Page 35 of Property of Bigfoot
Glitch nodded as Baffle made his way to my side. “Found a link between the Mojave Devils MC, The Rivera Cartel, and the man in town they have on their payroll.” I knew before he even confirmed who it would be.
“Sheriff Estes?” I questioned.
“That would be the one. Not sure if either of his two deputies are on the take with him, not that it would matter. If it came down to it, I don’t think he’d have an issue getting rid of them.”
I turned from Glitch to my VP. “Do we know what the fuck is so special about Violence that the Rivera Cartel would buy off our sheriff? We aren’t close enough to the border with Mexico to matter to them.”
“Seems someone thinks that there is a mineable resource between Fox Mountain and Black Peak that will produce some precious minerals and resources the Cartel wants possession of. Our club property and the town of Violence is the closest settlement to those would-be mines.”
“They want to turn Violence into their own personal mining town?” I asked, unable to believe the bullshit I was hearing. “There are wind turbines between us and the mountains. It’s not fucking feasible.”
“It’s possible my source is a little off the mark. Cerro La Mula isn’t far from us either. It’s also not part of the Apache National Forest, so they won’t have the issues with mining there that they would near the other mountains. Plus, you know what we found here on our property.”
I turned to Baffle and understood immediately. The caves beneath our property hadn’t simply yielded a great place for our grow farm, they had also granted us an unexpected mining operation of our own. There was a healthy load of gold, copper, and zinc beneath our feet. It was how we managed to obtain more property as it became available. It was also how we funded our businesses in an area where there hadn’t been much development previously. The town of Violence sprung up around our club, not the other way around.
“We are not going to let the fucking cartel or the damn Mojave Devils move in on our town.”
“No, we’re not,” Baffle agreed. “We need to redirect their attention somewhere else. We might be able to fight off the MDMC, but the Rivera Cartel has a longer reach and more resources. I’m not sure how we’d fare against them if push came to shove.”
“Luckily, I think they’ve only been putting out feelers and haven’t fully committed yet,” Glitch informed us.
“They tried to kill me, in case we all forgot how this shit happened.” I pointed to my not yet healed arm. “Do you seriously think this has all been a push to get fucking mineral rights or easier access to them?”
“It’s our best guess so far, and considering what we found in our own backyard, it’s not improbable. All they would have needed was for some idiot to find something in his backyard or on a hiking trip, and then for him to run his mouth about what he found and where. Whoever that fucker was that tipped them off is probably dead somewhere while they’ve been searching for signs that he wasn’t fucking lying.” Baffle turned and paced to the other side of the office and back again. “Why does it feel like we’re missing something?”
Someone banged on the office door, and I moved to open it. “What’s going on?”
“Sorry to interrupt, Prez. There are some men out at the gate requesting to see you.”
“Did you get a name or at the very least a description of the men, Prospect?”
His face turned red as he nodded his head. “Yeah, sorry. They’re the Morton brothers that run that campground.”
“Have them sent up and bring them directly back to my office.”
Once the prospect was gone, I turned back to my club brothers. “This can’t be a good sign.”
“Maybe they’re tired of you stalking their girl,” Knuckles grinned like an idiot as he said it.
“That’s the other piece of the puzzle we need to figure out,” Baffle reminded me.
“What do you mean?”
His eyes drifted back to Glitch before they returned to me, and he spoke again. “There has to be a reason a woman affiliated with the Mojave Devils ended up married to Brian fucking Morton. And if my suspicions are confirmed, then this takeover of our town has been in the works for a long fucking time. We’re spinning our wheels playing catch up until we get the full picture.”
A knock sounded on the door a few minutes later as we all sat there quietly contemplating what Baffle had just laid at our feet. I opened the door, and before the prospect could announce the Morton men, they stormed into my office. Brian was caught up short when he realized I hadn’t been alone.
“We need to talk,” he finally said.
“Then talk.”
Brian glanced around and seemed nervous to speak in front of the men in the room with him. I wasn’t going to have him waste my fucking time though, not when we were fucking hip-deep in a takeover we thought was only ankle-deep a few minutes prior.
“These are all my club’s officers. I don’t have secrets from them, so whatever you have to say, you need to fucking say it now or don’t. We don’t have time for you to stand around and contemplate life while you wait for me to empty out my office for you, though. That shit ain’t happening.”
Brady seemed amused. Josh, the middle brother, appeared to be along for the ride. Brian grew angry and finally decided to say what was on his mind.
“You need to stay the fuck away from my daughter.”
