Troubled Son -- Savage Sons Motorcycle Club

by King, J. D.

  April 6, 2013

  I awoke alone, but still warm under the covers, and the smell of coffee beckoned from the kitchen. I could hear Moses unloading the dishwasher, and I looked out at the mountains, thinking that I couldn't really delay starting my day any longer. I wasn't looking forward to it, but I thought that a cup of coffee and a shower might be worth getting out of bed for.

  I pulled on a nightgown, brushed my teeth and headed out in search of a Waffle House mug.

  "Good morning," I said as I walked into the kitchen. I was a little surprised that I wasn't embarrassed by the intimacy of the night before, and I was very much looking forward to another round.

  "Mornin'" Moses answered, "Sleep okay?"

  "Like a baby. Hated to get up, but the coffee smelled so good, I couldn't resist."

  "I called Joker, and I'm set for this morning. Picking stuff up in Pueblo, and then I'm meeting the Jack's -- that's the old Vandal VP -- attorney in Fountain around one o'clock. I'll be back in town this afternoon, and you and I can head to the clubhouse tonight. Sound okay?"

  I nodded as I stirred cream into my coffee. Moses had sure woken up all business-like. No more sexy biker driving me crazy.

  "Before I dive back into all this bullshit, though, I definitely need a shower."

  Moses walked up behind me and slid his hands around to cup my breasts. I could feel his erection pressing up against me.

  "And I think you need a shower too," he said as he bent to kiss the back of my neck. "You know it saves water if we shower together."

  "Well, alright," I agreed. "But only 'cause it's good for the environment."

  By the time we finally turned the water off, we'd exhausted nearly all the hot water, and I felt relaxed, refreshed, and very satisfied. The bench in the shower had been every bit as useful as I'd imagined, and we'd used it in a couple of positions. Fortunately, Moses had thought to bring a condom into the shower. No sense tempting fate.

  Moses and I parted ways in front of his garage. He kissed me hard before closing my car door, and I followed his pickup truck out to the highway. When we got to the highway, he turned south toward Colorado Springs and Pueblo, and I headed north toward the safe house. I was a little surprised that I hadn't heard back about the meth analysis, but I figured that the results should be back some time that morning.

  As I pulled up to the curb in front of the safe house, I was glad to see that Mike Fuller's car was in the drive. Since it was a Saturday morning, I wasn't sure if anyone would be working. I knocked and opened the front door.

  "It's Max," I called out, knowing that I didn't need to worry about invading anyone's privacy, but wanting to ensure that I didn't inadvertently walk into the barrel of a loaded gun.

  "Hey, I'm in here."

  I followed the voice through the living room to the kitchen and found Mike staring at his laptop.

  "Hi, Mike. Wasn't sure if you'd be here."

  "I'm not usually, but Tombley thought you might stop by. I'm looking at the results on the stuff you dropped off yesterday."

  "And?" I sat down at the table with him.

  "Nasty, nasty shit, Max. It's shitty, low grade meth laced with a boatload of arsenic."

  "Wow. So there's no chance this was an accidental death, then."

  "No way. And whoever did this wasn't taking any chances. The amount of arsenic is huge. Like all the rat poison in Denver huge."

  "Holy shit," I said, thinking aloud. "So not an accident and something that took some planning, I'd guess."

  "Absolutely."

  "Is there any way you can trace the arsenic? Figure out and prove who did it?"

  "It's possible, but I can't do it overnight. As high as the concentration is, we might be able to track down large purchases, but the problem is that you can get the stuff legally."

  "Have you talked to Tombley about it yet?"

  "No. Haven't had a chance to. The analysis came in just before you walked through the door."

  "I'll be interested to see how he wants to proceed. As long as he's been working these kinds of cases, he must've run up against something like this before, wouldn't you think?"

  "Probably. He's on call if we have an emergency today, but he took the day off -- something personal."

  "My guess is that he'll call at some point to check up on me. He's been really concerned that this situation between the Sons and the Vandals is going to boil over. If it does, we may have trouble keeping me safely in place."

