T-Bone - L. Wilder Page 0,20
already inside.”
“Will do.”
I walked over to the garage, and when I stepped inside, I found Riggs and Shadow stacking the crates onto the dollies. “Murphy is ready to start loading.”
“Good timing.” Shadow glanced over his shoulder as he said, “Give us a hand with the rest.”
I nodded, then walked over and got to work. In no time, all the crates were loaded into the hidden compartments of the horse trailers. Once everything was secured, Rider and Hyde led the horses inside the trailers. We’d brought them over from Gus’s place, and like all the times before, we used them to conceal the hidden compartments even more than they already were. As soon as they were settled inside, we were set to roll out right on time. Gus came over, and after he checked everything one last time, he gave the nod. “All right, boys. Looks good. Remember to keep your head in the game and no fuck ups.”
“You got it, Prez.”
Murphy motioned over to the rest of us, and we started loading up. I got in the SUV with him and Shadow, while Gauge, Blaze, and Hyde drove with Riggs. With both trailers hitched behind us, we started towards Mobile to meet up with Ronin. It was still hours before sunrise, so it was no surprise that the ride there was quiet. It took some time for us to shake that early morning haze, but by the time we arrived at the dock, we were ready to get the job done. After we parked, Murphy got out of the SUV to check in with Ronin. It was then that I noticed all the Coast Guard boats monitoring the port. I looked over to Shadow. “You seeing this shit?”
“Hard to fucking miss. What the hell is Ronin thinking?”
“No way we’re going to be able to get this shit loaded without someone seeing us.”
Shadow opened his door. “We need to see what the fuck is going on.”
I followed him over to Murphy and Ronin. Shadow wasn’t a man who fucked around, especially when it came to matters of the club, so I wasn’t surprised when he charged up to Ronin and pointed out to the water. “What the fuck, man? Thought you were gonna handle this shit.”
“Like I was telling Murphy, I’ve got it taken care of.”
“Oh really?” I knew it was Murphy’s job, as sergeant-at-arms, to deal with Ronin and the exchange, but the situation was making it difficult for me to get a grip on my frustration. “’Cause from where I’m standing, I don’t see you handling a damn thing!”
“You’ll see.”
“What the fuck? You need to get to talking and tell us what the fuck is going on, or there’s gonna be all kinds of hell to pay.”
“I get that you’re pissed about all this, and I am too,” Ronin tried to explain, “but right now you’re all just gonna have to trust me. I need you to get back in your trucks and hold tight for a minute.”
“Fine,” Murphy bit out, then glanced back over his shoulder as we headed towards the SUVs. “You’ve got five minutes.”
Once we’d gotten back in the truck, Shadow looked over to Murphy and said, “I don’t know about this, Murph. Last thing we need is the fucking Coast Guard on our ass.”
Just as Murphy was about to respond, a thunderous roar shook the SUV, and our attention was quickly drawn out to the water. About a mile and a half out, there was a massive ball of flames engulfing a boat. I was completely blown away as I watched the smoke billow into the sky. “What the fuck was that?”
“That would be Ronin.”
“He blew up a fucking boat?”
“Apparently so.”
I looked back over to the water and watched the Coast Guard immediately change course and head towards the fire and wreckage. Once they were mostly out of sight, Ronin motioned over to us, and we knew it was time to move. Murphy got out first, and as soon as he was certain all was clear, he gave us the nod. We immediately rushed to the trailers. I could hear the others talking about the explosion as we waited for Rider and Hyde to move the horses out of the trailers. After they’d gotten them sorted, Shadow barked, “Move it, boys. We don’t have much time on our hands.”
Without hesitating, I went into the first trailer and unlocked the hidden compartment. Once we had them all unloaded and the crates stacked on the dollies, we