Stone Cold: An MC Erotic Romance (5 page)

CHAPTER FOUR

The doorman woke them with knock, and after Chad responded, he announced that breakfast was ready in the dining room.

Chad checked his watch; it was just after eight in the morning. Victoria's eyes were scanning his face from her position on his chest. He gave her a quick kiss, "Let's find out what's going on. Hopefully, I'm just getting paranoid in my old age."

She gave him a smile, and rose from his chest, stretching her sensuous body. Chad allowed himself a moment to take in her eye-candy and then got dressed. Victoria did the same and soon they were out of the room and following the scent of food to the dining area.

The dining area was expansive, with a long wooden table, which could sit eighteen people. In the middle of this monolithic antique was a buffet display of breakfast foods. Both American and Mexican traditions were offered. Gathered on one side of the table, plates in hand, were his fellow club members. Mike turned as they entered the room and smiled at Chad, but the smile faltered a little when he saw Victoria.

Chad saw the question forming in Mike's eyes and said, "A blatant lack of operational logic, Mike, that's all I can come up with, but she's here now."

Mike nodded, "Well, I'm glad you are here."

"I'm kind of curious about that," Chad said, picking up a plate and starting with the sausages, "Can you talk about why?"

"The Mexicans will not be down for some time," he nodded, and Chad took that as permission to speak freely.

"You have two of our best with you. I'm not even an officer. I came as soon as you called, and have no problem with coming, but, now that I'm here, why am I here?"

Mike nodded, and Chad turned to Victoria giving her the nod to get something to eat. She did as he bade, picking up a plate and reaching for the scrambled eggs. Chad turned back to Mike, ready to listen.

Mike told him that the meeting was supposed to be the normal negotiations regarding shipment sizes and frequency. The Lord's distribution network had increased further than expected over the last year and it was true that they could take on greater sizes with more shipments. But there was a problem which arose recently. Seven of the shipments designated to the Lords were snatched by the DEA before the Lords took possession.

Chad listened to the details, stirring at his food, "Any other shipments designated to other groups get nabbed?"

"That's the fucked up thing about this," Mike told him. "Only seven in the last six weeks were snatched by the DEA, and all seven were heading for us."

"But they were taken while the cartel still had possession," Chad clarified, “So if there is a leak, it's not from us."

Mike nodded his agreement, "True, but Raul Fernandez, who you will be meeting later, kind of tall for a Mexican with gray eyes, believes we should reimburse them for the lost product. He keeps claiming that the problem is obviously with us, since only our shipments are being snatched."

"How much are we talking here?" Chad asked.

"More than we can afford," Mike told him with a heavy voice.

"Ah," Chad said with sudden understanding. "So, what do you want out of this, besides all of us going home with our heads still on our shoulders?"

Mike's eyes glimmered, "I want to keep our current agreement for size and frequency, despite our ability to handle more, for at least the next couple of months, until this problem is figured out. And I don't want to give Raul a dime."

Chad took this in, his mind tumbling the facts around in his skull. "It seems obvious that the Juarez guys have a mole," he murmured. "Did they hint at all at the number of other shipments which were crossing the border unscathed during the same period?"

Mike shook his head, "I think that would fall into the need-to-know category and we don't need to know."

"But you believe them when they say that only ours are getting snatched." He pressed.

Mike leaned against the table, "Cesario, the current head man, says this is true, and I've been dealing with him a long time. I can't think of a possible reason he would have to lie about this. If he simply wanted to kill us, he's not the type to bring in a drama to justify his action. He would just tell Dante to make it happen."

"Dante Jaime?" Chad asked, knowing the enforcer by reputation.

"Yes, he's one of the men on the other side of the table. You'll meet him this afternoon as well." Mike told him.

"So, Cesario, Raul, and Dante," Chad mused. "I take it Raul is the middle manager for their end of the shipments."

"A real asshole, too. Wound too tight and making this mess bigger all the time. Tom is ready to snap his neck," Mike agreed.

CHAPTER FIVE

After breakfast, they went out onto the back patio. The houseman brought them beers to drink, and when asked, a bottled water for Victoria. They drank in the growing light, watching the heat rise until afternoon, talking little and watching everything.

Chad was more relaxed. Whatever was going to happen was going to come straight at them. It wouldn't be jumping out from behind a bush. He drank his beer beside Victoria, who occasionally ran her hand across his arm or down his shoulder, as if physically making sure he was still with her. He thought about easing her mind, but her obvious fear and confusion might be an asset. They probably wouldn't kill her, he reasoned. A beauty like her they would sell, which made him feel even worse for bringing her along.