  "Tombley has always run tight operations. I've worked with him a couple of times; don't take it personally if he babysits you. He doesn't let much happen without his direct involvement. There's no one who knows the Vandals better than he does, and he's getting up to speed on the Savage Sons, too. If he can put the Sons away, it's a huge accomplishment in his career."

  I sat at the table for a while, looking blankly at the analysis of the meth. Something Mike had said didn't sit right with me, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. Unable to figure it out, I decided to enlist Mike in seeing what we could turn up on the source of the poison.

  Hours later, we'd learned almost nothing. It was going to take days at the very least to even figure out if there had been any large purchases of items that contained arsenic, and while we planned to have one of the Denver agents continue to look into it, Mike and I couldn't afford to spend any more time spinning our wheels on that aspect of the case. When it came down to it, what mattered is that it was almost certainly the Vandals who'd introduced the poison meth, and we needed to make sure that none of it got into circulation. I hadn't been part of Moses' conversation with Joker, so I wasn't sure whether there was any more around, and I wasn't sure how much Joker knew about it. Figuring that I'd learn more that night at the club, I decided that I'd done all I could do at the safe house.

  "I think I'm finished here," I said, standing up from the table.

  Mike looked up at me. "What else is on the agenda for today?"

  "Moses had to get some stuff done in Pueblo and drop the letter for Jack at the prison in Fountain. When he gets back up here, we're going to the club this evening. I think the Sons from Ft. Collins are coming down tonight for the meeting tomorrow. We'll both be wired and hoping to get some good stuff recorded."

  "Tombley was concerned about what might happen tonight. You don't think the Sons are going to head up to Cheyenne, do you?"

  "I haven't spent enough time to know much of anything, to tell you the truth. Moses thinks he can keep things under control until church tomorrow, but after that -- depending on the outcome -- all bets could be off. I'm more worried about tomorrow than tonight."

  "Well, don't forget. If you get into trouble, use your phone. If that signal dies, we'll be there in minutes."

  "Got it." I got ready to leave, and it wasn't until I was headed out the door that I realized that I didn't have a key to Moses' house. "Shit," I said as I headed to the car. "Guess I'll have to kill some time," I said as I wrenched the rusted door open.

  My phone rang, and Moses number appeared.

  "Thank goodness. I just realized that I can't get back into your house."

  "Yeah. I forgot to give you a key. I'm on my way back, and we need to talk."

  "What's going on?" I asked.

  "Not over the phone," he answered. "I'm about an hour out. Meet you at home."

  Puzzled, I decided to head back to Castle Rock and find a way to entertain myself. I stopped at a grocery store and picked up some more coffee, cream, and a few things for breakfast. I didn't want to be a bad houseguest. As I shopped, I thought about the fact that I was going to get to spend another night in bed with Moses, and I wondered if I could talk him into another shower before we headed out for the evening. After the shower sex that morning, I wasn't sure I'd ever want it any other way. I realized that I was standing in the middle of the coffee aisle, fantasizing about Moses, and I laughed out loud at how ridiculous I was.

  I must have taken longer than I'd realized at the store, because when
I got to the house, Moses was already there, and the garage door was open for me. I pulled inside, gathered my grocery bags, and headed into the kitchen.

  "Honey, I'm home," I called with a laugh as I came inside.

  Silence.

  I didn't see Moses anywhere, so I started putting the groceries away. We hadn't talked about dinner, but I'd gotten the ingredients for a quiche that I could easily throw together for an evening meal if Moses wanted to stay in for dinner. Staying in sounded like a fantastic idea to me, and I thought about suggesting that we eat partially clothed again. I was lost in my sexy daydreams when Moses walked into the kitchen. He didn't look happy.

  "What's the matter," I asked.

  "We need to talk."

  "Yup. You said that earlier. What's up?"

  "Max, I need your phone."

  "What for?"

  "Give it to me."

