Hi everyone! Know it's been a while. Sorry about that. I've got another chapter that we be going up on Christmas day. As always, all appreication and respect to LynGuerra for all the support. I also slipped in a special request for one particular reader (I hope they catch it). I own nothing and have no money, so don't bother trying to sue me. Blah, blah, blah..Enjoy!
Becky sat in the Voxel and checked the time on her watch again, seeing it would still be another half an hour before her along McCormick and two other Saints would take down the Sons of Samedi's stash house. In the back seat were Joey-D another female Saint. Her name was Rachel but was often referred to as 'Ghost' due to her pale complexion. Due to her also having red hair and ample breasts, some people tried comparing her to the Freckle Bitches mascot. That stopped after a number of guys in the crew (and McCormick on multiple occasions) got acquainted with her steel toe boots connecting with their testicles. From then on, everyone just stuck with "Ghost" as her nickname. She was carrying a NR4 in a side holster under her left arm and was quietly sharpening a switchblade. Joey-D had GAL-43 in a waist holster but had brought a baseball bat with him. After being stuck in the hideout with nothing to do, he was happy for some fresh air and even happier to show his gratitude for being rescued from Stilwater Prison.
The Saints knew when the Samedi runners would be returning to the various stash houses in the area, so the plan was to hit the them during the re-up and walk away with both cash and product. Becky began checking over her Vice-9 again making sure it ready for action. But between the training she had received from both Cassie and Brooks, her weapon was probably more pristine than most show-room models.
"You keep playing with your gun like that and it's going to go off accidentally." McCormick saw sitting next to her with a tombstone pointing downward in his lap with the safety on "And as much as I want some action, I'd rather not alert the Samedi that we're here just yet."
"I know I know. I'm just nervous" Becky confessed "I've never done shit like this before. Ok? A few weeks ago I was studying to be a librarian, now I'm running with a street gang. And from working on my master-thesis, I suddenly find myself getting ready to raid a drug lab being guarded by a bunch of voodoo-practicing psychopaths."
"It's more of a stash house than a drug lab." McCormick explained smugly "Since the most they probably do here is whack it up. Also, I was working at my uncle autobody shop before. Besides, never did either of you nor myself ever dreamt that we would be part of a prison break. But regardless, we both managed to do our respective parts and not get wasted. So excuse me should I be arrogant enough to consider that a win."
"Fair point." Becky put her Vice-9 back into her back holster "I just want this to go smoothly."
"Why wouldn't it? We've all be in some hairy shit just from living in Stilwater. That already makes us ready to handle anything" reassured Ghost "Besides. They've grown too carless. They have lookouts for protecting the dealers at College Square, but are so cock-sure of themselves that no protection is needed elsewhere."
"True enough." McCormick nodded "It just seems a little arrogant to believe that nobody is going to touch your stash houses."
"Not really when you think about it. We're deep in Samedi turf right now, which means if the Ronin or Brotherhood rolled up and started some shit, they would be hard-pressed to make to back to their own turf in one piece. That's why each gang stays on its own turf and pretty much stays away from the other two." Joey-D explained "There are some members of the other gangs that don't even know their way around the sections of Stilwater they don't control. That makes them easy prey if they enter the wrong part of the city. But makes things easier for the SPD…..and us."
"We'll eventually get our chance to find out, but right now it's showtime." Becky nodded toward the green bootlegger that pulled up in front of the stash house "looks like its time to introduce ourselves to the new neighbors. Everyone ready?"
After receiving nods from the other three Saints, they exited to Voxel they parked in the alleyway and strolled across the street towards the stash house. Ghost and McCormick positioned themselves against the wall on the right side of the door while Becky did the same on the left side. Joey-D kept his GAL-43 in it's Holster, preferring to start things off with his trusty baseball bat. Without breaking his stride, Joey-D kicked open the door and with the same momentum proceeded to connect his baseball bat with the face of one of the stunned Samedi soldiers. McCormick then followed him inside and sent another Samedi flying with a blast from his tombstone. By this point, the Samedi were starting to realize that were under attack and began returning fire. One charged after Ghost with a machete but was blown away with a shotgun blast by McCormick. Another three tried to escape out the back only to be riddled with bullets from Joey-D and Becky. When the smoke cleared, there was only one Samedi with light skin and short dreads still alive and cowering under a table. McCormick and Becky dragged him to his feet, holding him against the wall while Ghost held a blade to his throat. Joey-D picked up an overturned chair and proceeded to sit with his feet on the table with his baseball bat gently resting on his shoulder.
