Chapter 25 Ryder #2
Impressive. Maybe he isn’t as soft as I thought.
I jerk my head for him to follow, and he does reluctantly. We slide into my Explorer, and we’re on the main road before he finally breaks the silence.
“What’s this about? I know it’s not just because you enjoy my company,” he asks, and I can feel his eyes boring into the side of my head.
“I told you. You wanted in, so I’m giving you your in.” I glance over at him and then back to the road. “You know Les would never let you fucking do this.”
He barks a laugh. “Les doesn’t know, does she?”
“Nope,” I reply honestly. Okay. Maybe she’ll kick my ass. But he needs this freedom to see what he’s made of.
He nods and looks out the window. “What are we doing?”
“Small-time gang rivals. It’s not a big deal, but we need to make our presence known, so they back the fuck off.”
“Why do we care about a small-time gang rivalry?”
“Les owns them. She tells them to jump, and they ask how fucking high. We don’t usually get involved, but she’s fond of this gang. I’m helping out before shit gets too far out of control.”
Squid is one she pulled back from the brink of addiction when she found him at one of the clubs we raided last year. She cleaned him up, and he took over the Disciples a few months ago at twenty when she realized he’s made for that shit.
“The more this shit goes down, the more I realize I don’t know,” Leo says angrily.
“Ask dumbass,” I say back just as angrily. “Half the time, we fucking forget that you don’t know. So quit being a bitch and ask.”
“You’re a fucking dick.”
I shrug. “Yeah. Most of the time. But you know I’m right.”
“Whatever. Just fucking drive,” Leo says, staring out of his window.
In silence, I drive into Concrete Row, gang territory, letting Leo stew in his bullshit. I don’t have it in me to be easy on him. I barely tolerate him being around Les.
I pull in front of Squid’s pool hall and throw the car into park. “Stay with me,” I order Leo before sliding out of the car.
To his credit, he falls into step with me when I round to his side. He may hate me, but he isn’t stupid.
“Yo!” Squid yells from the back of the place.
He walks over and pulls me into a one-armed hug, slapping me on the back.
“Long time, man.” He looks good and healthy.
He put most of his weight back on, and his face doesn’t have that sunken look anymore.
His hair is cut neat, even if it is dyed blue, and his brown eyes are clear.
Les would be happy to see him like this.
I return the hug before stepping back. “You got somewhere we can talk?” I ask, eyeing the innocents in here shooting pool.
“Yeah.” He motions for us to follow him. We walk through a door labeled employees only, and most of his guys are sitting around the backroom. “Have a seat,” he says, nodding his head at a table.
We all get situated around the table, and I get the first thing out of the way. “This is Leo,” I introduce, so he will stop giving me curious looks. “What’s going on?”
“Like I said on the phone, man. I’ve got problems with Tink.
” Tink is the leader of the rival gang, The Hellraisers.
The irony doesn’t escape me that the Disciples and the Hellraisers are rivals.
“He started pushing in on my territory, and I warned him. He retaliated by shooting up my fucking pool hall.” I noticed the wood covering the windows and didn’t figure they were just redecorating.
“Was anyone here?” I ask, sitting back in my chair.
Squid shakes his head. “Nah. It was after hours; it was a warning.”
“Where’s his spot at?”
“About two blocks north. We have a long-standing agreement that we don’t cross paths. He broke it.” Squid runs his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t want to call, bro, but I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
“You did the right thing,” I assure him. “We’ll pay him a visit.”
“I appreciate it, man.”
We talk about business for a little while before Squid asks us to shoot a couple of games of pool. We make our way to the main pool hall; I stay back at the bar while Leo goes off to shoot pool with a bunch of Squid’s guys.
Squid leans back on the bar beside me. “What’s his deal?”
I stroke my chin and watch Leo laughing and talking shit with the other guys. “He’s with Les.”
Squid frowns. “I thought you were.” That’s a common misconception even when we were younger; we usually just let people think what they want. But now I can answer that question differently.
“I am.”
His frown deepens, and I almost laugh at the look on his face. “You just said he was.”
