by Joanna Wylde
My phone dinged. I pulled it out to find a text from Horse.
Come by the armory? Need to talk to you.
That sounded ominous.
Everything okay?
Complicated. I’ll explain when you get here. No detours, okay?
Maggs and Cookie wanted to keep shopping, so I said goodbye and left. Fortunately I had my own car with me so I drove straight to the armory. I pulled up and parked in the front lot. Painter met me outside, taking my arm and guiding me through the gate and the courtyard to the back entrance, which seemed weird. He said Horse would be out in a minute so Painter and I stood and waited.
This sucked, because Coeur d’Alene might only be two hundred miles from my hometown, but it was way, way colder here in the winter. I shivered and rubbed my arms, noticing there were a lot more bikes than usual in the courtyard, along with some big trucks and SUVs I didn’t recognize. Then Horse pushed through the back door, holding it for Painter, who ducked back inside. Just seeing Horse warmed me a little. He wore a black jacket over his cut and a dark, knitted cap on his head. He’d let his beard fill in a little with the cold weather and I had to say, it looked hot. The look on his face wasn’t hot though. It was so cold I wondered if I’d forgotten something really important.
“We got a problem, babe,” he said without greeting me.
“What’s the problem?”
“Your brother’s made a deal with another club. Somehow he’s getting information about our business and he’s feeding it to them. In return, they’re supposed to snatch you and hand you over to him. These are bad guys and this is going to blow up in his face, which sucks for him, but I’m not letting it spill over on you. We’re locking you down, only way to keep you safe until it’s worked out.”
I stared at him, gaping.
“He’s trying to save you,” Horse said, shaking his head. “I swear, he’s either the stupidest fuck who ever lived or has the worst luck of any human being I’ve ever met. He reached out to the Devil’s Jacks, who in addition to being our enemies are quite possibly the least trustworthy group of bastards ever born. They’ve been looking for a way to fuck us up for a long time and now they have it. Could be a war, we don’t get this under control. The first step is to lock your shit up tight until we find Jeff.”
“I don’t get it,” I said. “What could he possibly be giving them? How did he go from laying low to plotting a war to get me back? You said he was against the wall—where is he getting this leverage?”
“No fucking idea where it’s coming from,” Horse said, his face grim. “I swear, if he’d put half this much effort into doing his job in the first place we’d all be fuckin’ millionaires. Instead he’s playing us like his personal chess game, which would be pretty impressive if it wasn’t for the fact that all the chess pieces have guns. The guys are all worked up, pissed as hell, and it’s a damn good thing everyone likes you because this is not a good scene. You’re gonna be moving into the armory for a while, into one of the apartments upstairs.”
“How long?” I asked, feeling a little panicky. Horse shrugged.
“Long as it takes, babe. The Jacks manage to take you, the club goes to war,” Horse replied. “Jeff’s set them on you, and for now he’s got enough info to make the effort worth their while. You stay inside and lay low. Tonight you don’t even leave the apartment. We’ve got guys from other charters coming in, a lot of them already here, could get a little wild. You stay in your room, you keep your mouth shut and you do not do or say anything to draw attention to yourself.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling a little sick. “Is that all?”
He gave a short, abrupt laugh that had nothing to do with humor.
“No,” he said, rubbing his chin. “Another change of plans. It’s time for you to try to get hold of your brother. Email him, call him, call anyone who knows him. We need him to end this, for your safety and for the club. Then he needs to disappear. Permanently. He can make that happen or we will. I’m telling you this because I love you, babe. You want your brother to live, you get him to cooperate with us. That’s his only shot.”
I grew very still.
“Are you planning to kill him for this? That’s two strikes now,” I said, feeling lightheaded. “You already threatened to kill him over the money. Now he does this. I won’t lure him in for you to kill.”
“Not gonna lie, babe,” Horse said, looking me right in the eye. “He has one shot here. He starts a war, he ain’t gonna make it. He’s hired our enemies to take one of our women. This shit will not stand. He has to make things right without sucking you in. You got me?”
