Twisted Asphalt (Asphalt Outlaw Series Book 1)

by Blue Remy

Stone sighed, hand rubbing his beard. “Talon, mark Demon absent and a fifty dollar fine.”

  Talon was the Secretary of the chapter, always taking notes and reading them back. A mohawked head nodded as he scribbled in his ledger.

  Stone picked up his gavel and banged it to the coaster on the table. “I call the meeting to order. Everyone is present but Demon.”

  “Noted,” Talon looked up from his notebook.

  “Go ahead and review last week’s notes.”

  Talon offered a lopsided grin and leaned back in his chair. “We tried to scare the shit out of Mace. Demon tried to make him scream like a bitch. Didn’t work. Inducted new club brother, Maverick.”

  Everyone banged on the table, catcalling at the fact Mace was now a full-fledged club member. Stone held up his hand to quiet everyone down.

  “What needs to be brought to the table before I start?” Stone looked around the table, stopping at Saber.

  The medic held his hand up.

  “Saber?”

  “I’d like to sponsor Dalton as a prospect. He’s been hanging around for quite some time, he’s watched me enough. I think he’d make a good club brother.”

  Stone nodded, “Do I hear a second?”

  Mace cleared his throat and raised his hand. “I second that.”

  Romeo chuckled and pointed his finger at Mace. “You just want to make someone your bitch.”

  “My bike needs washing.” Mace snickered. Picking up the tumbler that had his Jack in it, he took a rather big swallow.

  “Do I hear any nays?” Stone looked around the room. No one protested the motion, the gavel banged down. “Dalton is our new prospect. Saber, make sure the cut will fit him. We may need a bigger one.” Stone paused, then looked to Mace. “You have something to bring to the table?”

  Mace’s mouth dropped, then snapped shut when he looked at Romeo, who shrugged. Motherfucker. He was going to have to play this one cool. “I’m not sure what the fuck crawled up Demon’s ass yesterday, but he wanted to know who I was on the phone with, after I took a call.” He was about to cross a very fine line, but Mace had to. There had to be some sort of privacy of one’s life, outside the club. “I really didn’t think it was anyone’s business who I was talking to or what I was discussing. He’s not my bitch, I don’t owe him shit, especially as a patch holder now. He didn’t like me telling him it was none of his business and he picked a fight.”

  Stone interlaced his fingers together as he leaned back in his chair, rocking it slowly back and forth. “You’re right. It’s no one’s business who you were on the phone with,” Stone paused as he looked directly at Mace. “Unless it was putting the club in jeopardy.”

  Ahh, shit. Drawing in a deep breath, Mace let it out slowly. Here goes nothing. Just as he was going to drop the bomb, Romeo cut in.

  “He was on the phone with the ATF.”

  The room exploded into a mixture of swearing, yelling and threats. Stone banged the gavel several times, trying to get everyone to calm down. It quieted down enough for Stone to finally speak. “Excuse me? Did we hear you correctly?”

  Romeo leaned forward on his elbows, shaking his head at Mace, keeping Mace from saying anything. “When the house exploded, Mace called in help. He has deep pockets out there and he asked for a favor. The reason he did, is for us. It’s been confirmed that the sheriff is involved with Temer Gallo. If that’s the case, they would have swept what happened under the carpet, and to top it off, the sheriff’s brother is the lead agent for the FBI, who would have gained jurisdiction over everything.

  “I told Mace to keep it between us for now because we don’t need to start everyone trying to cover their tracks. They’ll suspect we’re up to something and all we need is the deputies or cops raining shit down on us.”

  Mace drew in a breath before he continued, “They confirmed the target was Amy. It was a remote detonator that set it off. It was a cellphone number, which was traced back to a burner. They couldn’t have been too far away from the ranch, but with the chaos, they got away without anyone thinking anything about it.”

  Stone let out a breath, sounding like he had been holding it. “Fuck me running. That was what the call was about?”

  “Yeah, he must have caught the tail end of the conversation. Whoever this is, Stone, is after you.”

  Stone looked dumbfounded at that statement. “How the hell do you figure that, if they’re going after Amy?”

  “What will you do if something happened to Amy?” Mace point blank asked Stone.

  “I don’t know what I’d do.” Stone shrugged, “Probably kill people.”

