"So Boss, what's the plan for now?" Johnny asked as he, Pierce, Shaundi and Vee were watching the news broadcast about Stilwater U suffering a drug bust but not by police along with the casino shootout that remained under investigation.
Vee and Shaundi were currently blitzed on their latest "Testing Batch" of Loa Dust, or "Saints Nectar" as Shaundi wanted to brand it. "Well, as it stands…The boys still need to launder all that money we got from the Casino thanks to me, Johnny and Mr. Unknown Accomplice." Vee said and smirked a little while Shaundi simply laughed and rested her head on his shoulder as she was still in the giggle fit state of her buzz; Mostly because of the C.H.E.A.T Engine, it made getting drunk or high especially hard for Vee but he certainly appreciated the participation buzz no matter how light it was.
"Unknown Accomplice, my ass! They were just more focused on you two because you guys are a pair of demons with guns!" Pierce grumbled as he looked to the red eyed Vee and Johnny who were currently drinking beer.
"What can I tell you, you showed up with a rag covering your face…Of course, no one's gonna recognise you, you dumbass!" Johnny pointed out as he remembered Pierce wearing a full bandana around the lower half of his face. "Part of your plan, right?"
"Man, if we went with my plan, we wouldn't have been noticed at all!"
"If we followed your plan, we'd still be talking about it."
Vee noticed Pierce and Johnny starting to stare each other down, since it was killing the mood; He decided to step in. "Chill you two! Now on topic…Johnny's monitoring the guys and the money laundering, Pierce…You keep a lookout on the Ronin for now and Shaundi's keeping an eye out on the Sons in case they make a comeback move." Vee mentioned as he saw Shaundi start clinging to his arm like a sloth on a tree branch. "Uh…Hello?"
"Comfy…Can't I just stay here like this until I come back down?" Shaundi grumbled with an almost pout in her voice.
"Come on…You can nap once we get the next break in the Sons…" Vee mentioned as he pat her head, though that only seemed to make her hold tighter. "Anyways…Carlos is busy with the Brotherhood so…I got a free trip to make rounds with…"
"You talked about makin' a visit to Troy…Maybe you should double down on that." Johnny mentioned with a sly smirk as he put down his drink and got up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some launderers to catch up on."
"So you gonna try and jump the Police chief? I know you're a badass but don't you think that's pushing it a little?" Shaundi asked Vee curiously as she readjusted on the seat.
"Nah, if I'm gonna jump that moustachioed weasel then I'm gonna wait until the heat dies down." Vee explained as he looked to his cell phone; "Troy wasn't just the Police chief… He was one of us way back."
Shaundi raised her head and looked up at him; "The Police chief? A Saint?"
Pierce had to laugh a little at this, "Okay, now you guys are fucking with us, no way was that tightassed Police Chief a former Saint…"
"Ask Johnny…Actually don't…He still feels murdery about Troy." Vee said but then backtracked; "Back when I first ran with the Saints, Troy was one of the guys who saved me from getting shot on a street corner and ended up recruiting me." He explained as he remembered the help that Troy gave him.
"So what happened? He go straight?" Pierce asked curiously.
"Nah…The guy was a rat." Vee said bluntly and with a bit more resentment in his voice than he would've liked; The fact that someone who both helped him and stabbed him in the back was still riding high. "I heard from Johnny that he was an undercover guy trying to take down the gangs; Us, The Westside Rollerz, Los Carnales and the Vice Kings…Then once that crooked police chief got bumped off, the explosion happened and well…I don't really remember after that."
"Damn, so what do you plan…Try what Johnny did?" Pierce asked curiously.
"No…I'm not that reckless, I'm gonna find him and ask him for answers on who set off that bomb on the boat." Vee explained as he grabbed his keys. "But first, I have a social call to a different kind of old friend…"
——Later on the Outskirts of the industrial district——
The docks were quieter than anything even with the industrial going on nearby, though it was maknly because someone was stood at the edge of the water; having a red patch in his hair and wearing Brotherhood colours. This was Donnie; A former member of the Rollerz and now mechanic of the Brotherhood to help work on their trucks, though he still nursed a wound on his heart that was just as great as Vee's was despite how things went with his old gangs. "Lin…I know it's been a while since I came here, you know how crew stuff works…But I just…I wanted to say that I miss you and that I wished that there was something…Something there that we could've had if Sharp hadn't caught on." Donnie spoke out loud to the drifting water.
