Chapter 20 Phantom
PHANTOM
My personal life may be in great shape right now, but the business has gone to shit.
Turns out that fucking tweaker Dylan stole a shit-ton in product during the job we did for Elliott.
Savage caught him and recovered almost all of it, and that was the leverage we needed to get him to turn himself in for the break-ins, the rats, everything.
I told him if he didn’t go away for a while, I’d let Viper make sure he went someplace he’d never come back from.
While the situation is under control with Elliott, I’m feeling less sure about my brothers.
“We need to diversify.” I’m in my office at the compound, not able to believe I sound more like a CEO than a fucking club president.
Shadow is pacing the room, while Savage drums his boot so hard against the floor, I can hardly hear myself think. I grunt at him and bark at Shadow to sit the fuck down.
“Look,” Shadow says. “I got no problem moving drugs, collecting debt, running games, but I agree with you. I got an old lady at home now. We need more ways to bring in clean money.”
“Cash businesses.” Savage shrugs. “We got a few, but we need capital to buy into them.”
Shadow looks at me. “You thinking about your old lady? Salons? Nail tech? What?”
I shake my head. The last damn thing I need is to involve Poppy in anything that could be remotely less than legal. I’m not washing money through her shop or doing anything that can come back on her business.
We’ve got to get creative and tighter. I look to Savage. “I want all the prospects gone. Every one of ’em. Anyone who was friends with Dylan or came to us through him, gone.”
Shadow doesn’t look surprised. “Been waiting for you to say it.”
“We’ll need fresh blood,” Savage says. “New recruits.”
“No more kids,” I say. “Not for a while. I want ex-military, guys with records. Anybody willing to work for what they want.”
It goes without saying that they need to be loyal.
I can’t worry that some crackhead kid is going to decide to fuck my ex, steal from my clients, or just not fucking understand the code.
We’re brothers. Closer than family blood.
We’re blood by choice. I’d die for my kids, for Poppy, but if push came to shove, I’d also give my life for any of the men in this room.
There was a time I thought I could say that about every man in this building.
I know better now. And I don’t like learning lessons the hard way.
“Put the word out,” I say.
Shadow gets up and starts pacing again. “We run a couple more jobs for Elliott, a few more games through football season…”
I know what he’s thinking. We can earn start-up capital in a matter of months. What would take a legit business years to create, we can get fully operational in a fraction of the time.
I nod. “Talk to Blade. Find out where we’re flush and where we can scrounge cash fast.” I put Shadow, my VP, on intel and Savage, our Sergeant at Arms, on recruitment. Between the two of them, I’ve got two out of three of my plans in motion. Now, all that’s left is Viper.
I find him in the garage polishing a vintage Corvette.
I walk in and lean against a wall and don’t say anything.
Viper keeps waxing the bumper, but he nods at me. “What do ya need, Prez?”
I walk over, considering how to phrase this. “Looking to expand.”
“Business or membership?” he asks.
“Both,” I confirm. “Looking to you for ideas.”
Of all the guys, Viper is the only one I’d say would shoot first and ask questions later.
“Seems to me we need some housecleaning, with all due respect.” Viper’s polishing cloth slows as he says what could be a confrontational statement.
“That’s why I’m fucking here,” I tell him. “Prospects are gone. All of ’em. No more kids.”
Viper nods.
“We need talent, maturity, and experience.”
Viper nods again. “Where we looking for this talent?”
I say nothing. He knows. The only guys I’d trust are men my brothers trust.
“All right,” he says. “About the work. How dirty we looking?”
He’s asking a question I’m not sure I’m ready to answer. I’ve roughed up assholes who didn’t pay their gambling debts. Shaken down cops for info. Paid off people to talk, paid off people to stay quiet.
“We need clean,” I tell him. “To make the dirty a little less dark.”
In the past, Viper’s brought us what he called opportunities. Contract hits are nothing I’m interested in, but if we can expand and diversify, any short-term source of cash must be on the table.
We don’t have cameras inside the garage, so I tell him explicitly what’s a no-go for me. No trafficking. I don’t abuse women, kids, or animals. No exceptions. No innocent victims.
We run through a list of possibilities. Some, I immediately shoot down.
I’m not running guns. Too much federal scrutiny.
I want to fly as far under the radar as I can.
That means steady money, no flash. If the DEA or any other three-letter acronym gets a hard-on for it, I want to think a little further outside the box.
