by Jayne Blue
They were everywhere.
“How about I give you a t-shirt? And buy you a new dress before I take you out again.”
I laughed. It sounded strange and strangled.
“Yeah, I guess my outfit is a disaster. Thank you.”
Benz got up and I found my purse. He threw a white t-shirt in my direction. It came to my knees. Jesus, I need out of this mess. I was moving faster and faster.
“I’ll walk you your car.”
“No, no. I can handle it.”
“I insist, no woman of mine is walking back to her car after…”
“Woman of yours? Ha. Whoa. Look, I have to go.” And I literally bolted out of his apartment. I heard him call my name. I took the stairs two at a time. My capacity for lying had reached its limit. My cover, such as it was, was hanging by a thread. My only hope of making a rational decision at this point was getting away.
I found my car and started it as fast as I could.
I had no idea what Benz thought of my speedy escape. I hoped he just thought I’d gotten shy. Or even had second thoughts. I’m sure women did not run out on him.
I had no idea what it said about me that I’d slept with him.
I did have a big idea that I felt more than I was supposed to for the son of the man who had killed my father.
I drove back to my hotel in a blur.
I had what I wanted. A way to bust some Dark Saints.
But I’d never felt so confused in my entire life.
12
Benz
That had to be some kind of land speed record for getting dumped by a woman. I’d had the most incredible night of my life. I thought she did too and then Jen nearly broke the sound barrier getting the fuck out of my place.
I watched her get in her little Bug and drive as fast as the little tin can would take her.
I wondered what I had done wrong. Or maybe it was just the reality that I wasn’t a poster boy for the Chamber of Commerce? Tats, leather, bikes. Maybe I was a bucket list fuck.
I supposed it didn’t help when I answered her questions about my family.
My background was an unholy shit show. I was good for a night, but maybe that was about it when it came to women like Jen Guffy.
The hell of it was I knew there weren’t many women like Jen Guffy out there.
They were rare. I thought about Bear and Mama Bear. How had they figured it out?
Mama Bear tolerated a lot of shit from him, but there must have been some sort of line. He must know where it is. Mama Bear is one of the most high-quality people on the planet, and she stayed with Bear. His blood was Dark Saint through and through.
I couldn’t sleep after she left, so I showered and headed to the club.
I didn’t have to be alone. I wasn’t ready to share my recent spectacular failure at keeping a woman around, but it was good to be at the MC, no matter what was happening in my life.
Kade, Maddox, and Bo were there, in various states of sleep, sex, or sauced, so I didn’t interrupt any of them. Axle was nowhere to be found. Now that he was a married man, finding him at 3 a.m. at the clubhouse was a rarity.
I was restless. I wandered back to Bear’s office and there was Mama. She was a night owl. Sometimes she stayed in their house, but luckily for me, tonight she was here working.
“Pretty late to be so sober and alone there, Benz.” She was looking over club books. Maddox was the club treasurer, but Mama was his back up. I know we had a lot of irons in a lot of fires.
I had no doubt that Mama Bear’s organizational skills kept me paid on time and away from the IRS for my less-than-upstanding activities.
“Yeah, I wasn’t alone up to an hour or so ago, but I chased her off.”
“On purpose?”
“No, total accident. Couldn’t tell you what I did this time.”
“Give me a break. Women fall all over you.”
“Club groupies. I find I have no interest anymore.”
“What is this? Benz is getting deep.”
“How do you and Bear do it? How did he get you?” What I really mean was, how had Bear, who had been in this club as long as anyone, gotten a nurse, a vet for that matter, to come anywhere near him?
“Well, it’s a day-to-day thing. Bear knows I could bolt at any time.”
“But you don’t.”
“I don’t. Bear and I, well, I’m shit without him. That’s just all there is to it.” She relayed that as a statement of fact that she wasn’t all that happy about.
“I’m sure it’s the same for him.”
“It’s worse for him.” She winked at me.
“No doubt.”
“Maybe that’s why I stay. And you guys. I couldn’t let you raise yourselves. So tell me about this non-groupie you chased away?”
“Get this, she’s a librarian.” Mama Bear laughed at that one. I knew she would.
“Well, I wouldn’t have figured you for the librarian type, but love is totally random isn’t it?”
“Love? Not sure about that one, but there was something different about her. Looks like I won’t be getting a chance to find out. Never saw a VW take off so fast.” Mama Bear’s eyes got serious and she lowered her glasses.
“You’re a good man Benz. You came from a shitty start. That’s true. But you’re not Kenny Bass. You’re not Kenny by a mile. I knew Kenny a little. He was weak, stupid, and jealous. You’re the opposite. This librarian has half a brain, she’ll be back.”
“Thanks, Mama.” I walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. I’d come to get some support from my Brothers, but it was Mama Bear who got my head on straight.
I’d heard it before. My shit of a Dad tried to get into The Saints, but he couldn’t even make it as a probie. He was impatient, greedy, and had stupid ideas all the time.
The bank robbery was the stupid idea that got him killed.
And I didn’t spend even a minute crying about it. Neither did any member of The Dark Saints.
