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Pops
It’s been a week of lockdown and I’ve about had it. After the first 24 hours, Marx banned me from the pool table for hustling. Not my fault his men are shit at playing. The same goes for darts and foosball, which I’ve also been banned from. This place is a prison. On planet bullshit.
I take a swig of my beer and look around the room. The clubhouse is full tonight. Marx has ordered them all back for a break as everyone has been working nonstop and we seem no closer to taking this fucker down. My boys look relaxed on the couches, shooting the shit with Rider and Wire and a few of the other MC brothers. Chewy is frowning at her computer, sitting next to Katya, who is also frowning at hers. That whipped Rhodie is hanging around, delivering drinks and food to my grandbaby and I smirk to myself whilst I watch. That is my special girl, and I thought no one would be good enough for her, but even though I bust his balls, Rhodie treats her like a princess, and that’s all I could have hoped for.
Marx is scowling in the corner, so his usual setting, although I have noticed he seems almost pleasant when dealing with Chewy. It’s interesting watching how he deals with her quirks. Speaking of interesting, the Bartashev guy took me by surprise when he turned up with his husband. Nice enough folk considering they’re criminals and kill people for a living, but you can’t really hold that against them. Especially Lexi. She may come across as aloof, but now I’ve gotten to know her, she’s a wee sweetie and I’ve taken her under my wing. Or she has me under hers; it’s hard to say sometimes.
“What are you thinking about so hard over here, Pops?” Lexi flops down next to me on the loveseat and rests her head on my shoulder.
“Nothing much, Lexi girl, just thinking how freaking bored I am. This Kraykowski shit is a real ball ache.” She snorts at me before speaking.
“Well, I was dropping the eaves a little earlier and have since found out that Kraykowski is livid that his men keep either running or turning up dead. He’s also pissed because he had a team of goons taken out by my dad’s men when they tried to break into our apartment in the city. Oh, and according to what I overheard Wire telling Marx -” we look at each other and grin at that “- he has men routinely driving past the clubhouse watching us. Dark saloon car, comes by every half hour or so.” I stroke my chin and beard for a moment.
“Hmmmmm, it sounds like he’s getting sloppy and maybe a little impatient. Good work, Lexi girl. You keep the info coming and I’ll keep making you that special hot chocolate you like so much.” She grins at me before stating her terms.
“Or you can teach me some sweet moves. You know I’ve been trained by former Spesnatz and I’m good for most forms of bodily harm, but I need more subtle techniques. Like the ability to paralyze with the least amount of bodily damage,” I look down at her and remember why I’ve taken a shine to this kid. She’s Tuesday 2.0.
“Ok. Keep bringing me info like that and we’ll meet first thing tomorrow morning for a quick lesson, yeah?” She smiles big and hops up off the couch with far more energy and finesse than I’ve ever had. Whilst she flounces off to do some high-level lurking and listening, which I must say the kid is damn good at, I have a bit of a plan forming. I take another look around the room and everyone seems to be preoccupied. Heading up to my room, I grab everything I’ll need and even some stuff I may not. I wander back toward the common room but slide out the side door and head to the gates. The prospect, Richie, is on and he’s a nice kid and all, but if he was the sharpest tool in the shed, he’d be a hammer. Maybe I’ll suggest that as his road name if he ever patches in.
“Hey Pops, you know you’re not meant to be out here.”
“I know, kid, but I had a bit of an idea, so I’m gonna go do that.”
“Ah, you know I can’t let you do that. I can’t let anyone out or in. Prez’s orders. Head on back inside, yeah? If you need anything, I can get James to pick it up when he does the next town run.”
“Not gonna work for me, kid. This is something I have to do alone.” The whole time he’s been talking to me, I’ve been backing up to the fence on the far side of the guard shack, away from the front gate, and this dumbass has been following me the whole way. Once we are in the perfect spot, I handcuff him to the fence.
“Fuck Pops! Let me out! This is bullshit! What the hell are you doing anyway?!” He yells after me as I hit the opener and leave through the front gate. I turn back to the poor kid, give him my best smile and wink.
“I’m going to get myself kidnapped, young buck. Catch you on the rebound!”
And with that, I whistle as I wander off down the road, waiting for the black saloon car that’s going to stop by and give a kindly old man a ride to town.
Chapter 16
Gus
We’ve been at this for a week now, and it feels like we are no closer to getting this shit done. Tuesday and Katya have been trawling the dark web non-stop looking for any mention of Kraykowski and what seem to be his never-ending business deals. From what we know so far, he has slowly been gaining territory, squeezing innocent, hard-working people for protection costs from the men that he’s planted in their neighborhoods.
To begin with, we thought he was just a mid-level criminal until Tuesday, and Katya found out that his business has many levels. Can’t afford the protection costs this month? You’re taken away from your business and used as free labor in one of his other territories. That way, his slaves can’t access family and friends for help. Innocent men and women have been put to work in his drug operations or his brothels. Katya’s father, Ushakov, may have provided the capital to get Kraykowski started, and currently pays him well for other private work, however, it seems that Kraykowski may have plans to eliminate Ushakov completely. Especially with the intel that the girls have discovered. From emails they’ve hacked, it seems that things may not all be happy between the two.
I rub my hand down my face and look around the room. Everyone seems to be having some downtime and yet I feel wired.
“Marx, I’ve gotta get outta here for a bit. I know we’re on lockdown, but I need to take a break and think some shit through. Anything need doing in town?” Marx looks at me for a beat too long before nodding.
“Yeah, apparently Roman has an intel guy, Petrov. Old school, as in completely analog. He has a packet of information that we may need, dropped it at Roman’s home office. Roman doesn’t want anyone from his inner circle to deliver it to us, as he doesn’t want them compromised or hurt.” I raise an eyebrow at this. Surely working for the Bratva it’s a common occurrence to be compromised or hurt, especially after the attack on his city apartment, but who am I to judge?
“You want me to pick it up?” He looks at me before tipping his head.
“Yeah, but be careful. We don’t know what’s in the package or what we’re dealing with. Roman’s secretary is there guarding the information. According to him, she’s probably more dangerous than anyone that may want to get their hands on it.” I give him a nod and head towards the door.
I get his apprehension. Unlike him and a lot of his men, I don’t have a military background. What I have is a protective streak a mile wide. You don’t come out of what happened to my family unscathed. Since my parent’s death, it’s been my sole mission to keep my family and others safe. I look around for Pops to let him know I’m heading out, but I can’t see him in the common room, so perhaps he’s headed for an afternoon nap or something.
I give Tuesday a chin lift and nod my head towards the door. She sends me her signature goofy wave as I grab my keys and head out to my SUV. I see the prospect kid has already opened the gate for me, so I settle in for the hour-long drive.
Turning onto the tree-lined streets of the gated community, I key in the code that Roman texted me and nod to the security guard before driving past him. A glance around reveals many of the houses back onto sections of woodland, the perfect spot for attackers to hide out and gain access.
As I pull up to the second guard shack stationed at the entrance to Romans’ property, I keep my gaze on him while giving him my business. Marx told me that Roman had already informed his secretary of my arrival, so this should be smooth sailing, but something feels a little off with this guard. His gaze is darting around, and he seems jumpy. I can feel it creeping up the back of my neck and I need to keep an eye on my surroundings. He waves me through and I park in front of a sprawling mansion, admiring how much crime really does pay, before pressing the intercom and stating my name.
