Page 33 of The Devil's Conflict

“You’re right,” Viper agrees, leaning forward. “I looked over the file Cryos put together, and when he blew shit up, he lit up the sky. There were never any survivors. He’s not going to sneakin and do a hurried charge and then run away. That’s rookie shit. No, he’d wire it up in the dead of night, and then he’d wait patiently until we were in place, and detonate it when he was close enough to see it happen, but far enough away to not get caught in it.”

“So are you saying that it might have been some rogue soldiers blowing shit up to impress Vlad?” Timber questions.

“Could be, but I can’t imagine Vlad would want that attention,” Viper replies.

“Or, he’s counting on it looking like we’re in a war with someone other than him,” I suggest. “I mean, the club used to be a 1%er club, and even though we’re not legit, the cops would think we’ve slipped back into that life or a rival club is coming to try and take over our territory. And the cops have no clue that we know Vlad is here, or that we’re involved in this little battle outside of Vlad’s rats in the force and court system. And they’re not going to announce that or get themselves in deep shit.”

“Maybe we’re just looking at this too hard,” Torque says thoughtfully. “I mean, it could be that we’re just pissing Vlad off and he’s done being nice. I mean, this has been months of back and forth. We did the same with Dmitri, but since he was setting up, he couldn’t do shit that would gain attention on himself. So he went after the women. Vlad is more seasoned, and him going after us hard and out in the open is something he can do without as much repercussion. More connections, more plants, and more resources than Dmitri had.”

“And maybe he’s doing the loud work while Nikolai works quietly in the background,” I agree grimly. “Either way, we’re in a shit position.”

“Might need to look at going full lockdown,” Shadow suggests.

“But won’t that just give him a new target with all of us and the women and kids here too?” King points out.

“We have this place covered in security and we have people patrolling, so him getting on the grounds would be next to impossible,” Cryos disagrees. “And we also have the shelter downstairs and in one of the outbuildings if we need it.”

“All of which they could find if they really wanted,” King answers.

Cryos opens his mouth to argue some more, but Bullet cuts him off by stating, “There is no good resolution. Cryos, your shit is damn good, but it’s not perfect, and you know it. Even the rest of us aren’t going to be able to keep them out with the little manpower we have.” He glances at me. “I think we should look at calling in an ally or two to have on hand. This shit goes south, and we’re going to need as many hands as we can to help us out.”

I nod my agreement. I’ve already been planning on mentioning this to him when we had a moment to ourselves. “We have a couple of options that aren’t far away. We could reach out to Arson and his crew first and see if they’re willing to come help out. They’re the closest, and their guys are crazy enough to enjoy this shit.”

The Heaven’s Misfits MC is a 1%er group that’s one state over, and one we’ve had some good relationships with over the past few years. We don’t get involved in their gun running, but we give them safe passage through our territory whenever they need it. They agree to our rules, and they don’t deal in our territory. Our guys have gone to help them out with some things in the past, like tracking down one of their missing women, and also keeping a few other women and children with us when they need it.

Arson’s batshit at times, but he’s a good man deep down and he’ll come through for us.

Bullet nods. “Alright. I think that’s going to be the best option. They can help us with patrols and keep the women and kids safe while any of us aren’t here. Any objections?”

“You sure that’s a good idea to have Silver around the women?” King snickers. “He’s either going to try and join forces or piss them off so much we’ll have to deal with his body before they’re gone.”

“Wasn’t it Rose that tossed that knife at him the last time?” Timber laughs.

Bullet smirks. “Yeah, but we’ll just make sure the two of them stay far apart this time. Arson will agree for that for peace.”

“Will they be bringing their women?” Shadow asks with a groan. “Don’t half of them have them?”

“We’ll tell them not to bring them with everything that’s goin’ on,” I offer. “Plus, if I remember correctly, Rose and Crook’s Old Lady almost got into a fight the last time she was here.”

“The woman is a leech,” Hulk says in disgust. “She tried to worm her way into all our beds at one point. Don’t know what the fuck the man sees in her.”

“He stays for the kids,” I reply. “But the oldest should be off to college now so I wouldn’t be surprised if he kicks her the hell out, if he hasn’t already. But either way, I’ll let Arson know it’s too dangerous to have more women and kids here. Some might not be happy about it, but they’ll deal.”

“Should we be sending the women over to them in the meantime?” Torque wonders. “I mean, I don’t want Izzy away from me, but if they’re going to be safer there…”

“I don’t want Syn away from me being pregnant,” Stone says firmly. “At least here, I can protect her.”

“She has the dogs to protect her,” Torque argues.

“If we start sending them away, Vlad might take that as an open invitation,” Frost interjects. “We need to keep them here as much as we can. And I hate to say it, but having the Misfits here and the connection to weapons. We have plenty, but won’t hurt to have that option.”

“We can’t have that shit on the grounds,” Bullet says with a shake of his head. “I wouldn’t put it past Vlad to call the cops and make some shit up again to get them here and do another search.”

“True,” Frost agrees with a sigh. “But we need a plan.”

“I’ll talk to Arson to see what we can work out,” I offer. “Maybe he has a suggestion, but Cryos, I’ll want the line encrypted just in case.” He nods.

“Alright, we got that figured out. Now, we need to figure out we’re going let Vlad know that we don’t appreciate his idiotic attempt,” Bullet announces. “And we need to ramp up our efforts to figure out where he’s hiding that shit.”

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