Page 461 of Devil’s Disciples

I looked at Goose. “Pretty much. Yeah.”

“What do you mean, pretty much?” Cash asked.

I felt like I was being attacked from all angles. “Pretty much,” I said, alternating glances at everyone as I spoke. “It means pretty fucking much.”

“So, you might fuck her again?” Cash asked.

“I’m not sure,” I muttered.

Cash chuckled. “Must be some good shit. Last time you banged a chick more than once was with that waitress in Vegas. You said that was never going to happen again.”

I wanted to live a normal life but realized I couldn’t. Fearing my PTSD might surface at any minute left me with no other choice but to remain single. The men believed I couldn’t commit to a woman. I knew otherwise. I could. I simply refused to.

I’d been with a long list of women over the years but had yet to be in one long-term relationship.

Hell, I’d never been in a short-term relationship.

“The last thing we need is another Vegas,” Goose chimed.

I glared at him, and then at Baker.

“I’ll toss this out there,” Tito said, directing his comment to Baker. “Sooner or later the drug lord is going to have someone here looking for his men, and for his drugs. He’s got the financial resources to continue that search until he finds them both. He’ll begin with the waitress, go to the Filthy Fuckers, and end up right here. The only way to stop it is to stop him.”

“Thanks for that insight,” I said in a sarcastic tone.

“My point, asshole, was this,” Tito retorted, shifting his focus to me. “We need to lure him here, kill him, and end this mess. If not, we’re going to be looking over our shoulders until our time comes. Considering El Alacrán’ s track record, you can rest assured our time will come relatively soon. This is more serious than anyone is giving it credit as being.”

“Maybe you didn’t hear me,” I said. “El Alacrán won’t come here. There’s a bounty on his head. DEA is waiting for him to cross the border. Five million in bounty money makes sure that won’t happen.”

“Remember the cop Crip was talking about after we robbed that bank north of here?” Ally asked. “The guy that wanted to clean up the streets one MS-13 member at a time?”

The cop she spoke of was a former Navy SEAL who was loyal to Crip because of the brotherhood SEALs felt toward one another. They had a gentleman’s agreement when it came to the commission of crimes.

The Filthy Fuckers cleaned the streets of drug dealers, and the detective looked the other way.

As fate would have it, the last bank we robbed was investigated by that very same detective. When he figured out the Devil’s Disciples were the masterminds behind it, he went to Crip and reported his findings. So far, he hadn’t arrested us.

His knowledge of the crime loomed over us like a dark cloud.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Crip said the cop was a friend of his.”

I didn’t see the point. I looked at her like I was clueless. “Okay?”

“What if we used the money from the last bank robbery? If we acted like we wanted to make a multi-million-dollar drug buy? We could have that cop waiting for him on this side of the border. The cop could get the arrest. It’d make him look like a hero. We could trade giving him the drug lord for him leaving us alone on the bank robbery.”

“I like it,” Baker said.

“There’s only one problem,” I said. “Luring El Alacrán here. It won’t be easy. If it’s even possible.”

“We’ll need to find out what his strengths and weaknesses are,” Tito said. “Once we know those things, we can put a plan together.”

“Sounds like Brother Reno needs to pay the waitress a visit.” Baker looked at me. “Press her for information about her former lover. Just remember, it’s in everyone’s best interest that you keep your dick in your pants. We don’t need another Vegas.”

To be fair to Carma, I intended to keep my dick in my pants. Only time would tell if I was able to succeed at completing the task.

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