Chapter 13
Shotgun
Damn. Things had gotten totally fucked up, and it was all my fault.
I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.
I’d meant to keep Remington at a distance.
I tried to ignore the insane pull I’d felt towards her, but seeing her with Rafe fucked with my head.
I could still remember the way he was looking at her, like he intended to make her his next conquest; I nearly came unglued and Rafe knew it.
When we stepped out on the porch, he looked completely confused when he said, “You wanna tell me what that was all about?”
“You didn’t do what you were fucking told.”
“That’s a crock of shit, and you know it.” His eyes narrowed as he asked, “You got something going on with Remington or what?”
“You know better than that.”
“Can’t say that I do, especially after the way you freaked out in there.
” Rafe was being overly dramatic, especially when he added, “Hell, the way you were glaring at me, I got the feeling that my life was on the line. I was seriously starting to wonder if I was gonna have to start sleeping with one eye open or some shit like that.”
“Wouldn’t have to worry if you’d just done what you were told.”
“I don’t know. I got the feeling it’s more than that, and if it is, I totally get it. Remington’s a knockout. If I had my eye on her, I wouldn’t want anybody getting in the fucking way.” A smirk crossed his face. “Hell, I’d show my ass just like you did.”
“Didn’t show my ass.”
“Um-hmm. Whatever you say, brother.” He gave me a quick shrug, then changed the subject. “Find out anything on the guy?”
“Yeah. Menace was able to use the picture I sent him and found out the guy’s name—Colby Michaels. After he had a name, he was able to track his phone and check all his records.”
“And?”
I leaned back on the porch’s hand-railing. “Apparently, he was meeting up with his baby momma to return their kids.”
“So, what were they fightin’ about?”
“Motherfucker hadn’t paid his child support in over a year, and the poor girl was struggling to make ends meet while he was partying it up in his new pad downtown.”
“Fucking asshole. Y’all decide to just leave it or what?”
“No, we didn’t leave shit. The Punishers are good as dead.
Each and every one of them.” I thought about the look on the motherfucker’s face when he saw the barrel of my gun pointed at his head.
“Now we just have one less to contend with, and that momma finally has the money she’s been asking for.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s a win for both of us. ”
“Can’t say I disagree.” Rafe nodded his head over to Ada. “You got things covered here?”
“Yeah, we’re good.”
“All right then.” Rafe gave me a pat on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you to it.”
With that, he went down the steps and got on his bike. I stood there on the porch, watching as he pulled through the gate. Even after he was long gone, I was still standing there—trying to prepare myself to face Remington again. I finally pulled it together to go back in, or so I thought.
The second I walked into that kitchen, I knew I’d gone back in too soon.
I was still wound up from my conversation with Rafe.
I couldn’t seem to think straight, and it didn’t help matters that Remington was staring a hole through me.
She was looking for answers I wasn’t prepared to give.
Instead of talking about it, I chose to ignore it altogether and didn’t say a word through dinner.
Apparently, that didn’t sit well with Remington.
As soon as the dishes were cleared, she started in on me with one question after the next.
I’d already told her that I couldn’t discuss club business, but clearly that didn’t matter.
It wasn’t as if I didn’t understand why she wanted to know what was going on with the Michaels guy we’d seen across the street.
Anyone would be curious about how it had all played out, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t talk about that with her.
I could’ve ended the conversation there, but then she came at me with her bullshit about the Punishers finishing her off, and I lost it.
I started thinking about what it would do to me if something happened to her, and the next thing I knew, I was reaching for her, pulling her against my chest as I planted my mouth on hers.
I should’ve pulled back, forced myself to stop, but I simply didn’t have the strength. She felt too fucking good in my arms for me to let go. When her tongue met mine, it sent a shock straight to my cock, making it difficult to restrain my need for her.
I’d never felt anything like it.
With a simple touch, she had me twisted in knots, and I wanted nothing more than to stay right there in her arms. Damn.
When I finally realized what the fuck I was doing, I forced myself to pull back, freeing her from my hold.
As soon as I saw that look in her eyes, I knew I’d fucked up.
I had to get the hell out of there, and fast, so without any delay, I headed outside to do another perimeter check.
