A Family Man

by osborne, Sarah

  He risked a glance to his left, to where Joe leaned on the bar, listening to everything Dixon said. They would discuss this later. Just because the guy was an asshole didn’t mean he was a rat, and Barney felt that the guy was a little too open in his wanting a change in regime. It may not be good for the chapter to have such dissent within its ranks, but it wasn’t unheard of.

  Like his brother, he was getting a bad feeling about this place. He didn’t pretend to be as perceptive as Tiny, few people were, but there seemed to be a lack of trust amongst the patches, and if you couldn’t trust your brothers, you were lost.

  ~ oOo ~

  “So what d’ya think, bro?” Barney passed his joint to Joe. They were leaning on the wall enjoying warm evening air. “There’s something not right here.”

  Joe shrugged. “Don’t think the VP is the rat. Guy’s an asshole and he’s hungry for the gavel, but he’s got the SAA and the prez watching him like a hawk. Reckon he would have slipped up by now.”

  “Gotta say I agree with you. As much as I’d like it to be that douche, I don’t think he’s our man.” He chewed on his thumbnail. “So if it’s not him. Who is it?”

  Again, he shrugged. “Call Bay View, get Mac to run background checks on all the patches.”

  “Mac?”

  “Kid’s a bit of an idiot, but what he don’t know ‘bout computers, ain’t worth knowing.”

  “What are we looking for?”

  “To tell the truth, I ain’t sure. Just keep getting the feeling that I'm missing something. I want to know about any allegiances outside the club. The last time any of the patches did a bid. Everything.” He took a huge drag on the joint and looked out across the lot. “This ain't about power. It’s about money. This is a rich chapter and someone wants a piece.” Pushing himself away from the wall, he stalked towards his bike. “Gonna take a ride. I’ll see you later.”

  He only rode for a few minutes. It didn’t take long before his head started to clear. It appeared to him that this was a chapter with no future. It seemed that rather than doing what was best for the club as a whole and looking out for each other, his Salt Lake brothers were using the club for their own ends. Any one of them would be prepared to stab the other in the back to get what they wanted. Joe felt his jaw clench. This was not what the Freaks were about. He pulled out his cell and dialed.

  “Tiny. What d’ya need?” Samson walked outside and closed the clubhouse door behind him.

  “What do you know about Salt Lake?”

  “It’s full of Mormons.”

  “Funny fucker.”

  Samson chuckled. “That I am. What exactly do you need to know?”

  “Not sure. Got a feeling. Tell me about King.”

  Suddenly all was serious; the nomad president knew all about Tiny's ’feelings.’ “Clinging on to the gavel by his fingertips. There ain't no way that tenacious fucker will stand down without a fight.”

  “You think he should?”

  “Rather him than that slimy fuck of a VP. King was a good man, back in the day, but he’s getting old and I ain't sure he’s got the eye on the ball anymore. He relying more and more on his SAA to keep order.” He frowned. “This feeling, Joe. You gonna explain?”

  “King thinks there’s a rat. Chapter’s took a couple of hits. Looks like the information came from inside.”

  “And what do you think?”

  “Oh, there’s a rat alright.”

  “Any ideas who?”

  “No. That’s the problem. King thinks it’s Dixon, but I’m not so sure. I don’t like the piece of shit, and I certainly don’t trust him. But he wants to lead a chapter that’s earning, it ain’t in his interests to jeopardize that.”

  “So if not him, who?”

  “Shit, man, it could be any of ’em. I guess I gotta keep on digging.”

  “You there on your own?”

  “Nah, Barney is with me.”

  “You okay with that?” Samson was the only one of his brothers who knew that Barney was Amy’s father.

  “Yeah. Got no beef with Barney.”

  Samson grinned. Tiny never was one to hold a grudge, and Barney did have a knack of getting people to talk. “Tell him to talk to Boots.”

  “The SAA?”

  “Yeah. If King goes, he goes too, and I don’t see a place at the table for him if Dixon takes the gavel.”

  “Okay, I’ll tell Barney. Thanks for your input, bro. appreciate it.”

  “Any time. Oh and give Spike a call. He knows King from way back. He probably won't have anything for you, but you never know.”

  “Yeah I will, thanks man. Later.”

  He hung up and lit a cigarette, then pressed dial again. “Hey, darling.”

  “Hey. How’s it going?”

  “Like shit.”

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “Ain't much to say.” He sighed. “I could be here a while. Trying to find this rat is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I’m sorry, Beth. You deserve better.”

  “Joe, please. We’ve gone over this so many times. I don’t like you being away, but I accept it. All I ask is that you come back to me, whole.”

  “Shit, girl. Where you been all my life?”

  “Right under your nose.”

  “Oh yeah. I’m a dumb fucker, ain’t I?”

  “Yeah. But I love you anyway.”

  “So. What you wearing?”

  ~ oOo ~

  The next morning found Barney and Joe sitting outside the office at the gates of the junkyard. Barney leaned across the handlebars. “So who’s this guy we’re supposed to meet?”

