CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
-:- TwoCents -:-
Pais and I had a good sit down and talk last night after coming home from Club Whisky. It had turned four in the morning by the time we went to sleep.
I think we have an understanding now about the fact I was angry because I was worried. Even in the compound, you never know what could happen, and it only takes a moment for someone to be snatched.
Arranging times that Pais can go to the range where she can fire her weapons as much as she likes isn’t going to be an issue. Winter will make sure that there is a vacant lane whenever Pais wants to go. I’ve arranged an afternoon where Mia and Pais can go together, as they seem to have a nice friendship and it’s nice to see Mia more upbeat, more her old self.
We all saw that Axel was getting worried about Mia, and it was all a misunderstanding, as far as I could tell. Meat took up for Mia, which didn’t surprise me because he sees her as a sister. I kept quiet, but if she had needed me, I would have stepped up. Mia is one of the sweetest women you can know, and she would do anything for any of us. With that in mind, we all need to remember that and make sure we repay her in kind.
“TwoCents, Forest has left a message with Axel that Aaron is in town. He’ll update us this evening, unless he thinks we need to know something earlier.” Specs takes me by surprise as he enters my office.
“Okay. I hope he found out something that can help find this Irvin asshole. If we need to take him out, then so be it. It won’t be a loss to the world.”
“It’s odd how I can’t find things about Irvin, even on the dark web. There is hardly any mention of him. I’m thinking of going over to the Sheriff’s department and listening to what this Aaron geezer has to say. If I go, do you want to come over with?”
I give Specs a grin. “Of course, I’ll come with you. You didn’t need to ask. Anything to do with Pais and what’s going on I want in on.”
“I’m looking for Pais, as well. Where is your wife, do you know?”
“Of course, I know where my wife is. She’s in our room. Why are you looking for her?”
“I have her credit card. Mensa said he’s done with it and as I was going to the kitchen, would I give it to her in passing.”
“What the fuck was Mensa doing with her credit card? No! Don’t tell me! She’s bought a fucking trike. Damn the woman.”
“Technically, TwoCents, you’re wrong. She’s bought a bike and arranged for it to be converted to a trike. You brothers with Ol’ Ladies never cease to amaze me. They all have trackers and you still don’t know what they’re up to. Tut, tut.” Specs drops the credit card in my lap and wanders out, laughing his head off. I bet he knows a damn sight more about what our women get up to than we do, sitting in front of his cameras all damn day.
Storming out of my office, I stamp my way to our room. Seeing Pais coming out of the bathroom, I wave her credit card at her.
“Oh, thanks. Did Mensa say how much my baby was going to cost me?”
“Baby?” That threw me right off the scent. “What baby?”
“My trike, well, bike first, then trike. I’m so excited. You’re going to love her.”
“What the fuck do you mean you purchased a trike?” I ask, because we were going to do this together. Well, I wanted to do it as a surprise, truth be told.
“Well, I was looking at them on the laptop with Mia in the playroom, and to me it was all about what color I liked. That’s when Mia said you don’t buy a bike, trike or any vehicle because you like the color and she said speak to Mensa, so I did.”
“You spoke to Mensa about buying a trike and he helped you?” I’m astounded because I would have asked Mensa if he had anything he’d got his eye on, knowing full well that he doesn’t miss a bargain.
“Well, yes. He showed me a few bikes that he said were worth looking at for conversion and narrowed it down to one, and I bought it. The brothers at Hot Hogs will do all the work.”
“Fuck me, what the…” cursing under my breath. I have to take a deep calming breath because Pais has done what I would have done, but she should have done it through me or with me. “If you need to buy anything else, you do it with me, not one of the brothers.”
“Okay, no need to get your panties in a twist.” Pais gives me a frown and a look I’ve not seen before, but walks away before I say anything else to her.
Stomping back to my office, I think to myself, damn, she’s gotten herself a trike. Well, I’m the one that’ll be teaching her how to ride it and I’ll smack her ass if she gets anyone else to do it.
Drag walks in, smirking, and I know he’s busting a gut to say something.
“Well, seems your wifey has gotten herself a nice trike.”
“She sure has. Now what can I do for you, apart from you being a smug asshole.”
“Axel needs you in the office. It seems we are going to Nell’s place for a meeting.” Drag shrugs his shoulders and walks out, leaving me watching his retreat.