I nodded, feeling like I might throw up. Why did Jeff keep doing this crazy stuff? I shouldn’t have listened to Horse, I should have called Jeff a long time ago and worked with him to figure something out—or at least stayed in close enough touch for him to really believe I wasn’t in danger. I’d followed Horse’s directions because I thought it was safest for Jeff. At least, that’s what I’d used as the excuse to ignore my brother while I built a new life.
Had I been lying to myself?
“Let’s go to the apartment now,” Horse said. “Remember, lay low. You need something, call my cell. Don’t come looking for me or anyone else. I already talked to Em, she’s packing up some clothes and shit for you.”
He took my arm, opening the back door and leading through the hallways to the stairs. I saw a few new faces, male and female, and the palpable air of tension everywhere sickened me. Nobody said hi or even looked me in the eye. We climbed the stairs to the third floor, where they had remodeled the original offices to make studio apartments. I got the smallest, all the way at the end. There were bars on the windows and Horse told me to keep the shades drawn.
I sat down on the queen-sized bed, alone.
I pulled out my phone and sent an urgent email to Jeff’s anonymous account. Then I started making phone calls to as many of his friends as I could find numbers for. I had to reach him, although I wasn’t sure what I would tell him. Could I really trust the Reapers if he came in?
I wasn’t so sure about that.
Horse
Church was standing room only. Picnic presided, the visiting presidents from Portland and LeGrande flanking him. Horse leaned against the wall, eyeing Max across the room. He hadn’t forgotten what he’d done, but he’d paid his price and was back in the fold. He might not like the guy but he was still a brother—and if war came, they needed every man.
“We’ve lost three shipments so far,” said Deke, the Portland president. Horse had spent a lot of time visiting that charter, and he knew Deke didn’t fuck around when it came to security. If someone was hijacking their product, things had gotten bad. “Couldn’t figure out how they were getting their information. Devil’s Jacks aren’t exactly the brightest assholes in the bunch, but it’s like they’re reading our minds or something. This last time we caught one. He didn’t talk much, but we searched his cell and found some contacts. That’s how we learned about your boy.”
“What’d you do with the guy you caught?” Picnic.
“Got him at a safe house,” Deke replied, giving a feral smile. “Holding on to him for now. Figured it might be useful to have him, goddamn bastards are loyal, if nothing else. That’s more than I can say for this Jensen guy. Business is out of hand, Pic. Why didn’t you take him out?”
“That’s my fault,” Horse said. “His sister’s my old lady. The man’s got incredible skills, really thought we’d be able to turn the situation around and keep using him. Obviously I made a serious error in judgment.”
“Whole club made that decision,” Duck said. “Mistake? Maybe. But you go around putting talented people down all the time, eventually you run out of talent. In this case we fucked up. Could’ve gone the other way just as easy. And we all know the Jacks have been looking for a way to move in on us for years. We’d be facing this sooner or later no matter what.”
There were grunts of agreement all around the table.
/> “So how’s he getting his information?” asked Deke. “That’s the real question here. You know him. What are we missing?”
“I have no idea,” Horse said, shaking his head. “Hacking? Only explanation I can think of, although it’s a long shot. We aren’t stupid, not like this shit is on a spreadsheet or something. The other explanation is a rat.”
The room grew quiet. Then Deke spoke.
“We do business online all the time, banking, transfers, you name it. Money’s gotta move somehow, can’t do it all in cash. That’s the reality. Someone could be giving out clues without even realizing it.”
“Maybe texts or personal emails?” Ruger piped up. “We all got burners for business, but we’ve got personal phones too. Email. All that shit. Can’t get by without it and I’m thinkin’ someone’s gotten sloppy. Could even be a kid or a woman, no idea what they’re doing. We need to lock information down, take it from there and see what happens.”
“Marie’s upstairs trying to get in touch with him,” Horse said. “I gave it to her straight. She knows this is serious. If she finds him, she’ll let me know.”
