Chapter 24

Tank

I leaned against the door of my pickup in the club’s deserted parking lot and tried not to be pissed that I’d been called in on my first-ever free Thursday night. When I got the call that Lux was closed for the night, I’d initially made plans to crash Nic’s girls’ night, but an hour later I got another call from Reb that he needed to see me and Stitch at Lux. I knew what I had to do. I just hoped Nicole didn’t know I’d chosen the club over her yet again. That woman had a way of making me beg that I both hated and loved—hated because who wanted to beg, not fucking me, and loved because she really made up for it afterward. Jesus.

Before I could get too lost in my dirty memories, Stitch rolled into the lot driving an ancient Mustang GT. I had to smile. It was amazing he’d got the thing to run, let alone was able to drive it all the way across town.

“Looking good, Stitch,” I hollered at him when he got out of his car. “Engine sounds like shit, but you’re looking good.”

Stitch just laughed. “Yeah. New project. I wanted to surprise Jackson when he gets home from college.”

I nodded slowly as I examined the rust, peeling paint, and ripped-up interior. And then there was the engine. “Shit, man. I thought you liked your kid.”

“I do, brother. That’s why—when we’re done—the car will be his.”

I had to laugh outright at that. “It’ll be an awesome thirtieth birthday present.”

“Fuck you, T.” Stitch laughed. “It’s not gonna take us ten years.”

“You might want to hit Axle up for some help, then. If you wanna finish it before you’re too old to see past the steering wheel.”

“Yeah, we’ll see. Do you know why we’re meeting here and not at the clubhouse?”

“No idea.” I shrugged. “I don’t even know what the fuck we’re meeting about. But whatever it is must be big. They closed Lux for the night.”

“Well, let’s go wait inside for those late fuckers. It’s too goddamn cold to sit out here all night.”

I looked around the deserted parking lot with some unease. I’d thought this was a mistake the moment Reb called for a special meeting at the nightclub. There was a huge reason we kept our ownership of Lux off the radar—it helped protect our investment. The kind of clientele we wanted weren’t interested in partying with bikers. Plus keeping Lux off the radar meant our enemies didn’t know it was a place where we were vulnerable. Which is why no club colors were allowed anywhere near the nightclub. Suddenly having forty motorcycles pull up would nudge anyone’s radar.

With my hands in my pockets, I followed Stitch inside the club. He took a seat at the deserted bar, and I snuck around to pour the first round.

“Anything new going on?” Stitch asked as he grabbed his longneck bottle of beer.

“Not that I know about. Same shit, different day. I haven’t heard anything on the Tramps front, and it looks like everything is legit with Bam Bam. I don’t know what the fuck is going on.”

“Yeah, it’s weird, brother. They firebomb two of our buildings in a week and then nothing for over a month? I really thought they’d try something the week of Street Vibrations, but I don’t even remember seeing a Tramp anywhere. It’s like the whole club disappeared or something.”

“They’re just sticking close to home. I think if a whole fucking club got wiped out, we’d’ve heard about it. Sounds to me like they’ve been grounded by their daddy.”

“Wild Riders.”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck.”

I toasted him with my bottle of beer. “Yeah.”

“Son of a bitch. I was really hoping we were dealing with the Tramps.”

“Me, too. And as I far as I know, we haven’t ruled out La famigghia.”

“Fuck, now ain’t that a real shitty Sophie’s Choice deal.”

I blinked. “Who’s Sophie?”

“It’s a movie. From the eighties…Never mind. You know, you might wanna branch out from Road House now and then.”

“Fuck you.” I laughed. “I’m no Patrick Swayze, and last I checked Nicole ain’t a doctor.”

“Pretty close. Brittany said Nic has a master’s degree or some shit.”

“Yeah.” I smiled. “She’s pretty fucking smart.”

“And yet she’s still with you. So maybe not that smart.”

“I don’t know. It only took me a week to lock that shit up. So you tell me, who’s the smart one?”

Stitch laughed and tipped his bottle at me before taking a pull. Plunking his bottle on the bar, he sighed as he stared at the label. “Lord help us if those women ever discover we’re not worthy of them.”

Maybe it was the half bottle of beer I drank—okay, maybe not the beer—but hearing that after twenty years Stitch still didn’t feel worthy of Brittany made me relax. Like maybe this whole relationship thing with a woman like Nicole wasn’t doomed for failure. Maybe Nicole was a better bet than Abby had been. Actually I knew that one for a fact.