  “Wouldn’t you quit? You’d have two people you’ve lost while wearing those patches.” Stone’s face hardened as he stared at Mace. “I’m sorry, Stone. You asked and I’m not one to pussyfoot around and be all sensitive to your feelings. If you wanted that, you asked the wrong guy.”

  “You’re right, but getting me out of the picture only puts Romeo in as president. Are you saying my own son is doing this?”

  Mace sighed, laying his hands on the table, rolling his upper lip between his teeth. “No, I’m saying you have a traitor in the club. Someone wants you gone, they’ll take out their competition and not give a fuck who they take down in the process.”

  The table was silent. A traitor. That was a serious accusation to make without the required proof, even if it made sense.

  Axe cleared his throat before he spoke. “It makes sense, Stone. The TG have been stepping up a lot lately. What if they turned someone in the club? It might not be this chapter, it could be a Nomad or another member.”

  “It’s still not an easy thing to hear.” Stoned scratched behind his ear, then rubbed along his jaw in thought. “Mace, stay on Amy. If you have to leave her, for any reason, you make sure the prospect is on her or you get another brother to take over. Understood?”

  “Roger.” Why Romeo did what he did was confusing as fuck. Why throw it out there? Was he actually trying to protect Mace? He liked Romeo; he had bonded with him and didn’t want to lose that friendship, even though he knew it was coming.

  “Any other business?” Stone glanced around the table before he spoke. “Wolf is coming back sooner than expected. He got the Reno chapter settled. The Colangelo’s have accepted the alliance, for now.”

  Shit, that was a crimp in the plan. Colin Younger was not supposed to be back until mid-year, he was months early. Mace posed as Colin’s cousin; if he came back before the run, Mace’s cover was blown. He would blow Mace’s deception out of the water. He would have to make sure Colin didn’t make it back until he was gone.

  Without any warning, the doors to the room slammed open, making everyone jump clean out of their chairs. A frantic looking Dalton busted in, wide eyed and red faced. “Dude, Mace!” Dalton gasped, trying to catch his breath. “Demon has lost his fucking mind. You better get outside now.”

  That was when they heard the sickening sound of metal crunching, glass shattering, and yelling. No one needed any urging, all of them tore out of the room, running for the parking lot. Outside, Demon had a tire iron and was using Mace’s bike for batting practice.

  “What the fuck!” Mace yelled, lurching forward, but was stopped by two vice-like grips, yanking him clean off of his feet. “Let me go. I’ll kill that son of a bitch.” Mace felt himself get put into a sleeper hold, a thick arm wrapped about his throat. “I’ll kill you. Touch my bike again, you fucking pussy!” Mace scratched at the arm that held him, but it tightened about his throat, cutting off his air in warning.

  Mace stilled and watched Demon trash his bike, laughing while he swung the tire iron like a baseball bat, breaking his front windshield. He was going to kill Demon, then he was going to shoot Saber for stopping him. Mace stiffened when Stone made his way toward Demon, Romeo and Axe right behind him.

  Demon paused, looking up at the trio walking toward him. His eyes were crazed, wide and unblinking. He pointed the iron at them. “Don’t come any fucking closer, or your
bikes are next. I can’t believe you picked that douchebag over me.”

  “What the hell are you talking about, Demon?” Stone growled at Demon.

  Demon swung at Mace’s engine, a ringing sound echoing through the area, fluid pouring out from under the bike. “You chose him over me. He attacks me and you all protect him!”

  “Let me go, Saber!” Mace tried jerking out of his hold, only to have his air cut off once more.

  “Settle the fuck down. Now,” was growled in his ear as the arm loosened up a touch.

  “That’s not what happened and you know it.” Stone rebutted, holding out his hand, palm up. “Give me your cut.”

  The whole club went tense at the request, even Mace. Asking for Demon’s cut was a death sentence, and that much registered on Demon’s face.

  “The fuck you say. You can take it off my dead body.” Demon pulled back the iron, setting it to his shoulder.

  “That can be arranged,” Mace muttered angrily. His bike was destroyed.

  “You have caused enough damage to a club brother that has caused all patch holders not to trust you. We can’t have anyone we don’t trust in the club. Give me your colors.”

