SAUL Page 7

  “Ten men rode up to my house, Saul. Ten men on motorcycles much like those you ride. They killed five of staff. They took my money and my guns. I think the only reason I’m alive is my family and I were out of the country at the time.”

  “How did they get away with the guns?”

  Abana shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps they had another vehicle. They killed everyone in the house. The only reason I know about the motorcycles is because a few of my men surprised them as they were leaving. All they saw were the motorcycles.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss, Señor Abana, but you surely know we’re not the only people who ride motorcycles. Were the men wearing colors?”

  “No, no patches, but they did speak English.”

  “Señor Abana, I give you my word, it wasn’t us. What could we gain by fucking up this arrangement?”

  “Does $350,000 in cash, not to mention over a $100,000 in guns, sound like something to gain?”

  “Yes, but you pay us that much in a year. So even if we were to do something so stupid as to steal from you, and you found out, in the long run, it would have cost us far more than we would gain. Not to mention the danger it would bring to our families. Trust me, Señor Abana, we know who we are dealing with and we do not want you angry with us.”

  Abana looked into Saul’s eyes, taking a measure of the man. “If not you, then who? You have told me more than once you control Laredo. I control Nuevo Laredo. I’ve heard nothing of anyone moving into my territory. Where have these mysterious motorcycle men come from?”

  “I don’t know, Señor Abana, but I will find out. You have my word. When we do we will make our displeasure with them clear.”

  “If you find these men, I want you to bring them to me, or tell me who they are. I can’t allow them to attack my house without repercussions.”

  “As soon as I know, I will pass the information along to you.”

  “You can have my next shipment of guns to me next week?”

  “If nothing goes wrong in customs, yes. You weren’t scheduled for delivery of these guns for almost another month, but as soon as we have them in our possession, I’ll call you and schedule delivery.”

  “You have been selling me guns for a long time, Saul. As you said, I was buying from your father before you. But this is bad business. Your Harley-Davidson motorcycles aren’t as popular in Mexico as the United States. I’m convinced these men are Americans. If I find out it was your…club…even without your knowledge, it would be unfortunate for you and your men.”

  “Señor Abana, I would know if it were any of my men. I assure you, it wasn’t us. When did this happen?”

  “The day I sent you the email. My people called me as soon as it was over, and I immediately sent you the email. We returned from Brazil only yesterday.”

  “Señor Abana, for the past several days all my men have been accounted for every minute of the day on another job. There is no possible way we could have done it, even without my knowledge.”

  Abana stood. “Then find out who it was and either bring them to me or tell me where I can find them. They made a grave mistake attacking me and my house. I will make sure they serve as a warning to any others who may consider attacking me.”

  Saul rose and extended his hand. This time Abana took it. “We’ll find them if they can be found. But with nothing to go on…” He shrugged.

  Abana nodded in understanding. “I understand the difficulty of your task. I have put additional security on my house, but these men have to answer for what they did. If I can help you find these men, you only need ask. I will provide whatever help I can.”

  “Let us see what we can turn up, but it may be a while before I have information for you.”

  Abana gave him a curt nod then walked away without a glance.

  “Well?” Dallas asked as Abana’s big white Mercedes glided away.

  “A group of men on motorcycles hit his compound. They killed five of his guys and took a bunch of money and either most or all of the guns from the last shipment.”

  “And he thinks we did it? Why?”

  “He’s convinced the men were Americans. He’s probably right.”

  “That doesn’t mean it was us!”

  “No, and I think he understands that now, but we’ve been tasked with finding out who they were.”

  Dallas stared at him a moment. “And just how the fuck are we supposed to do that?”

  Saul snorted. “I have no fucking idea.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah. When we get back to the clubhouse, I’ll start putting some feelers out.”

  ***

  “We can be pretty damn sure it didn’t come out of Laredo.” Saul said as he brought Caleb, Andy, and Kyle, along with the rest of the core team, up to speed. “Everyone here knows Abana and they would have to be seven kinds of stupid to go after him. So who’s left? Houston, maybe? San Antonio?”

  “Could it be the Corpse Killers or the Brown Eyed Devils?” Andy asked then took a sip of his beer. “They’re the two closet clubs big enough to pull something like this off.”

  Saul shook his head. “I hope not. If it’s the Killers, we’re fucked.”

  The men nodded in understanding. The Corpse Killers were out of Corpus Christi, and they were their facilitator for the guns. For a fee, they helped…expedite…the merchandise through customs. The Devils were out of Brownsville and they had contact with them, as well. Nobody liked the idea that one of the clubs they had relationships with would cut their nuts off like this.