Stitch dug his cellphone out of his pocket and scowled at the dark screen. “Where the hell are those guys?”

“I don’t know.” I pulled out my phone and checked my messages. Zero missed texts or calls. “Do you know what the girls had planned for tonight?”

“You thinking of party crashing after the meeting’s over?”

“You’re not?”

“Fuck yeah, I am. Nothing on this earth beats drunk and horny sex. Unless it’s baby-making sex or wedding night sex, but both of those ships have sailed for us, so I gotta make do.”

“Whoa.” I held up my hands to hold off any more info. “We’ve all seen the preshow. I don’t need any more mental pictures.”

Stitch smirked like he’d accomplished his mission. The bastard. “I think the girls are gonna get ready at Jessica’s house, then head over to the Mineshaft.”

“The hell they are.” Reb’s voice rumbled through the mostly deserted club. “Emily isn’t setting foot inside the Shaft without me there.” Reb whipped out his cellphone and started texting.

After a minute both my phone and Stitch’s lit up with texts from our very pissed-off women.

From Nicole: Call off your dogs. We’re still going to the Mineshaft.

“What the hell did you send your woman, Reb?” Stitch snorted as he stared at his phone’s screen. “Britt is pissed.”

“Like I give a fuck?” Reb snorted. “They’re not going to the Shaft without us. Period.”

“Hey, I’m not arguing—I sure as hell don’t want Brittany there without me. But did you ever hear that you get more flies with sugar?”

Reb smirked. “Pretty sure bullshit is the way to go if you’re looking for flies.”

“How about we invite the ladies over here after the meeting?” I asked Reb. Peacekeeping wasn’t my strong suit—I preferred hand-to-hand—but I wanted to get this over with so I could have my own drunk and horny night with Nicole. “Lux is closed for the night. We’d have the place to ourselves. Could be fun.”

Reb nodded slowly. “Could work. But you fuckers gotta pay for your liquor. Just because we own the club doesn’t mean it’s a free-fucking-for-all. Including those two beers you guys pilfered before I got here.”

I mockingly toasted Reb with my beer, then texted Nicole back.

Change of plans. How about you guys come here?

From Nicole: Eeeww. Won’t it be all gassy from the exterminator?

What? No. There’s no gas.

From Nicole: But

Then three dots appeared like she was typing a huge-ass reply. More like she’d typed one word and now was arguing with Emily and Jessica.

From Nicole: Fine, but you guys owe us.

I’m here any time you wanna collect.

From Nicole: See you in thirty.

“Girls are coming over in thirty,” I announced to the room. Not that anyone noticed. The other guys were bent over their phones, texting away.

Except Axle. I don’t know when he came in, but I sent him a nod as he crossed the room to me.

“Whatcha drinking?” I asked.

Axle grabbed a barstool. “Same as you.”

I slid a longneck across to him, then grabbed a pad of paper to start everyone’s tab. “Did you see Stitch’s car out front?”

Axle smirked. “Yeah, I caught a glimpse. Looks like a sweet ride.”

“Maybe in ten years, if Stitch does all the work himself like he’s planning.”

Axle nodded but didn’t say anything about helping Stitch like I’d expected him to. Instead he twisted around on his seat and leaned his back against the bar.

The other guys were still bent over their phones with smirks on their faces. Probably sexting.

I finished jotting down drinks and grabbed a beer for Reb, then walked around the bar and parked next to Axle. “How many more guys are we waiting on?”

“Just Zag. We’re having an officers’ meeting tonight.”

I paused with my beer halfway to my mouth. “I’m not an officer. Neither is Stitch.”

Axle raised his eyebrows and took a pull from his beer.

Whoa, I had no idea that was what tonight was about. I mentally ran through the board members. They’d all showed up to the last meeting we’d had, and nothing was said then. What positions were Stitch and I up for?

Zag cleared the door to Lux and headed straight for the bar. Since Reb was still smirking at his phone, I raised my extra beer in Zag’s direction. He shook his head and ducked behind the bar to pour himself a glass of whiskey instead. I pulled the pad of paper toward me and jotted Zag’s drink down.

