Havoc (Los Desperados MC) (15 page)

A map of LA was spread out before me. I traced my finger along the freeways that twisted and turned and intertwined down the California coast. There was a single bulb hanging low from the ceiling making shadows shudder and twist on the walls all around me. The men around me were the only people in the clubhouse and other than the sound of my voice the night was silent. The map was on a table and members of Los Desperados who were listening to me silently surrounded the table. Marco was standing next to me, his arms crossed. He was deep in thought, but he would nod in agreement every now and then, so I kept going.

The top leaders of Los Desperados surrounded me. Marco was there, along with a heavy-set bearded man named Bill, aka The Bear, who was in charge of selling the goods. There was also Jake, a younger looking man who spoke very little; he was in charge of keeping the cops away from what we were doing and he was very good at his job. There was Ted, a tall African American man who was in charge of arms and numbers. Next to him was Julian’s old friend David who would be the second in command. And then, of course, there was Julian.

“They know what they’re doing. For the most part the truck will stay on the freeways because it's safer there. The driver will have a pre-planned route that travels through well-lit and well-populated roads. The truck is easier to spot and tail on the freeway, but if we can see it, so can everyone else. Staying on well-traveled roads means that if they do get hassled, there will be other drivers on the road who will call the cops. It’s your basic herd mentality, safety in numbers.

There are two places where they will be off the freeway and on street roads. The first is here,” I pointed to a spot on the map next to the nicer part of Echo Park. “The truck will take Exit 249 and then North Seventh Street for four miles before turning onto Marianne Drive for another ten miles. From Marianne Drive he’s going to take this entrance and take the 405 South for another twenty miles.

The second time he’s off the road is when he takes Exit 34 and he takes the forty-five all the way to the bank located here.”

I looked at the men around me. The Bear had a big smile on his face as he nodded at the map. I could see he was already mentally spending the money we would get on this ride. Jake was looking at the map, a troubled expression on his face. He was worried about the cop; it was a lot of road and a lot of jurisdiction for him to cover. As for Julian, I didn’t even bother to look at him.

“False detours won’t work with this company. Any change in the route and they call the home base to make sure it’s legit. If it’s not, the cops will be called. The bank gives a lot of money to the police union, so when the bank calls the cops, the cops show up fast.”

“So we can’t get them on the freeway and we can’t divert them off the Freeway. It’ll have to be street roads,” Jake said. “So which street roads would you pick?”

“These,” I said, pointing to the Echo Park neighborhood. “If we’re smart we can run him off the roads there. There are small alleys that are dark and have no cameras on them here, here, and here. Any one of those would work. But we have to be fast. He’ll have a radio in the truck and he can call for backup in a second. There will also be civilians and other people around. The best option is to take the truck and the driver in one swoop. We need to drive it down one of theses alleys and get the driver to open the door and let us in.

We take the truck here,” I said. “It’s an empty lot in the bad part of Echo Park. I’ve used it before. There are no lights and no buildings around. If the drivers cut their lights before the turn no one will see us in there. But-”

“Why is there always a but?” The Bear asked, but I just kept going.

“The truck has a GPS on it and the bank can track it. Without a distress call from the driver we will have some time, but not a lot. The Bandits will need to work quickly and move the money into one of their trucks. That’s where we get them. The empty lot is huge; we can hide in the corners and surround them while they’re working. Then we take their truck and head back to the clubhouse.”

I knew the lot well. Ten years ago a developer had bought it before being busted for racketeering. He was in jail, and that lot was the only part of his wealth that remained. His family still owned it and they refused to do anything with it. Letting a huge piece of land sit unused and covered with garbage was their revenge against the city. Homeless people congregated there – sometimes enough of them to make a tent city. It was also a favored spot for desperate hookers. A dead body was found there every other week, but there was nothing the city could do about it. It was the perfect place for what we needed to do.

“Marco,” The Bear said. “You still haven't told us how much the truck is.”

Marco looked at me and then at the men around the table. “Ten million in gold bars,” he said. He and I had discussed this last night, but he had asked me to keep the amount a secret. It was a lot of money and a very big heist for Los Desperados.

“Holy shit,” Jake said, running his hands over his face. “That’s a lot of gold, Marco.”

“And gold is up. This is a big heist and it needs to go perfectly. I need to make sure we are all on the same page,” Marco said, his voice clipped but even.

“Have you asked her?” Julian said, and everyone froze. “I know we disagree on this, but her loyalty is still under question.”

“Who’s questioning it?” Jake asked.

“I am,” Julian said. “She’s said a thousand times that she would never leave The Bandits and now she’s planning a heist against them? I don’t trust it.” Everyone glanced over at Julian and then at Marco, but no one looked at me.

“Have you sworn your loyalty to us yet?” Julian asked.

