Arms wrapped around me from behind and pulled me back as Marlin grabbed Pit Bull and pulled him back. I recognized Duke’s smell so I didn’t fight him, but I stayed on alert until Bash stepped between Pit Bull and me so he’d be the one to take a punch if Marlin let him go.
“He was dealing on our side of the street,” I told them.
“I know,” Duke said from behind me. “Control contacted me.”
“And you called Marlin?”
He let go of me. “Yeah. Wanted to know if he gave the okay to break our truce.”
I looked toward Marlin and asked, “Did you?”
“No. I don’t know why Pit came to your side, but can we all agree it’s been dealt with and move on?”
“Ask him why he did it.”
He eyed us a few moments and turned to Pit Bull, who was leaned against a building, dazed. “Why’d you cross the street?”
“Wanted to.”
I’d taken all of his money and drugs before I started beating on him, and now I walked to a storm drain, opened the baggies, and dumped the drugs then the baggies.
“The money I took off him will be donated to a charity of our choice. I assume he’ll face discipline from your people for losing a couple thousand in cash and product?”
“Yeah,” said Marlin. He was beyond pissed but he didn’t move to stop me or retaliate. “If we’re good, I’ll get Pit home so we can check him over.”
Snake stepped into view as he rounded a corner on their side of the street and asked, “Ya’ll mind if I come over long enough to help get our man home?”
Duke looked to Brain, who said, “Not a problem. We appreciate the Disciple’s management working with us, but we hope you can keep your people in line better in the future so we don’t have these little issues pop up. The MC doesn’t want to go back to an ongoing war, but we’re more than prepared to do so if it comes down to it.”
Snake pulled one of Pit Bull’s arms over his shoulder and propped him up, and Marlin walked to us with his arms held out to the side so we’d know he wasn’t going for a weapon. When he reached us he held his hand out to Duke and they shook.
“He went against my orders and I’ll make an example of him. He’ll either pay us back what he lost in forty-eight hours or he’ll lose a finger for every thousand he’s short.”
They both helped him across the street and out of sight, and Brain turned to me to say, “Short fuse might be a bit of an understatement. Turns out it was okay in this situation, but we need you to keep them alive unless you have to kill them to keep yourself or someone we protect safe.”
I nodded. “Still haven’t forgiven him for Dawg. I’ll have a clearer head with anyone else.”
A front door two houses down opened, and a shriveled up little old lady stepped onto her porch. “Are you boys okay? If you need to come in and clean up you’re more than welcome.”
I smiled and walked toward her. “I do need to wash up, Mrs. Jones, thanks for the offer. How are you doing?”
“I can’t tell you how relieved I am you nice boys have cleaned up the neighborhood. My daughter even lets my grandkids come spend the night with me sometimes now, and she never even let them visit before — I had to go to their house to see them.”
She’s let me use her bathroom before, so I knew the way. I couldn’t change until the full moon, but even if I’d been able to, I wouldn’t because if someone saw me later tonight who knew about the beat down, they’d wonder why my hands didn’t show evidence of it. I washed my hands, forearms, face, and neck to be sure I got all the blood off. My shirt and vest were black, and a quick look at my patches didn’t show any blood spatter that stood out as fresh.
When I came out she had a pot of coffee, paper cups, sugar, and milk out on the porch. We all graciously accepted a cup of coffee and left.
Mrs. Jones has lived in the same little six hundred square foot house for forty-five years. Her husband bought it just before they married, and they raised two kids in it. Her husband died a decade ago and she refuses to leave her house even though her kids have offered to pay all expenses if she’ll move out of this section of town.
During the worst of the fighting when we first moved to town she helped us out with her shotgun during an all-out-brawl. She might be tiny but she’s fierce.
The rest of the night was without incident, so I didn’t get to beat the shit out of anyone else.
* * *
I didn’t fall into bed until four in the morning and I slept until nearly two in the afternoon. I stumbled across the street and ordered three burgers with fried eggs on them, and hash browns instead of fries. Close enough to breakfast, right?
My hands looked awful but it felt right to have them scabbed over and tight from the swelling. Pit Bull had only landed maybe a half-dozen solid hits on me, and I felt it a little in my jaw but not enough to give a second thought. Unless he was using his own product, I couldn’t imagine how or why he’d kept standing.
Dawg was working the bar and I saw him call one of the prospects over to cover for him a minute. He walked to my table with two beers and put one in front of me as he sat and took a long draw off his.
“I’ve squared everything up with Pit Bull. You don’t have to keep punishing him.”
“He was dealing drugs in our territory.”
“We take their drugs and money and rough them up. We don’t fuck them up until they’re an inch from death.”
“He okay?”
“They brought their doc in. Concussion bad enough he wants him in the hospital, but they’re still treating him at home. Sounds like his friends and family are scrambling to come up with the cash he’s short within his forty-eight hours.” He looked at me a few seconds, took another long draw off the beer bottle, and said, “You look pissed at the world again.”
I shook my head. “Twins are fine. Everything’s good.”
“I bet even you could smell the scent of a lie on that one.”
