End of story.
When I was strapped up, I joined the guys and Vivi in the main room, walking through a big ass cloud of cigarette smoke to get there. “We good to go?”
Vivi nodded, her sarcastic wit just the thing we all needed to keep us focused on what we had to do. “As long you’re ready to deep fry a cartel boss, sure.” A few of the guys laughed and she rolled her eyes, still not quite ready to forgive any of us for our display last week.
“Anyway, Carlito is on the move, about ten miles from the meeting spot.”
“You sure, ‘cause we’re not supposed to meet for another five hours.” Cross’ expression mirrored what we were all thinking, at least what I was thinking.
“Ambush,” Golden Boy and Savior said at the same time.
“Probably.” Cross raked a hand through his hair in stress and blew out a frustrated breath. “Goddammit!” He was on the brink of a tirade but the appearance of Vivi’s friend Peaches, curves on display, halted it.
Thankfully.
“Okay boys, Vivi said you might need some comms and a contact of mine came through spectacularly. We got some top of the line radios with a fifty-mile radius and unless there’s a military or police operation going on in the vicinity, you should have zero interference.”
“What the hell do we need comms for?” Gunnar was as gruff as he always was, but he seemed to be even worse when it came to Peaches.
She looked at him, brows raised and amusement shining in her eyes. “So that you can communicate, obviously. Now put them in and test them out so we can get the kinks out before you bounce.”
Vivi leaned back in her chair and kicked her booted feet up on the card table with a grin. “And all you mother fuckin’ angels can just call me Charlie.”
At least she thought it was funny.
Chapter Thirty-Two - Jag
“We need to be ready for anything. I don’t trust this fucker as far as I can throw his little ass.” Cross stayed on his bike with me right beside him, eyes focused below us about two clicks ahead where Carlito stood beside a flashy white Escalade because heaven forbid the dumbass kept a low profile.
“Me either, but he won’t do anything too stupid without his enforcer.” Guys like Carlito were all the same, strong and crazy as long as they had stronger and crazier backup. On his own, he was mostly talk.
“How sure are you that Guapo’s gonna show up at the clubhouse?” Cross asked.
“He doesn’t need to be sure, boss man, because I’m sure,” Vivi cut in on our conversation, something I was sure Cross had forgotten about based on the frown he wore. “The tracker on his bike says he’s on his way here now.”
At Vivi’s words, tension coiled in my gut. I knew she could take care of herself, could handle a knife and a gun as well as she could a computer, but I also knew Guapo was a crazy motherfucker. He’d killed people just for the fun of it and he enjoyed it. The guy was unhinged and he was heading Vivi’s way. “Be careful,” I told her.
“Always am, babe. Always am.” Vivi was always careful, except when she wasn’t. “Guapo’s ETA is about five minutes.”
Cross nodded, his jaw tight with tension. “Guys, you hear that?”
“Yeah, boss. We hear you.” Savior barked into the comms, pissed off that he’d been picked to stay back with Black and keep the compound safe.
“Good. Stitch, you en route?”
“Yep, just rounding Skull Rock now.”
Cross gave me a look and I started my bike, leaving the meeting spot, at least as far as Carlito was concerned. About two miles from the meeting point, I stopped my bike and climbed up the side of Skull Rock where Stitch left my rifle. “In place.”
“Good. Stay alert.”
There was still an hour until the meeting time and we were in no more a hurry than Carlito was to start early, he just didn’t know why. But we did. “Guapo is in the building,” Vivi said sharply and I was on edge, hating that I couldn’t be there with her. To protect her.
All I could do was listen. Even though I wasn’t there, I knew the plan because we’d gone over it a dozen times. Mostly for my own peace of mind. Vivi would be standing at the bar like she was nothing more than one of the Reckless Bitches, her laptop behind the bar, a gun under her leather jacket and a comm in her left ear, where her pink hair would shield it from discovery. If it came to that.
“Can I help you? This is private property and I don’t know you.” That meant Guapo was inside.
“You could know me. We could be friends, chica.”