Kenny Bass got what he deserved.
I hadn’t thought about any of this shit for any length of time in years.
One night with Jen Guffy and I’d turned into a pussy.
Fuck that. I needed to toughen back up.
I had to get ready for tonight.
I had a drug deal to babysit.
I was going to be sure no one messed with it.
It was quite literally a bear trap and, if it worked, The Saints would lure who we needed to and stop the heroin trade from gripping our town like it was everywhere else in the U.S.
I headed to the front of the club. I was feeling more settled. I needed to get a few things ready for tonight.
“Hey, brother, headed to town?” Kade emerged from one of the bedrooms. He’d hooked up last night. I could see around the door that it was probably Jackie or one of her friends. They were good for a night, but that was about it.
That used to be all I needed.
Damn that woman.
“I am. Want to ride in with me?”
“Yep, let me get my shit.”
I heard some complaining coming from Jackie. But Kade ignored it and walked out.
“Toby, make sure Jackie gets home in a few hours.” A probie’s job was never done.
“Got it, Kade,” Toby said. I suppose transporting slightly drunk women was a step up from cleaning up after Rufus. Rufus was the club mutt, and he was slightly higher on the food chain that the probies. Some days I was sure Rufus was higher on the food chain than me.
“You get the details from Bear on what we’re doing?” Kade asked as we walked to our bikes.
“Yep, should be pretty straight forward.”
“It’s going to be hard not bashing their faces in, but yeah, let them think they’re dealing in Port Az.”
“Yep, fish in a barrel.”
I was glad I’d come to the club. As usual, it got my head on straight and reminded me of who and what was important in my life.
13
Jen
&n
bsp; “Look, here’s what I heard. It’s going to be tonight at nine at the warehouse next to the pier. Pier three.”
“Right. And you know this because?”
I had done some soul searching after leaving Benz’s apartment. I had come here to put The Dark Saints away, and I had a perfect opportunity.
Not because I had done any great police work, but because I was in Benz’s bed at the right time. My face still flushed hot to think about it. And I started to tell myself that sleeping with him was part of the plan. I could tell myself I was like James Bond or something. It was all about getting information.
I rationalized it. I had been caught up in the moment. But why not? Why not enjoy what Benz had to offer? Most women would? Wouldn’t they? He was a Greek God on a bike. He was a leather clad Adonis and he was very fucking good at fucking.
I was a novice on every level, and I had got swept away. But it didn’t mean anything.
I had no doubt that I was just one of the many women who he’d slept with and there was no reason to think I was special or that what we did was.
All these rationales put me in the Port Azrael Police Department with the information that I’d learned.
Sure, I could go to the warehouse by myself with no backup and hope for the best. But if I’d learned one thing in the last twenty-four hours, it was that I didn’t know anything.
Being in the academy and having my degree didn’t mean I was any good at being undercover. I’d been surprised by every aspect, and at every turn, since I’d arrived in Port Azrael. The cake topper being the fact that I’d slept with the son of Kenny Bass. That part was the worst. That part made me so angry with myself that I could barely stand it.
The only way I could see to make this right was to report the information I had. I aimed to give the local police a good heads up about what was going to go down.
The problem was I was nobody. I was bounced from a desk clerk to a detective and back down again to a rookie, who looked nervous and who was essentially ignoring me, waiting for his boss. I told the same story three times.
“I was with Benz Bass last night, he got a call. On the call, it was clear he is the lookout for a major shipment of New Jack. I told you the location. What more do you need?”
He didn’t answer. He was as new as I was.
“Let me just Google, New Jack Swing real quick,” he said.
“Detective Peck– ” I pleaded.
“I’m technically not a detective. Officer Peck would be fine. Or even Peter.”
“You’re seriously telling me your name is Officer Peter Peck?”
“Yes Miss, that’s right. And I haven’t made detective yet. But fingers crossed.”
“They must have a field day with that name around here. How long have you… Ugh. Never mind. I have given you a solid lead on a major situation and I’ve been shunted from paper pusher to paper pusher.” I was frustrated, to say the least.
Officer Peck was a little soft, and a lot young, and the last bust he had made was probably a pimple on his forehead, not a drug deal.
“I have a line into my boss. He’ll be on it. Don’t you worry.” Officer Peck straightened a few post-it notes and avoided eye contact with me. Like everything else in Port Azrael, the police visit was going weird.
I waited and waited and finally the detective Peck had called arrived.
“Peck, you’re done. Go get the coffee filters I told you we needed.”
“Yes, sir.” Peck stood up and knocked over the can of pencils he spent most of his days pushing. He scrambled to put them back in the can.
“Move it, Peck.” As the young officer scrambled out of the reception, the detective turned to me and said, “I’m Detective Art Janning, Miss Guffy.”
“Finally, I’ve been getting the runaround all day!”
“We’re pretty busy here, Miss Guffy. So sorry we couldn't offer you a latte and a bagel while you waited.”
It was not going well with the detective and we hadn’t even started.
“We looked over your information. Good stuff,” he commented, giving me a patronizing nod.