  “They call him Hook, for obvious reasons. According to Spike, he’s an old buddy of King’s. They both served together till he lost his arm in Cambodia. When King got out, he gave him a job managing this place and he’s been here ever since.”

  “Spike know him?”

  “Not well, but he reckons he’s loyal to King, and could be a good source of information.”

  “You want me to do the talking?”

  “Talking’s what you do best, bro. It’s getting you to shut the fuck up that’s difficult.”

  Giving his brother the finger, Barney led the way towards the office.

  Marcus ‘Hook’ Jenson leaned back behind his desk. “Something I can do for you fellas?”

  Barney grinned and sat opposite him, running his hand through his short hair. “King tell you why we’re here?”

  “Yeah. Said you were on a rat hunt.”

  “Something like that. I need you to tell me about these hijacks. You must have some theories.”

  “I got a few.”

  Joe folded his arms and scrutinized the man behind the desk. Strangely, the most noticeable thing about him wasn’t that his left hand had been replaced with a hook. He was thin to the point of being emaciated and had iron gray hair that was slicked back away from his face. But it was his eyes that drew the attention. They were bright green, almost glowing in the dim light of the office, and were never still. This was a man who missed nothing. He stood up straighter. “You gonna share?”

  Hook took a deep breath. “I ain’t keen on naming names. And you gotta understand I don’t actually know anything.”

  “But you got suspicions.” Barney butted in.

  He nodded. “King thinks Dixon’s involved, but I ain't so sure. He don’t have much to do with the running of this place and, yeah, he probably knows the routes the trucks use, but he never takes part in the protection runs. I reckon you should be looking closer to King.”

  “Boots?”

  “I didn’t say that.” He shrugged. “Just before the first hijack I took on a young kid to help out round the yard. I don’t like taking on new people, but Boots vouched for him and he seemed sharp enough.”

  “You think he was passing on information?”

  “I could be wrong, but when I said that I thought that whoever did this got inside information, he disappeared. Never saw him again.”

  “Y
ou got a name, address?”

  Hook nodded and wrote it down on a scrap of paper. “Reckon he might not be living there now. But you might get lucky.”

  “Thanks.” Barney took the note and passed it to Joe. “You said Boots vouched for him. Any idea how he knew him?”

  “He said he was the son of a buddy. I just took him at his word.”

  “You had no reason not to. How involved is Boots in this place?”

  Hook looked up, surprised, when Joe spoke up. “Ain’t often you see a patch here. As far as the general population is concerned this place has no connection to the Freaks. They put up the cash, deal with the suppliers and escort the trucks but they don’t involve themselves with this place.”

  Joe frowned. “These protection runs? They wear colors?”

  “No.”

  “So this isn’t about someone trying to hurt the club.”

  “No, this is about money. There’s thousands of dollars' worth of car parts on those trucks.”

  Barney stood up. “Thanks. You’ve been a great help.”

  “You sure about this, Joe?” They were sitting on their bikes a short distance from the address they’d been given.

  “No. But it’s all we got. I was kinda hoping it was a rival club looking to muscle in on the action. But whoever’s behind this is looking to make money and nothing else.”

  “And the cops raiding the place?”

  “No cars were found, right?”

  “No. Where you going with this, Joe?”

  “Reckon someone wanted to make ’em nervous. King said they were expecting a delivery of cars the next day. Had to change their plans. Broke ‘em and shipped ‘em out in record time.”

  “Don’t tell me that shipment got hit, too.”

  “Yeah. Whoever is behind this is greedy, but they don’t want take the club down.”

  “And you think that someone is Boots?”

  Joe shrugged. “According to Samson, he’ll be lucky to keep his place at the table if Dixon takes the gavel. Maybe it’s a pension plan.”

  “You think Dixon would have enough support to vote him out?”

  “Boots thinks he would.”

  Barney sighed and dismounted. “I don’t like this, Tiny. Salt Lake should be dealing with their own shit.”

  “I don’t like it, either, bro. As soon as we get the evidence, we’ll give it to King and get outta here.”

  ~ oOo ~

  They walked slowly up the road towards the rundown house. To the casual observer they looked relaxed and unconcerned. The reality, however, was different. Both were on high alert, fully aware of their surroundings. They had no idea what they were walking into, but they did know they were dealing with a fractured chapter on the brink of civil war and if they weren’t careful they were going to get caught in the crossfire.

  The feeling of trepidation grew the closer they got to the house. Joe couldn’t shake the feeling that something was not right here. The place looked empty, the curtains were closed and there was no light inside. He looked over to his companion, who looked as on edge as he felt. “Gonna take a look round the back. Don’t look like anyone’s been around for a while.”

  Barney nodded. “Fucker must’ve known someone would come looking.”

  He watched as Tiny made his way stealthily around the back. This whole business felt wrong. The deeper they dug, the more it felt like this was about more than just flushing out a rat. He was beginning to think Tiny’s theory about it being only about the money was wrong. To him, this felt personal. Somebody wanted to hurt the club. Or someone in it.

  “Barney! Get over here.”

