We hadn’t expected to have Lennox with us, so I’m doubly grateful the prospects have acted fast and have loaded the crash truck with the Joker’s rides. Only three bikes remain in sight, Demon’s, Thunder’s and mine. Those belonging to our enemy will probably, if I know anything about the man at all, have been taken to the auto-shop Pyro manages to be stripped down.
Lennox’s car is apparently parked at the bottom of the track. I could make him walk, but that would be petty, so I give him a lift, the air seems easier to breathe when the lawman’s out of the truck.
When it’s just Max, Stevie and I, I notice she’s very quiet. I rest my right hand on her left. “You doing okay?”
A quick glance shows her face scrunching. “When’s this going to stop, Beef? I’ve been run down, fire-bombed and now nearly shot. I gave up everything to be safe, and now it’s obvious I’m not. I should have stayed in LA and taken my chances.” She’s as down as I’ve ever seen her, tears are leaking from her eyes. “I know we couldn’t stay at the cabin forever, but I felt safe there, you know? Now that’s just one more place where they’ve found me.”
I don’t know what to say to her. Quickly I try to process everything in my mind. I end up speaking my thoughts aloud. “You should have been safe, Stevie. Your new identity should have held up. It should have been easy. You’d have stayed here until the court case, then given your testimony and be free to get on with your life.” I don’t tell her she’d likely never be able to go back to her old one. She’s got enough to worry about for now. The top priority being staying alive until she can testify.
Demon had it right. I don’t like how Lennox turned up today either, the timing a coincidence unless, like us, he was keeping track of the movements of the Warped Jokers. Demon made a good call inviting him back to the compound. If there’s something suspicious about him, I’d rather have him under my eye so I can keep tabs on him. If he’s innocent and as much in the dark as us, pooling our resources could keep Stevie out of the line of fire.
“Do you trust Lennox?”
“Of course.” Her answer comes fast. “Leon arranged everything, got me settled here in Pueblo. He’s the only one who knows everything about my new life…” Her voice trails off, and then she says simply, “Oh.”
“I’m not saying anything, darlin’. But it’s the knowledge he possesses, which is what I don’t like.”
I’ll get Cad looking into him. If he can’t find enough out, I know Mouse, back in Tucson, would jump to the task. He’s got deep web contacts Cad might not have. I want to know whether there’s even a sniff of a connection between Lennox and the Warped Jokers’ members? Is one a relative? Brother or cousin perhaps. Or maybe he owes them a favour. Talking about the marshal makes me glance in my rearview mirror, yeah, there he is, right behind. Would he put his head in the lion’s den if he’s guilty? He might, if he was trying to get close to Stevie, to persuade her to leave with him so he could take her out.
Stevie goes quiet again. I wish I could say something to comfort her, but the future’s unknown. One thing I feel in my gut, I’m not letting Lennox move her, not while we still don’t how her new identity was discovered. Until we know the who and why, she could be found again in another location, and I wouldn’t be there to help her out.
No. For now she’s sticking close to my side.
We come up to the compound. Beaver’s eyes open wide when he sees my companion. Guess he bought the story about her moving on. Or did he think the Warped Jokers would have killed her this morning? Nah, doesn’t fit. He’ll know by now there were no losses on our side, and that would include anyone who we were protecting.
For a moment as I drive around the back and park, I wish I was back in Tucson. Here I don’t know who I can trust or put my faith in. Not that I’ve actually spent long enough on the compound to find out.
I lift Max out of the truck and clip his lead on, then help Stevie down. She sniffs the air and gives a weak grin. “Well now I know we’ve arrived. I can smell oil and gas.”
“Yeah, we’re here,” I confirm, needlessly. “Ready to go inside?”
“How many men in the club, Beef?”
Hmm. Mentally I count them up. “Fourteen, nah, sixteen. There’s two just been patched in as new members. And me, for now.”
“You outnumber the Warped Jokers, or those on the outside.”
“Sure do, darlin’.”
It’s clear she’s searching for something to give her confidence, so now’s not the time to remind her about the dominant club who also doesn’t want her to testify.
