Chapter 3
Coyote opened the door and gestured for me to enter first. In the room was five men dressed in black slacks and different shades of red shirts with the sleeves cut of baring their tattoos. Three women stood behind the desk dressed in short red skirts and shorts, with low cut black tops, though the eldest woman, who looked to be in her early forties just wore a black singlet and she looked good.
I looked over them, most of them were still the same but two of the guys were new to this level, I recognised them from my younger days, though I doubted they would recognise me.
"Ah good Coyote, we were hoping word would reach you." The oldest man grinned. He looked to be in his late forties but I knew that it was closer to his early sixties, his skin was mocha, his black hair had only a few grey streaks in it and his dark brown eyes glinted in the light with joy at seeing Coyote. "Who is your friend?" He asked with a frown.
"The other person you were looking for." I replied with a chuckle as I reached up and pushed the deep hood back and slipped the jacket off and slung it over the back of a chair with my duffle bag.
"Jesus, Angel, we had no idea that you would get here this fast." The eldest woman exclaimed.
"I was already in town." I shrugged. "I was on vacation, visiting a few old friends when I got the word." I accepted the beer that was handed to me. "Thank you Marie." I thanked the older woman. "I would have been here earlier, like two hours ago but I had a small problem getting away."
"How much of a problem?" The elder man asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well Carlos, I was staying at RangeMan, what does that tell you?" I told him with and small smile.
"Why there?" Marie asked with a small frown.
"Well one they are old friends and two…" I paused. "You heard about the run in I had with Contella five or six years back?" I asked
"Yeah, you had us all worried with that. Thanks for letting us know you were okay." A chocolate skinned man spoke up with a nod.
"It was no problem to do so, Roger." I smiled. "But the reason I was at RangeMan instead of my hotel is that Contella is out, he broke out of prison four days ago and we have reason to believe he is here in town."
"This could make things more complicated for you." Carlos sighed.
"Yeah not to mention Ranger's temper when he finds me gone." I sighed myself, I really didn't want to see that. I looked towards Roger and I could smell the club on him. "Were you in the club?"
"Yeah I had to split rather suddenly." He looked a little flushed.
"Should have known it was you." I sighed. "I am forever saving your butt."
"You gave the warning?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, what did you do this time?" I asked sitting down on the edge of a seat.
"Got caught with five weapons on me." He sighed. "So who was there?"
"RangeMan, five guys watching for you to leave." I shrugged. "They won't be impressed when they realise it was me that warned you."
"Is that the reason for the jacket?" A guy in blood red shirt and golden skin asked.
"Yeah, I didn't want to be recognised. Most of the RangeMan crew know me by sight. It won't take me long to change appearance if you would help me, Kevin." I nodded at him. Kevin was a master at changing appearance, it also helped that he was gay, he had perfect taste.
"Sure thing Angel, let me know when you want me to get my kit." He nodded with a grin.
"For now Roger you are going to have to stay out of sight, or go in. RangeMan don't give up easily." I warned him. "It don't matter if you forgot your court date, or skipped on purpose. Either way they probably won't be too easy on you."
"I honestly forgot." He said gloomily.
"I might be able to pull a few strings and get you taken in by some one nice, but no promises." I said kindly. "As long as you play nice." The truth was Roger only got rough on those who got rough on him and other wise wouldn't hurt a soul, unless they deserved it. He nodded in agreement and settled back down into his chair. "So what is the 911?" I asked getting to the point.
"Some one has taken a contract out on the Hell's gang, whether they are after specific people or the entire gang we haven't been able to find out yet." Carlos spoke up. "But already two members have shown up dead, execution style with their tattoos slashed open. At the moment we have advised all members to check in every twenty four hours, and tell us what they are planning for the day so we know where they are."
"No one new in town?" Coyote asked.
"We are looking into that now." Marie spoke up. "So far we have a list of two hundred, starting from as far back as two weeks ago."
"How long ago did the first one get killed?" I asked frowning.
"Three days ago." Kevin spoke up. "First one was Greg, he was a three circle, second one was a newbie, only been in the ranks for six months."
"Anything in common with the two?" Coyote inquired.
"None, only that they were members." Roger shook his head.
"Any one thrown out of the Family? For snitching or betraying?" I asked, knowing what the likely answer was.
"None that are still alive." Carlos said dryly.
"Any with influential family with either connections or money?"
"I'll check that out." One of the girls with a holter top, blood red nails and only looked to be about twenty five spoke up. I knew that she was the same age as me, in her thirties.
