Chapter 9
Hodge
I’m aggravated with all this shit. I don’t like him.
Christopher Powell. He’s such a waste of fucking space.
He’s a schemer. Not that we aren’t, but he’s worse, and he uses women to get what he wants.
Most of his money is made from whoring women out disguised as a high-priced escort service.
None of those women are in their right minds.
They’re so reliant on drugs, they do whatever he says just to get another hit.
It’s pathetic, but we have other business with him.
“Are you going to take your hand off him?” he asks me as I smirk over at him.
“Not yet.”
“This isn’t your concern,” he reminds me as my dad, Griz, chuckles.
“You made that his business,” he tells Powell.
“He’s beat the shit out of my guy, Griz!”
“No shit. And if your guy doesn’t keep his hands off that girl, he’s gonna do it all over again.
” That’s his only warning. I saw this piece of shit punch a woman two times smaller than him in the face, and it worked my last nerve, so yeah, I beat his ass.
Now he’s in front of me, one of my hands around his throat, the other balled up and ready to swing once more.
“Fine! He won’t touch her. You have my word,” Powell says.
My dad glances over and nods his head at me.
I smirk and swing, punching the asshole in the face once more, effectively knocking his ass out this time before I release him and let his ass drop to the floor.
Powell isn’t happy, that much I can see, but I also don’t give a shit.
“Can we get on with this meeting now?” he asks, sounding annoyed by everything that’s happening.
“As long as your fuckers know where we stand,” I remind him. He gives me a quick nod before I move to take my seat on the couch as my dad and Locke sit in the chairs in front of his desk.
“Fine. Let’s get to it then,” my dad states.
“You’ve provided security for most of my dealings. I’d like to keep that going, but this time it’s going to be a little different,” he says, causing me to shift in my seat. I don’t like the sound of this.
“How different?”
“Instead of cash, you’ll be moving women.”
“No. Fuck that!” I yell, standing from my seat.
“Sit the fuck down, Hodge!” My dad growls. I look at him before sitting back on the couch, as he turns his attention back to Powell. “Movin’ women is dangerous.”
“No shit. That’s why I want you to do it. You’re good at your jobs.”
“We also don’t deal in human traffickin’, Powell. You know that.”
“I do know that. But this isn’t trafficking, Griz. These are my girls I’m relocating.”
“And a van wouldn’t do the trick?” Locke asks him, sounding annoyed by all of this.
“And if we get stopped, what should I tell them? We’re on a women’s retreat?” Powell snaps back at him.
“So don’t move them all at once,” I add.
“Smaller loads don’t make any sense. I need them moved, and I need it done quickly and discretely. Is this something you can handle, or do I need to contact someone else?” My dad looks over at Locke, but he just shrugs.
“These girls? They’re all willin’ to go?” My dad asks.
“They’ve all signed contracts. I can show you copies of them, and you can feel free to verify with each girl,” he replies, pulling a file from his desk. My dad nods at me, and I stand, walking over and grabbing the file. I flip through the pages and see that they’re all signed.
“They’re signed. I’ll contact them,” I say, looking at Powell.
“As I said, they all agreed to this. I just don’t want to draw any suspicion from the police.”
“Sounds fuckin’ shady to me,” I add.
“It doesn’t matter how it sounds to you, Hodge. It’s a business deal.”
“Fine. Give us a few days to verify they all agree. If it all comes back clean, we’ll do it.
If any of those girls say you’re forcin’ them, that’s your ass, Powell,” My dad warns him.
The asshole nods his head as Locke and my dad stand, and I follow them out of the room just as the little shit I punched starts to wake up.
He lifts his head, and I kick him in the face on my way out the door.
I can hear Powell cursing as I slam the door behind me and follow the other two out.
“You have to piss him off every time you come?” My dad asks over his shoulder as we leave the office building.
“Yeah. It’s how I get my cock hard,” I laugh.
“You’re gonna lose us a lot of business like this, Hodge.”
“And? We have plenty of other shit to do. Powell ain’t shit and we both know it,” I remind him.
I’m not wrong. He isn’t shit. We could take his money or leave it.
The only reason we take it is because he pays way more than any other assholes out there.
He’s willing to cough up the cash to keep us around.
He likes to threaten us with someone else, but no one else runs this area the way we do.
“He might not be important, but that money will come in handy,” Locke adds.
“Yeah, it will. You get onto callin’ those girls, Hodge, and see what you come up with. If any of them sound hesitant, we call this shit off. I’m all about makin’ some money but not when it’s against their will.”
“I got it.”
“This motherfucker is on my last nerve,” my dad mumbles.
“You don’t like Powell?”
“There’s just somethin’ off with that bastard. I don’t know what it is, but I can feel it,” he adds. I nod my head, agreeing with him. There is something about him that I don’t like either, and it isn’t just the girls.
“I heard that. If we ever figure it out, we can take his ass down, yeah?” I say.
“Fuck yeah. If we ever figure it out. So far, that motherfucker has been clean as fuck. It sort of pisses me off, too,” he chuckles.
“You’re not lyin’. We can all see somethin’ else is goin’ on, but good fuckin’ luck figurin’ that shit out,” Locke says.
“What are we doin’ tonight?” I ask as I pull out a cigarette and light it up. I offer the guys one, and they each take it, doing the same.
“Not much. The girls are out shoppin’ for Christmas shit,” my dad grumbles.
“More shit? Like we don’t have a fuckin’ clubhouse full of shit already,” I groan.
“You should see the fuckin’ house. Kiki has made it her life mission to fill that motherfucker as full as she can with any decorations she can find,” Locke reports. I shake my head as my dad laughs.
“She’s always loved the holidays.”
“Every fuckin’ one of them.”
“She still does, Prez. Trust me,” he adds.
“Let them have their fun. The kids will enjoy it, and we’ll have a fuckin’ party for the adults. Booze and bitches always seem to make you assholes happy,” Dad says with a laugh.