case shit went south and they needed backup. I didn’t tell her where to find us or how, but I did need her to understand that if she saw some dumbasses in black creeping around, not to fucking shoot our heads off. And when I got her confirmation along with a little heart symbol, I grinned.
Then, I turned my sights back on the task at hand.
Everyone was on edge. As we stacked the car and put on our gear, the tension in the room was thick. Dean was pissed. Thor was nervous for his buddy. Duke was antsy because his head was on the line with these plans, and I was about to puke. Holy shit, if Liv defaulted on these plans for some reason, I’d never forgive myself for trusting some dumbass agent. My ass was just as much on the line as Duke’s was, and it somehow oddly brought us together.
We got ready together. We cleaned our guns down together. We rode in the van together. And we posted together on the property.
It almost felt like how things used to be. Before shit became so fucked up.