Chapter Two
“Y ou expect us to take on the whole cartel with an army you want me to believe you have?” Bull asked.
Pat stayed silent. Nothing new was happening here.
They were going around in circles, and he couldn’t deny the fact that Bull was acting right.
No matter how badly they all wanted away from the cartel.
He didn’t want to risk the club, neither did any of the club members want to die for a lost cause.
The cartel was pissed. They knew, because in the last couple of months there had been zero contact from them. No drug or gun runs. They were mobilizing for an attack.
This was why Bull had regular patrols throughout Carnage. Not only were the men patrolling, they were also there with Dylan, the sheriff, to keep an eye on any potential danger.
Everything moving within Carnage was being brought to Bull. Any strange purchases or land grabs were also being run by Bull. They were keeping a close eye on everything. More so than they had ever done before.
The cartel was going to attack, but when and where, none of them knew. They had never entered this level of anger with them. For the first time in a long while, Pat hated Bull and Grant’s father, who first started the association with the cartel.
“Are you serious right now?” William asked.
“With all due respect, you did go into hiding. A guy with an army at his back doesn’t go into hiding,” Grant said. “That’s just simple logic.”
Pat couldn’t argue with him. Ever since Grant had found Aria, he’d been like a different man. Sure, there were moments where Grant and Bull still fought. They were brothers, and that was what they did.
William growled. “I had no choice but to do what I did. The cartel is after me, and I am after them. I will not put my men in any more harm, or any of the people that rely on me.”
Again, it made sense. William was considered one of the scariest men around. He killed without mercy. Only, it would seem even William had a moral compass.
“What happened to not caring about the risks?” Bull asked.
Pat knew William had once told Bull that to take out the cartel for good, he needed to do so no matter the cost. Whoever died, died. It was simple math, either them or him. Bull had a wife, a kid, and also the club to think about.
William sighed. “Fine. When I was younger, I was a fucking hothead, and no, I didn’t give a shit who lived or died. That was then, this is now, and I have an army.”
“And we don’t have a target,” Rip, their Road Captain, said. “It’s good to have an army at your back, but with no target, no clue where to hit, it’s useless.”
“The cartel has been able to keep ahead of the game because their operations have remained quiet,” Bull said.
“They are always changing locations. It’s why the law can’t keep track of them.
One day they’re working out of a stockroom in the center of the city, the next, they’re at an abandoned farm in town. ”
Pat looked to Bull and he frowned. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t take them out.”
All eyes turned toward him.
Pat preferred to keep his opinions to himself. He didn’t like to be vocal at these meets. He liked to listen, to process, and come up with a solid plan that would not get any of them killed. Clearly, he shocked them all by speaking up.
“What?” Bull asked.
“We know several of their locations. Regardless if they are there or not, we know they’re going to attack.
It is a case now of us or them. Why don’t we take out the locations they own?
We’ve dealt with them, Bull. We know some of their locations, not all, and we might not even hit one that is active, but if we take out all the other ones, then they will slowly be pushed into a corner.
Let’s face it, we’re not going to get much backlash from the law, are we?
We take on the cartel, draw them out, reduce their numbers, it will be easier for them to locate. ”
William pointed a finger, bit his lip, and looked a little too excited for Pat’s liking. “You see, this is what I’m fucking talking about. This is a solid plan.”
“It’s not one of your fucking plans,” Rusty said, speaking up. “With your plan we have to consider an imaginary army.”
“It’s not imaginary.”
“Yeah, but you can’t give us numbers or tell us who they are. It’s as good as dead,” Rusty said, shaking his head.
Pat looked toward Bull. His President didn’t look pissed off.
“I like it,” Bull said.
“I know you don’t want to declare war, but we’ve not been called.
We’ve not been negotiated with, and we all know what that means,” Pat said.
“It’s only a matter of time before they take us out.
I don’t know about you guys, but I love Carnage, I like my leather cut, and I enjoy breathing.
I’m not ready to die, and I’m not ready to let this town go either. ”
He couldn’t help but think about Ava. Her pretty smile was too damn precious to allow to die.