Having witnessed her depression on the drive here, I’m heartened when she draws in a deep breath and straightens her back, before demanding with lips curved up, “Lead on, then.” I have to smile at the instruction that’s becoming familiar.
I take her arm. As I’ve parked the truck at the rear of the building, it’s quicker to take her through the entrance that leads to the kitchen, rather than back around to the front. The kitchen is full of women. Most I know from the times I’ve been here before, but there’s a new woman who catches my eye. She’s wearing respectable clothing so she’s certainly no sweet butt.
“Hi Stevie. Remember me? I’m…”
“Jayden. And I can hear Violet, can’t I?”
“Yup, I’m here.”
Stevie tilts her head toward the stranger who’d been speaking as we walked in.
“I’m Melissa,” the new girl replies. “I’m with Skull.”
Oh, yeah. He mentioned he had a woman. “He claimed you?” I ask, wondering whether in the time I’ve been gone she’s been officially added to the ranks of the old ladies.
“He has.” It’s Jeannie who answers, putting her arm around the girl she appears to have taken a liking too. Jeannie’s been in the club getting on forty years now. If she’s okay with the newcomer, that probably means she’ll be alright.
“I’m Jeannie, I keep everyone in line.” The way she says it means Stevie doesn’t need to see the wink she gives to Violet, the prez’s old lady, to know she’s joking.
“Melissa likes cooking,” Violet explains with a gleam in her eye, “especially baking. Get ready to put on some weight when you taste her muffins.”
“My mouth’s already watering.” Jayden licks her lips, then leans over. When she straightens, she stands with a baby in her arms. “Think Theo’s teeth are bothering him, Vi.”
“Oh, give him to me,” his mother requests and starts fussing over him.
“How old is your baby?” Stevie asks, and it seems to be from genuine interest and not her just being polite.
Violet answers, at the same time as Jeannie bends her knees to kneel on the floor, her knees creaking. “Who’s this?”
“Max,” I tell her. “Stevie’s seeing-eye dog.”
“He okay?” While I’ve foregone his bandage for a few days, his shaved legs and scarring show he’s been through the wars.
As Stevie crouches down by Jeannie’s side, affectionately stroking her dog and explaining, I sum up the scene. There are things I need to be doing, but I reckon Stevie will be fine if I leave her with the women for now.
“I gotta talk to the prez, babe. You gonna be okay?”
Violet’s eyes meet mine and she raises her chin in a gesture she must have caught from Demon. “Stevie will be fine. But the dog…”
I swing around in time to see Bitch with her back arched and her fur erect walking into the kitchen. Max tilts his head to one side, then starts stretching out his nose. Then rears back with a yelp.
“Max! Beef! Is he alright?”
I kneel quickly. Bitch slapped him in the face, but he’s only got a slight scratch. “Max is fine. I think Bitch just put him in his place.”
“Come here, Max,” Jeannie coaxes. “Oh you poor boy, beaten up by a cat. You’re never going to live it down.”
Bitch, seeming to have successfully conveyed that the clubhouse is hers, and Max only here on her sufferance, sits down and starts washing hersel
f. Max inches closer to Jeannie, lapping up any sympathy he can get while keeping one careful eye on the cat.
“I’ll be fine,” Stevie answers belatedly. “You go and do your manly stuff. Just one thing, Beef. If it’s about me and my safety, please don’t keep me in the dark.”
A reasonable request, and one I can agree to. Won’t be able to share club business, or perhaps how we get to know what we do, but if it’s information she needs, I’ll happily share it with her.
Leaving the kitchen, it doesn’t surprise me to see money is already changing hands. Rusty’s grasping a fistful of dollars as Bitch’s antics had clearly been observed.
“Cat knows who’s boss,” Rusty’s saying sagely to a disgusted looking Ink.
“Dog’s hobbled,” Ink grumbles. “He’s only got three working legs. Dynamics might change when he’s back to form and can chase her.”
“It was who’d win today we bet on,” Rusty insists.