  Running around the back, he followed Joe through the open door, gagging as the stench hit him. “Jesus.” With his hand over his mouth he prodded the blackened and bloated corpse with his toe. “I guess somebody else thought we’d come looking too.”

  Joe stared at the body. “I’m gonna take a look around. I doubt I’ll find anything useful, but you never know. Call Mac, get him to check out this guy. He must have been passing information to someone. Barney nodded and ran outside sucking in clean, sweet air as he pulled out his cell and called Bay View.

  Joe slowly made his way through the darkened house, hoping to find something, anything, that would show just who this now-dead asshole had been working with. It came as no real surprise when he came up with nothing. Whoever had gone to the trouble of killing him was hardly likely to leave evidence lying around. He turned to leave, and in his rush to escape the stench that he knew would cling to him for hours, almost missed the scrap of paper clutched in the corpse’s hand. Grimacing, he pried the note from the rotting fingers and headed outside. “Think I might have something.” He unfolded the note, praying it wasn’t a shopping list, and gave a sigh of relief when it revealed a phone number. Resisting the urge to call it, he turned to Barney. “Call Mac back. Get him to run this number. This could be the opening we're looking for.”

  Neither man had any desire to return to the clubhouse, but Barney needed to talk to Boots, and Tiny really wanted a shower. Although they were reasonably confident that their cover story was holding up, there could be no doubt that some of the patches were suspicious and seemed reluctant to talk to them. As far as Barney was concerned this was confirmation that this was about more than just one Freak going rogue, and Joe was inclined to agree with him. After finishing his shower, he strutted through the clubhouse in search of King, the conversation he’d just had with Mac resounding in his head.

  King was sitting alone, nursing a beer watching with half an eye as a redhead that had seen better days spun half heartedly around a pole. He looked up as Joe approached. “You wanna talk to me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay.” The Salt Lake president led him toward the chapel. “We won't be disturbed.” They sat down, King at the head of the table, Joe took the seat usually reserved for the sergeant at arms. King looked up and gave a grim smile. “What do you know?”

  “Got some questions for you first.” Joe watched as the man next to him shifted in his seat. He may have been old, way past his prime, but he wasn’t stupid. “Why am I here, King?”

  “You know why. I need you to check out Dixon.”

  “Dixon’s not your rat. But you knew that, didn't you? You underestimated me, King.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You thought you could get me to do your dirty work for you. That I wouldn’t question you about Dixon’s involvement in the hijacks.” He smiled. “Ain't how I work, King. This is why I brought Barney with me. Ain't no way I’m gonna take down a brother unless I’m satisfied he deserves it.”

  “You got something to say, just say it.” King sat up straighter, a scowl fixed on his face.

  “You told Wolf you had the backing of this chapter. That ain't entirely true, is it? In fact, just recently you were only one vote away from losing the gavel. You know your days are numbered and that Dixon will take the gavel, an' I'm guessing you an' Boots figured you'd line your pockets before that day came.” Joe shrugged. “Now, I can see why you don’t want it to be him, and I’m curious as to why you’d name him VP in the first place, but I’m sure with a bit more digging I’ll find out. I do know, though, that you tried to set him up. Planting evidence on that dead kid was a nice touch.”

  “I don’t have to listen to this bullshit.” King stood up.

  “No, you don’t. Just thought I’d give you the opportunity to explain yourself before the mother chapter arrives.”

  “You called Vince?”

  “Oh yes, I did. They should be here by tomorrow evening.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. “Can’t let this chapter deal with its own shit. Don’t know who I can trust. Of course I’ll be more than happy to help Vince get to the truth.”

  King looked looked up and his eyes met Tiny's. “What happens if I try to run?”

  “I’ll kill you. I’d rather this was done right, give you the chance to defend you
rself in front of your brothers. But I don’t think me killing you would cause much of a shit storm.” He stood up and grinned. “And of course, I love a good hunt. Shit, I might even be tempted to give you a head start.”

  Barney stood and followed his brother as he walked outside. “You speak to King?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He try to deny it?”

  “Nope, not really.”

  “Shit, what a fucking mess. How the Hell did it come to this?”

  “Lost sight of what it means to be a Freak.”

  “Boots tried to pin it all on King till I pointed out that I knew that the dead kid was his old lady’s nephew.” He shook his head. “His own fucking family. That's fucked up”

  Joe leaned against the wall and said nothing. This whole thing had left a bad taste in his mouth. Not only had the president and SAA stolen from the club and embroiled God knows who else in their schemes, but they had killed that kid, set up the VP and tried to get him to do their dirty work for them.

  He pulled out his cell and walked across the lot. “Hey, darling.”

  “Hey.” He could hear the smile in Beth's voice. “Is everything okay?”

  “It is now that I hear your voice.”

  “Aw, Joe. You say the sweetest things.”

  “You making fun of me, girl?”

  “Only a little.”

  “Thought so. Guess I’m gonna have to put you in your place when I get home.”

  “Oooh! Can’t wait.” She giggled. “Any idea when that will be?”

  “Not sure. Soon, I hope. How’s Amy?”