It was bullshit, I knew. He thought I was playing cop. Maybe I was, but I dammit there was going to be a drug deal in this town and The Dark Saints were the center of it. Didn’t I have a duty to tell the authorities?
“You should not dismiss me or this. I’m not some random person off the street, I have a criminal justice degree, I graduated top of my class at– ”
“I see, and you have a long history with the Rangers, yes. I remember when your Daddy died. It was a terrible thing. Terrible. He was a hero. That’s a fact. I’m so sorry for your loss.” Janning appeared to be genuine, at least about that. Any person in law enforcement in the area would have remembered when my Daddy died. That much I knew.
“Thank you.”
“We’ve got the information, we’ll follow up. If I were you, I’d go back to the library and finish up there. That’s important work too. I’m glad to hear it’s finally being done.”
Janning thought I was a silly girl who had a little too much to drink, had a fun night with an outlaw and was now letting her imagination run wild.
“Okay, so you’ll be there?”
“I can’t divulge specifics of police operations, but we appreciate your service. Peck! PECK! Officer Peck will show you out.”
I was getting the brush off. All my angst over getting close to The Dark Saints and nothing was going to happen.
Peck ran back into the reception area when he heard Detective Janning’s bark.
“So, you believe me right?” I said to him. Peck had been the only one who seemed to be listening to me the entire time I’d been at the station. Even though he had to Google half the things I’d referenced.
“I do. And I’ve got an idea.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to take this case upon myself.”
“You’re going to?”
“They’ve been putting me to the side, giving me paperwork, having me do the low-level jobs. I need a big win.”
I related to that part of Peter Peck’s life, one hundred percent.
“Well, this could be it.”
“Hell yeah.”
“You could get in trouble for going off like this? You know that right?”
“Not if I make the collar? Then I’m the rookie who foiled a big deal going down in Port Az!”
“Right. Thank you. I’m just trying to do the right thing.”
I had an ally in Port Az, finally.
“You did. Sometimes they turn a blind eye to stuff The Dark Saints do here. That stops with me.” Peck nodded at me, gaining in confidence as he spoke.
It was something. I knew there was no way that Detective Janning was going to do anything. Maybe Peck and I could make this bust together.
I’d spoon fed information to the police. I knew the law at least. This really could net a few of The Dark Saints. It had to. Or everything I had done was a waste. I didn’t deserve to follow in my Daddy’s footsteps if I couldn’t handle a bust where I knew everything, or most things, ahead of time.
I went back to the library and essentially hid in my corner for the rest of the day. My phone had a missed call from Benz. I ignored it. I was too afraid I’d mess up and give myself away somehow.
Benz Bass. I pulled up the name Bass on my computer. The details of the bank robbery and my Daddy’s death were there again.
Benz said his Daddy wasn’t officially a Dark Saint.
I wondered about that. All this time my Grandmother had told me that all three of the men involved were Dark Saints.
And yet Benz said his Dad wasn’t.
Grandmother said The Saints got off scot-free after the bank robbery. The money they took was recovered, that much was true. But I wondered about the safety deposit box that was never recovered. Did that have cash in it? Did it make it to The Saints? Is that how they’d been thriving over the years?
In the ten years since that day, Po
rt Azrael had changed for the better. The town was growing and so was the MC.
I pulled up arrest records from the last ten years in the Port Az Police Department. I should have done more of this over the last few weeks, actual research on The Saints. Then I wouldn’t have been so blindsided by Benz.
I didn’t see the name Bass in the recent arrests. I also did a docket search of the municipal court. Again, no Bass anywhere.
Whatever Benz had been up to since that day both our Dads had died, he hadn’t got caught.
I looked for other names in the arrest logs. Most of the men in The Saints went by aliases or ‘club names’ and I only knew a few of those. It made for tough going in terms of finding out how clean or dirty they were.
I did know Benz’s real name now, Benjamin Bass.
Benz had a clean record, at least as an adult. No way to know if he had priors as a juvie. But I’d categorized all The Saints as criminals. It looked like the only criminals I could actually track were the ones who’d called themselves Saints when they robbed Port Az State Credit Union.
Were they posers? Were they just trying to get into The Saints? Or take The Saints down?
It was too late to be able to ask them, since the two that were apprehended had died in prison. No question, that was suspicious, but it still meant I couldn’t ask them a damn thing. Whatever secrets they had died with them.
I don’t know if it was love or guilt, but I started to worry.
What if I was wrong about Benz? Officer Peck was going to try to make a name for himself. Just like I was trying to do by busting Benz and whoever else showed up tonight.
I had no real idea about what I could or would do.
But as the sun set, I realized I was going to go that warehouse next to the dock. I was going to hang back and see what I saw. Benz Bass and the entire Dark Saints were shady. I knew they were.
Who cared whether the three that were involved in the bank robbery were ‘official’ or not. What the hell did that even mean?
The Dark Saints were running something through this town. They were getting rich off of it and they weren’t paying. My Daddy had paid the ultimate price.
I dropped the librarian costume. It was time to be a cop, sort of. I was going to be back up for Officer Peter Peck whether he liked it or not. He sure as hell needed it. That much was clear.