His friend jumped forward, and I reached for my Glock, taking it out and pointing it at his head. "Stay put, fucker," I demanded.
"So, let's see who we have here," Kade chided as he looked at the license. "Anthony Cicero … twenty-two Whitewoods Ct," he read, giving Anthony a shove. "Now, I have your name and your address, asshole. You and your buddy there try anything fucking stupid and, trust me, you will regret it."
Kade tossed the license back at Anthony, and he scrambled to shove it back into his pocket. He stepped toward Kade like he was invincible. "What the fuck do you want from me?" he barked.
Kade shook his head, and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're either brave or stupid, and, from where I'm standing, I'm going to go with stupid. What do you think, Cash? Brave or stupid?"
"Have to go with fucking stupid," I answered.
"What about you?" Kade turned his attention to the friend, who was currently suffering beneath my iron grip and practically pissing his pants from the gun pointed at his temple.
He shook his head, refusing to answer. I cocked the gun, and fear shivered through him. He sucked in a ragged gasp of air and blurted, "Stupid."
Kade laughed and turned back to Anthony. "Ding, ding, ding we have a winner! Cash, why don't you tell them what they win?"
"Fresh out of prizes. We already let you live last time. Clearly, our warning wasn't heard, so sorry, but you lose."
The friend shook beneath me, whimpering like the little bitch that he was.
"He's right. Guess we're going to have to kill you," Kade said, and took his gun out, turning it on Anthony.
Anthony threw his hands up in the air, and backed away, until his back smacked into a parked car. "Whoa, what the fuck, dude? We weren't even doing anything. What's your problem?"
"My problem? Kade spat. "My problem is, you're in my goddamned town. My problem is, you're conducting business in my territory. My problem," Kade continued, pressing the barrel of the gun into Anthony's hair. "Is you and your mouth. Now, this is what's going to happen. You're going to tell me who you're working for and I won't kill you."
"I don't know," Anthony answered, and Kade cocked his gun.
"Wrong answer."
"No!" Anthony screamed. "I don't. I don't. I swear to fucking God, man." Tears brewed in his eyes, and it was the look of fear that you only saw when a man thought he was about to lose his life. It was a powerful look. One you could be sympathetic for if you weren't hardened by the life you lead. Unfortunately for him, Kade and I were as hard as you could fucking get.
"How do you not know who you're working for?" Kade questioned further.
"I don't ask questions. I just do what I'm told. As long as I'm getting paid, I don't care who the fuck I'm working for."
"Wrong answer," Kade snarled through clenched teeth, and then pushed the gun hard against Anthony's head as his legs quivered beneath him.
"All I know," Anthony blurted out. "Is she goes by Gordita."
"She?!" Kade and I both exclaimed.
"Look, I'll get killed for saying too much, but, because you have a gun pointed at my head right now, I'm in a bit of a predicament. If it gets out that I told you, I won't just have a bullet put through my head. They will torture me, and make me beg for them to kill me."
Intrigued, I moved closer, pushing the friend with me as I went. "You tell us, we let you go. You stay out of Black Hills, and we'll pretend like we never met you."
Anthony looked to his friend, who nodded his approval. Anthony took a deep breath. "She goes by Gordita. She's an illegal from Brazil. A mother with like a million fucking kids, but she also takes in others as well. She gives them food, money, and acceptance in return for their services to her army. They're ruthless, and don't stop to think before they shoot. They would've killed Paco by now." He nodded his head to his friend. "To get me to talk. They thrive on power, and Gordita wants to control the west coast drug business. They won't stop until they get what she wants. Everything they do is to appease her."
"Then, how is it I have never heard of her?" Kade asked.
"She's new to this area. Give it time. You'll be hearing all about her soon enough."
"And give me one good reason why I shouldn't splatter your brains all over this parking lot? Send a message to Gordita."
"She doesn't care about me. I'm not one of her sons. I'm just a low man on the totem pole. You kill me, and you'll be lucky it'll even get back to her."
Kade moved the gun from Anthony's head to just under his chin. "Get the fuck out of here, and don't come back. If you ever see me on the street, you better cross to the other fucking side and stay out of my goddamned way. Got it?"
Anthony glared at Kade, his lip curling in anger.
"Got it?" Kade said, enunciating each word.
"Yeah, yeah I got it."
"Good. It was nice chatting with you guys." He smacked Anthony on the back. "Have a good night."
I shoved the friend into Anthony, and we watched as they jumped in the BMW and took off.
"Do you think this bitch is a real threat?" I asked Kade, knowing the last thing we needed was someone else trying to infringe on our territory. Nick and Phil were going to blow a shit fit when they found out a woman was attempting to steal everything they've built right out from under them.
"Your guess is as good as mine. But what I do know is … " He put his helmet on, and hopped on his bike. "We have to bring this to church," he said before pulling into the night.
* * *
The guys gathered around the table, and Bentley eased the door shut before joining us. There were a few matters on the table that needed to be discussed, including the information Kade and I discovered last night at Mikey's.
"First order of business," Nick started. "I secured the deal in Florida. Dice, Miles, I'll need you to head out first thing in the morning."
Miles ran a hand through his dark hair and nodded. Dice took out his phone, typed a few things into it, and then slid it back into his pocket. Nick eyed him, since there was a strict no cell phone policy when we were in church.
It took Dice a moment to realize. "Sorry," he said, holding his hands up. "I just had to let my Ma know I'd be in town soon."
"Next time, just wait until we're done," Nick said, shaking his head.
"Sorry," Dice mumbled, and settled back into his chair.
"What's going on with that kid?" Nick turned his attention to Kade and me.
Since Kade was handling the situation from the beginning, I let him speak first. "The little shit and a friend showed up at Mikey's last night. Turns out, he's not some local drug dealer who was working on his own."
"Told you. Should have finished him off when you had the chance," Bentley said, matter-of-factly.
Kade ignored Bentley's comment and continued. "He's working for a woman they call Gordita. Some illegal from Argentina that supposedly created an army, and, according to the guy, she's ruthless. A fucking whore, too, who popped out a bunch of kids and they're her puppets. She takes in other kids as well, and gives them what they need as long as they're willing to dedicate themselves to her. From what he's saying, we should be concerned. She wants to control the west coast."
"In her fucking dreams. She can get her ass back on the fucking boat she came over on, and get the fuck out of my town," Phil snarled.
Nick ran a hand threw his graying hair. "Let's not jump to conclusions. We need to do a little digging. Hudson, see what you can find. I want all the dirt, down to when she takes a shit." Hudson was a computer genius who could break into the most secure networks. He'd have more information on her by the end of the day than we'd be able to compile in a week.
"Hey, you think this bitch and her so called army have anything to do with the Montamos bodies that keep popping up?" Miles asked.
Nick pointed his finger at Braxton. "Set up a meeting with Angelo. If his guys are falling, and this bitch is to blame, I think we can call a momentary truce to work together and get her the fuck out."
I leaned forward on my elbows. "Angelo hates us. What makes you think he'll go for it?" Based on our history, it seemed like a dead end before we even attempted; a waste of our time and breath.
"I don't," Nick said. "But, I know, if my guys were dropping like fucking flies, I'd be desperate enough to go against my own code."
"I'm on it," Hudson said. "At this point, it's worth a fucking try."
"And I'll take a trip down to the station, talk to Stanson, see if he's heard anything about this Gord … whatever the fuck her name is."