Merrick: Harlequins MC (8 page)

Sonya gave Merrick a long wet kiss before stroking his face. “See you tonight?” she asked as she pulled back from the kiss. She was dressed for work wearing clothes she’d brought with her the night before.

“Maybe. I’ll call you.”

She smiled and kissed him again before straightening and tugging her blazer over her skirt. It wouldn’t do to appear at the law offices of Kelly & Kelly looking like she’d just tumbled out of bed. The husband and wife team expected their paralegals to be sharp all the time. She paused at the door then gave him an air kiss before disappearing.

He stretched and groaned, giving his balls a good scratch as he did. When he let her in last night, she’d been wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts and a midriff t-shirt. Three minutes after she entered the house, his cock was in her mouth. They’d had a nice leisurely fuck last night, which had cut into his sleep. He debated going back to sleep for another couple of hours, but decided he needed to get up. It was just after eight and he couldn’t lie in bed all day.

He padded naked into the kitchen, poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot Sonya made, then checked his phone. He had eight emails, and he opened the one from Abana first.

“Fuck,” he muttered before moving on and checking the rest. Most of the emails were read and delete types, but they were going to have to deal with Abana. He sat his cup on the desk in his office before sitting down in his chair, the leather cold on his bare ass. He turned on his computer, taking another sip from the cup as the computer started up.

He sorted through the mail that had piled up, then logged into Quickbooks and quickly scheduled payments to his vendors and logged the payments from his customers. By ten, the employees of Capra Framing were scheduled to be paid and his books were in order. Satisfied his business was taken care of for the next few days, he called Jason.

“Yeah?” Jason said in greeting.

“I heard back from Abana. He wants to meet.”

“Shit, that’s never good.”

“No, it’s not. But maybe we can get some answers.”

“Where and when?”

“Today, the usual place, Plaza Zaragoza, at three. I want you to ride with me. Meet me at the clubhouse at two.”

“I’ll be there. Still no idea what this is about?”

“Not a clue.”

“Am I the only one who’s nervous here? Maybe we should take the full crew.”

“No. He said for me to come alone, so I’m already out on a limb bringing you, but there’s no way in hell I’m riding in there alone.”

“I don’t blame you. I’ll see you at two.”

“Thanks, brother.” Merrick hung up and rocked back in his chair. They had been dealing guns to the Víbora Cartel for years. Like any business dealing, they’d had their ups and downs, but this was the first time Abana had actually hinted he thought the Harlequins where dirty dealing them. Merrick grimaced as he took another sip of the now cold coffee, then rose.

He carried the mug back to the kitchen, dumping the dark liquid down the drain before rinsing the cup and putting it in the dishwasher. He dumped the rest of the coffee from the pot and gave it a quick swishing rinse before turning the machine off and returning the pot to the heating element, the wet pot sizzling and crackling as he sat it in place.

He scrubbed his face. “Fuck,” he muttered again as he walked back to his bedroom to shower and dress.

***

“Señor Abana,” Merrick said, rising from the bench and offering his hand.

“I said come alone,” Urtzi Abana said, his Spanish accent barely detectable, not taking Merrick’s hand.

“You know Jason. You can trust him.”

Abana glanced at Jason standing far enough away to be out of hearing then nodded his own man to step away before the two men sat down. “Do you know why I wanted to speak with you?”

“No, not really. I gather from the first email you lost the last load of weapons we sold you. The next load will be arriving in Corpus Christi tomorrow. We should be able to get them to you by early next week. Maybe a little sooner. What I don’t understand is, from the tone of your email, it seems like you think it’s our fault the weapons have gone missing.”

Abana watched Merrick closely. “We didn’t
lose
the weapons. They were taken from us. Taken from us by men on motorcycles.”

Merrick felt a chill pass over him. “It wasn’t us.”

“So you say.”

“Señor Abana, the Harlequins have been supplying you guns for how long? You were buying guns from my father before me. Why would I do something like that?”

“Ten men rode up to my house, Merrick. Ten men on motorcycles much like those you ride. They killed five of staff. They took my money and my guns. I think the only reason I’m alive is my family and I were out of the country at the time.”

“How did they get away with the guns?”

Abana shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps they had another vehicle. They killed everyone in the house. The only reason I know about the motorcycles is because a few of my men surprised them as they were leaving. All they saw were the motorcycles.”

“I’m sorry for your loss, Señor Abana, but you surely know we’re not the only people who ride motorcycles. Were the men wearing colors?”

“No, no patches, but they did speak English.”

“Señor Abana, I give you my word, it wasn’t us. What could we gain by fucking up this arrangement?”

“Does $350,000 in cash, not to mention over a $100,000 in guns, sound like something to gain?”

