"The hell you mean,they weren't there?" Lucky spat through gritted teeth. "Creed, are you fucking with me?"
"I'm not, Luck." He lifted both hands, panting after speeding easily one hundred miles per hour to make it back to Pellum.
"We looked everywhere and drove around a few times to make sure we were at the right compound. Abe and Trek even checked out another area while me and Striker hung around the one you sent us to. It was empty."
Lucky heard the panic in his son's voice, which angered him even more. The last thing he'd do was send him on a dummy mission, but Creed wanted in. Lucky had done all he could to keep the trouble he was in concerning the farm away from his family, but he grew desperate. They were fifty thousand in thehole and counting each day that he didn't have those dogs he'd paid for.
"Sorry, Luck." Creed released a frustrated breath, swiping sweat from his forehead. "Griffin screwed us over."
"I swear he better not. Maybe he had to move them."
"You think?" Creed asked, hopeful.
The farm was more than their family farm. It was an immense resource for the entire town of Pellum and even beyond. They employed many, but fed many, too, and for free.
"If we don't find him, does that mean we'll lose everything?"
"Fuck no!" Whistle, his father's best friend, barked. "This was a win-win for all of us after his operation was shut down. Why would he?"
"Are you saying my boy is lying?"
Lucky's nature was akin to sugarcane. He was tough, resilient like the stalk, but sweet on the inside with his offspring.
"I'm saying that old fucker would rather wrestle with the devil than fuck with us. He'll be shitting size thirteens if he did, Lucky. Think about it. We took a chance on him, tried to put money in his and his family's pockets. It doesn't make sense."
"Seems like he's wrestling with the goddamn devil then 'cause my boy wouldn't lie."
"I'm not," Creed pleaded. His eyes danced back and forth between the two men who raised him.
"I know, son." He gripped his shoulder and lightly squeezed it. "I figured this would be our way out of this shit, but I guess I jumped too soon, didn't do my damn research."
Dog fighting was something they'd never thought of after a few years of crops slowly coming in and an increase in tariffs. One day, when Lucky was on his tracker, a few city slickers saw their Anatolian Shepherd dogs on the perimeter guarding their livestock and asked if he wanted to make some money.
He invited them in for drinks, along with Whistle, after they shared that there had been a dogfight just outside of Pellum. After being invited to join them, he and Whistle went out of curiosity. Once bets were made, and the most treacherous dogs fought for their lives, the men there walked away with more money than they could count. That was all it took for Lucky to be all in.
He was desperate, particularly because he was in debt to a loan shark named Choppa. He had moved to Pellum years earlier and run a casino that was a front for illegal activities. With the money Lucky stood to win, he could pay Choppa and revive the farm. They had plenty of livestock and crops, but with the tariff increase and trucks leaving farther and fewer to ship them off, Lucky was losing money each day while trying to make payroll.
"It's hard to make ends meet, being fifty grand in the hole, Luck, and dealing with fuckers that we can't trace right now," Whistle spoke, growing weary as he looked at the vast crops and livestock that were once a gold mine. "I say we lie low and lure him out by being silent. He'll think he got over when he approaches someone else around here. Need to put the word out not to fuck with him."
"Naw, I say we need to stick with the fucking plan. I'll be damned if I let Griffin walk like that. It's either our money or our dogs," Lucky spat. "You think Griffin's son and daughter still camp out in Brooksville?"
"Should be, but if they helped him scam us and others, they probably ran off with Griffin’s ass," Whistle replied.
"Damn it."
Lucky kicked a few cans on the ground from the beers they'd drunk. All day, they couldn't wait until Creed returned with the five dogs they'd purchased, only for him to return empty-handed. They'd sent him and a few of his friends to remain discreet, but now he was regretting it.
"We're probably wasting our fucking time. Done dug a bigger hole for ourselves. I fucked up."
"You think so?" Creed gulped, his eyes skating back and forth between his father and godfather.
Unbeknownst to them, his troubles went beyond the loss of money and dogs. He had a baby on the way and one coming sooner than he was prepared to take care of. Lucky didn't know that, and after the recent events, Creed was scared shitless to share. Her name was Braelyn. She was younger and someone he shouldn't have touched, not because she wasn't worthy, but because his entering her life changed the course of hers.
He also didn't want to have children out of wedlock. So, for him, dog fighting had to be his way out, especially because he trained the dogs they had on the farm that guarded their livestock.
"Listen up." Whistle motioned for them both to sit, seeing how riled up they were. "Maybe we should visit the bank on Monday. Mr. Farrington knows we're good for a small loan. We've done business with him before."
"A loan?" Lucky spat, shaking his head.