“Can we trust her?” asked Picnic, scratching his chin. He looked tired. “You know I like her, but shit like this would fuck with anyone and she’s new to the club. She might tip him off.”
“Even if she tips him off, that’s better than letting things stand,” said Max, surprising Horse. “She tells him he’s putting her in danger, he might back down. He’s doing this because he’s scared and he’s trying to help her. Must not’ve been able to pull the money together so he’s playing a new game. I’ll bet he has no idea the shit storm he’s creating.”
“I’m keeping her here until this is handled,” Horse said. “She’s up in the back apartment. Anyone have a problem with that?”
Picnic rolled his eyes, and Ruger shook his head. Deke laughed and pulled out a knife, picking at his fingernail with it.
“Got no problem with that, brother,” he said. “She’s club property. We don’t share with anyone, don’t care how or why they want her. It’s about all of us now.”
Horse felt the tension in his chest loosen. He knew Jeff wouldn’t harm her, but the Jacks? He’d seen what they could do to a woman.
“We still owe those cocksuckers for Gracie,” Deke added, his face grim. “I know we took action, but I still say it wasn’t enough. We need to show them who owns this land, throw their asses so far out of our territory that the fall back to earth kills ’em. We stop Jensen, great. But I think we should consider taking the fight to them, finish what we started ten years ago. I don’t give a shit about this guy, I want to take them down.”
“Fuck yeah,” muttered one of the Portland guys. Horse nodded, understanding. The Oregon charters had suffered over the years and a threat to one of the club’s women would hit them harder than most. He didn’t want war, but if it came he wouldn’t be holding back. They owed the Jacks for a lot of things.
“So here’s how I’m seeing it,” Picnic said. “We reach out to all the charters, in person. Tell them to get ready. Make sure their information is locked up tight. New phones, new codes. Women and children taking safety precautions. Marie may be the one with the bounty on her head, but they’re all vulnerable. Might wanna consider bringing them in for the duration, especially you guys down south. You think Marie can make contact with him?”
“Yeah,” Horse replied. “She’s got an email. He’s a smart little fuck, he’ll be waiting for her to reach out. Might be able to use him to feed the Jacks information, offer him a way out. We have a shipment we can afford to give up for an ambush?”
“We got something coming through in a couple of weeks,” said Grenade, the LeGrande charter’s VP. “You leak it, we can set things up. Might not be bad to hit them back at the same time. Send some boys down to Cali, raid ’em while we ambush up here.”
“Not a bad idea,” Picnic mused. “Guys from Roseburg could do it. Thoughts?”
“I like the idea of turning him,” Deke replied. “Take it from there. I don’t want to send men down unless we’re sure we’ll catch the Jacks off guard. Could be a bloodbath otherwise.”
“That settles it then,” Picnic said. “We need a vote? Any opposed?”
Nobody spoke.
“All in favor.”
Assorted “ayes” echoed around the room.
“That’s settled then,” said Picnic. “You guys staying tonight? Got the girls pulling together food and shit already.”
“Sounds good,” Deke said, grinning. “Eat and drink while you can, boys. Got work to do tomorrow. Fuck with us and we will fuck you back!”
“Hell yeah!” someone yelled.
Church was over. Time to party.
Horse didn’t plan on getting drunk, but it felt good to kick back with his brothers. Em’d brought shit for Marie, which he took upstairs after church. He’d grabbed her some pizza and a couple of beers too, and spent half an hour sitting with her. But she didn’t look at him, didn’t kiss him back when he’d tried to get close, so he figured she needed some space. Hell of a lot to process, he got that.
Downstairs things were getting crazy—always the case when charters got together, particularly when blood was in the air. Didn’t get much bloodier than the Devil’s Jacks. Tonight wasn’t a family party either, something Picnic made clear when he sent Em packing after she dropped off Marie’s things. Horse grinned, thinking of her. Poor kid, at this rate she’d be fifty before she found a man.
