Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 117494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
The rest of our guys nodded their agreement.
“We’ll leave guys here,” I told him. “The rest will come with us. No drinking. Alcohol should only be served to our guests. And everyone keep your guns ready.” I looked at Stripes. “I want half our guys outside, keeping watch.”
He nodded.
I focused on Crow. “You’re thinking the roast will be at The Bonfire?”
“Yeah. If he doesn’t know our other locations, why introduce a new place?”
“He might not even know about that, though. What about where we were before? The parking lot where we met him? It’s flat around there, for the most part. We could keep guys behind the building and outside the town.”
Crow lifted a shoulder. “Makes sense, but it won’t take them much work to find out about The Bonfire. Everyone around here knows that’s where we operate from.”
I paused to consider that.
Crow was right, keeping Estrada to the areas he knew already or could know easily made sense. “Let’s do it at The Bonfire, otherwise we gotta leave more men behind to guard that place. Empty it out except for whoever needs to be there to play a part.”
“Ghost.”
I looked back, and Roadie leaned forward, his eyebrows pulled together tight. “We really doing this? Pretending?”
“We voted, and we can’t throw everything away by making a move when we don’t know for sure. I want him to play his hand, and then we can play ours. I’ll pick the guys who’ll keep watch.” I turned to Crow. “Your charter have any ex-military?”
A few of their guys raised their hands.
Crow motioned to them. “Two Marines and a Ranger, like yourself.”
I gave each a study, and all three looked steadily back with knowing eyes. They knew why I was asking for them. “How’s our stock?”
“We’re loaded,” Crow said. “Guns. Rifles. We keep ourselves stocked no matter what.”
“You up on sharing some of that with my guys? We were traveling, so we’re not as strapped.”
“Of course.”
Then we moved to specifics. The codes. The signals. The plan if things went bad, the plan if things went fine. We mapped every option I could think of. An hour into the meeting, we could hear a set of boots coming down the stairs, and someone pounded on the door before it opened. A prospect leaned inside, finding me. “Machete’s here. Wants to know what to do with the girl.”
Right. Claudia.
“Put her in a shed. I want to talk to her before anything else.”
“Got it.” He disappeared.
“Care to fill us in on that situation?” Crow asked.
Everyone knew our decision to break from working with the cartel. But not everyone knew the specifics, and they couldn’t. I pushed up from the table. “It’s delicate, but has to do with our exit strategy. She and my woman are connected to someone on the inside who’s helping us. I don’t want them to know anything, or even hear anything.” I looked around the room, waiting for each guy to give me a nod in response.
“My guys know how to shut their mouths,” Crow confirmed.
“Good. I should handle that situation next.”
“All right.” Crow leaned forward, grabbed the gavel, and banged it down. “Church is adjourned. Everyone knows their role.”
Stripes moved in close, lowering his voice. “You want me in there?”
I shook my head, as Crow approached. Stripes stepped back.
Crow looked between us as the rest of the guys filed out. Besides preparing, most needed shut-eye before tonight. “I’ve asked my old lady to put together the food, but I don’t like the idea of having the women there.”
“Think the sweet butts could serve in their place?”
Crow grinned. “I can ask, but they’re not exactly actresses.”
I nodded with a smile. That was true. “Just ask a couple of the smarter ones. Keep the old ladies back here.”
“And speaking of your woman, you want me to ask some of the old ladies to take her under their wing?” he added. “I mentioned it to Shelly, Rash’s sister.”
Right. “She’s in the room so far. I’m hoping she’ll stay there, but she’ll need food.” I hesitated, but he needed to know. “About Machete’s woman… well, just expect trouble from her.”
He barked out a laugh before realizing I meant what I’d said. He sobered, his smile fading. “Right. Okay. We got some smart old ladies here. I’ll maybe share that tidbit too.”
I nodded. Any warning would be good.
Machete came in and headed over as Crow stepped away. “I’ll leave you to it then.”
“Thank you.”
Machete took his place, shifting to watch him leave since the rest of the room had emptied by now. “That looked productive.”
I grunted. I liked Machete. “How is she?”
“Pissed. Knows she got handed off to me, but she went along. Now’s she even more pissed because she’s been taken to a shed, on your orders. What’s going on?”
“I don’t have time to waste. I need to know if she knows anything.”