CHAPTER FIVE - People Plan, God Laughs

Kozik and Tease sat in the van in solemn silence waiting for the signal to go. Pete was standing outside, smoking a cigarette, his cell phone locked to his ear. They had chosen to take the vans for discretion and they had parked in a secluded spot, at a safe but easy walking distance from the warehouse. They had dropped the prospect 500 yards away as a look out.

Kozik noticed Tease rubbing his temple as if trying to chase a headache.

"You alright brother?"

"I'm fine." he responded dejectedly and nodded towards Pete. "You know, he thinks this is a bad idea, right?"

Although the Vice President hadn't voiced it to Kozik, it was obvious he thought this was a bad move for the club. Kozik wasn't sure of that but he had to admit he would have been more comfortable if they had cross checked the Intel with surveillance over the warehouses. As an ex-soldier, a navy seals at that, he knew Intel only takes you so far and you needed to be able to make snap decisions in a matter of seconds or people got hurt. He didn't like going into this blind and he knew he wasn't the only one. But he also knew that you don't always agree with commandment but you execute nonetheless.

He sighted "I know."

"What do you think?"

"I think we voted this shit so what I think doesn't really matter. You?"

"I trust Pete's judgement."

"Then why are you here? You could have sat that one out, Ray would have been pissed but he would have gotten over it. Pete would always have your back."

Kozik knew there was a strong bond between the two men. Complete and utter trust. Kozik remembered what that felt like when he had been in Charming. For the longest time, Alex Tig Tragger had had his back 100%. That was until they fell out and Kozik had to transfer.

"You don't know Ray very well, do you? I don't know how things work in Charming but here in Tacoma, Ray calls the shots. He says we go in, we go in, no questions asked. Vote is just a formality. Things used to be different. It used to be that people knew who we were, what we stood for. They knew that sometimes you have to fight violence with violence and that we were there to protect the town and its people from the drugs, and the gang violence, and the sell outs over there in city hall. But overnight, this town turned into a city with big aspirations. Black moved in, Mexicans, freakin' Chinese. Suddenly we were losing ground left and right and you had to look over your shoulder when you brought your kids to school. We settled on territories. And as long as everyone sticks to their own backyards, it works. But it ain't going to last brother. Today, it's the Mayans in the North, tomorrow, who the f**k knows? And those guys, they don't follow our rules; they'll kill their own mother if it means more business. We blow up a warehouse; tomorrow they'll have three more set up all over town. That's Tacoma Brother. But Ray, he doesn't want to hear this. He still thinks this is 1975 and the town is our playground. We all know it ain't true, but who's going to tell him? I'm here tonight, because despite everything, I still believe in this club but I just don't think we can win this war brother."

Tease realised he had been talking for a long time and looked back to Pete almost embarrassed. They saw the man hang up the phone and look back at them gravely.

"Guess that's our queue" Kozik said before opening his door.

They stepped off the car, Tease carrying the bag containing the explosives. Kozik checked the 9mm on his ankle and took out the one he carried on his waist and the men started their advance towards the warehouse.

Around them, there was nothing but darkness. The only sound was their feet crushing gravel with every step.

They came twenty yards from the warehouse and Pete signaled them to stop. They took out the explosive device from the bag and Pete kneeled down to assemble it, following the Arsonist's instructions to the letter.

Inside the warehouse, Juan Otero, Augusto Romero's right arm was waiting with 6 of his best men. Tonight they had mobilised their whole crew. He smiled as he ran through the events that had brought them here tonight. It had all been orchestrated really well. The Mayans knew they needed the northern territories in order to boost the drug running business and take a lead on the competition. They knew the Sons wouldn't go down easily and it was only a matter of time before shit hit the fan between the two clubs. So they decided to circulate noise about warehouses the Mayans supposedly used for storing their stocks. After that, they had been able to anticipate every move the Sons were going to make. Juan couldn't wait to see the look on their faces when they realised they had been played. He knew they probably wouldn't be able to annihilate them and they might even lose some guys in the process. But in the grand scheme of things, it was a sacrifice Juan was very much ready to make.

"Sonos aqui!" He heard his watch out whisper excitedly

"Vamonos."

Kozik heard the door open and instinctively knew they had just walked into a trap.

"Get down!" he yelled before crouching down taking cover.

A second later, the Mayans were opening fire, spraying bullets from automatic weapons at the rate of 96 rounds a minute. Kozik could hear the bullets whistling just above his head. He turned around to locate his comrades and spotted Pete on the floor, his back against a rock and Tease hiding behind a tree. Kozik looked up to the warehouse but all he could see was the fire coming out of the rifle's nuzzles, like lighting bolts. He returned fire but in the mayhem it was practically impossible to take aim without exposing himself.

"What the fuck is this?" he heard Tease shout out.

Pete looked at Kozik "We got to call Ray and the others."

But Kozik knew it was pointless. If the Mayans had set them up, the same shit was probably going down in the other locations. They were on their own. They could only hope their back up had heard the gunshots by now and were coming for reinforcement. There was a short reprieve from the Mayans and Kozik took the chance to look up and assess the situation.

"They're moving in on us, we got to get out of here."

Right at that moment, Kozik saw a shadow on the floor and swiftly rolled over ready to shoot, recognizing one of the prospects just as he was about to pull the trigger.

"GET THE FUCK DOWN!"

Before the order could register, the young man took two rounds in the chest and fell on his back.

"Shit!"

