Chapter Eleven
“Wait.”Ace frownedat Mario.“Back up a minute there, you said you heard someone say your Uncle Ray got his hands on Carmen’s inventory?”
Mario nodded.“Yeah and he also said Ray cleaned out one of Whittaker warehouses.Ray moved in and cleared it out the moment he heard Whittaker was running.”
Joker scoffed.“Did he also tell you why Whittaker was running?That Whittaker tried to burn this place down and he fucked up big time?”
Mario went pale.“No, he didn’t tell me that.”
Deuce nodded then added more of what happened back then, “Yeah, he thought he could bring in his big guns and just blow us to hell but he didn’t count on Shay stepping in and stopping his dumb ass.”
Ace crossed his arms over his large chest and glared at Mario.“So, your uncle is building his arsenal huh?Shay might be able to use that against him and catch him with his hand in the gun running cookie jar.”
Mario frowned and looked at Ace.“Catch him?”
Ace nodded his head.“Shay hasn’t been able to find those weapons that he knew Whittaker had stored.Without those, the men he’s holding might be able to walk out of his cells.And he really doesn’t want them to go and maybe start all over again.Ray took what wasn’t his.So now, that might wrap up the whole operation nice and neat for Shay.He’ll also go to prison right alongside the rest of them but that’s better than being dead, I guess.”
Mario shook his head.“There is something here that you have to consider, if the Gypsy Council passes their judgement against Ray, he’ll be dead anyway.This breech goes against everything we believe in and Ray knows it.This means he has to kill everyone that knows he’s broken Gypsy law and then he’ll still need to run away, hoping no one will find him.But the one thing about our people.And it has been the same for decades.Gypsy law will find you and the longer they have to look, the less they will think about retaliation.Our laws are much stricter than your laws and once the sentence is passed, there is no way to appeal it.Ray will be hunted for the rest of his miserable life and it won’t end pretty for him.”
Ace just shrugged.“You think I care about your uncle?Fuck no, I don’t.What I care about is in the bedroom down that hall.Charli and Ben are the ones I care about.Your people can walk off a short pier for all I fucking care.They backed away from Charli a long time ago.They left good ole Ray here with cash, no less.Then he turned criminal, breaking laws in our country.So, they don’t get to waltz in now and tell us that they will fix things with fucking Gypsy law.”
Mario nodded then sighed hard.“I now realize that he did all that.Our council will know too.I just meant that our men may catch him if he gets away from this Shay that you have mentioned.”
Jack scoffed.“While Shay had trouble finding the weapons, he always tracks down his man.The criminal he is after.He has a long damn history of it too.Man, if you saw his case record?You would have to sit down in shock.”
“I get it.”Mario nodded.“It’s just that we have laws that are part of our family, our history and traditions.”
Joker scoffed.“Is it a tradition to ignore family members for fifteen years like they did with Charli?Then out of nowhere, snap their fingers and tell her that she has no choice but to obey their traditions.What kind of logic is that?”
“Would that tradition be if the guy she was forced to marry started beating on her?”Deuce asked.“Would your council step in or just continue to let the fucker beat on her?”
Mario hesitated then he replied, “The truth is that I don’t know for sure.I haven’t been in on any of that.In fact, I have never been around the council much.Thank fuck.I mean that only happens when someone is in real trouble.But from what I’ve heard about...to them, what happens at home, stays there.They probably would not step in.”
Joker looked pissed just like everyone in the room.“That’s not good enough, buddy.Charli saved my life when she didn’t even know me and I’ll be damned if I will just stand here while they take her down the road with them to God knows what.Your father and your council can go to hell.”
“Not to mention I don’t have any plans to ever let her go.”Ace growled.“I married her for life, Mario.Do they understandthattradition?”
Poor Mario tossed his hands up in frustration.“Man, you guys keep wanting to shoot the messenger here.I keep telling you I am not in charge of jack shit.Why do you think I came?I had guessed she never knew they had planned her future.I never knew a lot about it either.I came to see her because I am her family too, you know?I always had a soft spot for her.My father would not let me come and see her over the years.”
An uncomfortable quiet settled in the room.
The silence was shattered by the racking of a shotgun.Everyone turned to look.