"Aw Donnie…You really know how to break a guys heart…" Vee said from behind as he walked up to the mechanic though the look on his face said that there was a plan in mind rather than petty grievances.
Just hearing Vee talking alone brought the fear of God back into him and even more so once he realised that Lin's former running mate in the crew was now in front of him. "Oh…Oh shit…." He whispered with an expression of a trapped rabbit.
Vee raised an eyebrow; "Oh shit? I haven't seen you since your boss shot me, had me stuffed in trunk of a car and dumped in a lake along with the body of someone I liked, the best you can give me is an "Oh, Shit?"
"B-Bu-But you're meant to be dead!"
Vee smirked; "Eh, good enough…But I think it's time we had a little chat…I've got some work for you so get to the car…" He said and changed his joking tone to a serious one.
"What kind of work are you…Looking to me for?" Donnie asked as he got shoved into Vee's car and the two drove off. "Look, I'm with the Brotherhood now, can't you just leave me alone?"
"Too bad, I managed to find you so now you're gonna find me some Brotherhood rides…And then Maero can get his answer…" Vee mentioned as he drove around.
"You're being insane! If Maero catches you fooling around with his cars then you'll be massacred." Donnie protested as he tried scanning for a way out.
"True…But he's not gonna catch me doing it…YOU are…" Vee smirked as he saw a paddock of Brotherhood cars ahead and stopped. "Now take this and set it off on the truck." He ordered and pulled out a bag of bombs with timers on them.
"You're definitely crazy! I'm not gonna do it…." Donnie started but then Vee held a gun to him.
"I wasn't asking…Get to it." Vee cocked the gun as he handed over over the bag and watched Donnie get to work. As he kept his eye on Donnie for the bomb prepping, he dialled up his phone for Carlos.
"Boss, 'Sup?"
"Carlos, just a fair warning, give Maero a wide berth for the next few hours…Thing's gonna go up pretty badly."
"Damn, boss…I thought I was doing the legwork for the Brotherhood, what are you planning, exactly?" Carlos asked as he ducked behind a corner to talk better.
"Remember I said that Maero would know our answer to his shitty deal? Let's just say I have a little one way door to emphasise." Vee mentioned cryptically as Donnie got back in the car.
"Okay…They're all set..Just drive back to get out of the radius…Top of the hill should work." Donnie suggested as they cruised away from there and made their way out until they stopped at a nearby hill. "Look…I know you're probably still pissed about Lin, but I really cared about her…She might have been just a tool for you, Saint! But she actually me-"
Vee pulled his revolver out and pointed it at Donnie , "Donnie, if you don't want to spend the rest of your night picking bullets out of your body, I suggest you stop talking…" Vee warned him with a chillingly calm voice, though this was different from his normal seriousness; This was the kind of tranquility that you would get from a block of ice that was one or two cracks away from breaking out from under you…The tranquil fury of untouched grief and a nerve that was very aggressively touched. "We're done here…Out." Vee grumbled as he holstered the gun when the distant cars went up like bottle rockets.
"But…What am I supposed to do? They'll kill me if they find out I did this!"
"Not my problem, Donnie…The only reason that it's not ME killing you is because it wouldn't change what happened to Lin…That and she'd hate for petty bullshit to get hung up over her." Vee growled as he shut the car door behind Donnie and drove off.
"Boss, you there? I got something new on the Sons…It could help us out in the long run with shifting and making Product…Meet me at the new part of Stilwater waterfront…" Shaundi came through as a voicemail since she tried calling while he was with Donnie.
Vee decided Troy could stew a little longer and sped off to go find Shaundi, heading out of the industrial complex and into the bright lights of the commercial district.
Shaundi was…conflicted to say the least, on the one hand; Vee was probably one of the most laid back bosses that she worked for along with one of the chillest guys that she decided to hang out with for fun. The fact that he could outdo her in smoking and drinking only made it more fun and almost competitive to party with him, naturally that and his ability to pull off a suit as a gangbanger without looking like a douche made him that extra appealing. Her thoughts were soon cut short as she heard the rumble of his engine getting closer. "Hey, what's up?" She called out to him as she decided to try keeping chill about him.