  I took the phone out of my pocket, but I wasn't handing it over until I understood what was going on. "You can have it, but I want to know why."

  "Do you have a recorder on it?"

  "Yeah -- it records all of the calls. Has a GPS tracker on it too."

  "Does it record when you're not on the phone?"

  "No. Of course not. I have a bag full of recording devices, Moses. You know that."

  "Are you sure?"

  I just looked at him. "Well, no, I'm not sure, but why would it record anything but phone conversations?"

  "You tell me, Max. Give me the phone, and we're going outside."

  "Jesus, Moses. What the hell is wrong with you?"

  Moses took the phone from my outstretched hand, and he grabbed me by the arm. He ran his hands all over me, obviously checking for a wire. "You have anything else I should know about?"

  "God, no. What the fuck, Moses?"

  He took me by the arm and let me outside through the garage. He walked me into the field outside the front of his house and he released my arm. I rubbed the spot where I suspected a bruise would be visible later, and I shook my head.

  "Explain to me what the hell has gotten into you, Moses."

  "Something's going on. Someone's not being completely honest with me, and I'm gonna find out who it is."

  I could see that he was furious, and I didn't want to enrage him further by telling him to calm down, but he really did need to calm down. I watched him, so angry he was pacing around in the field, unable to stand still.

  I tried for a calm, but not patronizing tone of voice. "Tell me what happened today."

  Moses looked at me, and I think he realized that he needed to get himself under control. He took a deep breath before he spoke. "First, did you get the analysis of the stuff we dropped at the safe house?"

  "Yeah. It's low quality meth with massive amounts of arsenic in it."

  "Is there any way to find out where it came from?"

  "Maybe," I answered. "Mike and I did a little research, and if there were any big purchases of items that contain arsenic, we might be able to get some information. The problem, though, is that there are lots of legal sources of the stuff. So we might be able to trace the poison, and we might not, unfortunately. But what has you all upset?"

  "I called Jack's attorney and met him in the parking lot of the prison in Florence. I gave him the letter and thanked him for going out of his way to meet me there on such short notice."

  "Okay," I said, not sure what the problem was.

  "He said he hadn't made a special trip to meet me. He was there because Tombley was there to talk to Jack."

  "What?"

  "Tombley was there."

  "Well, that's weird," I said. "But I don't think that's a big deal, is it?"

  "Max, it's not his first visit. He goes regularly."

  "Wait a minute. How did you find this out? I mean, Jack's lawyer doesn't know you're working with the feds, does he?"

  "Jesus, of course not. He said he was meeting the DEA agent who sits down with Jack every couple of months. When I was leaving the parking lot, I saw Tombley pull in."

  "Well, I'm sure there's a good explanation for his being there. He told you that he has informants in the Vandals. Jack must be one of them."

  "But here's the thing, Max. After I left, I pulled over and called one of the girls who hangs out at the Vandal's clubhouse. She used to live in Denver, and I used to see her every now and then. She said Jack's still involved in the MC from prison, that he still has some power."

  I wasn't sure exactly what Moses was getting at. "Okay, but why would that even matter?"

  Moses looked at me and took a deep breath. "Max, I think Tombley's in bed with the Vandals."

  I nearly laughed out loud. "No way. No way in hell. He's been working this shit for twenty years. He's put more bikers in prison than I can count."

  "Hear me out. He's been working drugs in this part of the country for a long time, right?"

  I nodded and indicated that he should continue.

  "He's knows the scene better than anyone, and he gets the lay of the land, right?"

  "Yeah." I was starting to get impatient.

  "Why's he going after the Savage Sons?"

  "Really?" I asked. "Do you have to ask? Because they're dealing massive amounts of meth."

  "Max, there's been meth in Denver for years. Why now?"

  "I don't understand what you're saying. He sees the opportunity to put some bad guys away. You came in and gave him the inside information to get it done."

  "But when I walked in, he was already working the Sons. He would have found a way to take us down, even if I hadn't called the FBI."