I catch the eye of the marshal who’s got a mug of coffee in his hand, seeming unamused by the antics. The bikers are holding beer bottles. Guess he wants to remain sober while on duty.
“Beef! Prez wants you.”
“Sure thing.” I wave my hand toward Thunder, then go to see Demon.
He nods me to the seat opposite and wastes no time on pleasantries. “Lennox is chomping at the bit to get started. He wants to know what we know, and what we’re going to do about it.”
I shrug. I’m not surprised. I am shocked he’s giving us time to get our stories straight and isn’t busting the door down. But then he is here on sufferance and must know that.
“Demon, if you hadn’t come today… How the fuck did you know to warn me?”
“You can thank Cad. He’s been checking the camera feeds from the CCTV over town. Caught a whiff of the Jokers yesterday. Had Ink tailing them. Soon as he saw the direction they were heading, he called me. I called you.” He breaks off and shrugs. I’m just fucking thankful they did.
I nod as I digest that, then ask, “What are we going to do with our Jokers?”
“Leave them in the basement for now. They’re not going anywhere. I think we’ll question them after the marshal leaves.” As I grin in full agreement, Demon continues, “Told Lennox he’s going to have to kick his heels for a few. Thunder’s keeping a close eye on him. Need to do something first and want you sitting in.” He takes out his phone, presses a couple of keys and puts it halfway across the desk.
It’s answered almost immediately. “Drummer.”
“Need your advice.” Demon doesn’t introduce himself. “Got Beef with me.”
“Yo, Beef.”
“How you doing, Prez?” Fuck, it feels good to give the right man that name.
“Drum. Got a problem. Need direction on how you want to play it.” Demon quickly summarises what’s gone down today, the Warped Jokers, the Wretched Soulz, and how our paths have crossed.
There’s silence on the other end of the line, then, “What’s the bitch like, Beef?”
“Good woman, Prez. Deals well with her disability. Not someone who deserves to be caught up in something like this.”
“Okay, let’s talk this through. The Warped Jokers have earned a reputation that the Devils try to steer away from. Last I heard they were running drugs, guns and women. Got a brothel or two set up in LA where the girls aren’t all willing. We may not walk the right side of the line, but we don’t go so far in that direction.”
Demon shudders. “That shit only brings down trouble.”
“I couldn’t call them, brothers, Drum.”
“I hear you Beef. Our problem is, where do the Wretched Soulz stand? I can see their point, let the feds take an MC on a RICO ticket, might get them casting their net wider. On the other hand, throw the feds a bone, let them take a dirty club down, and maybe they’ll have satisfied their quota. At least for now.”
“Be bad publicity for any MC.”
I can imagine Drummer’s lips quirking. “Or good in some circles. Not good to be seen as weak.”
“Get recognised for a fuckin’ bank job where people were killed?” I say incredulously.
“Your woman, Beef. She can hold her own in the courtroom? She being coerced by the feds?”
“Nah, she’s doing this because she thinks it’s the right thing.” I ignore his reference to her being my woman. “She willingly got into the witness program to keep herself and her family safe, and so she can stay alive to give that testimony.”
“Demon. You say you’re getting pressure from the local Wretched Soulz chapter?”
“They’re acting on what’s coming out of LA from what I can see.”
“Okay. Their chapters are basically autonomous, and I don’t know many folks from the LA branch. Let me get Chaz’s thoughts on it.”
Chaz is the president of the Arizona Wretched Soulz. It would at least be useful for Drummer to talk to him.
We thank him, then end the call.
Demon gazes at me thoughtfully. “Don’t know what will happen if we have to go head-to-head with the Wretched Soulz. That’s why I needed to give Drummer the head’s up.”
Fuck. This is serious. Satan’s Devils would not survive a war with the Wretched Soulz, that’s something I don’t even want to think about. Lennox could take Stevie, set her up somewhere new, but can we trust him? I’m not convinced. The wheels in my head turn fast. Visions of Stevie so competent at the cabin, thoughts of her under me in bed. The realisation I’m not ready to lose her.
