Two Tricks (Hidden Empire Book 1)

by Elizabeth Knight

  Shifting, I darted over to hide behind the loveseat to get a better angle to see who was talking. There I found, standing with a gun to Harper’s head, a large bald man dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather vest. The patch on his cut told me he was part of the Mad Dogs MC, confirming what the dead guy in my basement said.

  Harper was in her pajamas, the oversized shirt falling off one shoulder where it was torn. She had a black eye and a split lip, causing my anger to ratchet up to an even higher level. There would be no survivors tonight.

  “Come on out now, I’ve traveled so far in the hopes of meeting you, Dax. The least you can do is have a chat with me—or do you need more motivation?” the man said, jerking his head at someone I couldn’t see.

  An equally substantial man with a mullet dragged an unconscious Picasso by the back of his shirt, a large revolver in the other hand. Did the Mad Dogs only recruit giants? These assholes were ridiculous.

  “Still not enough?” the bald man taunted. “Alright then, on the count of three, I’ll shoot one of them in the head, but I’m not going to tell you which one.”

  “One…Two…”

  Gritting my teeth so hard my jaw started to ache, I stood up from behind the loveseat, gun at the ready.

  A smile broke out over the bald man’s face as he took me in. “Pint-sized and deadly, just as described. I have to say, it’s a real honor to meet you. I’m a huge fan of your work. See, I’m an enforcer as well—name’s Doc.”

  “Hmm, can’t say that I’ve ever heard of you,” I replied.

  “Ha! She’s got jokes, Goliath.” Doc laughed, as did his companion. “This is gonna be way more fun than I thought. Here’s the thing. Mastiff is also a long-time fan; he’s been tracking you since you helped Two Tricks take his place in the underworld. The Mad Dogs had plans, but it seems that the Phantom Saints have once again moved in on our turf.”

  “What the fuck does that even mean?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

  “The partnership that you have with the Saints should be with us. We never wanted to work with the De León cartel, but we needed to do something to get your attention. The thing we didn’t factor in was Diego was pinning a murder on you to cause strife in your empire and to get rid of a rebellion in his own family,” Doc rambled on.

  “Are we getting to the point where I come in soon, or is that gonna be a while?” I sighed, using my gun to scratch my head.

  Doc shook his gun at me. “Now, now, none of that. I do enjoy a sharp tongue on a woman, but I hate to be interrupted. Letting me say my piece will keep your friends alive and speed things along.”

  Proving a point, I holstered my gun and walked around the loveseat to sit on the coffee table, one leg crossed over the other and my chin resting on my hand. To them I looked bored and relaxed, but it gave me perfect access to the knives and gun in my thigh holster if I needed to move quickly.

  “As I was saying, now that we are stuck in this deal with the De Leóns, they are holding us by our balls. We would so much rather work with you, and Two Tricks, of course. After all, you were promised to us ages ago,” Doc stated, causing me to gawk at him.

  “Let me tell you a little secret about your brother and his lovely wife.” The smug look on his face told me that I wasn’t going to like one word of what he was going to share. “When your twin got out of jail and was kicked to the curb, he tried everything to get back in their good graces, even offering you as an incentive. They turned him down, so the lovely Kimber came to us asking if we would take over the Blackjax in retribution. Oh, and they kept you part of the deal as well. Sadly, before any of this could happen, your brother was gunned down in a drug deal gone wrong. Imagine my surprise when his twin sister who was promised to us makes her splash into the dark world by helping Two Tricks wipe out an MC.”

  My stomach rolled at the thought of my brother, my twin, the other part of my soul, selling me out. I knew it was Kimber’s doing if it was true at all. She’s always hated me.

  “Mastiff wanted to take you from Two Tricks quickly, but we ran into our own troubles and had to leave. We always kept an eye on you though, Dax, watching you turn into a beautiful deadly weapon.” Doc grinned at me like a proud parent. “As you can see, you were promised to the Mad Dogs. It’s where you belong. So we need you to drop the Phantom Saints and then kill off Diego so we are free of him. Simple, really. I know what you’re thinking—how can we ask you to do this when you don’t trust us or know what we have to offer? It’s simple—we aren’t asking.”

