by KJ Dahlen
“Can I just stay close to you?” she asked while looking scared.
“You stay as close to me as you want.” Moose assured her with a smile. He reached for his door handle and slid out of the truck. He was about to shut the door but he noted she had slid across the seat and was right there waiting for him to help her down. Moose just shook his head.
He held out his arms and she threw herself into them. He held her close for a moment and felt her trembling in his arms. “I got your back, baby girl,” he whispered in her ear. “No one will hurt you again.”
“You don’t know that Moose,” she whispered back.
“I won’t ever lie to you honey. I’ve got your back and if I’m not around, then my brothers will protect you. I want you to know that. That’s just how we roll here.”
She gazed up into his eyes and read the truth in them. He really meant what he was telling her. She swallowed hard. “Ok. I believe you.”
“Let’s go meet the guys.” He urged her. He turned her around and with his arm around her, he moved her forward to the lineup of the Savaged Souls.
He stopped in front of the President and introduced her to him, “Brinn, I’d like you to meet our fearless leader Gunner, and our VP Boone.”
Brinn peeked out at the men then turned her face into Moose.
Moose wrapped his arm around her shoulder and hugged her close. He turned his gaze to his brothers. “She’s been a little leery the whole trip here.”
Gunner nodded. “After your call this morning, we phoned Python and Cobra. They are on their way here to find out what she knows for sure. But it sounds to us like the cartel is in charge of Laredo.”
Moose nodded in agreement with his assessment. “I think so too.”
Boone turned and motioned for them to go inside. “As Python and his boys will be here soon, I think we should find out as much as she knows. At least now, we know more of the details than we did before.”
Grizzly nodded, “But what she’s already told us is opening up a Pandora’s box of misery isn’t it? Just means we gotta dig deeper to route the cartel out in the open.”
“Come on Brinn, let’s see what they dug up so far.” Moose squeezed her waist a bit and ushered her into the clubhouse. When they were inside Moose asked, “You said Python was on his way here?”
Gunner, Boone and Grizzly along with Gypsy and a few of the others all sat down at the same table as Moose and Brinn.
She had moved her chair right next to him, as she still seemed skittish of being around so many large men.
“Yeah.” Grizzly nodded. “He was very interested in the fact that Laredo was in question. Cotton had been telling them they might need to check it out as rumor on the street was it was under cartel control. He was really interested in the man who controlled the center of the city.”
Brinn shuddered at his words and it wasn’t just Moose who noticed.
Gunner looked over at her and noticed how pale she looked. “Brinn, it would help us a lot if you tell us about the man who rules the center of the city.”
“No one really knows who he is. It’s safer that way.”
Gunner gave her a nod. “He knows that too, and he’s using that fact to hide behind. We want to bring him out of hiding and confront him in the streets. We want to show his people what a coward he really is.”
Brinn shook her head. “Everyone knows better than to step into his territory. They know if they do, they may never return again.”
Boone narrowed his eyes and stared at her. “How do they know it’s his territory?”
“His territory is well marked. And his men carry his mark, so people know to leave them alone.”
“His mark?” Gunner asked.
Brinn nodded. “It’s a Tattoo on their inner wrist. It matches the marker of his territory. That and his men are always dressed in black. Black shirt, black jeans, black silk vests and black shoes. They are all big men like you and when they show up, most people disappear into the shadows, hoping they won’t be noticed.” She shrugged. “They are bullies and love to show off. Even the street people aren’t safe from them. It isn’t unusual for people to disappear and never be seen again.”
“And you don’t know this guy’s name?” Gunner asked.
Brinn shook her head. “Luther always called him, El Jefe.”
Rigger passed some papers over to Gunner.
Gunner pushed them over toward Brinn.
Brinn looked up at Moose then turned to look at the pages on the table.
“Are these the men you mentioned to Moose this morning?” Gunner asked.
There printed out were DMV photos of Jose, Jax and Martin She nodded and laid them down on the table again. The fourth photo she didn’t know. She tapped his picture, “Him... I don’t know but the others are Jose, Jax and Martin.”
Gunner frowned and glanced at Rigger then Boone. “The fourth is Luther Oliver.”
She shook her head slowly. “That’s not my father. It may be a Luther Oliver but it’s not the man I know.”
Rigger turned to his laptop and began typing, a few minutes later, he turned the laptop around and there were several more DMV photos on the screen.
Brinn studied every one of them but when she reached the end, she looked up and shook her head. “He’s not there either.”
Rigger glanced over at Gunner and shook his head. “These are the only Luther Oliver’s in Texas.”
Brinn peered up at Moose. “I don’t understand.” Shaking her head, she looked at the photos again. “None of them are the man my mom and I lived with for ten years.”
Moose turned his head toward Gunner and Boone. “Then who is this guy?”
“That’s a very good question, isn’t it?” Gunner stated.
Ivy Blue came up to the table and nodded at Gunner. “Cobra just texted me and said they would be here in twenty minutes. He wanted me to let you guys know.”
Gunner nodded. “Thank you, darlin.”
