Page 73 of Devil's Marker

“You don’t want him back?”

“Depends on the price.”

“I figured you’d say somethin’ like that.” Boss turned to the Marauders. “They don’t seem to think much of the concept of loyalty.”

Cue shook his head with disdain.

“No. We weren’t countin’ on you to care about your members. We are, however, countin’ on you carin’ something about your womenfolk.”

Dredge looked confused. “Womenfolk,” he repeated.

“Even scum like you have somebody they care about. Usually.’”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“What’s it mean?” Boss seemed to be giving that some thought. He reached inside his cut where he’d had Bertalia attach several sheets of trifolded paper. As everyone looked on, he unfolded the paper and said, “Well, let’s see here. Choc.” One of the S&B looked up. “That you?” Boss glanced down at the paper again. “Yeah. That’s you. Got a niece named Scarlett.” Boss looked at his men. “That’s cute. Like Gone With The Wind. Seventeen years old. She’s not that cute, but the kind of men who want to play with captives aren’t all that picky.”

Choc stood up and looked overly excited. “What’ve you done?!?”

“Calm down. No worries. My people’ve got her. She’s safe and sound. For now.”

Choc’s face changed from panicked to sneering. “You don’t got shit.”

Boss held the man’s gaze without flinching. “Why don’t you call her mother?” Boss glanced down. “Ask your sister if she knows where Scarlett is.”

Choc stood up, pulled out his phone, stepped to the corner and held the phone to his ear.

In a few seconds everybody in the room could hear Choc talking. “You check around. Make sure she’s there. Call me back.”

Boss began going around Dredge’s table naming young family members one by one, claiming they were out of pocket. Finally he came to Dredge. “Claudia.” Dredge’s eyes flared. “You were in foster care with her? She’s kinda old for this sorta thing, but like I told Choc there, guys who are interested in raping girls taken as slaves aren’t all that particular.”

Pretty soon everybody at the S&B end of the room were on their phones frantically discussing the whereabouts of this person or that. Everybody except Dredge’s V.P., the guy Cue had described as tall and ugly. It turned out that Cue’s description had been kind.

Boss had gone back to eating. He turned to Roar. “Send some more of those fries down this way, would ya?”

After ten minutes of watching the Stars & Bars try unsuccessfully to prove that Boss was bluffing, they stood in a huddle at the far end of the room. Apparently Dredge told them to retake their seats because they all returned to the chairs they’d occupied prior to Boss’s revelation.

“What do you want?” Dredge said.

“Just what I told you at the Harley dealership last time we met. I want you and your friends gone for good. If you choose to leave right now, get on your bikes and head east, the women on this list will be returned unharmed. This will just serve as a reminder that you’re not the only one who can take people who mean somethin’ to somebody else.

“This is gonna serve as a reminder that Marauders have a far reach. We ever get wind that you’re backslidin’ into activities that involve takin’ people against their will? We know everything there is to know about you, your families, your associates, and your suppliers. Every one of them has somebody they want to keep safe. From now on that’s up to you.”

“We woulda moved on,” Dredge said. “My business model don’t call for stayin’ in one place too long.”

“Then why’d you fuck up one of my boys?”

“Just to send a message to stay outta our way.”

“A message. I got selective hearin’.”

“This is bullshit.” That came from the S&B V.P. who, undoubtedly, was speaking out of turn, but loose discipline in a club like S&B didn’t surprise Boss at all.

“Shut up,” Dredge growled. “We agree.”

“Very well,” said Boss. “Just to reiterate. You’re leaving right now. You’re not packin’ a bag or sayin’ goodbye to whores. You’ll be on the other side of Louisiana by mornin’. Is that your understandin’?”

“Yes,” said Dredge.

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