by Kara Parker
He ran his hand down her arm and said, “Are you going to work today?”
“Have to,” she mumbled before finally sitting up and running her hands through her hair. “I need to take a shower,” she said looking at him.
“I have to go. I need to find Mike and tell him what’s happened,” David said. He was surprised that he had managed to sleep last night and that Rick’s betrayal hadn’t kept him up. But now, in the clear light of the morning, well rested, he was surprisingly calm about it. David would tell Mike what had happened, and then Mike would handle it. David would be redeemed and guilty party would be dealt with.
“Your bike is still at the garage,” Olivia said.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll hail a cab,” he said. She nodded and looked at him sadly.
“What do you think Mike will do?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” David said. “But please don’t tell your captain until I tell Mike.”
Olivia nodded and said, “Call me when it’s done.” David leaned over and kissed her gently before standing up and throwing his clothes on.
“Have a good day at work, dear,” he said with an ironic smile.
“Be careful,” Olivia said, but her voice was serious. “Rick isn’t dumb. He knows what he’s doing and might have a plan in place for something like this.” David nodded at her, and then fully dressed, he kissed her one last time and left her apartment. There was no one in her hallway, no one in the elevator, and no one in the parking garage, and David was thankful for that as he made his way out the back of her apartment complex.
An hour later, he was pulling up on his bike to the shack on the edge of town where Mike was still staying. The place had been fixed up a little. An air conditioner had been put in and a few more lights. The place was pleasantly cool when David was finally let in.
“I need to talk to you, Mike. Alone, please,” David said, and then two men walked back to the lone bedroom in the shack. It had a saggy twin bed and an old army footlocker and not much else.
“What is it David?” Mike asked as he sat on the bed and David on the foot locker. Mike looked tired and worn down, as if he had aged ten years in the last ten days.
“I know who the rat is, and it isn’t me,” David said, his head low.
“What?” Mike asked.
“Someone inside is betraying us. Putting the members away and taking over the drug trade on their own. I’ve seen shipments come in, and I’ve overheard conversations. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, Mike.”
“Who is it?” Mike asked, his voice grave.
“Rick,” David said.
“Impossible,” Mike spit without a moment’s hesitation. “When I die, this club goes to Rick. Why would he destroy it?”
“Because with the club all the members get a cut, but if it’s just Rick, he gets all of it. That’s my theory anyway. I haven't said anything to him; I came to you first, Mike.”
“Why do you think this?”
“I followed the drug trail. It led to a store in the western side of town, a convenience store, and a front. I scoped it out and saw that they were processing inside. I followed the truck after they had emptied it, and it led me to the safe house that Rick is using. I took him to that safe house myself, Mike.”
“No. I can’t believe it. It would be as if my own son were betraying me. You’re wrong David; you have to be. Who’s to say that Rick even knows where that truck went before it went to the safe house.”
“Except no one who isn’t a member is supposed to know about the safe houses. So why is some random truck, not driven by a member, going there? And there are still drugs in Marina’s Crest, only they aren’t coming from us. He planned this, Mike. He worked with the cops, organized the raid, and was ready to pick up the trade when we were gone. It was Rick.”
“And how do I know that you’re not just blaming Rick for your own failures?” Mike asked. “It was your job to keep the cops away, but you did your job poorly, and we were raided. And nothing you’ve said indicates that Rick was involved at all. All you saw was a truck arrive at the safe house. Why should I believe you?”
Because I heard the tape, David thought, the tip that had ruined God’s Reapers. But he couldn’t tell Mike that because Mike would want to know how David had come to hear it, and then he would know that David had been in contact with Olivia.
“Because Mike, this club is everything to me. Trust that I want to see it brought back to its glory.”
He hadn’t expected this; he hadn’t expected that Mike would not believe him. That he would turn a blind eye to what David had told him. It hurt him to hear Mike refer to a traitor like Rick as his son. David would have given anything for Mike to consider him a son, and suddenly having to play second fiddle to a traitor was more than he could stand.
David stood and shook his head, “See what you want to see, Mike, but this is all Rick. He’s planned this entire thing. He betrayed us. He sent our brothers to jail, and now he’s making a ton of money and keeping it all for himself. When he’s done, when it’s ready, he’s going to come and find you, and he’s going to make you disappear. Sleep with a gun under your pillow.” David turned and walked out of the room, turning around at the door and saying, “I’m always here when you need me, Mike. All you have to say is jump, and I’ll ask how high. Be careful.”
He left the house and stepped out into the desert’s baking heat. There was no way to convince another man to trust you. You have to earn trust, that was what David had been taught and those were the rules he lived by. But what now? What was he supposed to do when his leader’s trust was so misplaced? Everyone, Mike included, thought David had been their downfall. They thought David and his carelessness had ruined their lives. Rick had done his job well. He had framed David in such a way that no one would believe him.
