Savage Fire (Savage Angels MC #2) (17 page)

Guido begins to laugh and I can feel the vein in my neck start to pulse. “I tell you what? This fucker tells me where Emily is and I let him live, this is how we do it,” I say.

Guido locks his eyes with mine. “Emily? Who is Emily? I am here to find out why you have undercut the Abruzzi family business and to find out how much you cut Sal here in for.” Then he smiles and I can see he’s a fucking liar.

I straighten out his shirt and pat him on the shoulders, then take a step back and smile. He smiles at me and I say, “Get his man out of the car.” I reach into Guido’s jacket, pull out his gun and smile at him. “Pat them both down and make sure no one has any weapons.” Guido cocks his head to the side and stares at me as Jonas pats him down. When he is flipped over, I glance at Salvatore. “If the situation was reversed and she was your sister, would you react any differently?” I ask.

“Dane, I think I know your sister better than you, so yes I
would
, and I
am
reacting differently to you. This is not the way,” he says.

“So, the sister does mean something to you, Sal? Apparently you two are very cozy; how come we haven’t seen her before, where have you been hiding her?” says Guido.

“Guido, I promise you I only met this woman a few days ago. Return her to her family before it is too late.” Salvatore tries to appeal to Guido.

“You expect me to believe that? A man doesn’t shower a stranger in gifts unless, of course, she’s a good fuck, so tell me, Sal, is she? Or do I have to wait to ask Johnnie?” Guido laughs and so does his man. Red colors my vision as I punch him in the mouth and feel his teeth loosen.

I pull back to hit him again when Sal grabs my arm. “There are too many witnesses. We are out in the open; this needs to be done in private,” he says in a whisper so that only Guido and I can hear.

“Take your fucking hands off me.” I snarl at Sal. He releases my arm and I watch as Guido spits two of his teeth into the dirt. I smile and say, “Get them both back into the car. We’ll take them to the old Mill, out past town. I want everyone out there; spread the word.” I look at Sal. “Let’s go, Sal.” I stride away and get into the driver’s seat of his car. Once inside, I call Kat.

She answers the phone with, “I’m still mad at you.”

“I know and I deserve it. Kat, I need you to—”

“Dane, everyone is leaving, what’s going on?” she asks.

“Darlin’, I need you to go to Betties Café. Ask one of the boys to escort you there before they all leave town. I don’t have time to tell you everything, but I will in due time, ok?”

Surprisingly she doesn’t argue with me. “Alright, Betties closes at nine, will you be back by then and....are you safe?”

Her question takes me by surprise. “Yes, Darlin’, I am safe.” Sal climbs into the car. “If I am not back by ten to nine, call the Sheriff and ask him to drive you home and ask him to do a walk through before he leaves then set the alarm. Do not open the door to anyone but a brother. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Dane; I love you,” As always, it amazes me that she could say and mean those words to me. I close my eyes and say, “Later.” I hang up, replaying her words over and over in my mind. 

“What the fuck was that?” Sal says.

“What the fuck was what?” I say staring at him.

“I asked you to let me handle the negotiations and you went and did that. How the fuck am I going to salvage what you have done?”

“Sal, we have our own ways of dealing with problems. You and your family are going to learn that.” He says nothing and stares straight ahead. He is not happy but for the moment, he keeps his opinions to himself. I start the car and head for the old Mill. I will find out what this fucker knows and I hope that Emily is still alive.

***

W
hen I climb out of the car, all of the brothers that are in town are here. I see Fith with Rebel on one side of him and Bear on the other. He nods at me but I just stare back. This is his fault and he will answer for it. I walk to the other car that Guido has gotten out of; I grab him by the arm and walk him towards the old barn.

We don’t use this place very often. It’s a place to come and work out sensitive issues without the prying eyes of the town on us. There is only one road in and out, which the Prospects will guard, making sure we know who is coming and going. Only Savage Angels will be allowed in and out  as we don’t need any witnesses to what we are about to do. The brothers that are going to be in the barn are trusted and will not betray the club or me.

When we reach the barn doors, I push him through, and he stumbles but does not fall. He looks down and sees he’s standing on plastic. A large section of the floor in the middle of the room is covered in it. When his soldier is brought through the doors, I pull out Guido’s gun and shoot him in the head. The noise is deafening and the acrid smell of gunfire fills my nostrils. I watch as the body twitches on the floor and blood flows onto the plastic. The whole room goes quiet.

