Authors: London Casey,Karolyn James
Fuck
…
she
’
s going to destroy me.
thirteen.
When Jace opened the door, Blaine
stood against the other wall. He had one foot up and stared right at Jace. Jace
shut the door and Blaine came at him and threw him against the wall. He made a
fist and put it to Jace
’
s
face. One of Blaine
’
s ring
dug into Jace
’
s cheek.
“
I
feel like knocking your fucking teeth out,
”
Blaine said.
“
Fucking
punching me like that. You know me, bro. I talk. And my talk is cheap. I don
’
t give a fuck though. It keeps
my goddamn mind off the bullshit outside. I like my cock rubbed, sucked,
fucked, whatever. I like to come. Give me a tight pussy, tight ass, small
mouth, wiggling tongue
…”
“
What
do you want right now?
”
Jace asked.
“
I
want you to know two things. First, I
’
m
sorry for what happened to you. And that the judge fucked with you. I believe
you that there
’
s some kind
of connection to everything. Second, I
’
m
sorry if I said anything to offend Jordyn. I would never force myself on
another brother
’
s old lady.
”
“
She
’
s not my old lady,
”
Jace said.
“
She
’
s just
…
here
…”
“
So
can I fuck her?
”
Jace gritted his teeth.
“
You know what the prick Strokner
is doing to her?
”
“
No.
Don
’
t tell me. Don
’
t give me one more reason to gut
him.
”
“
We
have common ground then, Blaine,
”
Jace said.
“
Keep it at
that. And keep your cock in your pants.
”
Blaine let Jace go and put his
hands up.
“
Fair enough. But
the second you change your mind, brother, about that piece in your room
…
you call me. I want to tear
that pussy up. Whatever
’
s
going on, I can make it all better. You know, in a lot of ways, bro, I
’
m like a fucking doctor.
”
Jace made fists.
“
Doctor?
”
“
Doctor
Blaine. Just think about it.
”
Blaine tapped the side of his head. He nodded and started walking.
Jace kept looking back to his room,
wondering what Jordyn was thinking and what she would do. Damn her for wanting
to be involved in this shit. It wasn
’
t
a fucking game. It was real. Far too real.
Outside, Miller, Gaige, Nate, and
Griffin were already on their bikes. Jace got on his motorcycle and then their
engines began growling like a rolling thunderstorm as they headed out in
formation.
Jace had no idea why the hell the
chief would call them about a double homicide. Unless this was going to get
tied to Jace somehow. For a split second, Jace panicked and thought about going
back to the clubhouse. Anytime he left the clubhouse he was risking his life
anyway, but with Jordyn back in his bedroom it actually bothered him to be out
in the open right now.
Jace stuck to his honor and stayed
with his club. They ended up on a desolate road. It was the exact kind of road
where you
’
d expect two guys
to be killed. Or for some other kind of bad shit to go down. The road connected
Frelen with a few small, rundown towns to the south. You had to go through those
towns to connect with the Interstate. From there, you could go anywhere you
wanted to go.
When Miller turned off the road,
the guys followed. A hundred feet up ahead was a single cruiser. Its lights
weren
’
t flashing, but its
headlights were on. Chief Jerry sat on the hood of his cruiser, pounding down a
sandwich. A half empty bottle of soda sat next to him with the cap off.
“
Chief,
”
Miller said.
“
Got
a sandwich for us?
”
Blaine
asked.
“
Got
some of those fine women for me?
”
Chief Jerry asked.
“
Chief,
you
’
re a married man. With
a kid now," Gaige said.
“
Yeah?
So? My wife
’
s miserable
because she had a kid and the kid cries half the night looking for my wife
’
s tits. If I dare touch her tits,
I get yelled at.
”
“
You
mustn
’
t be cute enough,
”
Jace said.
Everyone laughed except for Chief
Jerry. He stepped to the ground and held out the sandwich to Blaine.
“
Few bites left if you want it.
”
“
Hell
yeah,
”
Blaine said.
As Blaine reached for it, Chief Jerry
opened his hand and dropped the sandwich.
“
Whoops,
”
he said.
He then stepped forward, planting
one of his black boots on the sandwich, and twisted it into the ground.
“
Fucking
prick,
”
Blaine said.
The chief smiled and then looked at
Jace.
“
Jace. How
’
s it going?
”
“
Better
than the last time I saw you.
”
“
Time
’
s up, right?
”
Jace stepped forward, but Miller
shot an arm out and stopped him.
“
I
don
’
t think we
’
re here to hash out old
feelings. You had bodies?
”
“
Yeah.
Haven
’
t called it in yet.
Wanted you guys to see it first.
”
“
Why?
”
Miller asked.
“
Execution
hits,
”
the chief said.
“
One bullet between the eyes.
Hands tied behind their backs. Their throats were slit, but it happened after
they were shot.
”
“
Why
’
s that?
”
“
Because
of where the blood is,
”
Chief Jerry said.
