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“You sure it was Mad Max?” he asks.
I nod. “Evanee said he was wearing the VP patch.”
That pisses him off. “Crip just crossed another fucking line, messing with the vet. He’s already on notice for kidnapping Coyote’s sisters. Don’t know why he thinks he should keep pokin’ us.”
“About that,” Joker says, then tells everyone his theory about Dino’s involvement.
Hangman punches the tabletop. “That’s just like Crip, to risk the life of someone else for his own fuckin’ purposes.”
There’s a silence in the room as we process Hangman’s lack of self-awareness.
He notices and gets defensive. “I might ask you fuckers to go in shooting, but I don’t send you in the back door so you can intentionally get picked up by the Blackbeards. That’s too fucking risky. Look what happened to Dino.”
No one reminds him that we didn’t really kill Dino through violence. Neglect certainly, but other than me roughing him up back at the brothel, we never touched him.
Joker, bein’ the diplomat, soothes the prez. “Yeah. We have a code of ethics that we live by.”
“And fucking morals,” Hangman adds as several of us exchange amused glances. “But that don’t solve the Blackbeard problem. I would’ve figured they’d be keeping their heads down, waiting for us to retaliate.”
Rocky leans back in his chair and stretches his back. “Hassling our women or sending in some fuck to get caught by us ain’t exactly gunning for us.”
“We’re not as stupid as Crip or the idiots he’s got in his club. Maybe this is what he thinks is retaliation,” Reaper says.
Most of us nod even though Crip ain’t all that stupid. Mercenary, yeah, but we shouldn’t underestimate him.
“Rocky’s right. The Dino thing seems too mild for payback. Same with the vet. No violence, just mind games,” Joker says.
“Fuckin’ mind games,” Hangman blusters. “We can play too. He wants to get back what’s his, we’ll give it to him in a fucking body bag.”
The horse problem don’t settle Hangman down. “What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” he snarls.
“Cops cited Evanee for keeping a horse out back,” I tell him. “Says they’ll euthanize her if she doesn’t move it in 24 hours.”
“Euthanize the vet?” Hangman squeezes his eyes shut as he tugs on his beard. “They can’t fuckin’ do that for keepin’ a horse.”
Sure I explained it badly, but Hangman’s not that dense, so I know the bullshit is getting to him. Some of the guys suppress their laughter and I get ready to duck. “Put the horse down, not Evanee.”
“So the fuck what?” Hangman bellows. I didn’t expect he’d sympathize, but he ain’t the kind of guy who kicks dogs.
Joker intervenes. “The cops targeted Trigger’s woman deliberately, so someone ratted her out and that isn’t a thing we can put up with, especially since we invested in the vet shop. Unlikely Jackson is acting on his own. He doesn’t have the balls. Someone put him up to it.”
Jackson, the captain of the local police, don’t mind lining his pockets with our dough.
“And,” I add, “Evanee will literally shoot my nuts off if I let her horse get killed.”
Of course, this causes a round of laughter from everyone but Prez.
Jawbone takes a gulp of air and manages to say, “So what’s the solution, Trig? Where you gonna take the horse?”
I may as well get it over with. “Here I thought. We got a big back yard. Kids will love it.”
“Fuck that,” Mothman says like he has a say. “The horse will shit all over the yard.”
“We’ll build it a corral.” I tell him, thinking on my feet. “The kids can feed it and pick up the shit. It’d do ‘em good to have some chores. Teach them responsibility.”
Rocky rolls his eyes. “He moves into a townhouse so now he’s an expert on parenting.”
I give him the finger.