“Yes, but you pay us that much in a year. So even if we were to do something so stupid as to steal from you, and you found out, in the long run, it would have cost us far more than we would gain. Not to mention the danger it would bring to our families. Trust me, Señor Abana, we know who we are dealing with and we do not want you angry with us.”

Abana looked into Merrick’s eyes, taking a measure of the man. “If not you, then who? You have told me more than once you control Laredo. I control Nuevo Laredo. I’ve heard nothing of anyone moving into my territory. Where have these mysterious motorcycle men come from?”

“I don’t know, Señor Abana, but I will find out. You have my word. When we do we will make our displeasure with them clear.”

“If you find these men, I want you to bring them to me, or tell me who they are. I can’t allow them to attack my house without repercussions.”

“As soon as I know, I will pass the information along to you.”

“You can have my next shipment of guns to me next week?”

“If nothing goes wrong in customs, yes. You weren’t scheduled for delivery of these guns for almost another month, but as soon as we have them in our possession, I’ll call you and schedule delivery.”

“You have been selling me guns for a long time, Merrick. As you said, I was buying from your father before you. But this is bad business. Your Harley-Davidson motorcycles aren’t as popular in Mexico as the United States. I’m convinced these men are Americans. If I find out it was your…club…even without your knowledge, it would be unfortunate for you and your men.”

“Señor Abana, I would know if it were any of my men. I assure you, it wasn’t us. When did this happen?”

“The day I sent you the email. My people called me as soon as it was over, and I immediately sent you the email. We returned from Brazil only yesterday.”

“Señor Abana, for the past several days all my men have been accounted for every minute of the day on another job. There is no possible way we could have done it, even without my knowledge.”

Abana stood. “Then find out who it was and either bring them to me or tell me where I can find them. They made a grave mistake attacking me and my house. I will make sure they serve as a warning to any others who may consider attacking me.”

Merrick rose and extended his hand. This time Abana took it. “We’ll find them if they can be found. But with nothing to go on…” He shrugged.

Abana nodded in understanding. “I understand the difficulty of your task. I have put additional security on my house, but these men have to answer for what they did. If I can help you find these men, you only need ask. I will provide whatever help I can.”

“Let us see what we can turn up, but it may be a while before I have information for you.”

Abana gave him a curt nod then walked away without a glance.

“Well?” Jason asked as Abana’s big white Mercedes glided away.

“A group of men on motorcycles hit his compound. They killed five of his guys and took a bunch of money and either most or all of the guns from the last shipment.”

“And he thinks we did it? Why?”

“He’s convinced the men were Americans. He’s probably right.”

“That doesn’t mean it was us!”

“No, and I think he understands that now, but we’ve been tasked with finding out who they were.”

Jason stared at him a moment. “And just how the fuck are we supposed to do that?”

Merrick snorted. “I have no fucking idea.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. When we get back to the clubhouse, I’ll start putting some feelers out.”

***

“We can be pretty damn sure it didn’t come out of Laredo.” Merrick said as he brought Randy, Tim, and Kyle, along with the rest of the core team, up to speed. “Everyone here knows Abana and they would have to be seven kinds of stupid to go after him. So who’s left? Houston, maybe? San Antonio?”

“Could it be the Corpse Killers or the Brown Eyed Devils?” Tim asked then took a sip of his beer. “They’re the two closet clubs big enough to pull something like this off.”

Merrick shook his head. “I hope not. If it’s the Killers, we’re fucked.”

The men nodded in understanding. The Corpse Killers were out of Corpus Christi, and they were their facilitator for the guns. For a fee, they helped…expedite…the merchandise through customs. The Devils were out of Brownsville and they had contact with them, as well. Nobody liked the idea that one of the clubs they had relationships with would cut their nuts off like this.

“Maybe we could start with them and see where it goes. Couldn’t hurt to ask, right?” Jason suggested.

“So long they don’t think we are accusing them of anything. We need the Killers and I don’t want to piss them off.”

“I know you don’t want to think this, but what if the Killers are trying to cut us out and go directly to Abana?” Kyle asked.

“You think they have their own supply of guns?” Jason asked, turning the idea over in his mind.

“Don’t know. But if Abana were to grease us, they could take over our supply chain.”

“Shit,” Randy breathed. “It would be just like those bastards, too.”

“They haven’t fucked us yet.” Merrick pointed out.

“Yeah, but you’ve heard the stories just like I have. They have a reputation of not giving a shit about anyone but themselves.”

“Before we condemn them, let’s make sure we have facts, not speculation,” Merrick said. “Like I said they haven’t fucked us yet. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.”

“Especially since we still need them?” Jason asked with a grin.

“Especially. I’ll call Mendel and Layley and see if they’ve heard anything. I might also talk to Layley to see if the Devils have a way to bring the merchandise through customs. It probably wouldn’t hurt to have a backup plan just in case it’s Mendel who’s trying to fuck us.”