Chapter 24: Phoenix

24

PHOENIX

A s we were getting Gary settled in the holding room, his phone rang. I didn't think anything of it at first, but when it continued to ring, I reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to see Hound's name on the screen.

Holding up the phone for Gary to see, I gave him a pointed look. "You're going to answer and pretend like everything's fine. Do not even think about doing anything to tip him off."

Gary swallowed thickly and nodded. "Okay."

When Hound called again, I accepted the call and put him on speaker so we could hear what transpired.

"Hello," Gary answered shakily.

"It's about time," Hound snapped. "I've been trying to call you. Did you do what you were supposed to?"

"Sorry, I was in the bathroom. Yeah, I went by there this morning. I did what I had to do and left. No problems."

"Good. We're heading that way now. Keep an eye on things and call me when they show up."

"Will do. There's no sign of them yet."

"It's only a matter of time. I'll call you when we're close so you can meet us at the same place as last time." With that, Hound ended the call.

"Where does he want you to meet him?"

"It's an abandoned warehouse on Highway Fourteen in Cedar Valley. I don't know the exact address, but I can show you where it is."

"Show us on a map," I said and turned to Byte.

Byte placed his laptop in front of Gary with a map already on the screen. "Is this it?" he asked and pointed to a warehouse and empty parking lot.

"Yes, that's it," Gary confirmed.

"All right, let's get over to the conference room to make some plans."

Church was short and simple. We were going to meet them at the warehouse and work things out one way or another, but we were going to have some precautions in place in case things went sideways.

Before I knew it, I was hugging my kids and kissing my wife goodbye. "Be careful," Annabelle said.

"I always am, doll face. I love you," I told her and kissed her once more.

"I love you, too."

I knew she was worried. I was too, but there was no way around it; we had to meet with them face-to-face.

When we arrived in Cedar Valley, we parked behind the warehouse and got set up while we waited for them to arrive. As he said he would, Hound called Gary to let him know when they were thirty minutes away.

We waited until they pulled into the parking lot and turned off their engines to make our appearance from behind the building. The look on Hound's face was priceless. In a different situation, I would have laughed.

Hound stepped forward and crossed his arms over his chest. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"You know exactly what we're doing here. You forced my hand when you refused to talk to me after the shooting. Then you ordered the fire at the diner to draw us out. Well, here we are."

"You killed two of my members and are harboring a girl who tried to frame us for murder. Why the fuck would I want to talk to you?"

"We killed one of your members—after he shot three of mine and two family members."

"You killed Muzzle," Hound insisted.

"No, we didn't. I'm not sure why you would even think that."

"Muzzle came up here looking for his daughter, the one your club is hiding. He disappeared, and then your club is staked out at the diner where his daughter works. You really expect me to believe that's a coincidence?"

"The diner is owned by a family member. She was injured during a break-in, as were two of her employees. My club was there to help run the place until they were back on their feet. Our presence had nothing to do with you."

"That's bullshit, and you know it!" Hound shouted.

"I don't have any reason to bullshit you. If I killed Muzzle, I'd tell you."

Hound narrowed his eyes. "Fine. Hand over Evie, and I'll let it go."

I snorted a laugh and shook my head. "No fucking way. She didn't do what you think she did, but that doesn't matter because she's a Blackwings old lady."

"She tried to frame Muzzle and Snarl for murder," Hound insisted.

I sighed in exasperation. "I read the police reports. Snarl's fingerprints were on the murder weapon. He's left-handed. The victim's throat was cut from right to left, and the knife was on the ground to the left of the body. There's video evidence of Muzzle kidnapping Evie from the hospital parking lot the night of the murder. There's photo evidence of Evie's bruised and swollen face right after she was taken. Yeah, she may have reported it, but there was no framing. They did it. The only reason they wanted to find Evie was to tie up that loose end by permanently silencing her. You had to know that."

"What the fuck is he talking about, Prez?" the man beside Hound asked. A quick glance at his cut told me he was the new vice president, Mange.

"Not now."

"Yes, now. You said Evie stole the money from Randall's sales, killed him, and set Muzzle and Snarl up for the murder before she took off. Now you've got us in a war with the Blackwings because Muzzle and Snarl were too stupid to not kill her when they killed Randall."

"I said not now!"

"Fuck that! They're dead. Whatever Evie does or doesn't do doesn't matter anymore."

"We don't know that Muzzle's dead," Hound argued.

"You just accused the Blackwings of killing him. What are you trying to pull here?"

"Shut the fuck up, Mange! I should end you for disrespecting me!"

"And I should end you for disrespecting our club!"

I knew what was about to happen and took a few steps back as each one produced a gun and pointed it at the other.

"If we can wrap this up, you guys can handle your shit without us here," I said calmly.

They turned, and suddenly both barrels were aimed at me. Slowly raising my hands, I pointed to the roof of the warehouse where Shaker, Badger, Copper, Judge, Boar, and two other Manglers were positioned with sniper rifles. "I wouldn't do that."

Hound lowered his weapon while Mange redirected his back to Hound and fired. Hound fell to the ground in a heap while Mange raised his hands and let his gun dangle from one finger. "I think we're done here."

"I'm going to need more than that."

He sighed and returned his gun to its holster. "Hound, Muzzle, and Snarl have been problematic for the club for a while. As far as I'm concerned, whatever issues they had with you died with them."

"What about Evie?"

"Evie is no longer our concern. This is over. You have my word," he said and extended his hand.

"It's not completely over. Evie was listed as a person of interest in Randall's murder after the charges were dropped against Muzzle and Snarl. Now, I'm not an expert in murder investigations, but it seems like things weren't on the up and up, and we're going to have to clear Evie's name, which might bring trouble to your door. I'm not interested in stirring up shit where shit doesn't need to be stirred."

"Not a problem. I'll make sure Muzzle and Snarl are blamed for the murder, and Evie's name is cleared." When I arched an eyebrow, he added, "We have a nice setup in Fairbanks. We don't need any outsiders sniffing around and changing things."

Knowing that was as good as it was going to get, I shook his hand. Evie was safe, no one was hurt, and they were leaving. I was satisfied with those outcomes.