8. Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
“Just how are we going to get in to talk to Vinny Benoit?” Remy asked as we shot pool at the clubhouse. “I don’t see the warden opening up his doors for us. Opening up a cell maybe, but not any doors.”
I’d had to extract Ebony from my hip just so I could shoot my fucking shot. She was goddamn annoying at times. It was fine when I needed a release, but right now was not one of those times.
There were several things I liked to do to help me think when I had a dilemma. One was getting out on the water, and the other was playing pool, which was why Remy and I were at the clubhouse this evening.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” I said. “Three ball in the corner pocket.”
“And what did you come up with?” Remy asked, smiling when Stone cussed because the ball limped into the hole.
Remy and I had been playing against Stone and Brick for the best two out of three games. This was game number two, and a $600 pot was at stake. The game was tied one to one.
“Six in the side,” I called out my shot again. “Don’t we have a club lawyer now?” I hit the ball and watched as it flew across the table and slammed into the side hole.
Remy smiled. “Damn, did she accept?”
I shrugged. “Eight ball corner pocket. She ain’t got a choice in the matter. Her boy wants to do business in our territory; she comes with our deal.”
I smiled and clapped my brother’s back when the eight-ball tipped into the corner pocket.
“Son of a bitch!” Brick yelled as I threw my head back and laughed.
“You would be right. Our mama is a bitch. Now, Remy, get our money,” I chuckled and shook my head as my phone rang.
I looked at my screen because it had been a while since I’d seen this number pop up.
“Motherfucker! Ace, what’s up?” I answered, grinning from ear to ear. “Not now, Ebony. Back the fuck off,” I growled in her face.
It had to be at least a year since I talked to him. He’d put me on to the finance company that helped with LeBlanc Gator Tours and even invested a small bit into it. I’d asked him to come on as a silent partner, but he refused, saying the money he gave was a donation and he’d just write it off on his taxes.
Rich motherfucker problems.
I listened intently as he greeted me, but then told me the real reason why he was calling.
“Is she alright?” I asked him as he gave me the rundown of his wife’s cousin almost being snatched off the street in my city. She got away, but Jevry, his wife, wouldn’t give him any peace until her cousin, Lyra, and two of their friends were under the Sinners’ protection.
“Alright. I’ve got a few things I need to handle first, but I can stash her at the farm, and the other two can stay here at the club. I’m sure Loki won’t mind putting them up until the end of their trip.”
Remy sidled up next to me. His eyes were intense as he tried to figure out what I was discussing. I put up my finger for him to give me a minute.
“Sure Ace. Don’t worry. She’ll be safe with us. Where are they staying?” I asked. “Text it to me and a picture so I’ll know who I’m looking for. You think Jevry can give her a call to let her know so they won’t think we’re trying to kidnap them.” I chuckled, but I was serious.
Even though the Sinners didn’t engage in flesh trafficking, some factions and organizations did. Hell, I’d just met with the next leader of an organization that prided itself on the business.
“I’ll call you when it’s done,” I told Ace, then hung up.
“What the hell was that about?” Remy asked, falling into step beside me as I headed to Loki’s office to let him know what was happening.
“That was Ace from the Oakland Chapter,” I answered.
“I haven’t heard that name in a while. What the fuck did he want?” Remy asked, stopping in front of Loki’s office door.
“Said his wife’s cousin almost got snatched off the street today. His wife is hysterical, and she won’t let him off the hook until her cousin and friends are under our protection.”
“That’s fucked up. So, what do you want me to do?” Remy asked, shaking his head.
“Since we won’t be able to see Vinny until morning, he can wait. I’ll call the lawyer when I get Lyra Demery and her friends settled. We also need to find out when the Greeks landed in New Orleans without us knowing. Call Wires and tell him to meet us at our place,” I instructed. “Take one of the SUVs.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll wait for you outside,” Remy said, then marched back the way we came.
Remy didn’t hang out at the clubhouse. He came in only when called or I was here. I watched him as he pulled out his phone to call Wires.
I knocked on Loki’s door and pushed it open. It would take some convincing on my part, but I thought he would agree to help another brother out. I also needed to update him on what I’d planned with Vinny—kill two birds with one stone kind of thing.
