Chapter 15 #2
“Looks like he’s got two men at the Riverdale location and three at the other.” He paused for a moment, then added, “So far I’m up to six at the house, but like I said, I don’t have a clear view on the inside of the house.”
“Everleigh said he had fifteen on the payroll. A couple of those might be nothing more than field hands, but we gotta assume they’re packing.”
As I sat there listening to the way Viper and his brother discussed DeLuca and the possible ways we could infiltrate his property, I became more and more confident that these men could handle just about anything.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. I was their fucking cleaner.
I’d seen first-hand the kind of brutality they could dish out, and I had no doubt that they would give Antonio exactly what he deserved.
In fact, I was looking forward to it.
Viper ran his hand over his thick beard as he considered their best move, then said, “As far as we know, Antonio isn’t aware of Billy’s connection to us. He won’t be expecting us to come there with him. We’ll use that to our advantage.”
“Okay, how do you want to play it?”
“We’ll keep it simple. Divide and conquer.
” Viper took one final look at the files Menace had given him, then continued, “We’ll hit the two warehouses first, take out the guards and search the grounds for Kiersten.
If we don’t find any sign of her or DeLuca, then we’ll move on to his house in Belle Meade. ”
“Sounds good.” Hawk sounded ready for battle when he said, “Just tell me when and where, and I’ll make it happen.”
“You, Shotgun, and Billy take Widow and Davies to the warehouse on Riverdale. Remember, there are two guards, and the office is upstairs. If Kiersten is there, that’s where she’ll be.”
Hawk nodded, and then, Viper turned his attention to Country. “You, Rafe, and Lynch will take a couple of prospects with you over to the warehouse on Malcolm. Axel and I will be close with Menace in case anything goes wrong.”
“When are we going to head over?”
“Under different circumstances, I’d say wait until dark, but we don’t have that kind of time on our hands.”
“You sure about that, Prez?” Axel asked with concern. “Going in broad daylight like this is gonna put us in all kinds of jeopardy. Kiersten, too.”
“I’m fully aware, but it’s a risk we’re gonna have to take. Besides, going now will give us the element of surprise we’re gonna need to pull this shit off.”
“Prez is right,” Menace interjected. “This guy has the means and the resolve to put a real hurtin’ on us.”
“Yeah, we don’t need to fuck around with this asshole,” Hawk added. “Catching him off-guard might be the only way we get Kiersten back.”
“Then, it’s settled.” Viper stood as he ordered, “Get your gear and meet out front within the hour.”
With that, the guys got up and started to disperse.
It wasn’t surprising that none of them had much to say to me, not even Country—a man I considered to be family.
I tried not to let it get to me, but it was tough.
I’d made the decisions I’d made because I thought they were the right decisions to make, and if I had a chance to go back and do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a damn thing.
I didn’t have much time on my hands, so I decided to use what little I had to check in on Everleigh.
When I got to the family room, she was sitting on the sofa talking with Viper’s ol’ lady and her daughter.
I stood there for several moments just watching as they bantered back and forth.
It wasn’t long before she noticed me standing in the doorway and rushed over to me.
She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly as she whispered, “Oh, Billy. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
“I’m so sorry this is happening.”
“Stop. It’s going to be okay.” I kissed her on the temple as I told her, “We’re going to get Kiersten back, and then....”
Before I could finish my thought, Everleigh took a step back, breaking our embrace, then asked, “How are you going to get her back? What are you going to do?”
“That’s not for you to worry about.”
“You’re going there, aren’t you?” When I didn’t respond, she shook her head and cried, “You can’t do that, Billy. It’s too dangerous! Antonio will...”
“He has my daughter.”
“But...”
“There’s no other choice.”
Tears trickled down her cheek as she muttered, “I can’t tell you how much I hate this.”
“I hate it, too, but I have to do this. I have to bring my daughter home.”
Everleigh nodded, then wrapped her arms around me once again. “Just promise me that you will come back to me.”
I wasn’t going to make a promise I couldn’t keep, so I gave her a tight squeeze and said, “I’ve gotta go.”
I leaned down and gave her a quick kiss, then turned and started down the hall, leaving her standing there in the doorway with tears streaming down her face. As much as I hated to leave her like that, I needed to go find the others and see if they needed help with anything.
I’d barely stepped outside when I heard Shotgun call out to me, “Hey, Billy! You got a vest on?”
“Nah, I don’t have one.”
“Didn’t figure you did.” He walked over and handed me the one in his hand, then waited as I slipped it on. Once I had it secured, he asked, “What about a weapon?”
“I got my Glock in the truck.”
“You’ll need to get it.” He handed me an extra clip along with another handgun. “And take these, too.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
“No problem.” He reached up and gave me a quick pat on the shoulder. “You ready for this?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Good. Now, let’s go get our girl back.”
I gave him a quick nod, then followed as he headed over to join the others. After a quick review of the plan, everyone started to load up into their designated SUVs. I was with Hawk and Shotgun, so I got in the back and waited until the others were ready to roll out.