I look at Guido, shock and surprise covers his features. “This is how we handle things. I will find who has my sister and she will be returned to me or this,” I motion towards his dead soldier, “will be your fate as well.” I walk towards a chair that has been placed for me at the edge of the plastic.

Guido stands and stares at his dead friend and asks, “This is who you do business with? These savages?

There is a way to do business and this is not it!” He rages at Salvatore.

“You brought this on yourself. Tell him where Johnnie has the girl and you may yet live.” Salvatore also stares at the dead body on the floor, seemingly unable to look away.

“Again with the fucking girl! Who gives a fuck about the fucking girl?” Guido yells back at him.

In two strides, Salvatore grabs him and walks him backwards until he connects with a pole in the building. “YES! It’s about the fucking girl, Guido! She is an innocent in all of this! She has nothing to fucking do with fucking anything! How can you be so stupid?” He shoves him again and walks away.

“So, you want the girl?” Salvatore turns slowly around. “Yes, you want the girl; I could ring Johnnie and tell him to bring her to you. If, of course, you let us go and you answer personally to Vinnie’s death.” Guido lays out his terms.

I watch Sal stare at Guido, not showing any emotion. I am about to intervene when he says, “Agreed. You give us the girl and I will answer personally to Vinnie’s death.”

Guido smiles as though he has won and then he stares at me. “Do you agree?”

I stare at Sal, who gives me the barest of nods and I say, “Agreed.” A rumble goes around the room and I look at my men, my eyes landing on Fith. “Give him his phone. We will abide by this ruling.”

Jonas walks up to Guido and hands him his phone. He takes it and smiles at us all, then pushes some buttons and places it to his ear. “Yeah, Johnnie, it’s me. Bring the girl to...” He looks at me questioningly.

“The Compound in Tourmaline,” I say.

“Their Compound in Tourmaline, how long will it take you to arrive?” He pauses, listens to his soldier and he nods. “Make sure she’s comfortable and unharmed. Sal will be with me.” He hangs up and smiles into the phone. Without looking at anyone in particular he says, “Now...gentlemen,” again he laughs, “shall we?”

There is no way I am letting this fucker live but I have to, at least, make him think he will. I stand and say to the room, “Let’s ride!” Jonas grabs Guido and pushes him towards the car. I walk over to some of my men and nod at the body. They know what to do; it isn’t the first time someone has died out here. I turn and approach Sal as his phone begins to ring.

“Yes?” he says. Then a smile plays at his lips and he asks, “Can you stall him? How long will it take?” He pauses, listening to the call. “Good. Four hours, no more, yes?” He listens some more and says, “See you then.” He looks up at me and grins.

“Glad one of us has something to fucking smile about,” I say.

“All will be revealed, my friend, all will be revealed.” He does a two-fingered wave and heads out of the barn doors.

Fith approaches me and says, “Prez, I’m sorry they got Emily. If you let me, I’ll make this right.”

I stare at him, shake my head and stride for the exit. When I reach it, I say to Bear, “Bring him back to the Compound.”

Johnnie

I
hang up the phone and stare at it. We are not supposed to be out here. We do not have permission from the Don. I can’t go to any of the usual fixers as we have gone against the family and Salvatore Agostino is well liked within it. Guido mentioned Sal...perhaps his men could help? It would be tricky and we’d have to play them right but if we can get away with it, we’ll live.

I dial Tony, Sal’s number one. “Yes?” he says

“Hey, Tony, it’s Johnnie,”

“Hey, Johnnie! How goes it?” he says jovially into the phone. Good, he has no idea what’s going on. “There’s a problem in Tourmaline. I don’t know all the details but I do know that those bikers have Guido

and Sal. I need your help to get them back,” I say, sounding desperate.

“Fuck!” He roars into the phone. “What do you need?”

“I need man power, can you help?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely! I can be there with five of my best in say, five hours. Where do you want to meet?” he says.

“There’s a cabin on the outskirts of town, I’ll send you the co‐ordinates. See you when you arrive, Tony.”

“Should I notify the family?” says Tony.

