DECLAN

 

I’d known Lin for a long time now. He was always so calm and composed. I guess he had to be that way so that he didn’t draw any attention to himself. Chinese gangsters weren’t something you saw every day in Ivory.

Tonight was a little bit different though. He wasn’t saying anything. Just pacing back and forth as he stared at the ground. But even the way his heels hit the floor seemed a little harder than usual.

He was pissed. Shit, I was pissed, so I couldn’t exactly blame the motherfucker. I was prepared to let him get all of that shit off of his chest. I was just waiting for the steam to come out of his ears and his face to turn red.

He stopped pacing and suddenly turned to me, his hands behind his back.

“Do you mind telling me what happened?” he asked.

Can’t help you, pal.

I stared at him, trying to search for the right answer. But hesitating was reason enough for him to know that I didn’t have a response. I looked at Ghost but he remained silent just the same as me.

“Wei went missing a couple of days ago,” he said. “I didn’t realize he was missing though, until he stopped responding to everybody trying to reach out to him. He disappeared without a trace.”

“They found him,” Needle said.

Lin shot a glare at Needle.

“They did,” Lin said. “And what else did they find?”

“One of my own was shot, too,” I sighed. “Just a prospect. Young.”

“Is he dead, too?”

“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head. “He’s in the hospital right now.”

“I see…”

Lin nodded in understanding. He seemed to have kept his composure but I knew he could snap at any moment.

“Tell me what you know,” he said.

“There were weapons at the scene. Your man apparently shot at mine. Mine shot back.”

“Are you saying your man was defending himself?”

“Nate’s not stupid enough to shoot a man for no reason. He might be young but he wouldn’t do something like that.”

“So you’re saying that Wei shot someone for no reason? Is that what you’re telling me?”

Lin took a step toward me, his head tilted back so he could look down his nose at me. I wasn’t about to be intimidated by him even though I knew what kind of clout he had.

“I’m not telling you anything besides what I know,” I said. “Weapons were found at the scene. They were both discharged. Maybe Nate shot first. Maybe they shot at the same time. Police forensics will find out eventually, but that’ll take some time. The autopsy report might say something, too—”

“Not good enough,” Lin interrupted me.

He took a step back then spun around. He looked at the two armed men in suits standing with him. I was half-expecting him to tell them to pull their weapons out. I was ready for anything at this point.

“We have a common interest,” he said. “My man was killed. Your man was shot. Perhaps you’re playing some little game with me.”

He turned back around to me. His jaw clenched, Lin’s stare was locked right on me.

“Perhaps you’re trying to play me for a fool,” he said.

“Why would I do something like that?” I said.

“Because maybe you don’t appreciate being told what to do by someone else. I’ve been around Ivory long enough to see how it works. BRIC… You ride the streets like you own this town. Maybe you told your man to shoot mine in response. To send a lesson to me.”

I scoffed at the idea. It was the dumbest suggestion I’d heard all night but considering Lin’s position, I guess the motherfucker had to put everything on the table.

“If I had a message to send to you, I’d tell it to you right to your face,” I said.

Lin walked back up to me. He was so close I could hear him breathing hard through his nose. It didn’t matter that the rest of the club had my back. I was ready for whatever Lin was about to do.

Then he did the thing I least expected him to do. He smirked at me then took a step back. All of the tension in the abandoned warehouse remained though. Everybody in the fucking room was in the dark. If there was a man who knew what the fuck was going on, he sure did a good job of hiding it.

“There’s someone else,” Ghost said suddenly.

“Someone else?” Lin said, one of his eyebrows arched.

“This is bigger than the club. This is bigger than you. There’s someone else involved.”

“I see… And who might this someone else be?”

Everybody was looking at my VP. He didn’t give the answer anybody wanted to hear. Just a sigh and a soft shake of his head.

“We don’t know—”

“You don’t know,” Lin said. “But you’re sure that someone else is involved.”

“I’m telling you. Nate wouldn’t shoot a man for no reason. And he sure as hell wouldn’t shoot one of your men.”

“You seem adamant about that.”

“Because it’s the fucking truth!”

Lin looked Ghost up and down for a second before turning back to me.

“If I wanted all of you dead, I would say so,” Lin said. “And there wouldn’t be anything any of you could do about it. If Wei really did shoot your man, he did it on his own. I agree that someone else is involved.”

“Maybe they put your man up to it,” I said.

“Not likely. Wei was one of my most loyal soldiers. Money. Drugs. Pussy. He had everything he could to keep him happy. I loved him like a brother. If there was something wrong, he would have told me. No, I didn’t put Wei up to this.”

Lin closed his eyes and sighed a deep breath. He appeared calmer than he did a few seconds ago. I couldn’t blame him for being pissed though, considering the circumstances.

“Someone murdered Wei,” he said. “Maybe it was your man. Maybe it was someone else. I want you to find the one responsible for it.”

“We’re already looking into it,” I said.

“Good. Because if you don’t find the man responsible for what happened to Wei… I’ll kill you all myself.”

I’d done business with Lin for more than a year now. Up to this point, he never lied to me. He was a man of his word. The look in his eyes told me that this was just more of the same.

“I want answers,” he said. “I’m already dealing with other clubs in your town. I have no problem cutting you out. Are we clear, Cunningham?”

I looked at the rest of my club. They all just stared at me.

I was the president. I had to speak for all of them. Right now, they needed my leadership more than anything.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” I said.

Lin eyeballed the rest of the club. He didn’t say another word before spinning on his heel and marching out of the warehouse with his guards.

I looked at the other club members. They did a good job of hiding their concern. There wasn’t another group of guys I would rather be with in a situation like this. Now the problem was just getting out of this fucking situation.

“What’s the plan?” Sully asked.

“It’s been a long night,” I said. “Everybody take a break. Sleep on it. Come into the chapel tomorrow and we’ll lay everything out on the table.”

“Lin seems pissed,” Needle said.

“No shit. One of his soldiers just died and the man who did it is still out there.”

“What if it was Nate?” Petey said. “What if he just didn’t like the way the guy looked and did him right there?”

Everybody looked at one another. Ghost shook his head and scoffed.

“No chance,” he said.

“It’s still a possibility we have to consider,” Petey said. “Right?”

Petey looked at me. Petey was the smartest guy in the club. I guess that wasn’t saying much when you had a dumb prick like Needle hanging around.

Petey was the only one who was concerned. That’s because he was the only one who knew how dangerous someone like Lin could be.

I couldn’t let any of that shit get to any of us.

“Let’s not worry about it now,” I said. “Everybody go home and clear your heads. We’ll get to the bottom of this, one way or another.”