Red Rides And Retribution

A/N: I'm sorry it's taken so long to update this, but life got hectic, and I could barely function creatively past the canon plot. But now, I have some time again in my life.

Chapter eight

Lisbon rode up and down every street on her territory, looking for Jane. He was gone. There was no trace of where he could have gone. She had a growing dread that he had been seen by a Blood and had been shot. Half of her gang looked for him. The other half were cleaning up that mess that had happened at the safe house.

There was too much going on. Apart from this mystery person giving her gang orders, now she had managed to lose a defenceless insurance broker in the heart of one of the city's most dangerous areas. She felt the rare panic begin to rise, and had to take several deep breaths to calm herself down. She would find him. She knew she would.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Abbott looked at the insurance broker in confusion. "Yes, I have a sister, but how…"

Jane shook his head. "That is a trade secret. Before I was in the insurance business, I was in the business of being a psychic. This is to prove that you can't lie to me."

Abbott nodded. "Maybe you can help us, Mr Jane."

Jane raised an eyebrow. "With what? Psychics aren't real."

Abbott turned away, and pulled out his cell phone. He waved his hand at one of the men with him, and they cut the ropes holding Jane to the chair. He rubbed his wrists, and stood up. He picked up his meager possessions off of the table next to the chair and put them back into his pockets. Abbott finished his hushed phone call and turned to Jane. "Iceman wants to see you."

Jane nodded, slightly nervous. He looked at the green bike in the corner. "I need to get that back to Teresa."

Abbott shrugged. "You can do that when we're done with you."

Jane looked at him. "May I please just call her and let her know I'm okay?"

Abbott raised an eyebrow. "You have thirty seconds."

Jane nodded and pulled out the cell phone. He dialed Lisbon's number, and stood nervously. She answered after two rings. "Where the hell are you?"

Jane took a breath. "I'm okay. I will be back later. Some, um, friends, want to speak with me."

Lisbon froze. "Could I speak with one of those friends?"

Jane turned to Abbott. "She wants to speak to you."

Abbott nodded and held out his hand. Jane gave him the phone and stepped back. "Yes?"

Lisbon recognised the voice. "Shotgun, you harm one hair on his head, and I will hunt you down and skin you alive."

Abbott had to work hard to fight the urge to shudder. "Trigger Lizzy, he will be exactly as he was when you left him."

He cut the call and handed the phone back to Jane. "Get on that bike, and let's go."

Jane nodded, and the group went out the garage door. Jane started up the green bike, and rode with the black bikes through the eastern half of southern Sacramento. They stopped outside a bar, and switched off. Jane walked with Abbott into the bar. Cho stood up when he saw them. They wordlessly walked through to a back room. The room was very similar to Lisbon's back room, and Jane had a feeling that this was where Cho spent most of his time.

The door shut, and Cho was alone with Abbott and Jane. Jane looked at them both. "I need to know why I'm here."

Cho sat behind his dark wood desk. "We are having problems. Someone in my gang is going behind my back-"

Jane felt like he had heard this story before. "And giving orders to attack the Outbackers. You feel like you're losing control of the gang."

Jane had a feeling that very little rattled Cho, but that statement seemed to confuse him. "How did you guess?"

Jane shrugged. "It wasn't really a guess. Teresa, Trigger Lizzy, she is having the same problem. Except it's worse because her men are losing faith in her."

Cho looked confused. "This isn't a coincidence."

Jane sat down opposite him. "I have a theory, but it seems too weird to possibly be true."

Cho sat back in his chair, and folded his hands across his waist. "I'm listening, Mr Jane."

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Lisbon paced up and down her apartment. Rigsby sat at her dining table. "Teresa, he will be fine."

She continued to pace. "This is bad, Wayne. The Bloods have Jane. What happens if he pisses off Iceman? He would be returned to me in little pieces."

Rigsby stood up. He placed his hand onto her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Teresa. Just relax. He will be okay."

Lisbon's phone rang, interrupting them. She answered it hurriedly. "Lisbon."

The voice on the other side was unexpected. "Trigger Lizzy. We need to talk."

Lisbon froze. "Iceman. Is Patrick okay?"

Cho flashed a rare smile. "Patrick is more than okay. I do suggest we have that talk though. You would be interested to hear this."

Lisbon started walking again. "I can't ride through your territory without risking my life."

Cho thought for a moment. "One of my men will meet you in the park. Then you will be okay."

Lisbon looked across at Rigsby. "I want to bring a man of my own."

Cho nodded. "Only one man."

Lisbon agreed, and cut the call. She turned to Rigsby. "You're coming with me."

Rigsby nodded, and the two of them headed out to their bikes.

Soon, they were waiting at the park, and Lisbon looked nervously around. A black bike pulled up next to them, and the rider switched off the engine. He looked at the two of them. "Trigger Lizzy, and Rigger. My name is Thomas Volker. You can call me Tank."

Lisbon nodded. "Will we be safe?"

Volker nodded. "As long as they see me with you, we will be okay."

The two Outbackers nodded, and switched on. The three of them rode into the Blood Guns territory, and wound their way to the bar. They all hurried inside, and Lisbon was surprised that the bar was empty. Cho had emptied it out for the meeting. The lights in the bar had been turned down, and there was a figure sitting at the far end. He stood up, and Rigsby automatically reached for his gun when he saw it was Abbott.

Abbott drew his own gun, and they each had the other in their sights. Cho came through the door at the back, and paused. Nobody moved, and neither man lowered his gun. Jane came round from behind Cho, and sighed. "Put those away," he said. "Somebody will get hurt. We're just here to talk."

Both men eyed each other, and then Rigsby lowered his gun and slid it into his holster. Abbott followed suit, and they all turned to face Jane. "Well," said Lisbon. "What do we need to talk about?"

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Somewhere further north, a motley crew of ex convicts and fugitives were hunkered down in an abandoned warehouse. They were awaiting orders from the boss. Until then, he had told them to not go anywhere, do anything, or speak to anybody until he said so.

Nobody had any idea what their boss did for a living. But these men had a wide range of infringements on the law. Drug trafficking, theft, house breaking, assault, attempted murder, some were even murderers. But they were all drawn together by one man and one promise. The promise to rule the southern drug trade.

All they needed to do was listen, and do exactly what he said.

A/N2: Please drop me a review. I would love to hear what you have to say. Thanks.