“Well, guess they don’t care. He knows because he is going.”
Dammit. I used the ‘Oh shit’ bar and hoisted myself up into the seat.
“Andretti?” Mace looked over at me.
“You know, Mario Andretti? The race car driver, Formula One—”
“I know who he is!” I interrupted him.
“Uh huh.” Mace looked in his mirror and then pulled out.
“Oh, shut up and drive!”
Chapter Nine
Ranger
We waited down the block from the 8-3-0’s clubhouse, which was a dilapidated building that sat between a couple of the storage places people could rent, for the other ten teams to check in. Once everyone was in place, then we would be on the move.
I turned and looked at the vehicle that was parked behind our SUV. I didn’t want her here for this because a thousand things could go wrong. But just looking at her made me relax. That and the fact she was ordered to stay in the vehicle with Mace by the captain didn’t hurt either. And that was saying something considering what we were about to do.
I’d tried to call her when I was getting my gear together but she either ignored my call or she hadn’t even looked at her phone. Mace’s truck pulled up at the meeting spot and I had every intention of yelling at her for not answering the damn phone until she stepped down out of the vehicle. Her hair was pulled back in a small ponytail, she wore a plain ballcap, t-shirt, and jeans that hugged hips. Her DA prosecutor badge was on the belt she had on but what completed the picture of ‘I’m a badass’ was the gun she had holstered at her waist. I don’t know why because it wasn’t like I had never seen her in casual clothes, hell, I’d seen her in sweats. But when she’d walked up to the captain and asked what the plan was, she was all business and didn’t give me a second glance.
The crackle of the captain’s radio had me turning back around in my seat and listening as the teams started to check off. Nine had checked in one after the other and with us made ten, one more to wait for. Fifteen minutes went by before the last team checked in.
“What the hell took you so long? You had one of the closest locations,” the captain grumbled into the radio.
“Sorry, Captain, blew a tire a block after we pulled out from the meet up spot,” an officer said back. The captain cussed under his breath.
“Everyone ready now?” the captain said in the radio and ten yeses came back. “Wait to go on my word. And good luck to everyone. Keep alert and let’s all make it back to the precinct. Happy hunting,” the captain looked at Briggs and I, “Ready?” We nodded and then he yelled into the radio. “Go! Go! Go!” The captain would stay with Maria and Mace until the all clear was given.
We piled out of the vehicle and moved toward the clubhouse and split, some would go in the front door, and some would go in the back. When everyone was in position, we rushed the doors with our weapons drawn, the cracking of wood came across my earpiece. Shouts were heard and yelling as the 8-3-0 members tried to scatter. The homes and the clubhouse had been monitored since earlier this morning and we knew exactly who was where. The ones we wanted and several other members of the gang had never left the clubhouse after their party last night that hadn’t broken up until the early morning hours.
Eight members should have been present and accounted for but when the members were sitting on the floor against the wall with their hands cuffed behind their backs, we were one short. Two officers stood watch over them while Briggs, myself, and two other officers cleared each room, one by one. The place wasn’t that big, only one floor and a basement but when the door to it was opened there were no steps. After hitting the light switch by the door, a light turned on down below and you could see various pieces of furniture sitting around.
“They got a fucking shelter door outside somewhere,” Briggs said and turned to one of the other FBI agents and told him to get outside and start looking.
“Doesn’t look like no one is down there,” I said as we leaned in as far as we could and looked around. “We can check it out of we find this last asshole.”
We stepped into the kitchen in the back of the house and when we did we saw the one dart out of a door on the other side of a beat up fridge.
I took off with Briggs on my heels and when we hit the outside, Briggs’s man who was picking himself off the ground was pointing to the alley that ran behind this side of the block and the other.
“He turned right when he hit the alley,” the agent said as Briggs and I ran past.
When we turned into the alley we spotted him, he was almost to the end, and if he made it to the street our chance to apprehend him would be minimal at best, he knew the area and all the available spots to hide, we didn’t. I kicked it up a notch and so had Briggs but it wasn’t enough for us, he cut the corner at the end of the alley and he was on the side street.
Briggs and I hit the end of the alley and turned in the same direction and hoped we would be able to get a visual of him and the direction he was headed. The sound of a vehicle speeding down the street, followed by screeching tires had Briggs and I looking up just in time as an SUV spun in front of the gang member and came to a stop the same time as the passenger door flew open and Mace jumped out. The gang member tried to dodge but the big man was quick. As we ran toward them we watched Mace draw back his arm, bring it forward, and laid an uppercut on the gang member that probably rattled his brains, bringing him off his feet to land on his back several feet away from where Mace first hit him.
I stopped and so did Briggs who was a step behind me. Briggs took care of the thug while I walked around to the driver’s side just as the door opened and Maria jumped down out of the truck with a smile on her face.
“What are you doing, Maria? You were supposed to stay in the vehicle with Mace and wait until we told you it was clear,” I said and followed her around the vehicle to where the now handcuffed gang member laid before she answered.
