Savage Lies: Savage Angels MC #7

by Kathleen Kelly

  Doc shakes their hands and makes no sign that he’s going to move.

  “We’d like to see Zeke…”

  “I know. I’m sizing you up. You’re a big fucker, aren’t you?”

  Dirt chuckles, and I shoot him a look. “Yes, sir.”

  The Kings of Death MC pull in behind the Fiesta. Smithy and two of his men walk toward us.

  “This is Smithy, he’s President of the Kings of Death MC,” I explain.

  Smithy also shakes Doc’s hand, and again he doesn’t move.

  “This is Rio and Roman,” says Smithy as they too shake the Doc’s hand.

  The Doc looks at all of us and nods, his gaze goes to the ground, and he speaks to all of us. “The sheriff is a bad man. I’ve watched him turn into a dictator as the power has gone to his head.” Doc looks up at us. “But this is a good town, it just has a few bad apples. The sheriff, a couple of his deputies, and the preacher, Zeke’s father.”

  I raise my eyebrows at him. All I know about Zeke and Kade is that they are closer than brothers. Their lives before the MC aren’t important. I know they have my back and are loyal. That’s all that matters. They do what needs to be done. For me, love and loyalty are the same thing, and those two have proved that time and again.

  Doc moves out of the way. “The kitchen is down the hallway, and I’ve got cold beer in the fridge. Zeke’s room is the first on the left, bathroom first on the right.”

  I move past him and walk into Zeke’s room, so do Dirt and Rebel. The Kings of Death keep going to the kitchen, I assume.

  Zeke is laying on a bed, shirt off, bandages around his torso. The left side of his face is bruised, and his eye is swollen shut. He sees me and tries to sit up, sucking air in through clenched teeth, pain evident to everyone in the room.

  “Lay back down,” I order.

  Zeke shakes his head, and Kade helps him into a sitting position.

  “I’m cool, Prez.”

  “Like fuck you are,” I growl.

  “He’s got bruised ribs and some bruising, but he’ll heal,” explains the Doc.

  “The sheriff do this to you?” I ask.

  “Yeah.”

  “Under your daddy’s order, though, right?” asks Kade angrily.

  Zeke nods.

  There’s another man in the room, well dressed, and he punches the wall, creating a fist-sized hole.

  “Fuck!” he hisses.

  “Rush! What the darnation do you think you’re doing? That’s my goddamn wall!”

  “I’ll fix it! I’ll fix it!” Rush shakes his head and shakes himself. “Sorry, Ernest, that man just makes my blood boil.”

  “Me, too, but I don’t go punching holes in the wall!”

  I grin at the two men and hold out my hand to Rush. “Dane Reynolds.”

  “Devon Rushard, attorney at law.”

  I nod and look down at Zeke. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, Prez. Just need a down day or two,” replies Zeke with a weak-ass attempt to be funny.

  “Right. You attached to your daddy?”

  “There’s more to it. This was a warning for me to leave, but I’ve got family here, my sisters, and I can’t abandon them.”

  “Fuck that. They turned a blind eye to the crap your father put… puts you through, and you still want to help them? No man, no,” responds Kade angrily.

  “They’re family, Kade.”

  “They stopped being family the minute this happened,” hisses Kade.

  “Blood, Kade. The girls don’t know.”

  “The girls don’t want to know,” interjects Doc.

  “Enough. No one goes after one of mine. We’ll make sure your sisters are unharmed.”

  Zeke shakes his head. “You hurt him, it’ll hurt them.”

  “I’ll handle it.” Then I turn to look at the Doc. “That offer of a beer still stand?”

  “Yes, come this way.”

  Doc walks out into the hall. I take one last look at Zeke and follow him. When we hit the kitchen, I find the Kings of Death, each with a beer in their hands, murmuring amongst themselves.

  “Tell me about the sheriff,” I say.

  “Well, his daddy was—” starts the Doc.

  “Not from you. Smithy?”

  “He’s got his fingers in a few pies. Takes regular payoffs. He leaves us alone. We get that you want retribution, we’d want the same, but we have a… business arrangement. You could potentially hurt that.”

  “You have a business arrangement with the sheriff?” asks Doc.

