Chapter 19
Rafe
“Here’s everything I was able to find on Stark Realty.
” Menace tossed a folder on the conference table as he continued, “The guy has been buying and selling old worn-down buildings all over the South. Looks like he stays there long enough to establish his clientele, then he sells the place and disappears.”
“So, who are we thinking this guy is?” Viper asked. “Is he Polito’s right hand or is he running his own show?”
“What I can gather from the emails and the message Marlowe left for us, this guy’s been trying to make it look like Polito is still running the show.
” Menace reached into the folder and took out a piece of paper.
As he offered it to Viper, he said, “And get this ... On more than one occasion, they’ve even referred to him as Scar. ”
“You gotta be fucking kidding me.” Viper took the paper, and after studying it for a moment, he looked back to Menace and said, “So, he’s not only Stark. He’s our Scar.”
“Looks that way.” A strange look crossed his face as Menace looked over to Country. “There’s one more thing.”
“Yeah?”
“I was looking over the properties Stark has bought and sold in the past six months, and it looks like he was the one who bought Crockett’s from Gladys.”
Country’s jaw dropped as he roared, “What the fuck?”
“My guess is he was shooting two birds with one stone.”
Viper was the first to ask, “How so?”
“Without Crockett’s, Marlowe wouldn’t have a place to work. It would only make sense that Country or Rafe would offer her a spot at Stilettos, and with a new building under his belt, he’d have a place to set up shop.”
“Motherfucker!” Country spat. “I’m gonna stomp his ass so far in the ground he won’t know which way is up.”
“Gonna have to find him first.” Hawk turned to Viper as he asked, “How are we gonna handle this guy?”
“We’re gonna need to act fast and move in while he still thinks he has the upper hand.” Viper ran his hand over his salt and pepper beard as he considered our best move. After several moments, he turned to me and asked, “When was the last time you laid eyes on Stark?”
“He was at Marlowe’s place last night. Came by there to pick up Kate.
As far as I know, they were headed back to the hotel.
Said he had to call it an early night because he had some work to do on his latest project.
If Menace is right about him buying Crockett’s, I’d say he’s probably there.
” Hoping I was right, I told him, “He was driving a dark blue Cadillac. More than likely a rental, but enough to check if my hunch is correct.”
“We need to get over there and see if there’s any sign of him.”
“Wait. I’ve got a better idea.” Menace turned to Country as he asked, “Do you know if the security cameras we installed a few years back are still there?”
“As far as I know, they were there when we moved Gran out, but got no idea if Stark left them up,” Country answered. “Not sure if they’d do us much good, though. We only had the one above the register and the two outside.”
“If they’re still there, I can use them to see if he’s there.” Menace reached over and grabbed his laptop. We all watched in silence as he started typing away. After a few torturous moments, a slight smile crossed his face and I knew we had our way in. “Looks like we still have eyes on the place.”
“Can you tell if anyone’s there?”
“There are a few cars parked out back, but I can’t see anyone in the bar.”
“Go back to the parking lot,” Viper told him. “Look for his dark blue Cadillac.”
“Yeah, he’s there.”
Menace turned the laptop towards Viper, giving him a perfect view of Stark’s Cadillac.
Viper studied it for a moment, then let out a low, deep-seated growl.
“Okay, boys. The way I see it, we’ve got two ways we can handle this.
We can go to war with this asshole, try our hand at taking him and his goons down in a face-to-face battle, or we can just blow the motherfuckers to smithereens and be done with it. ”
“And how are we going to do that?” With a half-hearted chuckle, Axel asked, “You thinking we’re just going to go in there and blow up Crockett’s?”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.” Viper looked over to Axel with all seriousness as he continued, “We make it look like an accident ... a gas leak or some shit like that, and this shit ends before it ever gets started.”
“I gotta say, it’s not a bad idea.” Axel turned to Menace as he asked, “You think we can make it happen?”
“Absolutely. Just need a small IED placed in the right spot, and boom. It’s all over.”
“Wait just a cotton-pickin’ minute. You’re serious about this?” Country asked, sounding wounded. “I mean, I want to get this guy as much as anyone else, but I spent half my life in that fucking bar, and now we’re just gonna blow the place?”
“You got any better ideas?”
“Fuck no, but damn, I got my first blow job in that bar. A damn good one too.” Country pouted, and for half a second, I actually felt sorry for the guy.
That pity quickly faded when he continued, “She only raked her teeth against my dick one time ... and yeah, she was a little lacking in the tits department, but damn, she could suck it like a Hoover vacuum. And that’s just one of the memories I’ve got of that place. ”
“Oh well, you’ll always have the memories.” Sarcasm dripped from his words as Widow said, “Can’t take that away from ya. Sure wish we could though.”
“Fuck you, man. You got no heart.”
“I got plenty of heart, brother. Just know this is something we gotta do.”
“He’s right,” I told him. “I know it’s a hard pill to swallow, but this is our safest bet.”
“I get it. You’re right.” Country looked down at the table as he shook his head. “Gran would have my ass for saying this, but if we want to make it look like there’s a gas leak or whatever, we’ll need to get to the basement. That’s where all the water and gas lines are.”
“All right, so we get a small IED and plant it in the basement next to the gas line. Make it look like there was damage to the release valve, and then we’re golden.”
“This could work, boys.” Viper turned to Country as he asked, “You sure you know where the gas lines are?”
