Lightning: Soldiers Of Hades MC, #4
Lightning: Chapter 5

Lightning heard the entire exchange and he knew he wouldn’t let Monica take the boy away from Nala. He’d move heaven and earth to keep them together.

Cobra joined him and looked in Nala’s direction. Then he looked back at Lightning. He chuckled and shook his head. “Kid, you’re a damn fool if you let that woman go her own way.”

“I know,” Lightning agreed. “I haven’t even kissed her yet but I know she’s meant to be mine.” He took a deep breath then added, “Monica told Paco that she wants him to live with her and she told him if he didn’t, she would hurt Nala like she hurt his dad.”

His words were soft spoken, but Cobra could hear the rage behind them. “You gonna let that happen?”

“Like hell,” Lightning swore. “We have to stop this bitch and her threats. We have to take her down and take her down hard. Paco isn’t going to miss her and Nala will finally be free. Free to bring her brother up right.”

“Then we better get to work huh?” Cobra nodded. “You know the paperwork from her father explained so much about the inner workings of the cartel. This Monica is more than just a chemist. She’s the cartel’s link to this side of the border. She’s got five of the biggest designer drugs under her belt and she’s making the cartel millions. But she’s also making herself millions with two drugs the cartel doesn’t know about.”

“What? What are you saying?” Lightning frowned.

“I think it might be possible to let the cartel know just exactly what she’s doing and they will be pissed. She’s supposed to be working for them, not on her own,” Cobra pointed out. “If they know she’s making and distributing on her own, they might feel betrayed. They might think she owes them the money she’s been stealing right from under their noses.”

Lightning smiled. “I like the way you think.”

Cobra snorted. “I’ve been fighting groups like this for a long damn time.”

Lightning stared at him. “Yeah, I know the story about how your dad fought the cartel all these years.

Cobra nodded. “They took our mom away for a long damn time. They have done a lot of damage here over the years. Not just to us, but many kids have died of overdoses and many families have been torn apart. Nala’s too. You gonna claim your woman and her brother? They come as a pair, you know that right?”

Lightning nodded. Yup, I sure do.” He stepped away from Cobra and went over to where the three of them stood. He wrapped his arm around Nala and felt her stiffen at first but he wouldn’t move away from her, instead he moved closer. He looked at her brother and said in no uncertain terms, “You will never go anywhere without your sister. So get that idea right out of your head.” He leaned in and looked Paco in the eyes. “And do you know why?”

Paco shook his head.

“Because you belong together. You and your sister are a family and families stick together.”

“But…” Paco interrupted.

Lightning shook his head. “No buts, kid. We’ll take care of you and your sister. You both are now under our protection and we take that very seriously.”

“Ok.” Paco almost look relieved.

“Now, how about we get your guys something to eat?” Lightning asked.

Jack put the boy on the floor and caught Nala by the arm, “You go ahead little man, I need to talk to Nala for a minute, then we’ll join you. Okay?”

“Sure Jack.” Paco took Lightning’s hand and walked away with him.

Nala watched him for a moment then turned to Jack. “What’s going on, Jack?”

“You’ve had some visitors since you went walkabout girl. Two men. Luis and the other one Loca. They came around a couple times to replace you but when you weren’t home, they had plenty to cuss about.”

Nala nodded. “I’ve met them. One of them slammed me in the head when I confronted Monica this morning. She wasn’t very happy to see me at all.”

Jack snorted. “I’ll just bet she wasn’t. That woman is a witch for sure.”

Nala looked around the room. “I have a feeling this group of men aren’t going to let her go free very much longer. I think her days are numbered, she just doesn’t know it yet.”

“That don’t hurt my feelings any. I miss you and the boy being around. The old neighborhood just isn’t the same.” He nodded. “I’ll be glad to see the end of that woman.”

Nala nodded. “Have a seat okay? I’m going to check on Paco. He looked so upset.”

