Chapter 16 Want in on This #2
“I do not see good things with this shit,” Blood muttered.
“Yeah,” Turk agreed.
“Why do you say that?” Cal asked.
Turk locked eyes with Cal. “We aren’t on good terms with the Devil Lancers right now—”
“Not that we ever were,” Yak muttered.
Turk ignored him. “But I asked a couple of old friends from when I ran sports betting if they remembered what happened between Frank and Putt from the Devil Lancers. Back then, the Devil Lancers weren’t well organized—”
“Not that they ever were,” Yak muttered.
Cal bit out, “Yak.”
“Sorry.”
Turk continued, “Yeah, anyway, their old president Heathen didn’t want the entire club to go after Frank. The way he saw it, any brother who borrowed from someone like Frank deserved what he got.”
“What an asshole,” Blood muttered.
“Once Putt realized his payments weren’t being logged, he convinced four of his brothers to go with him to rough up Frank.”
Volt nodded. “I assume that didn’t go well.”
Turk shook his head. “No, but that could have been tactical. They rolled up on Frank when he was leaving one of his vape shops. Frank brought out a gun, and the two employees inside the shop heard the commotion and came out the back - also carrying guns.”
“Weren’t the Devil Lancers armed?” Volt asked.
Turk’s lips quirked to the side. “Apparently not.”
Punc made eye contact with Turk. “I’m not nearly as stupid as those assholes.”
Turk lifted his chin. “No, you’re not, but one of my friends says since then Frank started carrying two weapons with him, and it’s rare that he collects money without one of his minions accompanying him.”
Volt shifted in his seat. “What are you really telling us here, Turk?”
“It’s going to be difficult to get the drop on him. And even if we do, it’s likely to get very bloody.”
Patch cleared his throat. “There’s no chance he’ll clear the debt since it was her momma’s?”
“Not a chance,” Turk said.
Punc added, “Savannah said he doesn’t care. From the very brief phone conversation I had with him yesterday, he liked that she owed him the money now. Had no idea Beth had another daughter in her twenties.”
Cal let out an angry sigh. “That asshole needs a fuckin’ lesson.”
Blood leaned into his forearms on the table. “Do we know anything else about his business?”
Turk nodded. “He has three vape shops that do double duty as fronts, and he deals drugs off of 103rd Street, west of Old Middleburg Road.”
“That’s probably how Savannah’s dad knows him, he lives in that general area.”
Volt tapped the table with his finger. “You mentioned finding merchandise. Where is it?”
“It’s still at Savannah’s. We moved it out of the garage, but I’d rather get it out of the house. If the cops are looking for it, then it could incriminate Savannah.”
Blood nodded. “You’re right. When we’re done here, Cal and I can move the boxes to the storage facility. Pretty sure there’s an empty unit we can use.”
“Thanks, man,” Punc said.
“Can any of it be resold?” Volt asked.
Punc shook his head. “Not for much money. The bags and cups are blatant knockoffs. My guess is the dolls are, too, and those probably have the least value.”
Patch sat next to Volt with an iPad in front of him. He swiped at the screen. “We can’t afford to pay her loan, and after hearing about this asshole, I wouldn’t want to.”
“Right. I don’t want the club to do that either, even if that’s what I told Volt initially. Hearing more from Turk, I’ve changed my mind on that. I’d rather beat the shit out of this asshole and force him to move on.”
Blood stroked his fingers along the sides of his goatee. “I miss the days when we killed assholes like this for far less.”
Punc couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Then why don’t we?”
A wry smile twisted Blood’s lips. “I doubt your woman will be down with that. Besides, the cops are paying close attention to us after Ava’s attack and Prime posting bail, which is going to increase when Prime fails to appear.”
Yak looked at Turk. “This guy ever go to parties or shit? Surely, he hangs somewhere.”
Turk shook his head. “I don’t keep this asshole’s social calendar, man.”
Yak nodded patiently. “I get that. What I’m saying is a few of us hit up the same party as this asshole, we find a way to get him arrested.”
Cal frowned. “Assuming that’s successful, if it were me, I’d post bail, get out, demand my payments and increase the vig.”
Punc was reminded of Tundra’s words the last time he was in this room. How are we at an impasse with this?
“I don’t want to sound impatient, but am I on my own with this? I’m claiming Savannah and I’ll be damned if she hands over another dollar to this fucker. And nothing is happening to her sister because of it.”
“We’re with you,” Volt said, then turned to Turk. “Do you know where he lives?”
“No, but he’s known for hitting a bar out at the beach every Friday.”
Volt turned his head a fraction. “Does he own it?”
Turk shook his head. “No.”
Yak sat up straighter. “If he collects his cash in person, why not have Savannah lure him inside?”
