We both turned to look at Mace. “Pretty sure they did the job for us, but the Sheriff will confirm once he’s got control of the scene,” he paused as if thinking about whether he wanted to continue. “One of them got away though. We saw a bike speeding out of there, but we couldn’t show our hand and go after him.”
Mace’s jaw clenched. I glanced down and saw the gun was still in his hand, resting on his lap with the barrel facing the door. He saw where I was looking and after a tense stare off, he handed me the gun.
I took it, only slightly surprised by that move. The whole plan had gone to shit and for now, we weren’t even sure if the guy we needed dead, was dead.
“What about the guy out by the cabins?” I asked.
“Dead,” War told us without turning around. “We took him out before the cartel showed up.”
“And all of our guys got out?”
“Yep.”
I zoned out once I knew everyone was safe and stared out of the window as Casper raced back to the compound. I didn’t really give a shit about what Mace was thinking, there was only one thing running through my head right now and that was Waverley. As much as I was pissed at War for coming back and putting himself at risk, if he hadn’t…I’d be fucking dead right now, no doubt about it.
And Waverley would have had to come to terms with that. I couldn’t stand the thought of her hurting over me. It gave me a better appreciation for her worrying. She had good reason.
I wanted to call her, but it could wait until after we knew for sure what went down tonight. We got back to the compound quickly and when we pulled to a stop King came out of the clubhouse. He gave War an angry look, but he grabbed my shoulder tightly, giving me a nod and letting me know in his own silent way he was glad I hadn’t died out there. Hiseyes flicked to Mace who had got out of the truck too but was staying close to it. He looked around at the brothers who were out here too, seeing how they were eyeing the Kingsmen in our midst.
He didn’t care what they thought because he called him over and headed inside. He yelled for me and War too and we followed. Down in the basement the rest of the council were already seated, a few boxes of takeout food and some beers on the table in front of them.
“You were having a fucking party while we were out there risking our lives?” War said, as he grabbed up a beer for himself.
“We knew you were alright, jerk off,” Dirt told him. “Ink let us know when you guys came out of the forest.”
Ink entered the room at that moment, and he grinned widely. “Just spoke to the Sheriff,” he said as he passed me and Mace, who were still standing on the periphery as the rest of them sat around the large meeting table.
I was feeling a little weak kneed and the smell of the Indian food was making me nauseous, but I’d never let on. It wasn’t every day you stared down the barrel of a gun, certain you were about to die. The fact everyone was being so,normal, about things was freaking me the fuck out.
“And?” King’s voice rose out above the other men’s conversations. Everyone went quiet.
“So far they got four men in Kingsmen cuts and six unidentified, a couple of vans were seen leaving the area, but he let them go.”
King nodded, which meant he’d told the Sheriff not to get involved in chasing after anyone from the Mexican cartel. “How long till we get an ID?”
“Shouldn’t be too much-” Ink cut off when his phone buzzed in his hand. He unlocked it and swiped through what I assumed were pictures. He looked up at Mace and waved him over. After a few moments hesitation, Mace walked past me and took Ink’s phone.
“Fisheye, Brick, Juice and Rebar.”
King cursed. “Slippery son of a bitch. How’d he get away?”
“Not just him,” Mace said. “Juice and Brick aren’t officers. Besides Nytro, you’re still missing Stiles and Jameson.”
There was a grimace on his face as he handed the phone back to Ink. I couldn’t tell if it was at the news the guys who were trying to kill himwere still out there somewhere or, being in a room full of the Devil’s Chaos council. Then I saw the way he looked at King, something past between them. I glanced at War, he hadn’t been paying any attention so didn’t see what I had.
The others had all started talking at hearing the plan had not only got fucked up by the cartel, but three of the guys we were after had got away. The chances of getting them back out in the open again just got real slim.
“Stiles was definitely there, you can’t mistake that Quasimodo looking ugly fucker,” Dirt said, leaning back in his seat.
“War, call the O’Connell’s, let them know what went down tonight,” King told his son.
We’d been working a lot closer with the Irish mob out of New York. I wasn’t sure why King wanted them kept in the loop about this.
“Oh wait,” Ink raised his phone again. “Shit, he really does look like the cartoon character off the Hunchback of Notre Dame movie.”
He quickly flashed us the screen and I made a face at seeing an up close and personal shot of Stiles, the Kingsmen’s Enforcer. One of the deputies in the Sheriff’s department was sending him the images. For want of a better phrase, he’d been shot to shit. Probably from those automatic weapons the cartel was carrying.
“Have we got eyes on Waverley?”