Vee wandered over he looked at the modern art statues and the gazebo nearby. "I still can't believe what they've done to the place…"
Shaundi nodded as she threw her cigarette out to the water, "Still, you gotta admit, it looks pretty classy huh?" She mentioned as she saw him lean agains the railing.
"Nah, this just looks tacky…I've seen strip clubs with more class than this." Vee mentioned and grumbled as he stared out to the bright lights across the water.
Shaundi chuckled as she pat his arm. "I see you lead with optimism…Though I do kinda see your point now that I look at it better."
"Leading by optimism's good and all but sometimes leading with violence gets your point across a little better…Scalpels and hammers, that sorta thing. So how's our science project coming along?" Vee asked as he looked to her though the sheepish expression set the tone.
"What can I say? Science is hard..." Shaundi sighed as she tapped her fingers on the railing; "I managed to find out that smoking the stuff's hell of a lot easier than making it."
"You certainly know how to inspire confidence…Please tell me that you're able to work through it." Vee asked he started to get concerned about their scheme, it wasn't actually about the money for him since he could just summon up more but getting Loa Dust outdated by his product was a better status symbol.
Shaundi smirked a little and tapped Vee's cheek; "You need to relax more~ Anyway, like I was saying, I can't work it out, but I do know someone who can."
Vee smirked at the tapping but then lightly grabbed her finger to keep her on focus. "Okay, we're getting somewhere…Who?"
"It's a woman I met in prison, I don't exactly know her name but she knows more about this shit then I ever will...there's only one slight thing…" Shaundi mentioned while trying to keep her focus on him and not on the fact that he was holding on her.
"What's the problem exactly?" Vee asked as he let go of her finger and then saw someone else pulling up in a beaten up car.
"She's kinda…still in prison." Shaundi mentioned with a nervous laugh.
Vee could feel the plan slowly becoming more and more of a pain by the minute. "Great...As if the first time in prison wasn't fun enough…" He grumbled sarcastically.
Shaundi lightly nudged him; "Don't worry about it, I got a plan in mind so relax, I know how you're gonna break in. Samson! get over here!" She called out to the guy who was carrying what looked like a large device with a screen.
Samson waddled over while trying to keep a good hold on it. "Hey Shaundi, I rigged up that bomb you wa-"He mentioned but then felt a loose stone trip him over, knocking the bomb to the ground and saw it activated the bomb's timer with a slow countdown.
Vee saw it and then looked to Shaundi with a look of both concern and apprehension.
Shaundi shared that same look to Samson before chuckling nervously and looking to Vee. "Um...you should probably lead-foot the gas pedal on your car..."
—Seconds later in the Black Horseman—
"Shaundi, can you please remind me why you talked me into taking a ticking bomb to the Prison?!" Vee asked as he was pushing the gas all the way down on the car while the bomb whittled away the seconds.
"Don't freak out, it's just gonna make it worse! I got this all worked out; The prison is powered by an old generator underneath the building. If you can take out that generator then it's lights out for the whole island, you should be able to sneak in no problem."
Vee swerved around the corner with a very audible power slide to head down the street toward the prison. "Okay that part I get but where's the generator, exactly? It's not like they gave me a tour of the place when I was in a coma..."
"Don't worry, I'm getting to that, relax..."
"Relax? I got a bomb sitting in my trunk and a timer, I'm plenty relaxed…" Vee retorted sarcastically as he swerved past a Ronin Motorcyclist.
"Look, just swing around the back of the island and go in through there...it'll lead you to the generator, after that search for Cell 4217b. Plus if you come out of this…I'm sure we can find something more to do besides our science project~"
Vee felt a smirk creep on his face and nodded as he saw the Prison's lights in the distance. "Thanks Shaundi but when I get back, I'll make sure it's something to celebrate."
After he managed to fight his way through the prison and into the basement: Vee finally managed to get through the surprisingly sparse guards and made his way to the generator as per Shaundi's instructions. "Alright boys, time for lights out…" He smirked and then set the bomb up before leaving the room quickly.
The explosion that followed had rocked the entire building, taking less than a few seconds for the alarm to sound and for chaos to break out as Vee got above ground to see a full scale prison riot. "Hehe, prison riot…Never fails." He chuckled to himself and fought his way through the chaos by using brass knuckles and finally found Cell 4217b. "I'm here to help out Shaundi's friend, you ready to bust out?"
