by Blair Grey
He took a deep breath before continuing, and I could tell that he was just getting started. That was my biggest problem with Ryan: he just talked a little too much sometimes. The truth was we all knew about Red Eyes. You couldn’t grow up in Las Cruces without hearing about them. You’d see the guys out with their motorbikes—not that all guys in Las Cruces who owned motorcycles were necessarily members of Red Eyes—but it was safe to assume they probably had some sort of ties to the club.
The thing was, like Ryan said, they were robbing local businesses so that they could extend protection to those same businesses. But Red Eyes and the other local gangs were the only things that those businesses needed protection from. Let’s say Joe’s Coffee didn’t pay up. Red Eyes would be there causing problems for them. But if Joe’s Coffee did pay them, then the little mom-and-pop coffee shop became a target for any other gang that tried to move in on Red Eyes territory.
It was a no-win situation, but I knew that most of the local businesses opted to pay up anyway.
“I’m sure I don’t need to remind all of you that we, not Red Eyes, were the ones to take down the Unknowns MC when they were trying to move in on Las Cruces,” Ryan continued, and I tuned back in. That had all happened before I had made it onto the police force, and I didn’t know the whole story there. But to my disappointment, Ryan chose not to expand on that, of all things. Instead, he went back to his tirade about Red Eyes.
“If the Unknowns were peddling drugs like that, we can assume that Red Eyes is as well, meaning that they’re not only stealing money from our businesses, but they’re also putting our communities at risk,” Ryan said, narrowing his eyes. “And that, we cannot tolerate.”
“Hang on,” Bill, one of the older guys said, actually holding up a hand to get Ryan to stop. “We’ve searched the Red Eyes clubhouse in the past and never found any drugs there.”
Ryan gave him an unimpressed look. “That just means that they are keeping the drugs somewhere else,” he said, as though that was obvious. “And I want to figure out where that is.” He looked around at all of us, his eyes lingering on each person’s face as though trying to dare us to protest.
When everyone remained silent, he nodded. “Watson and Gehrig, I want you to stake out the clubhouse. I want records of everyone who goes in and out of that building, any suspicious packages, that sort of thing. Graham and Ainsley, I want you on Ray Thompson’s house. He’s the ringleader here. I want to know what sort of business he conducts in his private home, away from the clubhouse. That means I want to know if any of the Red Eyes members meet him there, if he gets any deliveries, everything. Hell, I want to know if he so much as sneezes.”
I could see Graham and Ainsley exchanging glances, and I wondered what they were thinking. Stakeouts weren’t exactly the most thrilling work, and Ainsley especially had been on the force for long enough that his talents were probably better used elsewhere. But they didn’t argue with Ryan, who handed out another couple of stakeout assignments before turning to me.
“That’s all I’ve got for everyone. Get out of here. Except you, York. Stick around; I want to talk to you.”
“Ooh,” one of the guys said. “Captain, you got the hots for the newbie?”
“What’d you do to get a private assignment? Suck his dick?” one of the other guys taunted.
I narrowed my eyes at them. “You are just bitter, ‘cause in order to get a blow job, you need to actually have a dick,” I snapped. I had long since learned that if I wasn’t willing to play hardball with these kinds of guys, they would walk all over me. I had to be willing to stick up for myself.
Fortunately, I didn’t mind that. In fact, I had expected it when I had decided that I wanted to join the force. I was young, and I was female. It was only natural for them to pick on me in a profession that was still largely dominated by the sort of boys’ club mentality.
There were some laughs around the room, and Bill clapped me on the shoulder as he headed toward the door. “Attagirl, York,” he said.
I flashed him a smile, but I kept my attention on Ryan, wondering what he wanted to talk to me about. I hoped it was a mission. I hoped it was something more interesting than a stakeout. But at the same time, I was puzzled. I was the newest member, and it would be strange for Ryan to give me one of the better assignments. There was a strict ranking system in place, and he generally abided by it.
He sat on one of the tables near me. “I’ve been watching this MC for a while now,” he said. “And I’m positive that I’ve finally found a weak link in their organization.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, wondering if I was going to have to ask twenty questions to get it out of him. It wasn’t like him to be so choosy about his words. I had to assume that he was about to say something I wouldn’t like, and I tried to prepare myself for whatever it was.
“There’s a newer member of their organization. Guy called Grant Gilbert. He’s been going around to the businesses with one of the other guys, one of the twins. But my informants tell me that Grant’s different from the rest of them. That he’s shown a pattern of hesitation, as though he’s not all-in with the MC.” He paused. “Kid’s about your age, though. Young. Thinks with his heart. Seems like he actually cares about the local businesses. Now I want you to find a way in with him. Use your charms, get him to let his guard down.”
“You mean you want me to seduce him and get him to tell me about the MC as some fucked-up sort of pillow-talk," I said saltily. “Ryan, you know I’m not that kind of girl.”
“Oh, put your pride aside, York,” Ryan said, rolling his eyes. “We need to get this done, and this kid, Grant, is our way in.” He paused again. “You know I wouldn’t ask if I thought we had a better option. But we need someone on the inside.”