I settled my ass in front of his desk to give him the lowdown.
“Give it to me,” Loki said, leaning back into his desk chair.
“There’re a few things. I got a call from Ace. His wife has a cousin here who was almost snatched today off the streets. He wants us to take them until their trip ends and they return home. I told him it shouldn’t be a problem to help him out, but I wanted to run it by you anyway,” I informed, crossing my leg over the other.
Loki nodded his agreement, so I continued with the Vinny situation.
“We’ve learned from our mother’s boyfriend that he contacted the Greek Mafia through his cousin. That cousin is locked up.”
“Fuck! How the hell did this guy get in contact with the Greeks? You need to talk to him,” Loki stated, and I nodded.
“We have a new lawyer at our disposal who can go talk to clients,” I reminded him, the smirk on my face morphing into a grin. “Once she talks to him, we’ll go from there, but the Greeks got here under our noses and I don’t like it. I’ll get wires looking into it.”
“Sounds good,” Loki answered, turning his attention to one of the many documents on his desk.
I was officially dismissed. I rose from my chair and left the office to join Remy.
“Wires on his way?” I asked my brother as I approached our bikes parked outside the clubhouse.
“Yeah. Loki good?”
I nodded. The text from Ace came through while I was in with Loki. Although the hotel was just a few streets over from the clubhouse, it was on the other side of town from our gator farm. It would be dark soon, and I didn’t want to try to navigate the packed streets of the Quarter with someone riding bitch.
It wasn’t common practice for me to have someone on the back of my bike, and it rankled me. I’d always thought the woman who had that privilege would be my Old Lady, not some random chick off the street no matter how fine she was. And Lyra was definitely fine.
“You okay over there?” Remy asked as he headed for the truck he borrowed from Brick.
Remy saw everything. He was always fucking watching. It annoyed the hell out of me that he could read me like a goddamn book. I shut down my thoughts before he could start asking questions.
“Yeah, it’s just that I’ve seen those women before that Ace sent over.” I pulled out my phone and showed Remy the pictures.
Remy whistled. “Sexy as fuck. Especially that one.” He pointed to one of the other women in the picture, not the one who ran into my bike that day, but my brother was right; they were all beautiful.
I stuffed my phone inside the pocket of my cut. “We need another person with us. Just in case some shit goes down,” I said belatedly, then marched back inside while Remy got in the truck and started it, my clue to hurry the fuck up.
I scanned the place for Brick or Stone.
Stone was lowering Ebony down on his dick, so I knew he was out of the question. Ebony had good pussy, and there was no way he was going to slip out of her to go with us, and honestly, I didn’t blame him. But that right there was why she’d never be more than a club whore, here for everyone.
So, that just left Brick.
My gaze slid past the other couples engaged in various acts of sex to the bar. Brick sat there chatting up one of the new girls who’d just come two weeks ago. We took in all kinds of women of all backgrounds. Some had nowhere else to go or were leaving bad situations, needing a place to get back on their feet. And others just wanted to know what it was like to be around danger. The Sinners had taken in the rich and the not so rich. It didn’t matter. We didn’t leave women out on the streets if we had room for them to stay at the clubhouse. Which was why there was no hesitation about the Lyra situation.
“Aye yo, Brick! I need a rider!” I yelled over the music and the din of moans, groans, and chatter that had suddenly become really loud in the clubhouse.
He leaned over and whispered something in the girl’s ear, slid off the stool, and then made his way over to me.
“What’s up?”
“We got a situation. A brother from the Oakland Chapter called and asked me to take in a few girls. Need another rider to go with me and Wolf,” I informed him. “You in?”
Brick shrugged. “I wondered why Wolf wanted my truck. Sure, I’ll come with. I wasn’t getting anywhere with that one anyway.” He thumbed over his shoulder toward the girl.
Brick followed me to my bike. He hopped into the truck with Remy.
“Let’s go. I don’t want to waste any more time getting them to safety.”
We had enough to worry about with our missing guns and the fucking Greek Mafia. And now we had to make sure that these women were safe. The mafia would have to wait a little while. I revved my bike and hightailed it away from the clubhouse toward the hotel, with Remy and Brick close behind me.