“You want it?” he asked.
“No thanks,” I said.
He dropped the cigarette and stepped on it. “Ah, Mick. My man. You came through for me. Go take a break. Let me have some time with the very dangerous Kingston.”
Mick patted me on the back. “I’ll be back in a few.”
The man waved a hand at me and I walked toward him. He grabbed the door to the shed and opened it.
“Not the best office I’ve ever had, but not the worst,” he said. “Come on, let’s sit down and have a chat together. Just you and me.”
I stopped. “Who are you?”
“Anderson,” he said and stuck his hand out. I didn’t move. He forced his hand to mine to shake it. “There we go. Now we’ve met. You know me. I know you.”
“What the fuck is this?” I asked.
“Just get the fuck in here,” Anderson said. “Or I’ll shoot you.”
“On what grounds?” I asked.
Anderson laughed. “I shoot you in the fucking head. I take your cuffs off. I fill out a report that states you came at me, without cuffs on. Then it falls back on Mick. I open an investigation to steer eyes away from me killing you. Then Mick’s life is picked apart piece by fucking piece. Want me to keep going?”
I gritted my teeth and stepped toward the shed.
Anderson let out a growl sound. “That’s my guy! Let’s fucking do this.”
I stepped into the shitty storage shed. “And what exactly are we doing?”
Anderson walked by me and took a seat at a card table. He looked up at me and smiled. “Simple. We’re going to get you out of prison.”
I took a seat and stared at Anderson. “What are you talking about?”
Anderson opened a bag and took out a folder. He opened it and spun it around. It was a picture of Tito, my brother, shot to death. A photo I saw once before and one I swore I’d never see again.
I turned my head. “Don’t…”
“This is why you’re here,” Anderson said. “And it’s why I’m here.”
“Close that,” I said.
“Look at it.”
“I will fucking choke you with these cuffs if you don’t close that folder.”
“Wow, it really gets you worked up. You must have really loved him.”
“He was my brother. Of course I loved him.”
Anderson closed the folder. “Your brother was a goddamn street rat fucking criminal. And the bullet he took… that had his name on it in so many ways, Kingston.”
“What does that have to do with right now?”
“You shot the man who shot your brother,” Anderson said.
“Hence my current position,” I said.
“You shot, but did you kill?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Anderson waved a hand. “I’m too far ahead. Wait. Let me back up. I’m part of an organization that’s going to make the wrong now right.”
“By getting me out of prison?”
“Oh, no,” Anderson said. “You deserve to be here and die here. But you’re not going to. As long as you do as I say.”
“And how does that work?”
Anderson leaned back. “See, when you’ve been around as long as I have, it’s simple. You know people. People know people. Anything can happen. See, there’s currently an investigation into a guard who’s been really pushing hard at inmates. When this thing explodes, it’s going to show some pretty dirty shit. Look at your face, Kingston. Is that fair?”
“I’m not here to talk about fair and unfair.”
“I am,” Anderson said. “With one flick of my finger, I could have you out of here. There’s enough legal bullshit flying around to get you off death row and I can tell you right now, if your lawyer digs deep enough, there’s a way to get that murder charge pushed off you. The only reason you’re sitting here is because you took the fast route. You stood tall and proud, defending your slain brother. Hey, that’s credible. But it’s stupid. You don’t realize the bullets that fly. Where they come from. Why.”
I stiffened my spine. A chance to get out of prison? Taste the free world again?
“What’s the catch,” I said. “That’s how deals work, right?”
Anderson held up a finger and then pulled out a stack of folders. “Don’t worry, there’s no dead bodies here. Yet.”
Each folder was all the legal dirt on my boys. Everyone actively participating with the Reaper’s Bastards MC.
“Christ,” I said. “You’re federal, aren’t you?”
“I am… I am everything, Kingston. I am going to break up this motorcycle club. I am going to make sure those who need to pay will pay. I am going to ensure your freedom.”
I shook my head. “The Reap is long gone. There’s nothing worth chasing now.”
“Perfect,” Anderson said. He closed all the folders on a time and packed them away. Then he stood up and stuck his hand out. “Then we’re done here.”
“What?”
He put his hand to the table. “If there’s nothing worth chasing, then you won’t be against giving me what I want from them.”
I laughed. “You want me to be a rat to my own brothers?”
“No, no, Kingston. You had one brother.” Anderson held up one finger. “One brother. That was it. And he took a bullet. You think you know where that bullet came from, but you don’t. I’m offering you a chance to get out of here and find the truth. And when you do, you let me know exactly what that is. Doesn’t it bother you that nobody visits? That nobody fights harder for you? Where’s the protection inside for their fallen member?”
“There’s nothing left of the Reap,” I said. “It’s all memories and show.”
“Then bring me the memories. I want the gavel, Kingston. I want… Jakey.”
“Uncle Jakey?” I asked. “He’s not even technically a real member from what I hear.”
“But he’s your unspoken leader,” Anderson said. “He hits the gavel and people listen.”
