“Look, give Devil a chance. You’ve never been his biggest fan, but please, give him a chance. He’s got his club in his best interests.”
“Exactly, Tiny. He’s got his own interests for his own club in his thoughts.” Alex pulled up outside of the curb where the graveyard was.
Murphy was stood with his arms around a sobbing Tate.
“Here we go,” Tiny said.
Cops were inside the graveyard talking with the priest.
“Who would do such a thing?” Tate asked, crying out. When his daughter saw him, she ran into his arms. Holding her tightly, he kissed the top of her head as he looked toward the mess. “I hate whoever did this. Tell me you’re not going to let it stand.”
“I won’t, honey. I promise you that I won’t let this stand.” He stared at the mess before him. Gonzalez was going down, but he was going to do it with time and patience.
“She didn’t even get a chance to put her flowers down. It was like this when we got here,” Murphy said.
Shaking his head, he spun Tate away from the scene.
“The cops have already talked to her.”
“Get her out of here, Murphy. Make sure she’s taken care of.” He handed his daughter back to her man and turned to look at the graveyard. Gonzalez hadn’t done this with his own two hands. He’d sent someone to do his dirty work. The games were going to start. This one move was sure to set about the war.
****
“You did it?” Gonzalez asked. He sat in his hotel room in Piston County smoking a cigar. Ronald was preparing them some food while they waited for the news of what Butch had done.
“Yes, I did it.”
Gonzalez chuckled. “I have to say I’m surprised. I didn’t believe you’d f**k over someone’s grave.”
“This was a f**king test, ass**le. If I didn’t do it you’d think I still had some allegiance to The Skulls. I did it, and now you know I can be trusted. You can start trusting me now.”
It was a good argument. Gonzalez had set the wheels in motion for Patricia’s graveside to be ruined. Whether Butch did it or one of his own men, didn’t matter to him. Now, Butch was on his side, and he could use him to get deeper within The Skulls. Gonzalez wanted them all to hurt before he finally killed him. Where was the fun in simply striking out? There was no fun unless he caused a little bit of pain.
“Okay. I’ve got a cop on the force in Fort Wills. His name is Andrew Bolton. He’s reliable and is helping me gain another search warrant for The Skulls’ compound. I want Devil and Tiny divided. I don’t like them being together. If you want to save yourself from being put in jail, talk to him, and he’ll tell you when he’s going to hit out. I’ll be in touch with more information when I’m ready.”
Disconnecting the call, he stared at Ronald.
“Are you going to approach Gash?” Ronald asked.
Since Homer had been killed, the company had been a little lonely. Ronald was great, but he wasn’t like Homer. Ronald hated hurting people Gonzalez wanted to be hurt in a specific way.
“Nah, I don’t need Gash to get what I want. All I need is to strike when they least expect it. Now, Tiny’s pissed and will spend time hunting for the man who desecrated his wife’s grave. Let’s see, it’s time to hit Devil I think. Andrew’s going to help split them apart with another raid on the club. It’s all coming together. They may even kill each other, saving me a job. It wouldn’t be as fun, but it would still be done.” Gonzalez ran a finger over his lip while he thought about what to do.
“I’ve got a friend I can bring in,” Ronald said. “He makes Homer look like child’s play.”
Pulled out of his thoughts, he looked at Ronald. “In what way?” Gonzalez asked.
“Homer was willing to hurt and kill women within a set time. My man is willing to do a lot more damage. The bastard gets off on taking a woman by force. The Skulls and Chaos Bleeds are devoted to their women. Getting to them is a lot easier than getting to the men. Angel, Tate, Sophia, Lexie, all of them are the weakness that we can use with the right man.”
Gonzalez held his hand up. “I’ll think about it. What’s the guy’s name?”
“Everett, that’s all he goes by. You won’t find him in the system. He doesn’t work for anyone but himself.”
“Will he get any job done that I set him?” Gonzalez asked.
“For a price he will.”
Sitting back, Gonzalez started to think about what he could do with a man willing to do anything.
“Call him. I want him available when the time is right.”
Getting up from his seat, he moved toward his bedroom. With Ashley gone and all of his women earning money, he was feeling lonely. “Ronald, while you’re getting your guy get a woman for me. I’m bored and want some entertainment for the night.” He closed the door to his bedroom. Smiling, he walked toward the window overlooking the night. Everything was coming together slowly. He didn’t have a complete hold over Ned Walker, but the more threats he put on The Skulls the bigger the chance he had of taking on Ned and Vegas. Some of the men he had on his payroll were no longer taking calls from him. It didn’t bother him. All of his men were known for being busy. There wasn’t much he could do to stop it. Slowly, he was going to get exactly what he wanted. He just needed to be patient.
****
Butch ran fingers through his hair. Cheryl rubbed his back, but he didn’t need or want the attention. His love for her was absolute. What he did today didn’t deserve her love, but he’d gotten something out of it. A guy named Andrew was on the force, and there was another raid that was set to pit Devil and Tiny against one another. He could stop this from occurring.
“Tell me what’s wrong?” she asked.
“I need a minute.”
“You’ve been acting strangely for awhile.” She climbed off the bed to kneel on the floor in front of him. He didn’t deserve her. “I can see something’s eating away at you. I don’t know what it is, but you can’t keep hiding from me.”
“I’m not. I’ve told you everything I need to tell you. I’m not going to put you in danger with everything. I’ll tell you what I can.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, baby. I can’t tell you what’s going on right now.”
“We’re going to be married.” She cupped his face, forcing him to look at her. “Keeping secrets is not the way to make a marriage work. Please, let me in.”