Chapter Two-Hundred and Fifty-Seven

Chapter Two-Hundred and Fifty-Seven
The three Rogues were traveling the back roads and so far no one was around. In fact, they never saw one person or a vehicle since they started this outing. That was good for them, but worrisome, considering these criminals could be lurking anywhere along this road.

“What did you find?” Nash asked JuJu.

“Not a lot. But I can tell you one thing, they have a good path in and out. And once they reach the river, they can go wherever they want.” 

“Yeah, we found a good sized lab almost right on the dock,” Brute informed him. “And enough room on the river to turn the boat around and get out again.” 

JuJu shook his head. “And they’ve been doing their stick for seven years. They must have been making money hand over fist for at least the last five years.”

“Yeah and that’s not gonna sit well with Hawkins.” Brute growled. “Hell, it doesn't sit well with me either. When we decided to not run the drugs, we tried to stop anyone else from running them through our town as well. Now we find this in our town? I just want to smash their fucking faces in!”

Nash nodded. “But we also have to try and stop that cartel hit tomorrow. Those boys got balls to try something like that.” 
“Yeah, let's hope we can stop it,” Brute said in disgust. “We don’t need to get caught up in a cartel mess. This shit is survival of the cruelest.”

Juju snorted. “And ole Jenson thinks Ronnie is going to take him along when they leave? He’s a lot dumber than he looks and he looks pretty Goddamn stupid.”

Nash nodded. “I feel sorry for London and Chris. They’ve had to live with him this whole time.”

“But London is a strong woman,” Brute assured them. “She took care of her brother this whole time despite her loser dad. And she won’t just walk away. She’ll take care of Chris until he doesn’t need her anymore.”

They then spoke about how they would love to break Ronnie’s neck for doing that to a kid. Dumping him in those caverns like that. Brute said he would love to do the honors and simply tear him in half…which he could probably do if you considered how large he was.

JuJu drove down the backroads as he laughed while Nash and Brute added new ways to mess Ronnie up.

“We could tie him to Henderson’s fifteen-hundred pound Prized bull?” Nash suggested.

“Yeah, then break out a red cape, eh?” Brute joked. “Wave it at the bull.”

Nash snorted and cheered, “Ole!”

“Can you imagine his face being dragged along in the dirt?” Brute exclaimed as he chuckled.

All three men laughed. 

When they got back to the clubhouse, everyone waited to hear what they had found. 

Which in short, had basically been a nice, clean setup with good access to the river. Nash showed them the pictures of the shed and the dock. They also reported that they found no one at the farm.

Hawkins frowned when he heard this. “Where the hell are they then?”

London paused as she thought about this for a moment, then her eyes widened and she shot up from her chair. “What’s the date today?” she exclaimed.

“August 3rd,” Cash said.

“Holy hell!” She shook her head as she looked a bit pale. “Today was the day they were meeting with the new cartel.”

“New cartel?” Hawkins asked

“Yeah, they were leaving the Braza and taking their drugs over to a new cartel in the new place they’re moving to. I think the new cartel is called Mezla? I’m not really sure on the name, but I do know the Braza isn’t going to be happy about the trade up. They’re in fierce competition with the other cartel and the drugs are known to be Braza drugs.”

“So Ronnie is playing a dangerous game with these cartels? How stupid is this guy?” Hawkins asked.

“If that’s what he is doing, then he’s pretty damn stupid.” Hondo’s voice carried across the room as he caught the end of the conversation from the doorway.

Everyone turned to look at him as he and Cameron joined them.

Hondo shook his head as he came in. “The Braza is known for this particular drug and they don’t share their profits with anyone. Ronnie knew this and he agreed not to share the recipe. That could be the reason for this hit. I was wondering how they hoped to get clear of the backlash but this makes sense to me now.”

“Ok, so maybe you can explain it to me then,” Hawkins grumbled.

Hondo shrugged. “If this guy, Carlos comes to check up on Ronnie and his group then they kill him and the drugs turn up in another cartel? They can claim that they were robbed by the new cartel but if they are robbed and the blame for the hit is on me, then the Mezla will be off the hook and I will be blamed for selling the pills to the Mezla cartel in the first place. I will be ruined and more than likely spend the rest of my life behind bars while Ronnie and his friends spend the rest of their lives on a beach in a country with no extradition somewhere.”

“And the Braza Cartel will be out of their number one seller,” Cameron added.

“We need to verify the new cartel’s name.” Hondo snarled, then turned to London and asked, “Do you know where this meeting is going to be held?”

London shook her head. “No I don’t, all I heard was the day they were meeting.”

“Would your dad know?” Kota asked.

London shrugged her shoulders. “I doubt it. I have a feeling this was Ronnie’s last fuck you to this city and the people he was working with here.”

Hondo nodded. “That sounds like something he would do.” Shaking his head, he said, “Only a backstabber and a coward would do that. Cobarde baboso.” Slimy coward.

London nodded. “That’s Ronnie and his group alright. They think they are above the law and they believe the people they’re paying will keep them out of trouble. But when they leave here, they plan to stick it to the same people. They figure they aren’t going to be around long enough to get caught.”

“And we have no idea where they are going from here?” Cameron asked.

Hondo thought for a moment then said, “Mezla is usually down around St. Louis. They might already have the routes set up for the drugs and if they get the new pills, that could change their dynamics. But they also have to come up with a way to protect themselves from the blowback from the Braza. These are their drugs and they came up with the recipe. They are trademarked as Braza drugs. That could start a war they don’t want. The cost would be too high. So they have to come up with a way to explain how they got the recipe. That is what they are buying, not so much the pills but the recipe.”