I tightened my jaw. I could see in Anderson’s eyes he was dead serious. And if I needed any sort of proof from there, he showed me a piece of paper that promised me my freedom. I would be absolved of my death row sentence and left as a mostly free man until my lawyer could present the necessary evidence to get my murder conviction overturned.
“What do you say?” Anderson asked me. “Want to spring from here? Go get a sense of the regular life for a while?”
“I’m not going to rat on my club,” I said. “There’s no fucking way.”
“I thought you’d say that,” Anderson said. “So loyal in life. I wonder how loyal you’ll be in death.”
“Are you threatening me? If so, just do it then. Put that fucking bullet right in my head. Fuck your paperwork. Fuck Mick. Fuck everyone.”
Anderson leaned forward across the table. “I think you’re full of shit, Kingston. I think there’s a good reason you’ll want to be on the outside. I can smell it coming off you.”
“So call my bluff,” I said.
“That I’ve already done,” Anderson said. He stood up and folded his arms. “It’s a simple decision. In or out. Out, you live. In, you die.”
“I know that part,” I said.
“But this part you don’t… you decide to stay inside, you’ve got hours instead of days. No more fucking around.”
The lines were drawn. The position clear.
In or out.
Alive or dead.
All I had to do was sell out my club.
But if I got out… I could get to her.
“It’s a heavy decision,” Anderson said. “You can just take the needle, Kingston. Escape all this bullshit. This world… everything. Maybe that’s what I would do.”
Anderson walked around the table and kicked opened the door. He shouted for a guard and Mick came rushing to the shed. Mick put a hand to my shoulder and I slowly stood up.
I didn’t know what to feel. I guess in so many ways I had already dug my grave, huh? I
had done the crime, I was serving the time, and the destiny was the reaper. That was all of our destinies. Every single guy that sat at the table and represented the Reap.
But even with all that shit flowing through my body, I could only think of one fusing thing.
Her.
My girl.
Lindsey.
“Kingston,” Anderson said.
I looked back. He was standing in the same position as when I first saw him. Even with a fresh lit cigarette in his mouth.
“What?” I asked.
“The offer… I’ll give you until weight room time. That’s, what, about two hours? A man of your nature shouldn’t need that much time to decide between life and death.”
All I could picture was her.
“Get me the fuck out of here,” I said.
Anderson grinned. “I knew you were going to say that. I knew I liked you for a reason. I’ll be in touch real soon. Just think, this time tomorrow, you’ll be with your crew again.”
Yeah, I’d be with my boys again… but after that, I was going to find her… I was going to find my Lindsey and fix everything that went wrong.
6
(king)
*THEN*
I watched as Tito lifted up his shirt and tucked a gun into the back of his baggy jeans. Mom used to yell at him for not putting his belt tighter to hold up his jeans better. She called him a goofy ass slob and would slap his shoulder. She used to be able to slap the back of his head but Tito got too tall.
I was already half an inch taller than Tito.
I couldn’t believe what the last couple summers had done for me. I gave up on my quest to play guitar like Tito and went for the weights. I lifted… and I secretly fought people. Tito knew about it. He would bet money on me. The underground fighting was amazing. But dangerous.
“What are you doing with that?” I asked.
Tito turned. He wiped his nose, laughed, and blinked fast. His eyes were dry, bloodshot. He was high as fuck already.
“Working,” Tito said. “You know we all pack, little bro. It’s how we live.”
“Why are you doing it like this?” I asked. “I can talk to my boys for you.”
My boys were the Reaper’s Bastards. A bunch of us were slowly patching in. Others were prospects. The point was… we were in with the Reap. We were going to rule the club one day.
Tito didn’t have to do the street bullshit stuff anymore. He could patch in with the club. I could get him a sit down with the President of the club. But he refused it. It was a dumb pride thing. At least that’s what I believed at first. Watching him rub his nose told me a different story. It wasn’t a pride thing - it was a high thing.
“Don’t do this,” I said. “Come on. You know I’m packing just like you. But not like this.”
Tito put a hand out. “Little bro, you’re starting to piss me off. And I don’t want to be pissed off.”
“You’re using. I can see it all over you. Mom will kill you.”
Tito’s eyes went wider. With the flip of an invisible switch that I obviously hit, Tito charged right at me. Next thing I knew, his hand was around my neck. I slammed against the wall and felt his strength trying to crush my windpipe.
Truth?
I could have fought back. I could have taken Tito right down to the fucking ground and made him cry and tap out. But it was my big bro. My hero. My idol. The man who was like a father to me since my old man was long gone.
“You fucking ever joke like that again, little bro, and I will have to hurt you. I’m keeping everything cool. Everything sane and safe, man. Okay? You just go about your shit. Remember why I’m doing my shit. Don’t get in my fucking way.”
Tito let me go.
I coughed and grabbed at my neck.
He walked to the steps and looked back at me.
My big bro… my hero, my idol… he had tears in his eyes. He pointed right at me.
“Just don’t,” he said. “Ever.”
I was frozen.
