Chapter 56: The Audition
Sunny, Geraldine and Chelsea looked around the abandoned plane hanger. "Where the hell is this prick? That fucker said show up at this place" Sunny kept looking around. She had a received text from someone who said they had information that might be useful. It supposedly said it someone who was on the inside of her former best friends group. This person had some information that could help. Problem was though the guy was nowhere in sight. The text said to meet at the hanger. "You sure this is the place?" Geraldine looked at her "Yeah" Sunny assured "Well maybe it was a trick? You know, somebody pulling your leg?" Chelsea searched the abandoned office "It didn't sound like a joke" Sunny sensed that something wasn't alright "And in any retrospect, any type of info should be helpful".
"You're right about that" a familiar voice echoed "The only thing about that information is on how reliable is it".
Geraldine and Chelsea drew their guns and pointed them at the mysterious figure.
"It was a fucking trap, I knew it!" Chelsea points her gun squarely at his head "Wait!" Sunny stopped them "He's-He's on our side!". Geraldine and Chelsea looked at her baffled "You know him?" Geraldine questioned; with a sigh; Sunny licked her lips. "This is Pierce..." she introduced "He's a government agent from some fucking shadow group or something". Both are taken aback "It's kinda of complicated and I'll tell you later, alright?" Sunny looked back the enigma "That message I got, that was I take it?". He adjusted his sunglasses "You wouldn't have come unless you thought it got you close to that rat" Pierce confessed that the play "So there's no info then?" "There is, but I'll give it to you when I have it ready" he promised "So, what the molly fuck do you want?" Chelsea kept her gun fixed on him "I'll tell you if you put the gun down first". Chelsea kept it trained on him; Sunny places her hand on the piece; "Stop" she whispered.
She looked at her. After a moment Chelsea lowered her gun. She got a look at him. Something about the way he looked made her feel unnerved for some reason.
"What do you want?" Sunny asked "I need help getting a package, it's very if you want to say important".
"What is it? A stash?" she wondered "You don't look like the kind to do a line"
"You'll know when you give it to me, it's in an junkyard on the other side just outside the county" he told her "You're going to need a fast car for this, and some guns".
The three of them looked at him "The hell do we need guns for? I thought this was supposed to be a simple pick up?" Sunny looked at him "How silly of me" Pierce pretended to be sarcastic "I forgot to mention that two other groups are going to compete against you" "Compete? What is this a game or somethin'?" Geraldine questioned "Think of it as the spirit of competition.
"Now these peculiar individuals are dangerous too an extent Here's the brief of them.
The first group is a band of sicarios from the Los Aztecas gang across the border. Their's still a presence in this part of the state, so carry a rifle or two if you encounter them. The second group consist of people from this place, your friend probably knows them" he motioned to Chelsea "You know the people who are a part of this?" Sunny raised her brow "No," Chelsea denied "I did some odd jobs here and there when I first got here, that'd be about it" "Where they shady?" Sunny wondered "A few, nothing too serious" Chelsea assured "It's a few members of The Lost MC" Pierce mentioned them "Oh fuck, why them?" Chelsea was miffed at hearing that they were involved in this game "You know those motorcycle riding douche bags?".
"I few did a few jobs for them for a bit, nothing serious"
"They're led by a guy named Ray 'The Shark' Lyle" "Oh double fuck!" she cursed "Okay, before I go enhanced interrogation on you; do you mind telling me on who this guy is? Chelsea?" Sunny folded her arms and glared at her "Well let's see, Ray Lyle is the leader Nomads branch of the Lost MC" "Which is...?".
"Think them as mercenaries for bikers, they don't belong to any specific state and their job to hunt down fellow bikers if they broke rules or if they were working with the cops or if they were in bad standing with the club. "And do you know this peculiar person who leads this group by any chance?". Chelsea goofily tilts her head left to right "A little bit before I met you two, I sort of did a job for Ray's kid brother Joey; who was also a member of the club.
"Let me guess, something happened? And you two had a falling out?" Sunny guessed "Sort of. See I stole a bunch of diamonds for him right? He comes back to me couple days later and tells me that his fencer told him that they were fake" "And were they fake?".
"No they weren't! They were legit! That guy at the pawn shop lied about the whole thing! So I beat the crap out of Joe, tied him up and drove to the pawn shop with him in tow. I shot the fucking place to pieces and the made owner give me a refund" she smiled "And the guy in question?" "I took him out to the desert, shot him in both of his legs and shot him in the head" Chelsea subtly finished her story "What am I going to do with you?" Sunny put her fingers between her eyes "Anyways" Pierce interjected "You're going to need a fast car for this, something strong" he recommended "Do you mind telling me what is it that we're getting for you?" Sunny wondered. Pierce looked at her through his sunglasses.
