Page 5 of Condemned Soul

“Prez never said anythin’ about it.” I glance over the words that are highlighted on the page.

“He’s probably just covering all bases, Jessie. These people are gonna be pissed off when, whatever they had set up with Cliff, gets taken away. Whoever takes over Long Beach is going to have to deal with that.” What she says makes sense, but it doesn’t change the fact he’s kept it from us.

“So, what exactly did ya find?” I try to make sense of what I’m reading.

“Well, these street boys, who Cliff is allowing to trade on the territory that you’re supposed to be protecting for Burlusconi, are working for the Lambroni brothers,” Alex informs me.

“No, they ain’t,” I laugh at what I’m hearing. “Not even a high school kid would be that stupid.” The Lambroni and Burlusconi families have been rivals for decades, no one wants to get caught up in that crossfire.

“Look for yourself, that boy they found dead in the hotel two blocks away from the Long Beach clubhouse had six bullets in his chest, all of them came from an MP40,” Alex explains.

“And…?” I shake my head, waiting for her to explain how that's relevant.

“Well, we know the Russians supply to pretty much all of the criminal organizations in California, because we run their weapons, and they don’t supply MP40s. The only people they refuse to sell to are the Lambronis.”

“That don’t mean a thing.” I shake my head again.

“It does when Phillip Lambroni made a purchase from the triads for a case full of them.” My girl smiles at me cleverly.

“And how do you know that? We don’t work with the triads anymore?” I fold my arms and study them both hard.

“Because Maddy busted into the ATF’s system and managed to gain access to the case file they have on them. She went through the evidence from the last bust they made. And would you look at that…” Alex points her finger to the cell number that’s typed out on the page.

“I’m just seeing a number, Alex,” I admit.

“But when paired up with this…” Maddy fills in the blanks when she places a new piece of paper over the one I'm holding, this one containing a map with a red circle marking a location. “This is where the signal to that phone was coming from.”

“The Lambroni estate.” Alex holds out her fist for Maddy to pump.

“You guys are scary.” I shake my head and toss the papers on the table.

“Not as scary as the fact that these small-time gangs, who we don’t think are a problem, are mixed up with big-time organizations like the Lambronis. Cliff’s take-down may not be as easy as Prez thinks it will be.” Maddy brings us back to reality as she gathers everything back together in the file. “I better take this to him, you wanna come?” She looks up at me.

“No, and don’t tell him I know about it, either. I’ll wait till he tells me.” I feel a slight sting in my chest as I shake my head.

“Jessie, I don’t think this is supposed to be a secret, I just?—”

“I know it ain’t a secret, Maddy. Me and Prez don’t have secrets, not anymore,” I remind her, trying real hard to convince myself that's true at the same time.

* * *

It’s mid-morning before we all get called into church, and as the meeting goes on, I start to wonder if Prez is gonna bring up the information he got from the girls this morning. Nothing gets said. In fact, nothing about Cliff and the Long Beach charter gets mentioned at all, which makes me wonder what the hell’s goin’ on in Prez’s mind. He gives us all our instructions for how we’re gonna handle our latest run to Nevada and when he slams the gavel, I can’t help but notice the glimpse of guilt that's in his eyes as he watches everyone disperse. Something’s off, and I hang back while everyone else makes their way out so I can find out what it is.

“What’s on your mind, Jess?” He stands up and pours us a drink from the cabinet in the corner.

“I was gonna ask you the same question.” I accept the drink he puts in front of me and knock it back. “What ya keepin’ from me?” I ask with a bitter taste in my mouth that the whiskey doesn’t take away.

“Don’t do that,” Jimmer warns, retaking his seat and staring across the table at me. “Don’t put me in a position where I have to lie to you when I promised you I never would never do it again. I just need ya to trust me.”

“I don’t like this.” I feel my teeth clench.

“Neither do I.” He swallows the last of his drink and gets up from the table, marching out and leaving me sitting by myself, really starting to worry about our leader and the future of our club.

“What's that?” Brian gestures his head at the envelope I’m holding in my hand.

“Nothin’ important.” I fold it up and shove it inside my cut. My lawyer said that if I had any hope of gaining full custody of Hayley I’d have to be sure she was mine. I managed to get a paternity test without Mary-Ann noticing, and I’ll be honest, nothing scares me more than the thought of opening that envelope.

“I was thinkin’ about this move I’m making to Utah,” he starts.

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