Tito took a step down and stopped again. He hung his head. “I love you, King. Man, I fucking love you.”
With that, Tito walked down the steps and out of the house.
“I love you too, brother,” I said, still rubbing my neck.
That night… Tito would take a last breath.
7
(lindsey)
*NOW*
I scooped four large spoonfuls of sugar into my coffee and stirred it up. I took a sip and it was perfect. Aunt Jane always bought the weirdest coffee and knew how to make it taste great.
“You look stressed,” she said.
“I saw something at work. About the building.”
“Selling it?” she asked.
“How did…”
Aunt Jane smirked. “Lindsey, I’ve been in the medical world for how many years? Happens all the time. Centers, hospitals, whatever, it’s all up for grab. Don’t get caught up in that. You’re not in the admin part of it.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t care about the people.”
“Of course you do. But shit happens. You just have to ride the waves of life.”
“You always say…”
Someone cleared their throat.
I turned and saw some young man standing in the doorway with messy hair and jacket slung over his shoulder.
“Hey, D,” Aunt Jane said and winked.
“Get out of here,” I whispered to myself.
“I’m, uh, going to hit the road,” D said.
He walked by me, smirking at me, like he conquered something amazing. Aunt Jane reached for D and squeezed his wrist.
“I’m sure I’ll see you around,” she whispered.
I had to admit, even after all those years, it still made my stomach flip to see my aunt in the zone, as she always called it.
D left the house through the kitchen.
Aunt Jane looked at me with a smirk on her face.
“Do I want to know?”
“Probably not. But he kept chasing me down. He literally ran alongside me as I was driving yesterday. Then he tried to get in front of me. Like he wanted me to run him over. So I caved.”
“You caved?” I asked.
“Sure. If you saw the size of his dick…”
“TMI,” I said. “I don’t need to hear this. Plus, weren’t you the one that said it doesn’t matter how big it is but how it’s used?”
“Of course,” Aunt Jane said. Then she smiled bigger. “But I was the one using it. He just stayed there on his back and for a little while, he was my favorite toy.”
I cringed. But that’s what Aunt Jane did. After shit hit the fan with Jim, she divorced him and moved in with a friend. We stayed in the basement of a house for about a year as she worked double and triple shifts to save up enough to buy a small house. Like I said, for as flaky as she was, she always made sure to provide for me. Maybe not that deep mother-daughter bond, but she took care of me.
“What about you?” Aunt Jane asked. “You don't look like someone who got laid last night. Mind if I smoke?”
“Mind if I have one too?” I asked.
Aunt Jane raised an eyebrow. “That bad?”
“Between work and everything else…”
“Let’s start with the everything else,” Aunt Jane. “Nelson. You don’t love him, do you?”
“Not like he loves me,” I said.
“There’s no stages of love in a relationship,” Aunt Jane said. “You’re either in or out. You’re either cooking me breakfast in the morning or you’re like D, kicked out of the house without breakfast.”
“Fine. I don’t love him.”
“I knew that from day one. He was a convenient distraction.”
“You should talk.”
“This isn’t about me,” Aunt Jane said. “Don’t get mean.”
“Sorry,” I said. I sipped my sugary coffee and enjoyed the beautiful taste.
“So what else is on your mind?”
“I was reading letters last night.”<
br />
“The letters from Kingston?”
“Yes.”
“You still have those?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re my memories,” I said. “They mean something to me. I can’t just throw them out. They meant a lot to me. I really loved him.”
“I know you did. I’m so sorry the way everything happened. But you know we can’t go back in time. We can only go forward. You know, you may not be my daughter but you sure have my spirit.” Aunt Jane stood up and walked to the sink. “You don’t like to be alone. You think you’re going to end up alone for the rest of your life, don’t you?”
“Isn’t that a credible fear?”
“Of course it is,” Aunt Jane said. “But life works in weird ways.”
“Like some horny twenty-two year old jumping in front of you…”
“For the record,” Aunt Jane said. “He’s twenty-three. And he has a degree in sports management.”
“Wow. Good for him. Good for you.”
“I can’t give you advice on love,” Aunt Jane said. “I never have and I never will. Look at all I’ve done. I’m not the one to give you advice. But look at what you know. You’ve got a guy in Nelson who you say does love you. The man you truly have feelings for is gone away for forever. So you need to figure that part out in your mind.”
“I know. Maybe I should just end it with Nelson once and for all. I don’t want to lead him on or hurt him. I just wish I had closure on so much stuff in life. Sometimes I can let it go. Sometimes I can’t. Sometimes it just eats at me so bad.”
“You’re talking about Kingston.”
“Of course. There was so much between us. On and off. It was like we just weren’t ever meant to be together. No matter how strong we felt about each other.”
“That’s how it goes sometimes,” Aunt Jane said. “Maybe you can learn from me. Push through it and find something bigger and better in life.” She spun around. “Now, can we drop the emotional talk? Can I tell you about the size of D’s dick?”
She put her hands together and slowly started to move them apart, not stopping, even beyond a length that was humanly impossible.
Outlaw King Page 3