Chapter 13: Rebel
I stretched as I woke up from a deep sleep. Madisen was still sound asleep beside me. I looked at the clock. It was already ten. I yawned. I needed to get up and see what was going on. A knock at the door caught my attention. I eased out of bed and pulled on my shorts before answering it. It was Joker.
“Hey, I hate to disturb you, but Sean and his guys are going to be here within the hour. Bull wants to meet as soon as they get here.”
“Thanks, man. Let me get dressed. Madisen is still asleep. I’m hoping she’ll sleep longer. She’s tired as hell with this baby.”
“See you in a few,” he said before heading back toward the common room. I eased the door shut. I looked over at the bed. Madisen was smiling at me with a sleepy look on her face. I went over and gave her a kiss.
“Baby, I’m sorry we woke you. Go back to sleep.”
“No, I need to get up. I’m hungry and right now, I’m not sick to my stomach. I need to take advantage.” I helped her out of bed. She quickly washed her face, brushed her teeth and threw her hair up in a messy bun. Even without a stitch of makeup, she was gorgeous. She grabbed shorts and a tank from the dresser. I frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“You need to put on more than that. I don’t want all these guys looking at your legs and that tank top makes your breasts look huge.”
She laughed. “Get over it. They’re just legs and boobs. Nothing more or less. Everyone knows I belong to you. I’ve got your cut on my back, your ring on my finger and your baby in my belly. What more do you need?”
“You to wear a sack so no one sees that sexy-ass body,” I half-joked.
“Forget it, caveman. You’ll just have to suffer.” She sashayed her ass out the door, looking over her shoulder at me with a smirk on her face. I growled and raced after her. She squealed and ran down the hall to the common room. I heard it get quiet as she entered. I grabbed her just as she came to a halt. I lifted her over my shoulder and carried her ass to a table. She struggled, and I smacked her on the ass. She wanted them to see her, but I’d make sure they knew she was mine. When I sat her down, she shook her head.
I winked at her and went to see if I could find her something for breakfast. As I raided the fridge, Player came in, shaking his head. “Shit, you are head over heels for that woman, aren’t you? That display out there says it all. What’re you looking for?”
“Food for my woman and baby. This fruit and yogurt should stay down. Hopefully.” I got some out and into a bowl for her. I also poured her a glass of milk. He followed me back to our table. She thanked me and started to eat. I kept an eye on her. Tate brought me a cup of coffee. She was almost finished when the door opened and in walked Sean, Gabe, and Griffin from the Dark Patriots. They were greeted by Bull, Tank and Demon. The rest of us nodded at them. I knew most people here hadn’t met them. Just us, some of the Iron Punishers and the Dublin Falls guys.
They grabbed coffee and then Bull yelled for us to head into church. I kissed her and promised I’d be back soon. She waved me away. In the room, the Dark Patriots were at the head of the table with Bull. Outlaw sat near them with his laptop open. When everyone settled, Bull opened the discussion. He introduced them to the crowd, then he gave the floor to Sean. I knew Sean, Gabe and Griffin were former Navy SEALs who had served together. When they got out, they formed the Dark Patriots with like-minded people looking to serve their country in a different way. They still worked with the government, but in a more off-the-grid way.
“I know you want to get down to the nitty-gritty. Here’s what we found. The Diaz Cartel is working with two MCs in Tennessee, the Devil’s Horsemen and Demon’s Blood. They’re the ones who run their drugs for them. However, there have been some issues between them lately. Drops in profits, that sort of thing. The cartel isn’t happy. In an effort to get them to work for them more, when the contract was originally put out on Rebel’s old lady, Madisen, they brokered it to these two MCs. Same deal when they changed the terms of the contract. The nephew of the head of the Diaz Cartel, Heraclio Diaz, apparently took a liking to Madisen’s photo. He wants her for himself. Her stepdad was not given a choice but to bow down to him.” Sean paused for a moment to gauge the room.
He continued, “Paul Butler, Madisen’s stepdad, made friends with a couple of the Diaz Cartel in prison. When he got out, they hooked him up with the rest of the cartel. Not sure what he really brings to the table for them or why they would’ve fronted him so much cash to place the contract for the hit. We’re trying to find out what he brings to them.
“What we know for sure is Heraclio Diaz is an abusive bastard who takes women and doesn’t keep them long. He uses them for a while then sells them to someone else when he’s tired of them. The longest anyone has lasted with him is six months. He doesn’t hesitate to snatch one right off the street if he wants her. I don’t have to tell you. We don’t want him to get his hands on Madisen or any other woman. The rest of the cartel isn’t exactly nice to women, but he is the worst. His own uncle doesn’t like him much. Thinks he brings too much heat at times to the cartel.”
I look over at Bull. This only makes me more determined to take her stepdad and Heraclio Diaz out.
Sean pulled my attention back as he continued, “The good news is, our informant is confident that Heraclio’s uncle wouldn’t be too sad if his nephew were to disappear. It’s his younger brother’s son. The uncle, Victor, is not a believer in selling women and children. Shocker for this day and age, I know. He hates when Heraclio does it, and he’s forbidden his organization to get involved in trafficking of humans of any kind. Drugs are their business and where he wants to keep them. Also, the cartel is looking for other MCs to run their product. With all this said, if we take out the Horsemen, the Bloods, her stepdad, and Heraclio, there should be little to no blowback from the rest of the cartel.”
A wave of relief went through the room. War with the cartel was the last thing we wanted. No one would win an all-out war with them. Now, we just had to find a way to get the two MCs, Paul, and Heraclio all at once or at least close together. This would be the tricky part.
Tank spoke up, “This informant you have. He has to be in deep to know all this. How long has he been under? And will this blow his cover?”
Gabe answered, “He’s been in the organization for three years. He rose up fast and hard. He’s situated to take down a large portion of the organization if not the whole thing. Just not yet. The risk to him is minimal, and he’s willing to take it. Trafficking women is a major trigger for him like it is for us. We’ll work to keep his cover intact.”
The rest of the meeting was all of us contributing ideas to bring down the MCs, her stepdad, and Heraclio. The best scenario would be to get them in one big operation, which would mean getting Heraclio Diaz and her stepdad in the same vicinity as one of the clubs. We could hit their Tennessee compounds at the same time by sending in two teams, but trying to split and coordinate four teams was way more tricky and unlikely.
“Do you have a way to tell if Heraclio has come to the States and is with or near either of the clubs? If he is, we could try and get them together to take him out with one of them. We know from a trace on a call from her stepdad that he’s here in the state and likely with one of them. We think they’re close to pulling off something to get her,” Bull told them.
Griffin shrugged. “I can check. If he is, we set it up and take him and one of the clubs. Not ideal to do one and not the rest but he is a bigger risk and with one of the clubs gone, the other one may be less willing to try for her. Let me see what I can find out.”
“The big question is, how are they planning to get their hands on her? She’s on lockdown here at the compound now. The only time she leaves is to go to the doctor once a month. Do we have any idea if they know she’s pregnant?” Joker asked. My gut seized thinking of it.
“Not that we have heard, but it makes sense they have people watching. If she’s going any place more than once, it has been noted. When is she due to go again?” Gabe asked, sounding like he was considering something.
“She goes back in three weeks. The only other place she went consistently before we locked the women down was the bakery. We’ve stopped that,” I told them.
Sean gave me a serious look. “I know you won’t like this, but could we use her next doctor visit as the opportunity to take them out?”