I’d only been outside a few minutes when my burner started to ring. I grabbed it out of my pocket, and as soon as I saw that it was Viper, I answered, “Tell me you have some good news.”
“Sorry, brother. Just more of the same.” I could hear the frustration in Viper’s voice. “Menace and Hawk have been at it for days. They’ve been able to locate most of the Punishers, but forging a plan to get forty or more members in one location has been problematic at best.”
“I have no doubt. Have you come up with any possibilities?”
“None that are worth mentioning. I’d say we just take them out one by one and be done with it, but with the cops breathing down our backs, we can’t take any chances.”
“They been around again?”
“Just the same old bullshit. They’ve been driving by the clubhouse and Stilettos every hour on the hour, and even followed Country and Hawk home last night.” Viper growled under his breath. “Fucking harassment if you ask me, but not a fucking thing I can do about it right now.”
“Menace find anything more on Detective Mathews?”
“Word is the motherfucker just got promoted to the lead DEA agent.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Serious as a fucking heart attack,” Viper snarled. “Seems he has everyone fooled.”
“Or everyone in that fucking precinct’s on the take.”
“Maybe. Either way, we need to put an end to this shit before it costs us more than it already has.”
“Give me an hour, and I’ll see what I can come up with.”
“I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”
As soon as I hung up the phone, I started towards the main office.
When the club first took over the storage lot, we remodeled one of the climate-control units into a full office with an added restroom and small sofa.
After the cops came snooping around, I wasn’t ready to let go of McKinney, at least not yet, so I moved him into the office.
Every time I did a perimeter check, I’d be sure to stop by and check on him.
I didn’t have to worry about him running off or doing anything stupid.
Not only did I have him restrained, the guy had nowhere to go—not after he rolled on his crew.
So, he was basically waiting out his days in our makeshift office, praying that I would put an end to his misery.
When I got to the office, I unlocked the door and found McKinney sitting at the end of the sofa with a solemn expression. He never took his eyes off the small TV screen as he asked, “You forget something?”
“Need a word with you.”
“Oh, yeah?” Noting the seriousness in my voice, he turned to look at me. “What about?”
“The Punishers.”
“Figured that much.” He shifted back in his seat as he adjusted his restraint on his foot. “What do you need to know?”
“How to kill ’em.”
“Okay, which ones?”
His shocked eyes never left mine. “All of them.”
“You gotta be shittin’ me, man.” McKinney shook his head with disbelief. “There’s almost twenty members. You have to be crazy to try something like that.”
“Consider us crazy then.” I walked over and leaned back on the desk. “There’s only one way to resolve this shit with them, and that’s ending them once and for all.”
“It’s not gonna be easy to pull that shit off.”
“Maybe not, but with your help...”
I raised my eyebrow and waited for him to finish my thought. As soon as he realized what I was asking, his eyes widened and his voice rose three octaves higher as he asked, “You seriously want me to help you come up with a way to kill off the Punishers?”
“That’s exactly what I want you to do.” He dropped his head in his hands, and for a moment, I thought the man was gonna have a breakdown. Seeing that he was struggling with the concept, I stepped over to him and asked, “Am I wrong, or did they not kill your wife during some fucking raid?”
“They did.”
“Did they or did they not inadvertently kill your son. And not only cost you a kidney, but fifteen years behind bars?”
“Yeah,” he answered, his head still in his hands. “That too.”
“And didn’t you tell me that you wanted to put this life behind you?”
“I did.” He finally looked up at me, and the second I saw the spark of vengeance in his eyes, I knew I had him. “I’ve got one question first.”
“All right.”
“Whatcha gonna do about the runners? You gonna go after them too?” I could hear the concern in his voice as he said, “’Cause they’re not members, they’re just kids, man.
Some twelve or thirteen years old. They’re just out there selling so they can survive.
You and I both know they don’t make much, but what they do puts food on the table. ”
“We’re not in the business of killing kids, brother.”
“Then, I’m good with you killing every last one of them.” He leaned back with a satisfied expression. “They have a meet with the Widow Maker in about a week.”
“Who the fuck is the Widow Maker?”
“He’s in charge of collecting the month’s take. Once he has the dough, he distributes the next month’s goods.”
“Gonna need more than that, Alfonzo,” I pushed. “I need a real name and an address?”