by Zoey Parker
That was why taking out that fuckwit Lucas had felt so satisfying. I closed my eyes and imagined the way he’d been begging me, desperate, before ripping up the photos and promising never to mess with Caroline again. It had been all too easy. I imagined that he’d never actually been challenged before; the sight of me must have been enough to make him want to shit his pants in fear.
A low chuckle escaped from my lips as I imagined telling Caroline all about it. I’d obviously leave out the gory details, but I wanted her to know that she never had anything else to worry about ever again. I was an outlaw, but I was her outlaw, damnit. And I was going to take care of her if it was the last thing I ever did. I had to admire the way that Caroline wasn’t scared of my intensity. I’d been with so many women who loved it for a night, but wanted a change as soon as it was light outside. So many women who were content with a bad boy in bed but they wanted a gentleman the rest of the time. It was enough to make me laugh; just how did they think men like me got such big balls? Not from fucking wearing a suit and going to college, that’s for damn sure.
I’d been with a woman once who had turned me on almost as much as Caroline. She had the same spark, the same fiery look in her eyes. In bed, she’d been an animal. She’d tied me down and licked her tongue all over my body. She’d asked me to spank her until her ass was purple and blue from the bruises. I’d obliged, willingly, but she’d cried in the morning when I left. She’d been so disappointed that I wasn’t going to take her to brunch and meet all of her little friends. It was disgusting. Women like that wanted one good fuck, and then they wanted to own you. Caroline wasn’t like that, not at all. I loved the way that she’d been so secretive when we first met, as if something about her was going to scare me away. I could tell that she’d been through rough shit, too, and that it was only a matter of time before her secrets came pouring out, just like mine.
That was Caroline’s appeal in a nutshell: she’d been through places just as dark as me, but she wasn’t about to let it ruin her life.
I imagined the kind of life we’d have together. I’d be out with the club, raising hell, and come home to her cooking dinner. But instead of eating the meal, I’d fuck her on the table. Afterwards, we’d shower together and I’d fuck her against the wall of the bathroom. Then, later, after the food was cold, I knew that she’d clean up the kitchen and we’d laugh together and order pizza. It was paradise. It was everything that I’d never dreamed of before, because I hadn’t had Caroline. But with Caroline, everything was possible. The whole world was possible.
“Dover!” a sharp voice called. My eyes flew open and I saw a young cop standing on the other side of the cell door. “Bail’s posted. You’re out of here.”
Chapter Twenty
Carson
It was a relief to step out of the cell and hear the guard slam the gate shut behind me. The Aztecs woke up, and when they saw I was being released, they stared at me and started making more of the same low yipping sounds in their throats.
“Fuck off,” I spat as I walked away. “I’m out of here, suckers.”
“Yes, Tommy’s waiting for you in the depot,” the guard said. He was a young cop I hadn’t seen before, but he was looking at me like we were old friends.
“Do I know you?”
The cop shook his head. He looked slightly sheepish and I had to grin; being able to unsettle a cop, even a young one, was somehow satisfying to me.
“Not exactly,” he answered. “I know of you, though. I work with the deputy who pulled you in.”
I nodded, a sour taste creeping into my mouth. When I raised my arms over my head, I could smell dried blood and sweat. Definitely need a shower before going to Caroline’s, I thought to myself. Need to freshen up for the lady.
“Can we step in here for a minute?” The cop gestured to a small room. I eyed him warily.
“If this is a trick to get me to confess, it ain’t gonna happen,” I warned him. “I’m a free man until y’all call me into court.”
The cop shook his head. “It’s not a trick,” he said. “I just figured you’d want some privacy.”
My stomach plummeted as we stepped into the room. The cop flicked the light on; it flickered overhead dully, not as harsh as the other lights. There was a wooden table with two chairs and some potted plants in the corner. I could tell that it was by far the softest-looking room in the whole station.
“We normally put kids in here if they’re waiting for their parents,” the cop joked. I rolled my eyes and sat down hard in one of the chairs. The wood squeaked and scraped on the floor, making me wince.
“So what’s up?”
“I’m Deputy Huxby,” the young cop said. He stuck out his hand. His skin was pale white and clean; I could see veins running through his thin wrist. I growled and he almost pulled his hand away. I chuckled when I realized that I could snap him in half with little effort. “Nice to meet you, Carson.”
I scowled at him. “Drop the shit, man,” I said. “I’m tired, I want to get out of here.”
Huxby nodded. “I get that,” he said. “But we need to talk first. You want some coffee?”
I was about to refuse but the thought of hot coffee warmed my insides. I could almost feel the caffeine soothing my bruises. “Yeah,” I said. “Sure. Black.”
Huxby nodded. He got up and told me that he’d be right back. As soon as he was gone, I laid my head down on the desk and closed my eyes. As much fun as I’d had fantasizing about Caroline a few minutes prior, now I was so tired that I instantly fell asleep. My body started to get that floating sensation that you have when you’re in a falling dream, and I jerked awake with a rough start. Just as I came to, Huxby opened the door. He handed a mug—a real mug, none of that Styrofoam shit—filled to the brim with hot coffee. I held it in both hands and inhaled deeply, savoring the way it filled my senses. Already, I felt more awake.
