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I leaned up against the bar and stared at the wall of liquor in front of me. My fingers tapped against the counter to keep me occupied.

“Come on, Needle!”

I ignored the motherfucker calling out for me.

Things were quiet in Ivory. So quiet that it was boring. But after all the shit we’d been through, I figured we all needed the break.

“Just play one hand, Needle! One hand!”

The new patch had grown a set of balls. Where it came from, I didn’t know. I suppose I couldn’t blame him. When you were patched into the Black Reapers, that shit was special. Sullivan reveled in it. If I were in his shoes, I’d have probably done the same.

“You’ve gotta play some time,” Sullivan continued. “You’re gonna need the money eventually.”

I spun around in my seat and looked at him in the distance.

“I’ve got enough money to last me a long time,” I responded. “Just because you took some chump change from me doesn’t mean I’m struggling.”

“You’re gonna have to play me eventually. You can’t duck me forever.”

“I’m not ducking you. I’m ducking that luck of yours. Nobody can beat beginner’s luck. Not even the best of us.”

“Whatever…”

Sullivan blew me off and turned his attention back to his cards.

The rest of the club had occupied themselves by lounging around the clubhouse. With the shipments from the Chinese temporarily put on ice because the feds were in town, we had to make due with our regular jobs.

I didn’t give a shit. The last job we pulled for the Chinese kept my pockets full. It would only be a matter of time until Garnet gave us the green light to start shipping product back up to the big city. For now, the only riding we would be doing would be on the streets of Ivory.

The entire club had joined in on the Poker game. The only man not playing was Garnet. He never played. And with Michelle out of the hospital, he was probably fucking her in his office right now to make up for lost time.

Katrina was busy. I would have come along with her but she told me she wanted to keep it a surprise. I trusted her enough to know that it wasn’t anything too serious.

Not being around her made me realize how miserable my life was before her.

I sighed as I watched the rest of the club continue to play cards. I was counting the seconds until I would find something else to do.

While the clubhouse was partying, laughing and having a good time, I turned right as the entrance to the clubhouse opened up. I didn’t have to look for more than a second to know that something was up.

A woman wearing a black pantsuit stepped into the clubhouse. Her hair was raven black and tied back behind her head. Her skin was pale but freckled a bit from the sun. Some slight wrinkles on her face indicated she was probably somewhere in her 30s.

She had a stern look on her face as she observed the bar. As she dug her hands into her pockets, she pushed her jacket back slightly. She pushed it back enough for me to see the badge along her belt.

Feds…

This bitch was too wound-up to be a regular cop. Nah, professionals like her didn’t work for the Sheriff’s Department.

When she noticed me staring at her, she walked up to me with a fake smile on her face. She glanced down at my kutte for a second.

“Needle,” she said. “You’re one of the Black Reapers.”

“That’s what the patch says,” I said, looking away from her.

“Is every Black Reaper as charming as you?”

“Not a chance.”

“Good. Then you’re the one I need to talk to—”

“If you wanna talk to me, you talk to everybody,” I cut her off. “You got something to say, don’t tell me. I don’t wanna leave any room for interpretation. Tell the entire club.”

She looked me up and down, sizing me up. This bitch knew what she was doing.

“All right,” she said. “Where’s your president?”

“Ghost!” I shouted. “Get Garnet. We got a special guest.”

Ghost was laughing at the table with the rest of the club. When he looked up and saw the woman I was talking to, the smile immediately left his face. The rest of the table stopped talking to.

Ghost hesitated for a moment for a second before getting out of his seat. He walked to the back of the clubhouse to go to the office where Garnet was.

The lady kept looking around the clubhouse, examining it like she was looking for clues or some shit. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t even smile at her when she looked at me. I just stared at her because I knew she wasn’t here to make friends.

A few moments later, Ghost emerged from the back with Garnet right behind him. Garnet was slightly disheveled but straightened up when he saw the woman next to me. Garnet walked up to her.

“Declan Cunningham, I presume,” she said to Garnet.

“That’s me,” Garnet replied.

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jane Lieberman. I’m working with the Ivory Sheriff’s Department on a special task force.”

“Federal agent.”

“Yes, if you want to call me that.”

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, Cunningham. Why don’t you tell me?”

Garnet clenched his jaw as he stared at the woman. The fake smile on her face was gone, replaced with the icy stare that matched what was probably between her legs.

The entire clubhouse fell silent as everybody had their attention on the woman. She seemed to be the only one relaxed when she started to giggle.

“I’m only kidding,” she said. “I was only here to introduce myself.”

“That’s strange,” I said. “Why would a federal agent introduce herself to a motorcycle club?”

“I’ve been introducing myself to all of the clubs in town. All of the clubs that matter anyway. The Winter Cobras, the Black Reapers… I think it’s only fair.”

“Fair?” Garnet said, raising an eyebrow.

“There’s a lot happening in this town. It’s no secret.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Garnet said.

“No… Of course you don’t. I thought I would only give you the courtesy of letting you know that the Sheriff’s Department is dead set on keeping order in Ivory. And they’re not the only ones in town now.”

“We’ve always been on our best behavior.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that. I’m merely trying to get better acquainted with the citizens of this town. I want to let you all know that order will be maintained, one way or another. And I want to let you know that with the task force in Ivory, you’ll always be safe.”

The woman was no longer smiling. She just kept staring right at Garnet with those brown eyes of hers. Garnet stared back at her, just counting the seconds until she was gone.

“Do you want a drink, Lieberman?” I said, breaking the tension in the room.

She turned to me and smiled.

“No, thank you. And please. Call me Jane.”

She didn’t say anything more as she turned around to walk away. Just before she left, she spun around on her heel.

“Oh, just one more thing,” she said. “Before I forget…”

She took a step forward.

“The Sheriff’s Department recently discovered a set of bodies at a facility on the outskirts of town. The Spades, I think they were called.”

None of us said anything.

“If I remember correctly, some other Spades were killed when they attacked one of you out in the woods some time ago. It’s curious that the rest of them would end up dead only a few weeks later. Don’t you think that’s curious?”

Lieberman smiled at all of us when we didn’t give her the answer she wanted.

“Of course not,” she said. “Not that we’ll be looking into it. Some skinheads made some enemies and paid the price for it. I don’t think anybody will miss them.”

She excused herself from the bar. We all waited a few seconds after the door closed.

I looked at Garnet and Ghost.

“She could be trouble,” Ghost said.

“Could be but she won’t be,” Garnet said. “The Chinese won’t give us the green light until Lieberman and her cronies are out of town.”

“It’ll be awhile until we’re moving product again,” I said.

“Maybe ever. We’re not gonna risk transporting drugs with the feds in town. It looks like you’re just gonna have to work at the bar if you want to make any money.”

“I’ve had enough excitement to last me a lifetime. I’ll be just fine not getting involved with the feds.”

I shared a laugh with Garnet before he headed back to his office. Ghost smiled at me and held his hands out.

“You can always play poker with the boys and make some money that way,” he said.

“Money doesn’t matter to me. I’m just fine with what I got. I’ve got everything I need in my life.”

“And you say Sullivan is the lucky one…”

Ghost punched me on the arm then went back to the poker table.

Life in Ivory was gonna be as boring as it could get for a long time. There was no telling how long it would last. That was fine by me.

I had Katrina. My child was on the way. I was ready for whatever life threw at me.