KING
“So what was so damn important that you had to wake me up?” Drew asked. “My head is killin' me.”
“Maybe you should stop drinking the cheap shit, then,” I said.
Drew, El, and Duke were standing next to their bikes in the parking lot. The sun was creeping higher into the sky and it was starting to get warm. I figured that, unfortunately, today was going to be a scorcher.
“What's going on, King?” Duke asked. “Drew said it was serious club shit.”
I nodded. It was serious club shit. But I also knew El and Duke weren't going to like what I was about to tell them to do any more than Abbie was going to like me doing it. But it had to be done. I couldn't be in two places at once. And more importantly, I couldn't do what I needed to go do while worrying about leaving her without somebody to look after her. I trusted these guys, though, and knew they'd do whatever it took to get the job done – even if it was one they weren't thrilled with.
“Things with the Incas are going to shit,” I said.
“There's no going to shit about it. They've gone to shit already,” El remarked.
I nodded. “True enough.”
I paused for a moment. As far as they all knew, the Incas' demand that we start running heroin for them had died on the vine and that was that. I hadn't told them El Segador was still demanding we do the job and that he was holding our money until we did it. I'd been trying to work the back channels on my own to resolve the issue. I didn't want to get them involved any more than I had to. And I sure as shit didn't want to incite a goddamn gang war over it. But that asshole wasn't cooperating and had put me in a really tough bind. And though I'd wanted to keep them out of it, I now had to put my trust in my men.
“Okay, look, the raid the cops put on the clubhouse the other day was because of the Incas,” I said.
“What in the hell did those pricks do?” El asked.
I sighed and hesitated, not wanting to share any of this information because I knew they were going to be pissed. More than pissed. And I didn't blame them. I was enraged and wanted nothing more than to put two bullets into the back of El Segador's head myself. But I had to keep my cool. We were in pretty dire circumstances and the time had come to spill everything.
“Because those pricks sent a package to the cops,” I said. “A package containing two severed hands with our club patch drawn on them.”
“Jesus Christ,” Drew muttered as El and Duke chimed in their agreement.
“Mahoney figured it was best to squeeze us for information,” I said. “And it gave him an excuse to search the clubhouse – something he's been dying to do for years.”
“Not to ask the obvious, but whose hands were they?” Duke asked.
I shook my head. “I don't know for sure,” I admitted. “But I have a feeling it's Dawkins. I haven't been able to get in touch with him for a few days now.”
I could see the tension and anger enter all three of their bodies at about the exact same time. Faces red, jaws set, eyes narrowed – my guys were ready for a fight. Dawkins was a good guy and a good friend. He'd been one of our brothers for years and to think the Incas had done something terrible to him – well, I shared their anger and desire for a fight. But I had to use my head. The club was bigger than Dawkins. Hell, it was bigger than me. And I needed to protect it as well as keep it out of a war with the Incas. I didn't want another person hurt because of the shitstorm that was swirling around us.
“If those pricks did something to one of our guys, we have to retaliate,” Drew said. “We can't have them thinking they can do something like that and not have us respond.”
I nodded. “I know. But we don't know anything yet. So let's just keep our heads for now, okay?”
“So, if we're not here to go start kicking some heads in,” El started, “what are we doing here?”
I cleared my throat. This was the part they weren't going to like. “El, I need you and Duke to stay here,” I said. “I need you both to watch Abbie.”
“Seriously?” El asked, anger coloring his voice. “You're sticking us on babysitting duty?”
“It's not like that – ”
“That's exactly what it sounds like,” Duke snapped.
“Look, guys,” I said, my own frustration starting to come to the surface. “The other thing in that package with the hands the cops got were pictures of Abbie. Somebody – the same somebody who cut off and sent a pair of hands to the cops – is watching her. And I'll give you three guesses who that somebody is.”
The three men shuffled their feet and looked at one another. They knew Abbie meant something to me. That she was important to me. In all the years I'd known these guys, they'd never seen me stick with one girl more than a couple of weeks. My relationship with Abbie amused them and I'd been the butt of quite a few jokes because of it.
Which was fine. I could handle some good-natured ribbing about it. I cared about Abbie – a lot. And I wasn't ashamed of it. I didn't feel the need to hide how I felt.
“I need to go find that asshole, El Segador, and get him to back the fuck off,” I said. “But I can't leave Abbie without some protection just in case one of those pricks tries to grab her or something. And I won't leave her with somebody I don't trust.”
El and Duke looked at one another and I saw some of the anger leaving their faces. I thought I'd gotten through to them. Thankfully.
“Can I count on you guys?” I asked.
El nodded and after a moment, Duke followed suit. “Yeah,” Duke said. “You can count on us.”
“Always, bro,” El added. “You know we always got your back.”
I let out a silent sigh of relief. One hurdle down – the bigger one was still to come, though. Abbie wasn't the kind of girl who liked to be told what to do, nor did she like to be coddled or treated with kid gloves. She was feisty, that one, and thought she could take on the world. And in most cases, she'd be right. But El Segador and the Incas weren't one of those cases. They were animals. Monsters. And I didn't want her anywhere near them.
“Thank you,” I said. “You've gotta sit on her. Never let her out of your sight – ”
“C'mon, bro,” El laughed. “We know how to babysit.”
“Don't worry, man,” Duke said. “We'll keep her safe. Ain't nobody going to get a finger on her. I promise you that.”
I wanted to warn him against making promises he couldn't keep, but I appreciated the sentiment. My hope was that they'd spend the afternoon doing nothing more than wasting their time anyway. I nodded and gave them a grim smile. “I appreciate that, fellas,” I said. “More than I can tell you.”
“We're brothers,” El said. “Enough said.”
“What about me?” Drew chimed in. “What am I going to be doing in all of this?”
“You're coming with me,” I said. “And, together, we're heading into the belly of the beast.”
“The belly of the beast?” Drew said and looked confused for a moment before the light of comprehension dawned upon his face. “You aren't seriously thinking about going to the Incas' clubhouse are you?”
“Where else are we going to find El Segador?”
Drew groaned and looked like he was going to be sick – no doubt, visions of severed hands floating through his mind. “Wonderful,” he muttered.
“You guys hang here for a minute,” I said. “I'm going to go tell Abbie what's going on.”
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Duke said as the three of them had a chuckle at my expense.