David had told Mike the truth, but he had no evidence. He only had the truth of his words and the knowledge of what he had seen. He had thought it would be enough. It hadn’t been. Mike might have been willing to wait for the hammer to fall, but David was younger and far more proactive. Rick had betrayed him, and Rick needed to pay. David was going to find him, and he was going to collect.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
“Waters, Captain’s office, now.” The stern, angry voice of her lieutenant sent Olivia’s heart racing. He was standing stern-faced next to her desk, both hands on his hips. He looked furious, and he was shaking his head back and forth and glaring at her. She had just arrived at work, coming in ten minutes early to put the gear back in the squad car. She still hadn’t heard from David. She had spent her entire drive wondering if he had told Mike yet and what the older man had said.
Shit, Olivia thought. But she refused to let them see her sweat. She squared her shoulders, gave the lieutenant and nod, and marched confidently to the captain’s office. What could have happened? What did they know? There were too many variables for Olivia to start thinking of a good lie. Was it her relationship with David, her late night, her unauthorized stakeout, her borrowing police tools? She had broken a lot of rules in the last few days. She thought she had been careful enough, but here she was, heading to the captain’s office, and she doubted it would be for praise this time.
Olivia knocked three times and was permitted into the captain’s office where she was surprised to see Lance. He was in the chair facing the captain’s desk, and he turned around to look at her when she came in. The sneer he gave her told her everything she needed to know.
“Officer Waters, please remain standing,” the captain said. That was not a good sign and Olivia felt herself getting sick. All she had ever wanted was to be a good cop, and she thought she had been. But her captain clearly thought otherwise.
“Do you know why you’re here?” the captain asked.
“Clearly Officer Townsend has an issue with me,” Olivia answered. Her voice was clear; her back was straight. She might be about to lose everything, but she would keep her dignity.
“Why do you
think he has an issue?” the captain asked. Olivia could see what she was doing. The captain knew something, but not all of it; she was trying to get Olivia to out herself.
“Well, I imagine Officer Townsend is upset that I’ve started forcing him to do some real police work for the first time in his life.”
“Officer Townsend said you pushed him up against the squad car and threatened him,” the captain said evenly. So Lance had ratted. He had told the captain that Olivia, a woman half his size, had pushed him around—and now he was making her pay. He had no doubt failed to mention that the only reason Olivia had been forced to act that way was so she could actually spend her days doing her job instead of driving around and pretending to do it.
“Officer Townsend also abandoned me when I broke up a fight on the north side of town. I was investigating an incident. Instead of backing me up, he hid in the car and left me to deal with two members of God’s Reapers on my own.”
“Is this true?” the captain asked Lance.
“We were in unfamiliar territory with no back up. I went back to the car to call it in, but before I could, Officer Waters came back.”
“Really?” Olivia demanded. “And how long does it take to call in backup—ten, fifteen minutes? Because that’s how long you were gone.” She couldn’t help but raise her voice. This was the very definition of unfair.
“That’s a lie, captain,” Lance said, leaning forward in his chair.
Olivia opened her mouth to speak. She had a million things she could say about Lance—the skipped calls, his laziness, his general air of apathy, but the captain stopped them both. She raised her hand and the two officers were silenced immediately.
“Several items were missing from your cruiser last night—the telephoto lens, binoculars, lock-pick case. I went myself and saw they were missing this morning. We’ve had a camera trained on your car all day, have you returned these items?”
Shit, Olivia thought furiously to herself. Shit, shit, shit. She had been caught, by Lance Townsend, of all people. And now he was sitting a few feet in front of her, preening under the captain’s gaze like a cat in a ray of sun. Olivia had the strongest urge to reach over to him and slam his face down into the desk.
“Captain, if I can explain,” Olivia started, but she was interrupted.
“You failed to answer a call the other day, even though you were in the area. Officer Townsend tells me you were following a man on a motorcycle.”
“Lance skipped every call that came in our first month together, but suddenly it’s a problem now?” Olivia demanded. She knew she shouldn’t have. She shouldn't shout at her captain or pass the blame, but the entire situation was unfair. She had been spending her nights doing better police work than Lance did during all of his paid hours put together and she was the one who was in trouble?
“You will watch your tone,” the captain said through gritted teeth.
“Yes, Captain,” Olivia said, trying to maintain her composure. “Captain, this thing with the Reapers, it isn’t over yet. Someone called in that tip to get rid of the Reapers so he could come in and take over for them.” She spoke quickly, her words spilling over and into each other, as she hurried through her explanation, eager to get it all out.
“And you’ve brought this up with Detectives Evans and Farraday?” the Captain asked.
“I was getting more information, Captain,” Olivia said.