He was right, but I thought I’d been telling the truth. Connie and I were fine. She’d date other people, and she and I would be friends who co-parent the twins. Was I lying to myself?
“So maybe there are some details to figure out, but the twins are fine and I’ll eventually have full custody.”
We talked about random shit another five minutes, and when he returned to the bar I called Sam’s office to tell her assistant I’d like them to set an appointment this Saturday at the lab they used. She told me the lab was only open until noon on Saturdays and I told her that was fine.
I ordered two more burgers and ate a piece of chocolate cake, and then took off on my bike to ride until it was time to patrol again.
* * *
Nothing much had happened by two in the morning. I’d helped three drunk teenaged girls back into their house around eleven because no way was I letting them get into a car. No parents were home so I took all of their keys and told them I’d put them on the front porch later so they’d have them when they awakened.
I walked by the house a few hours later, heard the heartbeats of three sleeping girls, and put the keys under a seat cushion as I’d told them I would.
I’d just stepped back onto the street when I heard Brain in my earpiece. “Gonzo, Tiny — head to the gun shop. The alarm at the back went off and I’m looking at three people trying to break in. Everyone else hold your positions, four men are leaving from here in an SUV to act as backup.”
I was five blocks away and I took off at a run. Tiny wasn’t there yet when I arrived, and I stayed behind some bushes as I watched the idiots try to get through our locks.
“If they aren’t in yet it’s doubtful they’ll get in. What do you want me to do?” I asked Brain through the comms.
“Let them keep trying until our SUV arrives. Flank them so you cut off their exit points. I want them brought back here so we can question them.”
I’d heard and smelled Tiny arrive while I was talking. “Tiny, stay where you are and I’ll match you on this side,�
� I told him as I scanned the area and saw him mostly hidden in the shadows across the lot.
He nodded and I was no sooner in position than our SUV arrived. All three of the would-be burglars ran my way, and I stopped two but missed the third. Bash took off after him, and brought the asshole back slung over his shoulder and unconscious.
They zip-tied all three into a hogtie in the back compartment of the SUV and took off.
“Gonzo,” Brain said through my earpiece, “patrol the four blocks around the gun store the rest of the night, Tiny will take over the southern edge and I’ll send Nix to patrol the rest of the zone you’re in.”
Nix came to us through another chapter, but I fully expect we’ll patch him in if he tells us he wants in. Only fully patched members solo patrol, but I agreed with Brain about letting Nix handle part of this zone alone to see how he handled it. He’d patrolled each division with a patched member, so he should know the boundaries.
An hour later Brain’s voice came through my comms again. “They were Pit Bull’s cousins, trying to break in to get the funds to save his fingers. One of ’ems a Disciple. We roughed ‘em up pretty good and are working out a deal to hand them over to Marlin. We’re going on a mild alert. No less than three of us together at a time, and everyone has orders to either form groups elsewhere or get to the clubhouse within the hour. Horse is on his way into the store and he’s traveling alone. Nix is headed your way and I’d like the two of you to stay at the store until Ghost arrives with two prospects. You’ll return here with one of the prospects. I know you can take care of yourself, but you’re on foot and he’ll be in one of our vehicles.”
“Does the alert include family?”
“No requirements, but Duke put Paco and a prospect with Gen, and I’m bringing Harmony into the clubhouse. I doubt anyone’s aware of the twins, but you know they’re always welcome during the day, and Connie’s welcome during times of alert since she has mother status.”
“The twins don’t have my name yet, and I don’t think our enemies know about them.”
“Agreed, but it’s your choice.”
“Call the Drake control room and let them know we’re on a mild alert, please. Nix just arrived. What’s Horse’s ETA?”
“Soon. Let me know when he shows. I’m calling Drake now.”
Nix waited until I disconnected to ask, “How much do you know about Marlin?”
“He’s worked hard to keep the peace with us since the previous leader’s untimely demise. He’s done a few things to earn our trust, but we all know it’s possible he’s decided he wants some of our territory and is banking on our trust to keep all-out war at bay during the first few skirmishes. Brain’s our political strategist and he’s damned good at it, though, so we usually do what he suggests.”
“Word has it Brain abandoned ya’ll — went to Atlanta and Charlotte for a while.”
I shook my head. “Water under the bridge and it’s all good now. We voted him back in as VP because we trust him.”
Horse came roaring into the back lot on his bike. When he shut it down I engaged my mic to say, “Horse is here so I’m heading in with a prospect.”
“Good, make sure everyone’s inside before you go, and it wouldn’t hurt to make an extra loop around the block before you head in.”
* * *
Harmony was in the front room of the clubhouse wrapped in a blanket on the sofa, with her laptop balanced on her legs. She gave me a warm smile and told me I was wanted downstairs, and for just a moment I saw the face she’d had before all of her plastic surgery.
I turned my burner phone into the control room, got mine back, and headed down. McGyver had taken over so I assumed Brain was downstairs.
I put my phone in the bin in the outer room, walked through the narrow opening, and then waited for Brain to engage the EMP before asking what was up.
