Boulder (Riders of Apollo #5)

Chapter Four: Ford Wilson

"Bear, I cannot pinpoint where my enemies are hiding. They are masters of stealth and I cannot call upon any allies besides you. The Russians refused as they sell liquor to a large amount of French bars and the Italians border with them so are trying to avoid a war. They will come for you too." Matias tells us as he paces behind his desk while his wife curls up in his office chair.

"I know, why do you think I have everyone in? Do you have any idea who is running this shit?"

"No, I know the FBI, NSA and CIA are all working on this but they are ultimately useless in the grand scheme of things."

"Maybe they'll ask for help."

"No, they are too proud. I wish for the MI6, you remember those agents, my love?" Lucia speaks up for the first time since the meeting began.

"I doubt they will get involved, my darling, we are much too far away for their influence. Though it would be helpful, they completely ruined the Vicca Crime Family, we could use their tactics."

"That was them?" Bear seems astounded by this. The Vicca Crime Family were the ones that aimed for Bear a few months ago. A sniper tried to shoot him during a meeting and Breaker took the bullet instead. It took us ages to hunt them down but the time we got there the entire organisation had been torn apart from the inside.

"Well rumour has it only one agent did the damage, a woman... I've forgotten her name, do you remember her name, Mat?" He shakes his head and brushes the entire conversation off.

"Keep your friends in house, I will keep you updated with any developments. As of right now, I have people searching for leads."

"I've got Romeo on it but I'm not sending anyone out until I fully understand the threat."

"As you wish."

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"So he has nothing? Literally nothing? This has been going on for weeks!" Saviour whines, all of us having gathered in the main room again, kids and all.

"He has men out looking for leads but the French are burying them, three more Mexicans have been found dead with their throat slashed and their houses burned to the ground." Breaker explains and brings Cassidy closer to his chest with their baby boy in between them.

"Well fuck." Romeo blurts out dryly, obviously unimpressed with the developments just like the rest of us. The house is fucking packed with everyone in here there is hardly any wiggle room, eventually there's gonna be a civil war with all this pent up energy.

"The FBI in on it?" Runner asks with Ollie playing with poker chips in his lap. That kid is gonna be lethal I swear, he knows cards better than people I saw in a high end casino.

"Yeah, NSA and CIA too."

"So nothing is gonna get done, we need British intelligence." Saviour says the same as the other two with a pout on her face and Miracle pressed against her chest.

"Lucia wants MI6, some woman who took down the Vicca Crime Family." Bear twists Lexie's hair around his finger and sighs.

"Oh yeah! That would be cool, we wouldn't have to worry about anything if she was here. Shame no one knows her name."

"We're too far away anyway, what help would British intelligence be in America?" Bear finishes the conversation by turning the TV on and Ollie immediately runs over to me with a big smile on his face.

Oh shit, that's never good.

"Hey big B, let's play poker." Ollie has taken to calling me big B, I don't know why since Breaker and I are basically the same size. But there's no point in arguing with this kid, he's whip smart and extremely energetic so he won't give up until he wins.

Trust me, it's not fun.

"What you got to bet with this time?" Ollie here is a little pickpocket. We figured that out within the first month of him being here. Romeo and Runner gave everyone's stuff back for the first few months but now we've got a better idea. He keeps whatever he steals but whenever he plays cards with anyone, he has to bet whatever he stole from that person.

"Three one hundred dollar bills from your wallet." He slams the paper down with a cocky smirk and I laugh.

"You're on little man." We start playing Texas hold 'em, something I've been playing since I was his age. He's also only a kid and he kinda sucks at controlling his poker face. I always win back two thirds of whatever he took and let him keep the last one by losing on the last round. He still hasn't noticed but I have a feeling he'll fucking murder me if he figures out that I've been letting him win for over a year.

He'd get his dads to help too and Romeo could destroy everything I've ever done, get rid of all of my money and make me disappear. While Runner could fuck me up. He's improved a lot over the last year. He's able to take Breaker and I down but he's still struggling with Saviour. We have a match once a month between the two and make bets and everything. Saviour wins every time without breaking a sweat.

It's still good fun, plus we often get the money that Ollie has stolen from us because he always bets on his dad even though he always loses. It's sweet really, we just really want our money back so we don't tell him any different. "I win!" He wins the final round and collects his last winnings with a massive smile on his face, childish bliss of not knowing that I'm playing you.

"Hey dads, I won!" He hands over the cash with a massive grin on his face as Romeo lifts him up and Runner takes the money. "That's going in my bank, right?" With this game obviously came the problem of him handling a lot of cash so Romeo and Runner made a deal with him. Whatever he has left after a game - be it cash or jewellery - will be liquidated and put into a bank account for him to have when he's eighteen.

He's already got over a grand in there from his nefarious activities and I imagine it will only continue to grow over the next few years. "Yeah, little man, it's going in your bank." I let their dog crawl all over me as he settles on the couch with half of his body on my lap and I pet him softly as he snores.

I swear, I can't wait for all this shit to be over.