20. Dax #2
“Well, if we had the right medical equipment, there’s a chance we might be able to save him,” I offered. “Either way, it’s going to send a message to leave the supporters alone. Now all you have to do is claim the kill and find the bastard who’s leading the charge.”
“That might be easier if I had Franco to talk to instead of handing him over to the Feds.”
“Hey now, don’t get pissy at me. I was in a tough spot, and they needed to be given something, or they were going to cause a hell of a lot more trouble.
Don’t worry about the government, I got that handled.
Just make sure you stay running this shit long enough for me to take out Marco.
You didn’t want to ride on my coattails…
well, here’s your fucking chance to make a stand everyone will notice,” I challenged and hung up the phone.
“What’s with that guy? Seriously, I feel like he has two different personalities depending on the day I talk to him. ”
“Remember, he’s new at this,” Harper reasoned. “I can sympathize with him. Plus, you come into every situation like a wrecking ball leaving chaos in your wake. Personally, I think he’s doing the best he can, and you need to remember you weren’t always this good at your job.”
I blinked a few times at her, surprised to have her come to Tommaso’s defense. It really shouldn’t surprise me since I’m sure she sees herself in him. “Fine, you make a good point, but for the record, I was damn good at this, even starting out.”
Harper rolled her eyes at me, but Raven snickered. “I don’t find it hard to believe you were born for this life.”
“Hey now,” Cognac piped up. “No flirting with my wife. Clearly, we need to have a chat about not adding to the harem no matter what gender they are.”
Raven smiled and brushed off his comment.
“Sorry, it’s a habit for me to be drawn to the alpha of the group.
They’re the ones who can afford me. Thank you all for helping me with my issue.
I’ll make sure the beers get sent down since I distracted your gallant husband from his mission and don’t worry about the body.
It’s not the first one we’ve had to deal with here, and I have my ways. ”
That had me raising a brow at Void, and he just met my gaze as if all of this had been no big deal. “You’d have had my balls if I let your new friend get hurt, and I was standing there.”
Well, he was damn right about that. I’d have been pissed. I blew him a kiss and gave him a wink. “Thanks, big guy.”
Raven left, and we all settled back in our seats, but I dreaded having to dive back into this.
“I vote that we have Alvaro try and make contact with Martin. What we are doing now will work eventually, but fuck if it won’t take us years.
My plan would be to have Alvaro reach out to Martin, let him know he wants to come to Mexico since his dad is dead and Franco was taken away by the FBI. ”
Sprocket shifted to face Alvaro and leaned an arm on the table. “Would something like that work? By that, I mean, if you came out and asked for that, would he believe you came to the idea on your own and not because someone is manipulating you into it?”
“Yeah, he’s been asking me for months to let him get me out of here and join him in Mexico.
Martin always had a soft spot for me since he looked after me when I was little.
Mom got really sick, unable to get out of bed, or so they told me.
They hired nannies, but when Martin was home, he spent most of his time with me,” Alvaro explained.
“My fear is that he’ll tell me I have to bring Mom with me.
If they know Franco failed and their team wasn’t successful, they’re going to make me do it.
This family is all about having equal skin in the game. ”
Sprocket leaned back in his chair then looked over at Cam. “What do you think?”
“We don’t know Martin, but using this move could get us more solid information on where to keep looking.
If he asks for Mariana to be sent back as well, then we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
Or we could say that the FBI has her, and Alvaro can’t get to her.
They know he doesn’t have the skills to pull something like that off,” Cam reasoned.
“Magnus, how familiar are you and your brothers with the Mexican crime players?”
Magnus leaned back and slipped his hands behind his head as he regarded the two. “Depends on what aspect of knowledge you’re needing.”
“If Marco has been playing the game this long and we can’t seem to find out where he is, then it means others are covering for him.
Just like with Dax, she had a whole team of people who kept her secret, in addition to Wes covering her digital tracks.
Marco is clever, he’s had a long fucking time to plan this, and he knows the first thing we are doing right now is looking for him,” Cam pointed out.
“The reason we are teaming up and Dax is letting Sprocket and me take the lead is so we come at this differently. Right now, we are still playing her game, so what would you do?”
The moment Cam pointed it out, I knew he was right. I couldn’t help but lead and take charge of a situation. Nothing we’d already done wouldn’t be helpful at some point, but we were still looking at this through my brain, and we needed to make a left turn quickly.
Cam’s question had all the triplets’ attention. “Wait, you want us to make a plan of attack?” Jaxson asked.
“Yes,” Cam concurred. “There are only four people who Marco hasn’t studied, and it’s me plus the three of you.
Marco has made it his mission to know Dax, Wes, Harper, and the Phantom Saints.
He even tried to get them to work with him before he approached the Mad Dogs.
We need to do this completely different to get this motherfucker caught with his pants down. ”
Ghost let out an evil chuckle and started to rub his hands together excitedly. “Do we have any rules?”
“Only that it has to include those of us in this room being able to pull it off together,” Sprocket answered. “You have connections we don’t even know about, but we can get you anything you need. Although you already know that since you sent Dax a list.”
Shit, I need to remember to make some calls about that. I was getting the feeling we might not be able to make it back to LA before shit went down.
“First of all…” Magnus started, giving my guys a glare, “… if we plan part of this, then we run the operation. The goal is to keep that bastard guessing, and that means doing it our way.”
Jaxson leaned in and pretended to whisper, “What he means is his way.”
I couldn’t hold back the snort of laughter because I had zero doubt that wasn’t the God’s honest truth.
“Either way, I need to hear it out of all of your mouths that you agree to these terms. We set up an operation, then we run the operation,” Magnus declared.
This was the part I wasn’t sure if my guys would be able to deal with or not.
I knew they could do it, and if all of us worked together, we could be unstoppable, but they had to make the choice.
If Eagle didn’t agree, then neither would Picasso or Void.
Cognac and Sprocket were more apt to make their own choices, but they would weigh the fact that Eagle was on board in their choice.
I wasn’t worried about Wes. He knew this was the smartest way to do things, and Cam would always act in my best interest.
“I’m fine with those terms as long as it applies to us as well.
If Cam or Sprocket set up a plan, then you follow their orders just as we would yours,” Eagle countered.
“We are also planning on bringing Dante Black in to help, but you’ll have to make your own agreements with him.
Just wanted to be upfront with the major players. ”
“Yes, my father should be here tomorrow afternoon,” Cam interjected. “He had to finish up with a few things before he could free up time to help.”
Ghost’s jaw dropped. “Wait a fucking minute. Dante motherfucking Black, the most brilliant and flamboyant man I’ve ever met is your dad?”
“It still amazes me too sometimes,” Cam said with a dramatic sigh. “To be honest, I have no idea who my mother is. The moment I was born, he had her sign over all her rights and took me to raise on his own. Needless to say, it was an odd upbringing, to say the least.”
Magnus rose from his seat and held out his hand to Eagle. “We have a deal, president.”
Eagle also stood and took Magnus’s hand. “That we do, assassin. Now let’s get this fucking bastard and make him regret the day he ever set his sights on taking what was never going to be his.”
“Fuck yeah,” Jaxson cheered, pumping a fist into the air.