  “You can come fucking get them.” Demon flipped the homemade tire iron around, the one end a makeshift spear. Pulling back, he slammed the pointed end into the gas tank. “Every one of you fuckers can kiss my ass.” Demon lifted up both hands, flipping every patch holder off. “Come get these colors when you have the balls to. Until then, fuck off.” Demon retreated, straddling his bike. Starting it up, he roared out of the drive way.

  Once he was out of sight, Saber let Mace go. “Sorry brother. Demon would have shot you before you could get to him.”

  Mace glared at Saber.

  The medic threw up his hands. “I would have stopped anyone, Mace.”

  He pointed his shaking finger at his now worthless bike. His voice trembled in sheer fury as he stared daggers at the behemoth of a male. “That bike…I’ll fucking kill him.” Mace couldn’t even hold a coherent thought, he was so furious.

  Stone and the other two walked back to the group. “If any of you run across Demon, get that cut from him. Then you bring his ass to me. Do not kill him, I want him alive. We’ll leave the killing to Mace.”

  CHAPTER 21

  “You’re going and that’s final.”

  Amy groaned and tossed her phone to the couch as she stared at Maggie. “Do I have to?”

  Maggie snorted in reply. “Isn’t that kind of a rhetorical question?”

  “But why? It’s not like he’s ever wanted us there before.” Amy pouted, crossing her arms over her chest to emphasize her unhappiness. “This is bullshit.”

  “Bullshit or not, Antonia wants us there. If we don’t cheer on his alter ego, he’ll never forgive us.”

  Mackenzie was Antonia’s alter ego when he was in a contest like tonight. This was a big one, if he won this, he’d be titled the Queen of Santa Barbara County and he’d go onto semifinals in Santa Barbara to display his talents there. This was a big deal for him, and he wanted Maggie and Amy there to cheer him on.

  “Fine.” Amy huffed, wrinkling up her nose. “I hate dressing up for this stuff. I look like a total hooker.”

  “Uh, that’s what makes it so much fun. It’s like Halloween early. You get to overdo everything.”

  Amy shook her head and laughed. “Only you love getting all dolled up like that. I don’t see how it makes me look good. You have the figure for it, I don’t.”

  “I’ll get ready at your place—erm, at Mace’s, with you. I’ll help you get ready.”

  Amy nodded, not liking the idea, but she was going to need all the help she could get. Mace wasn’t Maggie’s favorite person, but there was no way in hell Amy was going to step into that mess. “Want to invite Thorne?”

  Maggie pushed off of the couch with a yawn. “She’s on shift tonight. She and Saber have the graveyard. Plus, she’d outshine both of us.”

  Espina Lopez, also known as Thorne, was beyond beautiful. Tall, statuesque, and muscular in the most feminine sort of way, she possessed runway looks. Maggie had always been insanely jealous of her little sister, until she blossomed as her own woman.

  “No, I think Antonia will outshine us all.” Giggling softly, she followed suit, getting off the couch. “Well, let’s close up and get the hell out of Dodge. I’ll shower and be ready for you to transform me into some hooker looking thing.”

  Maggie didn’t disappoint. It was horrific, in Amy’s eyes. Tight crimson leather miniskirt, black leather thigh-high stiletto boots, and a black leather backless vest style top that exposed way too much skin. Her makeup was done, not too much like Amy feared, but Maggie did attack her hair. By the time she was done, it was ratted out and put in some sort of feathered layered look that impressed Amy beyond words.

  Maggie wore tight leather booty shorts, six inch platform heels with fishnet stockings and a sequined halter top, accenting her breasts and long neckline. Her makeup was over the top, almost theatrical, and her hair screamed Latina. Back combed on the top and about half way down, then a half of a can of AquaNet made sure not a single hair would move.

  It was a good thing that Amy could walk in hooker heels; otherwise, this would have ended badly. Driving wasn’t easy, but she managed. Arriving at the Santa Maria Inn, she found a parking spot on ground floor, making it easier to get to the Tap Room where they held the competition.

  “Where the hell am I supposed to put my phone?” Amy grumbled as she looked at herself then back to Maggie. Amy never carried a purse or a clutch, and with as little fabric as she had on, it was going to be a miracle to find a spot for her license.