I reach the only solution I can. “I’m not leaving Stevie to go somewhere alone.” I bow my head for a second, then look up decisively. “If it comes to it, I’ll turn in my patch and go off the grid.”
His hand crashes down on the desktop. “She’s not even your bitch, Beef. How could you think of doing something so fuckin’ drastic? How would you survive? No club, no brothers behind you?”
Another rise and dip of my shoulders. I could have lost her today. Third time she’s come far too close to being killed. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to her, not if I could have been there to prevent it. She means more to me alive, than my being a biker. “Doesn’t matter, Demon. I’ve made up my mind. Nah, she’s not mine, but how could she survive on her own?”
“She was doing okay in a strange city until they caught up with her. Cad could sort her out with a new ID, we do it ourselves. Find somewhere new to send her.”
“That was before she was looking over her shoulder all the time,” I reply, firmly. “She’s scared out of her wits now. You wouldn’t think it to look at her, but she’s had her confidence shaken. Wit Sec should have been fuckin’ fool proof, that’s what she was told. She agreed to lose contact with family and friends, everything familiar so no pressure could be brought on her to not testify. Now it’s all fucked up, she’s never going to trust she’s safe ever again. She’ll always be waiting for someone to catch up with her. Someone she literally wouldn’t see coming.”
Demon’s finger and thumb find the top of his nose. A minute or so passes before he next speaks. “We need to be able to reassure her it won’t happen again. Trouble is, I don’t know how much time we have. Word gets out she’s here on the compound, we might have the Wretched Soulz knocking at our door before we’re ready.” He breathes in deep, then lets it out as a sigh. “What if you persuade her not to testify?”
“Don’t think I’d be able to do that. Look at everything she’s lost getting this far. She’d have given up everything for nothing.”
“Or, she might be safe if she agrees to keep her mouth shut and be able to return to her family.”
She might be able to at that, but my gut tells me Stevie would find it hard to live with herself if she didn’t bring the bad guys to task. She still has nightmares of shots firing and people screaming. She’d be adding guilt on top of her uselessness at the time to do anything to help, she won’t be getting justice for those who lost their lives. Knowing the woman as I’ve come to, I don’t think she’d
rest easy doing that.
My face shows I’m dubious that such a suggestion would work.
Slowly, Demon nods. “Keep that thought to yourself for now then, but it’s an option. Now,” his voice lightens, “shall we see what our marshal has to say?”
“Yeah. How do you want to play it?”
He inhales sharply, then the corners of his mouth turn up. “Shall we subject him to church?”
As long as Demon is confident everyone can mind what comes out of their mouths, why the fuck not?
While Demon gets a prospect to round everyone up, I go out to grab a beer from the bar. Lennox steps forward sharply as soon as he sees me, and steps in my way. Takes a brave fucking man to impede my progress to the bar. A warning growl sounds in my throat.
“What the fuck is going on?”
“What’s going on is I’m going to get myself a fuckin’ drink.” I go to push past, then take pity on him. “Prez is calling the brothers together now. You’re going to be invited into church.”
He rears back a little. “I take it that’s what you call your meetings?”
I grin evilly. “Or it could be where we torture the truth out of somebody.”
To give him his due, he doesn’t flinch. “I’ve got nothing to hide. You, on the other hand…”
“Run a clean club,” I finish for him. “You won’t be finding any skeletons in our closet.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
While Beaver is gathering the troops, I check on Stevie. She’s still in the kitchen but now sitting at the table with a can of soda open in front of her. Max is lying at her feet. As I walk in she’s laughing, and I pause to listen to the sound. It’s genuine laughter, signalling she feels safe and relaxed. After the trauma of the day, shit the past couple of weeks, it’s good to hear her happy.
I vow there and then to work to put a smile back permanently on her face. She doesn’t deserve to live with stress and fear or have a death sentence hanging over her. Briefly my fists clench at the thought of her lying cold and dead on a slab. I’ll do everything I can to prevent it. If that means giving up my patch, I’ll just have to make it work.
Devil's Due: Satan's Devils MC Colorado Chapter #3 Page 23