"We're here for your product and your cash. We don't want to kill you….but we're not going to lose any sleep tonight over it either." Joey-D explained "You tell us where the safe is, we'll let you go on your way."
"Fuck you!" The Samedi spat venomously "You fools be outta the game so long, you don't even know you fucking with."
Joey Smiled and nodded to Ghost. She smoothly removed her blade from the Samedi's throat. Before he could even comprehend what was going to happen next, Ghost buried her knife into his leg. He blood-curdling scream was so long, McCormick was convinced that least half of Stilwater must have heard him.
"Correction motherfucker…you're the fool that doesn't understand who he's fucking with." Joey-D stood up and walked over to the Samedi with his bat still resting on his shoulder "We could've been on our way already…but noooo…somebody wanted to prove how much of a fucking badass they were by talking."
"You fucking Saints! You don't know shit" the Samedi growled "My people will be back any minute."
Joey-D let out a laugh that sounded more like a bark "We've been watching your crew's movements you ignorant dipshit. We know that since you just re-supplied the Loa Dust for your runners, it will be another day before anyone comes to collect the money they dropped off."
"They could still show up sooner." The Samedi retorted "The cops could also…"
"Your people are creatures of habit and don't change their schedule unless they have to….which we both know isn't going to happen until me and my crew are long gone. And really….the cops? When was the last time the cops answered any calls in this neighborhood?"
"This fucker is playing games." Ghost sighed "Maybe he'll become more cooperative after I chop of his leg."
As Ghost started to slowly twist the knife in his leg, what little courage he had left faded instantly. Realizing there was no chance of escaping, he decided to give the Saints what they wanted.
"Under the stove! The stash is under the fucking stove" He cried shamelessly "There's a false floor underneath the stove. That's where we keep the safe with the extra loa dust and cash. The combination to the safe 0-4-5-1."
Joey-D nodded to Becky "You and McCormick check the kitchen. Me and Ghost are going to keep our new friend here company. I doubt he's going to be running anywhere with that busted."
"Ok. But this fucker even breathes wrong, I'll chop of his fucking cock and feed it to him" Ghost declared as she removed her knife from the Samedi's leg.
"Whatever you say homie." Becky nodded to McCormick pulled out a set of handcuffs and secured the Samedi's hands behind his back for good measure before heading into the kitchen.
"See? Now was that do hard?" Joey-D mockingly "You could have given us that info earlier and you wouldn't have a knife jammed into your leg right now."
"Maybe he just gets off on pain" Ghost suggested mockingly "In which case I'll happily oblige this motherfucker."
A few moments later McCormick and Becky came back from the kitchen. McCormick had two small bundles of cash while Becky was carrying three vacuum-sealed packages with a whitish yellow substance that Joey-D assumed was Loa Dust.
"Looks like nice haul." Ghost commented
McCormick nodded "You definitely can say that again."
"I guess we're done here." Joey-D turned to the Samedi "Guess you're free to…."
"One sec homie." Becky interrupted "I think this fucker is playing us."
The other Saints looked at Becky with confused expressions. The Samedi also looked taken aback by her words.
"What the fuck are you talking about bitch!" He yelled "I gave you…." But his words interrupted by Becky driving the heel of her boot into his leg wound. He hollered in pain as Becky watched on emotionlessly.
"We've been watching this stash house, so we know the level of product and cash that follows through here." Becky explained venomously "It's got more people coming and going from this location. There's also at least 4 to 6 suitcases that leave here every week with cash. That's the reason why more people were assigned to hit this spot. And everybody knows that more people at this location should also mean more cash and product."
"You're right. That's the reason the Boss wanted me and Ghost coming along as backup." Joey-D commented "The other spots only had about two or three people working there."
"Yeah. I remember the Boss expecting this location to be nice honeypot that was prime for the taking." Ghost chimed in
"Exactly" Becky replied, not taking her eyes of the Samedi "Which means there's a large stash hidden somewhere in the house."