"Do that Bella, also see if there is any large amounts of money gone missing from the other gangs accounts too, let's see if we can rule out a gang war." I said a little tiredly. That was the last thing I wanted right now, another gang war that was violent, bloody and ruthless. The last one had been fifteen years ago. "I'll start looking over that list of new people in town, maybe I'll recognise some one." I took the list that Marie handed me, with mug shots.
"Where do you want us to bunk down?" Coyote asked from where he was leaning against the door. "Here?"
"No, we'll be moving on from here tonight now that you've checked in." Carlos shook his head. "We'll be moving into the high rise area for awhile, better security at least."
"So which base there?" He asked pulling his jacket back on and I followed his lead and slung my bag over my shoulder.
"The mansion." Carlos replied tossing us both a set of key rings, only mine had a key on it.
"Hmm home sweet home." I mused with a grin, looking at the alarm button on the key ring. I knew it was to open the main gates that lead to the house.
"Your bike is by the dumpster, near Coyote's." Marie spoke up before I could ask where it was. "It was serviced just yesterday." She grinned.
"Thanks, anybody want to ride with me?" I asked, while there was safety in numbers it was also suicide if some one bombed the cars.
"I will, I gotta use the computers there any way." Bella volunteered.
"I'll go with Coyote, that way I can help Angel here." Kevin stepped forward.
"Right let's go then." Coyote nodded and pushed himself off the door and strode out with Kevin on his heels pulling on a leather jacket as he went.
I didn't pulled the hood back up until we entered the control room, left the warehouse and re-entered the club. We easily threaded our way through the dancers and I quickly scanned the bar for Tomas and found him scowling as some blonde ditz tried to chat him up. Some girls just didn't know how to take a hint, unless they were forcefully rejected and then got upset about it.
I handed Bella the spare helmet that was in the little built in compartment on the side of the bike and dumped my bag in and latched it, then kicked it into life and waited until Bella had a good grip on my waist before speeding off after Coyote.
I was honestly contemplating all the horrible things that Ric and Tomas were going to do to me when they finally tracked me down. I wasn't stupid I knew they would it was only a matter of time. Once they heard that Hell's gang was in trouble they would know where I had gone, though they probably didn't agree with my loyalties or my decision to go. I really had two choices.
They were either going to death glare me and ignore me for a time, or I was going to get yelled at and hit. Preferably not all four.
The other thing that had my attention was how was I going to tell Coyote that he was my brother and if I should tell him…the other was how did Papa know? They had only really been in trouble for the last year and he had been dead for a bit longer then that, more like three years. Or had he known that this was coming? Could it be that his 'take down ' had been in the works for years?
I pulled into the mansion drive way right on Coyote's tail, so I didn't have to use my own 'garage' opener. We parked on a small piece of lawn near the door like we used to, though most of the rides I did back then had been illegal. But the cops never caught me.
We walked up the five steps and Bella leaned closer to me. "Keep the hood up, most of Carlo's family don't know he is involved with gangs, but his kids do, his wife doesn't. We'll be sent straight to the basement where we can talk freely."
"I remember the rules." I chuckled softly. We didn't need to ring the bell to be let in because a thirty year old female version of Carlos opened the door and waved us in silently quickly. WE followed her silently and quickly down a staircase that was hidden under the staircase that led to the second floor.
"Sorry about the rush Bella but Ma came home early, she wasn't supposed to be back for another week." She apologised as she opened another door that opened up into a ten by ten room filled with computers.
"That's going to make things a little harder, Anna." Bella sighed.
"I already called Pa, he said he'd bring the others in through the back." Anna shrugged. "She'll only be back for a few days before flying out to Nevada, she says she wants to visit the casinos."
"Well that should keep her occupied for a few weeks until she runs out of money." Bella snorted.
"Some times I wish she would just stay away and make all our lives easier." Anna sighed. "Some times I swear she forgets that I'm over ten and have children of my own." She shook her head in frustration.
"I see things haven't changed all that much." I commented with a chuckle as I threw my hood back.
"Tori!" Anna exclaimed with a squeal and gave me a hug, that reminded me about my bruised ribs.
"Ow, careful Anna, I have bruised ribs." I winced.
"How did you manage that?" Coyote asked with a concerned look.
"Ranger and I had a sparing match earlier today, we needed to work off some nerves when we heard Contella was out." I shrugged.
"Let me guess he doesn't have a mark on him." Anna grinned.
"Actually I won,." I grinned back as all their jaws dropped. "He had more injuries then me, by three."
"You gave him that black eye?" Anna exclaimed and then burst out laughing. "He was by here earlier today, he wouldn't say who gave it to him just that he deserved it." I bit back a sigh as I remembered that Ranger was related to Carlos. Uncle and Nephew.
"You know considering what Ranger does how does he not know that his uncle is involved with the Hell's Gang?" I asked with a small shake of his head.