“This job will swear her loyalty to us,” Marco answered. His voice was low and even, but it permitted no discussion. Marco wasn’t arguing with Julian, but telling him how it was and Julian didn't have the authority to disagree.

I finally looked at Julian, but he was looking away with a look of disgust on his face. Good. I wasn’t looking at him for approval; I didn’t care what he thought about me. Julian and I hadn’t spoken in weeks and I was perfectly fine with that.

“This operation will work. We’ll need to get to the lot early and hide our bikes ahead of time. I know The Bandits won’t get there before us. Anyone who would be in that lot is either a hooker or a vagrant and they won’t call the cops. The Bandits won’t want to get there too early in case the sight of all those gang members sets someone off and the cops are called. If we get there early and hide well, we can surround them while they work and then take the truck when they’re done. I’ll get there early with the gang and hide us in the lot. I’ll know when they’re done. We won’t need to fire a single shot or risk losing a single man. ”

“Are you really going to trust her?” Julian asked. “How has she earned that?”

“Ten million dollars in gold bars, Julian,” The Bear said. “I’d trust the devil himself if he said he could get me that much money.”

“I’m saying it here and now, I don’t trust her and I think this is a bad idea.”

“And I’m saying we
are
trusting her,” Marco said and there was a hint of edge to his voice. “This is her initiation. If it goes well, she’s a full member. She becomes a lead driver and she gets to plan her own heists. If it does not go well or she betrays us, she dies. Daniela and I have discussed this, Julian, and that should be good enough for you.”

The empty clubhouse was silent. In front of me I could see the replacement wall Los Desperados had just finished. It had been built in just a few days, but they wanted something extra. Now, instead of a blank wall, there was a mural honoring the fight against The Bandits and the men who had died there. Never forget it implored us, but I didn’t need a reminder. I would always remember what happened that day.

Julian’s jaw worked in frustration and I could tell he was unhappy. But I didn’t care. This was entirely his fault. Everything that had led me to this place was because of Julian. He was the only reason I was here, and now he was trying to sabotage my place in Los Desperados. I wasn’t under his thumb anymore. He couldn’t lock me to his radiator again and I had the feeling it was killing him. But I was glad. I hoped he spent the rest of his life being miserable.

Any feelings I had for Julian disappeared when he killed Paul. They went out like a flame snuffed and I had no desire to re-light the fire. This time things would be different. I would never sleep with Julian again and I wasn’t letting him back in. He had done too much damage the last time. I didn’t trust Julian Gonzales and I never would.

It had been two weeks since the fight at the hotel. I had no idea what had happened with Paul’s body. Part of me didn’t want to know. The Bandits must have figured out he was dead by now. I hoped they created a memorial for him somewhere. I hoped someone else was mourning him other than me. I hoped they were making a tombstone for him. There wouldn’t be a body to put in the ground, but he deserved a real tombstone at least.

I hadn’t spoken with Julian since that night in the hotel. He had brought me back to Los Desperados’ headquarters and I meant what I said. I would never touch him again. I never wanted to see him again. There was a small basement apartment in the clubhouse where Marge and her old lady lived. They had an extra bedroom and told me I could stay as long I wanted.

I spent five full days crying on the bed. I would wake up, try to eat something, and then it would all come back to me, every event of that horrible night. I remembered the crying maid, the fight, Paul’s death, and the silent cleaner who arrived after it was all over. That surprised look on Paul’s face was the worst part. I saw it in my dreams at night. Paul was being pulled away from me and I was running and struggling to grab him. But he was always just out of reach and his expression never changed.

When Julian killed Paul he had destroyed my chances of rejoining The Bandits. They knew Paul had been looking for me and when he never came back they must have accurately guessed what happened. Paul died trying to rescue me and I still hadn’t come home. I couldn’t go back. If I did, they would ask me what happened to Paul and they would pull the truth out of me. Paul had come to rescue me at a hotel where I had been sleeping with a Los Desperados member. Not only had I betrayed my gang, but my actions had got a member killed, too. They would never forgive me for it. If I went back to The Bandits now, they would kill me.

Julian had known. He wanted me to join Los Desperados. It was his only goal from the beginning and he made that clear many times. I refused, but he didn’t take no for an answer. I had refused to willingly join them, so he forced my hand. Like it or not I was part of Los Desperados now. All I had to do was prove my loyalty. And what about Julian? Was this all some trick on his part? Had he been trying to seduce me away from my gang? Had he planned the whole thing, pretending to have feelings for me and care about me just to get what he wanted?

We had encountered The Bandits seven times in the two weeks since Paul had died. They weren’t looking to rescue me anymore; they were hunting me down. They had tried to attack the clubhouse, but had been beaten back on the road. They had tried to sabotage a drop-off, but had been pushed back by Los Desperados’ superior numbers and firepower. They were getting desperate and everyone could tell. The Bandits thought they were running this town, but underneath the surface Los Desperados had been growing and now they were winning.