"Motherfucker!" McCormick barked "He gave up that small safe to throw us off!"
Ghost walked over to the Samedi and slowly began dragging her knife along his uninjured leg. "Unless you're in the mood to lose both of your fucking legs, I suggest you tell us where the other stash is."
"I swear! We don't have anything else." The Samedi pleaded "I just got assigned here…"
"And yet you've already know the location of the kitchen safe along with the combination…despite being the new guy?" Becky asked as she slowly approached him "Sounds like bullshit to me."
As Becky watched the panicked expression on the Samedi's face, so noticed there were a few moments where his eyes glance slightly over her shoulder. In looking over her own shoulder, she noticed the kitchen refrigerator was in clear view. When Becky back at the Samedi, it became clear that he'd just shown his hand.
Becky walked over to the refrigerator "Yo McCormick! Give me a hand with this. I think the real stash is hidden here."
McCormick made his way towards the kitchen and after some effort, managed to pull the fridge out of its space. Becky started to tap on the back and suddenly realized it was just a piece of plywood covered in wall paper to match the rest of the kitchen. She carefully inched her fingers behind the plywood and pulled it away. Inside the wall was a large safe.
Before the Samedi could even react, Joey-D brought his bat down on the banger's uninjured leg, connecting with a sickening crack that was instantly drowned out by the Samedi's screams. Joey-D lifted the Samedi by his neck and pinned him to the wall.
"I thought we were past you bullshitting us." Joey-D spat as he gently tapped his baseball bat against the Samedi's skull "So here's what's going to happen: you're going to give us the combination to this safe or else…"
"0-10-14-08" The Samedi cried out "There's also two gun cases in the closet and some ecstasy pills stored in the freezer. Just please stop hurting me."
Joey-D looked to the other Saints who began checking the information. Moments later, Becky had the safe open which was picked with bricks on money and Loa Dust being held together with plastic wrap. Ghost also emerged from the kitchen carrying several zip-lock bags with pills while McCormick retrieved to very large weapon cases from the living room hall closet.
"Wow. This is quite the score." Joey-D turned back to the Samedi "I guess where almost done here."
The Samedi didn't bother trying to hold back his relief "Thank God. So, you're going let me go now. Right?"
"Sure thing motherfucker." Joey-D smiled as he looked back and nodded to Becky "Were gonna let your bitchass go….straight to hell."
"Wha.." Was the only thing the Samedi could say before his response was interrupted as Becky pulled out an ice pick and drove into the banger's heart. A few gasps escaped his lungs before coughing up blood and slumping dead while still in Joey-D grip. After waiting a moment to confirm there was no pulse, he released his grip on the Samedi and allowed his corpse to fall to the floor.
"Let's double time it and get the loot loaded up in the Voxel." Joey-D ordered "His people won't be back anytime soon, but we've already spent too much time here. McCormick, don't forget to leave our 'calling card' for our friends in green. It's the least we could do after their contribution to the Saints."
The three Saints all nodded in agreement as they quickly made rapid trips to load the weapons, money, and drugs into the car. After another 15 minutes, everything was loaded up and Becky was driving them away from the carnage they had left behind. McCormick pulled a burner phone from his pocket and started to dial the number that would arm the bomb they had planted. They were a block down the street before the explosion went off which engulf the stash house in purple flames. It was Mei's idea to raid the stash houses controlled by the Sons of Samedi, but Cassie had come up with the idea of leaving a calling card the left no uncertainty about who raided them.
"While I enjoy blowing shit up as much as Cassie does, isn't it more than a little too dangerous to bring a bunch of heat from the Samedi like this?" McCormick asked, "Why didn't we try setting up another gang the way we're doing with the Brotherhood and the SPD?"
"The Boss has two very different, yet equally important reasons for doing that." Joey-D explained "First, while it's a nice trick, if you use it too much you're bound to get caught if you keep using it. These three gangs have been running shit in Stilwater since the Saints have been gone and have managed to pretty much stay out of each other's way. Somebody might realize there's something up since right after the Saints announce their return the other gangs suddenly decide to start moving on each other's turf. "
"And while we could deal with one of the gangs and some SPD interference, while can't deal with every faction turning their resources on us." Ghost chimed in "Then it would just be a repeat of what happened to the Saints last time where we were leaderless while trying to deal with three gangs once."
