Page 37 of Venom's Sting

Rigs responds grumpily, “We didn’t, so let’s get right down to it.”

“So what’s Danny-Boy doing here?” I ask.

Siege gestures to Dan to fill me in on what he’s already no doubt told them,

“A cave on my father’s property was firebombed last night. Someone left Edmund’s cell phone there with a Savage Legion business card. The old man sent me to ask you where Edmund is.”

“Yeah,” Siege interjected. “We blew up the meth lab your brother had set up in there.”

“What?” Dan gasps.

“I’m guessing by your response Edmund didn’t tell you about his little side hustle. We don’t need a major meth operation funneling drugs into Las Salinas. Regardless of who owns the land, this is our territory. There’s also the little matter of your half-sister. We brought Edmund here because want to trade him for Carol Grayson, who we believe is being held against her will.”

“Look, we’re not animals. We’re doing everything we can to take good care of her. She’s actually a real sweet woman. If we could, we’d let her go. But…” he pauses, I’m guessing he doesn’t want to reveal what his brothers are up to.

“We know about your little plan, try and get your pops to change his will, and holding Carol hostage in case he dies before he signs the papers,” I say.

“You know?” Dan says with a shrug. “I didn’t wanna be a part of it. It was Edmund, Big Joe, and Hal who came up with the idea. I needed someplace to stay and went along with it.”

“So the plan is to wait until your father has a lucid moment and get him to change his will, that’s what Edmund said, but I’m not buying it,” Siege fixes him with a stare.

“It’s true. Edmund thought he might be able to forge the old coot’s signature, but his attorney wants him to sign in his presence, and he’d only need to take one look to see that Rufus is living in cloud cuckoo land,” Dan mutters.

“Edmund said he had a few screws loose. So what’s the story?” I ask.

“I don’t know what Edmund told you, but when we found out that the will had been changed, we asked him about it, but theold man had no memory of doing anything of the sort. He said that his daughter was dead to him, and the more we asked the more disturbed he got. We figured if we hung about, we might get him on a good day…” his voice trails off.

“Go on,” Siege says.

“That was almost eighteen months ago, after staying for a few months we realized he didn’t have good days. He was stuck in the past, convinced that his wife was away at her parents. That’s his first wife, Carol’s mom. That’s when Edmund had an idea, he thought if Carol visited then maybe it would jog his memory, except it didn’t work out that way. When he saw Carol at the door, he was convinced she was his wife.”

I shake my head in disbelief, when Edmund had spun this tale last night it seemed so farfetched, but here was Dan spouting the same shit.

Siege throws in, “You better not fucking tell me he’s using his own daughter as a stand in for his wife because, so help me God, if he’s touched her in any kind of wrong way, he’s a dead man.”

Surprise and revulsion jumps onto Dan’s face. “Hell no. He would never.”

Siege’s eyebrows shoot up. “Yet he’d hold her captive and sic dogs on his granddaughter, but this other thing is a bridge too far, right?”

Dan sighs. “Okay, maybe he really is that crazy. I don’t know if he would or if he wouldn’t, but I do know that his pecker stopped working years ago. It’s why he had a falling out with my mom. My mother said she was relieved that he stopped coming around because he was off his rocker and wildly unpredictable.”

“Shit,” Siege responds, “He must have been a handful back in the day. He must have got with your mom in his late fifties? You’re not much older than Amy.”

“Look, I don’t know about all that. All I know is my mom lost touch with him for years.”

“Getting you away from him sounds like a pretty smart move on her part. What made you decide tracking him down was a good call?” Rigs’ question is a good one, because Dan certainly didn’t have a great quality of life right now, busting his ass for slave wages on his father’s farm.

“I didn’t,” he responds irritably. “Big Joe trackedmedown. Told me that I was the son of a rich man and stood to inherit property if I stepped forward. Since both my gran and my mom passed, I’ve been all alone. It sucks working one low paying job after another, so I decided to roll the dice and see if my dad was as crazy as my mother had told me all those years ago. Let’s just say my mom knew what she was talking about when it came to Rufus. He ain’t gonna last forever. I’m staying there not only for my inheritance, but to help Carol and try to keep my three older brothers from totally self-destructing.”

“Oh yeah? How’s that going for you?” I ask, knowing full well that he’s got no control over the others. I’ve seen that much with my own eyes.

“Not well. It’s clear that the old man favors Edmund over me, Big Joe, and Hal. Ed runs the fucking show down at the farm, and the other two think he walks on water and will do anything he asks, no matter how morally reprehensible it is. I know if he asked them to kill Carol they would—that’s one of the main reasons I’ve stuck around, other than those idiots, she’s my only flesh and blood, someone’s gotta look out for her. I never trustedthat shady bastard, and from what you said about the meth lab, I was right. I think he’s setting us up for a fall, and he’s planning on taking everything for himself.”

“Why did your dad take such a shine to Edmund?”

Dan shrugs, “Edmund is a fast talker and slick like a used car salesman. To be honest, he acts like a pompous prick. I think that’s something my father could relate to, since he’s the same way. Maybe he sees his younger self?”

“Well, none of us particularly give a shit about the old man or his fucked-up family dynamics,” Siege tells him. “There are only two things on our radar. The first is the most important. We want Carol released and back where she belongs with Amy. Holding her hostage is apeshit crazy and has to stop. The second issue is Edmund’s meth business. He needs to fuck off with that shit. We’re not going to tolerate a full-blown meth operation in our territory.”

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