Jack nodded then sat down in a chair. He looked over at the group of men at the larger table growled. “Sweet Mary mother of Jesus…”

Python heard that very curse somewhere in his past. He was so sure he knew it but where had he heard it before? He watched the old man and saw him scratch his whiskers. Just that action triggered something in his memories and he belted out, “Jackson Parley is that you, you ornery old bastard?”

Jack swung his head around and glared at Python. “What the hell? You old snake man, you. What the hell are you doing in Hondo?”

Python got up and stomped over to where Jack was. He pulled out a chair and sat down, holding out his hand. “How the hell are you, old man?”

Jack raised an eyebrow at him. “Who you talking about? You’re still older than I am.”

Python flung his head back and laughed. “Only by hours, you old fool.”

Cobra, Cotton and half the men gathered around.

“Dad, what’s going on here?” Cobra asked. “You know him?”

“Hell yeah, I know him.” Python grinned. “We grew up together. We were close back then because we found out we were born on the same day in the same hospital.”

“So what happened?” Cotton asked, “How did you two lose touch with each other?”

“Well,” Jack began. “Your daddy decided he wanted to start his own club and I wanted something different. I guess we sort of drifted away.” He looked over at Python and asked, “So what are you doing in this neck of the woods?”

Python glared at Jack for a moment. “We’re here to stop the cartel.”

“Well, I say it’s about freakin’ time.” Jack nodded, as he looked angry. “I’ve been watching over this town for a long time now, and I’m not liking what’s been going on. Most people know it but they can’t stop it.”

“We’ll see about that,” Python said.

“Well, if you need to know where they’re hiding just let me know. I know all kinds of secrets in this town.” Jack nodded at his old friend.

“We might just take you up on that,” Python told him. “Nala told us about the Macon Distributors outlet. But any other help you can give us would be appreciated.”

“I can tell you where Monica hangs out if you’re interested.” Jack gave him a hard, cold look. “That woman needs a size fourteen shoe up her ass.”

“I have a feeling she’s gonna get more than that before we get done with her.” Python growled. “She’s gonna replace herself in a world of pain when the cartel replaces out what she’s been up to.”

“And those brothers of hers are gonna replace out we don’t fool around when they threaten friends of mine,” Jack stated.

“Brothers?” Python frowned.

“Loca and Luis.” Jack nodded. “They are her brothers. They run this part of the business with her. She’s supposed to be in charge but they don’t take orders from her very well. They’ve been coming around Nala’s house. I think they’re after Paco.” He shook his head. “They were around the day his dad died. I overheard them two boys talking about the day they were over at Nala’s. They said it was under orders from Monica but I knew they enjoyed slapping her around that day.” He shook his head. “Those two really don’t like her much either.”

“Hmm, now that’s interesting.” Python pondered what he said. “Maybe we can use them to stir up some trouble until we can clue the cartel into what they’re up to.”

“I know exactly how to do it too,” Nala spoke up from behind Cobra’s chair.

They all turned to her.

It was Cotton that asked, “What are you talking about, girl?”

“You need a way to pit brothers against Monica right?” She stared at them all. “Well, I know how to do that. I lived with that witch for five years. I know what buttons to push her over the edge.”

“And what buttons would those be?” Python asked.

“Monica is a vain woman. She thinks the world revolves around her and her ability to make and produce designer drugs. She thinks she can do whatever she wants and get away with murder. She laughed about the fact that she herself shot my dad, the day she staged that kidnapping nonsense and she said he deserved exactly what he got. I’ll never forget the look in her eyes that day. She just left my dad bleeding and broken on the floor.” Nala wiped the tears from her face. She turned her head to Python. “Can you get a message to the cartel?”

“Maybe, depends on what you want to tell them.” He studied her face.

“I want them to know what a snake in the grass she is. My dad found enough evidence to convict her in a court of law but I want her to suffer the cartel’s revenge. I want her to know she’s lost everything.”

“Oh honey, she’s gonna feel the cartel’s wrath believe me.” Python chuckled. “When we get done with that little lady, she’s gonna be sorry she messed with the Soldiers of Hades MC for sure.”

“She gonna be sorry she ever thought to threaten me and Paco too,” Nala vowed.