Falcon
“Guys, I called this emergency meeting because we need to figure out what the hell we’re going to do about Leo. The situation is getting out of hand,” I told everyone, starting the meeting.
“What’s happened?” Nathan asked. Everyone else was staring at me, waiting for an answer.
“Last night, I went out and accidentally found a bar that’s under his watch right up the street from here,” I told them.
“Greene’s?” Luther asked. “We’ve gone in there hundreds of times, and we’ve never noticed anybody there.” If they really did frequent Greene’s the way Luther claimed, that explained why the bartender acted like he was in the MC.
“I know. That’s why I went, but Leo was there waiting for me. He has a little office in there where it looks like someone keeps his books,” I explained. “Anyway, one of his security goons grabbed me and carried me back to that little office where Leo threatened me for seeing his sister.”
“Damn, you didn’t even have to sleep with her after all,” Thomson said spitefully.
“No, I haven’t slept with her yet. He’s pissed off just because he knows I’ve been working on it, but that’s okay, I’m still going to keep her in my back pocket, just in case, you know?” I replied.
“So, now that he’s threatened you, you want to do something about it, huh?” Thomson asked with that same spiteful tone in his voice. I wanted to reach across the table and punch him right in his fucking throat.
“Yeah, now that he’s issuing threats, I think it’s time to handle him before things get out of hand,” I told him.
He laughed. “Good. It’s about damn time. It’s good to have you back brother.”
“What did you have in mind?” Nathan asked.
“Well, do we have any information? Collin, Zeke, do you guys know anything?” I asked.
“There is one thing that came across this morning, so I’m glad you called the meeting,” Luther started.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“There’s a pretty huge drug deal going down this weekend, and Leo is going to be involved in it. I’m still not sure what capacity. I don’t have any intel indicating that he’s buying or selling, but I think his men will be there as security,” Luther told me.
“Have you guys seen his security detail?” I asked them. “They’re men in black. They’re practically Secret Service. I’m concerned about what capabilities they might have. The guys I saw last night were wearing shades in a very dimly lit bar, and it didn’t seem to hinder their sight at all, so I’m not sure what all they’ve got going on, but they’re the real deal.”
“Damn, this Clementine girl must be something else,” Thomson said, laughing at me again. “I swear, Falcon, it’s like you’re going soft. Are you seriously worried that we might not be able to handle some punks in black suits hired by the likes of Leo? We can walk in there right now and put all those guys in the ground. It won’t be any different when we show up to this party they’re guarding this weekend.”
“Luther, try to get more information on what role he’s playing. I’ll see what I can get out of Clementine. I’m sure she knows something, even if she doesn’t know exactly what it means. She has no idea what her brother really does for a living. She thinks he runs a simple consulting firm, but she might have some information that can help us,” I added.
“So we’re definitely going to plan on raiding it?” Nathan double-checked with me.
“Yes, we’re going to plan on raiding this sale. If he’s trying to expand into this security business, and it looks like he is, we can really hurt him by disrupting. Not to mention wrecking business for whoever is involved. Surely, if they’ve hired him to protect the sale, they’re already competition for us.” I was really just thinking out loud at that point.
Disrupting any sales of drugs in our area was good for us. It established this as our territory. Anything involving Leo disrupted his business, as well. We needed to crush him, and this was our opportunity. I wanted to put him out of business for good. And any drugs or weapons coming through our territory needed to come through us first.
It felt like we had to reestablish ourselves. When I went in, there was never any talk of our competition trying to run drugs right under our noses with another competitor trying to provide protection for them. That was just outrageous. At the same time, it was pretty ingenious of Leo to branch out into that part of the business.
“All right, Thomson, start getting guys and weapons together for it,” Nathan said.
“Awesome. It’s about time we start kicking ass again.” Thomson smacked the table.
“Hey, guys,” I started, following my train of thought on Leo’s security business. “What would you think about running security detail for anyone passing product through our area? Like, if they’re taking it somewhere else, but we offer them a safe place to conduct business, what do you think about that?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t that encourage trade within our territory, though?” Luther asked.
“I don’t think it would. I think it would let them know that this is our territory, and if they want to do any kind of business here, we’re going to be involved. Plus, it will help us keep track of what’s moving through our area,” I explained my train of thought.
“I like that last bit,” Thomson said. “We definitely need to keep track of what’s coming through. And offering security or protection allows us to essentially tax anything that passes through here.”
“I like the way you’re thinking, Thomson,” I said. “Just keep an open mind, guys. I want to consider that once we’re through with Leo this weekend. I have a feeling this is going to be it.”
“All right, before we call the meeting,” Nathan started, “let’s get a quick recap of what we’re doing.”
