Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 76881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Hellfire waves it away with the flick of a hand. “Yeah, yeah. That’s why I don’t get attached. So what do we know about the Fabbris?”
“Almost nothing,” Crank says. “The mob never stretched out this far before.”
“Rumor has it they got squeezed out of their old territory when the Screaming Eagles got into bed with the Giordanos a few years back. On the bright side that means they aren’t as powerful as they could be, but if we ignore them for too long that could change. How do we feel about them setting up farm in our backyard?” Hellfire asks.
“I sure as hell don't like it,” Savage responds. “Up until now, all the players in this city have been pretty good at staying in their own lanes. We do our shit, they do theirs. Fucking Mafia never seems happy with what they’ve got. Turn you head for a second and they have their fingers in every-fucking-thing.”
Hellfire nods. “Agreed, but until we know how deep their roots go, we're gonna have to play this easy. I’ll spread the word and fortify our defenses without making it look like we’re prepping for war, but I think it's still early. Let’s lay low and use the time you bought to figure out our next move.”
“I'll do some poking around.” Poe leans forward eagerly. “I've got some contacts and I'll see what I can find on the darkweb. See what people are saying.”
Despite feeling like a fifth wheel, I risk speaking up. “So um, what are you going to do with me?”
“Keep you here, obviously,” Crank states like it’s a given. “Inside these walls, you're as safe as you can be until we've got this shit figured out. And if you get bored, I'm sure we can figure out something to keep you entertained.” He winks.
“Seems like Poe already got you warmed up,” Savage adds.
Hellfire looks between the four of us. “Don’t get distracted. I’ll give Eagle-eye a call to see what he knows on his end. Get the money into our vault in the meantime. Even if we don’t turn over the girl, I can’t necessarily justify keeping their cash. Clear? I'll be waiting for that intel, Poe.”
“On it.”
We leave Hellfire’s office and as soon as I’m out of his range, I feel like I can breathe a little easier. “Is he always so…”
Savage shakes his head. “He’s always been serious, but having to take on responsibility for the club the way he did, it’s made him harder.”
“What do I do now?” I ask.
Crank grins. “Make yourself at home.”
18
PAIGE
Poe leaves to go do some digital snooping, leaving me with Crank and Savage who give me a quick tour. The main part of the compound is laid out in a bit of a ‘U’ shape around a central courtyard that still shows signs of its old life in the paved paths between the buildings and the green areas that were probably gardens at one point but are mostly worn down under motorcycle wheels and heavy foot traffic now.
In addition to the church and school, there are two decent sized houses. One Savage points out as where he has an apartment, and the other is where Hellfire and someone named Bonnie live, Hellfire downstairs and Bonnie upstairs. The garage is much busier during the day, though most of the bikers are just hanging out watching the few people who are actually working on their bikes. Music and the smell of someone grilling is coming from the other side of the church.
“Hungry?” Savage asks.
“Starving.”
They lead me around to a grassy field with rickety soccer goals pulled off to the far end. The bikers have set up an open sided tent next to some charcoal barrel grills, and there’s rock music blasting out of a tall speaker. There are a few women around, but it’s mostly ripped, inked-up, shirtless bikers. I could probably make a small fortune selling tickets to the show, but there's no fighting or shooting or orgies happening on the lawn. Compared to my experiences so far, it seems pretty tame, almost homey.
There’s a huge guy with a short mohawk manning the grills that are packed with pretty much every kind of meat you could imagine. Several coolers are stocked with beer and the occasional soda. The sweet scent of barbecue sauce blends with the char of grilling to form a thick scent that has my stomach rumbling.
I get a hot dog while the guys both get burgers. Nobody asks for money or seems to pay much attention to what we take from the coolers.
“How does this place work?” I ask. “Do you pay monthly fees or something?”
Savage laughs, almost spitting out his hamburger. “Nah. All active members work for the club. We get a cut of the profits for ourselves, but most of it goes into keeping this place up and running.”