“What’s the plan? We’ve got families, kids to protect. So do The Keep. Those people in there, they can’t sit there waiting for Petrov to attack,” Blanche says, her grip tightening on Tav’s hand.
Rhodie dips his chin at Blanche before looking at me. I know what’s coming. It’s the same plan I was going to bring to Church.
“We’re going to send the families somewhere safe, right Switch?”
Chapter 12
Switch
“You sure about this, brother?”
“I’m sure. Regardless of whether Joy was involved or not, it’s the only way for us to keep them all safe and concentrate on what we got going on,” I reply to Rhodie.
I know he’s nervous. Fuck we all are. But Petrov even without Thompson and McDonald, has proven to be a formidable opponent. He has money, and men at his disposal. The way I see it he’s just like Roman, a heavy hitter in Russian crime, even if he doesn’t have the Pakhan title. We need to shut him down and we can’t do that if we have the women and children to protect. We need them away from the clubhouse, away from the DRMC until we get this shit done. Shit, we can’t even send them to The Keep, not when they are affiliated with us. They have a target on theirbacks just like we do, which is why their women and children are going with ours.
“Are ya’ll just gonna stand there or are you gonna come give your momma a hug?” A smile tugs at my lips and I push off the bonnet of the SUV I was leaning on to stomp up the porch steps and scoop up my momma.
“It’s good to see you, boy.”
“Thank you for helping Momma,” I whisper into her white hair before pressing a kiss to her crown.
“Nonsense. This is the kind of thing we’ve trained for.” She steps back, rubbing her palms up and down my upper arms, like she's trying to warm me up. “Now, are you going to invite all your little friends inside?”
“Momma -”
“Oh hush!” She shoves me back a little so she can look around my bulk. “Yoohoo! Come on inside, I’ve got lunch on for y’all.” Momma beams and then hustles inside.
“I think you should call your cousin.” Rhodie says, in a low voice, looking around at the land surrounding the house.
I know what he’s seeing. From the road Manning Ranch looks like every other run down ranch. Until you drive down the long, dirt road and take a good look. The solar panels covering the entire roof of the sprawling farmhouse. The water mill further back on the property. The propane tanks. The fenced off acres of vegetable garden with the small number of stock beyond that. If they looked close enough they would have seen the hunting blinds on the way in and dotted around the house. The reinforced windows and radio antenna poking up from the highest point on the roof.
“Do you think we really need him? My family has got this. I have three brothers and two feral sisters living on this land along with my parents. You don’t think that’s enough to keep themsafe?” I crack my neck, a little worried that maybe Rhodie hasn’t told me everything.
His large hand lands on my shoulder and he squeezes it tightly. “Brother, it’s not your family being able to protect our family that causes me concern. It’s the fact that this will be like a fucking paradise to Chewy and some of the women. They’re going to go bat shit bonkers once we let them out of the car to see where they’ll be staying.” I raise a brow at him. “Dude, there’s a fucking shooting rangeanda bomb shelter with a black mark on the dead grass in front of it.” He gives me a dead eyed stare. “If Petrov’s men end up here, they ain't coming back out. At least your cousin might be able to rein our women in before they terrorize The Keep families. And yours.”
“If we can’t control them, what makes you think he can?” I raise a brow in question.
“He’s a scarier motherfucker than all of us combined.”
I let out a snort before dipping my chin. “Get the families inside, I’ll call him.”
Rhodie slaps me on the shoulder again before whistling and waving at the SUVs full of our most precious cargo. I wander along the wraparound porch, heading for the quiet corner that looks out at the water mill. The gentle water swishes as it does its thing. I forgot what this place smelled like. Felt like. I had my first 18 years of life here, causing havoc and learning life lessons with my brothers and sisters until I got the bright idea to enlist. I may have come out a fully trained doctor, but the price I paid was higher than anyone should fucking have to ever pay. Even more so for my cousins.
Scrolling through my phone I find my cousin in my contacts list and hit call. He’ll know some shit is up seeing as we only ever message.
“What’s wrong?” a gruff voice answers abruptly.
“Well, hello to you, dearest cousin.”
“Cut the shit, Switch. What’s wrong and who needs to die?”
I chuckle over the line, thankful that even with the distance between us he’s willing to drop everything to help me. “You ever heard of a guy named Petrov?”
He’s silent. Too silent. “Trades in skin and has ex-military contacts. From what I’ve heard, he’s a bad motherfucker.”
“And we’ve pissed him off.”
He inhales deeply before blowing out a long breath. “When do you need us by?”