I stared at him for a long moment, weighing my options in my head. I could tell him no, but that might tank my fledgling career in the police force. I’d definitely never get another undercover position, not for as long as Ryan was the one handing those out. I’d end up relegated to desk duty for the rest of my life.
On the other hand, if I said yes, then I was setting myself up for a lifetime of stupid, sexist positions in the force, giving them all reason to mock me for the way I looked. I didn’t want to be treated like some girlie-girl who couldn’t do the gritty work. If this was the only way to take down Red Eyes, though, maybe it wouldn’t happen that way. Maybe everyone would appreciate what I could do with my looks.
Use what you have at your disposal, I remembered someone telling me in the academy. And my looks were one of the tools that I had at my disposal. Part of being an undercover cop meant keeping my feelings in check, keeping my emotions neutral, and doing whatever was asked of me. If I was really ready to do that, to be in this position, then I needed to act like it.
I nodded at Ryan. “Okay,” I said. “Grant Gilbert, did you say? What else do you know about him?”
3
Grant
On Wednesday, Ray called me to the clubhouse to meet with the new members he recruited. I actually expected to meet Ray there, but when I arrived, he was nowhere to be found, not even in his office. I frowned, wondering if this was another display of his confidence in me or if this had more to do with the health issues I was positive he was having. Either way, I wasn’t entirely sure what to do.
I tried to remember back to my first day at the clubhouse. It was sort of a blur, but I remembered Marcus telling us about the MC and what our roles would be.
I looked around at the new guys. They were all young—younger than me, I was sure—but they looked the part at least. Broad-shouldered and built. A little rough around the edges. None of them looked like they were coming straight from the streets, but they also didn’t look like they were particularly well off either. Except for maybe the guy on the end of the couch over there. No, he wasn’t going to last a day in the MC.
That was the most interesting part. Looking around the group, I was sure I could tell which guys were going to last an
d which guys weren’t. I wasn’t sure what it was, if it was the way that they looked, the way that they held themselves, or if it was some other vibe that they gave off, but I knew exactly which of those guys were going to be cast out even before I opened my mouth to start talking about the MC.
Really, it made me wonder. What did they see when they looked at me? Was I the kind of guy who they would expect to be part of Red Eyes? I knew I couldn’t possibly look as nervous as I had that first day that I’d been in there, but I wasn’t sure that I had the same easy confidence of, say, Braxton.
I shook my head. Time to get started. “I’m sure you’ve all got some idea of what Red Eyes does if you’re here,” I said slowly, looking around at each of them. I paused, remembering what Cameron had said about the potential infiltrator. I gave them a second to ask any questions that they might have, but no one said anything.
I gave a mental shrug and continued, “When it comes to being part of the motorcycle club, we need to know that we can count on you to be there to help the club with whatever we need. There’s a number of different roles, everything from enforcers to treasurer.” I grinned at them. “But to get your feet wet, what you’ll be doing is patrolling the businesses that pay us. Making sure that no one else causes problems for them and that we get our dues in a timely manner when that date comes around.”
I paused. “As you probably know, the reason these businesses pay dues to us is for protection. And believe it or not, even though Red Eyes has been the most powerful MC in the state for over a decade now, we still have clubs that come in from time to time and try to fuck with our business. Your job is to make sure that they can’t do that.”
I felt like I was on a roll. A lot of the recruits were nodding along with what I was saying, and the guys who had looked most nervous at the start were beginning to calm down a little. Because it didn’t sound so bad, watching these businesses, right?
I knew just how quickly things could go wrong. But they didn’t know that yet.
Before I could continue, though, Braxton came in the door. He laughed incredulously when he saw me there with the recruits. “Man, Cam mentioned that you were going to be training these guys. Poor you,” he said, looking me up and down. Then, he turned his gaze to the recruits. “Jesus, you’re all fucking kids, aren’t you? Are any of you even old enough to drink?”
The recruits exchanged glances, then a couple hands went up, but no one seemed really sure how to handle Braxton.
Braxton pointed a finger at one of the guys, the most nervous looking one. “You’re not going to make it to the end of the day. You might as well just walk out now. Save yourself some time,” he said, shaking his head derisively. The kid looked questioningly at me, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I knew that Braxton was probably right, but on the other hand, I wanted the guy to be able to make the choice of whether he stayed. I didn’t want him to feel like he had been kicked out.
This wasn’t like picking teams in gym class. Or it wasn’t meant to be anyway.
The guy got up and left, though, his eyes on the floor, carefully avoiding everyone’s gaze.
“You might as well follow him,” Braxton said, pointing to another guy. “You’re not going to last. And neither are you. Jeez, do any of you guys have what it takes? What a sorry lot of recruits.”
“Braxton,” I finally said, my tone sharp. “That’s enough.” Braxton gave me a surprised look, but I shook my head. “Ray picked these recruits,” I reminded him. “And I was in the same shoes as them once. Look at me today.”
Braxton finally nodded. “You’re right,” he said to my surprise. I hadn’t really expected him to actually listen to me, and I was reminded of when Ray told me that he could see me becoming leader of the MC one day. When had these guys started to respect me like this? I wasn’t sure how I felt about that either.