"That's for me to know and for you to deliver to me" he tells them "Get going while you can," Pierce ordered "the thing is in a small metal box in the junkyard's office". With that information the three go off to get a new car "So when you were gonna mention this motherfucker?" Geraldine asked "Not here" Sunny whispered as if they were being watched by an unknown and all seeing force "When we get the car and we're far enough, I'll tell you everything".
...
"So tell me boss lady, is Sunny your real name?".
"Chelsea, for the last time; I'm not a fed!" Sunny reiterates "Prove it, say something that no else knows about me" she dared "Your middle name is Penelope". Chelsea's mouth dropped "W-Who-how...?" "Your mom told me".
"What? My mum would never call you" she doubted "You left your phone on the counter top when you were out and she called all of a sudden, just wondering where you were. We just talked and talked, she is quite the talker!" Sunny chuckles "She asked me 'How is my sweet little Penelope? Is she giving you any trouble?'" Sunny snickered in giving the fake Aussie accent "'My sweet little Penelope!'" she cooed "I hate that fucking name! I never liked it! I was only given that name after my great granny, okay!" Chelsea growled "It makes me sound like a nerdy computer virgin geek! But mum was like 'No dear! It's a very sweet name! You're named after your great grandmother! She would have loved to gotten to know you if she were alive!'. Well I never got to meet the fucking hag, now did I!". Sunny laughed.
"She also told me a story about when you were ten and you thought that a snake bit your butt! And you thought you were going to die but she looked at it and told you it was a part of a thorn bush that jabbed you!".
"Ugh! I hate when she tells that story to people! She knows it embarrasses me!" Chelsea blushed red. "Don't worry my sweet little Penelope," Sunny prodded "there's nothing to be embarrassed about" "I fucking hate you" Chelsea huffed her cheeks, Sunny snickered "So you explain how you know this motherfucker?" Geraldine chimed in "Where did he come from?".
Sunny sighed "A little while after my sister was kidnapped, he showed up in my house" she first off explained how he came to her "He said he could help me find the locations of my ex best friends cook sites, somewhere in this dump and somewhere in the city" Sunny explained the circumstances "The thing is though-" "He wants us to do somethin' for him" Geraldine guessed as she passes a semi "Yes...that pretty much is the deal" Sunny sighed "Let me ask you somethin'" Geraldine briefly looked at her "Do you trust this motherfucker? How do you know he ain't gonna make us disappear? Like we're gonna be taken somewhere and never be seen again?" Geraldine suspiciously thinks "That won't happen" Sunny assured "Look, anything happens then I'll make sure it falls on me" she promises with all her heart. "You ready for that type of consequence?" Chelsea poked the back of her head "Don't worry about it, like I said nothing is going to go wrong".
"What if he told us to whack some senator or maybe the president?" Chelsea speculated "That's not going to happen and even if it did, no we're not going to take over as dictators" Sunny quickly shot that theory down "Aw! That would have been cool! Think about, we would get all the money! We could take a bunch fancy vacations to the Caribbean or Fiji! We could legally take people's stuff! I would be able to run a death squad, wouldn't that be cool?" Chelsea cheerfully squeals "That would be cool and all but you forget that dictators eventually go down after the people get tired of their bullshit" Sunny reminds.
"Out of curiosity Chelsea, how do you know this Ray guy?"
"I met him once a couple years ago, he needed help with stealing some money from a guy who refused to pay up. He was nice enough, up until he killed the guy in question" "How did he kill the guy?" Sunny looked back at her "Uh-he beat him. Then he gouged out his eyes and snapped his neck".
Sunny looked at her in shock "Yeah, he actually did that" Chelsea repeated "I didn't do any jobs for him after hearing what he had done to that guy. Bloody fucking hell. You should have seen what him and his guys had done to a club member when the guy ran off during a fight. They took battery acid and burned the club's logo off of his back".
"Hey weren't those biker guys originally from Liberty? I remember hearing that guys were pretty big there" Geraldine remembered as she passes a station wagon "Yeah, they were originally. I moved to Liberty City around the time they left. From what I remember before I got there, their was an internal war within the Lost MC. I knew the guy who ran the thing when he was alive. Johnny Klebitz, Johnny K for short. He was rough around the edges but he was alright. He was the VP of the club originally but took over briefly when their head honcho, Billy Grey; went to rehab. He was high on heroin, got into an accident involving his motorcycle and caused quite the pile up.