  “Ahh, Doc, I’m thinking we need to make this conversation a private one,” I say.

  “This is my house.”

  “True. Let’s take this outside.”

  Smithy and his men stand, and we all go back out the way we came in. Except they’ve all got beers in their hands, and I don’t.

  “Smithy, they have to pay. What are you running, and how can we make this work for you?”

  “Sharp turns a blind eye to us running guns and drugs through his town. We don’t sell here. He’s even helped us when the state troopers got nosy. Sharp’s a fucking bastard, but he worships the mighty dollar, and in the process, we use him to get what we want.”

  I nod. I understand he has men, a club, and a source of revenue to protect, but I have a reputation.

  “What if I introduced you to some like-minded people who could… show you another way?”

  “We ain’t selling shit door to door, no pyramid schemes,” says Rio.

  I chuckle, and Smithy pins him with a look and sighs. “He’s my sister’s kid.” He shrugs.

  “Do we fucking look like we go door to door? No man, no pyramid schemes. I’ll sit you down with our treasurer who’ll show you a better, easier, fewer risks way to invest your money. Short term, your income will drop, long-term it’s a better investment, but you gotta be patient.”

  “How long are we talking?”

  “Two years minimum.”

  Smithy shakes his head and begins to pace. His two men watch him cautiously.

  I try another approach. “How much are you making right now?”

  “Enough.”

  “Have the sit-down. I’ll get him and another friend to come to you.” Looking him in the eyes, I say, “The sheriff has to bleed for what he’s done and so does the preacher. We’re doing it either way. I’d rather do it with you, Smithy, than against you.”

  Smithy nods, his expression is grim, a nerve ticks in his neck, and I know he’s not down with what we want to do. But I also know he understands, and if he’s asking me about other avenues of income, he’s ready to change.

  “You have an in with The Chosen Legion,” states Smithy.

  This surprises me as not many people know that we are affiliated. It’s something we are slowly easing out of but running moonshine makes us a nice profit. I let Dirt do most of the heavy lifting for this. He organizes the runs, the cash, and the shine. Dirt has never been comfortable with us going straight.

  I turn around and face the house. Dirt, as if on cue, opens the door. I motion for him to join us.

  “Smithy here seems to think we’re affiliated with The Chosen Legion and their moonshine running,” I say as he stands next to me.

  “What’s it to him if we are?” replies Dirt.

  “I know you are, we’ve tried to get in on the deal, but they shut us down every time. With your backing, we could have a place at the table, and then when you go after the piece-of-shit sheriff, we won’t get hurt as bad.”

  Dirt says nothing and looks to me. I nod once, then hold out my hand to Smithy. “You’ve got a deal.”

  Zeke

  I don’t know what’s going down between Dane and the Kings of Death, but when I see Dane hold out his hand to one of them, I let out a sigh of relief.

  “You okay, son?” asks Rush.

  “Yeah.” I gesture to the men outside. “Politics, it can get messy.”

  “Ahh, yes, yes it can,” agrees Rush.

  The man hasn’t
left the room since he helped me into the bed. I know him as it’s a small town, but I can’t say we were ever friends or ran in the same circles.

  “You know my dad?” I ask.

  Rush’s top lip goes up in a sneer. “I know of your dad. We aren’t friends.”

  “I take it you don’t like him.”

  Rush shakes his head. “No, he was never good enough for your mother.”

  “You knew my mom?”

  The sneer is replaced with a small smile. “Yes. Eleanora was a remarkable woman and pretty as a picture,” Rush pauses, and I wait for him to say more. “I’ll go get Doc.”

  He nods once and leaves the room. It’s always been like that when people talk about my mother. No one has ever had a bad word to say about her except for my father. Why she stayed with him as long as she did is anyone’s guess.

  Doc walks into the room grinning at me. “How you feeling?”

  “I’m fine, Doc, just sore.”

  “Your friend, Kade, is a little… intense,” Doc pauses and frowns. “Actually, Zeke, they all are. What do you think they’re going to do?”

  Not wanting to worry him, I smile. “Don’t worry, Doc. Everything’s going to be fine. I need to talk to Kade. Could you send him in?”

