Page 104 of More Tricks

Wes chewed on his bite for a moment before swallowing. “I think it’s both. This is a big deal to Marco. The detailed plot he’d been putting up to draw Dax out is insane and took lots of planning. We’ve been playing defense or catching up on every move. Even with the Mad Dogs, they were still a step ahead.”

“Yeah, but if Demitri was telling the truth, taking Elena and using him as a mole wasn’t the plan. Not to mention they somehow got Gabriella sucked in too,” I pointed out. “While I don’t think he is lying, it seems a little suspect they just happened to end up at the one drug house that’s been under attack. Who gave her the tip about the house in the first place?”

“You make a good point, beautiful,” Cam interjected. “If we can track down that person, it might shed some light on if this was an accident or the careful planning of a man with way too much time on his hands.”

Eagle was nodding as Cam spoke. “Gabby isn’t a fool, and she taught her kids to be smart. Elena might be strong-willed and a risk-taker when it comes to a story, but she’s got good street smarts. There’s more to that part of the story than we’re getting.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if she knew about the drug war and picked to go there on purpose,” Picasso commented. “That boy has never been able to tell his sister no, especially after their dad left. He felt the need to take that role and watch over her.”

That got me thinking. “Would she lie to her brother to get him to go with her there?”

“Absolutely, she would do something like that,” Eagle shared, seeming to follow my train of thought. “Might be worth looking up her classes and talking to the teachers in case she was writing a whole different story than she let on.”

“That’s what I would do if Devyn wouldn’t take me someplace he thought was dangerous,” I added.

Wes laughed. “You mean that’s exactly what you did on many occasions.”

“What? I had you looking out for me too. The three of us survived, didn’t we?” I challenged, tilting my head to the side as I waited for his answer.

“By sheer luck,” he muttered. “I can hack into the school and see what she was up to. Who knows, maybe she wasn’t taking any of the classes they thought she was. If she’s related to these two, there’s no telling what she might have gotten mixed up in.”

“Hey,” Picasso shot back. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Dude, you're the VP of a biker gang. What more evidence do you need?” I asked.

That seemed to have him retracting his outrage. “Fine, fair point. So we do the work and find out what Elena was really up to, then what?”

“We can’t plan beyond that for that particular angle, but we can work on dealing with another problem,” Cam said, then pointed his spoon at me. “How the fuck are we going to be in New York City without everyone trying to kill her?”

“I actually have an idea,” I answered, raising my hand like a kid in school. “Well, Sprocket and Void helped give me the seed of the idea.”

“Care to share with the class, loba,” Cognac teased.

Rolling my eyes at him, I set my empty bowl aside. “Before you freak out at the idea, let me finish explaining it first, cool?”

The guys looked at me dubiously but nodded their agreement.

“Void mentioned that he had some connections to the underground fighting ring, and they would kill to have me do one.” I could see some of the men holding back their comments, but just barely. “You know how when there’s a huge fight in Vegas and people come from all over to see it? What if we did that for me? Find the biggest baddest guy they won’t mind if I kill in the end and make it a show no one can miss.”

I could see I was losing them, so I soldiered on. “Think of it… a fight only advertised to those in our circle. The worst of the worst coming to see Two Tricks either get her ass handed to her or slaughter the motherfucker. With that much press from deadly people, it would be more dangerous for Diego to take me out. Meanwhile, we have you guys doing recon, working with the FBI on some sting operation, I don’t know, but the attention will be on me.”

No one spoke right away, which I took as a positive sign. I wasn’t being grounded or threatened with another shock collar to train the crazy out of me. Hell, they were the ones who told me I was being a pussy about how we approached this situation. Couldn’t say that now since I wanted to paint a big-ass target on my back. My gaze fell on Spencer. He’d been the one who told me all they wanted was to be in on the plan.

Welp, here it is, boys. Plan on a platter, hope you enjoy it.

“That wasn’t the craziest option,” Cognac pointed out. “I thought she was going to say skydive out of a plane and land on top of the Chrysler Building or something.”

I perked up at that. “Ah, was that an option?”

“No,” they all yelled at the same time, and it had me leaning back.

“Well, shit, no need to blow out my eardrums,” I grumbled. “Be honest, though. How else can I waltz right into De León territory and not get slaughtered? Fuck, you guys could go ahead of time and scope things out with Cam and the FBI while I hide out elsewhere in the state.”

“Hold up,” Sprocket interjected, raising both hands to add to his words. “Am I hearing this right? Is Dax the ruler of the Hidden Empire, the ruthless tyrant known as Two Tricks, telling us we can take the lead on this?”

“Don’t go saying that too loud, or she might change her mind,” Picasso said, then laughed when I flipped him the bird. “It’s really not the worst idea. Problem is, can it even be done?”

Void scratched his jaw as he mulled that question over. “Let me make a few calls tomorrow, gauge what kind of fighters they have going on, get a pulse for that world again. If it would help, I’d be willing to sign up for a fight myself.”