Chapter Two-Hundred and Fifty-Four

Chapter Two-Hundred and Fifty-Four
“So, we just let the man come and possibly be killed?” London snapped. “If he dies, that will bring a war to Granite Falls and everyone that lives here.”

“Si,” Hondo spoke from the speaker. “Damned if you do or don’t. But we are trying to prevent that.”

“My dad might know,” London suggested. 

Hawkins spoke up again, “I know Ronnie is thinking he needs your dad in place to get this done, whatever this is. Maybe it's time to bring in the state police or the DEA.”

London shook her head. “Not the DEA. They got one of the agents in their back pocket. I think his name is Trey Ritcher. He has been paid under the table to look the other way too many times.”

“Maybe we can work that in our favor,” JuJu suggested. “If I remember right, Ritcher has been under surveillance for other infractions on his watch.”

London paused to stare at him. “What do you mean?”

“Chief Lemmer has been growling about Trey for some time now,” Wilder explained. “He let his duty slide for a number of years when he should have stood up and made some high-profile arrests. Also there’s several US Marshals that he’s pissed off for being too lenient when the drugs are right in front of him. Maybe we can get Lemmer on board with us. This is happening in his town, after all.”

“Ugg.” London scowled and warned them, “You can’t call in the locals without alerting Hal. He will know. Your whole element of surprise will be gone. Hal works under the Sheriff. He’ll make sure Ronnie and his friends know what’s going on.”

“Don’t worry, girl,” Hawkins told her. “Allen knows how to keep his mouth shut. We’ve worked with him before.”

“I hope so,” London said.

“But first, we need to break Jenson,” Titan claimed. “I think the man knows a hell of a lot more than he’s willing to say right now. And we all know his weakness. And I bet he's getting mighty thirsty right about now.”

London scoffed as she looked disgusted. “Just be careful, he’s been known to tell lies when the truth won’t help him. I’m not even sure he knows what the truth is anymore.”

“Good luck with your end of things,” Hondo finally told them. “I have to get some plans together for the meeting tomorrow. We have to discuss where to set up this meeting and how to get Carlos to attend. Nosotros hablaremos mas tarde.”

At the Spanish, Hawkins looked a bit lost.

“He says he will talk to you later,” Wren translated.

“Very good, granddaughter,” Hondo said. “I am so happy you can speak a little of your father’s language. Hablamos luego.” He ended the call. 

Hawkins shook his head then he looked over at Kota and said, “Better bring a six-pack along this time. We have to make him believe we’re going to give him some liquid relief.”

Kota disappeared into the kitchen and came back bringing a six-pack of beer. 

They went down the hall and then down the stairs. Hawkins opened the door. 

Jenson watched with guarded eyes as the three men joined him again. 

With a huge smile on his face, Kota passed beer out to his dad and Titan. They popped the cans open.

Jenson nervously licked his dry lips as his body shook a bit. “You came down here with the beer and you aren’t gonna share? That’s mighty rude, ya know?”

Kota laughed. “So says the man who is doing deals with criminals and calling it business.”

Titan agreed as he nodded. “And lying to everyone. I’d say that’s pretty rude too.”

Hawkins shrugged and looked over at Jenson. “You want one?”

Jenson nodded. 

Hawkins glared at him. “If you want a beer…it's gonna cost you.”

“What do you want to know?” Jenson asked as he never took his eyes off the cold frosty beer can.

“Tell us about your family,” Kota said, then took a long sip of his beer.

“What about them?” Jenson frowned. “They got nothing to do with this.”

“Don’t they?” Hawkins snapped. “What does Ronnie want with your daughter? One of the texts on your phone says you owe Ronnie your daughter. Explain that to me, will ya?’ He tipped his beer back and took a long gulp. Then he sighed with pleasure. “Ahh, that’s just damn delicious.”

Jenson glared at him but he didn’t say a word.

As the three men seemed to enjoy their beers, Jenson looked frustrated and grunted as he finally worked his hands free from the rope used on his wrists. With a groan, he sat down and buried his face in his shaky hands. 

The three Rogues simply smirked as they waited for the effect of dryness hitting this alcoholic.

Finally raising his head, he looked over at the three men and snapped, “You people are really lousy, you know that? I was perfectly happy where I was but that wasn’t good enough for you. No, you had to drag my ass into being sober and I hate it. Whatever Ronnie and his friends have in store for you…Man do you fucking deserve it and so much more.”

Titan scoffed in disgust. “You were happy? Yeah, while your kids suffered under your abuse. While the town was being dragged down by criminals. A selfish drunken asshole who doesn’t deserve happiness.”

Hawkins nodded in agreement. “And guess what, pal? The world doesn’t revolve around you here. What you have been doing is criminal and there are consequences you have to face. You are bringing hell to our town and not everyone wants to live that way. So fuck you, fuck Ronnie, and fuck your plans for our future.”

Jenson shook his head. “What is done is done. You and everyone else living here would have survived. You didn’t even know about Ronnie and his plans. He lived here for seven years and nobody knew he was here or what he was doing.”

“We didn’t notice?” Hawkins exclaimed. “Some of us noticed, like the old man you stole that farm from, he sure as hell noticed. You took his fucking home away from him, left him beat to hell, and with nothing to show for all the years he worked that land. He was given ONE DOLLAR!”

Kota now got in on it, “You took more than one life away from the people who lived here because they saw something they shouldn’t have. Maybe someone was moving pills or men were standing around with guns that they don’t normally see around here. They died to keep your secrets. Your own wife died to keep your secrets, didn’t she? What? Did she threaten to spill the beans about what you were doing and they had to shut her mouth? Did she even fight back? Is that why she had to die?”

Titan nodded as he asked, “Did your woman fight back when you couldn’t, or wouldn’t fight back?”

Jenson buried his face in his hands again as he sobbed and his shoulders shook. “You fucking bastards! This whole nightmare was almost over and you just had to fuck things up!”