“His name’s Benjamin Roscoe.He’s as corrupt as they come and hell-bent on cleanin’ us out of the area.”
That surprised me.“Seems pretty sudden.”
“Yeah.Even your brother got taken by surprise on this one.”Knuckles scrubbed a hand over his face before slamming the pen back on the table in frustration.My brother, Wyatt Raven, was my lawyer.He was affiliated with Iron Tzars, but he was my older brother.Which meant anything and everything going on around me, Raven -- his road name in the Tzars -- knew about and had at least a modicum of control over.Why?Because he was a bastard control freak who constantly had to have his nose in other people’s business… because he had a fear of losing more people close to him.Like he had our parents, our younger sister, and then me.“Not to mention, Tonio is furious.”He was talking about Antonio Miles, a major player in the family who controlled the Nashville underground.Nashville was his city.Kiss of Death was the muscle.I didn’t think Antonio was the head of the family dynasty, but he was definitely in the upper echelon.
I sat up straighter.“Hedidn’t know?”
“Nope.”
“Sounds serious.”
“It could be.Roscoe has his men watching our every move.His excuse is that we’re a bunch of ex-cons gathered in one place.He has no evidence to back up claims we demand protection money from the dock workers, or that we basically have our pick of shit we want coming into Nashville, but that’s not stopping him.”
“So he’s just throwing shit out there?”
“Yep.The media picked it up because why not, and ran with it.”
“And given the city’s current political environment, it was easy to get everyone to believe we’re causing a problem.”
“Yep.Which means this Roscoe is making a concerted effort to take out the Miles family’s muscle.”
“The fact is, he’s not wrong about us being a menace.We’re just not a menace in the way he’s painting.”
Knuckles sat back in his chair and shrugged.“True.But I’m pretty sure he’s making this move on someone else’s payroll.Little cunt’s not smart enough to do it on his own, though it’s obvious he thinks he is.”
“Which means there’s someone new making a move.”I crossed one ankle over the opposite knee.“Great.This isn’t the calm, carefree environment I’d hoped to show Nadine.”
“Yeah, we’re gonna scare the poor girl to death.Keep her in the center buildings as much as you can.The other women are gathering there.They’re making use of Oasis One a lot.Given the heat -- both literally and figuratively -- the officers all agreed it’s better to keep the women and kids inside the inner protection of the compound.”
“Not gonna get a disagreement from me, Prez.”
“Not you I’m worried about.It’s your girl.”Yeah.Knuckles might be a hard ass, but he wasn’t a monster.We all loved women, but Knuckles had extended his protective streak to all the women in the club.Old ladies or club whores, it didn’t matter.Our women were treasures, and we did our best to treat them as such, so this expression of concern didn’t surprise me now like it might have when I’d first come here awaiting my trial.
“If anyone can put her at ease, it’s the old ladies.Nadine’s in her apartment cleaning up and getting some rest.I’ll explain things to her.With the help of the other girls, I’m pretty sure I can get her to do what we tell her to.”
The smug grin on Knuckles’ face said he knew everything to be already under control.
“I wouldn’t count on it.”I chuckled, thinking about Nadine’s stubborn streak.“She’s got a mind of her own.”
Knuckles laughed, a sound almost like gravel in a blender.“All the good ones do.That’s what makes ‘em worth all the shit they put us through.All the women in this club have a mind of their own, in case you’ve forgotten.”
I rubbed my beard, thinking about how to handle this.“I’ll talk to her tonight.Let her know what’s going on but ease her into it.”
“Good.Now, you got her property cut in the works?”
“Nope.”I grinned.“Already done.I’m giving it to her tonight when we --”
A sharp knock interrupted us.The door swung open and Diesel, a prospect Knuckles had brought in sometime while I was in prison, filled the doorframe.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he said, not looking sorry at all.I didn’t know the guy, but I’d been hearing from the others he was a quiet, solid guy.Figuratively as well as literally.“We’ve got movement on the east side wall.Unmarked car, two men taking photos.If they’re not police, I’ll eat his shorts.”He nodded at me, and I barked out a laugh.
Knuckles didn’t acknowledge the byplay.“Make sure we got good eyes on them but don’t engage.I expect this is just the beginning.”
Diesel gave Knuckles a curt nod.“Already on it.Knight has a good view of the car all the way around.Probably has an ID on the occupants already.”
“Good.”Knuckles stood.“Tell him to have the information ready for me.I’ll be there in five.”
“On it, Prez.”
