Viper (Scoundrels MC #1)

by Moira Callahan

  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2016 Moira Callahan

  ISBN: 978-1-77233-755-6

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Amanda Jean

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  A huge thank you to my editor for helping to get this book ready for release. She was absolutely amazing and a treasure to work with.

  This story was a complete surprise from my muse one night and I had no idea what it would end up becoming until I typed in those last words. I hope you enjoy getting to know Viper and Krista, and welcome you along on this crazy ride with the Scoundrels that’s only just begun.

  VIPER

  The Scoundrels MC, 1

  Moira Callahan

  Copyright © 2016

  Prologue

  One never knew what they were walking into when entering the Scoundrels MC clubhouse. He never knew if there would be a need to duck, come to a screeching halt, and leave, or if everything would be copacetic. It was a little like entering an alternate dimension, and not in a good way.

  It was with some trepidation that James pushed open the door and stuck his head in to scope out the situation. The only sounds were the TV playing some cartoon or other and the occasional short laugh. Apparently, all was calm on the home front—for the time being, anyway.

  Relieved he wasn’t about to step on a metaphorical landmine, James let the door close behind him. Heading in deeper, he nodded to the woman, a hanger-on and what the club referred to as a sweetbutt or club pussy, at the bar when she held up a coffee pot. He’d only had a couple sips from his own brew that morning when he’d received the call sent him looking for the MC prez in a hurry. Duke was about to be a seriously unhappy biker.

  While James didn’t worry about being the messenger, he was concerned what the club’s response might be. They weren’t exactly the sort who took shit like James had to share with them all that calmly. Given the history involved, he didn’t exactly blame them.

  Viper, the MC’s sergeant at arms, was oddly the calmest among them, but that wasn’t always a good thing. The man was scary smart. He used his outer calm like a shield to fool the unaware into thinking he was slow. There was not a fucking thing slow about Viper. Whereas with the other members, what you saw was exactly what you got.

  He accepted the mug from the girl, Cameo, and headed toward the sofa where a couple prospects were sitting watching a cartoon. They looked up, and nodded his way. One offered up a blunt that he refused, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “Duke around?”

  “Not in yet. He and his old lady have Nico’s graduation ceremony today. He’ll be stopping by later before he heads out for the event. You want us to have him call you?” Burke asked him.

  “Yeah, maybe. Is Viper here?” It might be better to lay it all out for the calmest member first to figure out how Duke would take the news.

  “Out back in the shed. He was digging around looking for some parts for the older bike at the shop he thought might have been brought here by mistake,” the other prospect told him. He was relatively sure the kid’s name was Monroe. Everyone called him Barter, but James couldn’t be sure he’d ever heard the kid’s given name used more than once.

  “All right, thanks.” Tipping his coffee mug their way, he headed back to the bar for a top off before heading outside.

  A loud, vicious curse from the shed had James moving closer a lot faster. “You okay in there?”

  Viper came out rubbing at his head near the crown, and shot him an evil look. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Fucking box leapt off the shelf to attack me. What you doing here, Copper?”

  “I got a call this morning that I figured I should bring to the club’s attention. The prospects told me Duke was out, but I knew this wasn’t something that could wait. If you’re good with that.”

  Viper nodded and waved him toward a picnic table. Once they were seated, the big biker leveled his bright-green gaze at James. “What was the call about?”

  James took a sip from his coffee to gather his thoughts. Being the sheriff of Crystal Creek had its ups and downs. Starting in the Marshals Service had taught him how to be a good investigator, but being the sheriff had shown him the world wasn’t always black and white. There were often shades of grey.

  While he didn’t work for the motorcycle club, James had learned to work with them to a degree. Enough to ensure the peace in Crystal Creek remained. They all had an understanding: Legitimate businesses only in the city limits, which was his turf, and anything beyond the borders James would turn a blind eye to, provided there was no bloodshed.

  “Got a courtesy call from my contact down at SNMCF. Gerry Porter is getting out this afternoon. Don’t have all the details on what went down to gain him this pardon, but my contact is looking into it. He understands how important knowing the answer is. Especially when it comes to Crystal Creek’s residents and their safety. All he could tell me was that Porter has had several meetings with his lawyer in the last month.” His buddy Murray at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility was flummoxed by the sudden release. He’d never seen anything like it.

  “Shit, and this is the first we’re hearing about him getting cut loose?”

  “It’s the first anyone’s hearing about it. My guess is they’re keeping in on the DL to ensure he stays alive when he steps out those front gates.” James knew the MC had bad blood with Porter. If the rumors were true, then Porter had killed the MC’s president, Spike—Duke’s predecessor—and Spike’s old lady. There had been other collateral damage to add to his term, and the guy had had no defense. Porter should never have seen the light of day again. To hear he was getting cut loose only four years after he’d gone in, James knew this shit was going to be bad. He had no idea what the fallout would be.

