“Yeah, we all know what’s up. He offed Raymond Groves. The question is why.” Ryder nodded in my direction, which I took as my cue to speak.
I stood at my seat, leaning my ass against the edge of the table as I turned to address everyone.
“So, Luca runs the street fighting ring I’ve been wrapped up in,” I started. “I didn’t know him well at first, but it turns out that he’s a grade-A weirdo.”
There were chuckles, but I didn’t pause. “He also works for a big-time arms dealer.”
“You sure about that?” Hawk asked, his eyes sharp.
“Yeah, and I got the impression it’s all connected to the mob. Raymond Groves was wrapped up with them, too. That’s why he was killed. Luca was sent to La Playa to find out where Raymond stashed a bunch of weapons that belong to them.”
“Shit,” Trainer muttered, shaking his head.
“Yeah,” Ryder said. “That’s the kind of trouble that we don’t need here.”
“Well, it’s already here. Luca wants me to put pressure on the widow to give him the land where the weapons are hidden.”
“Why? Seems like a lot of trouble for him to go to.” Ryder said.
“He’s not as stupid as he looks. He’s not willing to draw attention to the area or himself by fucking around there without permission.”
“And you told him you would?”
“What choice did I have?”
“Well, that accelerates our timeline,” Swole said, looking concerned. “We can’t have him getting wise to our boy’s deception.”
“Agreed,” Ryder said. “We need to find those damn guns and get Luca out of La Playa.”
“I’m betting they’re buried,” Trainer said. “That’s what I would’ve done.”
“Agreed,” Hawk chimed in. “I checked out the property that Luca’s been showing interest in. There’s a small amount of wooded area on the property, but probably not enough to hide a building or anything. The only place he could have put it is in the earth. A metal detector would do the job of finding the stash.”
“Sure, but then we run into the same problem Luca’s having,” Ryder said. “We can’t be seen messing around on a random piece of land without permission. The last thing we need is to draw attention from the cops.”
“I’ll talk to Cecilia,” Swole offered. “She knows that we’ve got her back. I’m sure she’ll give us access.”
“Good. Then, we find the weapons and make a deal with Luca.”
“Wait a minute,” Chalupa said from the back. “We’re probably talking about big money here if the mob is going to so much trouble to find these weapons.”
“Yeah, but no amount is worth going to war with the damn mob,” Hawk pointed out. “I say we get rid of the shit.”
“Agreed,” Ryder nodded. “I move that we vote.”
“Seconded,” Swole said.
“All in favor?”
There was a chorus of “Aye,” as everyone except me voted. I didn’t have voting rights yet.
“Motion passed,” Ryder announced. “Swole, you talk to Cecilia, and Hawk, you get as many metal detectors as you can get your hands on. The sooner we get this shit taken care of, the better.”
I sat down, happy with the way this went. I’d proved myself by providing useful information, which was exactly what I’d set out to do. I wanted to pull my weight here.
“Now, we have one other piece of business to discuss,” Ryder said. “Blade, come up here.”
I did, trying to hide my confusion.
