12. Chapter 12
One Friday night after my fight, Patrick drags me into his disgusting bedroom. “It’s almost time, son. Mr. Fitzgerald is about to get what he deserves. When the time comes, I expect you to back me without question. Then I’ll rule all of Tennessee,” he smiles.
“What are you planning?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Look, I’ve been here for months and done everything you asked without complaint. If you expect me to back you, then I need to know what’s going on. I won’t jeopardize the people in Charleston.”
He thinks it over, watching me. “Alright. I’ll give you something.
I’m taking over the drug trade. I’ve been building a crew loyal to me as well as distributors who are tired of Mr. Fitzgerald taking too high a cut.
Soon he’ll have to make an appearance at the bar, and I’ll take him out,” he smiles, a manic gleam in his eyes.
It won’t go the way Patrick wants. His ego is too big to realize how much smarter Mr. Fitzgerald is, not to mention Artur.
I need a plan. Would it be better to inform Artur or keep quiet?
My family's my priority, so I need to think this through.
If Artur's as on top of things as he seems, he's probably already aware of the coup.
I think the smartest move is to keep quiet and see how it plays out.
I can always claim worry about my family.
Patrick calls me into his office the following Friday before the bar opens.
I noticed more of his men hanging around than usual today.
“It’s happening tonight. Be ready. After the fight, come find me and…
” he says before there’s a commotion in the hallway.
The door bursts open, and Artur enters with several men.
“Patrick, Nick,” he nods. “It seems we have a problem.”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Artur.
We were just discussing the fight,” Patrick smiles as his men enter the hallway, blocking Artur’s exit.
I step back, flush against the wall, as a fight breaks out.
Sliding along the walls, I make my way to the door and duck into the hallway.
There are men everywhere fighting. A mixture of navy blue uniforms and people in regular clothes are trying to beat the shit out of each other.
I do my best to wade through the men to make my way to the bar area so I’ll have more room and can see the extent of this mess.
It’s an old fashioned brawl. Seems no one is carrying, which is strange.
I've seen the navy clad men with weapons when we delivered the crates from the train station.
Maybe that's the only instance where they're allowed weapons?
As soon as I step behind the bar, a guy comes towards me, swinging. He's in regular clothes, but I'm not familiar with his face. I don’t know most of these men, so I’m not sure which side this one's on, and I don’t have time to ask, as I duck under his right hook.
For the next several minutes or hours, I fight my way through the masses.
Once I’ve knocked out another guy, I catch Artur in my periphery with a gun to Patrick’s head, walking him into the room.
I don’t know why Artur thinks it’s a good idea to get in the middle of this, but before he can do anything, two things happen at once.
A knife lodges in his upper arm, and a guy gets thrown into his side.
The gun flies from his hand as he stumbles to the right, and Patrick takes the opportunity to get lost in the crowd.
I drop to my knees, looking for where I saw the gun go, and I find it against the front side of the bar.
Grabbing it, I need to find Patrick. This ends tonight.
Scanning the crowd, I see Artur stepping back through the hallway door with two men in front of him. There’s a group of men at the front doors huddled together, but I don’t see Patrick. When the front doors open, I head that way, knowing the bastard will run.
Fighting through the crowd, I get outside, jog towards the back, and find him alone in the parking lot. “Stop, Patrick,” I yell. “It’s over.”
He turns at the sound of my voice. “Nick. You’ve got the gun. We need to get out of here. Let’s go.”
Shaking my head, I point it at his chest as I walk forward. He looks confused, which is a joke. “Why’s the gun pointed at me, Nick? I’m your father. Let’s get out of here.” He has enough sense to walk backward toward his truck. When he grabs the handle of the door, I tell him to stop.
“Come on, Nick. We need to go now.” Turning his back to me, he opens the door and reaches inside.
When I see his arm rise, I take two shots through the driver’s side window, and he drops like a stone.
With the gun still raised, I walk over to the door.
Bastard pulled a gun from his truck. It’s lying beside him on the gravel.
I hear, “well done, Nick,” from behind me.
Turning, I see Artur and two men walking towards me from the bar.
They stop by Patrick as I take a step back.
Artur kicks his leg before he reaches into Patrick’s pocket, retrieving his keys.
Removing the one I know is to Cash’s room, he tosses me the rest. Meeting my eyes, he says, “This mess falls to you now since he was planning to use you as a scapegoat if he failed. Clean it up.”
“Not interested,” I shake my head.
“You don’t have a choice. You killed him, and Mr. Fitzgerald needs someone to pay.
That falls to you now. We lost many men tonight.
You are in charge of this operation now.
Fix it, or your other family will pay. We already have one of yours.
We picked her up after I realized Patrick was going to betray us.
Mr. Fitzgerald is particularly enamoured with her.
If you want her unharmed, you’ll get this done.
I need to get my arm cleaned and stitched, and then speak with Mr. Fitzgerald about this evening. Have I made myself clear?”
Fuck fuck FUCK! They have Summer or Gabs. “Yeah,” I nod. I have to play along for now.
“I’ll be back in the morning to check on you. I’m leaving my two men here as a reminder,” he gestures to the two guys behind him. “My gun, please.”
I empty the chamber and dump the magazine before handing it over. Artur smirks before he walks over to his SUV. The driver gets out to open the door for him, and he slides into the back.
Once he’s gone, I go back to the bar with the two men.