“All right. Looks like everyone’s here.” Reb stashed his phone in his pocket as he looked over our crew. “Holy shit, Stitch, can you put your fucking phone away? We’re gonna see the women in a few. You’ve been married longer than Hatch has been alive. What the fuck do you two still have to talk about?”

Stitch grinned as he tapped out another text. “Like I’m telling you horny fuckers anything about my sex life.”

“Brother, we’ve all seen more of your sex life than we ever wanted to.” I groaned. “Can you keep it in your pants until we’re done here? I’m begging you, man!”

Stitch narrowed his eyes at me. I glared right back. He knew we weren’t serious. Fuck, we all aspired to have what he did—now and twenty years from now. His phone dinged and he glanced down at his screen. Biting his lip and giving an exaggerated groan, Stitch made a big production of tapping out one more text before putting his phone away. “As you were…”

“Thanks, Stitch,” Reb said sarcastically before grabbing the extra beer next to me and taking a pull. “Now that we have His Highness’s permission, we can get on with the fucking meeting. We called you guys in because we’re looking to do a bit of restructuring within the club. Right now we have the usual positions—prez, VP, sergeant at arms—but with the way shit has been going down the past year and a half, we want to add a few enforcer positions. That’s where you two come in.”

Enforcer. I kinda liked the sound of that. I looked at Stitch out of the corner of my eye, and he was grinning like he just won the lottery.

“You guys will report to Zag. As Sergeant at Arms, he’s responsible for the security of the club and also oversees the protection and defense of our members and prospects. Orders will come from me or any of the executive board, but Zag will be the one to assign duties. We’ll have a meeting next month and toast you two officially then, but in the meantime, add these to your vests.” Reb passed a couple enforcer badges down the bar. “And wear those with pride, brothers.”

“Awesome,” Stitch murmured as he stared down at his badge.

I couldn’t think of anything to say that didn’t make me sound like a tool, so I just jerked my chin at Reb and palmed the badge. It burned in my hand like a magical talisman from a fantasy movie. It was mine. I couldn’t wait to get it sewn onto my vest.

“The other reason we brought you two down here tonight was to look through some security video footage.” Zag addressed us from behind the bar. “We got word of a lone biker hanging around town asking questions about the club. Since he’s going to dive bars in the area, no one has been able to get a picture. And he hasn’t been in the same bar twice, so we can’t stake him out. What we’ve pieced together from various descriptions Stitch got is that he’s in his fifties, tall, heavyset, with a full beard. He’s given multiple names out and never wears any club colors, so we don’t know if we’re dealing with a Tramp or a Wild Rider.”

Reb nodded. “But given that True Brothers’ buildings are being targeted, there’s a chance he’s been here to have a look around.”

“No one knows we own this club. Isn’t the ownership listed as some trust or some such shit?” I asked.

“It’s more of an open secret than I’d like,” Reb said. “A few members have tried to use their pull at the club with the ladies. The ladies talk to their friends…I wouldn’t be surprised if half of Reno already knew.”

“Any reason why we couldn’t do this during the day?” I asked. “Isn’t it kinda overkill to close the club down for a night to look at some videos?”

Reb shrugged. “Club was already closed for the day for some repairs we had to do. Crews cleared out an hour ago and the building inspector won’t be here until tomorrow, so tonight’s as good as any time.”

“We’ll get on it.” Stitch pushed away from the bar. “How far do you want us to go back?”

“Tape only saves for a month unless it’s flagged, so go as far back as you can. Flag anything out of the ordinary.” Reb smirked as he took another pull of his beer. “We’ll keep your ladies company until you’re done.”

Stitch shot a look at Axle that I couldn’t distinguish. Axle saluted him with his bottle, then turned around to talk to Reb. Not sure of the undercurrents, I led the way to the back office. While Stitch closed the door behind us, I booted up the computer.

“Let’s do this right and fast,” Stitch muttered.

I opened the security footage files and lined up the first few days on the dual screen. “You got somewhere you gotta be?”

“I got a hot wife who wants to fuck me. Where do you think I gotta be?”

“Caught the floor show last month, I don’t need a reminder. I’ll take the left screen of the front door. You take the right screen of the back door—and keep the fucking anal jokes to yourself.”

Stitch closed his mouth with a snap of his teeth, then pulled up a chair and fiddled with the angle of his screen.

This was gonna be a long fucking night.