“
None on
their shirts. It's only on the ground. Come on, take a look.
”
The chief walked off the road and
everyone followed willingly except for Jace. He kept his eyes open and looking.
It bothered him to think for a second that the chief would be involved in
anything crooked, but then again, Back Down Devil had been letting the club pay
him off for years. He even married his wife with the money the club gave him. And
every high end baby item came from the MC.
When they stopped walking, they all
looked down. Sure enough, there were two dead bodies on the ground. Everything
was just as the chief described.
“
Fuck,
”
Griffin said.
“
That
’
s hardcore right there. That
’
s not what we
’
re
used to seeing.
”
“
Agreed,
”
Miller said.
“
That
’
s not a club thing. We didn
’
t do it.
”
“
I
know that,
”
Chief Jerry
said.
“
But it
’
s an outside thing.
”
“
Looks
that way,
”
Jace said.
“
No.
It is. Want to get really fucking pissed off?
”
“
Sure,
”
Gaige said.
Chief Jerry took a pen from his
pocket and bent down. He used it to open the jackets on both guys. He poked around
and baggies of white powder fell from their inside pockets.
“
No
fucking way,
”
Jace said.
“
Drugs,
”
Miller said.
“
Yeah,
”
Chief Jerry said. He stood up,
tucked the pen away, and put his hands to his hips.
“
Now, if I call this in legit, what do you think
will happen?
”
“
It
’
ll probably be a big
investigation,
”
Blaine
said.
“
Coast
Road,
”
Jace said.
“
I fucking told you about this.
They
’
re dealing, man. Right
here. Look at this. Someone took these guys out
…”
“
Not
my fucking problem,
”
Chief
Jerry said.
“
Here
’
s what I
’
m going to do. I
’
m
going to take the baggies and get rid of them. That way this is just a double
homicide. Since it
’
s near
the edge of Frelen and connects with a nice pile of shithole people not that
far away, it
’
ll be a simple
murder. I
’
ll send some of
my guys into that shithole to poke around. They
’
ll
find nothing and life moves forward.
”
“
So
why get us involved?
”
Gaige
asked.
“
Simple,
”
the chief said.
“
I want this cleaned up. I
’
m not letting drugs into my
town. This is
…
my town.
”
“
It
’
s our town,
”
Miller said.
“
Don
’
t forget the silent justice we provide for you,
Chief.
”
“
Fuck
you, Miller. My badge. My gun. My town.
”
“
You
know,
”
Miller said,
“
we could take care of that pain
in the ass wife of yours
…
and that whining shithead kid
…”
“
Go
ahead and threaten me,
”
Chief Jerry said.
“
We
’
ve done this dance for years,
Miller. You push, I pull. I push, you pull. The same bullshit. I know enough to
bury you forever.
”
“
We
could bury you a whole lot faster,
”
Gaige said.
“
So
we have a deal then,
”
the
chief said.
Jace watched this all go down. It
was cold and tense. Nothing calm and enjoyable anymore. Jace grabbed one of the
baggies and tucked it into his pocket.
He turned and started to walk away.
“
Good
seeing you, Jace,
”
the
chief yelled.
“
Hope to see
you soon.
”
Jace stopped. He wondered what
would happen if he punched the chief, just once, right in the face. Before Jace
could determine the risk versus reward, Blaine was next to him.
“
Let
it go,
”
Blaine whispered.
“
He
’
s
got shit on us. He
’
s just afraid.
We
’
ll fix this.
”
Back Down Devil got back on their
motorcycles and started back toward the clubhouse. The ride was fast and Jace
’
s thoughts were even faster. He
knew what he saw and now it was proven true.
Coast Road MC was dealing smack too
close to Frelen. They were probably using those shitty back roads to get into
the rundown towns and then traveling the interstate for distribution. No matter
what, it was complete bullshit. Even if drugs weren
’
t being sold directly in Frelen, it was still
something Back Down Devil didn
’
t
stand for.
Once they arrived back at the
clubhouse, Miller jumped off his ride and put his hands out, instructing Jace
and the guys to stay on their rides.
“
We
need to talk about this,
”
Miller said.
“
This is
serious shit.
”
“
I
said it,
”
Jace said.
“
That day I got taken in. Coast
Road was getting a delivery from that boat.
”
“
Then
I guess we start cruising along the coast,
”
Miller said.
“
Right
into enemy territory,
”
Griffin said.
“
Again.
”
“
We
have to make it known we know,
”
Gaige said.
“
They won
’
t know how we know. And if they
find out about those bodies, it
’
s
going to rattle them.
”
“
We
’
re trading one war for another,
”
Griffin said.
“
What
’
s the choice then?
”
Miller asked.
“
Tell me, Griffin.
”
“
There
is no choice,
”
Blaine said.
“
I think Jace is right on
with this. There
’
s a
connection between the drugs, Coast Road, that judge, and Strokner.
”