“You got it,” Joshua said.
“How’s everything else over there?”
“Well, Kane, we were up in arms here about an hour ago. We were missing three, but they’ve finally arrived, looking recently screwed and smiling from ear to ear.”
“Reminds you of yesteryear, does it?”
“Tell me you didn’t ask for my help so I would be thrown in the middle of a similar past and forced to acknowledge I’m growing older.”
“Not older, my friend.” He spotted Peyton inside the kitchen window and smiled at his beautiful wife, wondering how many times he might be able to fuck her before trouble arrived. He instantly pushed aside the corrupt thought. “With age, we learn how to handle our women and those desires that could’ve gotten us killed all those years ago.”
“Kane, we haven’t dealt with an outfit like this. Tell me you went ahead and called the Feds in.”
“I didn’t have any other choice. If we hadn’t called them, we could’ve been awaiting our deaths. After talking to Trixie’s men, we’re convinced we’ve bitten off more than we can chew. Kimberly’s men—Sebastian and Wyatt—gave Braden a list of names to call and he’s made the right connections. We should have suits here we can trust within the next couple of hours.”
“I hope they arrive before trouble does,” Joshua said. “And I never thought I’d say this but I’m glad you decided to call in professional reinforcements.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We still have a few hours here that we’ll be standing on our own. Get Aspen out to the Blazier place. Let me know what you find out. I have a feeling we may hear some noise tonight.”
* * * *
“Your sister must be out of her fucking mind!” Aspen stormed inside the kitchen and threw his keys on the counter.
“What’s the matter?” Joshua pushed back from the table and Vicky turned around and watched him, apparently in awe of him regardless of his mood.
At the moment, Brianna wasn’t impressed. She’d had about all she could take from the McKays. After her afternoon tryst down by the river, she’d faced twenty questions and tolerated several condescending looks. The muttered comments were infuriating, too. They ranged from, “Next time one of these guys makes your panties wet, change them instead of dropping them. It doesn’t take as long…” to “You boys better be drawing guns instead of wet pistols…”
He thought he was f-ing hilarious. Now here the other one was pissed off because he apparently knew the truth about Coco and her men now. She was better protected than they were and he probably knew as much now.
“Are they running drugs?” Aspen demanded.
“Not that I’m aware of.” Brianna glanced at Jax. “I mean, I really don’t know!”
“She probably doesn’t,” Jax said, pulling her to his lap and wrapping a protective arm around her waist.
“They aren’t running drugs. They’re in the weapons business,” Flint said.
“Weapons business?” Joshua asked, his gaze jumping between the Jackson brothers. “Want to explain that?”
“Why sure, I can,” Tyler said. “It’s really quite simple. They run guns for the cartel.”
“They what?” Joshua roared with anger. “Brianna, did you know about this?”
“I knew they were a dangerous sort of family,” she said. “But Coco doesn’t talk about it much. We never see any of the Blazier boys at the house. Only Brandon. He picks her up and takes her out to his place when he wants to see her and brings her back when he doesn’t.”
“I don’t really think that’s how it goes,” Aspen said, scratching and shaking his head. “In fact, I didn’t get that impression at all.”
“How’d you know about their business?” Joshua asked.
“They asked us to help them store their guns once,” Flint said, catching a scowl from Jax and Tyler.
“How big is this business of theirs?” Joshua asked, directing his question to Aspen.
“I’m guessing it’s quite lucrative. The place is like Fort Knox. I almost didn’t get inside to see Coco and while I was there, four burly-looking fellas hung around, making sure she didn’t feel threatened.”
“That would be Zak, Liam, Dallas, and Nate.”
“Why yes, as a matter of fact, those names ring a bell.” Aspen dragged his forearm over his forehead. “You tell Kane next time he wants to pass along a message to Coco to just call. I’m lucky I lived to walk out of there.”