"He does know." Anna corrected me. "He wasn't happy when he found out about it, but he comes to Pa when he picks up members as FTA's to find out where they are."
"Oh god." I closed my eyes and sat down. "What ever you do don't tell him that you've seen me, I broke Lock down to help out."
"He'd understand, Tori." Anna said quietly.
"I was in lock down because of Contella, he's out." I shook my head.
"That is a different matter, Tori. He'd do the same for any of his Family." Anna shook her head.
"I'd rather not risk it." I sighed. "It is going to take him some time to calm down." Not to mention Tomas's temper. I winced slightly at that thought. I sat down at table set in the middle of the room and began looking through the names and pictures that Marie had handed me. I was about half way through the pile when the rest of the leaders arrived. I glanced up as they came into the room and noticed that Anna was gone, Bella was concentrating on what was on the monitor in front of her and Coyote was on another computer.
Any one I thought might be a suspect I placed in a pile, I sighed as my phone rang in my pocket. I hadn't really thought that it would take some one so long to try and contact me.
I pulled it out and looked at the screen and smiled slightly. It was Stephanie.
"Hey hon." I said a little tiredly.
"Do you know exactly how mad the guys are at you right now?" She said in a quiet whisper.
"I have a fair idea." I winced as I could hear Tomas yelling in the background. "You in the control room?"
"Yeah, they are trying to trace you, they already found the tracers you left in the parking lot," She sighed. "Why'd you go? I mean you all told me how dangerous it was out there right now and then you go and break the rules."
"I had some thing important come up and I had to deal with it." I told her still looking at mug shots.
"Well on the upside, now that you've broken out Ranger is letting me out with a guard, so I can still do skips if I want." I could hear the smile in her voice.
"Really? You want to earn some money?" I asked her with a grin.
"Will it be dangerous?" Her voice went a little wary.
"Not really, RangeMan was supposed to pick up a skip tonight but they missed." I told her.
"Yeah I heard about that, Tank is pissed as hell, he still doesn't know how he got away…" Her voice drifted off. "How did you know?"
"I have my ways. Look they aren't going to give you his file cause they think he is too dangerous for you, but he's a big teddy bear really if you know how to handle him. You're either going to have to steal the file or argue them down to get it. You want Roger Corman's file." I gave her some information.
"You're joking right? I've seen his file, he's a gang member." Her voice shook a little. "I don't have much luck with gangs, you remember that Slayer thing right?"
"Trust me, you'll be fine hon. He only pounds on people who pound on him, he's really sweet with the ladies, and this will earn you a pay load." I assured her.
"How big is the bond?" She asked her interest perking up, she knew that if I said some one was safe then it was true.
"You'd get about fifty thousand."
"Big bond." She squeaked.
"Yeah got caught with five weapons. If you can get the file call me and I'll tell you where you can pick him up, but for the love of god don't tell Ranger."
"How do you know this Roger guy? I mean you never said anything about knowing gangs." She asked sounding curious.
"I might tell you about it one day, but not now." I told her with a small sigh.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN HELL'S ANGEL HAS BEEN SEEN?" Tomas's voice roared.
"I gotta go Steph, call me as soon as you get that file, I don't want Ranger's men getting their hands on Roger, he's an old friend and doesn't need black eyes." I told her quickly wincing at Tomas voice.
"Sure thing, I'll call in the morning." She assured me.
"Who you talking to Babe?"
"Ranger!" Steph squeaked.
"Bye Steph." I chuckled and hung up.
"Steph?" Roger asked as he sat down beside me looking curious. "As is the Bombshell bounty hunter? That's who you are going to get to take me in? Jesus Angel, she nearly destroyed the Slayers last year." He protested.
"Trust me Roger, it's better then RangeMan taking you in. Believe me she is a push over, mind you she has gotten better over the last year, but she won't pound you just for the hell of it." I soothed him with a soft smile. "And be nice to her, she is an old friend."
"How old?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"We went to high school and collage together, we've kept in contact over the years." I shrugged as I pushed the unknowns out of the way and went back to the one I thought might be involved. Twenty of them were known….well at least to me….as hitmen and mercenaries for hire, the rest were mob people. "Alright I have this list narrowed down to about twenty." I called out to the others and watched as they all parked themselves at a computer ready to type in the names I called out to check bank accounts and movements. I started calling out names and waited while the first ten were checked out and sighed as my phone rang again and grimaced when I glanced at the screen.
I picked it up but didn't say anything as I walked to the far corner so he wouldn't hear what was going on in the room.
He was breathing heavily, enough to know that he was upset and angry, which wasn't a good combination. I lent against the wall and waited.
