"Thanks, because getting a replacement for him would be very difficult and I'm rather attached to the one I have," Nicole replied, as she reached over and took Cole's hand.
Cole gave hers a squeeze, "I guess we are off Jim. Thanks for standing behind me on this one."
"I owe you and the club owes you several. Never should have crossed your mind that this would go down any differently," Jim told him, rising from his chair and, for a brief moment, to Nicole, it didn't seem like he was ever going to stop rising.
Goddamn that man is big," she shuddered to herself.
Back out in the bar, she gave Cole a hug and then a kiss, "See you soon and don't worry; it looks like I'm going to be well taken care of. I think I'll hang out here for a few hours anyway and then around midnight hit the hotel for some sleep if you aren't back by then."
Cole looked at Brian, "What are your plans if it goes sour with the cops?"
Brian answered as if he had already thought this out, "We'll stay at the hotel, at least for a few days. If I am forced to move her, I'll safehouse her at my place. I have a spare room with a comfortable bed and a pinball machine. We'll be fine. Not to worry, and both Jim and George have my address. It's only about a mile from here," Brian told him. "In any case, I'll keep both Jim and George updated on my movements if something presses us beyond that. But she will be safe and well looked after until you are back. I guarantee you that much."
"What are your first instincts about running, say to New Orleans?" Cole inquired.
"You thinking along those lines?" Brian asked in return.
"It would be a major hassle with the house and other stuff, and the Horsemen aren't there, which was actually one of my reasons for picking it out of the blue. Maybe getting out of town for a few months and waiting for things to cool down would be a good idea."
"My first thought," Brain answered, "is that with Antonio's demise, this shit is only going to calm down with a short list of solutions. The way I read it, Antonio was more or less a calming element with Gabe and now Gabe's making decisions all by himself. That's going to keep the waters churning for a while, because that man uses way too much coke. But to the first question, it's a good choice. San Diego would be better. Gabe doesn't have nearly the arm his delusional ego believes. Twenty miles outside of Chicago and your threat level drops to near zero. Hate to see you leave, though. I think you and I got some good miles to ride together."
"Same," Cole nodded and then to Jack, "I need to shoot a trash can. I'll meet you at your car. No sense taking the bike. It's safe here."
Jack nodded and walked toward the door.
Cole kissed her lips and then rubbed her nose with his, "See you soon. If you decide to cause some trouble, at least make it interesting for Brian."
"I can do that," she nodded and returned his kiss with one of her own. "Sooner is better."
CHAPTER NINE
Cole was able to make it back to the club before midnight. He shook hands with Jack, thanked him again for the backup and perfect language skills, and then got out of his car. He looked back inside to the lawyer, "Think they'll call me in again?"
"Not really," Jack decided after a brief moment, "I can't prove it, but what I saw in their eyes was case closed. They didn't seem motivated in sifting around for a few months in order to pin anything on you and even less motivated in expending effort in looking for Nicole. A runaway call girl isn't high on their priority list, which means they're stupid in this case, but that's the breaks."
Cole nodded his head in agreement and thanked him again as he closed the door. Scanning the long parking lot to the side of the bar, as Jack guided his Mustang out and into the light traffic, Cole counted ten men spread out, looking casual while being heavily armed. Across the street, around the small hotel, he picked out five more men with the same attitudes.
Gang wars should be avoided, he was told by their last president, Sam, but if you are going to engage, then you hit hard and often. As Cole approached the door, a group of ten more men filed out and every man in sight began heading for their bikes. One of them was Rat, who he waved over.
"What's up?" he asked his friend.
"Oh, just a little strafing and harassment," Rat told him. "Jim wants to draw first blood before sunrise, so we are going to put a bunch of holes into some choice real estate and then catch the late movie. Want to come?"
"What's the movie?"
"Not sure which one, but one of those old Clint Eastwood's, I think," Rat said seriously.
“Oooh, that is tempting and we get to shoot at houses," Cole smiled. "but, have to pass. I have an extremely attractive woman who is delusional enough to seriously like me who has promised sex of the circus act variety inside. Otherwise…”
"Yes, I was given some of the scoop on her, a call girl or something," Rat said, studying Cole's face. When his comment failed to raise an immediate response from Cole, he shrugged and said, "Well, do me the favor and don't trust her too much. She's hot, extremely hot, and over at the end of the bar with Brian, but… still."
"Can't promise that one, amigo. I've already gone past what caution would advise," Cole admitted, "Planning to go much further, too."
Again Rat shrugged, as if this wasn't an important matter to him, which Cole knew wasn't the way of things, as Rat said, "You're a grown man, so I see nothing to complain about."
"Thanks for that, but --"
"But, you weren't asking," Rat broke in.
"Actually," Cole said thoughtfully, "that's a lot cooler than what I was going to say, so I'll go with that, but when I said it, I sounded more like Clint Eastwood than you just did, which brought up the coolness value several degrees."
"I don't think you need to worry much about your coolness value right now," Rat told him. "You're a major topic of discussion, being that you took down Antonio and Davis, together -- in a gun fight, no less. Even I'm close to doing a little hero worship of my own and making sure everyone knows that we are friends and shit. And you know I don't get into that kind of play."
"I cheated," Cole told him.
"Well, shit, of course you did," Rat said with a tone of voice that suggested he was affronted that Cole didn't believe he figured that out already, "I know that much, because you are still walking around without holes in you or leaking everywhere. But who cares? They are dead and you are not. This is a good thing."
"I agree with that," Cole said seriously.
Bikes began starting up across the parking lot. Both of them looked in that direction and then back to each other, "Safe wind buddy," Cole said.
Rat began moving for his bike, "Call me tomorrow," he yelled back to Cole, "we'll do something maybe. Or bring your new friend over for dinner or something. Angie is making a roast and she likes it when you stop by."
"I'll try, but with…" he began to say, but then just shrugged.
"Yeah, sure. Well, try harder," Rat advised and then turned, heading quickly for his bike.