“Thanks,” I said, taking a swallow. The liquid was hot and it burned my tongue, but I took another swallow all the same. Huxby blew on his mug and set it down. I watched as the steam curled into lazy spirals.
“So, Carson,” Huxby said, spreading his hands out over the table. He reached down to his side and picked up a folder. “I have to tell you some things before you leave today. I think your lawyer might have prepped you, but he probably didn’t tell you all of this.”
A shiver of fear ran down my spine but I kept my face neutral. After taking another swig of coffee, I looked at Huxby. “Okay,” I said plainly. “Shoot. What’s going on?”
“The fact is,” Huxby began with a sigh, “you’re looking at a pretty long prison sentence. I know that last night we could only get you for second degree assault, but combined with your other charges from the past few years, well, that’s enough to get a felony charge.”
“What?” I frowned and set my cup down on the table hard enough to make coffee slop out around the edges. “What the fuck, man? How is that even possible?”
Huxby looked at me warily. “Calm down,” he said. “I’m telling you this so you can stay out of trouble, not get yourself in another bad situation as soon as you’re gone. Do you understand?”
I nodded. “Whatever, man,” I said. “Just give it to me straight.”
“Well, the fact is you’d probably be fine, except a lot of the assault victims have wound up in the hospital,” Huxby said. He pulled out several sheets of papers and handed them to me; they were all old booking reports, mostly Aztecs but a couple from another rival MC, the City Diablitos. “And none of these guys have pressed charges against you, but there’s enough for the state to wind up with a pretty substantial case.”
I nodded again. “Right,” I said slowly. “So why get me now? Why not before? What’s the big fucking deal?”
Huxby slid the papers back to his side of the table and folded them into the envelope. “Here’s the thing,” he said. “We’ve been watching Devil’s Own for a long time, and we know that you guys have some pretty bad patterns of violence. And I kno
w that y’all used to get away with that, but lately things have gotten really out of hand. I don’t want to send the wrong message to the community. It takes a lot to go after guys we used to work with, but I’m afraid that everything is starting to change.”
I blinked at him. “You sound like my lawyer,” I said slowly. “Are you telling me that you know I’m not really a bad dude, and you want to lock me up to send a message?”
Huxby’s gaze dropped. “No one wants to send you away,” he said evenly. I watched his heartbeat pulse on his neck and it occurred to me how easy it would be to kill him. I’d probably even be able to do it before someone knew what was happening inside the little room. Hell, I could probably do it and leave without anyone noticing. “But we’re being cautious, that’s all. If the violence doesn’t stop, there are going to be serious repercussions for everyone involved.”
I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. “So you’re saying I’m fine as long as I don’t get in another smash?”
Huxby sighed. “I’m not saying that, either,” he said. “After what happened last night, I’m not sure that you’ll be able to get away without serving any kind of time.”
Panic rose through me, and I fought hard to keep it down. “So what now? I just go home and wait for you to pick me up again?”
Huxby rifled through the folder. He handed me a series of mug shots, all members of the MC. “We’re also watching these guys,” he said. “Your friends Tommy and Steel, we know what they’ve been up to. It’s not a good idea for your gang to keep running guns with this kind of pressure on you.”
I let out a brittle laugh. “So you’re hoping that I’ll leave here and just tell my club to quit business? And then let the Aztecs fuck us up and sell dope on your streets? Yeah, man, that sounds pretty good to me, too.”
Huxby’s face darkened, and I could tell he was getting pissed. Instead of feeling irritated, I felt the urge to punch him return stronger than ever before. “That’s the opposite of what I’m saying,” he said slowly. “Just watch your fucking back, okay?” For the first time, I heard a hint of menace creep into his voice. “You don’t want to fuck with us, and you don’t want to keep trying to manage things yourselves.”
“Can I go?” I shot him a pointed look. “I need to talk to my club. What time is it?”
Huxby scowled. He checked his phone. “It’s a little after two in the morning,” he said. “You’d better wait until tomorrow. Carson, I beg you to take what I said into consideration. Help us help you, okay? We don’t wanna send you away for years and years. But if you and the club keep acting like this, I’m afraid we don’t have a choice.”
I got up from the table and pushed my chair back with a wooden squeak against the tiled floor. “Fine,” I snapped. “Just let me go, man. I’m fucking sick of being here.”
Huxby stood up and let me out of the tiny room without saying another word. Tommy was waiting for me in the lobby, and I could feel him sizing up my wounds as we leaned in for a half-hug.
“Man, you’re looking pretty brutal!” Tommy said with a long whistle. “They fucked you up real good!”
“What do you think, it was fucking three on one,” I said sourly. Tommy laughed and clapped me on the back. Pain rang through my body but I grinned; it felt so good to be leaving the jail that I didn’t mind. “Thanks for grabbing me, man,” I added. “I appreciate it.”