Intercepting The Bandits’ heist would end all of that. It might not destroy The Bandits, but I knew they needed the money and without it they would have to back off Los Desperados and focus on moving goods. If this deal went right it would end the fighting for a long time. That was what I wanted. I wanted this gang war to end so I could get back into the business of driving, only now I would drive for Los Desperados.

I had put all of my dreams of riding and being with Julian away. I didn’t know who my blocker would be, but Marco told me I would have my pick. It wouldn’t be Julian. I hadn’t been thinking about Julian. My every thought was about that night at the Ace Hotel and what happened to Paul. Where had they put his body? What about the clothes he had been wearing and the bike he had arrived on? But the cleaner was good at his job and the money had been enough to keep the maid quiet. No one had listed Paul as a missing person; there was no hunt for his murderer.

There didn’t need to be a hunt. His murderer lived at the same address I did only two floors up. I had thought about Julian a little and only recently. After five days of nothing but crying I reminded myself life is for the living and I forced myself to get up and shower and talk to people. It had helped. Marge and Victoria, her girlfriend, were funny and understanding. They gave me clothes to wear and made me spaghetti and we ate it together around their scratched-up kitchen table.

By then Julian had stopped trying to convince me that killing Paul had been an accident. When we first came back to the clubhouse he begged me to go to his apartment with him. He told me I could have his bed and he would sleep on the couch or even down here in the bar. But that wasn’t good enough. I had made myself a promise that I was done with Julian and I intended to keep it.

It was easy. Every time I looked at him I saw the hit that killed Paul, or the moments that followed where he called the cleaner to make Paul disappear. He had been cold and ruthless and his hands were the hands that had killed someone I loved. I never wanted to be touched by him again.

The first day Julian came down to talk to me I refused to open my door. He came back the next day and the day after. On the third day I was filled with terrible rage and anger and I screamed horrible things to him. Everything I said I meant, and after that day he hadn’t bothered coming back.

It was Marco who came down on day ten. He sat across from me at Marge’s kitchen table and made me an offer.

“You and I both know you can’t return to The Bandits,” he said. “And, honestly, after seeing what we have, why would you want to? But I don’t permit layabouts in my organization. Everyone works. I recruited you because you’re good, Daniela. I want you to drive for us.”

“So what do I have to do?” I asked. I hadn’t been thrilled or excited. I still felt numb. Working for Marco felt like brushing my teeth; it was just another thing that had to be done.

“Tell me when The Bandits next heist is so we can steal it,” Marco said.

I looked up at him in confusion. And then I understood. Any oath I gave would be meaningless. I had given oaths to The Bandits, but they hadn’t protected me or stopped me from joining Los Desperados when my back had been against the wall. They needed something that would ensure I could never go back to The Bandits.

“It’s one thing to leave them, to turn my back on them. It’s another thing to betray them.”

“The Bandits are hyenas, constantly on the edges of our borders, pestering us with pathetic attacks. We are the lions and enough is enough. We need to show them our strength. I’m not interested in a war, Daniela. I’m interested in money for my people and me and waging a war with The Bandits is cutting into our profits. I want them off our back and this is the cleanest way to do it.”

He left me to think about it. I weighed my decision all night. But in truth Julian had made the decision for me. I knew the best way to defeat The Bandits and that next morning I told Marco and we got to work.

Now I was standing around a table with my former enemies debating how to rob my former friends. And my former lover, who had brought me here in the first place, was questioning my loyalties. Up was down and black was white and nothing made sense anymore.

I still didn’t feel like myself. I felt numb and empty and nothing seemed to matter anymore. Normally when planning a heist I got excited and pumped up and my enthusiasm was contagious. But now I felt like some middle manager just going through the motions. There was no thrill in the planning, no fantasizing about how I would spend my cut. There was nothing. I had cried out every last emotion I ever had and now all that was left was this empty husk running on autopilot.

I worked for Los Desperados because I had nowhere else to go. I planned this heist because it had to be done and I was the best. But there was no joy in my life, no happiness anymore. There were only the terrible memories of the people and life I had lost. My old life was receding in the rearview mirror and the farther away it got, the colder I became.

We were done. Marco told us to disperse. The men walked away and I took a moment to carefully roll up the map. These days, paper maps were preferred; they left no digital trail. But they were getting harder and harder to come by and I didn't want to lose my good one.

Map in hand I turned towards the entrance to the basement apartment, but when I turned, Julian was blocking my path. I tried to ignore him and walk around him, but he just moved with me and I couldn't get anywhere. He was a brick wall in front of me that I had no hope of moving. He wasn’t letting me and I was trapped alone with him in the empty clubhouse.