"Not impressed Angel." Tomas's voice growled. I looked to my left as a fax machine kicked in and pulled the sheet out to look it over and frowned. "What in the hell are you thinking going back? We gave you everything to get you away from it, away from the hit that was out on you. And this is how you repay me?"
"I never really left Tom." I said quietly still reading over the sheet in my hand. "Yes I left to get away from the hit, but they are Family."
"Jesus Tori…" He swore for a good ten minutes. "Why didn't you say anything?" He said finally.
"You never asked and at the time you didn't want to know." I said after a few silent moments and walked over to where Carlos was glancing through records and handed him the sheet with a blank look on my face. Five more gone in a matter of hours, things were heating up.
"Why did you leave?" he asked quietly, "You didn't say, just that you were sorry."
"I was needed."
"Why?" He snapped.
"Because some one is killing my Family one person at a time." I knew he would know exactly what I meant now that I said that.
"Angel no please…" His voice went quiet.
"The past always comes back no matter what we do, hon." I told him softly with a sigh. "It's time I faced mine. Oh and in the future , just so you know if you have Hell's Gang as FTA give them to Steph and get her to call me, I'll make arrangements."
"You have to be joking Tori, some of them are more dangerous the half her psyco's." Tomas snapped.
"It's either that or you don't get them at all." I told him in a no nonsense voice. "Gotta go, hon, think on it, you remember the sway I have…Take care."
"Tori…" his voice was almost pleading.
"Trust me, hon please, just like I've trusted you all these years."
"I'll talk to Ric." He said with a sigh. "He won't like it…watch your six love."
"Always." I hung up and closed my eyes pushing back my emotions so I could think, when I opened them I could think properly.
"Five in the last nine hours." Carlos sighed, leaning back in his seat.
"Carlos, just bare with me while I think out loud." I asked him as I slowly began to pace. "Over the last four years have we pissed anyone off?" I asked thinking about the note Papa had sent me.
"We had a run in with the Slayers three years ago but that got cleared up, the mob a few months over that when they tried to do arms dealing in our territory." Carlos said slowly as he thought about it.
"Was it settled?"
"Postponed." Marie replied with a shake of her head. "They ran into some problems and never had a chance to settle."
"Make the account transfers as far back as four years, this could have been a pay now do the job later when they're off guard." I said.
"How do you figure that?" Carlos asked turning to face me.
"My Papa had one last message for me, written three days before he died. He was how I knew this was coming. He said that the past always came back and bit you on the ass, you needed my help and to watch my back….all in code of course." I sighed. "I didn't know that he knew, I don't know how he found out the information about what was coming." I looked through all the paper work again, focusing on names and known alias's.
"I have a hit." Bella called out. "Three years ago, a few days after our clash with the mob family, they transferred nearly a million dollars in to this account, four days ago a hundred thousand was added."
"The day we lost two." I nodded. "Who owns the account?"
"William 'Hunter' Renriso." Bella told me.
I flicked through the files. "Got it, he arrived a week ago, with his two brothers, Martin 'Dodge' Renriso and Joseph 'Bullet' Renriso."
"We have three hit men that we know of working on this, this could be fun." Coyote grinned.
"Oh yeah just like the old days" I grinned back. "Alright I want them found, quietly. I want their movements down, Coyote and I'll deal with them tomorrow night."
"You don't want more time?" Marie asked looking concerned.
"We don't have more time." I shook my head, "If we wait we'll have more dead members and word is already out that I'm here."
"You're right you don't have time." Carlos shook his head. "Especially if it is out that Hell's Angel is in town."
"It won't be long before it's know that Coyote is here too, we are going to have to move fast. Tell all members to go to ground, preferably safe houses that haven't been used in awhile and no one knows about." I nodded. "The less we are seen the better."
"On it." Kevin hurried over to a phone and made the call, linking in with all control centres in town giving the order.
I yawned, nearly making my jaw pop.
"You okay?" Coyote asked.
"Yeah, it's just been a really long day." I turned to Kevin. "Feel up to making me different old Friend?" I asked.
"Sure thing." He nodded, walking to a cupboard and pulling out a small duffle bag. "Follow me sweet thing, after this you are going to bed."
"Definitely." I nodded and followed him through a door.
It took Kevin three hours to help me change my hair, it was cut, styled and coloured. It was layered and no more then six inches long, dyed blood red and when I needed it go out would be gelled to stay in place.
I was nodding off constantly in the last hour, and Kevin kept working until I couldn't keep my eyes open any more and had Coyote help me put me to bed before shooing him out and peeling off my clothes leaving me in my under ware and turned out the lights leaving me to sleep.