Page 66 of The Afterthought

"Let's get right down to business," Knox says after I walk up to the bay filled with other crew members. I give him a slight nod, and he continues. "We go in as planned. Greyson and Kai will take the duffle bags with the new product. We should expect them to come at us, guns blazing. Once all the gunfire has calmed down, we will signal Greyson and Kai to complete the job. We can't let the Cobras get the jump on this. This is one of the biggest exchanges we've ever done, which is why we anticipate them targeting this one. If the Cobras get their hands on the drugs and the cash, they will have everything they need to finance whatever they want. We're talking potentially half a million dollars on the line here."

Some of the guys around the garage begin to whisper amongst themselves. I push past everyone to the front of the room to stand next to Knox. "Keep your shit together. We're perfectly capable of handling this. They don't know we are expecting them." This seems to calm a lot of people down.

"We will have a group of men on each corner waiting for them. Kill who you need to kill in order to protect what's ours," he states plainly.

He finishes his speech, and we wait out the next few hours as we prepare for the exchange. Once we deal with the Cobras, we have to handle Sheriff Wolfe and find the snake in our midst. That's a problem for tomorrow, though. Today, we focus on this.

There's a weird anticipation in the air as we pull up to the warehouse. I check my surroundings carefully, knowing that the Cobras are on their way even if I can't see them right now.

"Are you ready for this?" Kai asks.

"I'm ready to get it fucking over with so I can get back to my girl," I confess.

"She's it for you, isn't she?"

"Yeah. I was an idiot for ever letting her go."

"Look at the two of us. A few months ago, we were both bachelors, and now we're practically wifed-up."

"The problem now is that people have started to associate my love for Ava as a weakness. They will realize real soon how wrong they are. She may have my heart, but I'm that much more unpredictable when it comes to protecting her." I look him straight in the eye. "If a person even looked at her wrong, I wouldn’t even think twice about reducing them to a pile of ash. I mean it, Kai. You know I wouldn’t even feel any remorse when doing it either."

He holds his hands up in defense. "Woah, killer. You know, I was going to say it was nice that you found someone to mellow out some of that psycho energy, but clearly, I was wrong."

"Let's go, asshole." I shove the door open and head straight to the trunk to grab the small dolly and load the bags onto it.

Once we have all eight duffle bags loaded, I push them into the warehouse. I can practically feel the eyes on me, waiting for everything to go down. I'm not normally a gun kind of person, mainly because I prefer to burn my victims, but today, I have two strapped along my waist. One in the front and one in the back.

We get inside the abandoned warehouse a few minutes earlier than planned, so our buyer hasn't arrived just yet. I pull out my lighter and flip it on and off a few times to try and alleviate some of the anxiety over what's about to happen. It doesn't work, so I pocket the lighter and pull out my phone to send Ava a quick text.

Me: Forever my heart.

Ava: Forever my always.

Ava: Is everything okay?

Me: I'll see you when I get home tonight, baby.

I pocket my phone again before reading whatever she sends next. She has to know something is up. I want her to know how much she means to me, just in case. The garage doors on the warehouse are open, and we see another car pull up to park next to ours. It's showtime. The Cobras won't be hitting us until the money and the drugs are in the same place. That's the smartest way to ensure they don't lose the product or the cash. We still have a few minutes left before the main event.

My heart beats rapidly in my chest, and I harden my face. Three people approach us in masks with duffle bags on a dolly of their own. We don't need to see who they are in order to do business with them. Money talks, and as long as they are willing to spend their money, we are willing to sell them the new drugs. Sheriff Wolfe put us in contact with them and had it all planned out. His intention the whole time was for the Cobras to look good in the end. Jokes on him. Whatever's left of the Cobras after today will look more pathetic than ever.

I step forward to shake the hand of one of them and quietly whisper, "We got word this exchange has been compromised. Act normal, but prepare."

The person takes a step back and then looks from left to right, giving each of their fellow associates some sort of signal to be on the defensive. Not even thirty seconds later, I hear gunshots erupt from outside of the warehouse.

"Stay in here, and let us handle it!" I yell at them while running to the garage doors.

Within seconds, Kai and I are sliding both doors down, preventing anyone from entering through them. If they want to come in, they will have to come in the main door where Kai and I are standing guard. Knox wanted the two people he trusted the most on the inside to protect these buyers, so here we are.

I resist the urge to peek my head outside, listening as guns pop off from every direction. A shadow casts on the door, and I look over to Kai, who is ready with his gun pointing toward the door. The buyers are huddled up in the opposing corner of the warehouse, waiting out our gunfight.

The door opens, and I hear a bang. Immediately, the body that just entered falls to the ground from Kai's shot to the center of his forehead. Three more men try to push their way through the door, and all three of them end up with the same fate as the first. The sounds of the gunfire begin to fade, but we stay on edge, waiting for the signal. We won't let our guard down a second sooner. You never know when a stray snake might come out and bite you.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, the signal. It's Knox. I click the answer button and put him on speaker. "Petunia," he says, and I hang up. We don't need to have a conversation. I heard what I was supposed to in order to finish up the exchange.

"All clear," I call out to the buyers in the far corner.

They holster their guns and cautiously walk back to the center of the room, where I meet them at the bags.

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