  “Maybe we could start with them and see where it goes. Couldn’t hurt to ask, right?” Dallas suggested.

  “So long they don’t think we are accusing them of anything. We need the Killers and I don’t want to piss them off.”

  “I know you don’t want to think this, but what if the Killers are trying to cut us out and go directly to Abana?” Kyle asked.

  “You think they have their own supply of guns?” Dallas asked, turning the idea over in his mind.

  “Don’t know. But if Abana were to grease us, they could take over our supply chain.”

  “Shit,” Caleb breathed. “It would be just like those bastards, too.”

  “They haven’t fucked us yet.” Saul pointed out.

  “Yeah, but you’ve heard the stories just like I have. They have a reputation of not giving a shit about anyone but themselves.”

  “Before we condemn them, let’s make sure we have facts, not speculation,” Saul said. “Like I said they haven’t fucked us yet. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.”

  “Especially since we still need them?” Dallas asked with a grin.

  “Especially. I’ll call Mendel and Layley and see if they’ve heard anything. I might also talk to Layley to see if the Devils have a way to bring the merchandise through customs. It probably wouldn’t hurt to have a backup plan just in case it’s Mendel who’s trying to fuck us.”

  “That’s probably a good idea. Right now we have all our eggs in one basket,” Kyle said.

  “True,” Saul agreed. “But we also have less potential leaks because only a few know what we do.”

  Kyle shrugged with a grin, conceding the point.

  “That’s where I’ll start. Anything else?”

  “Anything on the movie?” Kelly asked.

  Saul shook his head. “Nothing. “I’m sure they were fine last night since they were inside. Today, down on the river, is a different matter, but it took them a week to give up the last time. I’m not surprised I didn’t hear from them. I’ll give them a couple of days, and if I still don’t hear from them, we’ll turn the heat up on them.”

  “I can’t believe they fired us over that Angela bitch. I’d like to get her out behind the shop for ten minutes,” Pete growled.

  “Is that as long as you can last?” Andy asked with a grin.

  “Longer than you, at least according to Haven.”

  Andy snickered then gave him the finger as the rest of the Pagans chuckled
.

  Chapter Nine

  “Houston,” Saul said, sticking a finger in his other ear to block out the noise of pneumatic hammers and power saws.

  He was on a construction site trying to get the contractor’s head out of his own ass. The guy was new to the business and didn’t have a clue on how to schedule. Now the contractor was breathing down his neck to finish because his electrical and plumbing guys were supposed to start and the house wasn’t even dried in yet, even though his crew was actually a half-day ahead of the schedule he’d given him.

  “Saul, this is Ryan Hayes, with Brand B Pictures.”

  “What do you want, Ryan? I’m a little busy at the moment.”

  “I want to talk to you about providing location security again.”

  Saul smiled. “I’m in the middle of something at the moment. Give me an hour to get this sorted and I’ll call you back,” he said then ended the call.

  He then turned back to the contractor. “Let me explain something to you. When I give you a schedule, don’t fucking change it. I’ve been doing this since I was sixteen. I know how long it takes to put the walls up, and I don’t give a shit what your fancy Gnatt chart tells you. So you get your ass on the phone and tell the electrician and the plumber it’s going to be three more days before the rough in is ready. Got it?”

  “It shouldn’t take you this long to dry a house in!”

  “Says who? You? How many houses have you built?”

  “That doesn’t matter! The standard—”

  “Fuck what the book says! I’m telling you what it really takes. If you think you can find someone who can do it faster, then knock yourself out, but I’m telling you any reputable framer will tell you the same thing.” He watched the guy as he looked away. “You already found that out didn’t you? This is your fuck-up, not mine, so you straighten it out.”

  “Okay, look, I thought you were padding the schedule, and I’m sorry. If I miss my window it’ll be two weeks before I can get on their schedules again. Help me out here!”

  Saul softened. “We’re going as fast as we can. I’ll see if the crew wants to work over, but that’s going to cost you more.”

  The man shook his head. “No. I’m going to be over budget as it is.”

  Saul grinned. “Don’t worry about it. I lost my ass on the first few houses I framed, too. My dad taught me everything I know and I thought I knew all these ways to speed stuff up, to do it faster and cheaper. Turns out there’s usually a reason things are done the way they are. Here’s a bit of advice for your next house: ask the contractor what it’ll take, then listen to him. You’ll sleep better at night.”

  The man nodded and Saul shook his hand. As the man pulled out his phone, Saul found his site supervisor.

  “Did you get him straightened out?” Bud asked.

  “Yeah, I think so. He’s new, so help him out if you can.”

