Page 75 of Cognac Secrets

“We can be sad for everybody,” I said. “We can just be sad tonight.”

She looked at me and nodded, and I wondered where Bennie was, and if he was doing alright.

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

Bennie…

We crowded around LaCroix’s small dining room table inside the tiny house cabin on his barge. We didn’t get any signal out here, but still, our phones were all off and stuffed inside a mylar signal blocking bag. We didn’t take any chances. You couldn’t when you got to talking cold blooded murder, which was certainly what was on the menu tonight.

“This goes way beyond just a beef over a few poached gator lines,” Hex drawled after we’d been called to order and had sat for a time in silence, waiting for someone else to break it. I mean, shit – there was both so much and so little left to say about all this.

“No shit,” Chainsaw said leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms.

“I ain’t never seen this kind a thing over gator lines,” Cypress confessed.

“So, what’s the big fucking deal?” Saint asked and we all sat with the question which wasn’t quite rhetorical, but had the feel of being rhetorical anyway given that not a damn one of us had the answer to that and we all wanted to fucking know.

“All I know is the peace, love, and understanding route we’ve been trying to take isn’t doing shit fuck all for us and it just got one of our crew perished…” Axe didn’t sound angry. He sounded calm and almost bored.

“We blew up their main fuckin’ hang out, ain’t much ‘peace love and under-fucking-standing aboutthat,” Saint said and Collier snorted.

“Got that right,” Col said.

“They didn’t take the warning,” LaCroix said. “All bets are off.”

“So what now?” I asked.

“Eye for an eye?” Saint asked, looking to Hex – who was generally the man with all the plans.

Hex sighed, “Ah-yeah,” he said. “But it needs to be more ‘n that, I reckon. We need t’ know the fuckin’whyof all this.”

“Torture?” Axeman asked, perking up and Saint muttered, “Fucking psycho.”

“First things first,” LaCroix said. “We gotta find one of ‘em and get ‘im to where we can ask our questions.”

“That’s not a problem for tonight,” Hex declared. “That’s a problem for a well-rested mind to work on and break down. Right now, emotions are runnin’ more ‘n a little high, boys. That’s when mistakes happen. We can’t afford to make any fuckin’ mistakes.”

“Anymoremistakes,” Axe said.

“You challenging me?” LaCroix asked, fixing the wiry man with those creepy blacked out eyes of his.

“Fuck no!” Axe declared.

“Then keep your fuckin’ opinions to yourself,” LaCroix barked back. “We ain’t got time for this. That’s what these motherfuckers want, a break in the chain, a weak fuckin’ link in our ranks – don’t fuckin’ be that.”

Axe looked pissed, but didn’t fuckin’ say a word. He knew LaCroix was right.

“We tried this my way,” Hex said with a sigh. “Now we do it yours.”

LaCroix nodded.

“They had their chance,” Chainsaw said staring sightlessly off into nowhere.

“Only chance we give them now is to die,” I affirmed.

“Somebody find me some liquor, so I can drink to that,” Hex said.

“I think we all need a fuckin’ drink,” Saint said.

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