Page 55 of Incoming Layne Shift

Joey and Gage both had her back in this endeavor. It didn’t hurt to know if they wiped Russell from the playing board, with a little bit of luck they would also get to unleash their chaos and wrath on the man responsible for Rose’s death.

Layne sat on the hood of her car in the middle of an empty parking lot, looking at her crew of men who had shown up for this evening’s strategized power play. She was dressed in all black from her boots up to her long-sleeved shirt, and in her hand was her skull mask with its orange and green laces. Her hair crisscrossed into a French braid with matching orange and green ribbons running through it.

“Ethan, you take your crew and see to it that Russell’s little souvenir shop with his office gets a hot bath in some gasoline.” She couldn’t wait to see that retail storefront burn down to its foundation.

Layne pointed at the man standing next to Ethan. “Sammy, go see to it that Russell’s right-hand man doesn’t see the light of day tomorrow.”

She smiled as she got to the last of her senior associates gathered there with them. “And Jonathan, pay a visit to his favorite butcher shop and let them know we will be taking over all the accounts. If they have a problem with it, they can expect Ethan to show up there next.”

Jonathan nodded at her, understanding the assignment, but he had some hesitation. “Layne, there’s a lot more business in Russ’s territory, this is a drop in the bucket.”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and sighed. “I know, but it will have to be the starting point. We can keep pushing until everybody learns a damn lesson of who not to fuck with in this city.”

Standing back a few feet from Layne's car were both De Luca brothers. Each wore tactical black pants and black hoodies, ready to assist Layne in her role in tonight’s endeavors. Joey had on his mask with its smiling skull jaw on it and Gage wore his hellish demon mask across his face.

“Actually…” Joey stepped up to Layne’s right with a phone in his hand and showed it to Layne. A familiar face was on the video call smirking at her.

“Pchelka, why did you not invite me to the party sooner, eh?” Alexei winked at her. “I have my men on their way to visit a few other of Mr. Spencer’s top clients. Consider it an early wedding gift.”

Her eyes stared at Kuznetsov in shock and then over at Joey who even with his mask on seemed to be beaming with pride at this little surprise he presented her with. “Thank you.” Layne meant it for both the Russian on the video call and the sneaky asshole who had coordinated with him.

Then, Gage came up on her left also with a video call on his phone. “That’s not all, lucky charm.”

Layne blinked a few times as she looked at Gage and on his screen were several faces she didn’t recognize at all.

“I called in a few favors from some old friends from my days in Jersey City. They’re going to help us out wherever we need them tonight.” Gage explained to her, and one of the guys on the phone spoke up with a heavy Jersey accent.

“Don’t let him fool you, he’s a conniving asshole.” The man joked with a hearty laugh. “Anything you need tonight, we got you.”

She smiled and looked at Gage, moved that he had also gone out of his way to seek out extra help. God, she loved him. She loved them both so much. Layne offered her words of appreciation for Gage’s friends before hopping down onto her feet in front of her car.

“Let’s go give Russell the news.” She dismissed the crew present with her and then turned to see Joey and Gage now side by side ready to accompany her.

Joey stepped up to her, took the mask from her hands, and placed it over her face. “No matter what happens, I’ve never been prouder, Layney.”

“Me, too.” Gage came up to her side and the three of them came into an embrace.

She smiled and patted each of them on their sides. “Alright, let’s go before I change my damn mind and beg you both to take me home instead.”

Each of their hands gave a swat to a side of her ass with Joey chuckling. “You can beg us later.”

They piled into her car and Layne took the seat behind the wheel. She drove them all to Russell’s house which was on the Upper West Side. Parking down the street from the Spencer residence, she sat in the driver’s seat for a second running down her checklist and patting herself down to ensure she had her weapons all in place.

She took one more deep breath and nodded to herself. “I’m ready.” Pulling out her phone, she shot off a text to Ethan to give him the green light to proceed burning down Russell’s base of operations.

Layne got out of the car and began heading towards Russ’s house. If she was going to do this, she was going to bestow the news on him herself. Joey and Gage stuck close to her, keeping an eye out for anything that might become a threat.

It was quiet in the neighborhood, which she had counted on being that it was half past midnight. She jogged up to Spencer’s front door and waited off to the side, glancing at her watch. Layne was waiting on Russ getting the call that his shop was on fire, given the yelling she heard from coming inside the house, he had just received the unfortunate news.

A few more minutes passed and she nodded to Joey and Gage who were across from her on the other side of the door as she heard footsteps approaching from inside the house.

The moment the door opened up and Russ was ready to rush out to deal with the situation at his store, Gage rushed him and pushed him right back inside. Layne followed next and Joey filed in behind her, shutting the door.

Alarmed, Russ yelled out as Gage’s hand had a grip on his shirt shoving him back against a wall. “WHAT THE FU—” His exclamation was cut off by Gage’s fist colliding into his face.

A huge smirk pulled at Gage’s mouth underneath the mask, it had felt exceptionally fucking cathartic to hit this motherfucker. Russ was stunned by the strike and was now glaring at the three of them. “What do you want?”

Layne pulled down her mask away from her face. “Hi, Russ.” Her smile at him was full of confidence and fake pleasantries. “Hope you don’t mind the late-night visit. I was just in the neighborhood and thought I’d swing by.”

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