CHARLES

 

I drove through the night and headed West to Ivory. All of my surroundings were nothing but desert and empty roads. Shit didn’t matter to me. I was gonna get to Ivory as soon as I could to get my business settled.

By the time I arrived in town, it was the middle of the afternoon.

From the looks of things, Ivory was as quaint as its surroundings. There were no tall buildings. The streets weren’t crowded with traffic. The people walking up and down the sidewalks weren’t dressed in fancy suits or distracted by their cell phones. It was a nice place to disappear. That’s how I knew it was the perfect spot for a guy like Walsh to get lost in.

Ivory had a chapter. I had all of the spots marked in case I needed to talk to some brothers. It wasn’t long before I rode up to the Black Reapers clubhouse on the edge of town.

I parked my ride and looked up at the bar in front of me.

The Grindhouse.

It didn’t look out of the ordinary from the other spots I’d been to. A couple of bikes parked outside told me I’d found my home for the moment.

When I walked inside of The Grindhouse, there were a couple of patrons sitting at their tables. The scene was quiet outside of casual conversation. A television hanging on the wall was playing some football game but nobody was paying attention to it.

The bartender looked me up and down when I got to the counter. He eyeballed my patch before staring right at me.

“You need some help?” he asked.

“That’s right. I’m here for the president.”

“You’re gonna have to be a little more specific—”

“Don’t bullshit me. You see my patch. I need to talk to him.”

The bartender was a young guy. Sloppy hair. Zits. Pencil-necked. He looked like he was too young to be serving beer, not that I gave a shit either way.

His throat bobbed up and down as he swallowed.

“And I could use a beer, too.”

He nodded to me anxiously. He poured me my drink before disappearing into the backroom of the club. I sipped on my beer as I glanced up at the game on the TV.

“Nothing like a cold beer after a long ride, eh?”

I turned to the side and saw a man walking up to me.

He looked a few years older. Dark hair. Goatee. Tan skin. More important than what he looked like was the leather kutte he wore.

“I’ve been on my ass for a long time,” I said. “Nothing quenches your thirst like a beer.”

I glanced at the patch on his vest then back toward his face. He stared at me with those beady brown eyes of his.

I took another gulp then set the glass down before holding my hand out.

“President?” I asked.

“That’s what the patch says,” the man said. “Garnet. President of the Black Reapers, Ivory Chapter.”

“Charles.”

He shook my hand, continuing to look me up and down like I was some lab specimen. His eyes glanced over my patch.

“Char,” he said. “You’re missing a patch. Nomad, huh?”

“That’s right,” I said with a nod. “You got a problem with that?”

“No problem. But you know there are some guys who pretend to be a Reaper. A lot of pride comes with wearing that patch.”

“I got the patch. I got the ink. I can see why you’d be suspicious though.”

“Where’d you get patched in?”

“Corvus.”

“Corvus?” he exclaimed, his eyes wide. “You’re pretty fucking far from Corvus.”

“Yeah, well, I guess it’s a good thing I went nomad. They’d be asking for my dues right about now.”

I picked my beer up and gulped the rest of it down. I didn’t pay much attention to him, turning to the television. Garnet stared at me like he was trying to figure me out.

I wasn’t worried though because I didn’t have anything to hide.

When I turned back to him, I saw the smirk form on his face. The president of any MC had to be the most diplomatic man in the club. At least that’s how it was in most cases. If Garnet was the man he claimed to be, I knew I could trust him.

“All right, brother,” he said. “Black Reaper. Welcome to Ivory.”

“Thanks. But I don’t really need your clubhouse. I don’t intend on being in town for much longer. As soon as I settle my business, I’m outta here.”

“Fair enough. You got no obligation to me or this club.”

“But I’ve got an obligation to the patch, same as you. And seeing as how we’re both Reapers, I could use a bit of help.”

Garnet nodded and started walking away.

“Right this way,” he said as he motioned for me to follow him.

I walked with him toward a room to the side of the clubhouse. A couple of other men wearing the Black Reapers patches followed him into the room.

I stepped into the chapel after everybody else was seated. Garnet pulled up a chair for me.

“Don’t worry about me,” I said as I put my hand up. “This is your club. I’m just here to talk business.”

“All right,” Garnet said as he turned to the rest of the table. “This here is Charles. Black Reaper. Nomad. He’s here in Ivory on business.”

“Nomad?” one man said. “How do we know he earned that patch?”

I looked at the blond-haired, blue-eyed pretty man. There was always a guy like him in every club. Probably spent all of his time doing his hair and putting on cologne.

I smirked at the man and shrugged.

“Corvus,” I said. “You can call that chapter if you wanna check my credentials—”

“There’s no need for that,” Garnet said as he put his hand up. “Anybody claiming the patch will eventually get what’s coming to them if they’re faking it.”

Garnet turned to me and smirked.

“Don’t mind Needle,” he said. “He’s just testing you.”

I didn’t give a shit either way, standing in my spot with my arms crossed as Garnet went around the table.

“That’s Brawn over there. Enforcer.”

And he looked like it. Brawn looked like he spent too much time in the gym. Either that or he was grown in a fucking lab. The big man was probably the last guy in the club I wanted to deal with.

“Petey.”

Petey looked like he kept to himself all the time. Messy hair. Twig arms. I figured he was a hermit who spent all of his time in front of a computer.

“There’s my man Sully.”

Sully was probably the youngest patch I’d ever seen. His hair was combed so neatly. And there was an innocent look in his eyes. It was hard to believe an upstanding-looking guy like him got patched in.

“And that right there is Ghost. My VP.”

Ghost gave me a nod.