  Doc frowns at me, then leaves the room. The pain in my side from my ribs feels like it’s gone up a level, and every breath is excruciating. Not being able to see out of my left eye is annoying, but the Doc says the swelling should go down soon. On the side table, next to my bed, are some painkillers that the Doc has left me. I want them so badly, but I have to keep my wits about me to prevent my friends from hurting anyone in this town.

  “You asked for me?”

  Kade walks in and sees me looking at the pills, picks them up and the glass of water next to them, and holds them out to me.

  “No, I’m good.”

  “Bullshit,” replies Kade as he thrusts them at me.

  I take them off him, but I hold onto them. “Kade, promise me that you’ll speak to the girls. Promise me they’ll be okay.”

  Kade frowns and shakes his head. “I don’t get you on this. Did they really think you were a clumsy kid? Do they really believe you’re the devil and he’s a saint? Come on, Zeke, he’s a sadistic motherfucker. They must realize it.”

  “Kade, he loves the girls, always has. With me, he was indifferent until I was about nine, and that’s when the beatings got worse. It was about the time my mother died. Mom used to protect me, but after she was gone, I was alone. He told everyone I was accident prone or that I’d gotten into a fight with someone at school. I’m telling you the girls don’t know.”

  Kade shakes his head, and I think he’s going to argue with me further. Instead, he says, “Take the pills, get some rest. We’ll talk about what we’re going to do after you’ve had some sleep.”

  I put them in my mouth and take a sip of water to wash them down. “Thanks, man.”

  Kade nods and takes the glass off me. “The meeting with the old man rattled you, why?”

  “He has a fancy new church and home. Deb, my sister, said the congregation has been very generous, but it’s a small town. I don’t know what he’s into, but he’s borrowed a lot from the wrong type of people. Deb said they’ve been to visit. It sounds like whoever they are, they’ve threatened him. She said they looked like me.”

  “Savage Angels?”

  “Nah, to Deb ‘looks like me’ is tattoos. She’s not very worldly.”

  Kade smirks. “I bet half the population has hidden tattoos.”

  “Yeah, probably.” I can feel myself getting sleepy. “Kade, Izzy has my bike. Make sure it’s in one piece, yeah?”

  “Who’s Izzy?”

  “My high school crush,” I reply, grinning.

  “That doesn’t help me.”

  “Works at The Countryside Diner. You’ll like her. She’s got balls.”

  Dirt walks into the room. “How you feeling?”

  “Good. Pain is less.”

  Kade looks at Dirt. “Made him take some pills. Whatever they are, he’s almost out.”

  “Good.”

  “Kade, don’t forget my bike.”

  “I won’t, Zeke. Close your eyes, buddy. You’ll feel better when you wake up.”

  I do as I’m told and feel myself drift off, and just before I’m gone, I hear Dane.

  “Time to visit the preacher.”

  I try to open my eyes to tell them again that my sisters are important, but sleep takes over.

  Kade

  Zeke is out. The Doc is a nice old man, and he genuinely seems to care for Zeke. Rush? Him, I don’t get. I can see he’s friends with the Doc, but why he’s still here is anyone’s guess. We’re all seated around the kitchen table. I haven’t said much, but I want to go and see Zeke’s dad. Then, I want to wait at the sheriff’s house for him to come home and pay him back for what he’s done to my friend. But first, I need to go and get Zeke’s bike.

  “Doc, where’s The Countryside Diner?” I ask.

  “It’s not far, an easy walk to Main Street. You hungry?”

  Now that he mentions it, I am. “Yeah, and someone called Izzy has Zeke’s bike. I promised I’d get it.”

  “I could cook you up something to eat?” suggests Doc.

  He’s a good guy, but one look in his fridge tells me he doesn’t have enough beer, let alone food for all of us.

  “Nah, how about we all go to the diner?” I reply.

  Doc stands. “Sounds good, I’ll get my coat.”

  I wait till he’s out of the room. His friend, Rush, is at the table, though, so I try to be considerate. “Doc doesn’t seem to have a lot. I’m thinking we need to stock him up.”

  Rush chuckles. “Doc has more than all of us put together, but since his Millie died, he’s lost interest in a few things.”

