Chapter 23
Pipe
“Listen up,” Wrecker called. He slammed his gavel down and looked at each of us. “Shut the hell up, Maniac.”
Maniac stroked his beard and nodded at Wrecker. “Sorry, brother.”
Wrecker grunted. “Just shut your mouth, and you won’t have to be sorry. We got some shit to talk about.”
“This about Cora?” Nickel asked.
“Sure as fuck is. The more chicks we get around here, the more I wanna rip my fucking hair out.” Wrecker dropped the gavel on the table and scrubbed his hands down his face. “She’s got a friend.”
“Friend?” Maniac asked. “She can stay in my room,” he laughed.
The guys chuckled, and Wrecker slammed his hand down on the table. “Yuck it up, dumbasses, but we got some shit to discuss. Cora wants her friend to fucking live at the clubhouse. Apparently, she’s gotten into some shit, and she’s struggling to get out of it.”
“What kind of shit?” I asked.
“The kind that can get you a bullet in the back of your head. She was dating a guy from a rival club, they broke up, and now she knows some shit she shouldn’t.”
“What club?” Nickel asked.
“Hell Captains.”
“Them again,” Brinks scoffed. “I’m not the one who’s going to talk to them. They’re half-baked and a bunch of dumbasses.”
“Well, her friend didn’t realize they were a bunch of dumbasses until too late. Now they want her dead because she knows shit only members should know.”
“Well, how the hell does she know shit? Her dumbass boyfriend tell her stuff?” Maniac asked.
Wrecker nodded.
“Power of the pussy,” Slayer laughed. “Bet that guy got a taste, and he opened his mouth too much.”
That was probably exactly what happened. Now the guy was probably off scot-free, and now Cora’s friend was going to have to pay.
“What’s her name?” Slayer asked.
“Wren. I haven’t told Cora yes or no. I had first said that maybe Wren should go stay with her brother, but Cora said there was no way that was going to happen.”
Slayer leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on the table. “You ever stop to think why Cora isn’t a fan of her own brother?”
“Because he’s an asshole. We all know that,” Nickel laughed.
“What do you guys think of Wren staying at the clubhouse until her shit blows over?” Wrecker asked the room.
Brinks cleared his throat. “You really think this is going to blow over? You know if she comes in here, we’re going to be the ones who takes care of her problem for her.”
“That’s why I brought it to the table. Dealing with getting away from the River Valley bullshit and now adding in Cora’s friend means we’re gonna have double the bullshit to deal with.” Wrecker flattened his hands on the table. “Her friend is going to need to have someone on her twenty-four seven. Meaning, one of you is either going to have to volunteer, or I’m gonna make one of you do it.”
Everyone shifted in their chairs and looked at anything but Wrecker.
Wrecker looked at me, and I shook my head. No way in hell was I going to be Wren’s keeper. I had plans of moving back to Weston and spending all of my time in bed with Nikki.
“Jesus,” Maniac cried. “I’ll do it. How hard can it be?”
“Famous last words,” Nickel chuckled. “You ever had a woman for more than a few hours?” he asked.
Maniac flipped him off. “Not interested in that bull shit, man. I plan on keeping this chick in her room. From where I’m sitting, I’ve got a pretty easy job. You fuckers can deal with Jenkins and the Hell Captains.”
“You’re a dumbass, Maniac, but you can find out on your own how screwed you are. She’s friends with Cora, so you have to assume she’s going to be just like her,” Brinks laughed.
“Really?” Maniac asked, suddenly doubting his decision. “I want a redo.”
“Not a fucking chance,” Clash laughed. “Wren is all yours.”
“All right, now that is taken care of, we need to talk about River Valley. Jenkins called and asked us to make a run next week to California.”
“You’re fucking kidding me.”
“Is he insane?”
“Bull fucking shit.”
Nickel stood up and looked down at Wrecker. “This is fucking bullshit. It’s one thing making these runs around here, but now he wants us to cross five states with this shit strapped to the back of our bikes? Fuck him.”
“I’ll be making the run myself. I’m not going to put you guys on the line like that.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s not an issue. What we need to talk about is what we are doing to get the hell away from this shit. You find anything out about who Jenkins made a deal with, Brinks?”
“Oakley Mykel. He is the guy behind The Ultra.”
“What in the fuck is The Ultra?” Maniac asked.
Brinks shook his head and pulled out his phone. “Exactly who I had hoped wasn’t involved in this, but they are.” He swiped a couple of times and flipped his phone around for us to see. “This is Oakley Mykel. A notorious drug dealer that is well known all over the US.”