"Four gangs if you count the cops." Becky added "I'm sure they've been paying more attention to anybody wearing anything remotely purple since the Saints have been making them look like complete idiots with everything that we've done recently."
"You're both very right ladies." Joey-D smiled "The second reason is that establishing our power and turf right now is crucial. While we've been making a lot of stealthy moves, it may have given some of the bangers the impression that we've grown too cautious or we don't have the stomach to fight head-to-head with our enemies. We're going to make the Sons of Samedi into sacrificial lambs to help re-establish our rep. And with all the voodoo shit their gang is supposedly into, taking them out will give us a phycological edge over the remaining gangs and the SPD."
Just then, Becky's cellphone started blaring No Doubt's "Don't Speak" which she instantly answered without bothering to glance at the caller ID.
"Hey Rodney! What's up?" She asked
"Just checking up on your group." He replied nonchalantly "Everything alright your end?"
"Checking on our group or checking on me?" She asked annoyingly "You got to have some faith in me. You've also gotta lay off calling me in every other hour whenever I rollout with the homies. Otherwise I'll gonna go from being 'Becky' to 'Rodney the Razor's baby sister."
"I know I know. I'm sorry Bebe." Rodney sighed "This is still taking some serious getting used to. But you know if you…"
"We're not having this conversation again." Becky cut him off "I'll see you in about 20 minutes when we get back to the hideout."
She heard him sigh again "Okay. Just be careful. Love you sis."
Becky smiled "Love you too Bro."
She put her phone back into her pocket and took a deep breath while trying to focus on the road and not her brother. It would take an absolute fool not to realize that he was worried about her. However, Becky refused to have anyone make choices in her life. Becky had hoped by now that Rodney would forget about the idea of trying to make her walk away from the gang. Maybe once they had secured more turf from the Samedi he'd relax some more and forget about trying to get her to walk away from the Saints.
"Yo! Rodney still trying to get you to drop your flags?" Joey-D asked
"Yeah. He just won't let up about that no matter how much…." She suddenly give Joey-D a glance "Wait a minute…how'd you know about Rodney wanting me to walk away from the Saints?"
Joey-D grimaced "I was there when he went to Gat about removing you from the gang for your own safety."
"What the Fuck!" Becky grip on the staring wheel tightened, almost picturing Rodney's neck in her grasp "I haven't been 'safe' since the Sons of Samedi, Ronin, and Brotherhood moved into Stilwater. We've already had this talk, so I don't know why he won't let fucking sleeping dogs lie. So what did Gat tell him when he asked about kicking me out the gang?"
"Gat told him there was no way in hell that was going to happen. He told Rodney that you have already proven your worth and that you're more than capable of running with the Saints. All of that to say….that unless there were some legitimate reason to expel you from the Saints, he needed to let this shit go." Rodney laughed "Gat also explained to Rodney that if any of the females in crew thought they played a hand in forcing Becky from the Saints, both of them would end up being strung up by their balls."
Ghost laughed "Glad to know that even Gat realizes not to fucking tempt fate. After all….it wasn't it the femaleleader of the Saints that broke both Johnny and Rodney's asses out of jail?"
"Exactly. And seeing is how I'm amongst that group, you certainly won't hear any pushback from me." Joey-D
Assured "Maybe it would help if the two of you did some jobs…."
"Not going to happen." Becky interrupted, gripping the steering wheel even tighter "Not after the bullshit while we were scooping out the stash houses.
McCormick laughed "Oh yeah. I almost forgot about that….I swear I thought you were going to start whopping his ass in the car right then and there."
Ghost eyed Becky "What exactly happened that McCormick is ready to piss himself from laughter?"
"Of course McCormick would find that shit to be funny." Becky rolled her eyes "We were staking out one of the stash houses together with some of the crew and after only twenty minutes in the car, he wanted to head back to hideout so I could report back to the Boss. Unfortunately for him none of homies in the car was buying that shit. When nobody took the subtle hints of 'There's nothing more to see, so lets head back to the hideout' weren't working, Rodney became straight up desperate. He did everything from pretending to have a stomach ache…to insisting that someone had seen us watching the spot and we should leave ASAP."