Gunner glanced over at Moose, “Maybe he will know more by the time he gets here.” Raking his hands through his hair he told them, “We sent a copy of the conversation Brinn told us before and he wanted to talk to her. Cotton seems to know more about Laredo than we do, maybe between the two of them, they can give us a better picture of what’s really going on there.”
Just then, DeeDee brought out a carafe of coffee, cups and a plate or two of danishes.
Moose poured two cups of the hot brew, gave one to Brinn, and kept the other for himself.
Brinn sipped the hot brew and groaned as it was unusually good coffee. She relaxed a bit more and just sat close to Moose.
Fifteen minutes later, the front door opened a group of men came in.
Seven of them altogether and each one more intimidating than the next.
The last man who entered made Brinn gasp slightly and she lowered her head, so she didn’t have to look at him.
Moose noticed her actions and looked up to view the man who had just arrived. He knew all of them well. He glanced over at Gunner and caught his eyes.
Gunner had noticed her actions as well, got to his feet and held out his hand to Python and Cobra. He noticed Cotton was there along with Pops, GTO, Whiskey and there was a seventh man he didn’t know. That was the man Brinn seemed to be avoiding. Finally, he turned to Python, “Who’s the new guy?”
Brinn pulled down Moose’s head to whisper in his ear, “He’s one of Luther’s crew.”
Moose surged to his feet to stand between her and the new guy. He reached for his weapon and growled, “Who the fuck are you?”
The new guy slowly held up his hands. “Whoa there. Cotton, tell them who I am before this giant shoots me, please.”
Cotton held out his own hands and said, “Whoa everybody, cool your jets. His name is Joey Hill. And yeah, he was one of Luther’s crew but he’s also a plant for our side.”
“How is that possible?” Moose growled. “And if he knew what was happening, why did he let it go on? Luther sold his
own daughter to the cartel.”
Joey snapped his head over to look at Brinn. “He did what?”
“You didn’t know?” she asked, confused.
Joey shook his head. “No, I did not. That fucker never told us anything about why you weren’t there anymore.” He looked over at Cotton. “I know he’s been drinking more and he’s been out of it a lot more but I never would have guessed this. “Well, shit,” he said then ran his hands through his hair. “Some of us have been thinking there’s more going on that he isn’t sharing and if he sold her, maybe there have been others.”
“There have been at least four maybe five women who have disappeared from Laredo in recent months,” Brinn told them.
Joey nodded. “We’ve been hearing that too. We just didn’t know he was involved in that shit.”
Brinn lowered her head and asked, “Where do you think I’ve been for the last week or so?”
“Luther told us you were sick.” Joey growled. “Some of us didn’t believe him as he’s been known to get violent when he’s drunk or high. We’ve been waiting for you to show up again.”
Cotton stepped up and told them, “Joey has been able to get some pictures of some of the men around town. We’re hoping to ID the players in this game. Maybe between the two of you... we can identify who’s who.”
Joey offered up his phone.
Rigger took it to download the pictures he had. He began printing them out and soon, they spread all the pictures out on the table.
Brinn began looking them over. She identified Jose, Jax and Martin and then with a trembling hand she pointed at one of the other photos. She looked at Moose and whispered, “That’s Luther.”
Rigger looked at the photo and began typing on his keyboard. He was running a facial recognition program he had on the photo. The program reconstructed the face with the different components of the eyes, the cheek bones, the eye brows, the nose and the mouth. The final scan it did was the shape of the face and the hairline.
The program began running faces through, looking for the one face and name that would match all the markers.
Gunner looked at Joey for a moment then asked, “So how did you become one of Cotton’s men if you were working for this Luther guy? The two just don’t mesh.”
“I started working for Luther ten years ago,” Joey explained. “At first, the money was good and we weren’t doing anything all that bad. I mean we were running drugs and guns but so was everyone else. Then Brinn and her mom moved in with Luther and things began to ramp up. About seven years ago, the big boss came in and got the factions organized. That’s when things changed dramatically. Luther himself changed. He became more secretive and evasive. He began giving his squad more of the responsibility of being out on the streets. It was like he went into hiding.”
“Why do you think that?” Python asked with a frown.
“He didn’t want to be seen?” Joey shrugged. “Who he didn’t want to be seen by was never made clear but he was truly the one in charge, at any rate.”
Rigger watched as the program began putting Luther’s face back together again feature by feature but this Luther was a much younger man. His greying hair wasn’t grey in this picture, nor were there any lines in his forehead or around his mouth like there were now.
When the face was complete, Rigger looked up at Gunner and the others. “We have a name and it isn’t Luther Oliver, boss.” He turned the laptop around to show everyone the final results.
Brinn gasped and began to tremble. She looked up at Moose, “That was him, ten years ago.”
“What is his real name?” Python wanted to know.
“This program gives him the name of Cristo London,” Rigger announced to the room.
Joey swore under his breath. “Fucking hell, no wonder he didn’t want anyone to know who he was.”
Cobra turned to stare at Joey. “What do you know about him that we don’t?”
Joey shook his head. “It was rumored fifteen years ago that a man with the name Cristo London assassinated the leader of the Brago cartel in Mexico. That would have been Luis, Francisco and Angel’s own father Luis Emmanuel Brago Senior himself. We also heard that Brago’s wife Marga was caught in the crossfire and she died a few days later from her injuries.”
