Click – Brothers At Arms #5

When they got back to the clubhouse, everyone was there. When they opened the duffle bags, they simply pored the contents out onto the table. They found close to a million dollars in just the drug deposits. But when they opened the bank robbery bag, they found so much more. When it was all counted out, it was close to three million dollars.

Also in the bag with the bank money, they found a bag of gems and cut diamonds, rings and necklaces from the jewelry heist.

Alfredo said what was on everyone’s mind, “I understand a bit better now. To him, this was worth waiting for. No wonder he kept trying to get in here.”

Leon spilled the gemstones out on the table, so everyone could see them.

Desi gasped in horror. She stared at the mound of necklaces and loose gems as she sat down hard in the chair. Silent, her eyes never left the pile of gems.

Leon glanced at her then looked at the gems. Finally, he reached over and picked up something that didn’t look as if it belonged with the rest of the items sitting there. He studied it for a moment then looked up at Desi and asked softly, “Do you know this piece, child?”

She burst out sobbing and dropped her head to her folded arms on the table and just wept

Click glanced up from his laptop and stood. Stepping over, he looked concerned as he sat down next to her. He seemed puzzled as he never saw what caused this outburst.

Suddenly, Desi stopped crying as she sat up and defiantly swiped her tears away. “My grandfather gave my mother that necklace when she graduated high school and left to go to New York to school. He told her he saved it for her ever since her mother died when she was young. The story about this necklace was that my grandmother brought it over with her when she joined my grandfather here in the states. They got married here and the stone was from her village in Sicily, given to him as her family’s bride price to my grandfather. He told me he didn’t want it as a prize to him as it was hers. So he had a necklace designed for it as she loved that stone because it reminded her of her home and her childhood. I don’t know how Barrett got his hands on it, but I know that stone.”

Leon walked over to her, gently took her hand, and laid the necklace into her palm. Then he folded her hand over the necklace. He reached out, tipped her chin up and whispered, “I think you know when and how he got this piece. But it was never his to take.”

Desi looked up at him and said, “I know the stone is valuable but it means so much more to me than its value. It’s part of my family history. When my mother died and I couldn’t find it, I thought it was gone forever.” She gazed down at the necklace in her hand. “My grandmother wore this every day of her marriage, then when she died, my grandfather passed it down to my mom. When I went to live with him after mom died, he asked about the necklace and I had to tell him it was gone. I didn’t know Barrett took it.” Her hands shook as she took the chain and tried to put it around her neck.

Leon took it away from her and wrapped the chain around her neck then snapped the small closure.

Desi closed her eyes and grabbed the stone gently when she felt it touching her skin. She whispered a prayer, “Grazie, Signore. Hai benedetto la mia famiglia.” Thank you Lord, you have blessed my family. She then opened her eyes and nodded at Leon. “Thank you, senor.”

Click reached out and took her hand in his. “I know they are gone, but now you have a piece of your family at least.”

Nodding, she swiped a stray tear from her cheek.

Zeus slowly shook his head. “He damaged so many lives. This helps a bit, but we need this asshole in either a grave or a prison cell. Now, we’ve got Barrett on the run. He’s wounded and possibly infected by this time. We don’t know that for sure but without medical help, his recent injuries aren’t working for him. He’s in hiding right now, waiting for his own men to get here. I think we can work that to our advantage.”

Leon looked over at Alfredo. “We need to flush him out, the sooner the better.

Alfredo shook his head. “I think when he finds out his well is dry, it will just piss the boy off. He’s going to come back hard at this place and then he’ll go back underground to get back in here.”

“Yeah?” Memphis countered. “According to the men Marty had come in last night, he can’t use the tunnels anymore. They blocked off all the entrances they could find and then they blocked off the tunnels coming and going from here.”

Delaney jumped in, “I think what grandpa is trying to say is that his money is still here and he wants it bad enough to try and come in to get it. But if he can’t get it, he’s going to try to make sure you guys don’t get out of here alive. My father isn’t one to give up until there’s only one man left standing, and he thinks he’s going to be that lone man.”

Zeus snorted. “Well, we aren’t going anywhere. All he will find is us fighting back with everything we’ve got.”

Suddenly, they all heard footsteps stomping on the roof.

Zeus, Memphis, Diabolus, and several others ran for the stairway to the roof.

When they arrived, Captain pointed to the fence line to the east of the clubhouse. “Barrett’s men are a day early.”

Four or five vehicles had pulled in while parking in a line. Several men piled out of each car and they were armed while ducking for cover. A quick count revealed there are a dozen men outside the walls.

