Chapter 26
Creed
There’s this line from a superhero movie that basically says people who are arrogant don’t suspect betrayal, and I’ve seen it in real life plenty of times. People who are conceited, but not paranoid, think they’re too smart to be fooled.
Victor Calder is one of those sorts of men.
He’s not reckless, that much is obvious by how long he’s stayed under the radar.
And he clearly has brains. But getting away with this shit for as long as he has and always being told he’s the smartest person in the room has turned his confidence into arrogance.
One of Stone’s men at the city limits texts the minute five black SUVs cross into Pine Ridge, and I call out the ten-minute mark.
We set it up to make sure Meridian would only have one way of getting to the compound, and it should take around thirteen to fifteen minutes for them to arrive.
Everyone who isn’t already in place moves to their assigned spot and the atmosphere charges with excitement and danger.
When the SUVs arrive at our gate, Marty is waiting there to open it for them, and I watch through the scope of my rifle as each of the SUVs drives right into my trap.
As we planned, Marty leaves the gate open to keep Victor from getting suspicious.
What Meridian doesn’t know is that there are three very solid vehicles, including their stolen SUV, waiting just out of sight in case anyone gets the idea to run.
The men in the SUVs don’t get out right away, but I’m not worried.
I know what they’re seeing. Marty coming toward them from the back and a pair of female silhouettes through one of the front windows of the clubhouse.
It’s surprisingly easy to ‘borrow’ mannequins if you’re willing to look a little strange carrying them out of the store.
The door to one of the SUVs opens and a stocky guy in a suit gets out.
He looks pretty much like a carbon copy of the guy I killed at the motel, and as more men emerge, I see they’re all alike.
Wearing the same black suits and ties like they’re bodyguards or something.
I can see bulges from shoulder holsters on almost everyone, but a few men also have AR-15s.
They look around the parking lot, but Marty distracts them before they can think too much about why no one’s come out to find out who these strangers are.
“Where’s Victor?” Marty demands. “I specifically said I wouldn’t deal with anyone but Victor.”
One of the suited men opens the back door to one of the SUVs and one more man gets out.
He’s tall and solidly built, and the fact that his suit fits him perfectly tells me it’s tailor-made because guys like that don’t buy off the rack.
I can see salt-and-pepper hair, and through my scope, I can also tell he’s had some work done on his face.
It has that shiny, plastic look. Even if I didn’t make a point of knowing what Victor looked like, I would guess this was him just based on how he’s carrying himself and how the men automatically position themselves around him.
“Marty, Marty, Marty.” Victor shakes his head as he turns toward Marty. “I told you I’d be here, didn’t I? And I kept my word.” Victor looks around. “Now, it’s your turn. Where are my girls? Where are the rat bastards who are going to pay for killing my men?”
I wait for Marty to stop at the point I’d marked out for him earlier today, but he steps past it, and for a moment, I think he’s going to blow the whole thing to hell, but then he stops suddenly, like he remembers what I’ll do to him if he fucks up.
When he takes a step backward to get back on his mark, that’s the signal we’ve all been waiting for and the trap closes.
The floodlights Cipher controls from the security office all come on at once, blinding everyone in the center of their glare, and hiding the rest of us in the even deeper shadows.
But spotting some of us is easier than others as soon as I and the other snipers stationed all the way around the perimeter turn on the laser points on our scopes.
Nearly a dozen red dots appear on just as many ties.
In the distance, from outside the gates, trucks and the SUV pull into position to prevent Meridian from running, but any sound they make is drowned out as motorcycles all around the parking lot roar to life.
The men on them aren’t riding because their hands are full of guns, but we know how intimidating the sound can be to men like the ones the Meridian Group employs.
All of this happens in the span of five to ten seconds, long enough for Victor to freeze in his tracks, but too short for him to react to the realization that he’s badly outmanned and outgunned.
I see a Meridian man start to raise his AR-15 a moment before I hear the crack of Marco’s gun. The Meridian man’s head snaps back and he hits the ground just as complete chaos erupts.
I watch through my scope as Meridian’s men scramble for cover, shooting wildly while my men are colder, more calculated in their shots. The snipers follow the instructions I gave them earlier and provide cover as the men on the bikes find places to shelter while half of Victor’s men panic.
Me, I focus on two men unloading their weapons on Crusher and Vandal on the far side of the lot.
I put one shot into the concrete barrier just behind one of the hiding men and he does exactly what I want, instinctively jerking to the right, which leaves him open to my second shot.
It takes him in the temple and he’s dead before the gun falls from his hands.
The second man spins around as his buddy goes down and I make a shot through a narrow opening, hitting him in his side.
When he’s knocked to the side, Crusher makes the kill shot.
With Crusher and Vandal now able to move a little more freely, I scan the lot to see if any other of my men or any Vipers are in danger. Everyone’s holding their own—or, more accurately, kicking Meridian ass—so I turn my attention to the person I most want to take down.
Victor’s hiding pretty well behind the body of one of his men and a now-useless SUV, but with his men being killed and wounded left and right, I don’t think he’s going stay there much longer.
A quick glance at the other vehicles tells me only one is in working order.
All the others have at least two tires shot out, windshields cracked, and three have smoke coming from under their hoods.
I could take out the remaining one, make it impossible for anyone to escape in it, but if I do that, the only hope of escape Victor will have is to make a run for it, and despite everything, I don’t want to shoot this asshole in the back.
If he’s going for the SUV, he’s fair game.
The only way he’s going to get out of this alive is if he surrenders, and for someone like him, that’s unthinkable.
Less than a minute later, he proves me right by making a break for the working SUV.
I track him halfway, debating if I want to put the bullet in his calf or take out his knee, but the second I see the flash of a gun barrel aiming toward Stone, I pull my trigger, one shot right after the other.
The first destroys Victor’s gun hand and he’s still screaming when my second bullet slams into his side just under his ribcage.
He hits the gravel, cursing and shouting.
And just like that, the fight goes out of Meridian.
There’s a scramble as the living men scatter, throwing their weapons to the ground in the hopes that we’re more honorable than they are and won’t shoot unarmed men.
On my orders, Kings and Vipers let the men go.
Some MCs might think it’d be better to just wipe them all out, but Stone and I agreed that anyone who dropped their weapons wouldn’t be killed.
We’d rather have them injured and alive to tell people not to fuck with us.
We aren’t going to murder people for the hell of it, but anyone who comes after us or ours will be dealt with.
As I watch two bleeding men drag Victor into the working SUV, it’s harder than I like to let him go, but I’m a man of my word. He and his thugs didn’t get anywhere near the sisters. If they didn’t learn their lesson, we’ll teach them again, but for right now, everyone I care about is okay.
My night, however, isn’t over. It’s time to see what damage was done and if anyone’s hurt. First, though, I’m going to let Layla and Nova know that it’s over. They’re safe.