“She was working for Fang when she came to us, Cole. She might have been trying to sneak away to call him or something, and that’s when Gage found her. I know no one likes that asshole, but he’s seen damn near everything, and he calls it like he sees it,” Dante continued.
“You know, you might be right,” I told him absently, “but I think I got through to her.”
“No,” he laughed, “she got through to you. Whatever. If anything comes up, we’ll fix it, just like we always do.”
“I guess so. On the way.” I hung up and climbed on the back of my bike, firing the engine up and listening to the roar fill the garage, letting everyone know the king of this concrete jungle was awake and on the prowl.
On the way to HQ, I managed to convince myself that if I’d brought Sasha with me, I would have at least given myself the chance to see her true colors. When confronted with Fang’s fate, she would have shown us exactly where her loyalty was. Deep down inside, I already knew. I knew that no matter what she said to me, she was always going to be on Fang’s side.
We were just going to have to fix that by taking him out. She couldn’t be loyal to him if I killed his ass. And if she tried, well, I didn’t want to think about that possibility yet.
I pulled up to HQ to find the delivery bay doors open and several of our members getting strapped. As my bike roared into the building, Dante approached me with a smile as wide as his arms.
“Good to have you back, bro,” he said, patting me on the back as I climbed off the bike.
“I was only gone a few days,” I joked.
“Yeah, but we’re dealing with a lot of shit right now,” he said. “The guys were wondering where the hell you were.” He laughed, but I could hear the seriousness behind his words.
“You mean to tell me you couldn’t handle it on your own?” I asked. “I mean, who do you think is going to take my place when I step aside one day or if anything happens to me?”
“I never said I didn’t have it under control, boss. I was just letting you know,” he joked. “Um, Gage is back,” he added cautiously.
“Good,” I said. “I owe him an apology, and we need a hard ass like him with us today.”
“I’ll get him,” Dante said, walking towards the crowd gathering in the door.
“Hey, get all the senior members. We need to have a meeting before we go. We need a plan of action,” I called to him.
While Dante went to grab the guys for a quick meeting, I grabbed some ammo for my handgun and one of our assault rifles. I really preferred handguns, but we were addressing a pretty tall order on this mission. I needed something with a little more power. Plus, looks went a long way. If it looked more dangerous, it usually elicited a different reaction. Rivals were less likely to act up when they saw an assault rifle than when they saw a little handgun, regardless of the caliber. There were pistols out there that made our assault rifles look like toys, but the thing was they didn’t look like toys.
“Upstairs?” Dante asked, grabbing my shoulder.
“No, right here is fine,” I told him, turning to address the guys as they surrounded me at the table where Dante had spread out our guns and ammo.
Gage stood front and center. That was no accident, surely. His position was significant. He wanted me to see him.
“First off,” I started with a harsh tone, commanding everyone’s attention, “I want to start with an apology. Gage, brother, I should have paid better attention. You were right, man. We need to talk about your chapter placement when all of this is finished.”
“Accepted, brother,” he said with a nod. Neither one of us really expected a reaction from anyone else. Even Gage knew that no one really liked him. It was kind of his thing.
“As for the rest of you, today we’re going after Fang, as you all know. And I hope everyone can appreciate how serious this is. We’re not going in with guns blazing. I want you all to form a perimeter around his hideout. Gage, Dante, and I will go in to talk to him. Unless you hear gunshots, the rest of you stay back. I don’t care if his men can see you or if you decide to sit far enough back that they won’t be able to spot you.”
“They’ll be able to see us,” Gage interrupted.
He was right.
Fang had started off as a small time hustler and glorified pimp. He built his business on illegal gambling rings and prostitution. He expanded to call girls at some point, and as his reputation in that department grew, so did his business. It was rumored that through his escort service he made some pretty important connections that went way above anyone on the street.