Page 28 of Risk (Mayhem Makers: MMM #3)
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
Risk
It’s an interesting turn of events when the person we’re interrogating doesn’t resist and spills the beans all nonchalant-like.
Usually, we have to beat information out of a person, and even though I thrive on brawling and spilling blood, I’m somewhat enjoying this relaxed atmosphere too—makes me wonder if I’m going soft in my old age.
My body is in good shape, just nowhere as good as it was in my late teens and early twenties.
“Tell us everything you know about Marshall Pierce,” Kodiak begins.
Something lifelike flickers in Albright’s eyes before they dim again, and he says, “Pierce is one sick puppy. In the beginning, we tried to stop him from his debauchery, but he dug deep and found our skeletons and threatened to expose us. Blackmail isn’t something I’d normally give in to, but the things he found wouldn’t only destroy my political career but would annihilate my wife and my children. ”
Dragon stops him, a sneered beratement in his tone. “We didn’t ask for your pitiful life story, Albright. We don’t give a shit how he wrangled you into his web of deceit, at least not yet anyway. What we need to know is where he is and who’s covering his ass.”
Albright gulps, letting me know he’s fractionally cognizant of what he’s confessing to.
“You won’t find him, not for a while, if ever.
He’s been shipped overseas. He pissed off the Trifecta so they had their people snatch him from his bed and put him into a cargo ship container and postmarked him for Guatemala… I think.”
“You think? Is he still breathing?” I probe.
“If he is, he won’t be for long,” Albright states, not acting contrite about it in the least. If anything, he seems thrilled that Marshall won’t be a thorn in his side for much longer.
“They don’t necessarily keep us in the loop of where they’re sending people who have either gone against their wishes or have double-crossed them. They’re an unforgiving group.”
No shit. Unforgiving is not the word I’d personally use to define them.
They’re ruthless, blood-thirsty, and will cut your digits off and ship them off to your family as a warning.
They have zero shits to give and getting caught is never a worry for them.
They have more servicemen than the President of the United States does. They shoot first and ask no questions.
In the background, Conan is whistling the theme from Jaws , which is fitting considering Marshall was tossed into the most dangerous depths of the ocean without a lifejacket to preserve his life.
“Why’d they take him? What infraction of his caused them to step in and take action?” I continue my line of questioning, wondering if this means my woman is no longer on their radar.
“He stepped over the cautionary line and got sloppy. He stopped covering his tracks and took someone that has strong community ties. If you look in the right places, you can link him back to them,” Albright confides. “That’s something they can’t, and won’t, ignore.”
He’s not lying. If you cross them they will come back at you tenfold with no remorse.
“So, you’re in bed with the Trifecta too?” Kodiak asks.
Albright’s face whitens, sweat drips down in rivulets from his temples, and he looks ready to release the contents of his stomach when he tells us, “Not voluntarily, kinda got roped into it.”
“How?” Kodiak inquires.
“Do we care how he got roped into it?” I whisper-ask Hemi who is sitting on my left.
“Not really,” he answers, “but I’m sure it’s necessary we know.”
It takes a lot of effort on my part to not jump up, rush Albright, and give him a beatdown.
I know what Hemi suggests is legit, we probably do need to know how he got in bed with the Trifecta, but this is taking longer than I’d like for it to.
None of the answers I want are being given.
The only thing I give a single damn about is if McKenna is safe now that Marshall has been taken to pay his penance.
“At least now we know what organization Marshall was involved with,” Conan says from my right. “If we have to go up against them and have any chance of walking away, we’ll need to call in every marker we have.”
“And make new ones,” I add. “Even with the allies that are on our side, we don’t have enough manpower to go up against an enterprise, such as the Trifecta consisting of the Russians, Guatemalans, and the Mexican cartels, that wields that much manpower.”
Kodiak whistles, and when our heads swivel his way, he narrows his eyes at us and shakes his head—a silent command that has us zipping our lips.
When we become perfect soldiers, sitting stock still and our attention is back in the game, he and Dragon continue their line of questioning.
They ask about a few more things that don’t mean shit to me, but I’m sure carry some weight.
When they finally get past the hierarchy in the food chain and start asking about the stolen girls, my ears perk back up.
