“Couple calls came in from Neily County. Two bangers were shot. Execution style. Know anything about that?”
I laughed. “First off, if I was going to knock off some bangers, I wouldn’t confess it to you. Second, what the fuck would I have business in Neily for? Plus, it’s an hour away. I’ve been at the gym for two hours now.”
“Got proof?” he asked.
I pointed to a security camera hanging above the counter.
“I’ll need to see those tapes,” Chief Richards said with a grin.
We both knew the camera wasn’t real. Mutty put it there to scare people even though everyone in town knew it was fake. Not that Mutty had a lot of money or anything worthwhile to steal.
“What do you want from me?” I asked. “I’m at the fucking gym. I’m lifting weights. I’m not causing trouble.”
“You are trouble, Slam. And you’re going to fuck up. I’m going to be there to finally fucking get you. I’ve been chasing your ass more than half your life.”
“That’s the image you want?” I asked. “A cop chasing the ass of young boy. Think about it…”
Chief Richards’ face turned red. He put a hand to his gun. “Tell your friends I’ll be asking them about the Neily situation. I know you’re tied to it. If not, you’re up to no good. Too much action on the streets the last week around town. I can smell it. I can fucking smell it.”
I lifted my right arm and smelled my armpit. “Can you smell this?”
“Fuck you, Slam,” Chief Richards said. “You know, you had a chance. After your old man ate that truck, I thought you were going to be able to turn. Hell, I thought about taking you under my wing even. Thought maybe you could be a big brother kind of thing to my daughter. But the first time I looked into your eyes after your old man died, I knew you were evil. Pure evil.”
“If you’re here to arrest me, do it,” I said. “If you’re trying to fuck with me, get out. You know the Reap had nothing to do with shit a county over.”
Chief Richards slowly put his sunglasses back on. He took his hand off his gun and put a finger to my chest. “Mark it, Slam, I’m going to fucking get you. Someday soon, I’m going to get you.”
“When you decide on that day, you know where to find me,” I said.
The fucking prick left the gym, got into his SUV, and drove away.
My body was exhausted but I went back to the weights for another hour.
That was when I knew eventually I’d have to prove a point to Chief Richards. If he was going to fuck with me, I was going to fuck with him.
I stacked a bar with more weight than I had lifted before. The anger and rage let me lift and lower it two dozen times.
Nothing could ever break me.
Or so I thought.
And the one thing that would break me… a fucking woman.
ten
(slam)
NOW
“You’re fucking crazy,” Knox said.
“I’m crazy? You just ordered your old lady dinner to-go. What the fuck are you? You’re like some married old man, appeasing the wife.”
“I get to go home to a wife that loves me, a kid that loves me, and when the kid goes to bed, I get pussy so good and so sweet, it’d make a man like you cry.”
I snorted. “Maybe I should give it a try.”
“Yeah, right,” Knox said. “Come within ten feet of Ana and I’ll put a bullet in the back of your head.”
“I’m not going to get in trouble.”
“You fucking almost killed someone tonight.”
“And I explained, calmly, who I was and he understood. So I told him to say someone in a black hoodie jacked him up. I took his stuff and tossed it into the dumpster. So tomorrow he could come back and get his shit back. I told him I memorized his address and if he told the police anything, the entire Reap would make sure he never saw daylight again.”
“Christ, Slam,” Knox growled. “Like we need any extra heat on us.”
“Stop. He fucking grabbed her…”
“So that’s where you’re going already,” Knox said. “Protecting her.”
“No. I’m claiming that ass as mine. Fresh, untouched ass.” I inhaled the air and grinned.
“Be safe,” Knox said. “No fucking trouble tonight.”
“Scouts honor,” I said.
“Fuck your honor,” Knox said. He put a fist out. “We’re going to get Tommy and settle up. I really want you there, brother. But you can’t lose your shit. I can pull you in on it. I just need to know you’re going to be calm.”
“Take it to the guys and let me know,” I said. “I’m not going to cause a war within the club.”
“I know it had to be hard inside.”
“You ever been inside?” I asked Knox.
“You know that answer. Not like you were, brother. Not like you were.”
“Then you don’t know how hard is was,” I said. “I can’t stop thinking about King now. How he sits there, the only thing to look at being the ink on his arm with the Reap, knowing he’s going to die.”
“That’s honor.”
“That is honor,” I said. I thumbed over my shoulder to the restaurant. “And back there is pussy. I’m going to get it. I’m going to eat it. I’m going to fuck it. I’m going to savor it.”
“Amen to that,” Knox said.