  What the fuck kind of bullshit was this man spewing?

  I let the silence hang in the air as I just watched him, not reacting to what he just said. Inside I was seething. How the fuck could they think they could walk into my city, hold my friend at gunpoint, and expect me to just do or believe what they say? Some fans they were—clearly they hadn’t been paying attention, and now they done fucked up.

  “Let me see if I’ve got this right. You’re butt hurt because you acted too rashly and got into a bad deal with a known two-timing bastard. Twice, now that I think about it, when you include that skank Kimber—if any of that is even true. Sounds to me like your problems are a result of your own poor choices. Boo hoo,” I said, giving him an exaggerated pout. “Whoever your mole or moles are didn’t do a very good job getting you accurate facts on the situation between the Phantom Saints and myself. I didn’t agree to work with them until I found out that my best friend was being targeted.”

  Doc opened his mouth to speak, but I held up a hand. “Shhh, I’m not done talking yet.”

  I couldn’t help but smirk at the vein that started throbbing on his big shiny forehead.

  “I’m glad you’re not asking, because no matter what you do or say, there is not a flaming fart of a chance that I will ever work with drool hounds like yourself. Now that we have that all cleared up, what happens next?” I asked, raising a brow at him.

  Doc gave away his intentions with the evil glint in his eyes, and before I could question myself, I acted. Drawing my gun with my left hand and a knife in my right, I shot Doc between his eyes and threw my knife at Mammoth. It landed in his chest, and it threw him off balance long enough that I was able to get my next shots off into his heart. Harper screamed and crumpled to the floor, scrambling away from Doc as his blood started to seep out on the tile.

  Rushing forward, I dropped my gun and grabbed Harper, who then clung to me, sobbing into my chest.

  “I got you, Harper. I got you. You’re safe now. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here faster,” I murmured as I stroked her head, rocking her as she cried.

  Mastiff fucked with the wrong person, and he was going to figure that out very soon, because I was going to destroy him and everyone around him.

  Falling back against the couch, I let out the breath that I’d been holding since Dax entered the house. Thanks to the security system, I had been able to watch and listen to the whole thing as it was going down. Seeing my woman in her element was something I never got tired of, but this one was far too close to home, having Harper involved.

  Seeing her wrapped around Dax as her body shook with sobs made it hard for me not to head straight to the closest Mad Dog crew and kill every one of them. Not only had they been after Dax, they’d used the one person who was her true weakness. I had no doubt that she would do anything to get me back if need be, but if she lost Harper, it would break the last part of her innocence.

  “So is no one is going to bring it up?” Cognac asked, breaking my train of thought.

  I looked over my laptop screen at the other four guys, who’d been watching everything on the TV before I cut the link off, wanting to give Harper some privacy. Once Dax had called and let me know what was going down, I woke up everyone else and gathered them here. They wanted to go after Dax, but I knew they wouldn’t get there in time for it to matter. Situations like this were what Dax lived for, and she was good at it.

  “Bring what up?” Eagle snapped, glaring at Cognac. “If you
say something asinine, I’m going to punch you in the nuts.”

  He was the one I almost had to tackle and tie to a chair to keep him from going after Dax and his brother, but Sprocket talked him down. Void wasn’t much better, but he wouldn’t go without Eagle.

  “Our woman just took out six armed men and saved two hostages single-handedly. She’s like a live version of Lara Croft or some shit,” Cognac said as he stood, looking down at the other three. “You’re telling me you didn’t realize that if she really wanted to get the fuck out of here, she could have? So why didn’t she?” Cognac asked.

  After a moment, they all looked at me like I was just going to give them the answer. “Oh no, you guys either need to figure it out yourselves or ask her, but I’m not gonna tell you if you don’t already know.”

