Chapter Twenty-One Gambit
Chapter Twenty-One
Gambit
Hovering over her, I keep silent as she talks to her man. We need him to come here. If she tips him off, he can go underground. I grit my teeth as time slows.
“Hey.” She pauses. “What do you mean you were caught? No. No one’s been by here.” Silent tears trail down her face.
I gesture for her to wrap up the phone call.
“Donotcomehere.” Her words jumble together.
Fuck. I snatch the phone away from her, gripping her upper arm tight until she screams.
“Tell him to come home,” I mouth.
She shakes her head.
“I will always choose our child over myself. Wrecker, make sure she’s not harmed.” Amanda squares her shoulders.
“You know what we’ll do to her Wrecker. Are you going to let her face it all alone?” I speak into the phone.
“Can’t say we’ve met, Gambit.” The bastard already knows I’m here. He’s more informed than I anticipated.
“Ah. You’ve heard of me,” I say cheerfully.
“Y- yeah.”
“Then I’ll keep it simple. Give us the information we need, and we’ll let your girl here go. You’ve already etched your name on a tombstone. Don’t take her with you.”
“I can’t.”
Disconnecting, I set the phone onto the couch cushion beside me.
“Ready to see how much you’re loved?” I ask her.
“You’re a monster.”
“Some might agree.” The phone dances around as it rings. I let it go to voicemail twice. I answer on the third go round.
“Ready to play ball, Wrecker?”
“Don’t hurt her, please.”
“So polite. Where was all that consideration when you were selling us out? What happens next rests on your shoulders.”
“Don’t you tell him shit, Wreck,” Amanda screams.
“Alright. Time to take a walk.” Charm yanks her up, forcing her out of the room, half-dragging her as she struggles. Her sickeningly thin frame makes me think this situation has been going on longer than we’d have liked.
“Amanda!” He screams out, voice cracking.
“She’s fine. Just unable to scream. I don’t need to explain to you why we can’t have that.”
“What do you want?”
Your head on a fucking pike.
“Information.”
“I can’t,” he whines.
“And here I thought we’d gotten past this. Sounds like you have nothing to bargain with.”
“Wait.” His panicked scream rushes to me via the earpiece.
I hold my breath knowing he’s at his breaking point.
“Hello?” Wreck calls.
“I’m listening.”
“There has to be a way to compromise.”
I laugh. “Compromise? What purpose would that serve me? You broke your oath to the club. Ain’t no coming back from that. This is about making a path for your family.”
Silence falls. I wait. I’m good at that.
“Tell Amanda I love her.”
Silence comes again.
“Fuck.” I toss the phone onto the couch.
“What happened?” Charm returns.
“He hung up. Shits about to happen rapidly.” I glance behind him. “Where’s Amanda?”
“Gagged her and tied her arms behind her back with some jump rope.”
“I stare at him, stunned by his casual approach.
“She’ll be fine.”
I nod, pulling out my phone and calling Stone.
“Hello?”
“We found a leak. I don’t know how widespread this is.”
“What the fuck is wrong with the L.A. Chapter? It’s always this group being infiltrated.” Stone releases a steady stream of curses that would put a sailor to shame.
“Either you missed a major player during the first cleanse, or they’re using the chaos and constant upheaval to get in and flip good people. Wrecker said they took his kid to make him compliant.”
“Why didn’t he go to leadership?”
“Maybe he did?” I suggest quietly.
“You think Knuckles is dirty?”
“I don’t know. But we don’t have the luxury of assuming things.”
“Twice is two times too many, brother.”
Sighing, Stone clears his throat. “I know. We need to shut it down, but not until after we extract every morsel of knowledge we can. This will never happen again.”
“You want to initiate lockdown?”
“For everyone else, yes. But between us? No. It’s time for the purge.”
“Fuck.” It’s a complete disassembly of a chapter that ends in a pile of smoking rubble and corpses. “Are you sure?”
“I can’t afford to do anything less. So, we need to be thorough as fuck with this investigation and swift.”