When lunch was announced they returned to the dining room to find three Mexican gentlemen at the table. Cesario, a short squat man in his 40s, was at the head of the table. To his left was Dante, the enforcer, and then Raul, fitting the description Mike gave him.

Also in the room were two guards in light off-white baggy summer suits with dark brown shirts, their guns in side-holsters, easily seen. These two stood by the door where they could scan the whole room at a glance.
Now, these are professionals,
Chad thought to himself, recognizing the stance and posture of men who knew they would be required to move quickly and kill without mercy.

Chad led Victoria in by the hand and seated her down to his right, taking the chairs furthest from Cesario, letting the Mexican know that he was way down the pecking order.

Cesario's eyes were very interested in Victoria's presence. Chad noted that the Mexican cartel leader saw past her beauty and was more intrigued by the fact that she was here at all. After a bit of musing he said in Spanish, "Welcome to my house, young lady. It is an honor to have you as my guest."

Victoria looked at Chad with questioning eyes, still tinged with fear. Chad told her, "He is welcoming you as his guest."

She looked back to Cesario, "Thank you. I'm very pleased to meet you."

Cesario nodded and politely switched to English, "Not as pleased as I am. You are a rare beauty. You bless my house."

Victoria blushed shyly, "Thank you again. It is a very nice house. I love the furnishings. A family home I assume?"

He seemed pleased with this, "Yes, for seven generations my family has owned, and lived in this house. Perhaps I will have a chance to give you a tour after our business."

"That would be very nice." She smiled, appearing to relax a little.

Cesario nodded and then turned his attention on Chad, "And you? You are welcome as well, Mr. Chad. Mike has told me you have an insightful mind and that perhaps you can help us with our problems. Have you been informed of our current dilemma?"

Lunch food was laid out down the table just as the breakfast food was displayed before. Chad took up his fork and brought a scoop of carne asada on to the dish with several tortillas. No one else was reaching for food. "Mike explained most of it I believe. He described several shipments which were taken by the DEA before we took possession of them," Chad said, his voice casual, and his manner easy, ignoring the axe hanging in the air.

"Only shipments to you were taken," Raul injected.

Raul, with his gray eyes, was definitely a troublemaker, Chad decided.

"Are you the one responsible for the shipments for your club?" Raul pressed. "Why are you here?"

Chad looked over to him with an easy smile, "No, I don't handle any of our club's product sales or distribution. And I'm here to bring fresh eyes to the problem."

"Fresh eyes? We are not blind! We can see exactly what the problem is!" Raul stated.

Chad nodded politely to the man and turned back to Cesario with an apologetic shrug for being interrupted. "It does appear the problem is obvious, Senor Cesario. One would guess that there is an informant who has access to your shipping procedures, would it not?"

Cesario nodded his assent to this, "So it would seem, but I have very trustworthy information that the small group of men who had such information, are definitely not working with the DEA."

Chad thought about this, "I don't question your sources of information at all. I even agree with the outcome. I don't believe it is the DEA that we should be worried about."

"Of course it is the DEA!" Raul spat, getting up from his chair. "It is the DEA who discovered our route! The DEA who arrested our men and took the product!" Raul worked his way around the table toward Chad. "What kind of bullshit are you?" Suddenly he pulled a knife and pressed it against Victoria's throat, "Maybe I will cut up your whore so you know this is a serious matter, and not a place for bullshit!"

Chad's hand blurred as it left the surface of the table and clamped like a vice around Raul's wrist. Then his hardened muscles twisted Raul's wrist with a sudden and merciless jerk. The snap of Raul's wrist could be heard throughout the room. Without pausing Chad reached up with the same hand, grabbed Raul behind the back of his neck and slammed his forehead solidly into the edge of the antique wooden table. The crack sounded like a gunshot.

Chad let Raul go, and ignored him as his body fell to the floor between his chair and Victoria's. He picked up the dagger off the table, which fell from Raul's hand, twirled it expertly in his fingers for a brief moment and then set it beside his plate, as if it were part of his setting. Then he looked back to Cesario with calm eyes, "As I was saying, I don't believe it is the DEA who is the concern."

Cesario lifted a hand to his guards, who, without hesitation, lowered their guns, and holstered them, returning to their station beside the door. Chad picked up his beer and took a drink. No one else in the room moved. Victoria, too stunned to move, starred at the knife beside Chad's plate with blatant alarm.