“He is.”
“Are you fucking with me, asshole?” Squid asks, turning to face me.
I shake my head. “Nope.”
“So, you’re both dating her? How the fuck does that work?”
I sigh. “We’re all dating her. Together.” Squid’s eyes widen comically, and I bust out laughing.
“You are fucking with me!”
“No. I’m not. She’s dating me, Leo, Gage, Dex, and Holden. We are all in it together.”
Squid finally picks his mouth up off the bar. “So, you’re telling me I still have a chance?”
I turn narrowed eyes on him. “A chance to fucking die if you say some dumb shit like that again.”
“Come on, man. What’s one more?” he asks with a grin.
“Do you want to choke on your fucking tongue today, Squid?” I ask, standing up straight.
He holds his hands up. “I’m good,” he laughs. “Let me kick your ass in pool.”
We all play several rounds before I decide it’s time to go. Squid walks us outside, and we are just standing on the sidewalk bullshitting when Leo knocks my arm to get my attention. “What are they doing?” he asks.
I squint at a black SUV rolling slowly toward us. Before I can react, the SUV speeds toward us with a squeal of tires, and a guy with a ski mask hangs out of the passenger side with a semi-automatic.
“Get down!” I yell, jerking Leo beside my Explorer, Squid diving with us.
The bullets spray against the side of the car, littering us with glass from my windows.
“Motherfuckers,” I growl, jerking my Glocks from my holster. I wait until the gunfire stops before jumping up from beside the car. I walk forward, emptying both clips at the SUV before they speed away.
“Get your guys, and let’s fucking go,” I bark at Squid, walking to the back of my SUV. I jerk the hatch open and get the spare clips I keep out from under the spare tire, grabbing two more for Leo.
Squid comes running out with six of his guys loading into their cars while Leo and I slide into mine. I pull out with a bark of tires with Squid right on my tail. I glance at Leo; he looks like he’s trying not to laugh. What the fuck?
“We just got fucking shot at. What’s so damn funny?”
“Alessa’s going to kill you!” he says and then starts dying laughing.
He isn’t wrong. Fuck. So much for a simple trip.
Not only did we get shot at, but I’m also taking him deeper into gang territory to find these assholes.
It’s not like I can hide it, either. Both driver’s side windows are gone, and so is the front passenger side, and I have bullet holes all down the side of my Explorer.
We go to where Squid told us and drive around aimlessly with no sign of them. We check a few more places before I tell Squid they are probably lying low and we would come back to help him take care of them.
I turn around to head back to the house when I see the SUV that the guy shot out of parked down an alley.
I signal for Squid to pull over. We all stop and unload with weapons already in hand.
I go to tell Leo to stay in the car, and he’s already getting out, pulling his Glocks from his holster. Alright then.
We all converge on the car and open fire.
It doesn’t matter if they are in there or not.
This is a warning that we will find you no matter where you hide.
I signal for everyone to stop firing and creep to the door with my gun raised, jerking the door open.
The driver slides out of the car, blood running from his mouth, his body littered with bullets.
“You know him?” I ask Squid.
Squid walks over and crouches down, getting a closer look. “Yeah. He’s one of Tink’s.”
“Where’s the passenger?” Leo asks, walking toward the SUV to stand beside me.
I shrug. “No clue”
Leo’s eyes swing up behind me as his gun does. I jerk my head, following his line of sight. Leo pulls the trigger on the guy getting ready to shoot my ass right in the head, hitting him neatly in the middle of the forehead. The guy’s head snaps back before slowly folding to the ground.
I jerk my head back to Leo, and he’s staring at the guy he just shot.
He just saved my ass without a second thought. I can’t tell by his expression if he is okay with that.
“Holy shit,” Squid breathes, slapping Leo on the back. “Nice fucking shot!”
Leo looks up, and I see a look in his eyes that I’ve seen before. He’s just taken his first life, and I know you never return from that. I need to get him home before he loses his shit.
Now I have to go home and face Alessa with a freaked-out Leo.
Fuck.