The person that came to the door was the last woman that Vee expected to see in prison. "A jail break? How exciting! Let me just get m-Vee?! Is that you?"
"Laura?! What are you doing here and how did y-Never mind, not important right now! You all set for free life?" Vee was taken aback as he saw the Drug peddling soccer mom that he helped to score.
——Later in the Black Horseman——
"I can't wait for to see my husband..." Laura said with her characteristic smile and then turned to Vee; "But I still can't believe that you're back, I thought you got caught up in that horrible accident…"
"Trust me, it wasn't fun but you know Saints, we always bounce back from cops, benders and rival gangs." Vee chuckled as he sped off to escape the police interceptors. "So Can I count on you to help us out with drug work for the Saints?"
Laura nodded; "Oh, I certainly can, honey…But can you drop me off at my house first? The jumpsuits they give you in prison are roomy but they aren't exactly good for your skin."
"Anything to help out an old friend." Vee agreed as he turned off the freeway to get to the residential area. "I'm still surprised you got locked up in the clink, you're normally pretty careful with yourself."
"My husband's been so supportive while I was in jail, it's really incredible...Though it was nice for Troy to help me get somewhere nice to stay for my sentence."
"Wait, Troy got you a light sentence for peddling…And you have a husband?" Vee asked as he hadn't expected the hardnosed former Saint to be lenient.
"Well it was after your accident and when Mr. Gat got put in prison….but then I met him and it was like it was meant to be~" Laura mentioned with a lovestruck smile as she remembered him. "Some people said it was a bad idea to date you're sponser, but I say what the heck, it's love right?" She added as they pulled up at her doorstop.
"Can't help who you like, I'm just glad you've been okay, I still can't believe you know Shaundi." Vee admitted as he slowed the car to a stop.
"Well, I still can't get over that it's you after all this time, this is sooo exciting...Are you sure that you don't want to stay for dinner? After you got me free, it's the least I can do, Tobias makes some very nice chilli that the HOA absolutely adore."
"Sounds good, but I know how much people need to relax after getting out of jail." Vee politely turned her down; He'd rather not have a repeat of Johnny's "Unwinding Process", He decided to follow her up to the door out of courtesy. "So you're sure you can figure out what's in the Son's stuff?"
Laura flashed him a cheeky wink as she rang the doorbell. "Don't worry sweetie, when it comes to drugs or snicker doodles I'm the best at what I do."
Opening up the door was a barechested man that Vee recognised as the drug peddler Tobias. "Ain't that the truth baby...And ain't you a sight for sore eyes, Vee."
Laura practically squealed like a schoolgirl before jumping in his arms. "Toby!"
"Glad to see you got yourself settled down, T…I remember helping to chase down old friends for you." Vee mentioned as he remembered helping Tobias transfer drugs and tracking down his backstabbers.
Tobias chuckled with his usual monotone as he embraced Laura. "Good times…Thanks for bringing my pumpkin muffin back. You need anything, you let me know...And I can get it done."
Vee looked to the couple and decided to give them their space."Oh I already talked to Laura about that…I figured we could square something out once she's ready, she has my number so give me a buzz when you're all set."
Tobias nodded as he reached for the door, "Cool stuff, then if that's the case, you mind givin' me and the wife some quality time? I'd like to have a belated conjugal before the PTA meeting...You know how it is."
"Not at all." Vee accepted as he headed for his car to drive off and make his way back to the safehouse. "Never would've expected the two peddlers to find each other but hey-ho…And speaking of which…" Vee then dialled up his phone to contact Shaundi; "We've got Laura out, she's resting up and be at the ready."
"See? And you were worried~" Shaundi said with an audible grin as she teased him; "Good job though Boss, she's gonna be a real big help with the Sons."
"I know her work since I helped her run, trust me…she's a savant….Now about that other promise you made?" Vee asked with a grin of his own plastered on his face.
"You remembered~? Well then, come meet me at the Patcha Heaven Motel and we can talk about it~" She said with a flirt in her voice before hanging up.
Now that he had more than enough motivation, Vee gripped his steering wheel tighter. "Brotherhood, Ronin and Sons be damned because tonight, I ain't giving a fuck except for…maybe four." He whooped before flooring it to the motel.
——Meanwhile at the Brotherhood's warehouse——
After Maero got off of the phone with some of his men who told about the attack on his cars, he was in for a fucking of a different kind.