“No! No! Don’t do that. It’s very sensitive. It must be kept within our houses. We do not want to look weak to the Don. It would hurt all of our businesses.”

“You’re right; we don’t want to appear weak,” There is an edge to his voice. “Send me the co‐ordinates and we’ll back you.”

“Good.” I hang up and send him the information. They don’t need to know about the girl and she’s not at the cabin, so it makes sense to me to have them meet me there. I need to get Guido back. If we can somehow kill Sal, then we’ll have his men as witnesses to the Savage Angels’ betrayal.

Tony

T
hat fucker Johnnie thinks I can be that easily manipulated. I knew the Family wouldn’t have done this. No way do you send a Captain out to do an underling’s job and if you do, you send him with his men to show power, strength and to stir fear.

I ring Sal. “Yes?” he says.

“Just got a call from Johnnie. He’s sent me the co‐ordinates for a cabin in the woods. Wanna bet that’s where the girl is? I’ve told him we are five hours away but we got a private jet and now we’re in a chopper.”

“Can you stall him? How long will it take?” says Sal.

“Boss, we’ll be there in three. Got your most trusted with me. I can stall him as long as you like,” I say.

“Good. Four hours, no more, yes?” Sal sounds pleased.

“Hopefully he won’t be at the cabin. We’ll do recon and let you know. You be safe, Sal. See you soon.”

“See you then.”

He clicks off and I stare at the group of men surrounding me. They are all loyal to Salvatore Agostino. He  is not like the other Captains. He doesn’t pick his men based on which family they belong to, he picks them on their level of trust and respect. The Family is supposed to be loyal to you but I’ve been around long enough to watch them smile at you while they stick a knife in your back. Sal isn’t like that. He intervened and saved each of us from life‐threatening issues within the family. With me, he vouched for me and saved me from being blamed for a major fuck up. I’ve been his number one ever since that day. He wasn’t even a Captain then. You knew it when he walked into a room; he commanded respect and the older family members were wise to recognize that.

The men on the chopper are all armed and we each have a bag full of weapons. All eyes are on me.

“Guido Lamberti is trying to gain control of our business. He’s trying to blame Sal for the gun running issue. The Family doesn’t know, but Guido is the enforcer for the family, so we have to be careful. We must tell no one, we can’t have it blow back on Salvatore or us. Are we clear?” They all nod.

Lorenzo looks at me and asks, “The Family doesn’t know?” Then he smiles. “I’ve never liked Guido, can we kill him?”

“Yes and whoever is with him, but we can tell no one. I’ve asked around and they have not told anyone that they are here. They set up Sal to kill him or blame him, either way they wanted him dead.”

He nods at me and says, “That fucker set me up. If it wasn’t for Sal, I’d be dead. So, what’s the plan?” Lorenzo has worked for Sal for two years. He’s loyal, six foot three and full of muscle and determination but doesn’t always think things through.

“Johnnie has sent me the co‐ordinates for a cabin; he’s probably got the girl there. He’s had her for hours so she’ll be in a bad way—we all know what he’s like,” I say with a sneer. It’s no secret that Johnnie is a rapist. Sal does not tolerate abuse of women; we that follow him are the same. “Sal likes this woman. Her name is Emily and she is the sister of the leader of the Savage Angels.” Some shake their heads and stare at the floor, Lorenzo raises his eyebrows. “We are to find her, kill Johnnie, dispose of him, then make sure the girl receives medical attention.”

“Will Sal still want her after Johnnie has finished with her?” says Marco.

I shrug and say, “Have you ever heard him say he liked a woman? But you are right, I don’t know.”

“I’ve only ever seen him with party girls. In all the time I’ve known him I’ve never seen him with a woman more than once and I’ve never heard him say he likes one of them,” says Lorenzo.

“Guido is a dead motherfucker just for that. He would have put Johnnie up to it. Looking forward to killing that fucker,” says Stefano.

I nod at them. The rest of the trip is done in silence as we all contemplate what we are about to do. If we kill Guido, that leaves a massive hole in the family. I’m not sure Salvatore wants that position. Sal is a force to be reckoned with but he has lines he won’t cross. There are others that could fill the void, but first we

have to make Guido disappear and then sit back and watch the aftermath. Hopefully, Don Abruzzi will not suspect us and he will give Sal more territory.