by Amber Burns
“I’m not a predator,” he interrupted. “Women come to me, I don’t actively seek them out. Nothing I can do if they talk about how long my third leg is and how good I throw it,” he grinned.
“I’ll remember to never introduce Tara to you,” I scooted off the stool. “Welcome back,” I offered Eddie a hand. “I can’t imagine being off a bike for that long.”
“Yea well I’m gonna tell you the same,” he took my hand and tugged me forward until our shoulders connected. It was an odd half hug, “Don’t worry about your woman. If she’s already given you grief, I won’t be cruel and sniff around.”
“He’s saying that and he hasn’t seen her,” Ricky laughed. “If she’s hot then all bets are off.”
“I’ll remember that,” I heaved a sigh and tossed back the rest of my beer before I went for the door.
I met Leon, my duty partner, just outside and he gave me a nod.
“You want to ride out there or walk?” I asked.
“My bike is still being worked on,” he complained. He had a cigarette hanging from his lip. “It’s not bad, and it would probably still run, but there are some things I don’t want to chance.” He pulled the cigarette off his lip to tap the ash off of it. “I don’t mind the idea of dying on my bike, but I’d like to say it wasn’t because I was doing something stupid like riding around with a slightly busted engine.”
I nodded because I couldn’t argue. Even with him smoking. I led the way to the place we were assigned to watch. We were both unarmed, but we had phones. If we saw anything, we could always make a call. It was boring work, like it was back in my service days, but I knew the reason behind it.
Duty was split amongst everybody and shifts were shorter. If we weren't working at the shop, we were on at least four hours of watch. How long this could feasibly last was something we all wondered. We’d be out here shooting the breeze for about four hours until relief came out to us. After that you could get blitzed at your leisure, just not before it.
I didn't bother to think how'd they find out outside of the buddy system they'd set up. Leon was there to watch my back and keep an eye on me like I was for him. So far, since the drive by, shit was uneventful. It made for people getting understandably antsy. There hadn’t been any talk of retaliation, something I was grateful for. I wasn’t looking forward to anything incriminating being recorded. It’d been hard enough to keep things looking inconspicuous. I wanted them to feel like they placed me here for no reason. I felt like I had done a good job so far. Once my duty shift was done, I headed back to the club house and plopped myself down at the bar.
“Hey Chase,” I turned to see Freddie, a small Asian man that hadn’t been patched in long. “Wilson needs you in his office.”
“I’ll be right there, lemme get a beer, and I’ll be right there.”
I didn’t have an idea what was coming. I just figured this had something to do with what I had said to Eddie and Ricky about Tara.
Once I safely had my beer in hand, I went to the back office. I knocked and then as soon I heard the word ‘enter’ I did so.
“Chase,” Ted was sitting in front of the desk, and he gave me a slight nod toward the chair beside him. “We need to talk.”
“Alright.”
I still had no concern or clue as to the seriousness of the situation until I sat down beside Ted. I was relaxed until I felt the cold barrel of a gun pressed into the base of my neck. Every hair stood on end, I was suddenly hyper aware of everything in the small room. The stale smell of cigar smoke, the slight odor of sweat. The creak of the chair that Ted sat in, each exhale I made, and the blood rushing through me all seemed to be so loud. You’d expect me to see flashes of my life in front of my eyes, but instead, I was more focused on what was going on around me. All the smells and sounds were magnified.
The only real thought I had was if they killed me here and now, it would be heard, and then they’d be in trouble I couldn’t save them from. It wasn’t a matter of me being dead. So, I did the only thing I could think to do. I shook my head and tugged the collar of my shirt down to expose the small microphone taped to my chest. I heard Cole cuss and realized he was the one holding the gun to my head. I immediately put a finger to my lips. Here I was facing my death, and I was still trying to keep this group looking clean.
Wilson looked intrigued, and I saw him motion to the hulking man behind me. He tilted his head to one side and raised an eyebrow, staying quiet. The question was obvious. He wanted to know what I wanted. The only way I could think communicate, I mimed writing, and without a thought, he handed me a legal pad and a pen.
“Duty was boring,” I said as I began to write. “Not shit to report in the four hours me and Leon were out there.”
Wilson grunted, “Better to be safe than sorry. We were snuck up on before, I’d rather know assholes are coming than let them get the upper hand again.”
He raised an eyebrow at me and nodded towards what I was writing. I held it up for him to read.
‘I don’t know if they’re listening live or not. If you want to talk about me being a cop or anything that may be incriminating let me go home. Let me take this wire off so we can talk.’
Cole stepped from behind me, and I saw him shaking his head, a grim expression on his face. He still held the pistol in his hand, his thoughts were apparent. I wasn’t trusted, and he would very much rather just shoot me. I glanced at Ted and saw his expression seemed to match Wilson’s. I didn’t know if this meant I was going to walk away from this or not.
