26. Deacon
DEACON
“Was that really necessary?”
I didn’t get the fucking door closed before Dallas’s whiny voice hit my ears.
“She’s already making you soft,” I growled as I brushed past him.
“Deac.”
“Walk and talk,” I said as I made my way for the stairs, “we don’t have time to waste.”
Dallas caught up to me. “You’re going to let her go after the meeting, right?”
All I did was shake my head, though. Now, I was curious. What pussy could be so fucking good that a man of Dallas’s stature would be willing to throw his entire moral code out the fucking window? I had to have me a slice of that shit.
After church, of course.
“All right,” I barked as I walked into the room.
I expected the guys to quiet down as Dallas slipped in behind me. I heard him slam his palm against the button and the wall hissed itself back into place, but the guys were still talking.
“Hey,” I said as I stood at the head of the table and held up my hand, “eyes here.”
And when they still didn’t shut the fuck up, Gauge stepped out of the shadows, bringing with him that ear-shattering whistle of his.
THWEEEEEP!
I watched my men turn their eyes toward me before they all scrambled to their seats. Gauge slinked back into the corner, but I saw the whites of his eyes tracking my every movement. No doubt, he had been on high alert ever since the drop-off with Doc.
Now, it was time to fill in the guys.
“This is serious, so I’ll cut to the chase,” I said as I placed my hands on top of the wooden table.
“Somebody, help!”
Plug pointed up at the ceiling. “Everything good?”
“Yep,” Dallas said behind me as he popped his ‘p.’
I peered over my shoulder at him before I cleared my throat. “Doc’s been compromised.”
If the room hadn’t been silenced before, it sure as hell was after I spoke those words.
“What?” Mace asked.
“Doc’s been compromised,” I said again.
Gauge talked from the depths of the shadowed corner where he stood. “He picked out one gun from every crate we had for him and fired off a whole ass magazine from those guns into the side of the mountain.”
Baitfish’s jaw dropped to the floor. “Jesus fuck.”
I drew in a deep breath. “Like I said, Doc’s been compromised.”
“Did he come with any unfamiliar faces, Gauge?” Baitfish asked.
Mace was the one to answer, however. “No, he didn’t. Same four goons in the same blacked out cars with those same scowls on their fucking faces.”
“It was business as usual until he pulled those guns,” Gauge said, “even by my account.”
“How good were you guys at keeping your faces on?” Plug asked.
I scoffed. “You really have to ask?”
Gauge stared that fucker down. “We kept our fronts just fine, thanks.”
“Gauge,” Dallas warned, “take a breath.”
I was shocked when I actually heard Gauge do it. Man, he must’ve still been riled up.
“We waited until he completely left,” the behemoth man said, “and then I took my time scouting the situation looking for any sign of someone watching us.”
“Did you find anything?” I asked.
“No,” he said plainly.
“Except for the signal that he threw,” Dallas said.
“I have to ask,” Rat said, “is there any way he’s yanking our chain?”
Plug thumbed over at him. “Yeah, how do we not know he’s just trying to wiggle out of being a customer because he’s found better deals somewhere?”
I pinned him with a look. “That’ll be your job for the next little while. Dig up everything you can on Doc and figure out if that’s exactly what’s happening.”
Plug nodded. “I can do that.”
Char’s voice echoed through the ceiling. “Somebodyyyyyy! Please!”
Baitfish pointed toward the sound. “The hell’s she gotta do with all this, then?”
“Goddamn it!” Char yelped.
I clicked my tongue. “When Gauge called to inform me of what had happened, I found her standing in the backroom recording the conversation.”
“What?” Gauge asked flatly.
I shrugged. “So, I asked her nicely to give me the phone so that I could delete the recording, and she wouldn’t. She’s now here to learn her lesson.”
Rat went from stunned speechless to grinning like the demon he was. “Sure you were nice the first time around, Deac?”
“As nice as I usually am.”
Chuckles filtered through the room, but I felt Dallas’s stare on the back of my head. I didn’t give a damn that he was upset. It was his fault for allowing that bitch to hypnotize him in the first place. No pussy was worth being compromised. And soon, he’d remember that.
“Did she give you the recording, at least?” Rat asked when his laughter settled down.
I nodded. “I’ve already got it taken care of. Right now, however, we need to figure out who the fuck got to Doc and how much they already know about us.”
Plug stuck his finger into the air. “Assuming that this isn’t him trying to use our code against us to wiggle out of future transactions.”
Baitfish leaned back in his chair. “So, what does this mean for Bottle Grounds? You know, outside of the blatantly obvious.”
I shook my head, though. “We’re still moving forward with the renovations and the grand reopening we’re gunning for. Yes, we’ll have to tighten things up financially because of this shit until we know whether or not the money Doc transferred us is good?—”
“Wait, so his money cleared?” Mace asked.
I nodded. “So far, the account hasn’t been frozen or yanked around in any way. But, it’s still hot money we can’t do anything about. Might as well let it sit there until it cools down.”
Rat rolled his eyes. “Fantastic.”
“Look, it’s not ideal,” Dallas said as he walked up to my side, “but it’s the best that we’ve got.
We’re in a sticky fucking situation, and we have to figure out how bad it is.
So, we keep moving forward as if nothing has happened, we keep working on the bar instead of showing how alert we’ve become to the situation, and if someone is watching us?
Maybe going about our new usual routine will get them to back off a bit. ”
Gauge came out of the shadows. “He’s right. If someone is watching to see how we react, then no reaction is the best course.”
“Well,” Plug said as he stood, “we need answers, and I’m ready to go find them.”
I nodded. “Whatever you do, don’t get caught.”
Plug playfully saluted me. “Yes, sir!”
“What do you want us to do?” Mace asked as his finger twirled around at everyone else still seated.
Gauge answered it for me, though. “You wait for instructions. Depending on what Plug finds, we may need to alter our patrol routes and schedule for now. But, we don’t make a move until Plug finds us what we need.”
“Any other questions?” I asked.
And when nothing was brought to the table, I stood tall on my feet. “Church dismissed.”
However, as Gauge walked by me, I grabbed his wrist and pulled him close.
“You good?” he asked as he looked down at me quizzically.
“Rework patrol routes for us being watched, but don’t act on anything just yet. If we are being watched, we can’t risk whoever it is knowing that we know.”
“Maybe they’ll even fuck up, and we can use it against them,” Dallas said as he joined the fold.
Gauge nodded. “Sure thing.”
I released Gauge and tilted my head toward the ceiling as Char let out another bombastic howl.
“Come ooooooon! Let me go!”
“What are you gonna do with her?” Dallas asked.
“Fucking hell!” she exclaimed as her voice echoed down to us.
“Leave her to me,” I said as I exited the room, “and don’t wait up.”