His hair was shaggy. His beard was thick. I suppose it was appropriate that he was the VP with the whole ‘wise-sage’ look he had going on.

The entire club had their eyes on me. Garnet leaned back in his seat.

“All right,” Garnet said. “Let’s talk business.”

I stood at the side of the chapel table with my arms crossed. I looked all of them in the eye to make sure I could trust them. I waited a second before exhaling a deep breath through my nose.

“Okay,” I said. “I’m looking for someone. In a town this small, it shouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“You’d be surprised how easy it is to hide in Ivory,” Ghost replied.

I dug into my pocket and pulled out a photo. I unfolded it and handed it to Garnet.

“Who’s this?” Garnet said.

“Jamie Walsh,” I said.

He passed the photo around the table and I explained it to them as they examined it.

“Early 20s,” I said. “He’s a petty drug-dealer. Did some time for a bunch of misdemeanors but he’s back out on the streets.”

“Should we be worried about this guy?” Sully asked.

“It’s nothing you need to worry about. He’s just some punk I’m looking for.”

“And why are you looking for him?” Needle said. “You a bounty hunter? This punk skip his bail?”

“Any of you recognize him?” I said, ignoring his question.

The entire table looked at the photo but they all shook their heads.

“You got business with him,” Garnet said. “It must be pretty serious if you came all the way to Ivory to settle it. What happened?”

“He killed my cat,” I said.

Everybody had their eyes locked on me. I waited for a response but none of them said anything. A few seconds later, Needle leaned back in his seat and started cackling.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he said. “This is a fucking joke, right?”

“I’m not joking,” I said.

“You came all the way to Ivory to track down some petty criminal because he killed your cat?”

“That’s right.”

Needle kept laughing but he was the only one at the table.

“Whatever,” he said as he rolled his eyes. “What are you planning on doing with this Walsh guy when you find him?”

“I’m gonna kill him.”

That cocky smirk on Needle’s face disappeared. Everybody else kept staring at me.

“Are you guys listening to this?” Needle said as he looked around at the rest of the table. “Am I the only one hearing this? He said he wants to kill a man because he killed his cat—”

“We heard him,” Garnet interrupted him. “We all heard him.”

The club president stood up from his seat and put a hand on my shoulder.

“I just wanna make things clear,” he said. “You need to find Walsh and kill him because he killed your cat.”

“Is that so hard to understand?” I replied.

Garnet nodded softly then squeezed his hand on my shoulder before pulling it away. He took a seat back at the chapel table then picked the photo up. His eyes locked on Walsh, he shook his head.

“Anybody recognize this guy?” Garnet asked.

Nobody at the table said anything. Garnet gave me a shrug.

“I can’t help you,” he said. “I’ve never seen this guy before in my life. But if something comes up, we’ll let you know. Meeting adjourned.”

Garnet snapped his fingers as everybody started to file out of the chapel. I stood there and stared at Garnet, who remained in his seat.

“Have a seat,” he said.

“I’m good, thanks.”

“I insist.”

He clenched his jaw and stared hard at me. I took a seat just as the chapel door closed behind me.

I sat alone with the president of the Black Reapers. Outside of Walsh himself, he was the only man in Ivory who could help me.

“You can tell me the truth now,” he said. “You don’t have to gimme that bullshit story about your cat. Don’t worry. I won’t tell anybody. I got enough secrets of my own.”

“I already told you the truth,” I said bluntly. “He killed my cat. Now I’m gonna kill him.”

Garnet sucked on his teeth, his eyes locked on me.

“All right,” he sighed. “You do what you gotta do.”

“Okay—”

I hopped off my seat but he jumped up from his chair.

“Hold on,” he said. “I need to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

“You do this shit, you’re gonna have cops all over your ass. And since you’re wearing that patch, they’re gonna be all over my ass, too.”

He poked the patch on my chest with his index finger.

“I’m sure you’re used to dealing with the police by now,” I said.

“Cops I can handle. Federal agents are another thing.”

“Feds? What do feds have to do with this?”

“You picked the wrong time to come to Ivory. Feds are in town. And they’re scoping out every MC in Ivory. They’re setting up some special operation. I don’t know what it is but it’s something. That means everybody who’s wearing a patch has a spotlight on them.”

“Yeah, that’s fucking great…”

I muttered to myself and shook my head. Out of all the towns Walsh could skip to, he picked the one place where government agents were.

“He killed your cat,” Garnet said. “He fucked your girl. He stole your lunch money. He looked at you sideways. I don’t give a shit what Walsh did. But when you kill him in Ivory, that’s my business.”

“I’m gonna kill him. You can’t stop me.”

“I know I can’t. I’m just telling you right now. You’re a nomad. You can kill this guy and go on the run. I can’t. You make a mess, I’m the one that has to clean it up. You got that?”

Garnet wasn’t much help to me. But it was clear he wasn’t against me either.

I clenched my jaw and nodded.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “You won’t have shit to worry about. I’ll get this shit done as soon as I can and I’ll be gone. Nobody will even know I was here.”

He grinned at me and put a hand on my shoulder.

“Anything else you need, you let me know,” he said.

Garnet escorted me out of the chapel.

“You look like you could use some rest.”

“I’ll get a hotel room. You don’t have to worry about me.”

He handed me the photo of Walsh and I stuffed it back into my pocket.

“Sorry I couldn’t help you,” Garnet said. “But if this guy is a dealer, your best bet is Finn’s.”

“Finn’s?”

“It’s a bar in the middle of town. That’s where most people go to party. If you don’t find him there, you’ll find someone who knows a dealer. And then you can start your search from there.”

“All right… Finn’s it is.”