  “I think that is a conversation for another time. Right now we need to prepare for the war that is about to descend on us,” Sprocket interjected before Eagle could try and wring the answer from me.

  Looking back at my screen, I saw Dax wrapping a blanket around Harper and then heading over to Picasso, who was still out cold. Dragging him away from the very dead Mammoth, she checked him over carefully, but from what I saw he’d just been pistol-whipped. Once she was convinced he would be alright, she went back to Harper.

  “Babe, I’m gonna pack you a bag and we are gonna stay with some friends of mine. I promise I will explain everything once we get there, but we need to move before any more bad guys show up,” Dax explained in a soft voice.

  Harper didn’t really react to what Dax said as she kept picking at the tassels on the blanket. Letting out a sigh, Dax left her and headed up to Harper’s room. Now that she was alone, I felt comfortable enough to call out to her. Hitting the button that would activate my side of the comms, I tapped twice.

  “Wondered how long it would take you to reach out,” Dax said, glancing up at the camera. “You catch all that went down?”

  “Yeah, I made sure to record the audio so we could go back over it once you didn’t have Harper’s life hanging in the balance,” I assured her.

  Nodding, she kept moving around the room. “Can I assume the rest of the guys are with you too?”

  “You would assume correct, little hellcat,” Eagle called out, “and you got one hell of a punishment waiting for you when you get back for pulling a stunt like that.”

  “Fuck off Eagle,” Dax snapped. “If you were paying attention at all, you’d know it’s your fault I’m even in this situation.”

  Eagle scoffed. “Then we must have been listening to two different conversations, because it sounded like if we didn’t come along, the same thing would have happened but with the Mad Dogs. They aren’t as hospitable as we are, to say the least.”

  “Why don’t we have this conversation a little later in person,” Dax grumbled. “I somehow have to get my catatonic best friend and your unconscious brother out of here and back to the compound in a Fiat, and then figure out what the fuck to do with our bikes.”

  “Just get back here, rebel. Bikes can be replaced, but you guys can’t,” Sprocket said.

  They couldn’t see, but Dax flipped off the camera, and I just smiled. “She gave a thumbs up.”

  “I’ll just bet she did.” Void smirked.

  “We’ll see you when you get here,” I said as I signed off Harper’s system.

  I looked at the guys, who looked far more haggard than I was, not used to dealing with this lifestyle. “At this point, you have two choices—make more coffee or try and catch an hour of sleep before she gets here.”

  “I’ll get the coffee brewing,” Sprocket said as he heaved himself off the couch.

  Eagle rubbed his jaw, deep in thought, while the other two seemed to wait on his direction. This was the biggest difference between how they worked and how Dax and I worked—we were a team. Both of us had strengths that the other didn’t, and we found a way to blend them to work in the best way possible. These bikers needed instruction before they could move forward, not having the autonomy to just pick up a lead and run it down. As they waited for their leader to make up his mind about whatever it was he was thinking about, I pulled up the file on Little Fingers that I hadn’t had a chance to read through yet.

  This situation was turning out to have several layers to it, and I just couldn’t seem to see where they all intersected. The cleanup crew I sent to the house gave me the information on the man that Dax interrogated, but he was nothing but a low-level dealer. Little Fingers, on the other hand, was middle management, so the task at hand was to see who he reported to. I needed the top of the food chain to get the full picture.

  “So at what point does the elusive Two Tricks deem it necessary to involve himself?” Eagle asked, drawing my attention.

  “Oh, he’s been involved through this whole situation. I’ve been keeping him well informed,” I answered.

  Eagle grunted and leaned forward on his knees. “See, I’m having a hard time believing that a man as powerful as him is still keeping to the shadows with all this. War with a cartel and a biker gang is not a small problem.”

  I glanced up at him, keeping my expression neutral as my anger flared at what I thought he was hinting at. “Are you saying Tricks is a coward?”

  “How would I know?” Eagle challenged. “The man never shows his face and uses proxies for all his deals, so who’s to say he’s even alive? With a ghost like that, he could be anyone—even you, Weston.”

