Viper smirked like an asshole. “I should get one myself.”
Cottonmouth cackled, but Racer didn’t share the banter. He tsked, shaking his head. “I still think
this is risky shit and not worth it. Hundred grand split four ways ain’t sound like much when you have to take a girl or buy one, let alone bribing the DNA people.”
“It ain’t that hard or that expensive,” Cottonmouth said. “But we ain’t that stupid either. We’re not gonna just give them the girl, even with a false DNA test. The Romanovs could test her again. We’re
taking the bigger bounty already out there. It’ll cost the five thousand for the girl, a false DNA test, which is about another five, a video of her identifying herself and a bullet. Viper will take care of the delivery so it won’t trace back to the Wicked Warriors. Anastasia Romanov turns from a ghost into a
cremated body. We get the money. The Romanovs get busy settling that beef with those who tried to
kill her in the first place away from us. Everybody wins.”
“You’re so goddamn brutal,” Racer spat.
“C’mon, man.” I chuckled. “Since you got your baby girl, you’ve become a fucking softie.”
“Listen, Savage. We live for that shit. I haven’t forgotten and still get my rocks off every time we
hunt one of those sons of bitches on the run doing dirty shit. But buying innocent girls to kill them?
That’s straight fucked up, Prez.”
“What do you suggest, man? We sing to the grandma and uncle about the hit bounty, saying we
know where their girl is, so they’ll pay more to save her life?”
“That’s if they don’t off us on the spot when they find out it ain’t really their girl,” Viper said. “I mean, c’mon. How many girls here can speak Russian like it’s their mother tongue? Those Slavic
bitches have like a million dialects. The Romanovs will know we’re taking them for a ride. Do I need
to remind you they’re the Mob or what the Mob does to those who con them?”
Racer spat his toothpick. “The unknown double bounty source is the Mob, too. Do I need to remind
you of that?”
I clasped my hands behind my head and rolled my eyes as the three of them yelled at each other.
“For fuck’s sake, enough, boys. Whoever put the double bounty on her head won’t bother checking as
long as they have a body. They want to get it over with as fast as possible so they won’t look like
pussies. We ain’t pussies either, so no more pussy talk. We’ve voted on it. We’re doing this.”
The room fell in silence for a second or two. Then Racer stared at me, gritting his jaws. “It ain’t
too late for a revote, Prez.”
“We need the cash, and she was seen on our turf. We don’t just own Newport. Every fucker in
Kentucky knows they need to run shit like that by the Wicked Warriors. We can’t let someone else
beat us to it and think we ain’t got it anymore.” I glanced at Cottonmouth. “You look for a fucking
Russian girl who can speak American, and call the Chicago chapter. Fill them in and tell them to keep us updated about the Romanovs.” I slapped my thighs and shot up. “Ask them to find out who really
put the double bounty. We gotta know who we’re dealing with.”