Jessica was watching Maero pace like an angry tattooed bear and was doing her utmost to calm him down. "Babe, it's okay, we can get more cars. just let it go..."
Maero on the other hand was too far off of his own temper to listen; "Turning me down was one thing but they hit my new cars to make a point?! I am not gonna let that fucking go!" He growled and stomped on a broken car part out of frustration.
Jessica sighed but she knew that it was easier to try a different road and avoid escalating. "Sweetie, we can still turn this around."
"How? How am I gonna turn that greasy little fuck knuckle into a Brotherhood example if I let this go?!"
"Just let ME talk to them, I can probably help them see sense…I can bribe them to turn around or at the very least, we can avoid making this wo-" She tried to reason with him but the giant palm of his hand shut her up on that sentence and picked in utter shock to get fully face to face.
"I told you to stop trying to run things in MY Crew!" Maero snapped at her. "I run the Brotherhood! Not you! Get that through your head or I'll-"
"Maero, I'm so, so sorry..." Donnie barged in in time to see Maero drop Jessica on the couch and realised first hand that the boss was not in the mood for placating.
Maero turned to Donnie with a thundering glare as he was doing his utmost to stay calm in front of the mechanic. "What did you do, Donnie?" He asked with an unusually calm tone since he started piecing things together but he wanted to give Donnie a chance.
Donnie gulped as he felt like he was going to wither under Maero's intense glare. "It's the Saints, they found me and the-"
"What. did. you. do, Donnie?" Maero slowed his words and his voice gave way to a very threatening growl as he was about to blow if he didn't get to the point, the only problem was that the point was going to do just that.
"They…They made me rig up some of our boys' trucks...Drove me around to do and then left me behind."
Jessica braced for impact; Now that the picture was all there, she knew that Maero wasn't just going to bust a nut but he was going to go supernova.
Maero now had no reason to be nice as he stomped towards Donnie and backed him towards the wall. "AND YOU DID IT OBEDIENTLY?!"
Donnie yelped as he nearly got whiplash from Maero's sudden approach and the pain from hitting his head on the wall. "I couldn't do anything! I didn't have a choi-" He tried to explain but suddenly found himself lifted up into the air and slammed against the wall, knocking the wind out of him.
"You fucking had a choice Donnie! You just chose your life over the rest of us!" Maero roared as he understood that forced work was still work since Donnie did it regardless.
"I had a goddamn gun to my head man, what was I supposed to do against that?" Donnie yelled back at him with his voice breaking though that only served to make Maero's hand tighten around his neck.
"Have a spine and die before betraying us." Maero growled darkly as he looked like he was ready to kill Donnie for this.
"Maero, be cool man! Donnie might've fucked up but he didn't do it because he wanted to!" Matt said to try dissolving the situation.
Donnie mentally thanked Matt for taking his side as he grabbed onto Maero's wrist; "Look, I-I didn't say anything about the shipment...I kept that shit locked tight."
"Well that makes it all better then..." Maero said with a little less anger but he was still not happy about Donnie.
"Bro, you should you should be pissed at that asshole runnin' the Saints, not Donnie…He had the gun pointed at his head!"
"I didn't ask your opinion Matt...Just stick to your strumming!" Maero snapped as he loosened his grip on Donnie; Now the mechanic had gone from blue to a flushed red.
Jessica decided to try helping as she placed her hands on his arm. "Maero...who's gonna fix my car while your guys are working on theirs? Please…For me?" She tried to beg him and sighed in relief as she watched Donnie drop to the floor gasping and coughing for air.
"Donnie…You are too fucking lucky that you're a good mechanic…" Maero growled as he cracked his neck and left to go check on his monster truck. "Boys! I want you to do a patch job!"
The Brotherhood gangsters quickly gathered around and Maero started sketching out what looked like Vee's car; "A Bootlegger? I don't know, man…That's a beauty of a car…"
Maero wordlessly punched the detractor with a solid CRACK! and watched him crumple to the floor in a lifeless heap. "Anyone else?" He warned them with a narrowed glare. "Good, now this belongs to the leader of the Saints…I want you to find it and I want you to…make it pretty…got it?"
The others nodded in quiet agreement since they knew better than to fuck with Maero while he was in this bad a mood.
"Alright then Saint…You wanna fuck around with my crew? Then I'll just fuck right back!"