the Banachi empire.
“He’s made a few deals so far and things seem to be going well. Time will tell though.” Leo laid his hand on the table. “So now let’s see if I can make a deal with you.”
“Right,” Monk drawled. “As a whole, we’re not really sure what you would like to do, but we were hoping you would be able to help us work it out.”
“Give me the condensed version of the problem. Marco gave me the rundown, but I do like to hear it from the horse’s mouth.”
“About five months ago, two girls from the strip club were kidnapped. We managed to get them back and dispose of the scum who took them. A week or so after that, a car pulls up to the clubhouse, lights it up with bullets, and kills the woman Barracuda was seeing.”
“Your old president?” Leo asked.
Monk nodded. “He’s still our president.”
“But he’s gone.”
“He is,” Monk clarified, “but it’s not forever.”
Leo shrugged. “I’m not sure you would want him back if he left you and club in the lurch like he did.”
Leo didn’t know anything about the club or the brotherhood we had in the Royal Bastards. He had experiences with a different club, but that wasn’t us. Barracuda did take off without a word, but the reason he did it was because he knew the club would survive without him until he was able to figure his shit out.
He was coming back.
Eventually.
Monk didn’t get into Barracuda being gone. That had nothing to do with Leo being here. Sure, it would be great if he were here, but we couldn’t make that happen. “We’re trying to find Leona’s killer and figure out why. Was she the intended target? Was it supposed to be one of us? Or was it really just a random shooting?”
“Which one of those is at the top of your list?” Leo asked.
“After going over every possible scenario, Six-Gun was able to find us a promising lead.” Monk nodded to me.
I leaned forward and laid my hand on the table. “I found a guy from Barracuda’s past, who also knows Menace, the president of the Devil’s Rebels.”
“Rival?” Leo asked.
Monk shrugged. “Not that we knew of. We never really got along with Menace, but it wasn’t like we could pinpoint a reason why.”
“That is until I talked to a guy who connected Barracuda and Menace when they were younger.” I cleared my throat and knew I needed to just get to the point so we could get on with figuring out the solution. “Guy says Barracuda ended up with Menace’s woman. One thing led to another, Menace and Barracuda get into a high speed chase and crash. The woman dies and for a while, Menace and Barracuda go back and forth doing shit to each other. Ten years ago, they call a truce, and nothing else happens.”
Leo tapped his fingers on the table. “Except now, Barracuda’s ol’ lady is dead, and you guys can’t find the guy with the smoking gun.”
“It has to be Menace, but we don’t know how to prove it.” Monk sighed. “Before the kidnapping, we were helping out the Kings of Vengeance and were being the in-between for them and the Devil’s Rebels.”
“Kings of Vengeance blew up the Rolling Devils, didn’t they?” Leo asked.
Monk nodded. “Yeah. That’s a whole other can of worms.”
Leo laughed. “You fucking MCs are wild. Blowing each other’s shit up. Pretty sure at one point the Devil’s Knights shit exploded too.”
Creed chuckled. “Sure did.”
“Any possibility it could be the Kings?” Leo asked. “Maybe they didn’t like the terms you negotiated with the Devil’s Rebels?”
Monk shook his head. “We went down that road. There is nothing at all that connects them to this. They’re close business partners and would lose a fuck-ton if the Sacramento chapter of the Royal Bastards went away.”
“What about the guys who did the kidnapping?”
Monk shook his head. “Nope. Again, nothing we can find that would connect them.”
“Plus they are all fucking dead,” Tank laughed.
“Okay.” Leo leaned forward and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “So, let’s assume it’s Menace. What do you want done about it?”
“He dies,” Monk growled. “Barracuda isn’t here, but I know what he would want done.”
“He gonna have a problem with the fact you’re taking care of everything?”
Monk shook his head. “No. He knew if anything ever happened to him, I would be the one to step up, with Six-Gun taking my spot as VP.”
Leo nodded his head. “So, now you need me