up in the air. “What the fuck, man? I was trying to help you. What the fuck are you doing?”
“Shut the fuck up, you piece of shit,” Cole yelled back at him.
“But, we’re patching over. We’re gonna be brothers, man.”
“You and me ain’t never gonna share a patch, asshole,” Cole replied.
“You’re gonna bring hell down on you, man. You’re making a big fuckin’ mistake. When Wyatt finds out about this-”
Cole smiled at him. “Wyatt knows, and he’s fine with it.”
“What?”
“He’s tired of your sick little habit, Chucky.”
The roar of motorcycles filled the air, and five bikes came around the curve.
“Oh, shit,” Chuck whispered.
Cole smiled at him. “Yeah. ‘Oh, shit’ is right.” Then he stepped closer to Chuck, and whispered in his ear, “Did you really think I’d let you live after what you did to her?”
The other five brothers got off their bikes, guns drawn. Soon Ling and Chuck were face down on the pavement.
Cole moved to stand over Ling. “Where are the keys to the handcuffs?”
Ling didn’t reply.
Cole kicked him in the ribs with his boot. “You’re only gonna make this worse for yourself, which actually would be fine with me. That’s how you want it, I’m only too happy to oblige.”
“My right pocket.”
One of the guys dug through it, and pulled out a set of keys, and tossed them to Cole. Cole passed them to Crash, and nodded toward the van. “Get them out.”
“You got it.”
Cole looked over at Angel, and motioned her over.
She walked over to him, her arms crossed, hugging herself.
Cole could tell she was pretty shaken up.
She looked down at Ling.
“This him?” Cole asked, looking down at Ling, and back to her face.
She nodded.
He looked into her eyes. “Okay.”
She glanced into the back of the van, and froze. “My God.”
Cole turned, and looked back. “Yeah.”
She put her hand to her mouth.
“They’re the lucky ones. They get to go home today.”
Angel looked back at Cole, and nodded, her eyes filling with tears.
He pulled her into his arms. “Come here. It’s gonna be okay.”
She nodded.
He leaned his face close to hers. “I need you to help me. Take them over by the building. There’s some bottled water in my saddlebag. Take care of them. Explain to ‘em that we’re not gonna hurt ‘em. Okay? Can you do that?”
“Sure.” She pulled out of his arms, and took a deep breath.
Crash had them all out of the van, and un-cuffed. After he passed them into Angel’s care, he came over with two sets of the cuffs, and put them on Chuck and Ling.
Angel moved the girls off to the building.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Crash asked in a whisper, “Shit, Cole! Now what the fuck do we do?”
“I know. I wasn’t counting on this.” Cole shook his head, trying to think. “If we call the cops, Ling will give up his connection with Chuck, and the Souls, and us bein’ here at this meeting, they’ll hang it on us, too.”
“Cops? No, fuckin’ way. That ain’t gonna happen!” Crash was emphatic.
Cole stared at him, and shook his head. “I’m not letting Ling go.”
“What the fuck are you saying? Double murder with six witnesses?” Crash asked, pointing back toward the building. “You can’t be serious!”
“We get rid of the witnesses,” Red Dog suggested.
Cole gave him a look. “We’re not hurting the girls, asshole.”
“Just a suggestion.”
Cole stared over at the group of girls huddled by the building, considering his options. He turned back to his brothers. “Look, we take the girls back to Wyatt. They don’t see anything. They don’t know anything. Once they’re gone, Chuck, Ling, the van, they all disappear.”
“What if the girls talk?” Crash asked.
“I don’t know, man. We make sure they know that would be a real bad idea. Anybody else got a better solution? I’m all ears,” Cole snapped.
No one said anything.
“Are we together on this, boys?” Cole asked, looking around at all their faces.
“Yeah.”
“Sure.”
“Whatever.”
“I hope to hell you know what you’re doing,” Crash added.
Cole nodded, and looked back at the girls.
Angel had her arm around one of the younger girls, and was trying to calm her down. Most of them were crying, but she had convinced them that they were safe now, and would soon be back with their families.
The guys walked back to where she was waiting with the girls.
Cole looked at them all. He could tell they were still frightened. “No one here is going to hurt you. We’re going to get you home.”