“Well, fuck a duck,” Gunner swore.
Chapter Five
Gunner and Python glared at Brinn and Joey.
“Find a seat you two,” Python ordered. “We need to know everything the two of you know about this bastard. Whether his name is Cristo London or Luther Oliver, I don’t really give a shit.”
Gunner motioned toward the table. “The two of you have personal knowledge of what’s going on in Laredo and we don’t.”
Moose sat back down and Brinn surprised him by sitting down on his lap. He grinned and wrapped her in his embrace.
Joey sat down across from her and glanced at the pair of them. He seemed to study them intently and Moose wondered why. His eyes sought out Gunner’s.
Gunner turned his head to check out Joey.
Python sat down and glared at Joey. “So, tell us what you know about the Rebel Runners.”
Joey quickly glanced over at Brinn then his eyes went back to Python. He ran his hands over the top of his head and blew out a deep breath. “The Rebels huh? She told you about them?”
“Why wouldn’t she tell us?” Gunner wanted to know. “Is it some secret society or something?”
“Something like that,” he grumbled.
“It’s kind of like a fight club, you know it, they know it but it’s something that isn’t spoken about,” Brinn admitted, then she shrugged. “I dared to talk about it.”
Moose glared at the other man. “Well, she’s under our protection now, so she’s off limits to you and your other friends, capiche?”
Joey inhaled deeply, let his breath out and then nodded. “Yeah, I hear ya, man .”
“How did you get out of the city?” Brinn suddenly asked. “Luther usually has you guys stay closer to home than this.”
Joey snorted. “Yeah, he usually does, but he’s been out of it again for the last few days, remember?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Brinn reminded them all. “I haven’t been there for a week.”
Python stared at Joey. “You still haven’t said anything about the inner workings of the city.”
Joey rubbed the back of his neck trying to put off his answer until he could come up with something that wouldn’t give the whole game away. But he hesitated too long.
“He’s afraid to talk about the fight club,” Brinn told the men sitting at the table.
Joey whipped his head up to glare at her. “If you knew the truth, you might be afraid too.”
“Joey,” Cotton snapped. “You playing us against them? Boy, that’s a dangerous game to be playing. Especially, with this group.”
Brinn glanced over at Joey then she remembered something, “Wait, I think it’s because he’s got a girlfriend in Laredo.”
Joey hung his head. “My girlfriend is pregnant. Craylon knows it too. If I don’t come back, he’ll for sure kill her and my unborn child. He’ll make her an example without even blinking an eye, he’s just that evil.”
“Sucks to be you, don’t it boy?” Python growled. “You should have come clean to us long before now.”
“Do they know about us?” Cobra snarled. “Are they waiting to ambush us?”
“No, not yet,” Joey admitted. “But Craylon is expecting info when I get back.”
“Who says you’re going back?” Python’s hands fisted tight.
Joey looked into Python’s gaze and paled at the expression on his face. “My girl and baby are dead if I don’t go back. I don’t care about what you do to me but you can’t let them kill my family.”
“We aren’t the ones who are gonna get her killed son.” Python shook his head. “You did that all on your own.”
“Tell us what we want to know and we’ll try to get her out before it all goes to h
ell,” Cobra demanded.
“Who’s the man in the fifth section?” Gunner wanted to know.
Joey shook his head. “I’m not high enough in the food chain to know that. I don’t even know if Craylon knows who he is.”
“What about Luther?” Gunner asked. “Does he know?”
Joey nodded. “Yeah, the mystery man called in all the faction leaders. Luther had no choice but to go and meet him. He came back shook up to hell.”
“That was when he lost it and he began drinking heavily,” Brinn picked up the story. “He wasn’t a pleasant man to be around.”
“You think he was bad at home?” Joey snorted. “You didn’t see him around the men he worked with then. He made us go out on the streets and told us to make the people fear us. Some of the men took that to heart and they made living on the west side pure hell for a lot of the people.”
“What other changes have there been recently?” Boone inquired. “Has there been anything new in the last two weeks?”
Joey nodded. “Oh yeah, the streets are buzzing with tension. No one knows why and many are freaked out. A few of the businesses are packing up and trying to get out.” He shrugged. “Craylon is clamping down on them and by that I mean he’s not letting them go but fear is spreading in every territory. The other leaders are clamping down too.”
“Is that why Craylon let you come to us?” Cotton wanted to know.
Joey nodded. “He was hoping I could bring back some information that would explain it all.”
“What are his plans to take over for Luther?” Python questioned.
“He’s planning a coup, plain and simple.” Joey shrugged. “I do know he’s talking to the other leaders about taking over.”
“And the man in the middle of the city?” Python kept glaring at him.
“Craylon is hoping to get something on Luther that will turn the tide in his favor.” He shook his head. “He doesn’t care at this point what it is but Craylon wants the power and leadership position of the West side.” He looked at Brinn and said, “He doesn’t care who he has to kill or maim either. I think he found out something about you that he plans to use against Luther. He’s just been waiting for you to get better to put his plan into play.”