Zeus growled and looked around at his men and the women. “If they shoot…shoot back.” Shaking his head, he said, “At least they can’t get any closer than they are right now. With all the tunnels shut off, they can’t use them to breach our walls either. We simply need to watch and see if they find Barrett or not.”

Click came up the steps behind the group and called out, “Boss, I turned on the jammers outside the fence so they can’t use their phones.”

Zeus smiled down at him then he looked up at the group. “Good, that means they’ll have to hunt for Barrett and that’ll take more time and in his shape he might not even be alive by the time they find him. Then whatever deal he made with them here will be gone.” He snorted. “Hell, any money he promised them is gone anyway. So if they came looking for him to get paid they are going to be very disappointed.”

Diabolus smiled at this thought. “Yeah, that’s true but they don’t know it yet.”

Zeus paused and cocked his head at Diabolus. Then he actually smiled back at him. “Well hell boys, maybe we should tell them then.” He turned to Click and asked, “Can you tap into one of the phones out there?”

Click nodded at him. “Probably. What do you have in mind exactly?”

“I want you to send them a message for me. Tell them that Barrett can’t afford to pay them now because we found his stash and he’s now broker than broke. Inform them that we found the gold, the gems, and the stash of cash, not to mention the tank that held yet another fortune that Barrett’s grandfather left for him to find. It has all been turned over to the Family. Oh and tell them that we aren’t the only ones here. That the Family has shooters outside the fence. And that they have orders to shoot back.”

Click shook his head. “You really want me to tell them all that? Isn’t that sort of giving them a head’s up?”

Zeus shook his head. “We’re just being honest with them, Barrett can’t pay them with anything on our side of the fence, and I want them to know that before they start a war they can’t win.”

“Well hopefully that will work.” Click shook his head again then said, “I’ll see what I can do but I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Maybe they’ll all turn on Barrett sooner than he thinks they will,” Diabolus pointed out.

“Or they could turn on us and break through the front gate to take back what Barrett promised them.” Memphis also pointed out.

Zeus shook his head. “Damn, why do you guys always gotta play devil’s advocate to turn things around that makes sense?” He ran his hands over the back of his head and asked, “Anybody got any other ideas?”

“Si, I do,” Leon spoke from behind them.

Everyone turned around and looked at him as he stood in the doorway at the top of the stairs.

“And just what do you have in mind?” Zeus asked the other man.

Leon shrugged, “We get one of their numbers just like you proposed, then I will speak to them. I will tell them if they can find Barrett we will allow them to get away. I will tell them that the money that had been left here by his grandfather belongs to the Family and I have taken it back to Boston, so that money isn’t even here any longer. I will suggest for them to ask Barrett where his stash is because we already found it and his money is no longer his. It belongs to the Family as an interest tax on what his grandfather stole from us. I believe this will make his own men turn on him.”

Zeus nodded. “I see your point. I’ll bet you a nickel he never told them what all this place was really hiding.”

Leon scoffed. “I won’t take that bet because I’m sure he never told them. But perhaps they need to know. If they do find him and they could, we need to make sure they turn on him for trying to cheat them.”

Memphis agreed with his plan. “Yeah good ole Barrett never would have told his own men what he was really coming here for. Barrett never did share very well.”

“He might have shared some of it with them but never the real value.” Delaney joined them on the roof and looked at the men standing on the other side of the fence. She froze and growled when she focused on one of the men standing there, staring back. “That mother fucker is here?”

Zeus looked over at her. “What are you talking about?”

Delaney pointed out one of the men. “Chico Waylon. That’s a man my father has known for a very long time. They grew up together and were friends most of their lives. They were the best of friends until my dad set him up for a fall. Chico was supposed to be at a certain place at a certain time but for once he was late and he never got caught up in the plot my dad set up. Instead, Chico found out about it and he was pissed. He couldn’t believe my dad would set him up but everyone who was there told him that’s exactly what he did. They used to be good friends once upon a time but I doubt there’s little love lost between them now. So why is he here?”

“Can you reach out to him?” Leon asked.

Delaney nodded. “I think so, why?”

“I want to speak to this man. I think we can use him to get your father out of hiding.’

Delaney looked at Leon and said, ‘My dad’s plot would have sent him to jail for a long, long time. Chico was not happy about that but hey, that’s my dad isn’t it? He felt Chico was getting too high on the power rung and he didn’t like it. He was going to knock Chico off the rung and take his place but my dad got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.” Shaking her head she said, “He went to prison for ten long years and Chico got the last laugh then.”

Leon looked over at Zeus. “I have to wonder then exactly why Chico is here. Why is he with the men Barrett called? Curious isn’t it?”