“Not just the Bend but Paradise City too,” Wylder said.
“Yeah. The way the Storm’s guys talk, they figure once they’ve got the whole county, it will make the perfect jumping off point to secure the rest of the state. It seems like he wants everything the Nobles have and then some.”
Wylder leaned back on his heels. I could see the wheels turning in his head. Xavier might be obsessed with Mercy, but it was clear his interests—or those of his boss—went far beyond her. “And the Red Shark?” he asked after a moment.
“I’d never heard of him—or them, or whatever they are—until a week ago,” the blond guy said. “They turned up out of nowhere and started messing with our properties, taking potshots at them. But Xavier’s determined to crush them. I definitely wouldn’t want to be on that side.”
Kaige jabbed the tattooed man with his elbow. “What about the drugs?” he demanded. “Where’d that Glory stuff come from?”
Why was he worrying about that? But I guessed it was a reasonable question. The new drug people were calling Glory had only turned up in the city alongside Colt’s bid for power.
“Colt was using it to fund our new operations,” the man said, with a hiss of pain as Kaige jabbed him again. “Xavier brought more with him, so maybe he was supplying it the whole time. Colt never liked talking about where it came from.”
“So basically you don’t know a hell of a lot, do you?” Kaige growled.
“Look, the Storm’s guys don’t like us asking questions. And no one wants to cross Xavier. We just want to stay alive.”
“Well, you’ve accomplished that much. For now, anyway.” Wylder motioned for Kaige and I to get up. We released the two former Steel Knights men, easing back with our guns out in case they made any sudden moves. But the guys picked themselves up gingerly, the tattooed one favoring his left shoulder, which looked like it might be dislocated, and the blond one rubbing his hip. They studied Wylder warily.
“Get the fuck out of here,” Wylder said, waving his gun. “Storm, Red Sharks, it doesn’t matter—you picked the wrong side. The only winners around here are the Nobles, as we just proved. Go tell your friends all about it—and if you know what’s good for you, after that you’ll get the hell out of the Bend.”