by J.P. Voss
20
Special Agent Andrews glared at Lawson.
“All right Captain Ahab—give it rest.”
Andrews whipped his head around and focused his glaring eyes in my direction. His look told me to watch my smart mouth. I didn’t care. He’d screwed up, and I was going to make him pay.
“Have a seat Andrews. It’s time we straightened a few things out.”
“Just who do you think you’re talking to young man?”
“I’m talking to a grown man who let his obsession get the best of him. You had a nice investigation going, and you blew it. You wanted Lawson so bad, you jumped in when you should of held back.”
“I’m in complete control of this investigation. I only came here tonight to watch you dig your own grave.”
“All due respect Mr. Andrews—that’s a lie, and not a very good one. You’re here because you made a mistake, just like my brother and me.”
“I don’t like were you’re going with this.”
“You have no idea where I’m going with this. What you don’t like is the fact that you screwed up. When you held up your ID and called FBI, you took responsibility for the bust.”
“I’ll downplay my involvement and deny I said anything.”
I chuckled. I didn’t mean too. It just came out. “A drunken cop, a dead biker, allegations of police abuse and FBI negligence, let’s face it Agent, you’re involved whether you like it or not. Do yourself a favor. Don’t make a big deal out this, you’ll just end up with egg on your face.”
His eyelids twitched. His brow narrowed, and his eyes drooped toward the floor. All of a sudden, he looked old and broken. I felt kind of bad.
I said, “You made the right call Agent Andrews. The money should have been there. With the bust going down, you had to step in and take control of the situation. Otherwise you’d of lost Lawson to the San Berdo Detectives. You were pretty sure of yourself until Sanchez started to arrest me and I laughed. That’s when you realized there was no money. I saw it in your face. It’s a sad fact, but you have no case Sir.”
“I’m going to put J.T. Lawson behind bars if it’s the last thing I do.”
“You need to let this one go Agent Andrews.”
“I’ll break the Serpents; watch me.”
“I can help you with that,” I said. “Actually—Lawson is going to help you.”
“Fuck that bullshit.”
“Have a seat Lawson. The Serpents are breaking up, and it’s your idea.”
“Fuck you.”
“Listen to me tough guy. Right now, according to the FBI, you’re the head of a well-organized interstate criminal enterprise. That means if a member of the Serpents spits on the sidewalk in Joplin Missouri, they can bust you in L.A. on a RICO Charge. Technically, all the Serpents need to do is become independent chapters, with their own president, treasurer, road captain, and sergeant-at-arms. You can claim that each club is a separate entity. All the other members can claim their own territories, and the drifters can be nomads. You change your bottom rocker to San Berdo, and you’re no longer part of a nationwide criminal enterprise.”
“That sounds like a lot of legal bullshit.”
“It is,” I said. “It just happens to be bullshit that works in your best interest. Think about it. All you have to do is say the Serpents are breaking up, and you’re no longer a target for the FBI.”
“What about my money?” Lawson asked.
“I was getting to that.” I got up and went around the table. I extended my hand to Agent Andrews. “We have a deal?”
He said, “That man attacked my son.”
“The Marines punished Lawson for that crime. And you’ve exacted your measure of blood. Last night you were part of an impromptu taskforce that shot and killed Lawson’s best road dog T-bone. You’ve forced the club to break up; what more do you want? Go back to Washington and tell your boss you smashed the Serpents.”
Agent Andrews thought about it for a second, and his face took on a new dignity, like a man who’d reconsidered the facts and adjusted them to justify his actions. He stood up proud. “I’ll shake your hand young man. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t approve of your involvement in this fiasco. You made the wrong choices Duff, but you did it for all the right reasons. I admire your loyalty to Morgan.” He shook my hand like we were friends. He started to leave and stopped. He handed me a business card. “If you need a reference, feel free.” He gave Lawson one last nasty look and took off.
“Fuck that prick,” Lawson said, taking a seat. He came out of his chair and half way across the desk. “Where’s my fucking money.”
“Fuck you Lawson.” I stood up and got in his face. “After that shit last night at the Pike, you’re Goddamn lucky I didn’t turn you in. I could of told the FBI anything. They wanted you so bad, they would of lapped it up. If I testified against you in court, you’d probably get the Electric Chair. And you should think your lucky stars that Harper hasn’t turned States Witness. You don’t have a lot of friends in the room Lawson.”
Lawson backed off and sat down.
I handed him the slip of paper with Mr. Bradley’s phone number. “Call this man around noon tomorrow. He’s expecting your call. He’s an insurance executive, and he doesn’t ask questions. Tell him you want a ten percent finders fee. After he agrees, tell him to go downstairs to the mailroom. The money is in a package addressed to him. It’s the package labeled Fragile Nativity Scene.”
“If I agree to this scam of yours, how much do I get?”
“It should be over twenty-five thousand dollars. And it’s clean.”
“And it’s way fuckin’ short.”
I said, “Everybody came up short on this deal. Get over it. You’ll take the twenty-five grand and like it.”
I laughed. Lawson smiled.
“Think about it Lawson. You ripped off the fuckin’ man and then sold him back the money. You get twenty-five G’s, and you can’t be arrested. Come on man. You go along, and everybody makes out. Morgan gets to go home. I get the cops off my butt. Harper gets the man she loves.”
Harper looked mortified. Morgan’s eyes twinkled.
I tried to change the subject. “One other thing Lawson. You make my brother a full patch member of the Serpents. I’m not sure why, but it seems to mean something to him. He was willing to go to prison over it. After you give him the Patch, he retires a member in good standing. He’s got another life to lead.”