“Okay. Luther, you’re getting more information from your sources. Thomson and Nathan, I want both of you getting our boys ready to go with weapons. Zeke and Collin, I want you two working on recruiting,” I said.
“Recruiting? We’re about to raid a sale that Leo is overseeing somehow, and you want to talk about adding new members?” Zeke asked.
“Right. We lost a lot of people while I was gone. We suffered a lot in my absence, and I’m sorry I wasn’t here to keep that from happening, but we’ve got to regain some ground here. Part of that is going to require having more numbers. We need more members to get back on top, especially if we’re going to start planting our men in these out-of-town deals going down in our city,” I explained.
“We got it,” said Collin. “We’re on it.” I could see in his eyes he already had some people in mind. I liked that look.
“Awesome. And I will see if I can get any information out of Clementine before this weekend. She might know something useful.”
“When are we meeting back here?” Nathan asked as the others were getting up from the table.
“Luther, when’s the deal supposed to be going down?” I called to him before he walked through the door.
“Saturday,” he said, turning back.
“Thanks. We’ll meet again on Friday to finalize everything,” I told everyone.
“That gives us two days, Falcon. Do you think we can do it?” Nathan asked, standing up next to me.
“You know better than to ask me something like that, man. Yes, I think we can do it. I’ll call Clementine later tonight, give her some time to get home from work, and see when she’s available. Hell, I’ll probably just go on over there tonight. I can probably get her into bed pretty easily at this point. She’s practically begging for it already,” I told Nathan candidly.
“Well, be careful, brother. If Leo is getting in the security business, he might have someone watching the apartment for you,” Nathan warned.
“Then why don’t we get someone to watch the surrounding area for his men? Don’t we have some former military guys in the club still?” I asked.
“I can call around and see who’s available short notice,” Nathan said.
“They should all be available on short notice, shouldn’t they?” I chuckled to cover the veiled threat.
“Should and are aren’t the same thing these days, boss,” Nathan commented in reply.
“Good point. Let’s see what we can do to get eyes on that apartment building so I’ll know if anyone’s there before I head over there,” I told him.
As he left the boardroom, I leaned on the table and wondered what the hell was going on with my MC. Before I had gone to prison, we had a reputation on these streets. People knew better than to mess with us. When I got back, it was like we were amateurs again, just starting over and trying to figure it out all over again. We weren’t amateurs, and it was time for us to take out place back at the top. People needed to be afraid of us again.
I was going to wake everyone up by finishing the job with Clementine and crushing Leo’s spirit so when the weekend job came, he would be a worthless wreck, making him an even easier target for us. He’d grown too confident over the last few years and too organized. We needed to put a stop that immediately. Then we needed to make sure everyone else in town knew who the hell we were and knew they were to respect us.
If we were going to have to start doing things the way they did in the old days and start taking down innocent people to get to these other bosses, I wasn’t going to let it be beyond me. It was time to bring back the one percenters and strike fear in the other crime lords in the area. We were not dead. We were not gone. We were still right where they left us.
There were just a bunch of punk asses waiting on me to return to grow their balls back. It was pathetic. I sent Zeke and Collin out to start recruiting because we needed some men with backbones on our side. I hoped they could find some people to replace some of our leadership members with. I needed to talk to the bartender over at Greene’s to figure out what his story was. He seemed like a good candidate, unless he was already on someone else’s payroll, and it really seemed like he was.
I grabbed the keys to the Cadillac parked next to the building. If someone were watching Clementine’s building, I at least wanted to be in a car instead of on my bike. I headed downstairs where the guys were talking, making further plans for the raid on Saturday. The talk sounded promising. It sounded serious for the first time since I’d been back.
My phone buzzed on my way out the door. It was Nathan.
Two sets of eyes on her place. No one from Leo.
Thanks, I texted back. Heading over there later. Tell them to stay put.
Got it.
I stuffed the phone back in my pocket while I started up the car. I sat back in the driver seat and tried not to feel confined in the small space. It was the first time I’d been in such a small space since prison. But at least I could take solace in the fact that I was on my way to a much, much tighter space between Clementine’s thin, tender legs.
The car also offered something the bike really didn’t—a stereo. I cranked it up and lowered the windows to give myself that open-air feel that I was going to miss once I left the parking lot.
I took a deep breath and put the Cadillac in gear. Clementine was a job again. She was no longer on her way to becoming my girlfriend. I had to deal with that. What I was doing was for the MC, and that meant more than she ever could have on her own. I hated myself for thinking like that, but I pulled out of the parking lot and started down the road towards her apartment. It was time to seal the deal and take that sweet little virgin to bed.