“I get it. You’re right.” Country looked down at the table as he shook his head. “Gran would have my ass for saying this, but if we want to make it look like there’s a gas leak or whatever, we’ll need to get to the basement. That’s where all the water and gas lines are.”
“All right, so we get a small IED and plant it in the basement next to the gas line. Make it look like there was damage to the release valve, and then we’re golden.”
“This could work, boys.” Viper turned to Country as he asked, “You sure you know where the gas lines are?”
“Sure do,” Country answered. “Just get me inside, and I’ll handle the rest.”
“That might be our only issue,” Viper replied. “We’ve gotta get access to the building without Stark knowing.”
“Might be a way around that.” The second Hawk turned to me with that look in his eyes, I knew I wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “We could have Marlowe distract him...get him out of there just long enough for Country to get the IED planted.”
“And how would she do that?”
“She could call him. Make up some bullshit about finding some information for him,” Hawk suggested.
I could tell Viper was intrigued when he asked, “What kind of information?”
“I don’t know. I’m sure we can come up with something.”
“He’s watching her, right?” Lynch asked.
“Yeah. He’s got cameras at her place and at the club.”
“Then, he’ll need to see her find whatever she’s gonna give him.” Lynch shrugged, “Maybe it’s the fake ledger Menace keeps at his desk in case the cops show up.”
Menace always carried our real ledger home with him each night. It was just an extra protective measure in case the club was ever investigated. The ledger in his desk was a simple budget outline showing the bar’s inventory and the daily customer flow. There was no real information in it that could blowback on us. It was clear Menace approved of the idea when he added, “She could call him up and tell him she’s found some book with names and transactions that he might find useful. He’ll think he’s hit the mother-load.”
“Not a bad idea, brother.” Viper nodded with approval, then said, “He can watch her snoop around a little, and then he’ll see her come out of the office with the ledger.”
“When’s she gonna get it?” Country asked. “The club is closed today.”
“All the better. She can make it look like she’s really trying to do whatever it takes to protect her sister and Rafe,” Hawk replied.
They were talking back and forth like it wasn’t a big deal they were putting my girl in danger. I knew this was something the club needed, but I wasn’t going to let it happen if they couldn’t assure me she’d be safe. “And what if he figures out this whole thing is a scam?”
“She’ll be long gone before that happens.”
“I don’t like it. It’s too fucking risky.” I leaned back in my seat as I told them, “I don’t want Marlowe anywhere around this guy.”
“Okay then, instead of having her meet him face to face, we have her drop it off at his hotel. She can leave it for him at the front desk, and when he goes to get it, Country plants the bomb.”
“Now, that’s an idea I can get behind.”
“There’s just one problem.” Lynch looked over to Viper as he asked, “How are we going to relay this plan to Marlowe without Stark hearing or seeing us do it?”
“Leave that one up to me.”
Viper nodded, then looked over to Shotgun and asked, “How long will it take you to get the IED ready?”
“Five minutes. Maybe ten.”
“Get it done.”
“Hold up...We have one more loose end to tend to,” Shotgun announced. “What are we planning to do about Schoomer?”
“As far as I’m concerned, the guy is already dead.” Viper answered. “Call in Billy.”
We all knew Billy would take care of Schoomer without causing any blowback to the club, so I wasn’t surprised when Shotgun nodded and said, “You got it…Ah…Should I warn him about Schoomer’s ‘affliction’?”
“What’s the fun in that?” Viper chuckled, then turned his attention to Widow. “You and Lynch grab a couple of prospects and load up the artillery and ammo. I want us to be ready to move as soon as Marlowe’s dropped off the ledger.”
“You got it.”
“Good. Let’s get to it. Everyone meet back here in an hour. That’ll give us all plenty of time to get over to Crockett’s before dark.”
As soon as Viper dismissed church, I headed out to the parking lot and got on my bike. On my way over to Marlowe’s, I stopped off at a nearby cafe for a couple of burgers and fries. I wrote a note to Marlowe explaining exactly what we needed her to do, then placed it inside the bag of burgers. I carried the food out to my bike and made my way over to Marlowe’s.