“No sweat, brother,” Tommy said. “You’d do the same for me. You have many times.”
We cracked up. Tommy pushed open the doors to the police station and led me out into the cool, dark night. “Man, you goin’ home?” he asked. “You need a shower? You wanna hit the clubhouse?”
“Yeah, actually,” I said. Already the events of the previous night seemed like a dream. “My bike is there.”
Tommy started his truck and the headlights bounced over the parking lot as we drove away. When the police station was a couple of miles behind us, I took a deep breath.
“It feels fuckin’ good to be outside,” I said, letting the air out of my lungs. “I was starting to feel pretty fuckin’ claustrophobic in there with those Aztec fuckers. Why the fuck did they show up tonight, anyway? Didn’t we have a vote? We should have all been at the club!”
“Josh’s sick,” Tommy said solemnly. “I think he had a stroke, but he won’t go to the doctor. He’s been in bed all night, moaning and whining.”
I frowned. “He’s getting’ old, man,” I said carefully. “He should at least go to the fuckin’ hospital or something.”
Tommy shook his head. “You know my old man,” he said. “He won’t take any answer that he didn’t come up with first. Besides, he’ll be alright in a day or two. He’s stronger than a fucking ox, you know?”
I nodded. “He’s a tough old fucker,” I agreed. “And seriously, fuck you guys for not calling me. If y’all had been there, we could have taken out those Aztec shitheads by ourselves. No need to involve the cops.”
Tommy laughed. “I know,” he said. “But then you wouldn’t have that great shiner on your face.”
I pulled the mirror down from the ceiling of the cab and turned the light on. My face was so swollen that I barely recognized myself. My nose had been broken and it was swollen in colors I didn’t imagine existed in the human body. My lower lip was fat and swollen, plus it was split in two places. I could see a goose egg on my right temple, and when I touched it, I winced. My right cheek was swollen and I could tell that I’d have a black eye in the morning from all the blood pooling around my eyeball.
“Fuck, man,” I swore with a laugh. “I look fuckin’ awful!”
“Yeah, your girl isn’t gonna think much of you now,” Tommy said with a laugh. “You ever find out what kind of trouble she was in?”
My mouth went dry; I vaguely remembered bragging about fucking Caroline to the other guys in the club, but now I wished I hadn’t said anything. I hoped that at least I hadn’t mentioned Lucas; if they attacked him, I knew the cops would come straight for me. And then I was looking at ten to fifteen in the big house, alone, while Caroline married some douche and popped out his kids.
“Nah,” I lied. “She’s chilled out, though. She’s cool. Hey, is Steel still looking for a secretary?”
“I think so,” Tommy said. He rubbed his chin. “But you know he won’t hire anyone who doesn’t have huge tits,” he said with a laugh. “Steel never changes.”
Anger boiled under my skin at the thought of Steel leering at Caroline. She wouldn’t take the job if she were going to be subjected to harassment all day. “He better not lay a fucking hand on her,” I warned. “She’s mine. Do I have to make that clear?”
Tommy laughed. “Hey, brother, it’s just looking,” he said. “There ain’t no harm in lookin’, right?”
“Whatever,” I muttered. “I never look at your old lady like that. He needs to keep his fuckin’ hands off of her. If she even wants to work for a degenerate like Steel, anyway.”
Tommy smiled again, but it was an odd look. I realized that his eyes were just as serious as ever, even though his lips were curled up. “You sure you’re okay, man? You seem real changed,” he said thoughtfully. “You havin’ some kind of beef with Steel?”
“Not at all, I just want to make sure he keeps his hands off my girl,” I snarled. “Ain’t nothing wrong with that.”
We rode in silence for a few minutes. I looked at Tommy’s face but he was as hard to read as ever.
“They’re telling me I could face a lot of jail time,” I said after a moment. Tommy’s head snapped around and he looked at me. Somehow, talking about it was making me feel worse, not better than before. “As if I deserve that.”
“What the fuck for?” Tommy demanded. “That Aztec scum broke onto our property and you defended yourself against three of them. How the fuck can they even think about locking you up for that?”
I laughed humorlessly. “I know, it’s fucking ridiculous. But both Arnold and this stupid cop tried to feed me shit about past offe
nses. I think they want the MC gone. I think they’re convinced they can rule the land themselves. But these assholes don’t know how bad things get when drugs are involved,” I said, raking a hand through my hair. My hand bumped up against a wound and I winced, pulling it back down. “They don’t fuckin’ get it, man,” I said, sighing. “And they told me to stay out of shit, but I feel like they’re just waiting for a situation where we fuck up again. I don’t want us all getting locked up, man. That ain’t fuckin’ fair.”
Tommy sighed. “It feels like a long time coming,” he drawled. He lit a cigarette and passed the pack to me. When I’d helped myself and passed the pack back to him, Tommy turned in his seat and looked at me. “Josh is convinced that things are real different around here, that we need to find an alternate form of income. He thinks that guns aren’t gonna cut it for much longer. But I know that if we get wrapped up in anything worse, the cops will be on our ass faster than we can say boo.”