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“Nomad Brothers?” Brew frowns. “Where the fuck are we known as that?”
I glance across the table. “Everywhere.”
Haze rolls his eyes. “Seriously?”
“You didn’t know?” Halo giggles.
If this wasn’t supposed to be serious, I’d be laughing my fucking ass off.
Halo is like a deer caught in headlights and giddy like a child. I don’t know what she's got to be so happy about. My girl, on the other hand, she’s all business. No smile. No giggling. No nothin’. Gotta respect the shit out of a woman who can keep her emotions in check. I wonder what it would be like to crack that hard exterior. What would I find inside?
Would I be shocked to see she hasn’t got a heart of stone? Or does she love and feel deeply for all things — not just her sister?
“Been called lots of names in my time, darlin’,” Haze says to Halo. “Usually it starts with ‘my, what a big dick you have’ rather than bein’ a goddamn fuckin’ nomad.”
Halo’s cheeks flush and Cash pinches the bridge of his nose.
Brew gives his brother a knuckle punch.
Star sits up a little straighter. “Let’s just get down to business. I haven't got all day and I have a business to run.”
“That’s the thing,” Cash begins. “How it works in our world is we do something for you; you do something for us. It makes the playin’ field fair.”
“Fine. You need something done, you hit me up.” Star does not miss a beat.
“Last thing I heard about the girls was they were bein’ transported to Houston,” Brew says. “We tracked the transportation, but the cops intercepted the bus before we could get there in time.”
“My sister wasn’t on that bus, she wasn’t on the ship either.” Star sounds hollow when she speaks. “What else you got?”
“Snitch told us some of the girls were taken off the bus at a checkpoint,” Haze butts in. “We can’t confirm if that’s true or not. It isn’t unusual though for transportation to switch buses or cargo before crossing borders.”
“Cargo,” Star mutters. “Is that what we call humans now?”
Silence fills the room. You could cut the air with a knife.
To her credit, Star keeps her back ramrod straight and doesn’t miss a beat. She’s a ball buster. Coming into church like she owns the place.
Fuck knows why Cash hasn’t turfed her out by now just by her attitude, but he probably feels sorry for her. He’s not completely heartless. Cash had a lot to do with taking in Jett as a teenager, who then became the treasurer for the club. His twin brother Rock recently joined the MC after years of doing his own thing.
Together Cash and Jett officially formed BADVA; Bikers Against Domestic Violence Association. An organization that all of us helped fund. Now and again when there is a court case involving women and children and they have to testify, the club will send members to protect the victims during a court trial. It’s Cash’s way of giving back and we all feel a sense of responsibility to the community, especially the way the world seems to be heading.
I’ve never really been interested in bringing kids into the world. It’s bleak and miserable, and frankly petrifying. I look at Ryder, our VP, and his ol’ lady Crystal and their cute little boy, plus Cash and Deanna’s new baby girl, and I feel a sense of dread for the world they’re growing up in. How do you honestly protect kids these days?
I clear my throat. “What he means is, if we could get a location or footage of the route, it may be worth lookin’ into.”
“Like lookin’ for a needle in a haystack,” Cash mutters. “Even if they did switch, the second bus could’ve gone anywhere.”
“Or maybe they’re bein’ held until it blows over. There are warehouses all over the place. Once the cops were all over the Carusos, everythin’ went quiet,” Brew says. “Everyone laid low. Bet your ass it only pushed the network further underground. That ain’t good when you’re tryin’ to find someone.”
Haze looks at his brother. “Which is what we’re workin’ on. Me and my brother are startin’ a new security business. Got a new crew. We’re the middlemen, so to speak. We keep the important people in this city safe.” I guess that’s one way of putting it. He turns back to Star.
“My sister was taken after the takedown,” Star tells us. I’d already done the mathematics. “Not the Carusos, but that doesn’t mean some other asshole didn’t take over the business operations.”
Essentially, that’s what it is these days. A very profitable one at that. “Means that we still have a problem in this city.” I run a hand through my hair. Just when you think that one problem is over with around here, another one surfaces. Dealing with crooks, especially people traffickers, is a lot like whack-a-mole. No sooner are you taking down an entire syndicate, the next new operation is starting up faster than you can blink.
Cash shifts his gaze to the women. “We believe the Caruso family — not that there’s any hierarchy left — kept operations goin’ back in Houston. They moved their business to New Orleans to claim back old territory, mainly runnin’ drugs and guns, but more recently human trafficking was their biggest income earner. Rumor has it the Gulf Cartel snuffed out the Caruso’s claim over most of Southern Texas, that’s when things got ugly and they shifted tact to Louisiana.”
That would explain a lot.