“We should get dinner,” Braxton said suddenly.
This time, I was the one staring at him. Usually, if I wanted to do things with Braxton, I was the one to ask him. We hadn’t done much lately because I hadn’t wanted to bother him. He was recently engaged after all.
To be honest, this whole respect thing was so strange, I wasn’t sure I really wanted to get dinner with him right now. I was getting in over my head with the MC. Getting in deeper than I’d ever really meant to. Maybe it was time to take a step back. “I’ll let you know when I have time,” I told Braxton.
Again, he looked surprised to hear me say that, but he just shrugged. “Cool,” he said. He glanced back at the recruits, who were watching this back-and-forth like they didn’t know what to make of it. “I guess I’ll let you get back to this. But definitely call me. We need to catch up.”
“I will,” I promised. He left, and I turned back to the recruits. “Sorry about that.” I couldn’t remember what I had been talking about before Braxton had shown up, though. Whatever roll I’d been on before, it was gone now.
Finally, I cleared my throat, pulling a piece of paper out of my pocket. “Well, Ray wanted you guys to get started as soon as possible so you could see what the business really entails. So you’ll start your shifts at the local businesses immediately. I guess I’ll drive you guys around to your places. Does anyone have any questions?”
Still no questions, and I was beginning to wonder if Cameron had just been trying to psych me out or something. I gave the guys the most basic instructions as I dropped them at their businesses, telling them that I’d be back within a few hours to make sure that everything was okay and to get their reports.
It was the last guy I dropped off who reminded me the most of myself when I had started. He was trying to give off a sense of confidence; I could tell that much. But fear had a funny way of poking its head out. I could tell that this guy didn’t want to be here. He was expecting something to go wrong, and he was doubting his ability to handle things.
I remembered those feelings all too well. I still had those feelings sometimes, although it was better now that Braxton and I mostly worked together on everything. I never had to deal with stakeouts on my own anymore.
I didn’t expect this guy to still be there by the time I got back. And that’s mostly what this day was about: giving them just a little taste of being a member of Red Eyes. Letting them walk away if they decided this wasn’t for them.
I remembered my own first day. The longer I sat there on my own, the wilder my imagination had gotten. I had imagined members of another MC coming up and holding the business owner at gunpoint with me not knowing what to do about it. I had imagined that everyone knew what I was up to, pledging for Red Eyes. And I had expected the police to arrest me at any second.
I definitely hadn’t been confident. I probably would have been one of the guys that Braxton had pointed to in the clubhouse and told to leave. What if I had walked away? What would my life be like now? The truth was, I hadn’t had anywhere else to go. I didn’t have any marketable skills. I hadn’t seemed to be able to hold down a job. I just didn’t have the confidence that I needed for anything. Red Eyes had been good to me; I had to admit.
But I knew that I was still just pretending to be confident enough. Going through the motions so that Ray would keep me around. I felt sorry for these recruits. I wished that I could tell them that if they didn’t walk today, it didn’t mean that things were going to get any better for any of them. Either you were made to be a member of the MC or you weren’t. There was no way to mold them to be the kinds of guys that the MC needed, not if they weren’t already those guys to begin with. I knew that now.
I had been desperate to belong to something, but I still didn’t quite belong.
Sure enough, when I went back that afternoon to pick up the guys I had dropped off, they weren’t all there. I hadn’t expected them to be.
4
Holly
Trailing Grant Gilbert turned out to be stupidly easy. It was as though the guy had zero expectations that he might be followed. Like he wasn’t worried about the police at all. I didn’t
know if he was brave or stupid. If we hadn’t known as much as we did about Red Eyes already, we would have learned a lot just in a day of me following the guy. He led me straight to the clubhouse, straight back to his house, and all over town. Today, he was dropping off guys at different businesses around town, businesses that I assumed Red Eyes already had in their pocket.
Again, brave or stupid? I didn’t know. But it made my job easy.
I wondered about the guys he was dropping off. They didn’t seem like old members of the club. Actually, most of them had to be even younger than me. And there were a couple who just plain looked nervous. I wondered if maybe they were recruits. It wouldn’t be unusual for the MC to try to grow itself. I noted down as much information as I could for Ryan, but Grant was my main target.
I watched as he chatted outside the business with this other guy, the last of the guys he had driven around town with. To be honest, I kept finding myself staring at Grant’s hands every time I watched him. He tended to talk with his hands, gesticulating to make his point, and there was just something about those long fingers of his that really excited me in an embarrassing way.
He was attractive; I had to admit. I could practically see the outline of his muscles through his grey T-shirt, and his jeans were practically sculpted to his body as well. His hair had a windswept look to it, as though he had just gotten off his motorcycle, even though I knew that he hadn’t. And even from afar, I could sense the piercing quality to his gaze.
In terms of guys to seduce, there were definitely far worse ones. I had a feeling it would be pretty simple to get him attracted to me with my blond hair and tan skin. He seemed like a pretty simple kind of guy. A man’s man. And I’d go along with it if it meant getting the information that Ryan needed.