“That's what I tried to tell you before,” Hunter insisted. “Gaspar provoked all that, an' he ain't done. We found out he's got all his guns, his coke, his meth, his heroin...all stashed at the Teepee. He's plannin' to pull some straight-up apocalyptic shit. He's gonna ride in, blast all the Eagles to kingdom come in a single fuckin' night, an' take over the whole damn town.”
Hemmick shrugged expansively. “That sounds like your problem, not mine.”
“Really?” Hunter jabbed a finger at Hemmick. “Put aside the people who are probably gonna get wasted in the crossfire. Like I said, the shit we deal don't cause you a whole lotta problems. But how do you think things are gonna be around here when you've got legit cokeheads, junkies, an' meth tweakers runnin' around, rippin' people off to pay for their next fix? What do you think that's gonna do to the crime stats, huh? Or your chances at re-election?”
Hemmick thought it over. “Okay. You have my attention. What do you expect me to do about it?”
“I'm takin' the Eagles down to the Teepee tonight,” Hunter said. “We're gonna ride out in force, since we've heard Gaspar's only got four to six guys coverin' the place at any given time. Obviously, we'd love to just fill the whole building with bullets, an' we already told the lady who runs the place an' her daughter to get outta town before this shit jumps off. But accordin' to our sources, there's still one guy stayin' in a room at the end of the motel, an' that's a wild card I ain't overly fond of. So the way I see it, this could all be ended a hell of a lot sooner—and less bloody—with you backin' our play. We take 'em down, the Eagles get to make off with some of the firepower they've got there, an' you get to arrest whoever's there an' confiscate the drugs. Gaspar knows not to fuck with us again, you get to be a big hero, an' everythin' goes back to normal around here.”
“Sounds like you've considered every angle,” Hemmick said. “You're smarter than I'd have given you credit for. All right. You’ve got a deal. I'll park a few blocks away from the motel with my guys, and we'll wait for your signal to move in.”
Hunter nodded. “Good. Thank you. I'm glad we can work together on this. I'll see you there in about an hour.” He hadn't expected Hemmick to agree so quickly, but then again, he figured Hemmick valued his own political survival above all else.
“You got it,” Hemmick agreed as Hunter left his office.
As Hunter left the office, he heard Hemmick say, “Get the boys together and start handing out the shotguns and body armor,” he said. “We're gonna have some good old-fashioned fun tonight.”
Chapter 36
Missy
After Hunter left Cain's house to ride to the sheriff's office, Cain stepped out into the garage, closing the door behind him. Missy heard him talking to Keith and the others about the situation and the plan for that night, and a few minutes later, he poked his head back into the kitchen.
“Do you still have my spark plugs?” he asked Missy. “Plus, y'know, everything else you yanked off Gooch's bike so I wouldn't ride off with it?”
Missy nodded. “Yeah, give me a sec.” She went out into the garage with him, walking down the driveway to her car and unlocking the trunk. She'd stashed the plugs there after showing them to him, along with the fuel pump and ignition fuse. She carried them back into the garage and quickly re-attached them to Gooch's bike.
Keith and the other Eagles looked on, impressed.
“Hey, I got some stuff on my bike that needs fixin', too, if you've got some spare time sometime,” Matches said. “I've been workin' on it for months, but from the look of it, you could sort that shit out in about fifteen minutes.”
Missy chuckled. “Maybe after we're done with Gaspar,” she replied. “If you ask me nicely.”
She went back into the kitchen and toward the living room. Cain followed. As they both sat down on the couch, she noticed that he was avoiding eye contact with her.
“Hey, I hope you're not too freaked out that I ended up telling Hunter about us,” she said. “I mean, he basically knew anyway, and when he blurted it out, I really couldn't think of anything else to say, so...”
“Nah, that's cool,” Cain answered. “I guess it's a little weird that he knows, but then, this whole fucking thing's been pretty weird when you think about it.”
“That's certainly true,” Missy acknowledged. “Are you nervous about tonight?”
She expected him to deny it immediately, since she'd rarely met a biker who'd admit to fear in the face of a fight. But instead, Cain nodded. “Yeah. I am.”