Chapter 45 Ryder
Ryder
After we got Leo’s mom safely tucked away at my dad’s, we had no time since we had to get to this meeting with Spinner.
Les promises Katherine she’ll have everything she needs while she’s with my dad ordered and delivered as soon as we got back home.
Les doesn't make any promises about when Katherine can return to North Carolina because we don’t know when that would happen.
I don’t like dad being involved, but I know I don’t have a choice now. At least Les gave him babysitting duty.
We all pile back in the same way we got here with Gage, Leo, and Dex in Gage’s smashed-up Range Rover. They’re lucky the damn thing didn’t roll when the other SUV pushed them off the road. I fucking hate seeing Leo’s mom hurt and hate it even more that we didn’t have time to take Holden home.
We pull over a block away, so he doesn’t see us coming. I shove the car into park. “We can’t leave Holden in here unprotected,” I whisper to Les.
“I know,” she says miserably, and I know she’s worried about taking a stitched-up Leo in there too. She pushes her door open without another word, and we all follow her out, meeting the others at the hood of the Denali.
Les turns her eyes on Holden and pulls one of her Glocks from the holster.
“I know you don’t like these, but you need it on you anyway,” she says in a way that doesn’t leave any room for argument.
This is Boss Les now, not his bright eyes.
He takes it reluctantly and tucks it into the back of his jeans, pulling his shirt over it.
“Shoot first. Ask questions later,” she says and then turns to Leo.
“Are you armed?” He pulls up his shirt, and I see the Glock tucked against his side.
“I didn’t leave home without it,” Leo says with a smile, pulling his shirt back down.
“How are the stitches holding up?” I ask, worried about the asshole too. He took a hit, getting knocked around in that SUV.
“Fine,”
“What’s the play, Boss?” Dex asks, leaning back against Gage’s damaged SUV.
She looks around at all of us gathered around, and I can see her resolve harden with none of the doubts I saw earlier.
“We go in like we own the place. I want Ryder, Holden, Leo, and Mateo with me going in the front. Dex, Gage, Evander, and Micah go in through the back. Don’t leave them any room to escape.
” She looks between Evander and Mateo. “I’m going to assume you can handle yourselves. ”
Mateo grins, and it looks just as crazy as Gage’s does before we do this. “Fuck yeah, we can.”
Evander rolls his eyes. “You don’t have to worry about us.”
Les looks at Holden again. “Stay close.”
With that last warning, we make our way up the block, trying to stay as hidden as possible.
We stop when the garage comes into view.
I can see Les eyeing the situation along with Dex and me.
Two guys guard the front, and I can almost bet the same is at the back.
We don’t have a clue how many are inside.
“We need a distraction,” Les whispers to all of us. “We need them away from the front long enough to get in. Take out the ones in the back if you have to.”
Gage grins. “A distraction?” He waggles his eyebrows. “Coming right up.”
Les shakes her head with a quiet laugh. “Just get them away.”
Gage rakes his fingers through his wavy hair, making it stick up every which way before he staggers off from us.
“Hey!” Gage yells to one of the guys, then staggers to the side. I hear someone snort a laugh behind me. “I need to talk to Xander.”
“Get lost,” one of them growls, and Gage frowns in exaggeration.
Gage starts scratching at his arms like a junkie looking for a fix. “He owes me some shit. Tell him to come the fuck outside.”
“He’s way too good at this,” Leo whispers, and I snort.
“Gage is always a good distraction,” I answer.
“We could tell you some stories about Gage and his distractions,” Micah laughs.
“I told you to get lost, asshole.” The other guy points a finger in the other direction.
“Who the fuck are you?” Gage snarls, trips, then giggles. I fight off a laugh. “I just need him for two minutes,” he says, walking closer to the garage. We start moving slowly forward, knowing that Gage will make his move at any time.
“Fucking junkie,” one of the guys scoffs. “Xander isn’t here right now.”
“Who are you calling a junkie?” Gage asks, bending down easily and hefting up a broken piece of the concrete sidewalk.
“Get ready,” Les warns.
Gage pulls his arm back and launches it at the closest guy with such accuracy that it would make a baseball player fucking jealous.
It smacks the guy right in the face. Gage takes off to the side of the building, his manic laughter following him with one hot on his heels.
The other that’s trying to soothe his broken nose follows more slowly.
We make a break for it and storm the garage, all eyes turning to us.
The backdoor swings open, and the one without the bleeding face shoves Gage, causing him to trip.