As he sauntered into the main lounge, a girl wearing a miniskirt and thigh-high fishnets, along with a bikini top so small it defied physics, brought him a beer, reaching around his waist and rubbing her boobs against his arm. Some chick from the Line, he couldn’t remember her name. He gave her a pat on the ass, then shrugged her off. Sweet butts and strippers, place was crawling with them, hospitality for the visiting brothers. Horse chugged the beer and handed the cup to another girl as she walked by. He wanted a word with Ruger before things got too crazy.
The man wasn’t in the main lounge or the meeting room, so Horse headed back toward the office. They kept their records there, at least the official ones, and Horse stored the legitimate business accounts there too. It was convenient and would make things efficient if they ever got served with a warrant. Just for fun, he’d filled a couple lockboxes with shady-looking paperwork and decoy overseas account numbers—he liked the idea of some cop blowing his wad if he found them, then spending months trying to put it all together. Horse opened the door to find Picnic pounding into a woman face down on the desk, his pants around his ankles, her hair pulled back like reins.
“Getting an early start?” Horse asked, smirking. “No wonder you wanted Em the hell out of here. You’re a perv, you know that?”
“Get the fuck out unless someone’s shooting at us,” Picnic grumbled and Horse laughed, closing the door and heading back toward the shop. Ruger was a hell of a gunsmith and he did his most sensitive work back there, away from any curious eyes at the gun shop. If the visiting boys needed hardware, that’s where they’d find it. Horse threw open the door and saw Ruger at his bench, holding up a fully automated assault rifle, one of his specialties. Several of the brothers stood around, talking shit, while one of the Portland men reached for the gun.
“It’s a thing of beauty, but not exactly practical,” he said, laughing as he hefted it. “Can’t see this in my saddlebags. Like something out of Thunderdome.”
“Yeah, I know,” Ruger replied. “But these dumb-fuck militia dicks can’t get enough of ’em. Think they’re all Rambo or something. ‘Master race’, my ass, I make a fortune off those idiots.”
“Ruger, got a minute?” Horse asked. Ruger ambled on over.
“What’s up?”
“Marie’s upstairs, and I’m thinking about security for the next few days,” Horse said. “You got any thoughts on that? I know manpower’s limited, and I’m wondering if we wanted to rig up any extra precautions.”
“A
lready ahead of you,” Ruger said, flashing a smile. He flicked his lip ring with his tongue as he grabbed a laptop from the bench, popping it open. The guy looked scary as hell with his tats, mohawk, chains and piercings, but around technology he was more like a little kid at Christmas. Ruger popped open the security control panel for the clubhouse on the laptop, and he clicked on a multicolored layout of the armory and surrounding property. “See here? We’ve got the cams and basic motion sensors, of course, but I’m planning on putting in some new stuff around the perimeter, right here. We need detection, but I’m also worried about manpower. I want to rig some traps that we can trigger by computer or phone if we need to. I know we can’t count on the electronics a hundred percent, but we can only spread ourselves so thin. This gives us more options.”
“Can we put something outside her room?” Horse. “I know it’s not a top priority, but I’d like to keep an eye on her. Just in case they buy off one of the girls or something. This probably won’t come down to a frontal assault.”
Ruger scratched his head, considering.
“I can rig something up for you,” he said. “Won’t be until tomorrow. After I fix the guys up back here I’m ready for some pussy. Speaking of, you sure about yours?”
“You sayin’ I have a pussy?” Horse asked, crossing his arms and cocking an eyebrow.
“Don’t be an asshole, you know I meant your girl upstairs. I get that you’re into her. But she knows his life is at stake and we might be the ones to kill him. You might want to consider the possibility that she’s working with Jensen on this. She’s only human, Horse.”
Horse shook his head.
“Marie can’t lie for shit,” he replied, pinching the bridge of his nose, feeling tired. “And even if she was, she doesn’t know a damn thing. Couldn’t be his source of information.”
“If they’re talking, she wouldn’t have to be his only source,” Ruger replied, his tone reasonable. “He might be using her. I don’t think she’s screwing you on purpose—”