Cesario met Chad's eyes with calm pools of his own, "Please continue. You have my interest."

"Before we were with the Juarez cartel, the Lords of Darkness ran and networked for the Tijuana cartel. But we left Tijuana because it was too risky to work with them. Shipments were late, they weren't the right size, sometimes too much, sometimes short, and security was a joke. Several of our members are still in prison from mistakes and poor management Tijuana employed at the time. After we cut ties with Tijuana, you approached us requesting that we use our networks to support your growing business in our area. We accepted and it has been very profitable for both sides."

Cesario nodded to this, "Yes, this is all true. Go on."

"While it is true that the DEA doesn't like our club, I doubt very seriously that they would go so far as to only target shipments meant for us, letting all others from your side of the network pass through unscathed. A DEA agent who was inside or an informant for the DEA would not be so narrowly targeted. There is no purpose served allowing 20 or 30 other shipments pass, and focusing only on us. I doubt, being as small as we are compared to your many other networks, that our shipments are as attractive as many of the others."

Cesario shrugged his shoulders to this estimate of need-to-know information, allowing that he didn't disagree, "Go on, I'm following so far."

"So, with these two things in mind, the informant would be someone who has an interest in breaking us apart. You asked for this meeting because you are aware that we have once again expanded our network capacity. We are taking over territory in our area at a steady rate and holding it with solid management. In fact we are taking over a great deal of territory which was once supplied by networks for Tijuana. What I would suggest is that you are not looking for a mole associated with the DEA, but rather a mole associated with Tijuana. I believe that when you discover this person, our shipments will once again come to us without a problem, and our networks will be profitable to you once again."

Cesario leaned back in his chair, his eyes steady as he processed this theory. Chad ate slowly from his plate and took a drink from his bottle of beer. Everyone else was still as stone, waiting. Raul on the floor remained unconscious, blood draining into his eyes from the split skin of his forehead.

After several long moments, Cesario leaned forward, and put his hands together, "This is a very interesting idea. I can see why my good friend Mike holds you in such regard. Dante? What do you think of what Mr. Chad has brought to us?"

Dante, who appeared to be coiled like a viper, relaxed slightly, "I see merit in his speculation. I would suggest that we look into this."

Cesario nodded his head, "I feel the same way. So, Mike, with this new speculation presented, I'm afraid I will have to ask that we table our negotiations until I have time to investigate what your man Chad has brought to our attention. I apologize for this expenditure of your time."

Mike nodded his head, relaxing slightly as well, "I understand, of course. Your efforts serve us both, and anything I can do to help with your investigation is yours for the asking."

Chad watched and listened, observing with his full senses. Everyone was being very polite, and backing away slowly from the large elephant in the room. After a few more moments, Cesario reached for some food to fill his plate, Dante followed, and then Jeff.

Cesario looked up to his guards, "Please see Raul to his room, and when he recovers let him know that his presence at our meeting is no longer required."

The guards moved efficiently, lifting Raul from the floor by his arms, and hauling him out between them, closing the door softly as they left.

Cesario then looked to Victoria, "I apologize for Raul's actions. Such things should never be allowed toward a guest in my house. He will be punished for his lack of respect for my home, and his aggressiveness toward you, I assure you."

Victoria nodded, but couldn't find her voice.

Cesario seemed to accept her state, and gave her a smile, and then returned to eating.

They ate for close to an hour before Cesario said, "I believe our meeting has progressed as far as it can for now. I will call you in six weeks and let you know what I have uncovered."

"Thank you. We should be heading out before it gets too late," Mike told him.

"Of course, and have a safe journey," Cesario offered.

The members of the Lords of Darkness walked out of the front of the house together, Chad with Victoria's hand in his. He led her to the bike and settled the saddlebags in place.

Looking at Mike he said, "We're probably going to stop at a hotel for a day. We ran all night to get here, and didn't get much sleep last night. A day of rest will do us good."

Mike looked Victoria over, her body was visibly shaking with the reality of almost being killed. He nodded his head, "I agree. At least a day. We'll be heading on though. I'm anxious to be back at home. This whole thing lasted much too long," he told Chad. "By the way, perfect work in there."

Chad nodded and got on his bike. Victoria hesitated and then got on behind him, her arms wrapping around his waist, holding him much tighter than she normally did. Chad rubbed her thigh, trying to sooth her, and then started the bike. She jumped at the roaring thunder, and let out a small, choked cry.

The others started their bikes and soon they were riding out of the large metal gate, heading back for the border, and home.