The cartel was their enemy. He knew the chances of surviving were pretty slim, but it was better than waiting to be picked off, which is what the cartel could do.
The cartel didn’t have a specific way of dealing with clubs or men they saw as traitors.
One moment they were alive, the next they were dead.
“Fine,” Bull said. He turned toward William. “You better get your army ready. We attack the first place in a week.” With that, Bull was done as he slammed the gavel down.
Pat didn’t get up. He waited for everyone to leave. No one stayed behind, not even Grant. He was pretty sure the other man wanted to gloat or look mightily proud of himself, or something.
The door closed and Bull turned toward him. “You surprised me.”
He shrugged. “We’ve got no choice but to do something.
We both know it is only a matter of time before they attack.
We took out Julio and Miguel. There are no more members of the Vito Crew.
There are going to be repercussions. Our one guy is dead, Hernadez is gone. There is nothing else for us to do.”
Bull nodded.
“I know you’re worried about Maddie and Lindsey.”
“This isn’t just about my wife and kid,” Bull said. “This is about the club, the town. Do you think I’ve not waited for them to call?”
Pat watched as Bull ran a hand down his face, clearly struggling.
“I fucking hate this. I’m no fucking coward and I want done with the cartel. Fuck!” he yelled.
He saw the rage that flowed through Bull. More often than not, he kept his shit together. Maddie had changed him. This shit with the cartel had changed him.
“You know, if my dad was still alive, I’d take my time in killing him,” Bull said. “The biggest mistake that piece of shit ever made was putting us in the path of the cartel.”
Pat couldn’t agree more with him.
“Where do you want to hit first?” Pat asked.
There was no point in dwelling on the shit they couldn’t do. That time had passed. Bull’s dad was dead, the cartel was now the club problem. They had to fix it to solve it.
“We start at the abandoned farm, an hour’s ride from here.”
“What will we do?” Pat asked.
“We’ll burn it to the ground. Everything that has been touched by the cartel, we burn.”
“And what about the town?” Pat asked.
“We keep a close eye on everything. I want to know every little detail that’s going on. The people associated. Everything. By the time we’re done, the cartel will regret threatening me.”
“I’m going to check out the farm,” Pat said, getting to his feet. “I’ll stake it out. Check that everything is running fine, and then we’ll burn it.”
Bull nodded. “Be careful.”
“Always am.”
With that, Pat left the clubhouse. Several of the guys were already finding women and enjoying them.
“Well, hello there, stranger,” Lidia said, sitting perched next to his bike.
He had met Lidia through Aria, who was Grant’s woman. There was nothing going on between him and Lidia. She was nice, refreshing with no filter, and she tended to speak whatever the hell she wanted to.
“I can’t stay and chat. I’ve got stuff to do.”
“Well, for an introduction that didn’t even include a hello, I consider that an improvement.”
He frowned and looked at Lidia.
“You spoke a whole sentence to me. Two, if you include a break between what you said,” Lidia said.
“I talk to you all the time.”
“Actually, you tend to grunt, say hello, and that is all,” Lidia shrugged.
Pat stared at Lidia and she pointed at him. “See, now you’re doing that long stare thing you hope will freak me out, but instead just makes me want to force you to talk more.”
“What do you want?”
Lidia rolled her eyes. “I don’t want anything. You know the garage has been closed the last two days, and you were nowhere to be seen. What about what you promised me with the whole date?”
“I didn’t promise you a date.”
“Ew, no, not that kind of date. We’re supposed to go to a bar, and you’re going to tell me which guys you think are worth my time and which ones are not.” Lidia smiled at him.
He missed Ava’s smile.
So, he and Lidia had become friends. It started a few months ago when her piece-of-shit car had broken down at the side of the road.
Lidia had a bit of a temper, and was about to start hitting her car with a crowbar when he rode past. Only, he stopped, recognized her, and helped her get her car to the garage, where he then fixed it.
According to Lidia, that made them friends.
At first, Rusty had convinced him that Lidia had feelings for him. He was not interested in Lidia in a romantic way, and told her that. What did he get? She laughed in his face and said he was like a brother to her, and she did not think of him in a sexual way, which he was relieved about.