  Bud grinned. “We’re doing the best we can. If we don’t have any rain delays, and it doesn’t look like we will, we should be done by early Friday.”

  “Is that firm?”

  “Pretty firm.”

  Saul nodded. That was a day early. “I’ll let him know. If you make it Thursday, buy the guys a beer on me.”

  Bud chuckled. “What do we get if we finish Wednesday?”

  “A kick in the ass for being lazy all the other times.”

  Bud burst into laughter. “I’ll let them know.”

  Saul grinned. Bud ran his best crew. If anyone could get it done Thursday, this crew could. He sat down in his truck and started it to get the air conditioning going. He had one more stop to make to look at some rework, then he would call Ryan back. It wouldn’t hurt Ryan to sweat a little.

  ***

  “Ryan, Saul Houston, calling you back.”

  “Thank you for calling me back, Saul. Listen, I want to apologize for what happened the other day. I should have given you better instructions. Are you available to provide security again?”

  “Yeah. It’ll be two thousand a day.”

  “Two thousand! It was only fifteen hundred before!”

  “That was before you pissed me off. Now it’s two thousand.”

  There was a long pause. “Fine. Two thousand a day,” Ryan said, his voice flat.

  “Same agreement as before.”

  “Yes, but I want you to leave Angela alone and treat her with a little more respect.”

  “I treated her the same respect I treated everyone else, from you all the way down to the guy who picks up trash when you’re done.”

  “Okay, then, treat her with more respect.”

  “I’m not going to let her push me around, Ryan. If you want some toady for her to shit on, find someone else.”

  “Saul, that’s the way it has to be.”

  “Then I guess this conversation is done. Good luck with your picture,” Saul said and ended the call. He grinned and debated demanding twenty-five hundred a day if Ryan called back but decided that was being a little too much of an asshole, even for him.

  It had been three days since the Pagans had been fired. He’d ridden by the river twice, not stopping, but seeing the crew was still there. Johnny had said they wanted to try to get three scenes in one day, so they must have been having problems if they were still there. Maybe he would ride by later and see if they were still on the river.

  He was pulling into his house when his phone rang. “Houston.”

  “Can you start today?” Ryan asked softly.

  Saul smiled at the sound of defeat in Ryan’s voice. “When?” he asked.

  “Now. As soon as you can get here.”

  “Where are you?”

  “At the river. Johnny said you would know where.”

  Saul glanced at the clock in the truck. It was almost eleven. “Have the crew take a break and have them ready to work in two hours. Are you having problems with people on the river?”

  “Yeah. People are out there in canoes and kayaks.”

  “Then I need two boats. I don’t know where you’ll find them, but we’ll need a way to get out there. Try Southpoint Marine, they may have something you can rent or buy cheap.”

  “Okay. I’ll get on it.”

  “Call me if you find something and I’ll go get it. And Ryan…”

  “What?” Ryan asked when Saul didn’t continue.

  “You fire us again, don’t bother calling back.”

  Ryan sighed. “Understood.”

  ***

  Saul stopped his truck and he and Dallas stepped out. Most of the Pagans were already there and had started chasing off the troublemakers. Most of those there knew the score and were there as a favor to the club, so they packed up the moment the Pagans showed up and explained the situation to them. There had been a few stragglers who wanted to cause trouble, but as the Pagans began to assert their control, they, too, left.

  The only people left were the half-dozen boats floating in the river. Saul, Dallas, and six other brothers slid the two aluminum boats out of the back of Saul’s truck. Southpoint had been delighted to rent them the two boats to have their name included in the credits of the movie…that and the rental for the two boats for two days was half the cost of buying one.

  The four men slid the boats in the river and pushed off, two men to a boat, and they began to paddle out to the boats station keeping in the river.

  Saul wasn’t the most experienced boat captain as he and Andy cut a weaving path toward the boats while Dallas and Caleb did the same on the other side of the camera.

  “You’re going to have to move back,” Saul said as they drifted to a stop beside them.

  “You don’t have the authority to order us off the river,” the man said.

  “You’re right, I don’t. I just want you to move up the river about two hundred yards. Where you’re sitting you’re in the scene.”

  “That’s their problem.”

  “It’s going to be your problem if you don’t do what I said. Everyone, I want you to move up the riv
er about two hundred yards.”

  “What if we don’t?” the man asked even as a couple of people began to paddle away.

  “Then you won’t like what happens next.”

  “What are you going to do, tough guy?”

  Saul reached over and gave the man a push, rolling his kayak upside down and dumping him in the water. The man tried to right the kayak and Saul pushed him under again with his paddle. When the man came up the second time, Saul waited until he gasped a breath then pushed him down with the paddle again.