Picking up my phone from the desk, I slide it into my kutte pocket, then head to Axel’s office. We all know not to keep him waiting because he’s an impatient bastard.
“Come on, TwoCents, we are going to Nell’s.” Buzz slaps my shoulder as he leaves Axel’s office. Buzz, Drag and I are right behind Axel, but I see Wings and BS are smirking as we pass.
Glancing around the common room, I grit my teeth as the Three Stooges, Jo, Heather, Kya, Mia and Paisley, are all watching us leave, but all have smug looks on their faces.
I can see this trike is going to cause me problems, but the Ol’ Ladies are all in on this together, so maybe we all are going to have problems.
Arriving at Nell’s, I slide my hog next to Drag’s and look up as the front door opens. Nell is standing with her fucking shotgun over her forearm, looking as cool as you like, but not one of us is fooled by this picture.
Brain bucket on my seat, I follow Axel into the house and through to the kitchen where it seems Nell is most comfortable. I have to say it is a great kitchen, and it’s more than a little welcoming.
Graham, Richie and Tank are sitting at the long kitchen table, drinking mugs of coffee, munching on cookies and cupcakes.
“Take a seat. Can I get you a drink of anything?” Nell asks, as she walks into the kitchen after hanging her shotgun in the hallway near the front door.
“I’ll have a coffee. Thanks Nell.” I give her an enormous smile when she places the mug of coffee in front of me, and I do my best to remain calm, although she has a pissed aura about her.
“Okay, Nell. What’s going on, and what do you need?” Axel asks, as always, not beating around the bush.
“I’ve gotten myself a damn dinner date. Yeah, you heard, a full-on restaurant meal out with none other than Vitale.”
Oh shit, Nell looks at me and gives me the nastiest of looks. I swallow my coffee and nearly choke as I do because I have a feeling I’m in deep shit at the moment.
Buzz chuckles, gaining the attention of Nell, which suits me fine because I’d rather she be scowling at him than me.
“You think this is funny, Buzz?” Nell asks.
Axel coughs as he swallows his coffee, Drag looks at the table, Graham, Tank and Richie are all smirking like fools, and I’m keeping quiet.
“Well, you gotta admit, Nell, that Vincenzo has been chasing you for a long time. Maybe it’s time you let him catch you.”
Now, Buzz has more guts than me because I would never have said that to her, and my eyes flick to Nell to see her response, but when a knife flies across and pins Buzz’s shirt sleeve to the table I stop breathing for a moment. Buzz, however, pulls the knife out, gives it a looking at, then spins it, handing it back to Nell handle first.
“Nice knife, Nell,” Buzz drawls.
“Stop, both of you. I don’t need us becoming enemies, Nell. We asked for your help, you gave it. You knew the consequences of speaking with Vitale. We owe you and we know it. But don’t be threatening the brothers.” Axel is giving Nell one of the hardest looks I’ve ever seen on his face. I think it’s noted too because Graham, Tank and Richie all sit a little straighter and look more alert.
“Get a grip, Axel. I don’t do threats. If I was going to stick Buzz, I’d have done it. Not his shirt sleeve.”
“Nell, don’t take this the wrong way, but if you need something special, dress-wise for the date, I’ll cover the cost.” I look at Nell, hoping I’ve diverted the attention from Pres, who looks like he’s about to storm out.
All eyes turn to me and I get the distinct feeling I could have made things worse. Graham, Tank and Ritchie all look at me as though I’ve grown a second head. Then they all burst out laughing.
Graham shakes his head at me and states, “You want to keep comments like that to yourself, TwoCents. Nell has dresses and outfits in her wardrobe that would empty your bank account. I’d bet she has a purse in there that you couldn’t afford to buy.”
“When it’s time to collect from you, TwoCents, it will not be financial, believe me. It will be much more personal than that.” The grin that Nell gives me has my blood freezing in my veins.
“Can we move on now? What have you got for us, Nell? You said you had information.” Axel has relaxed a little and is back in ‘business mode.’
“Axel, Vitale has news on Irvin. As yet, he hasn’t found a location for him, but his information is that the DeSantos Cartel want to move in and take over some of the Mafia business concerns. They think they have the ‘human resources’, and financials to be able to do it. Now, Vitale has leaked information to confirm this and has brought in some of the best mafia muscle in the country to counter any attempt. He also discovered that it is definitely Irvin that has the hots for Paisley. Apparently, she has evidence of him at one of the Senator’s parties with a bag of cash changing hands between them.”