Pete tried to reach the kid but another spray of bullets came flying. They were truly and well stuck with no way out. Kozik looked over and realised Pete still had the bag of explosives next to him.

"Hey Pete, that thing ready to work?"

Pete seemed to follow Kozik's train of thoughts. "Maybe it's time we find out."

"Alright, I'm going to roll over to you and throw the bomb. You and Tease you take the kid and you head back to the van. I'll cover you."

"No way! I'm not leaving anyone behind brother."

"We ain't got no choice! We're sitting ducks here, we got to get out. I'll be fine."

Pete pursed his lips together. He knew Kozik was right, but he hated the idea of leaving him here on his own. Before he could formulate another objection, Kozik stood up both guns in hand, aiming for the Mayan and discharged his whole gun in their direction before rolling on the floor and reaching the vice president.

"You all right."

"I'm alive." Kozik replied with a smile, despite the crazy circumstances. "Alright how does that work?"

"You press this button, and you run as fast as you can. You have 30 seconds."

"I need it quicker than that. Maybe it needs a little help."

"You're going to shoot at it?"

"I'm going to try."

Kozik wasn't the best at shooting. He had always been better at one on one combat, surprising his enemies with his agility, no matter size or height. But he knew he was their best chance at getting out of there alive.

"Tease man you ready?"

He heard the muffled response back "Just about brother."

"Alright, on three. One, two, three!"

Kozik threw the bomb in the air as hard as he could and although it didn't quite reach as far as he'd hoped, it was still close enough kneeled down to take aim. He pulled the trigger and watched as the bomb suddenly exploded in the air. The force of the explosion propelled Kozik backwards and he landed on his back. He quickly stood back up and taking advantage of the chaos he had created ran as fast as he could in the direction of the van.

After a few exhausting minutes, he saw the black vehicle, engine already running. The back door opened and Kozik jumped inside and Pete stepped on the accelerator, the tyres burning their way on the road.

Tease was sat on the side of the van holding a blood soaked white towel, with a defeated look on his face. Kozik eyes went on to the lifeless corpse at their feet and closed his eyes. The boy had barely been twenty two. He was just starting out. And now he was dead. Kozik swore someone would have to pay for it.

Ella quietly closed the door before noticing the lights on in the kitchen. She walked inside and saw her mother sitting at the table, staring at a cup of steamy tea.

"Mum? Please tell me you weren't waiting for me?"

"I wasn't waiting for you." Nell replied deadpan. "How was your night?"

"It was nice."

Nell noticed the lack of conviction in her daughter's voice. "You don't sound like someone who had a nice evening."

Ella couldn't help but be taken aback; her mother had always had like a fifth sense when it came to her. "It's nothing, I just… can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"When you met Dad, did you know what he was? Who he was?"

Nell hadn't been expecting the question. But with the prospect of her own death, she had replayed countless of times the choices she had made with her life and she had asked herself the same question. She let out a big sigh. "Yes. I did. Even if I didn't exactly know what that was."

"Was he different then?"

"Elle, why are you asking?"

Kozik's grinning face popped in her head for a second but Ella chased the thought away and quickly covered. "Curiosity I guess." She shrugged.

"In many aspects, your father is still the same man I met all those years ago as I am the same woman. We were just young and in love and we thought we could conquer all."

"So what happened?"

A sad smile appeared on Nell's face. "Life I guess. We grew into older versions of ourselves and something got lost."

Ella pondered her mother's answers for a moment. "I should go to bed."She kissed her mother's forehead. "Goodnight mum."

As she took off her clothes, Ella found herself replaying the conversation with her mother. She knew what had prompted her to ask those questions. Something Gillian had said has stuck with her. She had said they weren't all bad guys. And Ella knew she was right. They had a screwed up moral compass but most of them were loyal, fiercely dedicated and would do anything for each other.

But Ella had grown up very aware of the divide between her parents and had quite naturally chosen her mother's side. She'd sworn she'd never let a man treat her like her father had treated her mother and would never get involved with a Son. She had thought talking to her mother would help strengthen that resolve but in the end she felt more confused than ever.

Because despite her denigrations, she knew she was attracted to Kozik. And it wasn't just physical, he intrigued her, challenged her. He was different, very different from the men she had met before and tonight if they had not interrupted, she probably would have let him kiss her. But she couldn't let this happen, despite the attraction, she knew she had to stay the hell away from Kozik.

Kozik, Pete and Tease had been the first ones back at the range. They had quickly settled in the meeting room waiting for their brothers to come home, soon joined by Happy, Wizz and Stockard. Finally Ray, Chance and Stone walked into the room looking worse for wear.

"Everyone whole?" muttered Ray

Kozik sighed "Prospect didn't make it."

"Shit"

"Want to tell us what the hell happened out there, Ray?" Pete asked his voice full of anger

Chance jumped in for Ray "The intel was good."

"The intel was shit. You lead us into a trap!"

Chance took a few menacing steps towards Pete but Kozik and Happy were quicker, jumping on their feet and got in between the two.

The president was tired of the recriminations. "Enough! If you have an issue with this Pete, keep it for church. We voted this thing. You voted this thing with everyone else here."

Pete shook his head in evident disgust and walked away.

"Where are you going?"

The vice president turned to Ray with a glaring look. "I'm going to call the prospects mother, tell her her only son is dead. Unless you want to do it, Pres?"

The two men glared at each other for a moment before Pete finally left. Ray turned to the other men with a tired look. "Wizz, Stockard take care of the prospect. Rest of you go home and be in church at 9 tomorrow. We will get even."

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