Viper’s got the darkest past of anyone, except maybe Savage, who’s seen combat abroad. He doesn’t talk about it ever, but he’s stealthy, strong, and knows how to run an operation.
“You got your kids full time and an old lady,” Viper says. But there’s no judgment there. He’s saying it because it’s a fact. “You looking to take on more of a managerial role? Less boots on the ground?”
I chuckle. “Depends on the role and the ground you’re talking about.” It’s important to me that my brothers know that, no matter how much changes—Shadow’s married, I’ve got myself a live-in old lady and my daughters full time—I’m still, first and foremost, a member of the club.
Viper comes around the Vette and meets my eyes. “Change is the only constant,” he jokes. “So, we change.”
That we will. Especially if this club and all the people it loves and supports want to survive.
My phone buzzes with a call. I hold up my phone and leave the garage.
“Yo,” I answer.
“You got a problem.” Ed, as usual, minces no words. “The kid reneged on the plea. His attorney filed a motion with the court to withdraw the plea.”
My blood boils, and I see nothing but red. “Not possible,” I say, refusing to believe it. “He’s been sentenced. This is a done deal.”
“This isn’t the playground, Phantom.” Ed’s sputtering mad. “This is a kid’s life. He signed a sworn statement that he was coerced to enter the plea. Between you and me, I think the prosecutor wants to cut a deal and make him an informant. You taking him back if he gets out?”
I start to say fuck no, but then it occurs to me. There might be use for dear old Dylan after all.
“What’re the odds the plea deal gets withdrawn? What happens then? He gets off scot-free?”
“Not likely,” Ed says. “I don’t know the ins and outs of criminal law. I only handle shit that crosses over into family law, but since you’re involved in Dylan’s case…”
“I know how we got here, Ed. But where the fuck does this go from here?” I demand, my hands shaking. I’m trying to control my temper. To see every possible angle.
“I don’t fuckin’ know, Phantom. He cuts a better deal and becomes an informant. Prosecutor drops the charges. Charges stick, and he rolls the dice and goes to trial. I don’t have a crystal ball. I’m just calling to let you know what I do know.”
I thank Ed and calm down. My mind’s spinning. No matter what happens, I’m going to have both a problem and an opportunity on my hands. My entire life, I’ve been the guy who’s turned shit sandwiches into steak dinners. This is going to be no different.
I call an emergency meeting and let my crew know what I do.
“Let me just take him out,” Viper says. “He’s a pissant problem with a simple solution.” He holds his fingers like a gun, cocks them, then shoots.
“That’s Plan D or even E,” I say. “We’ve got to think smart about this.”
“I say we do nothing,” Shadow says. “Let the system play its cards. We’ll know what hand he’s holding by the time the chips fall.”
I nod. That’s what I’m thinking.
My girls are safe.
Jax, Poppy, we’re all safe.
“I’ll have Ed keep us posted, but we’re going to need someone on the inside and someone on retainer.”
Savage nods. “I got the inside covered.”
Blade shrugs. “We don’t got anybody now, but I’ll talk to Ed. See who he knows in criminal.”
“I want an attorney who’s clean,” I tell them. “Somebody who defends the good guys.”
“Those don’t come cheap to guys like us,” Blade says, rubbing his fingers together to represent big, big money.
I know. Nothing in life is easy, and I sure as hell know nothing is cheap.
“It’s a turning point,” I tell them. “We go big, or we go home.”
No man in this room is a quitter. Every one of us has big dreams and a reason for being here. I have four reasons to go bigger than I ever have before. Working smarter, though, not harder.
I look at the club flag that’s hanging up behind my desk.
History’s about to be made for the club. Under my watch, we’re going to be bigger, dirtier, better, and smarter than ever before. My family depends on it. My entire family. And that’s all the motivation I need.
One month later
“Where are we going for dinner?” Poppy’s talking as she sucks my cock, timing her words between each suck.
“Babe.” I drive my fingers through her hair. “More cock, less talk.”
She laughs and takes me so deep, I tremble down to my toes.
“Fuck,” I hiss and throw my head back so hard I wouldn’t be surprised if I gave myself a concussion. Pleasure shocks my system and nearly takes my breath away.
She hums around my shaft, flicking her tongue and pressing her thick lips along every ridge and vein. “Better?”
I grunt my approval and motion for her to turn over. “The only thing better is me seeing your ass.”
She rolls onto her stomach and lifts her rear end in the air. The kids are in their rooms finishing their homework.