Cap just chuckled and shook his head before he got down to brass tacks, turning toward the combined core of our two crews.
“All right,” he said as he raised his hand to garner everyone’s attention again, “I know this is last-minute. I’m sure there are some of you thinking that we should’ve filled you guys in earlier. But we’ve been scrambling, and we’ve tried to get our feet beneath us.”
“I don’t like the fact that this has happened, and we didn’t know shit about it,” one of the Devils said as he spoke up. “We should’ve known the instant it started happening.”
King just shook his head. “We’ve had no activity like this on any of our patrols. No one’s gone missing from town that we know of, right?”
The Devils shook their heads.
“No one’s come to us for help, right?”
They shook their heads again.
“No one’s run up on us beaten and battered, screaming for help?”
And again, the sea of crimson leather jackets shook their heads.
“Then save your outrage for when we need it the most. We got a neighboring, friendly crew reaching out for help. Let’s act like it,” King said as he turned back to Cap. “Continue.”
Cap just nodded before diving back in. “For now, our contact at the DOJ has us collecting any sort of evidence we can bring to the table that proves the appearance and operation of this ring. When we reached out initially, there wasn’t even a ring in this part of the country on their radar. So we’ve basically flew blind, trying to work with what we’ve got.”
“But,” King said as he piped up, “rings like this blow through small towns, chewing them up and spitting them out in the process before any sort of help arrives.”
Brutus crossed his arms over his chest. “Which is why we’re here. Doc’s estate in Lockhart is where we’re taking the girls. You guys get to choose what kind of role you want to play in all of this, if any.”
King just nodded. “How long will the girls be at the estate?”
“As long as necessary,” I said, piping up from my chair in the corner as I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Are all of you going to be staying at the compound?” one of the Devils asked.
“No,” Cap said with a shake of his head, “the core group of our crew will be rotating out who stays at the estate with the women and who stays here.”
“Wait, some of you guys are staying here?” another Devil asked.
Cap nodded. “Yep. We want to make sure it looks like business as usual here, since this is where the hotspot has been through all of this.”
“And the law firm,” Ghost piped up.
Cap pointed at the masked man. “And the law firm. We don’t want to give them the idea that we’ve moved or panicked in any way.”
“Trading out at night?” King asked.
Cap nodded. “Most likely.”
King chuckled. “You’re setting up a decoy here. Just like Greece.”
Cap grinned up at the man. “Exactly like Greece.”
“Oh hell yeah,” King said as he clapped his gloved hands together and rubbed them. “All right, assholes, listen up. We’re gonna take a vote on whether or not we want to join The Iron Battalion in their quest for glory.”
“Quest for what?” I whispered.
Cap just shook his head at me while King continued. “All in favor of partnering up with The Iron Battalion for some action, raise your hands.”
“Just! A! Fucking! Minute!”
“Oh God,” Brutus groaned.
