Page 32 of More Tricks

I could hear Three laughing on the other end as if I’d just said the most hilarious thing to him. “Why can’t more people be like you? It’s far more fun to plan these things with criminals who know the game. To answer your question, yes, with weapons.”

“No guns,” I ordered.

“Absolutely, as I said before, to die too quickly means we lose out on money,” Three agreed. “Now, I just want to make sure I got this information correct, but you are giving us free choice in who you fight as well as who we invite to the event?”

Glancing at the others, double-checking they didn’t have any last-minute changes of heart, I answered, “Had to make it worth your while.”

“Indeed, this is going to be the biggest event we’ve ever hosted,” Three commented. “We might even need to find a different venue that will hold everyone. While you two will be the main course, the others have fighters they want to put in the ring as well. They will be the warm-up, getting the crowd going for you to make your appearance.”

“Works for me,” Void said, and I echoed his agreement.

“It was lovely to speak with you, Tricks. I do hope that however this feud ends, we might see more of you in the future,” Three stated cryptically before he hung up.

Setting the phone down on the couch next to me, I waited for the others to share their thoughts. None of them seemed eager to speak, so silence hung in the air.

“It’s what we hoped for,” Void said, breaking the quiet. “It could have been much worse for us if our little demon hadn’t been so wise to his game.”

“Cockroaches like him always have a game. It's just figuring out what motivates them,” I explained. “Really, that’s the secret to getting most people to do what you want if we’re being honest.”

Eagle nodded and ran a hand through his hair before letting out a heavy sigh. “Okay, so this is our main plan, but I still think we need to have alternatives if this doesn’t play out the way we want. There’s no guarantee they won’t back out or flip on us.”

“Let’s call a meeting of the minds,” Wes suggested. “I finally got word back from her teachers and hacked into the school’s database to pull her submitted work for the school year. It’s not at all what everyone was led to believe.”

Eagle pulled out his cell and sent out a text, calling the others back to the house. They left earlier that day to deal with an issue at one of the garages. It’d been broken into and vandalized. It seemed one or two Mad Dogs still lived and weren’t at all happy with how things turned out.

“When are you calling Church?” Void asked. “The Saints are getting restless and want to be informed of what's really going on. The rest of us have been telling them to shut up and wait, but that’s not gonna last much longer.”

“Tonight, we’ll have our meeting. Then we’ll have everyone gather in the clubhouse at eight o’clock sharp. I want everyone at this meeting, Void, women included. Cam and Wes can watch the kids at the daycare while we chat,” Eagle instructed.

Cam’s head snapped up from where he’d been reading something on his phone. “Hey, why the fuck are we watching the kids? Aren’t we part of this?”

Eagle just looked at him almost as if he was waiting for him to figure out the answer on his own.

“What?” Cam asked, exasperated.

“Why do you need to be part of the meeting when you know everything that’s going on? You’re not a member of the Phantom Saints, and I’m not sure I want them knowing you’re an FBI agent,” Eagle explained. “We are a group of one-percenters. We do illegal things all the time and having a Fed wandering around freely might freak them out.”

Cam seemed to take a second to consider that and nodded. “Fine, but Dax has to be with us too. She isn’t part of the Saints either.”

Getting up from the couch, I walked over to Cam as he turned to face me. “Funny thing about that… part of the meeting is to see if I’m voted in, so I have to be there. Guess you’re gonna have to deal with the rug rats all on your own.”

“Wait, what?” Wes demanded. “You’re a woman?”

“Glad you remembered. I wasn’t sure since no one’s checked in the last few days,” I quipped. “Look, I didn’t put them up to this. BigFoot approached Picasso, had enough of the crew backing him up. It had to be put to a vote by the leadership.”

“What if they say no?” Cam asked, cocking his head. “Does that mean you can’t live here?”

I let out a bark of laughter. “You’re only asking that because you’re tired of sleeping on an air mattress in the same room as Wes.”

He shrugged. “Can’t blame a guy for trying to better his situation.”

“If they wanted to get rid of me that easily, they lost their chance a long time ago. Now these assholes are stuck with me,” I informed them all.

Eagle and Void both had big dopy smiles on their faces.

“Forever, you forgot the forever on the end of that statement,” Void pointed out. “Because there isn’t a chance in hell we would let you leave.”

Cam caught my arm and spun me around so my back was to his chest with his arms wrapped around me. “As long as you’re fine with the baggage she brings along with her.”