Johnny took over for a bit but he ran it smart. Made peace with their rivals; the Angels of Death. He told them that they could do business on their territory and ended their feud. It was going great up until Billy gets out of rehab. He takes control of the chapter again. Breaks the fucking peace deal and goes back to war with the AOD. That whole thing went bad in an instant; they took casualties. I don't remember their names but a couple of them died. Then the cops got involved; Billy got arrested. That's when the internal strife began".
"Guessing the guy had some cult followers?" Sunny deduced "Yeah. Some pencil neck who was the club's secretary started a rumor that Johnny had something to do with Billy getting arrested. They managed to fight them off and kill off the followers but the fucker went underground. They tracked him down and Johnny terminated him. Kinda funny since nobody liked the fucker anyways Chelsea mused "That wasn't the end of it. It took a bad turn for the worse. Some congress person who worked with Johnny told him that his dear friend Billy; he copped to a deal. He was going implicate Johnny on a phony drug trafficking charge".
"He was going to sell him out?" Sunny questioned "Yeah, the idiot thought he was going to go in witness protection with a 401K and live in a condo somewhere in the southwest. I heard that when they raided the AOD's clubhouse, that Billy stole a bunch of heroin and tried to keep it. That turned into a bad thing since it originally belonged to a bunch of Triads. Johnny thought it was better if they sold it back to them, which turned into a shit show when the Triads started shooting at them. I'm gonna go out on a limb here but I think Billy set that deal up so Johnny could get killed, that's the only reason that thing went bad. So anyways, Johnny gathered the last remaining people loyal to him and raided the prison. The whole thing went by really quick; he shot Billy dead. After that he and the guys went back to the clubhouse, they took some gasoline and burned the place down. Soon afterwards they moved the club out here and started to grow it again".
"What happened to them? Sounds like they fell into a slump or somethin'".
Chelsea exhaled "Ice. Crystal meth took over. They just crumbled afterwards. I think Johnny felt guilty for the whole thing back in Liberty. He started smoking meth..." she sounded sad "It got bad when his druggie girlfriend came back into his life. A pasty white tweaker whore by the name of Ashley, he dumped her so many times but she kept on crawling back to him. The last time he saw her, she was supposed to have gone to rehab. I don't know the circumstances but they booted her out. She was a lost cause in my opinion. Just a drag on everyone who met her.
"Then it happened. Ashley started fucking some psycho. Johnny got angry and went over to confront the guy. One thing lead to another, he got hit in the head with a beer bottle and...was stomped to death. Jesus he didn't deserve that. Everyone who he brought over was later killed by that psycho. The club wasn't the same anymore after that. It's still struggling here".
Sunny exhaled "Jesus".
"Ashley wasn't lucky after that. Died at a crack party. Sucking and blowing whoever gave her some. Overdosed in the middle of the whole gross thing. Good riddance to bad rubbish" she spat venom. "I'm surprised they're still here" Sunny spat out the window "They tried to build it back up but it never really fully took off after the whole debacle here. It's now more or less a satellite group with no one in charge and everyone doing whatever the fuck they want". Geraldine saw the junkyard "Alright, where's the place?".
"Okay, keep an eye out" Sunny ordered "We don't know if these douche bags are here; don't take chances". They pulled over to the side. "We find this thing and get out while we can" Sunny armed herself with an FN-SCAR, Chelsea arms herself with an HK-UMP and Geraldine takes an M-4A1 rifle. They look at the wreckage of the many rusted out heaps that filled out the land. The wind whistled through the heaps "This whole place feels like a deathtrap" Chelsea complained "Why couldn't this thing had been in a nice place like a hotel or a restaurant?".
Sunny looked around at the many rusty cars. The numerous shades of rust. The windowless windshields. The overall sense of being surrounded.
They reach the office.
"It should be easy to find" Sunny remarked "Well look no further" Chelsea pointed to the small metal container. "That was really easy" Sunny quipped "I don't know" Geraldine looked at her "That shit seemed a little too easy" Chelsea shot back "Hmm? You know you usually hear that in those movies and they usually get ambushed after they say that" "Stop worrying and let's get out here" Sunny grabbed the box.