“That’s not your job, officer. Your job is to respond to calls when you’re on patrol and keep the task force informed of anything you discover. I gave you an opportunity to excel Waters, but I never gave you even tacit permission to do what you’re doing. Investigations that happen outside the scope of the precinct are not admissible as evidence. You are not some vigilante cop secretly doing good work. This isn’t a movie; this is the real world with very real laws and regulations that must be followed. You’re suspended without pay for two weeks, starting now. Go down to inventory and give them your gun and badge and then leave.”
“But, Captain?” Olivia said, staring into the dark eyes of Captain Diaz.
“Leave, or you will be arrested. There will be a formal hearing after the two weeks is up when we will decide what to do with you.
Rage poured through Olivia’s blood, pounding in her veins as she marched to the inventory and gave them her gun and her badge. With every step, she imagined kicking Lance right in his face. Maybe the bikers were onto something with the cops. If a lazy, useless, cowardly man like Lance Townsend could get a hardworking cop like Olivia suspended, maybe the system was fucked. She could see his sneering little face, looking over his shoulder at her while she was suspended. She had never seen him happier. How could a man like that live with himself?
Olivia had been doing the right thing. She might not have gone about it in a way the cops liked, but she had been right. There was a killer still out there, a drug dealer trying to turn himself into the kingpin, and the police were still patting themselves on the back for arresting the Reapers as if the battle had already been won. They didn’t know; they didn’t understand. It hadn't been a battle; it had been a trap. They had taken care of Rick’s enemies for him, and they had succeeded in making his climb to the top even easier. He still had all the money and connections from the Reapers—only it was all his now.
As Olivia left the precinct, she didn’t feel worried…she was determined. She knew where the drugs were and who was moving them. David had to have told his boss by now. Olivia would tell him that he needed to let her arrest Rick. The God’s Reapers would have their own form of vengeance, but they would have to give him to her. She could convince them. There were about a hundred Reapers in prison so Rick could not escape their punishment forever.
CHAPTER THIRTY
David grabbed a towel and began to dry himself off. He didn’t know what to do next. Not that he didn’t have options. In fact, at the moment, he had too many options. But none of them were good enough; each one ended with people in jail, or worse. They all had the potential to be dangerous. He could go and grab Rick himself, but then what? How much would it take to get Rick to talk? Would he have to beat the information out of him? That wasn’t something David was looking forward to having to do. He could see it easily enough; Rick tied to a chair in a basement somewhere, and David, his fists covered in the other man’s blood, getting the information the hard way. But thought made David feel sick. He knew that sometimes it had to be done, but he had never enjoyed it and had always sought to find another way. Plus, Rick was tough; he might not talk. It might have to get worse and worse, nastier and more violent, in order to get Rick to admit his guilt. David had seen that, too. If he had to, if it came to that, if they went after Olivia, then David wouldn’t hesitate. But it hadn’t come to that yet. There needed to be a way to do it without anyone getting hurt.
There was also the very simple fact that Rick was smart. He was a planner; this entire time he had been working behind the scenes to replace the Reapers. To move the gang out of his way so he could create an empire with one man on top. He had done all of this with none of the members, not even Mike, aware of it. In fact, at this exact moment, Mike trusted Rick more than David. So even if David were to grab him off the street and take him somewhere, Rick no doubt had a contingency plan. He wasn’t the type of man who sat waiting for things to happen. Rick planned things, and he planned them well.
David could have Olivia arrest him, but the cops would want to know how she had figured it out. She would have to tell them that she had worked with David and had taken a lot of liberties with the precinct's technology. They had discovered Rick’s plot in an after-hours investigation; they had trespassed and spied on people. What they had discovered hadn’t been found within the confines of the law, and the law might not back them up if push came to shove. Then, there was the entirely novel concept of a cop and biker working together. Neither the cops nor the members of God’s Reapers would be willing to look past that.
They could take a page from Rick
’s handbook and send the cops to raid the basement where the drugs were being processed. It was the best plan they had, but in the end, they would lose Rick. They would have to time the raid for Rick to be there and be arrested, but so far Rick hadn’t taken one step into store or the basement. If Rick wasn’t there when the raid happened, then he would just get away again.
David needed the Reapers on his side. He needed to convince the last few members of Rick’s guilt. It would be hard. None of them were ready to see their brother as a traitor; it was one thing to see David as the incompetent guy who had messed up and set the cops on them. But it was a totally different story to know that someone was actively betraying them.
Night was falling. He still hadn’t called Olivia. He didn’t want to disappoint her. He didn’t want to have to call her and tell her that Mike hadn’t believed him; that the leader of God’s Reapers had chosen a rat over a true brother. He didn’t want to disappoint her. He would have to tell her that their long nights of spying were far from over. But he had seen how tired she had been the other night. He couldn’t keep asking her to spend all day in the squad car and then all night tracking down Rick with him. It was too much; she would break under the strain.