That was some twisted shit there. The guy obviously had no loyalty.
We were hoping a tip we’d got from one of our clients, Tommy, would pan out. That was where we were headed, to Tommy’s place.
Once again, Micah and I were in the SUV. The guys had to be fucking with us. We hadn’t seen the back of a bike with these men in what felt like forever.
The inside of the meeting place was dark. A typical dive bar that looked like it should have been shut down years ago, but somehow, they kept it afloat. There was a large bar to the left, and a wide open space to the right. Then there were two doors. One had a window and looked like it led to the kitchen area. The other door must be the bathroom.
Tommy sat in the corner of the bar. His hair had a comb-over that looked like it had been fucking teased by a brush. It seemed he was having a hard time with getting older and losing his hair. Three other men sat around him. Sizing them up, they had bulk, but numbers alone had us on top.
“Let’s make a deal,” Tommy said to Cruz as he sat at the table, which was ballsy. Even though we were in his place, Ravage would shoot first and ask questions later. He had to know that.
Cruz put his elbows on the table and stared at Tommy. He didn’t like that shit either. I was curious to know what way he would go.
“And what’s that?” Cruz finally asked. It was foreplay, though. I could tell by Cruz’s face, but only because I’d been around him a lot over these past months. To the normal eye, they’d miss it.
“Ghost guns.” Fuck.
“Yeah…” Cruz prompted.
“I need five of them. You get them for me, I give you the information.” Tommy sat back in the seat, his arms stretched out like he didn’t have a care in the world.
Ghost guns were hard as fuck to get your hands on. The reason being, they were made all by hand and had zero identification on them. If it was used in a murder, the cops could trace the bullet type to the gun, but not to the ghost gun.
Those fuckers were untraceable, which made them expensive as hell as well.
“Those will cost ya more than the information.”
Tommy smiled and nodded. “I expected so, but I want a discount.”
Cruz crossed his arms over his chest. “How do I not know you’re full of shit?” he challenged.
“I have a little incentive for you.”
Cruz’s brow quirked, and I kept my eyes on everything in the room. One could never be too careful these days.
“Come with me,” Tommy said, motioning to one of his men as he climbed out of the booth. Cruz made eye contact with GT, who nodded, and we all followed the two through the club.
What this guy had up his sleeve was anyone’s guess.
Tommy and his men slipped through the door, and Deke got up in front with his gun out at the ready. Whatever he saw inside must’ve been safe since he lifted his chin to Cruz, and we all piled into the space.
It wasn’t large, and with all of us in it, it seemed smaller than hell. But the room didn’t hold my attention. That was directed at the man lying on the ground in the middle of the room. Why it was always the middle of the room, I had no idea. It was almost like the movies.
Covered in blood, I wasn’t sure the man was even alive.
“And this is?” Cooper prompted Tommy.
“Anton Welding.” He stopped like we knew who the fuck that was. Even searching my memories, the name didn’t ring any bells.
“And…” Cooper said again, “if I have to say that shit again, I will not be happy.”
Tommy just smiled, and Cooper put his hand on his gun.
Tommy held up his hands. “Easy now. Anton was part of the crew that got blew up. We found him through one of our informants. He got away from the blast.”
“Why the fuck did ‘your informant’ give you this fucker? How do we know any of this shit is true?” Cruz asked, and I was right there with him.
“The informant wanted something I had. He gave me Anton, I get what I need from you. It’s all business.” Tommy held his hands out. “Unfortunately, this one is about ready to die. So … if you want somethin’ from him, you’d better be quick.”
Why did I feel like this fucker was taunting us? Oh, yeah, because he was.
GT moved quick to the man and kicked him, turning him over. He grunted, but it didn’t seem like he’d meant to do it. He was definitely on his last leg.
“Who the fuck do you work for?” GT asked, getting down on the ground and grabbing the man by the collar of his shirt, pulling him to eye level.
Anton gurgled, and GT shook him. “Don’t you fuckin’ die yet. Tell me!”
When he didn’t answer, GT’s anger lit up the room. The man had a temper. Fuck, we all did. It wasn’t like it was anything new.
Anton opened his eyes into slits and looked up at GT. “That’s right, fucker, talk.”
Instead of doing what he was told, Anton’s eyes skirted around the room and landed on me. Terror like no other showed in them as he said, “You’re here.”
The entire club looked at me, and I had no fucking clue what the man was talking about. “What do you…”
GT cut me off. “He’s not breathin’.” GT tossed the man’s body down to the ground.
“We got nothin’ from that shit.”
“That’s not my fault. You wanted reassurance, and that was what I gave you. Plus…” Tommy snapped his fingers, and one of his men brought over a black bag with handles. Tommy unzipped it, showing us cash. “Clean cash. Half now. Half when I get the guns.”
“You’re gonna have to do better,” Cruz demanded. “All the cash for the guns upfront. Then when we deliver the guns, you give us what you’ve got.”
Tommy snapped his fingers once again. “I had a feeling you’d say that.” Another one of his men brought another duffle. Opening it, it was also filled with cash. “A hundred grand here. Clean. You bring me the guns as soon as you can, and I’ll tell you what I know.”
If Tommy didn’t have all these assholes around him protecting him, I’d grab him and beat the shit out of him until he told us what we wanted to know.
“If something happens to my club during that time, it’s on you, Tommy, and I’m not fuckin’ around here,” Cruz said, getting into Tommy’s face. Tommy’s men started to step forward, but Tommy held out his hand, halting them. “A hair gets out of place from anyone in the club or associated with the club, you’ll be responsible, and I won’t give the first fuck that you have information we need. Got me?”
Tommy’s happy-go-lucky demeanor cracked a bit. “I’m gettin’ tired of you threatenin’ me.”
“I’m gettin’ tired of you yankin’ my chain,” Cruz shot back. “Is it a deal?”
Tommy took a few beats longer than was necessary, but then held out his hand to Cruz. “Deal.”
The man must really need these guns to accept a deal like that one. They shook on it, and that was that. Ghost guns. That would be interesting.
Getting back into the SUV, before I had even closed my door, Micah was already asking, “Why the fuck did he say. ‘you’re here?’ You know him or somethin’?”