Chapter 39
thirty-nine
COLE
My knees hit the dirt. Errol nodded approvingly, while Teddy’s hand tightened on his gun. The fucker wanted to kill me so badly. Too bad he wasn’t going to get the chance. It started to rain. The kind that drizzled before turning into a downpour.
“We need to get this over with!” Teddy shouted.
“The Lion’s shipments are just sitting here gathering fucking dust. It’s only a matter of time until the cops find them!
” He wasn’t wrong. At any given time, shipments were moving in and out of this very shipyard and not just through Axel.
The deal that had gone wrong the night of the shoot-out had only been a tiny part of it all.
Errol had been sharing far too much with Teddy, clearly, and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on the steel.
Too bad for him, he wasn’t the only person who wanted it.
And just like that, the air came alive with bullets.
Shots took out Teddy, one to each leg. He crumpled in a howl of pain.
Iron Vultures ran for cover, trying to work out where to aim to return fire.
They had no chance. If I knew Agent Sánchez’s methods, he’d have a few snipers placed just right, and wouldn’t be taking any chances.
This would be the biggest illegal arms bust in Maine history.
Errol roared with anger and surprise. He jerked back when a bullet hit him in the side, and ran.
I got up, swiping Teddy’s fallen gun, and ran after him. The rain was really coming down now. Special agents were coming out of their hiding places and going after the Iron Vultures who tried to run.
I focused on Errol. That motherfucker had been planning all of this for years.
Maybe he’d even coveted being Pres when my father was in power.
Why he’d waited so long was obvious. He couldn’t do it on his own.
He’d had to wait until Teddy had started to gain power in the Iron Vultures.
He’d needed a more powerful ally. He’d been scared to make a move alone, with good reason.
Too bad for him, I was going to get him alone now, in the end. No matter what.
I chased him along the twisting lanes between the shipping containers. We both knew the paths, but he wasn’t as fast as he used to be. I let him run, though. I wanted him as far away from the Feds as possible.
Finally, before spilling out into an area between the shipyard and the road, bordered by a mesh fence, I ended the chase.
I tackled him from behind and got his legs. We both went down hard. We rolled around on the wet dirt, and I ended up on top of him, gun pressed under his jaw. He went limp as he realized the position he was in.
“Did you really think you could try to take everything from me, and I’d have no plan B?” I growled at him.
He bared his blood-slicked teeth in a lurid imitation of a grin. “I had no idea you’d be a cop lover, no.”
I just shrugged. “It’s better than being like you. A traitor. You endangered the Hounds and every brother in it.”
“I needed to take the crown from you. You weren’t doing anything with it.
Just treading water, just like your father,” he spat, then laughed.
“When I set him up all those years ago, I never thought that you’d be Pres.
You weren’t supposed to survive that bum deal.
Beatie took your place and died instead.
You’re like a cockroach. You just won’t die. ”
I pressed the gun so hard against the underside of his jaw that his teeth smashed together.
“Shame I can’t say the same about you. This is it for you, Errol. End of the line.”
He chuckled. “If you kill your own patched brother in cold blood, everything about brotherhood you’ve ever lectured us on, means nothing.
You think anyone will look at you the same if you do?
” He turned his head and spat a stream of blood on the ground.
“If you think that smart little rich girl will look at you the same, you’re wrong—” “You don’t know a thing about her, or me, or anything, except for one thing,” I interrupted.
“In that one way, you’re right. I’m not that man my father brought me up to be anymore.
I’m more myself than I’ve ever been, and I have another life to live. ”
I positioned the gun just right. I didn’t have long until the Feds found us, and I needed to finish this.
“I can’t leave loose ends, you understand. Not now, when I have something to lose,” I murmured.
Fear flashed through Errol’s eyes, raw and visceral.
Then I pulled the trigger.
He flopped limply to the ground, and I staggered up.
“Hands up!” a shout came to me through the rain. I complied and turned to see a man wearing an FBI jacket coming toward me. He looked me up and down, peering at my face for a long moment.
“Cole Bailey. In the flesh,” he shouted, getting close enough for me to see him.
I recognized his voice. It was our first time to meet in person.
One day, months ago, I’d been handed an extra phone to collect after visiting hours at my father’s prison, despite my protests about it not belonging to me.
When I’d powered it up, it had rung with Agent Sánchez, introducing himself and taking his first shot at trying to bring down The Lion.
“Agent Sánchez. Finally.”
He turned and looked down at Errol’s body, then turned to my hand, still holding the murder weapon.
“Whose gun is that?”
I looked at it. “Teddy’s.”
Agent Sánchez nodded. “Man, that guy is going away for a long, long time. Not only was he caught holding the bag on this shipment of guns in the containers here, but he even managed to kill someone before he got shot himself. Diabolical, isn’t it?”
Agent Sánchez looked at me knowingly. I nodded slowly.
“Absolutely tragic.”