“Fair enough,” Lawson said. He looked at me like he wouldn’t mind going out for a beer some time. “You did okay kid.” He shook hands with Morgan. “See you in the wind brother.” Then he was gone.
Harper pounced off the desk and grabbed an open chair. She plopped down in a huff, planted her suede cowboy boot against the edge of the desk, and pouted like a little girl.
“Sorry about the love comment,” I said. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“I’m not embarrassed,” Harper said. She looked at Morgan. “And I’m not in love.”
“Don’t look at me,” Morgan said. “I didn’t say anything.”
“No—you didn’t say anything. You ran off with your friends and left me standing alone out in the parking lot at Tubby’s.”
“I don’t date married women. I’ve got no respect for a woman who can’t stay loyal to her husband.”
“You asshole.”
“Big brother, you’re way out of line. Harper is the most loyal friend either one of us has ever had. And she’s one of the finest women I’ve ever known.” I got out of my chair, stood chest to chest with Morgan, and looked up. “I won’t have you talking to her like that. Are we clear on that?”
“You don’t understand little brother. Things get complicated when there’s women involved.”
“Things aren’t complicated. You just have your head up your ass big brother.” I leaned against the edge of the desk. “You’re mad at Harper because your feelings are hurt. That’s not complicated. You’re problem is—you don’t have
any right to be hurt. Harper is a grown woman who married the wrong man. She made a mistake, just like a lot of other people around here. You think she led you on, but Harper didn’t lead you on. You led yourself on. If you’d let her explain the situation, then you’d understand. So do me a favor—stop being such a whistle dick. You owe this lady an apology. You know Harper’s the only reason you aren’t still in jail.”
She shot Morgan a sideways glance, scrunched her nose and stuck out her tongue. “It was Duffy who got you out jail. I just hid the money.”
Morgan flushed. Then he turned white. His knees buckled, so he steadied himself by holding onto a floor-standing coat rack. He started muttering, “I’m free…I’m free…I’m really free.” He looked at me with complete disbelief, like a space alien had taken over my body, and the person he was talking to wasn’t his little brother anymore. “How the hell did you do it Duff?”
“I hung tough until somebody made a mistake. Then I took advantage of it. How the hell did you pull off an armored car robbery?”
“I had inside information,” Morgan said.
“Like what?”
“You knew the McCord Mine paid their workers every Friday in cash.”
I nodded my head.
“Did you know that the armored car that delivered the payroll also made cash drops at several banks in the area, and it’s biggest deliveries were always on the last Friday of each month?”
“How do you know?”
“By accident,” Morgan said. “When I worked at the McCord Mine, I use to replace circuit breakers all the time. There was an electrical room in the payroll building, with an outside access door. That door was about five feet from the solid-steel door where the armored car used to deliver the money. While I was still working at the mine, I walked out of the electrical room after replacing a breaker, and the armored car was sitting there. The guard was backing out of the rear door with a satchel of money in each hand. When he saw me, the guy nearly shit his pants. He told me it was like I came out of nowhere. I told him not to worry, that the door was always locked, and only authorized employees had a key. Not long afterward, I spotted the same guard at a dive bar in Barstow, and we ended up having a few drinks. He told me the whole routine. It was no big deal at the time. A few days after I got fired, I was half drunk, and I started joking with Lawson and T-bone about robbing the mine. I told them I was so pissed off when I got fired that I left without turning in my keys. Then I told them the story about the guard. I was only joking around. Lawson and T-bone really pushed the deal.”
“So how’d you do it,” I asked.
“The day of the robbery, the three of us came in through a back gate. We parked the bikes behind a dumpster on the other side of the accounting building, then ran around and hid in the electrical room. After the guard got out of the truck, we pounced on him. T-bone stuck a submachine gun in the dudes face, and he handed over the money. Lawson kept an eye out, while T-bone held the guard at gunpoint, and I stuffed all the money I could into my backpack. After that I ran for my bike. They were supposed to hold the guard for two minutes, so I could get a head start, but my bike wouldn’t start. By the time I got it going, T-bone and Lawson had already turned the guard loose, and the alarm was going off. We all took off in different directions. I was supposed to stash the money and the motorcycle in the pumphouse. But the pumphouse was locked, and you forgot to leave my car keys on the back tire.”
“Sorry about that,” I said.
“You more than made up for it. I’m sorry I got you involved.” He stepped over and stood next to Harper. With his head down and hands crossed at the waist, he stood like a repentant child. “I’m sorry I was such an asshole Harper.” He looked at the ground and shuffled his feet. “I guess I was wrong about you.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Harper asked. “You know if you plan on spending the rest of your life hanging around with those loser biker friends of yours, then you might as well go back to jail right now.”
“I’ve got new plans for the future,” he said. “I was hoping you might take a walk on the beach with me and discuss my new and improved outlook. I’ll let you do most of the talking this time around.”
“I might consider it,” Harper said, ignoring my brother. She looked at me with a prim smile. “And what are your plans for the future—Mr. Duffy James Allison. I hope you plan on going back to school.”
“I’m going to have to pass on college right now. I’m going to take my big brother’s advice and join the Marines.”
“I think that’s very noble of you Duffy, but aren’t you worried they’ll send you to Vietnam.”
Morgan said, “The Marine Corps will get him ready for Nam.”
“I hadn’t really thought about going to Vietnam. I was hoping the Marines would get me ready for the streets of America.”
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I hope you enjoyed Cyclone Rumble. If you have minute, please take the time to give my book a positive review. And please Like it on Facebook. Thank you—J.P. Voss