“I know you’re worried, brother. We all are, but that way of thinking isn’t going to bring your girl home,” Viper warned.
Country looked utterly defeated as he muttered, “You’re right, but fuck. It ain’t right that he took her.”
“I couldn’t agree more, but this is the hand we have been dealt. It’s time for us to figure out our next move.”
Menace had been quietly hammering away at his laptop throughout our entire conversation. I hadn’t thought he was even paying attention until he finally piped up and said, “I’ve got eyes on both warehouses and DeLuca’s house.”
“And?”
“Not seeing any sign of Kiersten.”
“Damn,” Country huffed.
“Doesn’t mean she isn’t there, brother,” Menace answered. “I’ve got a limited view of the house.”
Viper leaned over to get a better look of the screen as he asked, “Can you tell anything about the guards?”
“Looks like he’s got two men at the Riverdale location and three at the other.” He paused for a moment, then added, “So far I’m up to six at the house, but like I said, I don’t have a clear view on the inside of the house.”
“Everleigh said he had fifteen on the payroll. A couple of those might be nothing more than field hands, but we gotta assume they’re packing.”
As I sat there listening to the way Viper and his brother discussed DeLuca and the possible ways we could infiltrate his property, I became more and more confident that these men could handle just about anything. I shouldn’t have been surprised. I was their fucking cleaner. I’d seen first-hand the kind of brutality they could dish out, and I had no doubt that they would give Antonio exactly what he deserved.
In fact, I was looking forward to it.
Viper ran his hand over his thick beard as he considered their best move, then said, “As far as we know, Antonio isn’t aware of Billy’s connection to us. He won’t be expecting us to come there with him. We’ll use that to our advantage.”
“Okay, how do you want to play it?”
“We’ll keep it simple. Divide and conquer.” Viper took one final look at the files Menace had given him, then continued, “We’ll hit the two warehouses first, take out the guards and search the grounds for Kiersten. If we don’t find any sign of her or DeLuca, then we’ll move on to his house in Belle Meade.”
“Sounds good.” Hawk sounded ready for battle when he said, “Just tell me when and where, and I’ll make it happen.”
“You, Shotgun, and Billy take Widow and Davies to the warehouse on Riverdale. Remember, there are two guards, and the office is upstairs. If Kiersten is there, that’s where she’ll be.”
Hawk nodded, and then, Viper turned his attention to Country. “You, Rafe, and Lynch will take a couple of prospects with you over to the warehouse on Malcolm. Axel and I will be close with Menace in case anything goes wrong.”
“When are we going to head over?”
“Under different circumstances, I’d say wait until dark, but we don’t have that kind of time on our hands.”
“You sure about that, Prez?” Axel asked with concern. “Going in broad daylight like this is gonna put us in all kinds of jeopardy. Kiersten, too.”
“I’m fully aware, but it’s a risk we’re gonna have to take. Besides, going now will give us the element of surprise we’re gonna need to pull this shit off.”
“Prez is right,” Menace interjected. “This guy has the means and the resolve to put a real hurtin’ on us.”
“Yeah, we don’t need to fuck around with this asshole,” Hawk added. “Catching him off-guard might be the only way we get Kiersten back.”
“Then, it’s settled.” Viper stood as he ordered, “Get your gear and meet out front within the hour.”
With that, the guys got up and started to disperse.
It wasn’t surprising that none of them had much to say to me, not even Country—a man I considered to be family. I tried not to let it get to me, but it was tough. I’d made the decisions I’d made because I thought they were the right decisions to make, and if I had a chance to go back and do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a damn thing.
I didn’t have much time on my hands, so I decided to use what little I had to check in on Everleigh. When I got to the family room, she was sitting on the sofa talking with Viper’s ol’ lady and her daughter. I stood there for several moments just watching as they bantered back and forth. It wasn’t long before she noticed me standing in the doorway and rushed over to me.
She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly as she whispered, “Oh, Billy. Are you okay?”