He immediately rights himself and turns to him with that crazy grin.
“Have you met my friends?” Gage asks, nodding his head over the guy’s shoulder where Micah has a Glock pressed to the guy’s head.
“Move,” Micah snarls.
They move forward, and Dex shoves the other guys, making them sprawl on the floor. Evander steps in with the bleeding one’s shirt wrapped in his fist, shutting the door behind him.
“Alessa Poletti,” Spinner says, looking her up and down with his weird-as-hell green eyes. They’re almost reptilian. “What gives me such an honor of your presence?”
Spinner is one of the youngest to work for Viktor and American, surprising everyone. He has slicked back brown hair and a scar that runs through his top lip, making it pull at odd angles when he talks.
“Well, you see, Jacob,” she says, using his real name, knowing it will piss him off. “We got a tip that you were in the neighborhood, and we were just passing by; I thought I’d stop in and say hi.”
Spinner’s eyes automatically harden. “What would a princess like you be doing in gang territory?”
“Queen,” Gage says, striding over and pulling himself to sit on the table beside Ghost.
Spinner’s top lip pulls back in a sneer. “Why are you here?” he asks again.
“Oh,” she pouts, “I was going to ask you the same thing.”
I can see Dex, Evander, and Micah creeping closer, effectively blocking Spinner and his guys.
I can tell which ones are Spinner’s guys by how sharply they’re dressed compared to Ghost’s guys.
Spinner has six guys in here, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others lying in wait for a signal. It’s what we would have done.
“I don’t answer to you,” Spinner spits, causing Les’ head to cock to the side.
“But you do, though.” She straightens up, and I can see her patience wearing out. “Something you and Viktor have forgotten.”
“You don’t run this place,” Spinner bristles. “Not for much longer anyway.” He grins, and I know he’ll say something he will instantly regret. “How are you guys holding up? Heard there were a couple of shootings.”
Les cocks an eyebrow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She pauses, then snaps her fingers like she remembered something. “You mean the limo? Shitty marksmanship, if you ask me. Today all I saw were your guy’s running away scared.”
He waves his hand, dismissing her. “You can go. We have guy things to discuss.”
Les sighs, pulls her Glock and shoots the guy right over Spinner’s shoulder, one of the ones from outside. The bullet whizzes past Spinner’s head so close that he flinches. “Got time to talk now?”
“What the fuck?!” Spinner explodes, pulling his own weapon. He has all of ours pointed at him, including Leo and Holden. Holden’s shoulders are set back, and a glare leveled on Spinner that I’m damn proud of. I knew he had it in him; he just needed to see it himself.
“You might want to rethink that decision,” Gage laughs, sticking his Glock in Spinner's face.
“Tell me what I want to know, and no one else has to die.” Les shrugs. “Or I take them all out and make you wish you were never fucking born.”
My queen.
“I’m not fucking scared of a little girl playing gangster,” Spinner says but tucks his gun away.
Gage aims in the other direction, effectively dropping another one of his guys.
“Two down. Four more to go,” I say, stepping closer to Les. “What’s it going to be?”
Ghost and none of his four guys have said a word since we came in, which is smart.
For all Spinner knows, Ghost is against Les with Xander, and we need to keep it that way.
Ghost is casually leaning back in his chair, watching it all play out.
If Ghost wants to know how to run his crew, there is no better way than to watch Les in action.
“What do you want?” Spinner grits out.
“I want to know why Viktor is showing he has balls suddenly,” Les says, tucking her Glock back in its holster. It’s a power move to show him she isn’t scared and that we have her back no matter what.
“How do you know Viktor is behind this? It could just be me.”
Gage fires off another shot, dropping a third. “Wrong answer.”
“Why is Viktor coming for me?” Les asks, getting tired of all this.
“He’s not,” Spinner grins, “Yet.”
I fire off a shot, dropping a fourth, and the rest of the guys are starting to look even more nervous. None of them have pulled their weapons because Spinner hasn’t given them a signal. That’s how it works with them, and it’s fucking stupid. “That’s definitely the wrong fucking answer.” I say.
Spinner slides his eyes over his almost dead crew like he couldn’t give a shit. “You think I don’t have more where that came from?”
“Oh, I’m hoping for it,” Les says. “The more of you I can take out before I go after Viktor, the better.”
“You think you’re a bad bitch, don’t you?” Spinner says casually, leaning back on the table. “This piss poor crew won’t do anything against what I have waiting outside those doors.”