Chapter 49
Jackal
Once the car stopped moving, I looked over and patted Falcon, who drove us over. “You good, brother?”
“Yeah, shit. Fucking rain. You guys good?” he called to the back.
Eagle said, “We’re good. Let’s fucking go!”
Rooster, Red, Eagle, and Hawk jumped from the back as we flew from the front. We hustled down the small embankment and I ran to the first body I saw and kicked him in the ribs over and over before he could get up.
Eagle pulled the man’s helmet off and it wasn’t Butch, so he shot him point blank in the head. As our guys kept the others down, Eagle exposed each of them, taking them out until he finally pulled the helmet off Butch, and he rolled on his back.
“Well, fucking do it, then. Or you still too big for your britches, you little bitch?”
Eagle pistol whipped him, then kicked his side.
“You don’t get off that easy, brother,” Hawk said, leaning down. “No, we’re going for a little ride.”
“We need to clear this,” Eagle said.
“They’re on the way with the truck and the trailer,” I said. I had already told Squatch to get on that when we left the venue.
“We need a fucking ride,” Falcon said.
“Pretty sure Petrov’s guys will make room for us,” Hawk said. He pulled out his phone and sent a text. Not long after, he read an incoming one and grinned. “I think we’re about to get assaulted.”
Looking around, my chest tightened, and I ran up the hill. Lifting her from her feet, I grabbed Shivana and spun her. Her hands patted my head, shoulders, and arms as I squeezed and breathed her in.
“Are you hurt? Are you shot? Are you able to speak? Jackal!”
“I love you,” I said. We still had so much to do but holding her melted my tension so fast that my muscles tingled.
She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and dug her face into my neck. “I love you, you stubborn man.”
“Ha! Hello pot, meet kettle.”
After the cleanup crew came and we towed the limo to the clubhouse, we hitched a ride with the SUVs that Petrov had following him and the ladies. After an extensive checkup from Shivana, she wanted to shower and check on the others.
Coop held it down at the venue until we gave him the all clear, and they got that all cleaned up, too. We still had business with Butch.
A few members watched him in the shed until we got changed out of our penguin suits that Shivana said we now owned because there was no way we could return them after they had been in a gunfight.
Walking through the clubhouse, I headed to the ladies’ favorite table, since Petrov was with them and seemed very chummy.
They all laughed at something he said as I approached. He looked up and saw me. “Jackal, my friend. Your doctor has quite the sense of humor. Smart, funny, and beautiful.”
“My woman, not my doctor.”
“Oh, stop. He knows, I’ve told him, you told him. He’s just a slick talker,” Shivana said.
“And he said he can arrange a new wedding for us!” Lacy said.
“Did he?” I asked. Hawk’s not going to like that, and Eagle even less.
“This poor, beautiful bride had her day ruined. It’s the least I can do for some of my oldest friends,” Petrov said. So that’s how he won over Shivana, because she hated him yesterday. But she loved Lacy more than she hated him. And I doubted Angie would be welcoming us back.
“Maybe someday he can help with ours,” Shivana said as she looked up from her seat.
I leaned down, cupping her face and kissed her hard. “I’m holding you to that, Lil Bird.” After another deep kiss, I straightened back up. “I got something I need to check on, but you ladies hang out.”
They all nodded, probably knowing what was happening, but they knew better than to acknowledge it.
Petrov stood, buttoning his suit coat. “Ladies, I think I’ll join him. But please enjoy the bottle.” Looking down, they were drinking vodka. “A little wedding gift,” he said.
Hawk told us to be welcoming to him, so I couldn’t smash the bottle over his head. I also couldn’t tell him to wait with the ladies while we did big boy things. But if Hawk didn’t want him there, he’d tell him.
We headed down the hall that led to the back and I pushed the door open. The rain had finally stopped, but it still smelled like a summer storm outside, and the air was thick.
“I thought it was humid back home,” Petrov said as we headed across the courtyard.
“You can wait inside if you like. The shed isn’t air conditioned.”
“You don’t like me, do you?” he asked smugly.
“I like you just fine. We’re just different.” I didn’t really like him, but I didn’t hate him. I barely knew this kid. I knew his father, and I’d seen his father work. He’d get his hands dirty. From what I knew of junior, he was soft.
We kept walking until we got to the shed. The members that were waiting outside nodded as I knocked. “It’s me, Prez. And Petrov.”
Eagle opened the door, and we walked in. He and Falcon had changed, but Hawk was still in his wedding clothes. The jacket was missing, the sleeves of his dress shirt were still rolled up, and he donned the black pants and dress shoes. His shirt had a hole where he’d been hit, but we had vests on, so it didn’t penetrate. I guess he got out of Shivana’s checkup, but since he was hit and in a car wreck, she’d need to check him out once we were done.
Butch’s face was beaten almost beyond recognition. Hawk’s fist was bleeding and swollen, blood splattered across the white dress shirt. He sat in a chair across from where Butch was tied to another chair. His dark hair was a mess.
Hawk looked back as the door closed. “Petrov, welcome.”
Petrov walked closer, pulling his suit coat off and laying it on the table we kept some of our “tools” on. He looked over the selection and then pulled something from his coat.
