“Everyone clear out,” Knox ordered. “Watch the front of the garage.”
As the guys walked by me, they all patted my shoulder. Shit, I was alone with this prick now. What the fuck did trouble have to do with anything? Right? I could get my revenge on him. Cut him limb by limb. Gut him even. Let him bleed out and think about how he fucked me over.
“What’s the move?” Knox asked.
I crouched down and grabbed Tommy’s jaw. “You know what you did to us, right?”
“I know,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
“I was high.”
“Fuck that excuse. Why?”
“I just told you…”
I reached back for my gun. Tommy started to thrash and scream.
“Jesus, Slam,” Knox said.
I put the gun under Tommy’s chin and forced his head back. “Calm down and talk to me.”
Tommy was suddenly calm. He was shaking and crying, but calm.
I eased the gun away. “I don’t want to shoot you. Don’t make me do it. Tell me why you fucked me.”
“I had to,” Tommy said. “I owed money to too many people, okay? So I decided to cut a deal. To protect myself.”
I looked back at Knox.
Knox shook his head. He turned and threw a punch at the wall.
That was a risk we took when we did runs like that for people.
“And you cut a deal with Chief Richards?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck,” I whispered.
Chief Richards had been watching Tommy meet with us. He stopped Tommy and tried to set him up, forcing Tommy to turn on the club. So Tommy ratted out about the guns, the box truck, everything. That’s what put me in the hot seat. Chief Richards could have busted into the MC with warrants and got all of us on major gun charges. Instead, he singled me out. Because that’s what he did.
I stood up and grabbed Tommy by the throat.
He started crying again. “Please don’t kill me.”
“I’m not going to kill you. But you’re going to do something for me now. For my club.” I squeezed tighter at Tommy. “If you don’t do exactly what I say to do, we will find you and kill you. Because Chief Richards never followed up with his protection, did he?”
“No,” Tommy said in a hoarse voice.
“You never signed papers, did you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He said that would come later.”
“Then what happened?”
“He arrested you, took my stash, and kicked me to the side of the road.”
“That’s good to hear. Because now… you two are going to fuck each other.”
I let Tommy go and walked away.
Knox blocked the door. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to play this hand the right way, brother. Keep him alive. He’s going to be our leverage play. A power play.”
“How so?”
“Call a chapel meeting. I have places to go.”
Knox put a hand to my chest. “What the fuck are you trying to prove? We could take him out right now.”
“Bigger picture, Knox. Part of my plan.”
“Tell me this has nothing to do with the amount of time you’ve been spending with Belle. You were supposed to take care of that too.”
I grinned. “I’m staying out of trouble. But I’m still causing. Trust me on this, Knox. Okay?”
“Here I thought you were going to knock this guy out.”
“I still am…”
I turned and Tommy started to scream. One good right hook took him down and out. He hit like a brick being dropped and Knox rushed to check for a pulse.
“Fuck,” Knox said.
“Keep him alive. I’m going to tell you my plan right now and then I’m leaving. You bring it to the table.”
“What are you trying to do here?”
I didn’t respond to Knox.
But for once in my life… I was trying to do the right thing.
twenty-three
(belle)
THEN
I hated his job. He worked dumb hours and he and Mom always fought over it. Last year there was something really wrong. He left for a little while and had a girlfriend named Maggie. Mom called Maggie a cheap whore, but I didn’t know what that meant until later. And I didn’t understand until later that Mom and Dad had tried to divorce. Because Dad and Maggie got close. Maggie was a cop too. But then Maggie got hurt and moved away. When she left, Dad came back and he and Mom were fine again.
They planted together in the garden.
They made iced tea and drank it on the deck, laughing.
I even heard their bed squeak at night. Mom said she and Dad were tickling each other. I believed them. Until later when I realized what they were actually doing.
It was all good. Really good.
Two years of good stuff happening.
Then Dad had to talk to Mom. I was sent upstairs but I tried to spy. He was talking about a case. Something with a bad guy. A really bad guy. Dad wanted to get the guy. But to do it, Dad would need to work crazy hours. If he pulled this off, he’d get a promotion and that meant more money and better hours.