No fucking pressure. He’s literally putting the lives of other brothers in my hands. I don’t take that shit lightly.
“What happens to the innocent?”
“They’re fortunate enough to leave with their lives, but not a cut.”
“Even the older members.”
He pauses. “No. If we can prove they're not involved, I’ll let them retire. They earned that shit long before I was in this position.”
Quiet, I weigh out what we’re going to need to pull this off.
“Can I count on you to see this through?”
“The problem isn’t my guts, boss, it’s logistics. We need to know who and what we’re dealing with to counter that force.”
“I’ve already accepted the fact that there will be casualties that don’t deserve that fate. I can’t dwell on that. This needs to happen before the entire organization sinks.”
“What’s the time frame?”
“A week tops.”
Closing my eyes, I rub my eyelids with my fingertips. “What’s the motivation for fast action?’
“Another raid on a local club.”
“Shit.”
“They seem to be escalating their plans.”
“What’s the status with the case of unlawful detainment and excessive force for Rowan?”
“Anna thinks that’s the one keeping them at bay. They won’t come for us unless it’s airtight. On the flipside of the coin, I think it put a bigger target on our back.”
“I got you. I’ll make sure whatever we didn’t find here is destroyed. I need tech to cover our tracks on any cameras the place might have.”
“There shouldn’t be any. It’s one of the agreements for living in a complex. A sweep is never a bad idea, though.”
“I’m initiating the search now. His girl is in on it, too.”
“Of fucking course she is. Get her to the club and watch her. I’m calling an emergency gathering for the L.A. charter. Let ‘em think it has to do with the busts going on up here when they press you.”
“Got it.”
“Alright, I’m gathering a crew, calling in the others, to hit the club in twenty-four hours and leaving.”
“I’ll see you when you get here.”
Disconnecting, I find Charm in the kitchen. He glances up when I walk in.
“What’s the word?”
“We’re going to find everything we can, torch the rest, and bring her to the clubhouse with us. Stone is calling an emergency meeting and heading down.” I want to tell him about the Purge, but it’s not my place. It’s a close-kept secret for a reason.
“Alright. Let’s finish tearing this place apart and set up the protocol. I found some lighter fluid for a grill, Zippo butane, and plenty of cooking oil.”
“I’m equal parts disturbed and impressed.”
“Yeah, I have that effect on people.” Laughing, he runs a hand through his dark blond hair.
“Let’s do it. I want to beat the boss to the club.” I’ll take the living room and office.
“I’ll double back in the bedrooms.”
We go our separate ways, and I dismantle the bookshelf, shaking each one. A sheet of paper falls out. I pocket it and continue the process until a stack lies around me like a literary graveyard.
Scanning the area, I focus on paintings. Taking them down from the wall, I search for slits in the canvas,
Tossing them onto the pile, I move to the oversized mirror above the couch. I nearly drop it. Why the hell is it so heavy? Lying the monstrosity on the couch, I face it away from me and swear. He has so many zip files.”
“What have you gotten yourself into, Andrew?” Removing the knife from my pocket, I cut the netting and gather the rectangular devices.
“Did you find anything?” Charm returns from the main bedroom.
“Yeah,” I hold up the zip files up.
“He’s in this up to his neck, isn’t he?” Charm says absently. “No luck in their bedroom. I’m checking the kids next.”
“They’re clever with their hiding spaces. I found something in a book, and then this was behind the mirror. Whatever we can’t find in the next fifteen minutes, we need to write off. I’ll get the burning points set up. Where were the flammable goods?”
“I set them on the kitchen counter.” He gestures to the room behind us with his thumb.
“On it.” Moving into the kitchen, I find a Tupperware to store evidence in. Then I layer paper towel rolls in oil and butane, placing them around the kitchen, woven into the books on the floor, and the couch.
When he returns with paperwork, I know it’s time to go.
“Let’s turn on the gas. I found a string we can light. It’s been soaking this entire time.” He pulls out a pitcher with brown twine.
“Seems like your name should’ve been rocket or some shit to do with explosives.”