He stepped in front of Butch, the small metal item in his hand. “I’m glad we were able to meet again. My father wanted me to give you something.” He held up the small item and a little flame shot out. “You remember I mentioned a few times that my sister was an excellent baker. I watched her make crème br?lée a few times. Delicious dish,” he said wistfully.
He leaned down closer. “You see, it’s this decadent custard. You sprinkle sugar over it, then take this fun little torch and caramelize it for this amazing, sweet crust on top.” He got closer, holding the torch near his face. “But the key is knowing just how long to torch it before you ruin it.”
Butch grunted and squirmed as the flame hit his cheek.
Petrov stopped briefly. “I must say, I’m slightly disappointed, but Hawk asked me, man to man, to not kill you. But when you deceived Raven, you deceived my father. And that’s just a poor choice.” He lit the torch again, this time less dramatically putting the blue and orange flame on his neck.
“But he did not say I cannot torture you.”
After twenty minutes of Petrov scorching Butch’s skin and filling the shed with a smell even worse than blood and urine, he finally grabbed his coat. “Gentleman, I believe I will leave you to your work. But I’ll see you inside.”
He still wasn’t my favorite person, but I thought a lot more of him after watching him barbeque Butch.
“So,” Hawk said. “Who are you working with?”
Butch spit blood at Hawk. Hawk didn’t flinch, but he did wipe his face.
“I doubt you orchestrated all of this. Let’s be honest, you were more useful for brawn than brains.”
“Yeah, doing all your dad’s dirty work and being treated like a pet by your whore mom.”
Hawk flew at him, taking both of them down, chair and all.
We watched as he nailed him over and over.
“Prez,” Eagle said.
Hawk stopped, climbing off of him.He was breathing heavy and popped the buttons off his shirt as he ripped it open, pulling it off and wiping his face and hands with it. His vest revealed where he’d been hit. “Pull him up,” he said.
I righted the chair with Butch in it, taking a swing for myself while I had the chance. I wanted to kill him, right then, with my bare hands. “You ungrateful sack of shit,” I said before spitting in his face.
His head rolled around, so I checked his pulse. He was still alive, just knocked out.
We had one of the guys outside grab us a bucket of water. Once we got it, we doused Butch, and it was enough to rouse him.
Hawk sat across from him again. “So, you don’t want to tell us who you’re working with. But why? I need to know. You know Ma loved you, and Pops treated you like a son. You were my brother.” Hawk patted his chest.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. That was until he promoted you to VP after he promised me.”
“Pops never told you that. It’s always been me. He’d been prepping me since I patched in,” Hawk said.
Butch grunted. “He told me I’d be at the head of the table.”
Eagle chimed in, “You crazy fucker, he told everyone, openly, that Hawk was next in line.”
“He told me to take out Viper, and I did it. He said my spot would be waiting. But then he gave it to you,” Butch said as he stared at Hawk through the one eye not swollen shut.
“You expect me to believe Pops put a hit on his own VP and didn’t tell me?” Hawk asked.
“He was in some fucked up shit. Raven didn’t like it. He didn’t think he needed to put it to everyone. So I did it. No questions asked.”
“But Viper was taken out by a minivan,” Falcon said.
“Yeah, because I couldn’t be caught doing it, now could I?” Butch huffed. “I did let him know we were onto him, though. But he didn’t care. He said DEMC would be left behind if we didn’t get with the times. So, before I had him taken out, I followed up on his dealings.”
“And now you’re dealing with those people, is that it?” Hawk asked.
“Hey, when I learned what loyalty meant to Raven, I decided mine wasn’t as solid as he thought.”
Eagle asked, “Why the fuck did you try to take Lacy then? She had nothing to do with this.”
Butch shrugged. “I figured you idiots would have enough sense to make me VP when Raven was taken out. But it was you. You don’t deserve Lacy anymore than you deserve to be VP.”
Eagle punched him in the gut, sending Butch wheezing.“Never speak her name again!’
“Who is it?” Hawk asked.
Butch cracked a bloody grin. “I’m not telling you shit. You act like I’ve not been in this room before. I don’t care. I’ll die knowing I took out Raven and everything that happened from that ripple effect. Plus, you’ll never be able to take them down. They’re outside of your paygrade.”
“You didn’t shoot Pops, anymore than you took out Viper. You’re nothing but a little bitch,” Hawk said.
I stepped closer. “You’re a disgrace to the title Enforcer. And once we’re done, you will have never existed.”
Butch grunted. “I’m already dead. Your little speech can’t hurt me.”
“Oh, you don’t care what I do to you?” Hawk said as he stood up and walked to the table. He came back with a small axe in his hand. “You ready to meet your destiny? But first, I promised someone something.”
Hawk walked to the door, poking his head out. My jaw ticked as I watched Cindy walk in. She looked over Hawk but he waved her off. She stopped, standing tall even though she didn’t clear any of our shoulders.
Butch chuckled. “Hey Ma.”
Cindy didn’t react. Instead, she walked around him, staring at him from behind. She stepped closer, pulling something from her pocket. With a swift move, he grunted as she shoved a small knife into his back. Her jaw was tight as she pushed hard. He grumbled as she pulled it out, then walked back around him, holding the bloody blade up. “You stabbed me in the back, and now we’re even.”