Page 21 of Unworthy Ties
Felix grunted, unconvinced. “Fine.”
The neon glow of the city cast long shadows as we pulled up to a known Viper Syndicate warehouse. The air was thick with the hum of the city, but the warehouse district was quiet, save for the distant thrum of a bass line from a club a few blocks over. Felix leaned back in his seat, eyes narrowed as he watched the building. “Are you sure this is the right place?” he asked, his voice low.
I nodded, my grip on the steering wheel tightening. “Yeah, this is where they were last seen. If Rex is here, he’ll pay for what he did.”
Felix snorted. “You’re really holding onto this grudge, huh? Over some bar incident?”
I shot him a glare. “We’re here to get answers. It’s just fortunate that we’ll finally be able to address that older… issue.”
He sighed, pushing open the door. “Fine, but if we get caught, I’m blaming you.”
The warehouse loomed before us, its metal walls gleaming faintly under the streetlights. We moved silently, our shoes crunching on gravel. The entrance was a heavy metal door, slightly ajar. I pushed it open, my heart pounding in my chest.
“If there’s too many of them, we leave,” I muttered to Felix.
Inside, the air was thick with the smell of grease and sweat. The sound of laughter echoed through the space, followed by the clink of bottles. “Sounds like they’re having a party,” Felix muttered, his hand resting on the knife at his belt. “But nothing we can’t handle.”
A small group of Vipers sat around a table, jokingly arguing amongst themselves over a game of poker. They were so drunk that Felix and I could have taken the front door and they wouldn’t have noticed.
I scanned the faces, looking for Rex, but he wasn’t among them. Still, these guys might know something about the stolen shipments. And they were Vipers—teaching them a lesson would send a message.
Felix and I exchanged a glance, silently communicating our plan. In one fluid motion, we moved. Felix grabbed the nearest Viper by the collar, yanking him backwards off his chair. I slammed my fist into another’s jaw, sending him sprawling.
The room erupted in chaos. Bottles shattered, chairs toppled, and shouts of alarm filled the air. The element of surprise gave us the advantage, but these Vipers weren’t pushovers. One of them, a burly man with a shaved head, lunged at me with a broken bottle. I ducked under his wild swing and drove my knee into his gut, hearing the air rush out of his lungs. As he doubled over, I brought my elbow down hard on the back of his neck, dropping him to the floor.
Felix was holding his own against two others, his fists flying in a blur. He caught one with a vicious uppercut that sent him reeling backwards, crashing into a stack of crates. The otherViper landed a glancing blow on Felix’s cheek, but my brother shrugged it off, retaliating with a swift combination that left his opponent dazed and stumbling.
I grabbed the last standing Viper by his leather jacket, slamming him against the wall. “We need to have a little chat.”
“Fuck you, man!” he said, trying and failing to knee me in the groin.
“Wrong answer.” I punched his eye so hard that his head snapped back and cracked against the concrete wall. He slumped in my grip, dazed but still conscious. “What is the relationship between the Salvaggio’s and The Vipers? And what do you know about their missing shipments?”
The Viper’s good eye darted around frantically, looking for help, but his buddies were all down for the count. Felix stood nearby, keeping watch and occasionally kicking one of the fallen bikers to make sure they stayed down.
“I-I don’t know nothin’ about no shipments,” the Viper stammered.
I slammed him against the wall again, harder this time. “Don’t lie to me. We have footage of your guys stealing Salvaggio shipments. Where’s Rex? Is he behind this?”
There were plenty of Vipers that could have been behind the heists. However, because of my past with Rex, my first instinct was to accuse him.
The Viper’s eyes widened at the mention of Rex. “Rex? No way, man. He ain’t got nothin’ to do with this. He’s been out of town for weeks.”
“Then who’s behind it? Talk,” I tightened my grip on his collar. “Or I’ll do worse than shove you into concrete.”
Felix flashed his knife at the man before driving it into one of the fallen men’s leather jackets, pinning it to the wooden floor. The Viper I was holding flinched at the sound.
“Shit, alright! All I know is that Sully’s involved. He’s been bragging about stealing from a Mafia Don.”
“Where can we find Sully?” I demanded, pressing the Viper harder against the wall.
The Viper’s eyes darted nervously between Felix and me. “Sully hangs out at The Rusty Nail, a bar at the edge of town. He’s there most nights.”
I released my grip slightly, considering this information. The Rusty Nail was a known Viper hangout, but it wasn’t their main base. Going there would be risky, but it might be our best shot at finding Sully and getting to the bottom of this.
“Thanks for the info,” I said, then slammed my fist into the Viper’s stomach. As he doubled over, gasping for air, I brought my knee up to connect with his face. He crumpled to the floor, joining his unconscious friends.
Felix whistled low. “Damn, bro. You’re not messing around tonight. Normally I’m the one fucking them up.”
