Page 85 of Hell & Back

“Not gonna need this anymore. You ready to get your vengeance?”

“Fucking A, I’m ready.” Chance bumped fists with him and moved to the side, giving him room to get Kylie through the crowd.

It took a little work, but he finally got her through. As soon as he hit the hall, it was smooth sailing. It was empty and it made him wonder if maybe he should have taken her straight to the building out back and saved himself from having to plow through all those people. It would’ve been a helluva lot easier.

Tuck was laughing as he caught up to them. “I’ve never seen so many large men in one room before. I hope like hell someone doesn’t start a fight. I don’t think our odds would be that great.”

Darren opened the back door and found Cutter heading their way. “Hey, Darren. Tuck. Kylie.” Was he smiling a little too brightly at Kylie? “Race texted and said I should come escort Kylie to the rec building.” He hitched his thumb over his shoulder where the old ladies and families already waited.

Tuck drew her attention as he said, “Okay, babe, you need to go with Cutter and we’ll come get you when we’re done.” He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

“Okay,” she replied.

Tuck stepped away several feet and waved for Cutter to follow him. Darren had no idea what they were talking about and he didn’t care. Tuck was giving him a minute with Kylie before the meeting and he appreciated it.

He cupped both his hands on her cheeks. “Unless Cutter or Miles gets a text from me telling them to bring you to your office, stay inside with the others.”

“Are you going to be okay?” She wrapped her small, delicate hands around his thick wrists.

“Yes. I’ll be fine. You’re just a text away.” He kissed her before he told her to go with Cutter. Once she was halfway across the space between the two buildings, he and Tuck went back inside. They nodded at Race when they returned. It was time to get things started.

A loud, ear piercing whistle split the air, bringing all eyes to the front of the room where Race stood with Chance, president of the Black Horsemen, and Preacher, he wasn’t sure what his men called him so he went with leader, of his group of mercenaries, on either side of him.

Darren and Tuck took a seat at a table with Maverick, Dagger, and Tulsa. The rest of the Sons were spread out at two other tables nearby. The rest of the tables and bar stools quickly filled and a few, mostly Preacher’s guys, found space against the wall. Race waited until everyone was quiet before he began.

“You all are here today because as a support group,” he glanced at Chance, “you’ve got our backs and Preacher,” he glanced at his brother-in-law, “is here because he has a similar interest in eradicating the cartel trying to get a foothold in Colorado that have been doing business with the Phantoms. We all want the same thing. To end the Phantoms and bust up the cartel’s foothold in our state, or at least our part of it.” Everyone slapped the table or stomped their foot in agreement. Race waited for things to quiet again. “Preacher has had men in Taos clocking their movements. He’s going to fill you in on what he discovered and then we’ll put a plan together. Preach.”

Preacher took a step forward to address the crowd. It was interesting to see him dressed in black cargo pants, black combat boots and a black long-sleeve shirt instead of his usual fancy suits. His hair, normally well-trimmed and styled, was actually free of product and looked like he’d been running his hands through it more than a few times. He even had a little five o’clock shadow.

“My men, Wallace, Wakefield and Jones, have all the information we need on where the cartel drops the drugs. It’s an old brick building in a deteriorating neighborhood in the south side of town. As you would imagine, it is full of vacant, rundown buildings and no one really cares what goes down there. The cops very rarely, if ever, patrol the area. My men have been tracking the cartel’s movements for some time and we know their schedule in regards to meeting up with the Phantoms. We know how many men from each group is sent to the exchange. We also know when the next delivery will be.”

“If you knew all this stuff already, why were we waiting?” Chance asked.

“You can never be too prepared. Things could change and I wanted to be prepared for them.” He scanned the room to see if anyone else had any questions. When no one else spoke up, he continued. “The next delivery is tomorrow night. The cartel always brings a truck with two men escorted by two other vehicles with two men each. They’re always fully armed. They stand back and watch the area as Crockett’s men unload the drugs.”

“Does Crockett and his man, RIP, go to these exchanges?” Darren asked. He was going with whichever team that allowed him to get his hands on those fuckers.

“Usually those two stay at the club. The only time we’ve seen them come to the meet was when someone important from the cartel is in town.”

Perfect.

Having answered Darren’s question, Preacher nodded at one of his guys and a projector screen lowered from the ceiling.

“When did we get a projector and a screen?” Tuck asked Maverick.

“Preacher brought it with him and had his guys install it. They’re leaving it here when they leave.”

“Cool.”

One of Preacher’s men opened a laptop and a picture of the warehouse and surrounding area came up on the screen.

“This is where the exchanges happen.” He pointed to an old brick building. It had two garage style doors in front with one regular door to the left of them. “These are the entries from the front.” He waited for the slide to change and pointed out all windows and the back door. The screen flipped through a few more pictures that had been taken as well as satellite images so they could all have a real time idea of what everything looked like. Darren was curious as to how Preacher got his hands on those. He must have some friends in high places.

Race took over from there. “Preacher will be in charge of taking down the drug house. He’ll take his men and half of the Horsemen. I’ll take the Sons and the other half of the Horsemen to take out the clubhouse. Not only have we been there recently, but we’ve got an ax to grind with those fuckers. We’ll leave Cutter and Miles here with two of the Horsemen and two of Preacher’s men.” He took a step forward, his expression mirroring how deadly serious he was about what he was about to say. “There will be no one left standing when we’re done. This ends now.”

That sounded like music to Darren’s ears.

Race’s announcement was met with resounding applause, boot stomps and “hell yeahs.”

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