Chapter 12

ASHTON

It didn’t take very long for Picardo to show up to the garage. The man arrived first even though Jordan was the first man I called.

Jordan. Micah. Rex. Doc. Grant. We all stood silent just outside of the garage. Nobody was moving. Shit, it was hard to tell any of us were breathing.

Picardo paced back and forth slowly in front of us, flanked by a couple of expressionless bodyguards. Everybody knew how serious this was and Grant and I were right at the center of it.

“If I’m understanding this correctly, four masked men appeared at the garage and took my car. No identifiable features. No identifiable clothes. An unmarked van. Is that right?”

I slowly nodded my head.

“Whoever did this obviously knows what they’re doing,” Jordan said.

“Maybe Grant and Ashton here got careless. Maybe these men noticed you two working by yourselves in the garage and saw an easy target to jack.”

“Never happened before,” Grant said. “Motherfuckers in Ivory know better than to fuck with private businesses. And they know even better than to fuck with a Cobra.”

Picardo walked up to Grant and looked him up and down. “Apparently, these men didn’t get the message.” Picardo took a step back, his hands behind his back as he started pacing again. He stayed calm but it was obvious he was holding everything back. A tea kettle bubbling, just moments away from starting to whistle.

I didn’t say anything because I had nothing to add. I didn’t do anything because I couldn’t think of what to do. The guys who took Picardo’s shit might as well have vanished into thin air. But Picardo wasn’t having it.

“Four men,” he said. “A driver makes five. And there’s no telling who put these men up to it initially. Maybe you were in on it.”

“Now hold on just a damn minute!” Jordan took a step forward. “I know Ash. I know Smoke. These guys aren’t stupid enough to pull some shit like this. If they were, they wouldn’t be wearing the patch.”

Jordan and Picardo stared hard at one another. The tension growing between them was thick enough that everybody could feel it. But Picardo did his best to keep his composure, so Jordan didn’t respond.

“You can check the security footage for yourself,” Grant said. “You won’t get much because these men were masked up. No tats or any other features on camera though. They were ready for everything.”

Picardo looked at the ground. “Fingerprints. A strand of hair. Maybe a drop of blood.”

“I slugged one of ‘em but he was wearing a mask.”

“I don’t care. I paid you two to do a job and some criminals are stopping you from completing that job. I didn’t pay a premium just to have my vehicle go missing. I want this garage shut down. My men will look it over. There’s evidence that will incriminate these men and I’ll find it here.”

I looked at Grant. He took a deep breath and sighed through his nose. He and I both knew there was nothing we could do. Picardo was pissed and he had every right to be. Everything had to be put on hold until we figured out what the fuck happened.

“Is there anything else you remember?” Picardo asked.

Grant didn’t say anything. I shook my head.

“If you remember anything, you let me know,” he continued. “Nothing moves until I get my ride back.”

Picardo snapped his fingers and a few more of his security guards stepped out of the new SUV that arrived. All of them began scouring the small garage and giving every last square inch a hard look.

I stepped off to the side with the rest of the MC and watched while Picardo got to work.

“Shit, man… I knew it was a bad idea to get involved with these motherfuckers,” Micah muttered.

“You couldn’t have known some shit like this was gonna happen,” Rex said. “Unless Ash and Smoke are actually in on this.”

“What do you think we look like?” Grant said. “You think we’re stupid enough to let someone pinch Picardo for his shit then call him up right after it happened? Crime of the fucking century…”

“Nah… They weren’t in on in this,” Jordan said. “Whoever did this was gunning for Picardo the entire time. You two are just innocent bystanders in all of this.”

“Any ideas on what we’re supposed to do now?”

“I could ask around,” Doc said. “A big hit like this never stays quiet. Picardo’s probably got a laundry list of people gunning for him. Now it’s just a matter of getting one of them to talk.”

“Shame you boys will be out of commission until this is over,” Rex said.

I kept my eyes locked on the garage while Picardo’s men kept looking it over. “Nah… There isn’t much to find in there. We gave all the details. If Picardo is gonna find his men, it ain’t gonna be in the garage. There’s nothing in there for him.”

“Well, what now?” Rex asked.

“Grant and I will stick around. We’ll answer all of Picardo’s questions if he has any. You four can head back to the clubhouse. Maybe start questioning people and see if you can find out what the fuck happened.”

“That’s a good idea,” Doc said.

Doc got on his ride. Micah and Rex did the same. Jordan was the last man to get on his bike. The president of the Cobras looked at Grant and me, half a smile on his lips. “Just because you boys are in some shit now doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get out of it. Picardo gives you any trouble, you lemme know.”

“I think it’s a little too late for that,” Grant said.

They smirked at one another before Jordan patted him on the arm. They revved their engines and headed down the road.

I turned back to the garage where Picardo was observing his men collect all of the evidence they could. Grant crossed his arms, a combination of anger and frustration on his face.

“How’s your hand?” I asked.

“It’s a little sore. Got that motherfucker good.”

“Not good enough apparently. He got away.”

“It helps that he had a couple of guys pointing their pieces right on my dome.”

“Motherfuckers must’ve been scouting us from the jump. Knew it was only us two.”

“No ride to work on, we should probably head to the clubhouse after Picardo is done with his search. It’s not that late. Maybe you can give your babe a call and see what she’s up to.”

I looked down at my phone and saw it was just past midnight. After everything that went down, nothing sounded more satisfying than spending some time with Rose.

“It’s been a long night,” I sighed. “Too late to bother her.”

“That’s cool. Don’t worry. A cold beer will help you forget about all of this shit.”

Picardo’s men started dusting the place for prints. They were more thorough than fucking Ivory PD.

“I don’t wanna forget about this,” I said. “I can’t. Until Picardo gets his man, our necks are on the fucking line.”

“Then I guess we’d better do everything we can to get Picardo’s ride back to him.”