“Mace and I were waiting and listening. When we heard one was on the run and the direction he was headed Mace told me to drive so he could jump out easily if we spotted him. And we spotted him as you can see,” she said with what I would call a look of ‘duh’.
“Will talk about this later.” I walked to Briggs as he pulled the guy off the ground to his feet.
“Let’s get him back with the others. Then we can take a look around in that basement, see if anything is down there besides furniture.”
“That works. Maybe by then we will hear something from the others.”
“Is it clear for me to come in?” Maria asked and I just looked at her.
“Would it matter if I said no?” Her eyes squinted at me.
“You can’t keep me out of this, Detective. I am going to get the evidence to nail this scum.” She turned and walked back to the SUV and got in the passenger side. “Are you coming, Mace, or should I drive?” Mace looked at me and shook his head then went around the vehicle and got in. They headed in the direction of the clubhouse just as the van to haul the prisoners was headed toward us. It stopped and Briggs started to lead the suspect toward it.
“Man, you got your hands full there, Detective.”
“Shut up, Briggs.”
Briggs shoved the gang member in the back of the van without another word and jumped in the van. I walked to the other side and did the same.
We reached the clubhouse and found the captain, Maria, and Mace standing in the front room, talking with the handcuffed men. Briggs added our man to the mix.
“No one wants to give up their name. That’s fine. What are the officers going to find in the basement?” The captain continued to ask questions and not one of the men answered. They sat on the floor up against the wall and stared straight ahead.
I watched Maria as the captain asked question after question and the anxiousness to get involved was palpable in her body language. The officers who had been in the basement walked in and reported the only items found down there was furniture, fridge with beer in it, and a TV mounted
on the wall. The rest of the house had cleared too, leaving us only with the guns that were present in the front room when he had busted in.
The captain turned to Maria. “Anything else we should check for?”
Maria didn’t look at my captain when she spoke, “No, Captain, we got enough to haul them in on. Every one of them is a felon and not allowed to be possession of a firearm. Not including what’s found at the other places.” The officers along with the couple of agents pulled the men to their feet, readying to walk them out the door into the van when one of the men picked up on her statement and mumbled in Spanish so low I couldn’t make out the words but Maria hadn’t had the same problem nor had Mace, because the big man stepped forward and Maria put out her arm and her hand landed on his stomach. Mace looked down at her and she shook her head no and stepped toward the man who had spoken.
“Do you talk to your mother with that mouth? I bet you don’t tell her to go fuck herself.” If looks could kill, the one Maria received would have done the job just fine. “Captain, they are all yours for the time being. They will deal with me soon enough.” She turned to Mace. “Ready? I have charges to bring.” Mace didn’t answer, he just fell into step with her.
“Punta!” the man who had spoken before yelled and the officer who was in charge of leading him out told him to be quiet.
Maria stopped and turned to face the man again. “Be more original, whore is such an overused word.” Every man in the room watched her walk to the door and she never missed a step as she spoke over her shoulder. “Miguel?” She used the man’s name, her way to show him that she knew he was the leader of 8-3-0 even though he wouldn’t give his name. “When they take you outside, look around the neighborhood, because when I get done, the only way you will see it is in pictures,” Maria finished and walked out the door.
It hadn’t taken long after Maria left to load the suspects and be on the way back ourselves. I was anxious to learn if the other warrants had turned up anything valuable.
Chapter Ten
Maria
I smiled as I walked out to the ‘Stang, hell I wanted to skip and yell, maybe do a little dance because finally, fucking finally things were going our way. Now, I just needed to get an ID if possible and we were cruising. Which meant, I was on my way to the hospital to see Falon as well as Petal if I caught her before going to work, if not, it looked like I was going to need to go to Slinging Ink.
As I hit the parking lot and began walking to the car I heard someone yelling, I turned and frowned but then realized who I was looking at so I turned back and walked to the car slightly quicker. The families were showing up to throw attitude I was sure, which meant a long night for the police station. The only thing that did suck was the little fuckers had not torched my house, or if they did they were smart, which I totally do not believe.
Pulling out of the parking lot I saw several men standing there staring at the car, now at me. One of them hit the other one, and I wanted to roll my eyes. Yeah, they were the ones just yelling. One of them held up a hand and made a gun with his fingers and then pulled the trigger and he laughed. Fuck him, I thought and kept driving, they were not going to intimidate me anymore, the fuckers.
As I drove I thought about the day, it was a success, but there was a long road ahead, prosecuting could take years for this. Would Ranger finally let that go, I wondered. The ride to the hospital was filled with these thoughts, so much so I didn’t even realize that Mace was in back of me. Shit, I should have just ridden with him to the hospital. Well, I couldn’t leave Kink’s car at work, if anything happened to it, yeah, I would run and hide.
When I finally arrived, Mace, his normal cheery self, joined me a step behind and looked around, this was going to get old really quick. Today I understood but if I had to put up with him for more than a few days, I was gonna kill him.
“Gun,” he muttered and this was why. I had a license to carry, I had a badge, and still at every opportunity he tried to take my gun away. Why did he think we were assigned one? Duh, I knew how to use it as well, and the thoughts of shooting him in the foot were running rampant through my head. “Maria, gun.”
