Gunn

The good news was the shop was fine. Just a few busted-out windows on the ground floor. Broken glass littered the showroom floor. The bad news was Benny. Though I owned everything now, we kept Benny’s name on the sign. It was good branding, for one. People knew about Hurley’s all across the country. Plus, it mattered to Benny, and he was one of the best souls I knew.

Benny stood in the middle of the showroom, shoulders bent, tears rolling down his eyes. “Fifty years,” he said. “Not one break-in.”

Sly and I shared a glance. That wasn’t entirely true. Benny’d had his share of thieves over the years. But he was right that no one had ever done damage to the store like this.

“You have a chance to pull the cameras?” I asked him. Benny himself still lived in an apartment out back. I said a quiet prayer that whoever did this wasn’t looking to hurt him or that Benny managed to sleep through the whole thing. If he’d woken and come out here swinging his bat or his shotgun, I had a sinking feeling this day would have taken a much more tragic turn. It was bad enough his nephew Josh was lying in the hospital.

“Didn’t see anything more than what Josh told the cops,” he answered. “Black van. Windows and plates spray painted dark. Josh got the worst of it. The van sped off under its own power. But I’ve already put the word out to every chop-and-repair shop up and down the coast. Anything fitting that description or wearing a chunk of Josh’s chrome knows to get the word to me.”

“Good,” Sly said. He put a consoling arm around Benny’s shoulders. It lifted his spirits right away. Benny was smart enough to know things could be replaced. Josh would be up on his feet in a day or two. Whatever this was, it could have been a lot worse. Just ask Toby Barlow.

Sly, Angel, and I took the next two hours going through the inventory and rewatching the security footage. I’d had everything digitized a couple of years ago but the cops had already downloaded what they needed. As I watched it back, I felt Benny’s rage. This was no burglary attempt. It had been a drive-by. The van busted through the gate at the back of the property, slowed, and took two shots with a semi-automatic weapon to the front windows. Then it sped off, busting the gate at the front of the property. That’s what alerted Josh. He’d tried to get in the van’s way to slow it down but got sideswiped for his trouble.

“Jesus,” Sly said as we watched it for about the fifth time. Finally, I had to tear myself away. Rage turned my vision white. I had to keep my head. We all did.

“This wasn’t just some thugs,” Angel said, giving voice to what we were all thinking. “This wasn’t random. This was a message, Sly.”

We waited until Benny had gone back to his apartment before saying any of it. Of course, he was shrewd enough to know all this too, but he didn’t need to be part of club business.

“You think this is connected with what happened to Toby?” I was more thinking out loud, but somebody had to say it.

“Dammit, I don’t know,” Sly said. “What they did to Toby, carving his face up like that. It just feels different than this. But the timing, man … Just ... fuck.”

I wanted to punch something. I wanted to hurt someone. I ended up pacing the floor, kicking through the broken glass. It had been just this kind of shit that turned bad seven years ago. Only now, it was Josh lying in the hospital instead of Scotty in a pine box. But the vibe felt exactly the same.

“It’s fucking karma, that’s what it is,” I said. Once again, I was thinking out loud. Sly heard me though and came to me.

“Karma for what?”

I turned to him. I was afraid to say it. Almost afraid to feel it. Something good had just happened in my life. Now maybe it was time for me to pay for it.

“You think I don’t feel it too?” Sly said. “Jesus. I’m in the middle of planning a wedding. Everyone always asks Scarlett and me why we waited. Five years I’ve been with her. It’s taken five years for us both to feel like we have solid ground beneath us. If this is karma, Gunn, it’s mine. You’ve already paid enough.”

“Shit, man ... I didn’t mean …” Angel caught my eye over Sly’s shoulder. Fuck. I’d been selfish to think like I had. The weight of Sly’s president patch had to feel like an anvil.

“I don’t believe in karma,” Sly finally said, meeting my eyes. “Not like that. Not anymore. You deserve to be happy. And you need to stop beating yourself up over what happened to Scotty. I’ve told you before, that’s on me, if anyone. Not you.”

“Sly ... man …” He put a hand up.

“But I’m not gonna sugarcoat this shit for you or anyone else. I don’t know what’s coming. I just know it’s bad. We’ve been at peace for almost too long. People get complacent. Our enemies don’t. We can’t ever either. And I would never try to dictate the terms of your personal life, Gunn. I wouldn’t do it for you or anyone. But …”

But. The word hit me like a shotgun blast to the heart. It brought into focus everything I’d been thinking.

“This girl,” Sly continued. “It’s heavy with her, isn’t it?”

I squeezed my eyes shut and exhaled. I didn’t want to say it. I was afraid if I did, I’d tempt the same karma Sly didn’t want to believe in.

“Yeah,” Sly answered for me. “And I’m not asking you to throw her over for the club, Gunn. You know that. I just need you and everyone else at your sharpest and best. And believe me, I know the kind of hypocrite that makes me. It’s not like my own eyes weren’t clouded when Scarlett first came into my life. You of all people know that. I almost brought this club to war because I couldn’t see straight where she was concerned.”

“It worked out,” I said. “You’re meant to be with her. Scarlett’s perfect for you. She’s family now.”

“I know,” he said. He came forward and gripped my shoulder hard. “I just want you to think long and hard about your next move. That girl … Brenna ... she’s special. You don’t have to tell me why. But her family has already paid the heaviest price of all because of this club.”

I knew he was right. I’d known it from the second I stole a kiss from Brenna. She didn’t deserve the heat my club could bring. She’d already been burned by it before. Only now, I knew I might be in way too deep to turn back or protect her from what was to come.