  “Here.” Maggie took Amy’s cell and pulled out the leather of her skirt, placing the cell against her hip. “See, right there. I left mine at home since no one but you or Thorne calls me anyway.”

  “Antonia calls you.” Amy frowned, linking her arm through Maggie’s. “That’s a plus.”

  “No, that diva texts. He doesn’t talk.” Maggie giggled while she pulled open the door to the Tap Room.

  “Why thank you. Who’d have thought that you’d have manners?” Amy winked at Maggie, then yelped when the leather stung her ass cheeks from the smack she got for the comment.

  They found a table near the fireplace at the right side of the stage. The tavern looked like it had been transformed into a disco hall, lighted disco ball included. Party favors sat on every table, along with tiny top hats for the guests. Dim, yet colorful lighting gave off a festive atmosphere.

  Thunder cracked through the room, lights pulsating like lightning, getting everyone’s attention toward the stage. “It’s Raining Men” rang out; the contestants came out to start the pageant with a dance routine. Antonia was dressed in sequins and feathers, strutting his shit like it didn’t stink.

  Amy and Maggie screamed out while Antonia got his ten second solo in the opening act, making more noise than anyone in the bar. It seemed to fuel him on, his dance moves grew more flamboyant as the skit went on.

  There were twenty contestants, Antonia was number nine, giving the girls ample time to have a couple of drinks. Amy stopped at one alcoholic beverage, since she was driving, but Maggie? Tequila and apple martinis were her poison for the evening.

  Amy felt her phone vibrating at her side as Antonia came on stage, but he was hidden behind a screen. Grabbing it, she glanced at the screen. Mace. She denied the call and tossed the cell to the tabletop. This was her friend’s big moment and she’d be damned if she was going to miss it, especially after she complained about coming in the first place.

  The crowd erupted into applause when “I Feel Like A Woman” blared through the speakers, a light snapping on behind Antonia, giving the audience a silhouette dance to start. The screen fell, revealing Antonia decked out to the nines. Top hat with black mesh hid the extravagantly made up eyes, glossy red lips stood out against caramel skin. A thick, black choker graced his neck, offset by the man’s long sl
eeve unbuttoned white dress shirt, exposing a black satin corset and matching black mini skirt. The cake topper was the black suede thigh-high boots Antonia strutted on, owning the song.

  Amy’s phone kept vibrating through the routine, even as Antonia received a standing ovation for his performance. Sitting down, Amy wrenched her phone off the table, seeing twenty-five missed calls and seven missed texts, reading 9-1-1.

  “What the hell?” Amy frowned as she pushed out of her seat.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Amy shrugged and looked at the last caller, her father. “Mace, Romeo and Dad have been trying to get ahold of me. The texts are all 9-1-1’s. I need to go see what’s up.”

  “I’ll go with you. I need some air anyway.”

  The two made their way out to the lobby where it wasn’t as noisy, giving Amy a chance to hear while she dialed her dad back.

  “Amy! Where the fuck are you?”

  “Wow, okay. Hi to you too. I’m at Antonia’s pageant, where I said I was going to be. Why?”

  “Is Maggie with you?”

  Her father’s voice sounded strained, tired, and she only heard that tone once before. “Yes … what’s wrong, Dad?”

  Maggie looked at Amy funny, probably because she could only hear one side of the conversation.

  Amy shrugged at Maggie’s questioning look, waiting for her dad to answer her.

  “You need to get to the hospital now. Bring Maggie.”

  Amy stilled and paled hearing those words. “What happened?”

  “Just get here. We’re in the ER.” Stone hung up.

  Amy stared baffled at her phone, even as that hard knot in her stomach started to surface. “We need to go, Maggie.” Amy offered no explanation as she headed toward the exit.

  “What’s wrong, Ames? You’re scaring me!” Maggie raced after Amy.

  “I don’t know, something bad. Dad told us to get our asses to the hospital. He wouldn’t tell me more.”

  Amy broke out into a slight jog, Maggie hot on her heels. Once inside the Jeep, Amy tore out of the parking structure and onto the street, turning her hazards on. If someone tried to stop her, they could chase her ass to the hospital. It wasn’t far with the sparse traffic. The damn stop lights were killing her. She’d speed, but couldn’t run any lights for fear of getting into an accident.