“What’s he so notorious for?” Slayer asked.
“For getting the job done no matter what. Right now, the unofficial head count of people who got in his way and are no longer around is well over one hundred.”
Wrecker whistled low. “Jesus. I’ve never heard of the guy, but when we’re not into the drug deals and only into the muling, I guess we don’t need to know those details.”
“So how hard is it to get near this guy and get a meeting with him?” I asked.
“From what I’ve gathered from the surface, that is near to impossible. Our best chance of getting near him is to run into him accidentally.”
“What do you mean accidentlly?” Wrecker asked.
“Like a decoy,” Boink chimed in.
“That could work,” Brinks muttered. “I’m not sure who we could use and what they could be, but it’s something to consider.”
“Who does he have around him?” Wrecker asked. “Does he have an ol’ lady?”
Brinks had his nose buried in his phone. “From what I can find, he has a kid, but there doesn’t appear to be a mom or wife in sight.”
“Find out if he’s attached to anyone. The easiest way to get to any guy is through his dick. I might know a chick who’s looking for money that would fit the bill perfectly to try to get close to Oakley”
We all looked at Wrecker, half of us with our jaws dropped. “You know a woman?” Boink asked.
Jesus. We were all thinking the same thing, but leave it to Boink to say it out loud. Wrecker was unlike your typical biker. He didn’t sleep around, and he was rarely ever around anyone who wasn’t part of the club. We all assumed he had something going on the side, but none of us had the balls to ask him.
Wrecker grabbed the gavel and smashed it down on the table. “Find out if he’s with anyone. If not, let me know.” He strolled out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him.
“Well, that was unexpected. I thought the man was a monk,” Slayer chuckled.
“Or gay,” Boink added.
“Now that I never thought,” Nickel laughed.
I rolled my eyes and pushed away from the table. “I’d worry more about Cora’s friend coming and Oakley than who Wrecker has in his bed.”
Maniac scoffed and put his head in his hands. “Why did I volunteer to do this? Maybe you should do it, Nickel. You got Karmen all figured out.”
Nickel shook his head. “Not fucking happening. Karmen is the only chick I signed up for. Wren is all yours, brother.”
“I’d advise not messing around with her though because she’s Cora’s friend, and I don’t know about anyone else, but that chick terrifies me.” Slayer shivered and grimaced. “She’s hot, but man, she has got a mouth on her. Pretty sure the chick would argue with the wall if she didn’t like the paint color.”
“Well, then it’s a good thing Maniac has to deal with her, and you have to help Brinks with the Oakley shit.” I stuck a cigarette in the corner of my mouth and flipped my lighter over in my hand. “I am gonna put the bike up and grab my truck before I head back to Kales Corners.”
“You’re going back? I thought for sure when Karmen told me you two hooked up that you would be back here last week.”
I pushed in my chair and shrugged. “I’m leaving that up to Nikki. I don’t mind the ride back and forth, although with it cooling down and the snow coming soon, it would be nicer to be closer to the clubhouse.” Having to park the bike every winter was a bummer, but with being so far away, I was parking it a bit sooner than normal because a two-way ride every day in forty degree weather tended to chill me to the bone by the time I got to the club or home.
“So you get to leave, and we have to stay here and figure shit out. Not fucking fair,” Slayer complained.
“Yeah, well, when you become VP, you can do that shit. I’ll see you fuckers later. Try not to drive Wrecker crazy.” Lord knows the man had enough shit on his plate right now, he didn’t need anything else distracting him.
I made it to the end of the hallway and ran into Wrecker who was walking out of his room. “You leaving?”
“I was gonna put the bike up and pull out my truck. That’ll take me a couple of hours, and then I’ll be gone. Did you need me to do anything?”
Wrecker shook his head. “Nah, I’m good. I got some shit to take care of outside of the clubhouse today. The guys hopefully shouldn’t blow up the place? while I’m gone.”
I chuckled and ran my fingers through my hair. “Gotta cut ‘em some slack. Brinks will keep them in line for the most part.”
Wrecker’s phone rang, and he shook his head when he saw who was calling. “I gotta take this. Check in tomorrow.” He put the phone to his ear and headed down the hallway. Something was going on with him, but he wasn’t talking.
Shit was going down at the clubhouse, and I wasn’t around to keep up with it. I loved having Nikki all to myself, but I was missing things around here that I shouldn’t be.
I was going to have to talk to Nikki and see where her head was. I know we had just started doing whatever the hell it was we were doing, but we were going to have a serious talk, and I had no idea how Nikki was going to take it.
*