Chapter 154: Lady Catherine’s Counterattack
The boss telling him to recruit some companions genuinely excited Emin. His normally stiff expression even managed to crack into a smile.
He did, after all, have plenty of acquaintances in need of work.
And with the salary Davey was offering, he wasn’t worried about finding people. As for bootlegging—an illegal business—who really cared?
As long as the pay was good, that was enough.
Davey, for his part, appreciated the Germans’ discipline and reliability.
...
Meanwhile, word of the Lemoyne Raiders being wiped out soon reached the Braithwaite family.
Lady Catherine was not only furious—she was horrified.
To her, the Lemoyne Raiders were no small force. They had Maxim machine guns and dozens of men.
Yet they were crushed so easily.
“Mother, in the past few days, a group has suddenly appeared in Rhodes Town selling moonshine.”
“Fuck, this has to be Callander’s doing. He took out the Lemoyne Raiders, and now he’s pushed the moonshine trade into Rhodes Town. They must’ve joined forces with the Gray family.”
“These moonshine sellers are out on the streets openly doing business. They’ve even partnered with saloon owners. Every saloon in Rhodes Town is selling this stuff now.”
Bartholomew, the eldest son, reported the news from town.
Even Guthrie, the impulsive second son, didn’t blurt out anything about teaching Davey a lesson this time.
In terms of manpower and firepower, the Braithwaite family was actually weaker than the Lemoyne Raiders. They primarily ran legitimate businesses.
The Braithwaites weren’t a violent gang—they were planters, an old, established family line.
“Our moonshine operation is Mr. Bronte’s business. The Lemoyne Raiders also worked with Mr. Bronte.”
“Callander bought Havens Hill Ranch and transferred dozens of gunmen from Valentine. He’s currently recruiting workers in town.”
“We don’t need to provoke him. This is Mr. Bronte’s problem. Maybe this outcome was inevitable once Mr. Bronte refused Callander’s cooperation.”
“Inform Mr. Bronte and let him deal with Callander. Our objective is the Gray family.”
“Those Northerners are competent. If he wants riches from us, maybe he can handle some jobs for us too.”
“Like burning the Gray family’s tobacco fields—if we’re willing to pay enough.”
Lady Catherine quickly calmed down.
She hadn’t become head of the Braithwaite family—driving out her own brother—without considerable intelligence.
Unlike Dutch’s Van der Linde gang, Davey had a security company backing him. His openly displayed strength alone was enough to make Lady Catherine wary. The Braithwaites couldn’t handle that.
The destruction of the Lemoyne Raiders had upset the long-standing balance between the two families, and Lady Catherine needed a way to make the Grays suffer as well.
Her thoughts naturally turned to Hosea, who visited often.
Hosea had always intended to fuel the conflict between the families, and he wasn’t about to refuse an opportunity—especially one that came with generous payment.
Of course, what he truly cared about was the stash of gold owned by both clans.
Under Hosea’s arrangement, Arthur and Sean carried out the job of burning the Gray family’s tobacco fields.
That night, blazing fire swept across the Grays’ entire crop.
Hosea collected his payment—1,000 dollars—from Lady Catherine.
But what he didn’t know was that after he left, Lady Catherine told her eldest son:
“Bartholomew, tell Tavish what those Northerners did.”
“That old fool still thinks those Northerners work for them—he even gave them deputy sheriff badges.”
“Well, it’s time he learns how foolish that was.”
“Let’s see how Tavish handles these Northerners who supposedly work for him.”
Hosea thought he had both families dancing in the palm of his hand.
But he didn’t understand that in Rhodes Town, these two families had operated for over a century and possessed countless informants.
After Dutch worked for the Grays and destroyed the Braithwaite moonshine still,
their identities and intentions had already been fully uncovered.
Hosea’s plan didn’t fail due to incompetence; it failed because of an information gap—especially his underestimation of the two clans.
A family that had lasted a century, sharing control over Rhodes Town, wouldn’t be taken down so easily.
Tavish had barely finished celebrating the Lemoyne Raiders’ destruction at Davey’s hands when he learned that his own tobacco fields had been burned.
Tobacco was the Gray family’s primary income source.
This infuriated Tavish and every other member of the Gray family.
They soon learned it was those Northerners who did it.
“Damn Northerners! I gave them deputy sheriff positions so their fugitive status could be hidden, and those ungrateful bastards turn around and attack us!”
Inside the Gray family mansion, the drunken Sheriff Leigh Gray roared in rage.
Author's Note
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