  Doc walks back in, and we all stare at him. “What?” he asks.

  “Nothing, Ernest, lead the way. The walk will do us all good, besides I don’t think we’d all fit into your rental,” says Rush.

  Smithy laughs. “I’d rather walk any day of the week than get in that piece of crap.”

  “It’s all they had,” replies Rebel with his hands in the air.

  All of us laugh.

  “Someone needs to stay with Zeke,” states Doc.

  “I’ll do it,” Dirt answers immediately. “But someone better bring me back something to eat.”

  “We will,” says Dane as he rises and pats him on the back at the same time. “You’re a good man, Dirt.”

  “Don’t tell him that, he’ll believe you,” teases Rebel.

  “Fuck you, Reb.”

  “In your dreams, Dirt,” quips Rebel.

  We made an odd group as we walked to the diner. Many of the Kings decided not to go. Six MC, a doctor, and a lawyer sounds like a bad joke. The townspeople kept out of our way, and some of them deliberately crossed over the road to avoid us. This caused Doc and Rush to yell out greetings to them—one man tripped and nearly fell over in his surprise. It was comical the way the two men waved and said hello to all they passed, and I’m pretty sure everyone knew who they were. In a town as small as this, it’s going to spread like wildfire that the two men were in the company of ‘bad’ men.

  Rush opened the diner door for us, and we all filed in. Behind the counter is a woman with long, dark hair shaved on one side with pretty brown eyes. There’s a tattoo of an abstract clock near her wrist—it’s whimsical as the numbers look like they are flying away. Her eyes widen as she takes us all in.

  “Izzy, these are Zeke’s friends. That one,” Doc points at me, “is Kade, and Zeke sent him to fetch his bike.”

  “How is he?” she asks.

  “Sleeping. We left one of the boys with him. He’ll be sore, but I’m thinking by tomorrow that eye should be a bit better. Hopefully, the swelling will come down, and he’ll be able to see out of it.”

  “Thanks, Doc.” Izzy looks at me and holds out her hand. “I’m Izzy.”<
br />
  I grasp it gently. “Kade. Thank you for looking after Zeke’s bike. Truthfully, I can’t believe he let you ride it. He never lets anyone ride it.”

  Izzy smiles. “It’s a bike, not a woman.”

  We all erupt into laughter, and the men all introduce themselves to her and exchange pleasantries.

  “Now, what can I get you?” asks Izzy.

  Dane answers for all of us. “Burgers and fries.”

  “One for each of you?” asks Izzy.

  “I’ll have two,” states Dane.

  “Me, too,” replies Rebel.

  “Anyone else?” asks Izzy.

  “I need one to go as well,” says Dane.

  Everyone except Doc and Rush have two.

  “Okay, I’ll be back in a bit. Going to start cooking the meat. Make yourselves at home, and I’ll be back to get your drinks.”

  Doc grins at me. “I’m going to get fries!”

  “Yeah,” I say slowly.

  “She never gives me fries! I’m so glad we all came in together. That woman always gives me a salad. I had one heart attack, one, and you’d think I was on death’s door!”

  “You’re a real doctor, right?” I ask.

  “Now, don’t you start. I’m a grown man. I’ve had a good life, I deserve fries.”

  “Yeah, I can see that.”

  Izzy walks back through the doors. “What drinks would you all like?”

  Rush sits next to Doc at the counter, and we all follow suit instead of sitting in booths. Most of us order cokes, but Doc, Rush, and Dane order coffee. Izzy is quick in getting our drinks and disappears again behind the doors.

  “She works here by herself?” I ask.

  “Yeah, long hours. Town’s not what it used to be. Sometimes she gets help from a local girl or boy on the weekends, but through the week, it’s just Izzy.”

  “She married?” I ask.

  “You interested?” asks Doc.

  “No, I’ve got a woman. Just making conversation, that’s all.”

  “She’s cute,” replies Smithy.

  “She’s a fine-looking woman. Not sure about the hairstyle, but it seems to suit her,” interjects Rush.

  “She’s got gumption,” states Doc.

  “Gumption?” I ask.

  “Yeah, you know, balls, stainless steel ones at that. You don’t want to mess with her.”