Keeping It in the Family (Linstead)

Chapter 72

"Prospect, listen up and listen good," Ruby Riot said. The entire MC apart from Liv Morgan were outside of Lynch's, about to head out on whatever job had been mentioned to Gonzalez earlier that day. It was now dark, which gave her an unneeded hint about the legality of what they were going to do.

Shayna Baszler had shown up in a big black van, not riding her bike. It didn't take much to figure out that the van would be used for transporting cocaine. But Gonzalez's job wasn't to try and arrest people the first time she witnessed illegal activity. No, she was there to get involved with it, to become as trusted as the rest of the MC's members, and then to work on obtaining information about whoever supplied the cocaine. According to Dakota Crowley, they were a Japanese crew. It was likely they bought the stuff from some Mexican cartel or other, and ran it to Chicago. From there, the MC bought some of it and moved it on to dealers, who sold it to the idiots who ended up with it up their noses.

"I'm listening," Gonzalez told the President respectfully.

"You're going to follow us. Stay at the back. We're going to a warehouse. When we get there, you're going to stay outside and keep watch. You see anyone coming anywhere near the place, you're going to fire a warning shot with this."

Riot produced a pistol and handed it to Gonzalez, who took it and looked at it as though she had little experience with firearms. She figured that made sense for Victoria Fernandez.

"Don't point it at anyone. And don't fire it for any reason other than what I just told you to do. Got it?"

Gonzalez nodded. "Got it."

"Let's move," Riot said to the whole group.

Baszler got back into the van as the rest of them got onto their bikes. Within moments the air was full of the sound of revving engines. The group roared up off the street, with Riot and Logan in front of the van, and Crowley and Gonzalez behind it.

It took them about fifteen minutes to arrive at the warehouse that had apparently been arranged as the meeting place. Gonzalez had been to similar places many times in the past while working the Bayley Martinez assignment. Back then, guns had been the illegal product in question. Now it was cocaine.

The rest of the bikers and the van drove inside. Gonzalez parked up outside and stood facing the road, keeping watch, as she had been instructed. There was a temptation to look into the warehouse and try to watch what was going on, but no, she told herself. The right thing to do was play the long game and obey her instructions to the letter.

There wasn't a soul around. No one to cause trouble. No problems of any kind. Five, maybe ten minutes later, Gonzalez heard bike engines firing up. The crew drove out of the warehouse, stopping just outside of it so that Riot could shout instructions to Gonzalez.

"Follow us. When we get to 25th and Central, break off and go home. We'll see you tomorrow."

Gonzalez nodded to show that she understood the instructions, and got on her bike. She set off after the rest of the MC, glad to have done her small and insignificant job perfectly. From such acorns great trees grew.

Sunday morning, Jay found himself considering that the warm weather season never seemed to last for more than a few weeks in Chicago. For that reason, he felt glad that this day had turned out to be quite warm. He had decided that before they got into what was guaranteed to be a chaotic week at work and at home, his little family should go for their first day out together. It would have the added benefit of keeping Clementine's mind occupied. She seemed to be relatively okay while that was the case. Problems came when she had nothing to do, with getting to sleep at night proving to be a particular problem. The previous night, she had gotten back up twice after her first attempt to go to bed, both times in tears over losing her parents.