“Sure do,” Country answered. “Just get me inside, and I’ll handle the rest.”
“That might be our only issue,” Viper replied. “We’ve gotta get access to the building without Stark knowing.”
“Might be a way around that.” The second Hawk turned to me with that look in his eyes, I knew I wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “We could have Marlowe distract him ... get him out of there just long enough for Country to get the IED planted.”
“And how would she do that?”
“She could call him. Make up some bullshit about finding some information for him,” Hawk suggested.
I could tell Viper was intrigued when he asked, “What kind of information?”
“I don’t know. I’m sure we can come up with something.”
“He’s watching her, right?” Lynch asked.
“Yeah. He’s got cameras at her place and at the club.”
“Then, he’ll need to see her find whatever she’s gonna give him.” Lynch shrugged, “Maybe it’s the fake ledger Menace keeps at his desk in case the cops show up.”
Menace always carried our real ledger home with him each night.
It was just an extra protective measure in case the club was ever investigated.
The ledger in his desk was a simple budget outline showing the bar’s inventory and the daily customer flow.
There was no real information in it that could blowback on us.
It was clear Menace approved of the idea when he added, “She could call him up and tell him she’s found some book with names and transactions that he might find useful. He’ll think he’s hit the mother-load.”
“Not a bad idea, brother.” Viper nodded with approval, then said, “He can watch her snoop around a little, and then he’ll see her come out of the office with the ledger.”
“When’s she gonna get it?” Country asked. “The club is closed today.”
“All the better. She can make it look like she’s really trying to do whatever it takes to protect her sister and Rafe,” Hawk replied.
They were talking back and forth like it wasn’t a big deal they were putting my girl in danger. I knew this was something the club needed, but I wasn’t going to let it happen if they couldn’t assure me she’d be safe. “And what if he figures out this whole thing is a scam?”
“She’ll be long gone before that happens.”
“I don’t like it. It’s too fucking risky.” I leaned back in my seat as I told them, “I don’t want Marlowe anywhere around this guy.”
“Okay then, instead of having her meet him face to face, we have her drop it off at his hotel. She can leave it for him at the front desk, and when he goes to get it, Country plants the bomb.”
“Now, that’s an idea I can get behind.”
“There’s just one problem.” Lynch looked over to Viper as he asked, “How are we going to relay this plan to Marlowe without Stark hearing or seeing us do it?”
“Leave that one up to me.”
Viper nodded, then looked over to Shotgun and asked, “How long will it take you to get the IED ready?”
“Five minutes. Maybe ten.”
“Get it done.”
“Hold up...We have one more loose end to tend to,” Shotgun announced. “What are we planning to do about Schoomer?”
“As far as I’m concerned, the guy is already dead.” Viper answered. “Call in Billy.”
We all knew Billy would take care of Schoomer without causing any blowback to the club, so I wasn’t surprised when Shotgun nodded and said, “You got it…Ah…Should I warn him about Schoomer’s ‘affliction’?”
“What’s the fun in that?” Viper chuckled, then turned his attention to Widow. “You and Lynch grab a couple of prospects and load up the artillery and ammo. I want us to be ready to move as soon as Marlowe’s dropped off the ledger.”
“You got it.”
“Good. Let’s get to it. Everyone meet back here in an hour. That’ll give us all plenty of time to get over to Crockett’s before dark.”
As soon as Viper dismissed church, I headed out to the parking lot and got on my bike.
On my way over to Marlowe’s, I stopped off at a nearby cafe for a couple of burgers and fries.
I wrote a note to Marlowe explaining exactly what we needed her to do, then placed it inside the bag of burgers.
I carried the food out to my bike and made my way over to Marlowe’s.
She didn’t have to work today, so I wasn’t surprised when she opened the door in her favorite pair of sweats and an old hoodie. A warm smile crossed her face as she said, “Hey. I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.”
“I can’t stay.” I held up the bag of food and said, “I thought I’d stop by and bring you some lunch.”
“Well, that was very sweet of you.” She lifted up on her tiptoes and kissed me on the cheek. “Thank you. I’m starving.”
“Did you sleep okay?”
“Better than I have in days.” She walked over and sat down at the kitchen table. After taking a sip of her coffee, she asked, “What about you? You were up and out of here pretty early. Did you get any sleep at all?”
“I got enough.”
When she started to open the bag, I moved in front of her, blocking Stark’s view as she looked inside.
Her eyes widened with surprise as she reached in and pulled out the note.
After quickly scanning it, she looked up at me and nodded before slipping it into the pocket of her hoodie.
As she took out one of the burgers, she smiled and said, “This was really thoughtful of you.”
“Just doin’ what I can to make my girl happy.”
“Well, you’re doing a great job of that.”
“Good to know.”
She reached into the bag and took out the second burger, then motioned for me to sit. “Come on. No girl likes to eat alone.”
“I wish I could, but I’ve gotta get back over to the clubhouse.”
I walked over and kissed her on the forehead. As I started towards the door, she asked, “Will I see you later?”
“You couldn’t keep me away if you wanted to.”
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing I don’t want to.” She stood and followed me out the door. As I got on my bike, she waved and said, “Be careful.”
“Right back at ya.”
As much as I hated leaving her, I didn’t have a choice. The brothers were waiting for me to get back, and she had a job to do—one that could make or break our plans to take down Stark once and for all.