"Becky finally had enough of the bullshit and threatened to throw out the car and make him walk back to the hideout from the middle of Samedi territory." McCormick snickered "Normally I wouldn't want to see a fellow homie dissed in purple dissed like that, but Rodney was out of line for letting his personal feelings get in the way like that. If other people in the gang…especially the fellas…see him treating her like some little girl with a curfew, they might get the idea that they should be doing the same with Becky."
"I understand completely where you're coming from." Ghost nodded "It would become an even bigger problem if the other females in the gang started getting the same fucking treatment. If anybody pulled that shit with me…least of all your big brother, I would have left them in Samedi territory in nothing but their birthday suit."
Everyone laughed as they pulled into the parking lot in front of the hideout. Shaundi had gotten one of her ex-boyfriends to modify the property around the mission. The parking lot had been modified with a 50-foot high fence that encompassed the property with a rolling gate. An overhead roof was also installed to keep any helicopters from spotting their vehicles or people coming and going from the mission house. But the most ingenious feature that Mei ordered was to make sure that was the fence was reinforced but made to look old and rusty on the outside. Since it would only be a matter of time before the Sons of Samedi starting hunting for where the Saints were hiding, it was best to make their stronghold blend into the surrounding neighborhood. And should the Samedi stumble upon the hideout, Cassie had several Saints on the top floor as lookouts with McManus Sniper rifles and AR200 SAWs on the constant watch in every direction. Anyone showing up there looking for a fight would get more than they bargained for.
As they started unloaded their loot from the Samedi stash house, Becky was stopped by McCormick's hand on her shoulder.
"He'll come around Becky. It's hard to believe but Rodney will come around to you being a Saint." He assured her "You just gotta be patient with him until he comes to his senses. The day's gonna come where he'll be extremely thankful that we've got you here."
"I really hope so McCormick." Becky replied as they made their way inside "For everyone's sake as well as myself."
-s-
Mei sat at the round table with a copy of Niccolo Machiavelli's 'The Prince' as she waited on the Saints lieutenants gather for their meeting. Mei finally had an army of purple clad bangers, but she knew that they weren't going to survive without sustained income for food, ammo, medical supplies and other materials they needed if they were to fight every gang in the Stilwater and the SPD. Thus she gathered Gat, Pierce, Cassie, Shaundi, and Carlos do follow up on potential rackets and check the overall status of the gang.
"Alright. Now that we officially sent our 'Hello Neighbor' greeting to the Sons of Samedi, there's no turning back for us." Mei declared "So we better have our different avenues of business going. What have been doing to bring in Green Pierce?"
"Using some of the cash from one of the Samedi stash houses we hit a few days ago. I was able to secure the deeds to several properties in the area. Lily setup some shell corporations to make the purchases through. It's mostly some warehouses that we'll have to pay taxes on. But we've also got a Freckle Bitches, two Brown Baggers, and a Friendly Fire. In addition to the property income, we can launder money through these businesses as well."
"Nicely done." Mei remarked "Lily really does good work."
Pierce frowned "But it was my idea to setup the…"
"Even whining Pierce." Shaundi cut in, turning to Mei "I got our people slowly taking over the Loa Dust market. We haven't moved on the areas around University Square since there would be too much heat from the Samedi. That's why we slowly started setting up dealers in rival locations and we're undercutting them by selling it at 40 percent of what the Samedi usually charge."
"Nice. We're going to have a nice payout and screw the Samedi over at the same time." Mei smiled "But we're not going to be able to keep doing that without our own production. Where on we on producing our own dust?"
"This science stuff's a bit difficult, but I'm sure I figure it out soon. Just need some more of the product to experiment with." Shaundi reassured her "If those voodoo loving psychopaths can make this shit, it shouldn't be a problem for anyone to make their own."
Mei shook her head "Don't take the Sons of Samedi too lightly. If recreating their Loa Dust were that easy of a task, I'm sure the Brotherhood or Ronin would have tried snatching their market. Still keep me posted on your progress."
"No problem Boss Lady." Shaundi winked
She turned her gaze to Gat "How our security situation looking?"
