Mason: #6 (Allen Securities) by Madison Stevens Page A

Without the children home and her to cook for him, Mason was more than a little low on groceries. She grabbed out some string cheese and frowned. She had guessed that it would be like that for him. It wasn’t healthy for him to eat out every night.
    Victoria leaned over the kitchen counter to reach a glass and noticed Mason had left his car. Often he would run to work and leave the car for her to use. A plan started to percolate in her head. She had a spare key to the car. Maybe after a quick shower, she’d head over to the store and stock up on groceries. Then she could make him a nice meal, which would hopefully be followed by dessert in bed.
    She raced off to start her shower.
     
    * * *
     
    Mason wasn’t surprised when they pulled up to the dingy pawn shop. Charlie Jones was a friend of the Allen family and on more than one occasion helped to prevent the Russian Mafia from taking over the area. But even more than that, Charlie was a friend of Ando.
    Mason stepped into the shop. The two men at his back closed and locked the door behind him before returning to their car.
    He watched as they turned back in the direction of his place. He let out a small sigh. It was better for Tori to be protected.
    Two older men sat at the back of the shop behind the counter. The resemblance between Ando and his daughters was clear at just a glance. The older man had more gray among his otherwise black hair and his complexion was sallow in comparison, but that was likely from the cancer slowly killing him.
    “Thanks for coming,” Charlie said from his chair and nodded to the stool on the other side of the counter from them.
    Mason sat down and nodded.
    “Blitz is back, isn’t he?” Mason said. He fingers curled into fists.
    Ando sighed. His chest rattled as he did so, and Mason wondered how much time the older man had left.
    “He goes by Wolf now. Came to see me a few weeks back,” Ando said and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Wanted me to help him get some bike parts out of the city. Seems that one of his men double-crossed him and made a deal with Charlie.”
    Mason leaned forward a little. Reed had been on to something. The bike part theft ring seemed to be a much bigger operation than they had ever suspected.
    “I told him he was lucky I didn’t shoot him where he stood,” Ando said, his face contorting with anger. “Fucking prick thought he could ask me for a favor after what he did to my daughter. I’m regretting not shooting him, now.”
    It wasn’t that much a surprise. Blitz/Wolf didn’t seem to care about family connections. He’d demonstrated he didn’t care about his own family connections. He’d had no trouble stealing from his brother Havoc.
    “Then he came to see me,” Charlie continued. “When I refused to make a deal with him, he said he might have to pay Ando’s daughter a visit again if I couldn’t get something going for him.”
    Mason gripped his hands hard in his lap. “That’s why you put a detail on her.”
    Ando nodded. “She’s already been through so much. I won’t let her suffer more. We need to deal with this. Whatever it takes.”
    Mason nodded. “I agree.”
    Ando stared at him hard, likely trying to get a read on the man who he undoubtedly knew spent the night with his daughter. Whatever he was looking for, Ando seemed to find it and gave a short nod.
    “She’ll stay with you,” Ando said. “I know your children aren’t at home, so you won’t have to worry about their safety, and you’ll keep her safe.”
    Mason nodded again. He would protect her with everything he had.
    “How many men does he have this time?” he asked.
    Charlie shook his shaggy, gray hair. “Not many. Most of the Los Malos were picked up recently. Looks like this time he’s just using a few of his men from out west and trading on the Los Malos name. These nasty fuckers have been making their way around town causing trouble. As if we don’t have enough bullshit to deal with.”
    It wasn’t great