He laughs. “My dad was into that prepper shit. Too much Rambo and fucked up head from his youth and time in the war.” He shrugs.
It’s the first time I heard him talk about Mouth since he was exposed as a traitor and taken out.
The man’s really healed. His old lady, Xia, was involved in it.
I’m sure. My mind drifts to the woman waiting for me back at the club.
What would it be like to have her at my back?
If she hadn’t burned the bridge between us, we could be balancing each other out.
She’s hiding things. If our time together has shown me anything, it’s that our parting was shrouded in secrecy and shadows.
It’s shifting the way I viewed her all this time. It’s a dangerous path to be on.
“Set the fuse, get the girl, and let’s go.”
“I can do that. The real question is, how do you plan on getting her on the bike?”
“Let me have a talk with her.” I make my way into the bedroom, where she’s propped up on the bed.
“Amanada, I think you’re a smart woman who loves her family. If you want the chance to ever see them again, you won’t test me. If you become a liability, it means you become worth more to me deceased.”
Her eyes dilate, becoming pools of black with a small, colorful ring around them.
“For this reason, I want you to do exactly as I say. I’m going to untie you, and you’re going to walk out of this apartment of your own free will, or you won’t leave at all.”
She gasps.
“Know I don’t bluff. You make your decision about what happens next?”
She nods her head. I walk over and grab the back of the bandana around her mouth. “What you do next is going to determine how we move forward. For your sake, I suggest you choose wisely.” Removing the bandana, I reveal a strip of silver duct tape. I rip it off, and she cries out.
Blinking, she waits for instructions. There’s a fire burning in the depths of her eyes, but I don’t think she’s reckless.
“Stand up and turn around.” I untie the complicated knots; Charm must be a sailor or something.
“Let’s walk to the living room, silently.” I squeezed her neck in warning. Trailing behind her, I watch her body language.
“Ready to go?” Charm asks from his spot beside the door.
“Yeah.”
“You go down first. I’ll give you a five-minute head start.”
“What are you doing to do?”
Charm grins. “Set the fires and run like hell.” Crazy kid.
“It’s a shame about your house. You really shouldn’t have left the gas on.” I click my tongue. “Let’s go.” Keeping a hand on the small of her back, I guide her down the stairs, avoiding the elevator I know most prefer.
We get to my bike in the parking lot, and I gesture for her to climb on.
“No.” Shaking her head, she wraps her arms around her waist.
“Amanda. Get on the bike.”
Trembling, she throws a leg over the back of my baby. I cringe. I’m particular about who I let ride bitch. She wouldn’t have even been allowed to breathe on it.
Wrapping her arms around my waist, she sits as far away from me as possible.
“If you try anything stupid, I’m going to forget my mama raised a gentleman.”
“This is you nice?” Her voice rises an octave.
“I can promise you that you don’t want to find out.”
Slouching behind me, I feel the fight leave her body.
I’m less worried about her trying to bail out the back as I pull out of the parking lot.
We’re heading down the street when the first explosion hits.
Glass shatters, and car alarms go off. I glance over my shoulder, watching flames flicker outside as the oxygen feeds the fire.
The shrill fire alarm screams from inside the building.
Another deafening boom rocks the building.
Whatever we haven’t found will be destroyed by the time the cops sift through it.
One of the first things I learned in KOC was how to destroy evidence and cover my tracks.
Trouble only comes if you’re caught and they can prove you did what they’re accusing you of, which is why we’ve always moved as if eyes are constantly on us.
It only takes one slip-up to bring an entire organization crashing to the ground.
Once Narcs infiltrated the Angels in the nineties, we knew our time under the radar was over.
People often referred to it as the end of the golden era.
It didn’t stop me from finding a place to belong and a purpose.
Judge was winding down his rule and on his way to retiring when I showed up and went nomad.
I’ll never understand what he saw in me, but he took me under his wing.
A few years in, it was clear I’d be his heir. Judge taught me everything I know. His death was like losing my father all over again.