Skins shook his head. “Not exactly. He went higher, explaining to them about how he had earned the gang’s trust, and could work from the inside to bring down other gangs in the area. Using the bad guys against the bad guys.”
“That’s a solid strategy,” Optimus said, his eyebrows raised. “He takes them down and steals their connections. More money for him, less competition.”
“You thought about slipping them an anonymous message and outing him?” one of the boys asked.
Skins shook his head. “We out him, it comes back on us.”
We all sat silently for a minute, trying to process this clusterfuck of information. “Okay, so why’s he coming back for Hadley. Why now?”
Hadley shrugged, but Skins body tightened. She noticed and narrowed her eyes. “What’s going on?”
He cleared his throat but avoided her eyes, instead looking straight at Optimus. “We just got word that he’s taken over. The leader and his two main men were killed in a bar fight a few weeks ago, and Simon has been appointed their new head.”