Page 40 of Condemned Soul

Another loud slam comes when Jessie lifts him by his hair and slams his face back onto the table.

“You're a piece of shit, and I think you should be the first thing we all make a united decision on. What do ya say, Prez?” Jessie looks to me, and knowing exactly what’s going through his mind, I nod my head in agreement.

“Let’s take a vote. Who here says I slit the throat of this motherfucker who knew that Cliff killed a teenage girl and helped him try to cover it?”

“You covered it too!” Mac shouts out at him. “You had your psycho, little grave digger come clean it up if I remember correctly.” He tries to hide the fear in his voice and be a man as he looks across to Grimm.

“We had to, because Cliff wasn’t being smart, not only was he gonna end himself up in jail, but he would have taken this whole club down with him. The last place we want Cliff Adams is in jail. If he’s in there, Wrath can’t kill him.” Jessie makes his point as he takes out his knife and holds it against the fucker’s throat.

“So, let’s see a show of hands, who here wants to spare this fucker’s life?” Jessie looks around the room and when no hands show, he smiles as he slowly drags his blade through Mac’s flesh. Blood pours over his hand onto the table and the smile on Jessie’s face grows wider. It causes a few to shift uncomfortably in their seats and I make a note of who they are.

Troj releases his body so it falls onto the table and Ruckus nods his head at my VP.

“Things are gonna be changin’ around here,” I tell ‘em all. “You're gonna be gettin’ your respect back, and I don’t just mean out there on the streets. This club is gonna be run the way it was supposed to. You got a lotta work to do. Cliff’s burned a whole lotta bridges, but you can repair ‘em.” I look at each man around the table and offer them some hope.

“And who's gonna lead us?” the one they call Greaser calls from the other side of the table.

“I’m workin’ on that, but for now, if you got any problems, you take ‘em to Ruckus. He’s in charge.” Ruckus looks surprised.

I know he’s made it clear more than enough times that he ain’t got no desire to be a leader, but right now, he has little choice. He’s the most senior person here that I can trust.

I spend some time explaining to everyone what went down tonight, some look surprised, some don’t, but so far, everyone seems on board with the plan moving forward. It seems Ruckus was right, the majority of this charter really had lost faith in their leader.

“So, what was your plan, Prez? You were expectin’ Cliff to be there tonight, you know if the feds take him in, the first thing he’ll do is rat.” Ruckus questions me before I round up the meeting.

“He wasn’t gonna get the chance. Tonight’s bust was about fixin’ the shit he caused us with Burlusconi. Lambronis are a problem for him, and I’ve made up for the inconveniences Cliff has caused by makin’ sure they won’t be a problem to him anymore. Rex and Cliff had to be arrested to make the whole thing look legit, but I have someone workin’ the inside who was gonna free both those fuckers into my custody.” I scowl the room and look for any sign of support for the two motherfuckers who should be dead.

“So, where’s Rex now?” Saint asks. I’ve only met the guy a handful of times but I know how dangerous his alter ego can be. I’ve never been acquainted with Sinner, but I’ve heard enough stories.

“Soon as I know, I’ll tell ya, and you boys will get to have your fun with him. But first, we need to know where Cliff and his daughter, Willow, are. Jessie and Storm need to talk to him first.”

“This charter has an enforcer.” Dev feels the need to remind me of his position.

“And you're welcome to join ‘em,” I reassure him. Noting how he nods his head at Jessie. From what I’ve heard outta Tawk, Dev has been waiting a long time for this too. “I know things are gonna be tough and uncertain for a while, but I have every faith that with some determination and loyalty, you can bring this charter up to where it needs to be. Don’t give up on each other.” I slam the gavel and head out the room before my anger and disappointment shows to the men I’m supposed to be leading.

I storm through the club, past the empty swimming pool and into the parking lot so I can get some air. The sound of a car door slams from the other side of the street and I’m surprised to see Consuela walking toward me.

“You shouldn’t be here, it ain’t safe,” I warn her. “Besides, ain’t you supposed to be down at the precinct baskin’ in your takedown glory?”

“I don’t want to start interviews until the Lambroni mansion’s been searched. We have the two brothers in custody and a team searching the place now. I thought I’d grab myself a coffee before the interrogation begins.”

“Well, the coffee here sucks.” I huff a laugh as I light myself a cigarette.

“You lied to me.” She glares at me, looking every bit as pissed off as she is disappointed.

“I told you I’d give you the Lambroni brothers. I never said you’d get all three.”

“They won’t talk, not without knowing where the other one is.” She sighs in frustration.

“You don’t need ‘em to talk, you got all the evidence you need to put ‘em away.”

“This isn’t right, we shouldn’t decide who lives and dies.” I can tell she’s mad, but it doesn’t change anything. Burlusconi wanted blood and for him, I always deliver.

“I’ve been makin’ that decision my whole life, darlin’. Besides, we didn’t have a choice, the brother who was at the house had to be the one who died, if you’d taken him in he could’ve claimed that evidence was planted.”

“And what about the one we arrested at the shipping yard, he would have gotten a good look at your men, they helped me detain him. If he says you were involved in this takedown it could get thrown out.”

“Lambronis aren’t gonna mention the Souls, we got some security on that. The CCTV at the shippin’ yard was down, and Screwy and Squealer were just two guys workin’ on their boat who offered you some help with detainin’ your suspects.”

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