I took the pad and wrote on the bottom part of it: ‘You’re going to get a lot more attention if you kill a cop.’
“He has a point,” Ted said aloud.
I watched Cole glower at Ted, “Let’s go for a ride then we’ll figure out how to handle this from there.” He took the pad from my hand then snatched the pen, he scratched out a note quickly: ‘Take it the fuck off.’
I shook my head and made a point to mouth, ‘Not here.’ I motioned towards the door, and the other men stood, despite the growl I got from Cole. I led them through the bar without any sort of hold up. No one questioned where the four of us were going, no one seemed to know what had happened. There was still the easy going atmosphere I had left when I had been first summoned to the office.
No one seemed to know, they hadn’t clued anyone else in that I was a cop. For some reason that was a relief. As we mounted up on our bikes, I realized the amount of betrayal that was felt between them. No wonder he had a gun to my head, I just hoped I wasn’t leading them to a better place to kill me.
To be able to take off the wire, without drawing any attention, I would have to go back to my apartment and hope that it wasn’t too early that Tara would be there. This would mean that Tara would be meeting Boneyard Brotherhood’s leaders. This was a terrible mistake, but it was too late to back down now. It was either get myself out of this alive or face down Cole’s gun again.
The entire ride back to my apartment I tried to think the best way I could walk away from this alive. If they were going to shoot me, I realized, they’d take out Tara. I hoped I hadn’t been mistaken in what I thought I knew these men to be. They weren’t cold blooded killers. Cole aside, they wouldn’t throw me out like trash. That was part of the reason why I was leading them here instead of sending out a call for help.
When we pulled into the lot I dismounted and took off my helmet, I waited for them, and then when they were close enough, I led the way to my door. I made it as obvious as I could that I had no intentions of running, but I was going to plead my case before they took me out. I unlocked the door and let them in, I walked back to my bedroom and rolled my shirt up as I spoke, “Saturday, September 9th.” I glanced at my alarm clock, “Nine twenty-one pm.”
“Chase?” Tara came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her.
My breath caught, and I saw embarrassment evident on her face. While I had given her the key to my apartment, I didn’t expect her to take advantage by using
my shower. I wouldn’t complain, not after we had been intimate.
“You’re home early,” she paused, and I took it that she saw the men behind me. I shook my head slowly and motioned to the wire at my chest, pleading silently for her to finish it so I could turn it off. She turned a glare back at me before saying: “Dunn in attendance.”
I turned off the recorder and ripped the mic off without a care for the pain that came with quickly removed the tape. I chucked it into the room, and without even thinking about it, I shoved Tara back. I stepped out of the door frame and slammed the door to my bedroom. I turned back to Wilson, seeing a narrowed look. It was enough to ignore the solid smack Tara gave the door as she cursed my name.
“Regardless if I got a wire or not, killing me is only going to draw negative attention you don’t want,” I said. “I know for a fact that you’re not the criminals and that the Crazy Aces are.”
“Why are you in the Brotherhood then?” Cole asked. He stood behind Ted and Wilson with his massive arms crossed over his chest. It brought attention to the pistol shoved down the front of his pants. “If you’re so sure we’re not criminals, why would they put a cop in our group?”
I refrained from shrugging as I answered: “I didn’t pick the orders, they were given to me.” I sighed and drug my hands through my hair. “You guys got on the radar after a drug bust where a couple of members were involved.”
“Fucking Billings,” Cole growled out and looked away.
Wilson nodded as he absorbed what I said, as if he knew already.
“While we don’t have the anarchy that the Crazy Aces have, we aren’t saints. You’re not blind. You’re not stupid, that’s why you’re still here,” Wilson growled out as he went into my living room and sat heavily on my couch. “Tell me how you think this will end? If we didn’t find you out, what were your superiors going to do?”
I hadn’t had a check in with the Captain, yet. I hadn’t a clue how this would end, the obvious answer would be arrests for those that had incriminating evidence against them.
“I had hopes that they’d realize they had the wrong guys. That they’d realize just because a couple of guys are stupid, the whole group isn’t.”
“You were there when we shot out their windows,” Cole stated with a raised eyebrow. “How stupid are you to think something like that?”
“Reckless endangerment and property damage,” I shrugged this time. “I didn’t have the wire on for it,” I cleared my throat. “Any information that came from that night was called in reports. I have no evidence to offer up to my superiors that you were involved. Unless they said something to investigators, then there’s nothing pointing towards you.”
I watched as they exchanged looks and seemed to communicate something without speaking. Though, I couldn’t decipher the exchange between Ted and Wilson what Cole wanted rang loud and clear. He wanted me dead, this betrayal would be too much for him. If Wilson gave the command, I would have no chance.
“How do you suggest we handle this?” Ted asked, his curiosity obvious. “If we got law enforcement’s attention before the shit with those fuckers started then it's obvious we’re doing something illegal,” he looked at me. “Why are you so sure we’re innocent men?”
