“Mace weeded out the guys who couldn’t accept it. Three of them got kicked out within a month.”
“And you think it’s all good now?”
Monroe studies my face. “Someone ask you to get intel?” he asks suspiciously.
“Nothing like that, brother,” I assure him. “This is me asking. Never expected to be sent here.”
“You don’t need to worry,” Monroe pulls a cigarette from behind his ear and cups his hand around it as he lights the end then blows out a plume of smoke into the sky. “I’m happy here. Mace is fair and everyone gets on.”
“Seems too good to be true,” I muse.
Monroe laughs and takes another drag on his cigarette. “Nah man, you get the usual bullshit but there isn’t anything to worry about with the other shit,” he adds.
Meaning them changing from Kingsmen to Devil’s Chaos.
“Let’s roll,” Jefferson calls out, and everyone starts towards their bikes.
We’re heading to a warehouse to pick up the van we’re transporting first but I will hang back with Quincy, the Tail Gunner and another brother who is working as the second blocker.
I’ll be away from the action, but this role comes with its own set of dangers and is probably one of the worst to have on a run. I can’t help but wonder if I’ve been put in this position on purpose. I scratch it as quickly as I think it. Mace might not like me very much, but he isn’t the kind of man who would knowingly put men in danger.
Ink will have told him I can handle this shit, and with minimal argument or question. Would I have preferred to spend more time with the two men I’m working alongside and potentially trusting my life with? Of course, but we’ve all done this before.
I’m given a burner phone as we head to our bikes, the numbers I need are pre-programmed. Then Quincy hands me a gun, and I check it’s loaded, and the safety is on, noting the serial numbers have been burned off, before securing it in a holster under my cut.
Jefferson and Talon claim they’ve not foreseen any issues, and they have paid off law enforcement they have control over, but it’s a long ride to Ohio and things can go sideways at any given point even with the best of planning.
The first part of the ride is uneventful, we get to a block of garages where Mace and Talon meet a guy. He opens one of the garage doors and a van pulls out. We’re parked out by the main road, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious but I watch Mace as he strides back to his bike. He waits for Jefferson to move ahead of the van and the formation moves into place ahead of and behind it.
We’re nearing the Ohio border when Quincy starts speaking. He’s answered a call through his Bluetooth. For now, I’m not concerned. I check my mirrors to see what’s going on behind us and everything looks clear. Quincy lifts his hand and points to an upcoming road with two fingers, indicating we’re leaving the route.
This isn’t normal and my instincts kick in, adrenalin spiking as I watch the van and bikes head off the main highway and along a quiet back road surrounded by forest. It’s out in the middle of nowhere, which has its pros and cons.
We stop a little way back and watch from a distance as everyone else comes to a stop. We can see the road from the junction where we’ve stopped. No one followed us up here but I’m getting a bad feeling.
Jefferson and Talon get off their bikes and walk to the van which makes me think it’s an issue with them rather than the route.
“I’m gonna go check what’s up,” Quincy gets off his bike and takes off his helmet.
Hozier removes his helmet and wipes his brow. Riding all wrapped up in leathers for a long distance does tend to make you sweaty.
“What do you think is up?” he asks me.
My response is a shrug. “When they want us to, we’ll know,” I tell him.
He mutters something under his breath, but I don’t care to ask him what he said because the back of the van is opening. Should there be someone in there? My hackles go up and I reach for the gun, as Talon yells out a warning.
“Fuck,” I get off my bike but don’t leave my post. I still have a role and whatever is going down might not be the only issue.
“We stay and watch our six,” I tell Hozier.
There is more shouting as men get off their bikes and draw their weapons. A small woman jumps out of the back and the driver runs around with his hands up screaming at everyone to stop.
Mace was front and center as soon as the door opened. I didn’t see him move, but he grabs hold of the driver as Talon pulls the woman back, and she starts to shriek.
“What the shit?” Hozier says in shock.
I turn at the sound of a car approaching. We’re sitting ducks here. I recognize the man from the garage back in Stroudsburg behind the wheel.
