Page 34 of Colt

Viking was bluffing, just like we planned during our officers’ meeting last night. We still didn’t know jack-shit about what happened, but blaming the Phantoms was a logical conclusion and wouldn’t cause any suspicion on Reno’s part.

“Couldn’t be,” Torch interjected for the first time.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

Not addressing me directly, Torch continued, “My intel says they’re still out of state. After their brawl with Ice, they got the hell out of dodge since the cops are looking for them. Wouldn’t make sense to come back for a messy drive-by in Vegas.”

“Could be the perfect cover, don’t you think?” I continued, trying to push the asshole into a corner.

“Torch is right. Since Ice is locked up, we’ve been keeping closer tabs on the Phantoms. We haven’t seen any indication they’re back in the area. You may want to consider other possibilities,” Stone suggested. He seemed like a reasonable guy, and I felt sorry he had this dick to deal with in his club. We were all hoping that only Torch was trying to screw the club over and that he hadn’t convinced anyone else to betray us. “Phantoms have their reasons, but is it possible this was a random hit? There are several gangs in Vegas, and in your area, in particular, that could be responsible.”

We’d already checked that angle out, but we kept that close to the cuff for now. The conversation continued with various theories being thrown around. I kept my eye on Torch the entire time, but the guy had a pretty good poker face. It was going to be difficult to connect him to anything. But the longer I watched his smug face, the more convinced I became that he was up to something.