19. The Deal
THE DEAL
BISHOP
The sound of Blue’s sobs is something that will haunt me for the rest of my life. The pain in her voice and her tears broke my heart. Losing a loved one will never be easy. But when my baby declared that Chauncey was dead, well, that’s the simplest conclusion she could’ve ever come to.
Brick and I had a little chat while deciding how to approach Carol Anne’s house.
He told me that the cartel had no plans to hit our clubhouse, and he was positive that they didn’t.
The Hellhounds weren’t on the cartel’s radar at all.
That statement raised questions, but now wasn’t the time to ask them.
Brick also told me why he didn’t respond to my messages.
The cartel was tightening up, and Brick couldn’t risk getting caught sending messages, so he kept his phone off.
Agent Parson was right about the cartel being in town to do business, though.
Brick said that the loan shark business was a way for them to scout the criminal activity here and make moves dealing in sex trafficking.
The ATF was involved because the Vasquez family has been moving assault rifles along with women across the border. The guns were secondary to their human trafficking, which is fucked up.
Chauncey’s deal with the cartel was for Blue. He never intended for Carol Anne to be able to repay the loan because Blue was supposed to be the payment. That motherfucker was planning on trafficking Blue to the Vasquez cartel.
However, the deal with Chauncey was dead, so Brick was shocked when Chauncey showed up to meet with Dez after getting out of jail.
Chauncey wanted Blue out of the way for good.
He insisted the cartel could make a lot of money selling her.
Dez didn’t like the way things were going down, so he sent him away.
Brick used following Chauncey as an excuse to get out of Dez’s watchful eye and contact me.
He didn’t get the chance to tell me about Chauncey’s deal earlier because when he arrived at Carol Anne’s house, it was chaos.
He only had time to stop Delores from going into the house when he sent me the code.
The whole situation is a clusterfuck. But that perverted motherfucker, Chauncey, has cost Blue her only living parent, tried to traffic her, and caused Blue to be on the cartel’s radar.
That bastard will pay for all of his bullshit.
I hope he said goodbye to his loved ones because he ain’t ever gonna see them again.
“How you wanna handle this, V.P.?” Green questions after Brick and I finish talking.
“You heard my Old Lady. Chauncey is a dead motherfucker. And anybody that ain’t us is dead, you feel me?” I answer. “We walk from here. Brick, take Delores…”
“No. I’m coming,” Brick says resolutely.
I frown because there are too many risks for him. Being here with us could blow his cover. We’re not about to hold back, and he doesn’t need to be caught helping us in any way.
“The cartel will kill you. It’s too dangerous,” I reply.
Brick shrugs, “Dangerous is my middle name.”
I roll my eyes. “No, the fuck it ain’t.”
“Listen, I’m here to help. It won’t look suspicious because I was already here. Stop worrying so much.” Brick sighs like he’s the one who’s annoyed.
“You are my little brother and my responsibility. Don’t tell me not to worry.” I give my brother a pointed look.
I’ve been taking care of the little shit since he was born. The fact that he has the audacity to tell me not to worry is insane. He knows better shit than that.
“Don’t little brother me. I’m a grown-ass man, and a capable one at that,” Brick argues.
“Well, your grown-ass better do as I say when we get in this fucking house. I swear to fucking God. Between you and Blue, I’m gonna have a head full of gray hairs.”
“That ship has sailed already,” Brick mumbles.
I narrow my eyes at him, shaking my head. I don’t care how grown either of us are; he will always be my baby brother. I’ve always been his protector, and I always will be. I thought he knew that by now.
“Wait, did you say brother? As in blood-related?” Blue questions, her eyes roaming over Brick and me.
“Yeah. I’ll tell you that story at another time.” I kiss her on the lips, and she nods.
I take a few minutes to strategize with the small group, then call Rock to let him know the plan.
Black nearly lost his shit when he heard about Carol Anne.
He wasn’t at the clubhouse tonight, so he wasn’t there when everything went down.
Black wanted us to wait for him to get here, but we need to move before Chauncey and the other men left.
I’m sure he’s still on his way, but we move toward Carol Anne’s house as soon as I hang up with Rock.
Mix reluctantly took Delores home after I had to pull rank on his ass. Seeing Delores’s prim and proper ass on the back of Mix’s bike would’ve been funny under different circumstances.
Our group moves with precision, staying in the shadows of the night. We move swiftly and quietly until we reach the one-story home. It’s so eerily quiet that it’s hard to imagine that someone was shot and killed less than an hour ago.
The neighborhood is quiet, with not even a porch light on. Of course, it is the middle of the night, but still. I guess if you’re used to minding your business, then it’s easy not to investigate when you hear a gunshot.
Lights are on in Carol Anne’s house, and an SUV is parked in the driveway. Brick, Green, and Spider head around to the back of the house. Me, Blue, and Crush go through the front door.
