The older man set down the gun and pulled out his phone. He dialed and put the phone up to his ear. “You the top guy?” he asked without preamble.
We couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but curiosity was there. Was this the buyer? Or their supplier? Any bit of information would be helpful in shutting this place down. Fuck, any information at all would be helpful.
“Right, Cruz, this here is Jett. I know you have men here in town gettin’ into shit they shouldn’t be gettin’ into. Get them gone or there will be problems.”
“Fuck,” Cooper groaned angrily. “How the fuck did they know we were here? It’s only been two hours tops.”
“Fuck if I know,” Micah answered, still listening.
“Yeah, well, you tell your boys to head on back and stay outta my business. Or I’ll have my boys go to the hotel and take care of the problem. Only four of ’em, right? Yeah, not smart. Easy targets,” Jett said.
The cameras weren’t in color, so I couldn’t make out any descriptors of the man. I did screenshot a picture of him, though. I’d run that through Micah’s databases.
“I’ll fuckin’ kill him,” Cooper growled as Deke said, “And I’ll beat the fuck out of ’em before you kill the asshole.”
“I don’t want trouble, and you don’t want trouble,” Jett continued.
“Fuck yeah, I want trouble,” Deke said on a growl. “I need to punch somethin’.”
“Calm down there, buddy.” Cooper tried to cool him down, but it didn’t work much. I swore at times that Deke’s dad wasn’t GT but Rhys. His temper was equal to Rhys’. Whereas Cooper would think about the problem, Deke would just beat the hell out of the person then make them talk.
“We can meet. But I ain’t settin’ it up now, and I want them gone.”
“Right.” The old man hung up the phone, and Cooper’s started to ring.
“Fuck!” he cursed. “Cruz,” he said before answering, “Yeah.” While I couldn’t hear Cruz, I could picture fire burning brightly in his eyes. No one fucked with Ravage. And these fuckers just threw down the gauntlet.
They were in our territory. They needed to be reminded of that.
“We watched the call. Micah and Dryerson already got in. They have a load of guns in the living room of this small-ass ranch house. They have some serious gear. Some shit we only get on special order.” Cooper told his father without giving away too many details over the line. We used burner phones, but being this far from home, we weren’t going to take chances.
Cooper paced the carpet, listening as we continued to watch and listen to the men on the screen. They were talking specifically about us. The make and model of Micah’s SUV. The trailer tags. Describing Micah in the driver seat. Yeah, they knew we were here.
“Right.” He held the phone away from his face. “We can see and hear this shit from home, right?”
“Yeah, but if they know we’re in town, don’t ya think they’ll figure out we’re monitoring them?” I asked. Sure, they hadn’t looked at the cameras, nor did they say anything about us looking in on them, but that would be the logical thing for me in this situation. Hopefully they were idiots.
“You hear that?” Cooper asked his father. “Right. Got it.” He hung up.
“He wants us to pack up and get our asses back. When we come back here, we need the club at our backs. Cruz’s right. Somethin’ is off with that old man.”
“He’s not that old,” I answered, pulling up a side photo of him and showing it to the room.
“The beard and mustache are throwing it off with the side view. When we get back I can composite a whole face from it.”
“Right. Pack it up, and let’s get out of here,” Cooper ordered and we listened.
“Fuck!” Deke growled. “That asshole threw down on us, and now we’re headin’ home instead of beatin’ the shit out of him. Don’t like this shit.”
“Me either, brother,” Cooper replied. “But it’s the smart thing to do right now. Find out what we can, hit them in their weak spots, and clear them out.”
“They’re fuckin’ runnin’ us out of town,” I growled low in my throat. “Don’t fuckin’ like this shit either.”
If I had a drone with a dropping ability, I’d fly it right over the fucking house and blow it, people and all. Wipe it all out. Problem solved. Drones. The next thing I’d get so I could do just that.
We were going into war right? What better way to end it all here and now. One blast and our headache was gone.
Since I didn’t have one, that was going to have to wait, but it didn’t stop me from envisioning it.
Too many unanswered questions with this group of men. First order of business was information.
7
KATIE
“What’s the rush?” I asked Ensley as she opened the door and I walked in.
“Micah’s mom. We have to go. Thanks for watching her.”
I wanted to ask what was going on with Blaze, but Micah was already in the garage, and Ensley was running out the side door.
“Where’s Remy?” I asked just as Ensley made it to the door and was about to close it.
“Bed,” was all she said, and then she took off. Well, that wasn't any fun. When I got Remy time, I really wanted her awake.
Setting my purse on the counter, I stripped my socks and shoes off. My feet were killing me after a ten-hour shift. I wiggled my toes, getting the feeling back in them. I still had the phone with me, but no calls yet. Bristyl found an old charger for it to make sure it had juice. Each day that passed I began to worry more and more about what was going on at home.
I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t help myself. They were still my brothers and sisters.
The front door flew open. I jumped, hand on my chest as the gasp I took in about choked me.
Dryerson was standing there, his eyes wild. It wasn’t a look I’d seen on him in a while, but I had seen it. When he pulled me out of that crematory…
“What’s goin’ on?” he asked, closing the door and then moving through the house.
“I’m not sure. Ensley said something about Blaze, and they took off.”
He filtered his fingers through his hair, then pulled on the ends. It was hot. The man definitely had that.
“Fuck,” he growled and pulled out his phone, tapping away. He held it up to his ear. “What the fuck is goin’ on?”
Dryerson was not a happy man as he listened to whoever he was talking to.
Then quick as a flash, his body relaxed and face began to lose its intensity.
“Yeah. Right. I’ll be here when you get home,” he responded, ending the call.
So, he was talking to Micah.
Dryerson reached up and did some weird thing with his neck that made it pop in like four places and then let out a groan. Moving to the fridge, he reached in and pulled out a bottle of beer.
When he still didn’t say anything, I did. “What’s going on? Is she okay?”
“Yeah. Tug’s out of town, and Blaze needed help with somethin’. They’ll be back in a little while.” He tore the cap off the bottle and tossed it onto the counter.