  "Moses, I just don't see what you do. What does any of this have to do with Tombley being dirty?"

  "He didn't get interested in the Sons until we started taking a piece of the Vandals' business."

  I thought about what Moses had said, and I shook my head. "But that doesn't mean that he's protecting the Vandals, Moses. Surely you have to see that it was only the fact that you started expanding your business that called his attention to the Sons. I just don't see it. There's nothing that tells me that Tombley's crooked."

  "Did you know he had informants in the Vandals?"

  "No, but I just got put on this case. There's a lot I don't know."

  Moses started pacing again. "There is something that's not right about all of this, Max. I just know it. There's something that doesn't sit right with me about a guy posing as a Sons' prospect showing up at Angel's apartment with poison meth, and the fact that Tombley hid the fact that he sees Jack regularly and has sources in the Vandals. Something is wrong, and I think Tombley's in the middle of it."

  "Don't you think there's a chance that you're being too suspicious? Just because you've spent all your time with the Sons, that doesn't mean that everyone's a criminal."

  "Don't talk down to me, Max. My gut tells me that something's wrong here."

  I thought for a minute, trying to make sense of what Moses had said -- trying to put the pieces together in a way that made sense. "So what do you want to do?"

  "I need to find out for sure what's going on, and I need your help to do that."

  "What do you have in mind?" I asked.

  "I don't exactly know, but there has to be a way to find out if he's really involved with the Vandals -- beyond just using them for information."

  "Short of catching him red-handed, I don't know how we'd even begin to go about that." The more I thought about it, the more sense it made to be absolutely sure that Tombley wasn't up to something. "Maybe if we could catch him in a lie? If he denies going to see Jack?"

  "Wait a minute, Max." Moses looked excited, like he'd figured it out. "The poison meth. There's no way the Vandals would have known where Angel lives and that it's typical for her to get meth deliveries at her apartment. The only way they could have gotten that information is from Tombley -- because I've given him all the details about how we work."

  "I hadn't thought about that, but you're right. Getting that meth to Angel required inside knowledge, for
sure. There has to be a way to use that to find out where that inside info came from. Even if it's not Tombley, you have a leak somewhere -- somehow the Vandals got information they shouldn't have, right?"

  "Yeah." Moses thought for a few seconds. "Hey, does Tombley know that you've gotten the meth results back?"

  "He didn't when I left the safe house, but I have no idea if he knows now."

  "No way to keep it from him, is there?"

  "No." I grabbed Moses' arm. "I've got it. We tell Tombley that we've traced the purchase of the poison to the Vandals and that one of the Vandals -- we can tell him that you know someone who spilled their guts -- ratted Tombley out."

  "That's it. We tell him that we know he's in bed with the Vandals, and we see how he handles it. If he's innocent, then he'll blow it off. If he's guilty, then he'll be scared shitless."

  "I want to handle Tombley, Moses. This has to be done carefully, because if it's all a misunderstanding, I don't want to end up out of a job."

  "I get it. There's no misunderstanding, though. He's dirty. I know it."

  "We'll see. When should we do it?"

  "I say we do it tonight, after we get home from the club. Hit him when he's not expecting anything."

  "All right. I'll call him tonight and tell him that someone at the club told us that they heard that one of the Vandals is in bed with a fed. I'll tell Jeff that the Vandal gave up his name. See what he says."

  "So we'll know before church tomorrow."

  "One way or another, we will," I agreed.

  Chapter 30

  Moses

  Standing out in front of my house, I realized all of a sudden that I'd never met anyone like Max. She was smart, confident, and thoughtful. I'd never in all of my fucked up life spent time with a person like her, and I had discovered that I enjoyed it. I'd just thrown something at her that sounded completely crazy, and she took it in stride. Her plan was perfect -- to spring this on Tombley and see how he handled it.

  Max was really smart, and that was sexy.

  "So what are the chances that I can talk you into another shower before we leave for dinner and the club?"

  She looked at me, and a sexy smile appeared on her face. "Better than average, I'd say," She answered.