Anger pounded through Punc’s veins. “She is not bait.”
Blood smiled. “You’re right, but I like this idea. We take him from her place, we’d be in position to ambush him and it’s not as public as a bar.”
Punc took a deep breath, but his voice still sounded tight with anger. “Catalina can’t be there.”
“Of course not,” Blood said.
After a beat, Punc said, “The last two payments, he collected first thing in the morning.”
“Good,” Cal said.
“I’d rather not wait until the end of the month,” Punc said.
Turk locked eyes with Punc. “Have her call him and offer an extra payment.”
“Still puts him in control,” Cal said.
Punc felt a hint of relief as a thought hit him. “Her dad’s tied up in this. He told Frank about an insurance payout. She could tell Frank that Doug’s threatening to take the cash from her.”
Blood nodded. “I’d buy that.”
“She have any neighbors?” Cal asked.
“One, since her house is on the corner. He’s a cool guy.”
Yak shot Punc some side-eye. “Cool enough for at least one truck in his driveway at o’dark-thirty?”
Punc nodded. “Yeah. And if not, I’ll talk him into it.”
Turk looked down the table to Volt. “If we do this at her place, where are we taking him? Someone was staking out our property in Callahan. Have we checked if it’s clear now?”
Volt arched a brow. “It is. That car hasn’t been seen in the area in weeks, so taking him to the woods is an option, if we plan to kill him. That’s a critical part of the plan that isn’t decided.”
On the one hand, Punc didn’t want to kill Frank, but on the other hand, he’d rest easier knowing the asshole was out of the way permanently.
Turk ran a hand through his dark hair. “There is something else we could consider, but we’d have to trust bringing a group of country boys into this plan.”
“Why would we do that?” Blood asked.
Turk twisted a hand up. “Their sister was in a similar situation - though Frank got her hooked on drugs, then loaned her money. When her brothers wanted to get her out of that situation, they approached me about Frank, thought I might know shit about him. I didn’t, but talked to some of my regular bettors.
I wasn’t able to help them much, but they saw my cut, and asked if the Riot might help them deal with Frank.
This was back when Teach was still around, and he wasn’t interested.
Other shit was swirling around the club.
Anyway, to my knowledge, they still haven’t gotten her free of Frank. ”
Patch cleared his throat. “Are you able to get in touch with one of them?”
Turk dipped his chin. “I still got a number for them. Whether or not they’ll be interested is another story.”
“I want to sit in on that conversation, Turk. It’s risky bringing in outsiders, but with a shared enemy this might work.”
Cal looked from Volt to Punc. “Have her call him Sunday evening. See if he’ll come Monday morning. That will give you time to talk to the neighbor about having one of our trucks in his driveway.”
Punc dipped his chin. “And if Darren wants to come Sunday night?”
Cal shrugged a shoulder. “Tundra, Me, Volt, and Razor are at the clubhouse all weekend. We can swing by half an hour before she calls him. Gives us time to go over the plan with her, and if he says he’s showing in the morning, we leave and come back then.”
“I’m at the clubhouse all weekend, too,” Blood chimed in. “Abby’s working a night shift Sunday, so I’ll be down to kick this bastard’s ass.”
Turk swung his gaze to Punc. “Play that part by ear. He wants a night meet, Yak can head over from Platinum’s, too.”
Yak stared at Turk. “You don’t want in on this?”
Turk glanced up at the ceiling for a beat. “I don’t trust my restraint. I know more about how Frankie D. got to where he is. He’s the epitome of low-down and dirty.”
“And you don’t want in on this?” Yak asked again.
A muscle ticked in Turk’s jaw. “I want to know Suzy’s done freaking out every time I stroll up behind her. If by some fucked-up stroke of luck, Ghost gets out of jail, I damn sure want to be on the outside so I can protect her.”
Yak held a hand up at Turk. “Okay, simmer down, man. Believe me, I get it.”
Volt shifted in his seat. “Do we know how many people work with him on the loan shit? I’d guess one of his lackeys will call the cops or somebody when he goes radio silent.”
“When I call Roy, I can ask if they know.”
Volt tapped the table. “That works. It sounds like we have a loose plan. Text me after she calls Frank. We’ll go from there.”
Savannah
Punc sauntered away and Nora wandered to me. She was petite and had a stylish purple scarf wrapped around her head. Her brown eyes warmed when she smiled at me. “Come meet Suzy. I promise we don’t bite.”
“I might,” Abby said from behind Nora.
From the other side of the room, Suzy called out, “You always say that.”
Abby shot Suzy a grin. “And it always breaks the ice.” She strolled past me and went around the bar. “Wine, beer, or something else?”
“I’m having beer,” Suzy called out.