There’s a dead guy in the hallway with everyone else still in the bar area.
Seems Artur’s men have cleared out; no one's fighting.
Man number one stands on a chair when we get inside.
“Patrick is dead. Nick is your new boss. Spread the word. Meeting tomorrow night here for everyone.”
He nods at me after he jumps back down. Looking around, I see rage and indifference surrounding me. I find Patrick’s favorite asshole, Deke, and call him over. “Do you have a cleanup crew?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he grits out, murder in his eyes.
“Call them along with the doc. Patrick is out by his truck, and there’s someone dead in the hall. You’ve got four hours to get this place spotless. Have someone put a sign on the door we’re closed until the day after tomorrow and call the staff.”
I walk back out, not giving him a chance to argue, and head for my new office. Fuck my life. Shit got more complicated quickly.
One man follows me into the office and shuts the door. “Name?” I grunt.
“Hollis. The other guy is Travis.”
Since I won’t be left alone tonight, I nod and decide to look through Patrick’s stuff because I need to think.
I am not staying here to run a drug operation, so I need to get Cash, his sister, and whoever they took out of here.
“I need to get into Patrick’s computer, but it has a password. Can you get Cash?”
Shaking his head, Hollis answers, “No one had a key but Artur.”
“Does he have a phone?”
Nodding, he pulls out his phone and makes a call. “He can unlock it from his room,” Hollis tells me.
I nod, waiting until I see Cash working on the screen. Once I’m in, I open random files, looking around, and Hollis comes up behind me to look at the monitor. I find the bar finances, bringing them up to look through, pretending to be interested. “The bar is legitimate, right?” I ask.
“Yeah. It’s real,” Hollis nods.
I continue to read through the bar information, even printing off the staff list and schedule before Hollis finally steps outside to take a call hours later. He leaves the door open, but his back is turned.
I quickly open the link Cash left for me when he got past the password and let him know Patrick is dead, I’m in charge and that they have one of mine already from Charleston and to find where she’s being held.
A quick acknowledgment from Cash that he hasn’t heard anything but will search, and I switch back to spreadsheets.
Four long hours have finally passed with the babysitters when I get up to check and see if the men did as asked.
Patrick’s body is gone, as is the man in the hallway.
Someone cleaned up the bar, and it looks normal.
There are four guys sitting at a table in the far corner, sipping beers, including Deke.
Travis is standing near the door, against the wall.
“All done?” I ask Deke, getting a nod in reply.
Walking over to the table, I still see murder in Deke’s eyes. “Go home. Be here for the meeting tomorrow.”
I wait until they get up to leave and then lock the front doors. “I’m heading to the condo, unless you need something?”
“No,” Hollis answers. “We’ll be going with you.”
Nodding at him, we head out. Hollis gets in Patrick’s truck with me while Travis follows in his SUV. They both follow me inside and upstairs. I grab a beer and order pizza for us.
After eating and watching sports, I tell them I’m showering and going to bed. “You can sleep out here or in Patrick’s room if you’re staying,” I say before going down the hall.
Shutting the door behind me, I grab a quick shower and then get in bed fully clothed, although they won’t know that cause they’ll only see a tshirt. I line my pockets with cash and the burner phone, then turn a movie on low.
After an hour, I hear one of them walk down the hall, so I pretend to be asleep.
My door creaks open for a minute, then closes, and the person continues down the hall.
Patricks’s door opens and closes a minute later.
When I hear no other sounds, I grab the burner and ask Fawx to connect me to Cash.
Cash joins the chat room about 15 minutes later.
cash: Glad u reached out. Caught movement of Mr. Fitzgerald’s men. They don’t have your girl yet. going to get her tonight. Mr. Fitzgerald himself is going with 4 others. He’s very interested in a girl named Summer. Wants to groom her to be his.
Nick; Any mention of Gabby?
cash: No, just Summer.
Shit. Fuck!
nick: How sure they don’t have anyone yet?
cash: 90%. Overheard talk. Artur just said they had her already to keep you in line. They will get her though. He always follows through.
nick: Fawx, you there?
fawx: Yes.
nick: It’s time. Send everything to the FBI now, multiple offices. Message Summer, tell her they’re coming tonight. Assume surveillance is already there. Cash, we’re leaving tonight. I’ll be there soon.
Fucking hell. The FBI better come through, and Z better keep Summer safe.
I quietly get out of bed, grabbing some rope I bought at the truck stop from a dresser drawer and my knife from my boot.
Looking outside, I don’t see anyone, so I creep across the hall and slip into Patrick’s room and see Travis sleeping on top of the covers.
I use one hand to cover his mouth and the other to choke him.
He quickly wakes, but his struggle is useless, and he’s soon passed out.
I flip him over and tie his arms and legs, then take his keys and phone.
A knock on the door has me jumping against the wall as Hollis opens the door to stick his head inside.
I slam the door in his face, then swing it open and put him in a chokehold too.
He’s a big bastard, but not quite as tall as me.
Once he’s out, I tie him up, empty his pockets, and drag both of them into Patrick’s closet.
There’re all kinds of shit in here that doesn’t belong in a closet. I find some chains, so I wrap the two of them up together back to back, then tear a shirt to gag them. Once they’re secure, I close the door and barricade them in, hoping it gives me enough time.
Running out to my truck, I speed back to the bar.