They go outside to the howling yard. A rifle shot nearly hits Geraldine. "Take cover!". The three of them take cover behind a rusted out pick up. "Well, well, well! Look who it is!" a gruff voice calls out. Chelsea carefully peered. Ray was bulky, not fat. He had some muscle on his arms. Numerous tattoos covered his arms. His hair was tied into a twisted ponytail. Members of his Nomad group surround him. "Chelsea? That you?" he called her name "Oh fuck" she grumbled under her breath "Hey Ray, long time no see".
She nervously chuckled. "I was wondering when you were going to show your face" she quipped "Haven't seen you since you did that job for us" he gestured "Well, I've been keeping busy", Ray looked at Sunny and Geraldine "I see you made some friends" "Yeah, now if you'll just move out of the way-".
"I don't think so" he stopped her "You see that Chinese girl-" "I'm Korean, fat ass" Sunny corrected "And I'm not going to give this up, so kindly fuck off" her finger goes to the trigger "You heard the lady, now move out of the way", Ray started to chuckle "I'm afraid I can't you let you go then".
"Now if you're wondering if this has anything with Joe, I couldn't give a shit about him" "I didn't have-" Chelsea tried to lie "Spare me the bullshit, Joe talked too much. That's what got him got killed. Besides only thing I have was more balls than he did. That diamond fuck up was his problem; not mines. But I'm not leaving here empty handed" he explained "I'm asking nicely, hand over that fucking box" Ray sounds more threatening "You take one step near them and I'll blow that fat off your ugly face" Chelsea warned "Yeah I thought you'd play hard to get. So I guess we're going to have to do this the-" a shot takes down a Nomad. "Conseguirlos! (Get them!)" A masked sicario orders. Chelsea bolted towards her colleagues. Bikers and sicarios started to shoot each other.
The three run back to the Bravado. Bullets fly all around them.
"Ahi van! (There they go!)".
Geraldine took her place in the driver's seat. Sunny and Chelsea hopped into the back seat. Geraldine turned the key in the ignition. The engine sputtered "Oh fuck! Come on!" Geraldine tried the engine again "Uh Geraldine I'm not trying to rush you but we really got to get moving" Sunny smashed out the rear windshield "Man I'm workin' on it!". The engine kept on sputtering "Fuckin' stupid piece of shit!" Geraldine cursed "Why aren't we moving? Come on! We gotta get the fuck on out of here!" Chelsea nervously looked on "Shut up! Shut up!". Geraldine held the ignition. The engine sputtered and sputtered.
The engine finally starts "Alright!" Geraldine cheered as she hit the gas.
"Damn that took forever" Sunny was relieved "Uh, don't celebrate just yet" Chelsea points back as a squad of sicarios right coming up behind them "Oh fuck!" Sunny flipped the switch to automatic. Rounds starting to hit the trunk of their car. "Matarlos! (Kill them!)". Sunny and Chelsea returned fire. Geraldine swerved past cars, she nearly hit a bus. They kept on shooting.
The bullets struck several of them. One hit the driver. "All taken care of!" Sunny shouted. Suddenly the horn of La Cucaracha blew from behind "Who the hell plays that as their horn?" "Those guys" Chelsea points as a van with the Lost MC's logo on it speeds towards them along with Ray and several bikers came from behind "I told you that guy was bad" Chelsea loaded magazine into the chamber "A little too late for that" Sunny inserts a magazine into her rifle. They proceed to shoot at their pursuers. With all the swerving they were doing it was difficult to shoot.
"Geraldine kept it still!" Sunny takes down a couple of bikers "Hey you try drivin' while dodgin' fuckin' cars!" Geraldine shouts back "Hey Chelsea!" Ray called out her name "I thought about that deal, I decided to just take off of your corpse!". She takes several shots at him "Sorry! Not interested!". Sunny took aim at another Nomad, the van swerved into them "That thing is going to run our asses off the road if it keeps it up! We got to get that thing off the road!" Sunny shouted "Hang on!" Chelsea got out the window and started shooting at the van "Take the hint already!" she placed several shots on the van.
The driver was hit. Someone from the back must have taken over is it swerved into them. Sunny fires at the van "Hey careful!" Geraldine yelled as the gunfire goes off near her ear "Sorry!". The van sped up in front of them. The doors opened to a Nomad wielding an AK. He opens fire, several striking the hood. "Shit! He hits that engine and we're dead!" Geraldine screamed. Sunny fired through the windshield hitting the Nomad "Goddammit! What did I say!" Geraldine screamed after Sunny fired her rifle "Sorry!".