I remember going through the photos and the only bag of cash was with the Senator and an FBI agent. I don’t recall any other mention of a bag of cash. Telling Pres of this, he calls Specs and tells him to reference any photos of Irvin with the photo I’ve seen. Moments later, Specs confirms that there are minor differences, but it is Irvin posing as an FBI agent.
“Apparently he wants the evidence and then to sell Paisley as his revenge. There is an overseas buyer waiting to collect.” Nell looks at me as she says this, “I’m sorry, TwoCents, but it looks like he has taken payment and Paisley is in real danger of disappearing for good, if we are not one hundred percent on the ball.”
Pres is on the phone in seconds and tells Specs to up security on Pais, telling him to tell her why, so she takes it seriously.
Back at the clubhouse, the tension has ramped up. Now we know a genuine threat toward Paisley is in place. We need to keep her close at all times. She’s not going to like this. I’m positive of that.
“TwoCents, I’ve some information. Do you want to come to Axel’s office with me? I know you are getting ready to go to Club Whisky soon, but I didn’t want you hearing this secondhand,” Target says before walking away and toward Axel’s office.
Stepping into Axel’s office, I’m not surprised to see Wings, Drag, Buzz and BS all sitting around. Target gives everyone a chin lift and I fold my arms over my chest and stand near the door to hear what’s going on.
“Pres, I heard from one of my street contacts. She said that her man has seen someone he didn’t like the look of. So, keeping his woman safe, he followed him, and guess what? Yeah, he saw him try to grab Paisley.
“Now, he didn’t know what to do with the information, so he kept it to himself, but when I spoke to Rosie, that’s my contact, she gave me a buzz. It seems our man is staying at the empty property on Galloway Street. It will be easy to pick him up Pres. We just wait until it’s dark and take the van. Stitch has something to knock the fucker out fast, so he doesn’t attract unwanted attention.” Target is looking excited about all of this, but then when I think about it none of us have had anything covert going on for quite a while.
“Okay, Target, arrange some surveillance and tomorrow night we’ll grab the fucker. I’m gonna need to speak with Nell about keeping someone in her cells who will eventually be gator food.” Axel has that feral grin on his face, and I roll my eyes because honestly, you’d think we wait for this sort of shit to happen.
“I’m going to be going so don’t anyone think that I’m not,” I snap before walking out of the office, and think maybe it would be an idea to speak with Meat so we get some fun in first for once.
Forest has contacted us and said to head to the department. It seems I’ll have to have someone else run Club Whisky tonight because to me, this is far more important.
Arriving at the Sheriff”s Department with Specs, I see Forest and Aaron in his office. He waves us in and points to a couple of seats in front of his desk.
“Aaron has some information on Irvin that I think you need to hear. It raises our concerns for Pais’s safety.” Forest gives Aaron a nod to tell us what he knows, but I jump in first.
“Let me guess. Irvin has been working with or impersonating an FBI agent. Oh, and you believe he is the one trying to get Pais. Am I right?” Looking between Forest and Aaron, I let my anger get the better of me, and speak quietly and coldly to Aaron.
“You piece of shit! How long have you known this? You could have told us this ages ago. If anything happens to my wife, I’ll come looking for you, because we could have been better prepared by now with that knowledge. I suppose you know he’s in town, too? And has been for some time by the looks of things. Sorry, Forest. I don’t think much of the friends you keep outside of the club.”
“I’m sorry, Forest. I told you I shouldn’t be giving out the information that I have so far. My job and maybe my life is on the line if anyone finds out I passed on what I have. We go back a long way and that’s why I’m here. You guys know as much as I do, although I didn’t know Irvin was in town. Had I known that, I would have told you. This thing goes way higher than my pay grade. I know that much. Whoever is next higher in the chain than me has it buttoned up tight. We have rumors and hearsay, but nothing that anyone is willing to testify to.”
Aaron looks as guilty as hell, but I can’t tell if it’s genuine remorse or guilt that he’s been caught out.
We have to get Irvin and get the information regarding the buyer, because he’s obviously a threat to Paisley, too.