“Yeah, we do,” he agreed. His eyes fell on the women. “They’re pretty much involved in this.” He crossed his arms over his chest, having made the decision to include the women in this conversation. “So what’ve you found out?”
Mercy looked up from the floor and took the hand Kilo gave her to leverage back to her feet. She wasn’t that big yet, but Kilo was over protective. Couldn’t blame him, especially not after the spill she’d taken. “Kilo’s told me a little about what’s going on,” she admitted after getting a nod of encouragement from her old man. “Do…” She sucked in a breath. “Does this have anything to do with Kruzman?”
“No,” I replied.
Ruck shook his head. “Trust me. Over the last six months we’ve systematically dismantled that fucker’s empire. It’s nothing but rubble now.” He met her gaze, his steady and true. “You’ll never have to worry about him, or anyone connected to him, again.”
She nodded, the relief stark on her face. “Thank you.”
Rue looked over at me and I told her in a low voice. “Scum bag piece of shit was trying to kill Mercy for something out of her control. We took care of it. I’ll fill you in on the rest later.”
Rue blinked, then looked around at us. “No wonder you hardly flinched when we showed up with Rhino.”
“Rhino?” Ruck asked, arching a brow.
“First fucker we killed,” Relay said. He was leaning against the wall.
Everyone was here and most were sitting around the tables. Merc, Hype, and Code were at the corner table now, quiet, but listening intently. Normally this would be church meetingcontent, but this was big enough that our members, and our old ladies needed to be aware of what we were about to step into.
“Glitch has been looking into Carrick since his name first popped up in connection to this,” I said, getting to the point now that Mercy’s fears were eased. I rubbed a hand over my short beard. “This is bigger than we thought.”
“How big?” Strike asked while everyone else processed that information.
“Carrick’s more of a low level lackey than a main boss,” I told the group. “Taking him out will take care of the immediate threat to the homeless and down trodden in the area, but it’s going to be like kicking the hornet’s nest.”
Ruck seemed to take that news in stride. “How many levels does this go up?”
“Don’t know. Glitch is still working it.”
Ruck’s eyes met mine. If it was taking Glitch days to trace all the branches of this particular tree it meant it was extensive.
“Means we have no idea how many people we’re going to piss off by taking out Carrick,” Drifter pointed out.
“Exactly,” I replied. “Could be none if he’s moved away from this organization and is doing his own shit.”
“How likely is that?” Kilo asked, tone saying he didn’t believe that would be the case.
I shook my head. “I think he’s deep into this shit and we’re going to end up with people breathing down our necks from all sides.” Glancing over at Rue, I frowned when I saw her wringing her hands. “I’m not saying we don’t get involved,” I added, catching her gaze. “This fucker needs to be put down.”
“Agreed,” Bolo said, his deep voice ringing through the room. “He doesn’t get to harm one of ours and get away with it.”
Rue shook her head, looking around at us in disbelief. “I’m not one of yours though,” she said. “As much as I appreciate allof your help… How can I ask you to put yourselves at risk for me?”
“Because that’s what we do,” Relay said with a shrug. “Even if you weren’t one of us, we do what we can to protect this city. Just knowing that someone is out there preying on the vulnerable? We can’t let that fucking stand.”
“Also, youareone of us,” Ruck told her, shooting me a shit-eating grin. “Doesn’t fucking matter how far up this organization runs,” Ruck added before Rue could comment, “Relay’s right. Now that we know they’re here, we’re not letting them stay.”
I nodded, relief and gratitude taking away the heavy weight that’d been riding on my shoulders since Glitch’s newest email had come through. Or maybe that heaviness was gone because Ruck was back and had taken over the mantle of leadership once more. I could step up when needed but I didn’t like being in charge.
“We need to dig into this group more,” Ruck decided. “Figure out who, and what, we’re dealing with. Much as we can anyway. Then we’ll make a plan to address Carrick. To find your brother.”
Rue gave him a grateful look.
“This should be fun,” Relay said, his shoulders relaxing at the prospect of the violence just around the corner.
“We’re going to need to make some changes,” Ruck added, looking at all of us. “I’m not having you assholes spread all over this city if we’re going to be under constant attack.” His gaze settled on Bolo. “We need those apartments done. How long?”
“With these amateurs working on them? Year.”