Chelsea picked picked off the last of Nomads. Suddenly Ray grabbed Chelsea by her hair. "Let go of me you fuck!" she hollered as she struggled to get free "Chelsea!" Sunny grabbed her by the waist "Let her go you son of a bitch!" "Give me that box!" he ordered. Sunny made a choice that she knew would have a consequence "You want it? Then take it!" she tossed the metal container at his face. He let go but fell off onto the pavement. With her strength she brought Chelsea back to her. Her heart raced as she entered back in their getaway car.
The van slipped away to the side to pick up the boss.
"Girl, did you do what I think you did?" Geraldine breathed "Uh yeah".
"You gave that thing to Ray? You have any idea what's going to happen if we go back empty handed?" Chelsea caught her breath "I can take a guess" Sunny had a thought about the possibilities of winding up in an undisclosed secret prison and never being heard from again.
...
The three walked with the thought of losing their package "Okay now, just let me do the talking do the talking" Sunny reminded "Hey in case something happens to you, can I move in your girlfriend?" Chelsea asked. Sunny finds the pressure point on the side of her neck "Ow!" "Even if I disappear, you're not to try anything with her while I'm being hold up somewhere; got it?" she warned "Just messing around" she nervously chuckled.
Pierce stared at them as they came back "Where's the package?" he asked "I-I...I threw it at that biker" Sunny carefully explained "He grabbed Chelsea by the hair as we got away and could have killed her".
"So you gave it away to save your friend?" he questioned "Yeah, it was that or let Chelsea die" Sunny firmly stood her ground "If you're going to do anything then do it, but do it to Chelsea first" "Hey! Why me? It wasn't my fault we lost that thing!" "Shut it" Sunny tells.
For a moment Pierce gave an uneasy look to them. It may have been the sunglasses that covered his eyes.
"Good job" he complemented "You passed".
"Huh?" the three looked at each other confused "Was this a...fucking test?" Sunny questioned "Yeah and you all passed". Geraldine looked on dumbfounded "So this whole fuckin' thing was some motherfuckin' test? We just got shot at for no reason?" she shook her head "What the hell did we retrieve for all that trouble then?" Chelsea was ready to pull out her Sig Saur "If you have to know; a tracking device".
"Are you fucking serious? So we nearly risked our lives for a tracking device?" Chelsea was on the ready to shoot "What kind of test was this? Was it to see if how well we would do under pressure? Or to see how well we work as a team?" Sunny held Chelsea back "Both and you outdid yourselves, besides that biker is going to be in for a rude surprise when he gets back"
"What do you mean?" Sunny looked at him "Federal agents should be arresting him now for numerous weapons charges, along with meth trafficking and several gang related homicides. If he goes to trial then he'll likely be doing life with no parole in a federal prison".
Sunny, Geraldine and Chelsea all looked at each other. Amazed or more like confused. "So what now?" Sunny stared at him "Now the real mission begins" he comments "What we're going to do, it's going to be a lot more than settling old scores. This is something only you three are going to do, I don't trust anyone else let alone I only work with the best. And the three are the best at what you do".
"You don't have to trust me but like or not, there's more at stake than anything else right now" Pierce crossed his arms "What's at stake? Evil dictators threatening the world? Pretty sure there are a lot of those running around" Chelsea sarcastically commented "Hardy har har" he retorts "The thing about intelligence work, it takes time for it to process. It's going to come, when it does; I'll let you know".
"Meet back here for briefings" he reminds "Dismissed".
With that the three leave "What the hell did we walk into?" Chelsea questioned "I have no idea" Sunny tells her "Well shit, you got us into this. Guess we're in it until the end" Geraldine stated as she looked at Sunny "Yeah, well; ride or die; bad girls to the end" Sunny mused to her friends.
As the dessert heat hit all around them Sunny put on her aviator glasses. Her mind wondered about their new (if anyone wants to use that word) associate.
A ghost. Unsuspecting. Quiet.
Something about him didn't sit well with her. Let alone, his presence gave him a feeling of uneasiness.
"Hey can we stop and get something to eat?" Chelsea's stomach growled "Why is it that every time we do something, you always ask if we can get something to eat?" Sunny prods "Cause I'm hungry" "You eat more food than I do, you should have gained a few more pounds with all that food" Sunny poked at her stomach "You sure you're not throwing it back up?".
"I'm not anorexic! How many times do I have to say that? I'm naturally skinny!"
"Whatever, Penelope" Sunny chuckled "Ugh! I hate that name!"
Chapter 57 is coming soon. Rate and Review.