  Giving him a smirk, I set my laptop to the side. “And if I was Two Tricks, what then? Does it change the situation we’re in or what needs to happen next?”

  Void growled at my tone and moved towards me, but Eagle held out a hand, stopping him. “True as that may be, if we are going to war with you, I think it’s only fair that I meet the man I’m asking my people to possibly die protecting.”

  Nodding in agreement, I decided to compromise. “I am not Two Tricks, and as for who that is, it’s only fair to have everyone here for that conversation.”

  “Fine, if we are going to do this, I’ll make us something to eat. No telling how fast things will move once Mastiff finds out Doc is dead.” Eagle headed into the kitchen, grabbing the coffee cup from Sprocket as he passed.

  Sprocket rolled his eyes and went back to make himself a new mug, and I went to pick up my laptop when a shadow loomed over me. Looking up, I found Void standing over me. I quirked an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to speak.

  “In the spirit of partnership, I feel that I should tell you that once my little demon is back in this house, I’m not letting her leave us again. She belongs with us whether she realizes it or not. Know that if you try to take her from me and mine, I will not hesitate to kill you, even if it means she will hate me forever,” Void warned.

  “Dax was never going to be mine alone—she couldn’t handle that type of relationship. You may think you can keep her against her will, but if she doesn’t want to stay, she won’t—and there is no way in hell I’ll let you do that to her. If you don’t keep her from me, then I won’t keep her from you—fair?” I countered, holding out my hand.

  Void wrapped his large hand around mine and squeezed hard enough that I was concerned he might break my hand. “Don’t make me have to hurt you and everything will be fine.”

  Having got that off his chest, he headed upstairs.

  “So dramatic—am I right?” Cognac said, grinning at me.

  I shook my head and got back to work on the matters at hand, knowing Dax would be a tornado of pent-up rage when she got here.

  It took longer than I would have liked to get everything settled so we could leave, but I had to go back and grab our bikes and stash them in Harper’s garage. I disabled the garage door and took the keys with me, so it would hopefully keep anyone from messing with them. Putting Harper in the joke of a back seat, still bundled in her blanket, I then maneuvered Picasso into the front passenger seat.

  Leaning against the car, I called Brian.

  “Dax! God, I�
��ve been so worried about you—you dropped off the face of the earth,” Brian blurted when he answered.

  “I’m all good, just needed to deal with some stuff on the down low. Look, I don’t have a lot of time to explain things, but I need you to spread the word that Diego De León has teamed up with the Mad Dogs MC and they’re gunning for us,” I explained.

  The silence on the other end had me frowning.

  “Does this mean it’s true that you took out his kid?”

  “No, Brian, I didn’t take out his kid. I didn’t even know he had one,” I said through my teeth. “They are spreading rumors to stir shit up in our house, and seeing how you are questioning me on this, I’d say it’s working. Tell me, Brian—you still with me, or do I need to consider this your resignation?”

  Everyone knew that when you were in as deep as Brian, there was no leaving the empire alive. I liked him because he was a good guy and did his job perfectly, but I couldn’t have someone so high up questioning things when we were headed for war.

  “If what you’re telling me is that they killed Jeff just to make us doubt you, then I’m all in. His wife just had their first kid, you know. He didn’t deserve to go like that. Hell, it could have been me they picked to make an example out of. Don’t worry Dax, I got your back. I trust you to tell me what I need to know. Now what can I do for you?” Brian asked, his tone all business.

  “I need you to send a cleanup crew to the address I send you, and I need you to oversee them personally. The Mad Dogs went after someone very important to me, and I need to make sure that this is handled with the utmost care so nothing falls back on her,” I instructed.

  “Sure thing, boss. Sounds like you’ve been busy—two cleanups in one night. They’re not fucking around, are they,” Brian sighed.

  “No, they sure aren’t. I’ll have more information for you in the next twenty-four hours. They wanted a war, they’re gonna get one. They’re gonna regret the day they fucked with my people,” I growled and hung up.