"The fence system outside is complete with enough grime and rust coated on the outside to make it look like a piece of shit that was already here. Same thing with the roof covering the parking lot." He reported "But that's not going to fool the locals in the area. Which means the Samedi are going to find this place once they start looking for us?"
Mei frowned "Are there any security measures to counter an assault from the other gangs?"
"We got platforms built against the fence from all sides, so we can shoot down at any cunts stupid enough to start some shit." He grinned at Cassie "And that's if those witchdoctor wannabes are capable of getting close enough to start some shit. Cassie has a crew on the top floor of the building armed with sniper rifles and watching from all directions as well."
"Sounds impressive." Mei hung her head slightly in deep thought "Gat, make sure each platform has a cache of guns and as much ammo as possible. This way nobody's running back to the hideout looking for a pistol of shotgun. Cassie, make the additional two floors below the top floor into sniper fortifications as well. Also, keep some RPGs on standby as well."
"Shit Boss. I thought we were defending the place. Not attacking it." Pierce remarked "It's that a bit overkill?"
"On the surface it might seem that way, but you have to remember the worst case scenario here for us: having no place to run and being attacked in full force by a gang that even now still outnumbers us 5 to 1. Also consider that when that shit goes…..which we all know if will…..our good friends at the SPD could end up stopping by to see what the commotion is about. While they've given up on this neighborhood, if they get word that they can find all the Saints in Stilwater in the one place….we're as good as fucked."
Everyone at the table got quiet as the weight of Mei's words took affect. For both Cassie and Gat, they had already expired this firsthand as a result of Troy's betrayal and was in no mood to remember it. Even Shaundi seemed to be brooding over this thought.
"Hey. Don't puss out on me motherfuckers! We're not defenseless and we certainly aren't cornered." She reassured her lieutenants "But with everything we need to do, we're going to have to expand a bit. Pierce, the Ronin are the gang with the biggest checkbook. See if there's anything we can strike in the interim to get some extra cash coming in. And No, not there casino!" his smile disappeared as quickly as it arrived on his face.
"I'd be bullshitting you if I said that hitting their casino wouldn't be a nice score. But it would ultimately be pointless if the end result was two gangs at our doorstep instead of one. So find something that's worth our time but discrete enough that it won't be traced back to us. Then once the cash situation is more stable, we can make preparations to hit their casino."
"Perfect. I got this covered Boss." Pierce gave her a thumbs up and winked "It'll be like something straight out of 'Ocean's 11'. Nobody will ever know we were there."
Mei smirked "I'm excited and worried at the same time. But keep me posted."
Finally, all the attention in the room was on Carlos. He was clearly nervous, which could only mean bad news.
"Relax Carlos. You look like a little kid who's been called into the principal office." Mei smiled at him, which instantly released some of the tension he was feeling "Any progress on the Brotherhood's shipment?"
Carlos shook his head "Nothing. There's no information out there. But I did learn something else though."
Mei raised an eyebrow "And what's that?"
"Maero's in hiding. Has been since shootout at Piratez Tavern, and his whole crew is in disarray because of it. One of the people in my crew has a connect at the news station, and apparently word is already making the rounds that rouge cops were making the rounds to bump off gangbangers. The SPD is making them suppress the story, but that can only last for so long."
"Good to know our plan worked out so well." Mei smiled at him "Keep an ear to ground, but don't get too close. We don't want to get too close and tip our hand. They're the one gang I don't want to fight head on."
"Really? By all accounts, they're the weakest of the three." Cassie pointed out " I'm actually surprised you didn't want to deal with them first."
"Maero is smart enough to know how dangerous we are. But he's just stupid enough to use the most heavy handed approach." She explained "I can see him leading some suicidal charge against the hideout with every member of his gang. We would win, however the crew and hideout would be in rough shape and in no shape to deal with the Sons of Samedi, The Ronin, or the SPD. All of whom would be gunning to fill the power vacuum."
"Understood Boss." Carlos smiled back "I'll make sure people tailing the Brotherhood keep a few more paces back."
"Good." Mei "We'll talk more later."
As the captains filled out of the room one by one, they each gave a one last glance of approval before leaving the room.
"I will not fail this family….not matter the cost of blood that I have to pay." She thought to herself "And may God show mercy on Troy or anyone else who tries to stop me…because I certainly won't."
