Chapter Twenty-Two
Snake
At the clubhouse, Stone and I sit alone in a back booth, beers on the table in front of us. The harsh, inciting words to a plan hang in the air. He’s got the newspaper in his hands, and he’s wearing the scowl that’s only gotten deeper the longer this shit with Bowen Dale has gone on. Though, with my plan laid out in front of him, his scowl is the deepest I’ve seen; I’m asking a lot, and so much of it I’ve had to keep vague to conceal some of Addie’s role in it. If he knew that I’d used his daughter as bait to lure out Agent Jones — even though she volunteered — I’d be a dead man.
I don’t keep everything from him, though.
He’s as close to a commanding officer as I have, and the part of me that remembers what it was like to be a Ranger chafes enough hiding Addie’s role that it means I spare no detail in recounting Slade’s attack on Addie and Ruby. Stone’s face as I tell that story is a mask of murder. I have no doubt about what he’d do if Slade were still alive. The only doubt I have is whether anyone else in the club could stomach the aftermath.
“This is your plan? Give him everything he wants and ask him to go away?” He says, watching me with a level look that sets my nerves on edge. “After everything this rotten cocksucker has done, you want us to just kowtow to his demands and hope he leaves us alone?”
“No, I’m saying we ruin him by playing to his pride. This arrogant motherfucker has been untouchable for years — decades — and what’s brought him out with all this fire and brimstone is the fact that he feels vulnerable. He’s off-balance. We can use that. He’s a vain son of a bitch; if he thinks he’s won, he won’t question it. He wants to take his victory and get back to his life.”
“It sounds to me that, by giving him everything he wants and politely asking him to leave, he has won.”
“Stone, there’s more to it than that. We’re only giving up three things, none of which mean shit to us. We give him that fed’s laptop that I stole from his room, we show him the photos I took of the body, and we give him back his nephew’s stupid fucking gun. A simple transaction.”
“That’s a lot to give. And a whole fucking lot of risk, too. You killed a fed, Snake. A fucking federal agent. Do you understand the ramifications of that?”
“I know. I know. It could bring hell down on us. But I’ve thought this out. This is the only way. We will not track Bowen Dale down on our own, especially if the feds haven’t been able to do it after all these years. Face it, the man’s good at hiding. And the longer we wait, the longer Tricia and Addie are at risk.”
His eyes fill with fire at the mention of those two names. He turns and looks around the clubhouse, his eyes lingering on his wife and daughter. For decades, he’s been a proud husband and father. It feels low to use the man’s family to win an argument with him, but it’s the truth — the longer we delay, the longer they’re at risk.
And the sooner this is over, the sooner Addie can get free.
We need to win this war, and we need to win it now.
“Fine. I’ll call Bowen Dale, set up a meet,” Stone says. Then he eyes the piece I’ve set out on the table: Slade’s Desert Eagle. “You sure you don’t want to keep the gun? It’s gaudy as fuck, but it’s a nice piece, a good trophy for taking out that son of a bitch who went after my daughter.”
“You’re not the first to tell me that. Hell, Ruby said she wanted the thing as compensation for the shit she went through. But we need it if we’re going to pull off my plan.”
Stone nods, folds his hands across the chest. “She’s got a point, brother. But if you say it’s essential, I’ll give her something else, see if that placates her. Maybe Trish and I will take her out to a nice dinner, or we’ll give her a few bottles from the top shelf.”
“I think she’d appreciate some pro bono work on her car. She wasn’t happy about what that chase did to her baby.”
He chuckles. “Fair enough. If only all of life’s problems could be solved with some grease and auto wax. Go tell Trish to set Ruby up for some work and some detailing. I’m going to call Bowen Dale and set up a meet. Then we can end this nightmare and get back to normal.”
“Amen, brother.”
By the time I get Trish filled in on the details of Ruby’s situation and back to Stone’s table, he's already rounding up some men. Mack, Axel, Razor, Rusty, and Stitch all stand at attention around him.
“In an hour, we’re to meet Bowen Dale at a rest stop thirty miles east of here on the highway to Las Vegas. Snake here was kind enough to take care of our FBI problem, so we’re going to make the exchange. We give Bowen Dale the fed’s laptop, proof of his death, and his nephew’s pistol. In return, we’ll receive the location of our weapon’s shipment and we’ll be free of the illustrious fuckhead, Bowen Dale Cooper. Check your weapons, boys. We leave in ten minutes.”
Time moves fast as soon as Stone finishes his speech and I’m so caught up in the flurry of preparations I don’t have time to
