Chapter 17 #2
He went to where Mera was manacled and gagged her. She tried to fight him off, but there was no way to do it. The silence was blissful. I got back to our other captive.
“Is there anything else that you can tell us? Have you heard talk between the Jacquots about this club, other than we supposedly stole a woman meant for JB?” Cobra asked.
“They were pissed that a deal they set up for you guys went wrong. They were talking about how it couldn’t happen again.
They want the businesses you control and the area you control.
They’ve been lying low since they weren’t sure if you suspected them.
The consensus ended up being, you were all… ” his voice faded.
“We’re all what?” Howler asked.
He grimaced before he continued. “That you were all too stupid to see it coming or to know that they hated your guts. They’ve been waiting for the opportunity to double-cross you since they went into business with you. Or I should say, Jean-Baptiste has. He hates you, Tyrant, for some reason.”
“And where were you to take Lakelyn after you got her? Were you to do a check-in? Or was Mera supposed to check in with them?” Brutus fired off before I had a chance.
“I don’t know if that one was, but we were told not to call or return until we had the other woman. We were to let them know when we had her, and we’d be told where to take her.” Rémi paused. I let his silence stretch out. I saw he was struggling. Finally, he continued.
“I might have an idea where they would order us to take her. It’s a location they’ve used in the past more than a few times, and it would be close to here. I can give you the address, but do you swear you’ll care for my family?” The worry was evident in his tone.
“Give me their names and addresses. I’ll get everything on them and start setting up some protection,” Crypto said.
He was there and ready to do any kind of digging we needed.
Rémi quickly provided our tech with all the information he required.
When that was over, he gave us the address of the spot he thought would be the meeting place for Lakelyn’s handoff.
The entire time he did, Mera was making these angry sounds around her gag and pounding her feet on the floor.
“Is there anything else you can tell us? Or that you want us to do?” I asked.
“I want you to swear that you’ll wipe those fuckers off the face of the earth.
They’re poison, and my family isn’t the only one in danger.
There are so many who would give anything to escape their clutches.
With the Jacquots gone, they have a chance to change themselves.
I regret ever meeting them. And if you would, tell my mom, nieces, and sister that I love them so much, and I’m sorry it ended the way it did. ”
“Do they know they were used to control you?” Wrangler asked.
“They do. My sister wanted to go after them herself. If she didn’t have her two daughters to worry about, she would’ve.”
The more he said, the more I hated to kill him. But if we didn’t, what kind of signal did that send? And how would Lakelyn react? Shit, sometimes I hated being the president. And this softening had never entered my mind before. It was all her fault. She’d brought my buried emotions to the surface.
“When you worked for them, did you transport slaves for them? Or kill innocent people?” I asked.
“No, I had nothing to do with that evil shit. I was lucky they didn’t put me on that detail.
I’ve harmed people who shouldn’t have been along with those as bad as the Jacquots.
I’ve killed, but as far as I know, no one truly innocent was killed by me.
Those people tended to comply after a little pressure was applied.
God, I don’t want to think about it. Just get this over with. Kill me,” he said despondently.
My inner gut was screaming that he wasn’t lying to me. And in the scheme of things, how different was he from us? Goddamn it, I was about to do something I never did before. I waved my guys back from Rémi. We huddled together.
“What’s on your mind, Pres?” Cobra asked.
“You’re gonna tell me I’m crazy, and hell no, but he’s telling the truth. I have this need, which makes no sense, but my instinct is saying to do it…” I let my words die away.
“You don’t want to kill him,” Howler bluntly stated when I didn’t. I hesitantly nodded and waited for the outcry.
“I hate the thought, too. He’s not much different from us. And if someone did to me what the Jacquots did to him, and I had no club behind me, I’d do whatever I had to do to protect my family,” Brutus added.
The others mumbled in agreement. I looked at my VP. “What do you think? I want everyone’s opinion. It’s not my decision alone. Am I crazy?”
He sighed. “If you are, I am right there in the padded cell with you. However, if we do that, how do we make sure we made the right decision?”
“We make him come with us when we take care of those bastards. We’ll observe him.
See how he acts. Does he try to turn on us or run?
You know what to look for. We’ll tell him we don’t want to kill him yet, in case we need him again.
Then, when it’s done, we decide his fate,” I explained.
The idea came to me as I said it. It would be an audition of sorts.
There were nods and more murmurs, but there was no dissension. I asked to be sure. “If you disagree, tell us. We won’t hold it against you.” I waited several moments before instructing them, “Everyone for this, raise your hand.”
I scanned the circle. Every hand was raised.
It seemed we were going to give this a try.
God help him and us if he tries to betray us.
I’d always been able to rely on my ability to spot liars.
The Jacquots had fooled me. Could my talent be wearing out?
I hoped not. I wouldn’t know what to do without it guiding me.
Breaking up our huddle, I went back to Rémi. He looked confused. “What’s wrong? I gave you everything you asked for. I’d like to get this over with.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. We might need you more, so we’ll have to postpone granting that. We need to know if you’ll help us bring them down?”
His posture straightened, and I saw a spark in his gaze. “Do you mean it? If you do, I’ll gladly assist you in killing those fuckers and the ones who work with them out of greed and desire, not because they’re forced to. Believe me, I know which ones are which.”
“We’ll try to spare those who didn’t want to work for them if we can, but no promises. In the heat of things, if they draw down on us, they’ll die,” I warned him.
“I get it, and I’d love to assist. Tell me what you need me to do.”
“First, we need you to make the call in a little while, telling them you have Lakelyn. After that, we’ll make our move. Until then, we have plans to make. We need to have an idea of their numbers. We have reinforcements on the way as we speak. I can’t leave the compound or my old lady unprotected.”
“I’m ready when you are,” Rémi said.
I prayed silently that I wasn’t making the mistake of a lifetime. Now that I had found Lakelyn, it would be fucked up to get myself and the club killed. I had plans for her and me that would last many years if we were lucky.