  What James couldn’t quite figure out was how Porter had survived the four years, two months, and sixteen days he’d served. MCs didn’t take kindly to folks offing a member, let alone in such a public manner with other innocent bodies hitting the ground. It had sent shockwaves through Crystal Creek that were still felt to this day.

  The town knew that the MC dealt in some shady businesses. Since it had never previously caused problems in their town, residents let bygones be bygones and turned a blind eye. Then the shooting had happened. Tensions rose, people were skittish, and everyone waited to see what the club would do in the wake. Only nothing had happened. Duke had taken the gavel, and that was all there was. At least to those on the outside looking in. Since he wasn’t party to the inner workings, James couldn’t say what had occurred behind closed doors.

  James had waited for the call from the prison to let him know that Porter had been shivved. But the call had never come. The silence wasn’t easy on the nerves when it came to dealing an the enemy of the MC.

  Viper was the one with the patience for such a maneuver, waiting patiently for everyone to forget the man existed before finally acting to take Porter out permanently. The others, had they been in charge, would have called for immediate blood. Even Duke was a hothead on occasion whether the situation called for it or not. Which made the whole situation and four peaceful years highly suspect. Not that James would question it; some things were not asked about, and he knew he’d never get a
n answer from any club member even if he did have the balls to ask the question.

  James cleared his throat, finished his coffee, and set the cup to the side. “I wanted to tell Duke before Porter got out. But Burke mentioned it was Nico’s graduation. Not exactly the news I want to be telling him today.”

  “Yeah, shit. This will have him flipping the fuck out. His old lady will disembowel him if he doesn’t show up for the full deal. Fuck!” Viper ran his hand down his face and blew out a breath. “I’ll tell him when he comes in, but he’s got to be there for his kid today. He’ll fucking regret it if he’s not.”

  “Nadine will make him regret it more,” James muttered. Duke’s old lady was fierce and downright scary. Viper was pretty much the only one crazy enough to take Nadine on. Those two seemed to have fun riling one another up. At least that was how it looked to him. Yet they always ended their fights with a laugh and strong drink.

  “That she will,” he said. “I’ll worry about those two. What we need is a time for this release.”

  James rubbed a knuckle to his jaw and realized he hadn’t shaved that morning. Not really a big surprise given he hadn’t really been awake when shit had started to fly. “My guy didn’t know, but I’ll give him a ring back. He won’t have paperwork until at least ten. Once I know, you’ll know,” he promised. This was information he damn well wanted the club to have since it could save lives. At least that was his hope.

  “Good, then we’ll talk soon.”

  He knew a dismissal when he heard one. James got up, shook the other man’s hand, and took his coffee mug back inside.

  ****

  Viper waited until the sheriff was gone before pulling out his burner phone. After flipping it open, he placed a call to a club member. It wouldn’t be the last call he made. He didn’t know what the day might bring, but he needed everyone ready for whatever might come.

  Chapter One

  Three weeks later

  Duke jerked his head up at the knock on his club’s office door. “It’s open,” he called out. A smile curled his lips when he saw his baby girl enter. Tossing his reading glasses onto the desk, he pushed to his feet and met her halfway across the room. “Hey, baby, I didn’t realize you were coming by today.”

  “Momma wanted me to stop by. You forgot your pills.”

  He quickly patted his pockets while his mind said that forgetting the pills wasn’t possible. There was no container to be found, but he did come up with a tube of cream that he didn’t recognize. He had a spare container in his saddlebags, and another in the safe in the club meeting room, but those likely needed to be changed out for more up-to-date meds. “Crap,” he muttered. He never forgot the meds—ever. He was a type-two diabetic and knew better than to leave his meds at home. Duke was among the “lucky” few who could take oral medications along with a strictly monitored diet.

  “Momma said you were a little distracted this morning after Viper stopped by.”

  “That is quite possibly the truth.”

  “You kissed the housekeeper and gave Momma a wave on your way out the door. I’m thinking there’s a bucketful there.”

  Duke winced at what she’d described. “How upset is your mother?”

  Krista’s lips curved and she patted his arm. “She was more amused than anything until she realized you left without your pills. But she would like her eczema cream back.”

  Well, that explained what the tube was. He handed it over to his daughter and took his pill container from her. “Let your mother know I’m extremely apologetic, and I will tell her the same when I get home.”

  “I will.” Krista looked around and frowned. “Did you do something different up here?”

  “Not recently. Why?”

  “Don’t know. It doesn’t look quite right.” She waved a hand, placed it on his chest, and popped up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Never mind. I have to get going or I will be forever behind schedule today. I’ll see you at dinner tonight. Do not be late, Daddy, or Momma will forget her amusement and go straight into full-on rage.”

  “Right, dinner. I will be there and on time. Drive safe, baby girl.” Duke walked her to the door and watched her move to the stairs and then descend. He moved to the railing that kept the drunks from falling onto the pool table below and smiled when she stopped to chat with Merc, a patched member and Duke’s nephew. Her laughter only made his smile grow. A couple minutes later, she tossed Duke a wave over her shoulder before disappearing out the door.

