Page 31 of Empire of Savages
Gunnar led the way downstairs, making as little noise as possible even though the thumping beat covered our steps. He motioned me to stop a few steps away from him as he hunched down to take stock. Gunnar held up three fingers, then indicated their location within the room. When he started to count down, I let out a breath and waited. Gunnar moved quickly, taking care of the closest guy while I came up behind him and shot the second. The third man quickly realized he was outgunned and outnumbered, holding his hands up in surrender.
Gunnar grinned maliciously as he approached. “You going to be a good boy and tell us everything we need to know?”
“Anything,” the man said. “Just please don’t shoot me.”
He couldn’t have been any older than nineteen—too young to be involved in this motherfucking life—but who was I to pass judgement. While Gunnar began to interrogate him, I surveyed the bricks of crystal meth lining the shelves against the walls.
“When are the Devils coming for this shipment?” Gunnar asked.
“I don’t know. I just package the stuff. Malcom doesn’t tell me shit.”
“Bullshit,” Gunnar sneered, lowering the muzzle of his gun to the guy’s kneecap, then blew right through it.
The kid screamed, dropping to the rough concrete floor and curling himself around what was left of his knee.
Gunnar got down to his eye level. “I’m going to ask you again, and I hope your answer changes this time. When are the Devils coming for this shipment?”
The guy’s face leached of color as he breathed through the pain. Agonized, he licked his lips and said on a defeated sigh, “Two days. They’re coming to collect in two days.”
“There, that wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Gunnar asked, gripping the kid by the hair, and yanking him back onto his feet.As soon as the guy opened his mouth in a shout, Gunnar shoved the gun between his lips.
“Wait!” I shouted.
Irritation flashed in Gunnar’s eyes as he rounded on me. “He told us when the shipment was being picked up.”
Ignoring my club brother, I walked up to the kid, motioning for the muzzle of the gun to be removed from his mouth. When the kid could talk, I asked, “What do you know about the hit on Dimitri Sobolev?”
His wide-eyed gaze darted from my face to Gunnar. When he didn’t respond, I pistol-whipped him across the temple.
“I asked you a question.”
His dazed eyes finally fixed on my face. Blood spurted down from the cut above his eye, running along his nose and dribbling off his lips. “Who?” he asked.
Through gritted teeth, I replied, “Dimitri. Sobolev. My brother. What do you know about the hit that was taken out on him?”
“Nothing, man. I haven’t even heard that name before. I swear, Ka?—”
Bang!
Gunnar had moved in a blur, shoving the barrel of his gun back into the kid’s mouth and pulling the trigger. Blood, bone, and gray matter sprayed out on the concrete and wall behind him, the arc of the spray hitting the stacked meth, too.
Gunnar stood up straight and holstered his gun as the body dropped to the floor.
I rounded on him. “What the fuck?” I roared. “We could’ve tortured more information out of him.”
Gunnar kicked the body. “This dumb fuck was a peon. He didn’t know dick.”
I stared down at what was left of the kid, feeling any sense of hope draining from my body. I knew nothing about who hadshot my brother, or why, and now, the one lead we did have was in pieces on the filthy floor.
Gunnar gripped me by the shoulder, squeezing gently once, then moved away. “Sorry, brother. I should’ve waited, but I’m just so fucking pissed that the Devils are doing this on our doorstep. You know I have issues with reacting first and thinking after.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I bit down on my anger. It was more than likely that Gunnar was right about this. What were the chances that this kid knew anything? He was only packaging the drugs, not masterminding the operation.
“Want to fuck with the Devils?” Gunnar asked, grinning back at me from his position near the stacked meth bricks. He was weighing one in his hand, bouncing it up and down gently.
“What do you mean?”
He returned his attention to the drugs. “The way I see it, we have two choices.” He put the brick back. “The first is we come back in two days’ time and wait for La Croix’s men to show up for the shipment, or…”