Page 28 of Unbreakable
"Demetri," I return, "all this mine?" I asked gesturing to the twelve crates stacked behind him.
"Yes. I have everything Quinn requested. I have to say I do like his taste."
"Fuckin' Quinn," I mutter under my breath and that earns a few snickers from Logan and Gabriel. "Let's open these up and see what we got."
Using a drill Victor opens the first crate. When I peer inside, I can't hold back my bark of laughter. "That little shit."
"What we got, Prez?" Logan asks coming up beside me. "Hell, fuckin' yeah. This is what I'm talkin' about," he says pulling an M79 40mm Grenade Launcher from the container and I grab one as well.
"Is the plan still the same?" Demetri asks, bringing me out of my analysis of the M79.
"Yes, my original plan is still on course," I affirm placing the weapon back in the crate.
"Prez, I want you to reconsider lettin' me in on this," Gabriel argues. "I don't like you going in without me havin' your back."
I give Gabriel my full attention. "I'm not changin' my mind on this one, son. I pulled Demetri and his men in on this for a reason. You and Logan are to stay in Polson with our family. I'm countin' on you all to keep everyone here safe. The club has never gone up against an organization as big as the De Burcas' and no way am I leavin' our women and children unprotected. Should things not go as planned I will not be responsible for leaving those woman and children without husbands and fathers. You got me, son?"
Running his tattooed hand through his hair, Gabriel sighs, "Yeah Prez, I got ya."
Later that nightI'm woken up by the sound of someone banging on my front door. Knifing up in bed my body is on high alert. Peering at the clock on the table next to the bed, I see it's 1:00 am.Who the fuck would be knocking on my door at this time?Must be one of my brothers. By the persistent pounding, my guess is whatever it is that has them at my house is not good.
Getting out of bed, I snatch my jeans off the bedroom floor and tug them on. "Who is it, Jake?" Grace's sleep filled voice asks with concern. "Go back to sleep, baby. It's probably one of the guys."
Grace studies the clock and sits up a little straighter. "It's 1:00 am in the morning, Jake. Something must be wrong," she says getting up and making her way into the closet and throwing on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
Knowing how stubborn my woman is, I don't argue with her as she follows me out of the bedroom and down the hall toward the front door. On the way, we pass Remi who is standing at the end of the hallway by her room. "Mom, what's going on?"
At Remi's weary voice Grace heads straight for her daughter. Giving Grace and Remi a reassuring smile, I continue my trek to the front of the house. Punching my code into the alarm panel, I swing the door open and bark, "You better have a good fuckin' reason for bangin' on my door at 1:00 am, brother," I tell a stone-faced Bennett. When I see Lisa standing behind him on my porch, I get a dreaded feelin' in my gut.
"What happened?"
"The garage is on fire, Jake."
"What the fuck? What the hell happened?" I ask over my shoulder while picking up my boots that were sitting by the front door and pull them on; then I grab my cut and keys hangin' on the hook.
"I don't know what happened, Prez. Logan called me. He said he got a call from the alarm company. Logan told me to get my ass over here. He said you weren't answering your phone. Logan, Gabriel, and all the other guys are headed there now."
I turn to Grace. "You stay here. I need to go deal with this shit," then turn to Bennett and Lisa, "Will you two stay here with Grace and Remi?"
"No!" Grace rushes out. "I'm going with."
"No fuckin' way, babe. It's too dangerous. I want you here with Bennett." But as she goes about lacing up her tennis shoes, I know there will be no arguing.
"Fuck," I growl under my breath. "Bennett, will you and Lisa stay with Remi?"
Lisa answers, "Of course we will."
Grace rushes back over to her daughter and whispers something in her ear, and Remi nods hugging her mom.
Hopping in my truck, I peel out of the driveway and head towards the garage. We are a mile away from Kings Custom, and I can already see the smoke and flames. "Son of a bitch!" I curse and pound my hand on the steering wheel. The same time Grace gasps from the passenger seat and covers her mouth with her hand. When the garage comes into full view, we're met with two fire trucks and several police cars. Parking next to one of the squad cars, I take Grace's hand in mine and motion for her to slide out of the truck on my side. "Stay close to me, baby."
Rounding the hood of my truck, I'm met with Logan, Gabriel, Reid, and Quinn. My boys look tired as fuck, and the look in Logan's eyes is one of defeat but also suspicion. "Do any of you know what the hell happened here?"
"Fuck, Prez. No clue," Logan says. "By the time I got the call from the alarm company and got here, the whole fuckin' place was ablaze. Everything is gone, Jake. Fuck," he says running his hand down his face and hangs his head.
Several hours have passed, and the only thing the guys and I can do is watch as Kings Custom burns to the ground. Fifty-five years of Delane history--of my life gone in a matter of hours.
"Are you Jake Delane?" A man in a fire suit asks me.
