Orrin was dead.
There were screams as his followers dropped to the ground. Those who survived Sawyer's attack stared at him in disbelief. He had taken out more than thirteen enemies as casually as making a cup of coffee.
"Let's get to that chili," he said, walking back to his motorcycle and pulling an extra helmet from a compartment under the seat. Alex followed and put on the helmet before sitting behind him on the bike. With a roar, Sawyer drove the bike past Joanna's team and off into the night.
Joanna's mouth hung open in shock. This was not how she had imagined this would go. He's supposed to be in custody, she thought. Or better yet, he's supposed to be shot and killed while resisting arrest.
There were twenty armed agents standing around, and none of them were completely certain what had just happened. They had been called in to save Orrin's life and to take care of Alex, one way or another. They had done neither.
Joanna still couldn't process what she had just seen. Sawyer shows up, scolds Alex for missing dinner, takes out Orrin's entire security team, and then just rides away to go and eat chili, she thought. If she hadn't seen it herself, she wouldn't have believed it.
It had all been so sudden and surprising that she had just stood there and watched it happen. She hadn't even been able to stop the motorcycle from leaving. Now Orrin was dead, along with his sons and most of his private security. Every Ramsden in Baltimore is dead, she thought grimly.
She shivered in the cold wind.
***
Alex had left a trail of bodies behind him, but it didn't seem to affect him at all. He had cooperated with the police, but the charges had been dropped when he had delivered Beth and Ricky to them. That might have been Brian's doing—he was no friend to Alex, but he didn't want him dead. As far as he was concerned, there had been too much violence already.
Nothing seemed to be able to disrupt Alex's life for very long, which was intolerable to Cam Fitzroy.
"Useless!" he shouted at Lachlan. "First, we lose contact with Ricky, and then Alex goes public, leaving us looking like a bunch of pushovers. Do you understand how much you've messed up?"
Lachlan avoided meeting his brother's eyes. The other Demons were wary, but the Thorntons actually cowered. Cam had never lost his temper like this before.
"Orrin and Beau are dead, so now we have to worry about the Ghosts," Cam ranted. "Ricky got exposed framing Alex for Gabriel's murder, so we also have to worry about Sawyer. We hired Ricky to do it, so we have to worry about Timothy's investigation. Three problems, and no solutions." He punched the wall behind him to keep himself from hitting Lachlan. "How are you going to clean up this mess?"
It should have been a perfect plan. If Ricky hadn't turned on them, then the Ghosts would have taken out Alex, Sawyer, and the Rumble Club without Cam having to lift a finger. Now the Demons and the Thorntons were vulnerable. So much that had been confined to the shadows was about to come to light.
"This is on you, Lachlan," he said, pointing at him. "Ricky was your man. You vouched for him. You said he had the skills and that he wouldn't blink. Now look where we are."
"You're right. This is my fault. I'm sorry," Lachlan admitted. "After he took care of Gabriel, everything was fine. But I got sloppy and didn't keep an eye on him. I didn't expect Alex to find him, much less catch him. We… I mean, I underestimated him. Or he just got lucky."
If Alex hadn't caught Ricky, then the feds would never have let him walk, and none of this would be happening, he thought.
"Nothing Maria told us about him could have prepared us," he said. If he could direct some of Cam's anger toward the Thornton family, then he might be able to appease his brother.
"Luck?" scoffed Cam. "This doesn't have anything to do with luck. Even the luckiest bastard would have been in the ground a dozen times over. No. It's not luck. Alex is smarter than you are. He's more ruthless than you are, and he's brushed off everything we've thrown at him. Do you really think that's luck?"
He scowled. "You don't get it, do you? This whole debacle is on you. You led the Demons for twenty years, so how did some kid get the jump on you? You got too comfortable, and you lost your edge because the Demons have made us rich. Even if it was just dumb luck that Alex found Ricky, can't you see the kind of raw power and skill it takes to beat him?"
He shook his head. "No. Luck would be you getting out of this without the Ghosts taking everything you have. Including your life." He had managed to calm himself, but now he fought the urge to slap his brother.
Lachlan paled. "I've been waiting for Alex to tell the police everything about Ricky. I hadn't even thought about the Ghosts."
Cam loosened his tie and sighed. "He doesn't seem like he's in a hurry to get the authorities involved. Think about it. He's moved Beth and Beau around like chess pieces to find out how strong the Ramsdens really are." He grimaced. "Or rather, how strong they were. You can't believe that he didn't have a plan all along. No. He's a tactical genius. That's why he confronted the Ramsdens in the first place. He set it up so events would turn out one of two ways."
He paused, making sure he had Lachlan's attention. "The Ramsdens might have taken him at his word and declared war on the Thorntons and us. Then, with the Ghosts as back up, they would have wiped us off the map. If that had happened, he would have been able to sit back and watch us all fight it out. That way, he would only have to fight one enemy who would have been exhausted from fighting off two opponents. Meanwhile, he would have been fresh and at full strength."
Lachlan paled.
"The second outcome is what happened," Cam continued. "He knew Beau would be coming after him for Gabriel's murder. To stay in control of the Ghosts, Beau had to try to kill him, giving Alex the perfect way out. He killed Beau and drew Orrin into a fight. Orrin had just lost both his sons, so he wasn't fighting with a clear mind, which gave Alex the advantage. That's how he did it. That's how he neutralized the whole Ramsden family."
He frowned. "Ricky was always his ace in the hole. He was always ready to use him against the Ramsdens to keep his own hands clean. Once they had started the fight, he got to win by calling it self-defense. And he has Timothy and Brian ready to back that explanation up with any law enforcement that might get involved. That's also why he's keeping Ricky safe. There's no other explanation for letting Ricky live—everyone else who's tried to kill him ended up dead, but not Ricky. No, Ricky's a weapon he can use to make trouble for the Demons and the Thorntons whenever he wants. He's Alex's insurance policy."
He stared at Lachlan. "So don't fool yourself into thinking he's just lucky. He's not what he seems, and he's not going to be easy to kill. You misjudged him because you were impatient. But I have a plan to deal with Alex, and I haven't taken him lightly. And you can't forget about his allies. You can't forget about Sawyer."