“Need your tracking skills,” said Duke. “Marlin thinks he has a faction of the Disciples who don’t approve of his policy of keeping the peace with us. He’s cracking down hard on anyone who steps out of line, but he warned me he believes they have someone giving them information about some of our inner workings.”
“You think it’s Sullivan?” We’d scared the piss out of Sullivan and sent him on his way a while back. He’d made it as far as prospect before we realized he was the son of one of the men who’d raped a schoolteacher in Atlanta about a decade ago. He’d thought we were heroes because we beat the hell out of the rapists, but then he’d prospected in and decided we’re the bad guys, too. Not many people knew enough about us to give information that could hurt us, so my mind went straight to him.
“We can’t find him.”
“Okay, give me everything you have, and a computer behind a strong proxy so no one will know who’s looking and I’ll get started.” I was exhausted, but I came to them as an ex skip-tracer, and when they needed someone found they came to me.
“If you’re up for it, I’ve set up a computer in the control room. If not then grab some sleep and get started this afternoon. Either way, all the info you need is on a word doc you’ll see when you type in the password.”
“I’ll pull up his information and his background and then hit the hay, so my subconscious can be working on the problem while I sleep.”
“When you find him, don’t engage. Let us know what you’ve found out and we’ll send someone else in to take care of him.”
“I don’t mind.”
“We want to finesse this one.”
I laughed and stood to leave. I’m not known for finessing much of anything.
Chapter 23
Gonzo
As twilight approached I was wondering about Duke and Brain’s advice to wait until tomorrow night to change. The pull of the moon hurt, and my wolf was itching to come out.
I ignored it though as I sat outside a known Disciple member’s house and watched for activity. Two hours on the computer had given me Sullivan’s current girlfriend. She has two phones on her account, one of which is currently at her work address, and the other here. The fact her car was in the driveway didn’t bode well for Sullivan, but I wanted to confirm.
When dark finally hit, I moved in close enough to hear conversation inside the house, and heard Sullivan bitching about there not being any good food in the house.
I slapped a tracker under the fender of his girlfriend’s car on my way to the road, and hightailed it the mile or so to my truck.
I called Brain on the app, and when we finished with our business about Sullivan he asked, “How are you holding up?”
“Rough. You sure waiting until tomorrow night is best?”
“I am. We made alternate arrangements in case it hit you hard. Come to the control room to help me, and we’ll put someone else on your patrol.”
I wanted to argue with him, but knew I wasn’t at my best, and with everything in turmoil I’d just put whoever I was teamed with in danger if I couldn’t focus.
No one actually believes we’re werewolves, but our enemies have certainly noticed we’re scarce on the three nights around a full moon. If they ever attack us, it’s likely to happen one of those three nights. It’s one of the reasons the national RTMC organization finally managed enough votes to change the charter so we can invite other species in.
Watching video monitors all night is boring when nothing happens, but thankfully nothing happened.
Duke called a meeting at ten the next morning. I went to bed at five and woke up ten minutes before the meeting and went downstairs. Emergency meetings aren’t mandatory, but something important is always voted on when we have them, so we all try to make it. If you aren’t there you don’t get to bitch about the vote.
Brain showed my pictures of the house and gave my documentation of how I found Sullivan. He verified the three Disciples seen coming and going since I found Sullivan, and suggested we give it another twenty-four hours to see if anyone else showed up, and then we take out Sullivan and everyone he’d been talking to.
/> “That’s four people,” said Paco.
“Who’s watching Gen?” I asked Duke. He usually puts Paco on her.
“She’s upstairs. Her first appointment is at one today and arrangements have been made.” He looked at Paco. “Yes, four people. Sullivan was warned we’d make him disappear if he talked, and we don’t know what the other three might know about us.”
“Also, if Marlin’s telling the truth then these are the ones leading the charge to take over the Disciples. We take them out and Marlin stays leader,” said Bash.
“Do you believe Marlin?” asked Horse.
“Until we have reason to believe otherwise, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt while we prepare in case he’s lying,” Brain answered.
“First vote,” Duke said, “is whether we take out no one, only Sullivan, or all four.”
The vote to take out all four wasn’t even close.
“Next question, and I’m not putting this to a vote yet, it’s open for discussion right now — do we want to vote on how, or will you trust Brain and I to work it out and make it happen.”
“This needs to be low-key,” said Bash. “Making the house explode with everyone in it would work if we could make it look like a gas leak, otherwise it needs to be done so we don’t have homicide detectives finding excuses to get warrants to look through our homes and the clubhouse.”
“Bash is correct, and I have a feeling this will get complicated,” I said. “I’m good with Brain and Duke figuring it out and making it happen. If they need our help they know they have it.”
Everyone who spoke up agreed, Duke put it to a vote, everyone was fine with them working it out, the meeting adjourned, and I ate two bags of potato chips and a huge tub of dip. Sam’s assistant had emailed me the time for our Saturday morning lab appointment, and I texted Connie to let her know. I waited ten minutes, and when there was no response I texted her back to let her know I was going to bed and wouldn’t be available until around six in the afternoon.
Gonzo (Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club Book 7) Page 18