“Now that Marshall’s gone, what’s the future look like for his stock of women?” Dragon asks. I grit my teeth and hold in the growl that wants to escape my lips at his term he used for the girls.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Albright states. “Nothing changes.”
“For your sake, you better hope that’s not true,” Kodiak recommends. “I want all of these girls returned back. Immediately. How do we ensure that it comes to pass? Word to the wise, don’t give me any bullshit politician-like answers. I don’t want to be placated; I want the God’s given truth.”
“The only way the Trifecta will give them up and send them home would be in a pine box,” Albright honestly answers. “They can’t have any loose ends coming up out of the woodwork and biting them in the ass.”
“Wake him the fuck up and give him back his mind, Dragon. We’re going to need to do a little negotiating,” Kodiak rumbles.
You see the exact minute Dragon releases him from his control because Albright loses his relaxed position and stiffens, scanning the room with wide, frightened eyes. “What’s this? Where am I?”
“I’ll show him a quick reel of our discussion,” Dragon says.
We give Albright a few minutes to catch up and digest his situation before Kodiak walks forward and kneels in front of him.
“It’s done,” Dragon informs us.
When the senator notices how close Kodiak is to him, he flinches. “There’s no saving them,” Albright whispers. “Not even my connections can right these wrongs.”
“Can your connections get me a meeting with the Trifecta?” Kodiak questions.
“I might be able to finagle a phone call out of one of them, but you’ll never be permitted to have a face-to-face meeting with them,” Albright tells us.
“Make it happen, Albright,” Kodiak persists. “And that girl in your bed, she’s coming with us.”
“You don’t want her,” Albright states, looking well and truly freaked out.
“Why not?” Dragon steps forward and asks.
“Because she’s one of their traps,” Albright answers. “She’s one of them. Their biggest draw into getting you to walk the straight and narrow line.”
“That doesn’t compute with what I saw in her mind when I walked through her dreams,” Wrecker conveys. “She’s unwilling.”
Albright shakes his head and sighs. “She’s not unwilling to do their bidding and she’s one malicious bitch.
She’ll take a straight razor to your throat in your sleep if you don’t do what she wants.
The unwilling part you picked up on, is the fact that she doesn’t like sleeping with me because I ask too many questions and don’t jump on her command.
She’s not allowed to end me because of my position, but when my wife is away, she comes over and sleeps in our bed so she can document it and use it as a way to blackmail me. ”
“Who is she?” Conan asks Albright.
“Mariksa Sandavol,” he answers.
“I’m not touching that viper with a ten foot pole,” Kodiak mumbles.
“Why not?” I ask, standing up, ready to go to war with my president.
The perfect swap just landed in our laps and he’s gonna let her walk away?
The Sandavols would do anything to protect their baby sister, even give up their stable of women.
Trading her for my woman’s safety is the best alternative we have.
“Because we’re not ready for that level of wrath to come at us, Risk. We’d need an army at our beck and call before using Mariksa as a bargaining chip.”
“Then what are we going to do because I won’t let them hurt McKenna?” I sneer.
Kodiak looks skyward, and sighs. “Let Albright set up a meeting with them and we’ll take it from there. They may be more amenable than we’re thinking they’ll be.”
“In the meantime, I’ll start calling around and see who’s willing to back us if a powerplay starts,” Conan offers. “We won’t let anything happen to McKenna, Risk. She’s not only your old lady, she’s our family.”
“I need to get out of here,” I say, glancing over at Kodiak.
He must see the turmoil on my face and the fact that I’d rather put a bullet between the eyes of the Trifecta, the Sandavol sister, and the senator than wait for them to try and reason with men who are out for one thing and one thing only—money and the power that comes with it.
“Go for a ride and clear your head,” Kodiak says, “but take Conan and Hemi with you. Now that we know who we’re up against, no man rides alone until I say otherwise.”
Without another word, I jog out of the barn and walk the two blocks back to where we stashed our bikes.
I’m livid, annoyed, and feel helpless. When I take to the streets, a plan begins to formulate in my head.
If my club can’t protect her and negotiate for her freedom, my family and I, we’re going into hiding after I fake our deaths.
I’ll wipe us from the map and make sure there’s no digital footprint of our existence.