As soon as we get inside, I spot the bloodstain on the brown carpet, but Carol Anne’s body is missing. Blue’s eyes tear up, but she quickly wipes them away before we continue through the house. We hear talking from the back of the house, and I signal Crush and Blue to stay down and quiet.
“While those Spanish talkin’ motherfuckers and those fucking bitchass Hounds go to war, we’ll take over,” a bald man boasts, smiling broadly.
“Yeah, the idiots we paid to hit the Hounds’ clubhouse should be shootin’ up they shit as we speak. Our boy gave them everything they needed to say to set up the Vasquez family,” the man, wearing a leather cut, says.
“Speaking of the VFC, it’s too bad they didn’t hold their end of the bargain and get that bitch Blue out of the way. I was just tryin’ to make a little change,” Chauncey brags.
“You know that wasn’t what you were supposed to do. You were supposed to get the cartel to believe that the Hounds were trying to take them out. Bringing up that chick didn’t have shit to do with the plan. You fucked up, man.”
“I didn’t fuck nothin’ up. Why should y’all be the only ones profiting? I ain’t doin’ none of this shit out of the goodness of my heart. I didn’t even get to spend all the money from the cartel cause I had to use it for bail.” Chauncey frowns.
“You weren’t even supposed to get money from the cartel. And nobody told you to get arrested,” the other man argues.
“The money was payment for Blue. She wasn’t supposed to pay the shit back. And the place was supposed to be empty. How was I supposed to know that somebody was still in there?”
“I don’t know, man. If the cartel gets suspicious about the money… I mean you weren’t even supposed to go over there tonight.”
“I went to see if they’d picked up Blue, and maybe make a deal for Carol Anne. Besides, they’ll be too busy fightin’ the Hounds to worry about me,” Chauncey dismisses.
“Do you think Carol Anne’s call went through?”
“Nah, that bitch wasn’t able to say nothin’. We’ll dump her body, and nobody will find her. I’m Carol Anne’s next of kin now, so I’ll be able to inherit this house and whatever else that dumb bitch owns.”
“Did you hear that?” The bald guy asks, interrupting the two idiots’ conversation. He pulls his gun and peers out of the back window.
When the asshole turns around, I get a clear view of the leather cut he’s wearing.
The Street Lords.
I can’t believe my fucking eyes. After all this time, the fucking Street Lords are trying to come back. Those bastards are like roaches. They keep coming back and multiplying. But there will be no next time. I plan to kill these bitches and their entire fucking bloodline.
The short bald headed Street Lord makes his way to the door while Chauncey and the other one stand watching him. I have no idea what they did with Carol Anne’s body, but the fact that they’re standing in her kitchen so casually talking about killing her is making me see fire.
As much as I told both my brother and Blue not to go in guns blazing, I know that I’m about to do just that. These raggedy motherfuckers need to be exterminated. I would like to torture them first, but I don’t have the patience or the temperament for that at the moment.
“I think there’s somebody out there I…”
The bald one doesn’t finish his sentence as he drops to the floor. We’re moving before Chauncey and his partner even realize what’s going on. Brick and the others come through the back door that Baldy opened while we come in through the front of the house.
Chauncey is the first to recognize the danger, and he whirls around, pulling the trigger of his gun wildly. One shot goes straight at Blue. Brick runs, knocking her to the floor and taking the hit. Blue yells, sitting up and pulling her trigger several times.
The blast hits Chauncey in the chest and head, and he goes down like a sack of rocks.
The other guy tries to make a run for it, but I shoot him in the back of his legs.
He drops to the floor screaming bloody murder.
I want to shoot him in the head so he will shut the fuck up, but I know he might be useful to us.
I scramble over to my brother and Blue while barking orders at the guys. Our guns have silencers, but Chauncey and his boneheads did not. One gunshot may not get people calling the police, but multiple shots coming from the same house definitely will.
We gotta get the fuck outta here and fast. The Hounds have a lot of the police force on our payroll, but this mess is big and involves too many players. We have to head back to the clubhouse to regroup.
“Brick, where are you hit?” I ask, carefully rolling my groaning brother over.
“Don’t move him too much. We gotta keep him as still as possible,” Blue directs, cautiously looking Brick over for injuries.
“Just my shoulder. I’m pretty sure it went through, by the way this shit is burning. But we need to get the fuck outta here,” Brick grumbles, holding his injured shoulder.
“Alright family, let’s move.”
Blue and I help Brick up while Spider, Crush, and Green haul our captive to his feet and tie him up. When we make it outside, I notice a few lights on in the neighborhood that were off before. We’ve been here too long, and the shit has hit the fan.
When I hear the rumble of motorcycles and see the black and red cuts, I know my brothers are here to help. They will find Carol Anne’s body and have the other bodies moved before the police get here.
My adrenaline is pumping, and my gratitude is high. The Hellhounds will always be there for each other.