Page 106 of Knox Unleashed
“Three.” The voice belongs to a man in a black suit who throws Vandal’s phone onto the ground next to him.
He’s tall, with olive-toned skin and slicked-back hair. He looks…manicured. From his polished black shoes to his groomed moustache.
My brothers pile out behind me, weapons raised, regardless of my warning.
“Ah, ah, ah,” the man says, gesturing to my men to lower them. He points to a van parked in front of an armored car on the street. The side door slides open. Inside is a man with…
Dear fucking God.
He’s holding some kind of missile launcher aimed straight at my clubhouse.
Who the hell has this kind of money and arsenal in my town?
“Van,” Havoc yells, his voice utterly raw. And that one word contains every emotion the rest of us are feeling. “I’m gonna kill you motherfuckers.”
He charges forward, but North grabs him from behind. It’s not enough to stop Havoc, but Ridge steps in front of him, banding him around the chest.
“Stand down, Havoc,” I say, gesturing to all of those with weapons still raised to lower them, even as I promise myself I’m going to kill this asshole for what he’s put Vandal through.
“Who the fuck are you?” I ask.
“My name is Mateo Alvarez. Do I have your attention, Mr…?”
“Knox. Just fucking Knox.”
A faint curve of recognition touches his lips. “Well, Knox. I’m here with a proposition.”
I gesture to Vandal on the ground. “Let me help my brother, first.”
Alvarez shakes his head. “He’ll live…hopefully. We should lay out the terms.”
Fury roils inside me. It needs to be let off its leash, but we’re outmaneuvered. As much as it sucks to admit it, Alvarez overcame what defenses we had, because I wasn’t prepared for an assault of this nature.
Fuck.
“What terms?”
“I want Sidekick.”
I shake my head. “Haven’t seen the man you know as Sidekick in years. We stripped his patch and that road name, then, too. Now, that name means nothing to us. He’s Jonathan Paltrow.”
Alvarez strokes the trigger of his gun. “Well, Sidekick, or Paltrow, was here. Recently. He owes me money. Said a biker called Jackal owed him cash and got a lead on his location. Maybe seven weeks ago.”
At the mention of the money, my heart drops. I can’t make sense of the story that’s being told. I didn’t know about Paltrow being here, and I’m wishing I hadn’t had Pax dropped into the middle of the fucking Gulf. “Where are you going with all this?”
“Sidekick is yours.”
“Was,” I fire back.
Alvarez brushes away my words like they don’t matter. “I don’t concern myself with internal politics. The man borrowed a significant amount of money from me and then ran.”
Silence stretches between us, but there’s no way I’m speaking first this time. Alvarez nudges Vandal with the toe of his shoeand he groans in agony. While I feel for my brother, it’s a relief to know he’s alive.
“He came back here,” Alvarez continues when he sees I’m not speaking. “We’ve confirmed he visited his mother. Reconnected with old ties, according to her. She told me he was scared and was trying to resolve things before his time expired. About reconnecting with some bikers.”
Alvarez smiles, as if he knows something we don’t. I don’t remember Paltrow’s mom, or him ever talking about her.
“You think we’re hiding him?” It’s a ridiculous question, given I know the man is dead.
