Page 23

23. THE CHALLENGE

BIGFOOT

“I was surprised to receive your request for a meeting,” Wrecker said the minute I stepped into the room with him. We both had people outside the building and our VPs beside us for the meeting. Candyman gave Baffle a good once over and then brought his attention firmly back to me as I spoke with his president.

“I don’t know why you’d be surprised. Your club came gunning for me. Then you came for my ol’ lady.”

“As much as it pains me to admit this, we did not sanction a hit on you. Our Road Captain, Whip, thought he would go rogue and prove that he should be the one with this patch on his chest.” Wrecker laughed as he tapped his president patch. “Didn’t work out too well for him.”

“Yet you still send your men to take my ol’ lady out because you thought she might have been the one to take him out.”

“Didn’t do that one, either. Though, it was sanctioned by the Rivera Cartel. Whip was their man, after all.”

“It stops now, and before you tell me there’s more at play than I understand, I came to disabuse you of that notion.”

“Disabuse me, huh? Fancy words for a King.”

“It’s just a fucking word.” I threw the DNA results down in front of him. for him. “See? No familial relation at all.” Wrecker and Candyman exchanged a pointed look and then he pushed one finger down on the papers and slid them back to me. “Don’t suppose you know who the kid’s real father is?”

“Nope. Don’t care. We’re not going to punish the kid for not having Morton blood, but all the same, it means he does not qualify as an heir for inheritance of the family land.”

“I concede that point.” Wrecker once again looked at his VP and something passed between them that I didn’t much like. “There’s still the issue of Three.”

“Three what?” I asked.

“Three is a who. He was sent to have a conversation with Colleen Morton and he never returned.”

“I suggest you find Colleen and ask her, then.”

“Colleen hasn’t been seen or heard from in a few days. I don’t suppose you know anything about that?”

I stepped back and got ready to leave but made sure to get my point across before I did. “I don’t know why everyone you’re involved with up and leaves, but it has nothing to do with me. My club doesn’t go after women, period.”

“Even women who clearly tricked your ol’ lady’s family?” Wrecker asked.

“Even then. If I knew where she was, I’d hand her over to you. Can’t imagine you’re too happy knowing she fucked up your plans to take those 56 acres the Mortons own. Do yourselves a favor and find a different pipeline between your clubhouse and the fucking Rivera Cartel. If we see any of you enter New Mexico from this point forward, we will shoot first and ask questions later. You stupidly declared war on my club the minute your club tried to take me out, and you admitted it was a member of your club who did so. As the party who can call for retaliation, understand that you have a debt to pay and this is the only day I’ll walk away without killing any Mojave Devil who ends up in my sights.”

“Big words for a man who was marked by death,” Candyman threatened.

“You want me to change my mind and introduce a new leadership to your club today, asshole?”

“That’s enough,” Wrecker stated as he ordered his man to stand down. “If we find out your club had anything to do with the death of Three or Colleen Morton, there will be retribution coming from our side, as well.”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting on that. Then again, I have it on good authority that Colleen wiped out Brian Morton’s financials and there’s a certain sheriff who went missing within a few days of her. Now, I’m not one to gossip, but I’ve heard a rumor here and there that the two might have been fucking behind Brian’s back for quite some time. Possibly, they were together for the entirety of Colleen’s marriage to Brian.”

“Is he the father of that kid?” Candyman chomped the words out as if each of them had a flavor and he didn’t like the way any of them tasted.

“Don’t know. We were going to run a sample, but his place was wiped clean by someone. Not sure how you lot operate, but someone with a meticulous track record for disappearing people made sure that Estes and Colleen Morton didn’t leave any trace of themselves behind to find. Do what you will with that information.”

Those little kernels of truth were planted on purpose. The Rivera Cartel were known for their flawless cover ups when they took people who might be missed. It was just enough doubt to plant suspicion in the minds of the Mojaves while not offering too much information that might turn their suspicions back on us. I wanted them at one another’s throats. It was imperative that their plans didn’t just fall apart, but they crumbled around them and left chaos in their wake. Chaos was easier to deal with because it meant people got sloppy.

“Remind your men they’re not to cross into New Mexico.”

“Remind yours that Arizona is equally off limits, then.” I smirked at Candyman. Wrecker had more than one soldier who wanted to overthrow the man at the top.

“Nope. See, the Kings of Anarchy already have a chapter in Arizona. We have three in Texas, one in Nevada, Colorado, and Utah, and I can go on naming states because we have a chapter in every fucking one of them. Do you know what happens when we consolidate all of our resources and point them toward a common enemy?”

They didn’t bother to ask for an answer, so I grinned even wider and gave it to them anyway. “We no longer have an enemy,” I threatened. Unlike Candyman’s threats, mine were very real. Judging by the faces of the two men across from me, they knew it.