I stopped and snapped. “Mace, it is my gun, it is in the car, I am not stupid.”
Mace glared at her and nodded then continued to walk one step behind me as we entered the hospital. By the time we got to Falon’s room I was ready to hit someone until I heard Falon’s voice, which to be honest I was happy about even though he sounded irritated.
“Oh my God, woman, I was shot, I did not have my legs cut off, or my arms.”
“Stop being a pussy, the nurse said you needed to stay elevated for as long as possible.” I heard Mel snap.
“Why are you even here? I am pretty sure my mom will be here soon,” Falon growled and I walked into the room and laughed at what I was seeing. Mel was standing next to the bed trying to keep him raised up, while Falon had the controller trying to lower himself.
“Well then, you are getting back to normal.” I laughed and both turned to me and glared. I wanted to laugh, I mean, did they not see what was going on right in front of them.
“No,” Falon said and laid back. “I hurt, I have been shot, dammit, and Tila the Hun here thinks she is in charge of my care. I need a soft hand, I need affection. Come here, honey, and give me some love.”
I rolled my eyes then walked to Falon’s side of the bed, leaned over and kissed him. “I am glad you are not dead.”
Falon sighed and said, “I know, but I would have gone out a hero, right? Petal seems to think she is my protector now, instead of the other way around, and she got tied up at work and sent HER to take care of me in her stead.”
I laughed at his drama. Mel smirked as she hit the button and raised him up until he was sitting and then he moaned. “Fuck, woman, did you not hear me say that hurts like a bitch.”
“Yeah I did, pussy, but the nurse wants you up to clear out your lungs, so suck that shit up,” Mel said, dropping the remote to the table out of his reach and then walked to the chair and sat down. “Now, play nice with your friends and maybe I will order you some red jello for dinner.”
“My God, Maria, call Ma and tell her to come and save me,” Falon snapped and I grinned and shook my head.
“Sorry can’t do that, self-preservation is kicking in, and if she comes, then my mom comes, and Mrs. Maddie, and Velma, pretty sure at this point, we should just duck and cover and hope they can’t find us,” I said dryly and Falon smiled.
“Awww, are they bugging you again to settle down?”
I snorted. “No, they are just being them which means because my house burned down they think I need protecting.”
Falon got serious and he said, “Ree,” he was the only one who still called me that, after all these years, I totally forgot the nickname they gave me when I was younger. “I heard about it, and those fuckers are nasty, and by that I mean you should not fuck with them.”
I shook my head. “Too late for that, we served warrants and arrested a bunch of them today. Which is why I am here, and why I am going to see Petal as well. I have some pictures; I need to know if you can ID any of them. I read the report, it said you may have caught a good look at the driver at least.”
Falon stared at her, when he wasn’t smiling, he was intense, and you could see all the bravado he put forward to be annoying and funny was just that, a front. Out of all the O’Malleys he was the one people overlooked, just the same as me. It was something we had in common, which meant growing up, Falon and I would team up together all the time. So, he was the only one who called me Ree, and he was the only one I ever allowed to call me Ree. One time Tony said it and I bit his head off, he never tried again.
“Shit, Ree,” Falon said and then looked down at himself. “Do you think they are going to let you just create havoc in their gang and walk away. I am proof positive that they will not.”
“One of them shot Ranger’s wife,” I said grimly and Falon’s head jerked up and stared at me a
nd then his eyes swung to Mel who was sitting there calmly, not looking a bit surprised, which meant someone had briefed her.
“Are you kidding me? You have been here an hour and you said nothing was new. I distinctly remember telling you goddammit, if something was going down, you tell me. I will not sit in here and wait for one of these fuckers to come after my family again. We have a lot of shit going down and we do not need anyone else in their crosshairs,” Falon growled and then reached down and grabbed the IV in his arm and pulled it out.
“Shit,” I cried and grabbed his arms and said, “what the hell are you doing? You were just shot.”
“And I am fine, so I am getting my ass outta here, and I will prop my ass wherever I need to prop it in order to make sure no one else gets fucking hurt,” he yelled and Mel’s eyes got big, she hadn’t seen this side of him. Falon had always been the goof, the funny guy, but right now, he was straight up a pissed off O’Malley who was going to do what he wanted to do.”
“No,” I snapped and pushed the button for the nurse. “You are going to sit there and be a good patient, take your meds, heal and then you can be the badass you need to be.”
A nurse ran in the room and I stepped back as she lectured Falon. Good, someone needed to. I looked at Mace who was calmly standing there looking at Falon with respect, while Mel looked shocked and surprised. Damn that male badass gene.
It took a minute but the nurse finally got the IV back in, and Falon settled, and she warned all of us that if Falon did it again she was getting out the straps.
“Okay, doorknob,” I said and pulled a group of pictures out of my briefcase and plopped them on the small table. “Take a look at these and tell me if you recognize anyone.”
Falon grumbled and then picked up the pictures and flipped through them. He did it once quickly, then slower, and when he got the picture of the man I suspected had shot him he shocked me and said, “The driver.”
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