Page 58 of Banshee
“You don’t need all those enforcers when you’re leading men with respect.”
Skinner’s smile dropped a fraction, but he caught himself, not wanting King to know he’d hit the nail on the head.
“What’s this meeting about?” Skinner asked, ignoring King’s barb at his leadership abilities.
“You killed our prospect.”
“You killed our friend.”
“What friend?” Cash asked.
I was only half listening as I searched the faces of the men with Skinner. I was looking for one face in particular among the vermin standing before us.
“Daniel Scott.”
King sat forward, clasped his hands together on the table, and said, “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but Mr. Scott was killed by an assassin. Even had his name etched on the bullet. That wasn’t us.”
“You beat the shit out of him in the middle of Main Street and then had him killed.”
“Now, Skinner, again, you’re misinformed. Massacre, a member of the Golden Skulls, was the one who beat the shit out of yourfriend.Not us.”
“He was staying in your fucking house,” Skinner sneered.
“That is true. He came to get his wife. They’ve since gone back to California. You’re welcome to take it up with Reaper. But our prospect wasn’t involved. You owe us.”
“Prez,” Vulture whispered. Skinner held up his hand, cutting him off.
“What do you want?” Skinner asked.
I wanted the piece of shit he left at home. I’d studied every man that walked in the door, and the cocksucker who beat my baby girl wasn’t one of them. Maybe they really didn’t know she was with us.
“Well,” King leaned back against the booth, folding his arms over his chest as though he had all the time in the world. “I had planned to ask for restitution, money for the kid’s family. But then your man Sting fucked up and went after one of our women. Now I’m thinking a life for a life.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, King?”
“My enforcer’s old lady.”
Mimic stiffened beside me. This was news we hadn’t been given ahead of time, and based on the kid’s reaction, neither had he.
“He went into one of our businesses, punched her in the face and knocked her unconscious. If that wasn’t bad enough, he showed up at her apartment in the middle of the night and tried to fucking kidnap her. And to top it off, he tried to grab her from the fucking coffee shop when she was with my VP’s old lady.”
My eyes had been following every man in the room that stood against us, until Vulture launched himself forward, leaningon the table, and screamed in King’s face, “She’s my fucking daughter, and I want her back.”
It was second nature that when he moved, my brothers and I pulled our guns to protect our president. The front door opened, and the sheriff walked in as we stared down the Death Dogs, our guns pointed at them, and theirs pointed back at us. He pushed his way between the Death Dogs, until he stood by the table with King and Skinner.
“Hello, boys, heard you might need a mediator.”
“Sheriff, look around,” Skinner said, standing up to face the sheriff. “You’re outnumbered; they’re outnumbered. Who do you think is walking out of here alive?”
“You might be right there, but by my estimation, only a few of you will be walking out, and my deputies will scoop you up or put you down as you do. I do know one thing, though. You won’t be walking out of here alive.”
The sheriff looked down at Skinner’s chest. The small red dot from Winchester’s rifle bounced around over his heart. Skinner glared through the window at an invisible man he couldn’t see but knew was there. Turning back to King, Skinner growled, “I want my nephew and Vulture’s daughter.”
“And I want world peace. We don’t always get what we fucking want,” King replied, sitting back against the booth.
“This isn’t over,” Skinner snarled as he shoved an angry Vulture toward the door.
“King, I presume?” The sheriff reached out a hand as he sat in the empty chair opposite my president.