“You’re not meth heads,” I argued. “With all the paperwork that’s kept at the shop, the recipes. Even fucking Sid isn’t a meth head, and he was one of the guys arrested. Why do all of that if you’re criminals?”
“To cover up the fact that we are criminals,” Cole grunted. “If we don’t give the pigs a reason to look at us then they don’t look. But if you’re so sure of it, why would they put a pig in our yard?”
“I’ve busted junkies,” I argued. “I’ve busted runners and dealers. No one in the Boneyard fits that bill. Not even you three. Everyone I’ve met, even in passing, is clean.”
“As far as you can tell,” Cole said with a hint of contempt. “But you’ve been with us going on two years now. All last year you were scarce. Why’s that?”
Sweat had started to gather at my brow, I swiped it away when I felt it start to drip. I had an answer to that question, I didn’t know that it would save me. I was starting to think there was no way to walk away from this. I leaned back against my bedroom door, hoping that if they were going to kill me that they’d at least spare Tara. “If I’m not there, I can’t gather evidence,” I said at last. “Doubt, I couldn’t know for sure. But I thought if I played it safe and only did the minimum required there was no way anyone would get busted.”
“Brotherhood felt like home,” Ted offered. “Felt the need to protect us from the law?”
I shrugged helplessly and nodded, “I’ve never felt at home. Even in the service. I was going through the motions, and when I got put in to watch you guys, I just felt like something clicked. I didn’t want to find evidence, so I made it so I wouldn’t.”
Wilson leaned back further on my couch as he watched me. There was something penetrating about his gaze. Like he was looking straight through me as he sized me up.
“What do you suggest we do?” He asked again.
“What?” I blinked as I met the old man’s gaze. Cole echoed me in a much angrier tone.
“What would you do if you were in my position? You know good and well we’re not what we appear to be. You were there for the second confrontation with the Crazy Aces. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. So your doubt is right. What would you suggest I do if I found a rat in my group?”
“I’m not a rat.”
“No,” he shifted a little, the leather of his cut creaking. “You’re a mole. A double agent. You’re a cop. You and I know what’ll happen if we put you down. What do you suggest we do?”
An idea dawned on me as I was stuck trying to figure out a solution. “Why worry about me being there? Why not use me to paint that picture you've already created?” I could see I had his attention with that remark. “I don't know what you're doing that would be filed as illegal. Make sure it stays that way. Eventually, they'll realize this was a lost cause.”
“And how would you suggest we take care of the problem with the crazy assholes? Or are you going to tell me we should ignore them, too?” Cole grunted. He didn't look entertained at all. “Maybe we should all line up for the next drive by so they could take us out one at a time. Make shit easier for them.”
“Or,” Ted interrupted Cole’s tirade. He adjusted his footing and looked to Wilson as he seemed to consider the thought out loud. “You could use him to bring the rain down on them?”
“What?” Wilson’s brows drew together.
“Let’s take the shit Martinez cleaned up from the first run in, let him find it,” Ted continued, and I had a sinking feeling that I would be learning more than I wanted to. “He can point the rest of the cops in the right direction. After the drive by, I know it would have the undivided attention of the cops in their area. Maybe,” he started toying with his beard. “Maybe we can sabotage them.”
“How would that work?” I asked.
“How are you going to pin that on them? What did Martinez do with the bodies?” Cole distracted me from my own question. “Fuck all if I know what he did after we carted Van Cleave to the hospital.”
“That’s the way it was supposed to be. Martinez is a good man that’s good at his job,” Wilson sighed lightly and seemed to consider what Ted has proposed. “It would be underhanded and dirty to do something like that.”
“And doing a drive by is okay?” Cole snorted. “Trashed bikes were all we walked away with. We’re lucky no one got hurt.”
I watched them go back and forth just digesting what they were talking about. They were plotting the downfall of the other group, assuming jail would stop them. I watched Ted pull out his phone and make a call, the conversation he didn’t bother to cover, but I was more concerned with how this would end for me.
I looked at Wilson, “What are you going to do?”
“We’re going to use you,” he said with a slight smir
k. “Unless you’re going to be stupid and come clean to your superiors?”
Cole stepped forward and pulled the gun out, he cocked it then pointed at me. I think he expected Wilson to command him to kill me.
“Are you having a change of heart?” Wilson asked.
I swallowed hard, there was a bit of bitterness that was going to sit in my gut.
“What about the girl?” Cole asked.
I leaned my weight against the door, “Leave the girl the fuck alone.” I didn’t know if she was safe or not, regardless of the deal I hacked out with them.
“She yours?” Cole asked, he still held the gun pointed at me.
“She’s my partner,” I argued, not wanting to admit our relationship. We hadn’t had the opportunity to define it.