  “The pipsqueak was here, I’m guessing.”

  Duke jumped and spun around to face Viper. “Jesus! Would you stop sneaking up on me?”

  Viper snorted and moved to lean against the railing. “And where would the enjoyment be in that?”

  “There are days I absolutely hate you.” Duke pressed a hand to his chest in an attempt to calm his jittery heart. Then he switched gears. “Where are we at with our Porter situation?”

  “I talked to our friends in El Paso. They have eyes on Porter. To date he’s visited his mother’s nursing home six times, and his father’s grave once. Beyond that, he’s run around to several addresses they are trying to nail down. The only ones they have right now is for some guy with no ties to Porter and the PO he was assigned for his stay there. Best guess at this point on the guy is he might be a go-between. They’re going to talk with him later today when he gets back from work. Hopefully he’ll have some answers on what Porter’s actually doing down there.”

  “Damn,” Duke muttered. He wanted Porter to pay for what he’d done to their club and the townsfolk. But he couldn’t make any moves without figuring out how Porter had gotten out after only four years—and what the fuck Porter was up to in El Paso.

  The day Porter had gotten out, the guy had made tracks for his locally assigned parole officer’s office and stayed in there for over three hours. Way too long for the standard hey I’m out and look at me behaving chat. And still too long for the old my mother’s sick sob story to gain permission to cross state lines.

  Unable to get anyone close to the office for a look in, they were flying blind on what might have happened or who may have been in there. Even waiting around had yielded no clues. They’d followed Porter to the New Mexico state line before handing off to a club they were in an alliance with in Texas to continue the tail. That club knew the territory better, making it the right call. But it left the Scoundrels club at loose ends waiting for word.

  “Let me know when you hear something,” Duke said. Running his fingers through his hair, he headed back to his office. “I’ll be here until five and then I need to get to the house to ensure my wife doesn’t change the locks.”

  “You are whipped, man. It’s kinda sad,” Viper said behind him.

  Throwing up the universal sign for what he thought about that, Duke stopped to shoot him a look. “You coming over? She’s making pot roast.”

  “Maybe, but likely not. You know I love Nadine and all, and she makes the best pot roast ever.”

  Duke propped his shoulder against the doorframe. He knew that Viper and Duke’s daughter, Krista, seemed to be at odds, and had been since she’d turned eighteen. He wasn’t sure what had all gone down, although knowing his old lady she would know everything. Mother’s intuition was the excuse she dropped on him whenever he asked. “You ever going to tell me what put you and Krista at odds?”

  “What? Did I suddenly turn into a fucking chick who has to talk about her feelings? Fuck you,” Viper said with some bite to the words. He shook his head and made for the stairs.

  “Where you going?”

  “Over to the shop. I have to get that fucking beast up and running before Blackie gets back from Utah or I’ll be stuck listening to him whine like a little bitch. I’ll call when I hear something from the Black Swords.”

  Grunting, Duke kept a watch on the other man until Viper slammed the door shut behind him and sent the glasses and bottles behind the bar rattling. One surefire way to get Viper’s back up: mention Krista to
him. There was a story there and it was way past fucking time someone told him what it was. Viper had made his stance clear, which meant Duke needed to go at things from a different angle.

  After ensuring the office door was locked, Duke settled behind his desk to make a call to his wife. If anyone actually knew what was going on, it would be her. While Krista was totally a daddy’s girl, Duke knew there were certain things he never heard about. Which he was fine with. There were some things he did not ever need to know about.

  Twenty minutes later, he hung up no closer to having an answer. His lovely wife had no answers for him either, but planned to do her thing in order to find out. Duke had no doubts whatsoever she’d swing it. The woman should have been an interrogator. She could start a conversation about one completely benign topic and end up with what she wanted without the other person being any the wiser.

  She had skills. But that was only one reason why he loved her. There were several others—but if he got thinking about those, he’d never get the paperwork done in time to make it home for dinner. No way in hell was he missing out on his old lady’s pot roast.

  Chapter Two

  Later that night, Viper glared at the bike that was perpetually giving him headaches. A few weeks back, Blackie had mentioned his ‘beast’ was acting odd. They’d poked around and found nothing to explain why it wasn’t running optimally. Viper had even taken it for a quick ride to see if he could feel out the issue. There had definitely been something up with it, but nothing he could pinpoint.

  Then, two days before Blackie headed up to Utah for his oldest kid’s high school graduation, the bike had died. Straight up would not kick over. The fucking thing wouldn’t even make a peep. Viper had a way with bikes—and women, if he did say so himself—which meant when Blackie had headed out he’d left the beast in Viper’s tender, loving care. But right at that precise second, all Viper wanted to was get the big-ass pipe wrench out and beat the ever-loving fuck out of the machine.