“…okay, Carla, everybody is here. Go ahead and tell us your plan.”
Carla looked around the table and had to fight down the bout of nerves as they all turned to her. Well, everyone except Honey who hadn’t stopped staring at Elle since she’d walked into the clubhouse a half hour before, but everyone else’s attention was riveted on her. It made her shift uncomfortably in her seat until Joel reached surreptitiously under the table to grab her hand and twine his fingers with hers.
She cleared her throat and Joel gave her hand an encouraging squeeze and she finally found the courage to speak.
“Alright, so, as Joel already told you, Maurice is as dirty as they come. We think he’s playing both sides, but we need the proof to bring him down. That’s where you guys come in.” Carla nodded across the table first at Sparkplug, who was switching between listening to her and glaring at Joel. He still believed that Joel was at fault for Hot Wheels’s arrest. She still wasn’t sure what he had to say to get the man there, especially with the obvious animosity he felt, but she was just glad he was.
Then, Carla glanced over at Elle. Her friend was having her own problems focusing as Honey was standing right behind her chair, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes never leaving her.
Carla sighed. At least Viper wasn’t there. She was sure his ability to always do the wrong thing at the wrong time wouldn’t help matters at all.
“Well, go ahead, Carla. Tell us the rest. Don’t leave us in suspense,” Joel said softly, nudging her with an elbow and Honey finally drew his attention away from Elle, glancing at her with a soft smile and an arched brow at their mostly concealed hands.
“Yes, please,” he drawled, “don’t leave us in suspense.”
Carla sighed in his direction but finally continued to lay out her plan, “Like I was saying, we need proof before we can do anything else. I recently learned….I learned that Maurice has been using my phone to track me. He installed a hidden app to access my phone’s GPS.”
“Well, that’s…pretty fucked up, actually,” Honey said, his expression surprised and concerned. Elle looked at him oddly as she watched the emotions flitter across his face, but Joel prompted her to go on.
“Right, so the idea is that you, Sparkplug, will take my phone and ride towards the Utah border. You know that route better than anyone, so if you need to make a quick getaway, you can.”
“Yeah, no problem,” the tattooed biker finally said, “but how is all that going to help you get proof?”
“While you are driving with the phone on and the GPS tracking, Elle is going to make a call to Maurice–” Honey growled low and menacing and took a protective step towards Elle, interrupting Carla’s words for a moment.
“Sorry,” he said quickly, as if he hadn’t even been aware of his reaction at first and a bright blush spread across Elle’s face.
“I’m– I’m still not sure about this, Carla, I mean…” Elle shrugged helplessly but Carla gave her a firm look.
“Listen Elle, you were the one who discovered something weird going on in the first place, you were the one who made the connection.”
“Well, it was both of us, really,” she tried to defer, but Carla wouldn’t let her.
“No, Elle. It’s because of you that we even have a shot at this at all, that we even have a plan to begin with. But don’t worry, you won’t be in any danger,” She added, more for Honey’s benefit than Elle’s. “You’ll make the call to Maurice once Sparkplug is on his way towards the border and you will tell him that I’m missing.”
Elle nodded, still looking unsure, but Carla knew that her friend would never let her down, even if she was wary of working with criminals.
“Okay, but still, how is that getting you the evidence you need?” Sparkplug spoke up again, his brows furrowed as he weighed her words.
She took a deep breath, “This is where it gets a little hairy. While Maurice is gone, following after you, who he thinks is me trying to escape, Joel and I will break into Maurice’s office and search for any incriminating evidence.”
“And how do you know this is going to work?” Sparkplug shot out as he shoved the chair back and rose to his feet, his entire body screaming confrontation. “How do you know there will be any evidence there at all?”
Carla opened her mouth to speak, but Joel was already there, standing himself and leaning across the table until his face was close to Sparkplug’s. The angry tension between the two men crackled like electricity in the air of the otherwise empty clubhouse and Carla wondered briefly if she should speak up, but then Joel was opening his mouth.
“Listen, man, I know you’re pissed at me–”
“You’re fucking right I’m pissed,” Sparkplug shot back angrily, his hands clenching into fists where he had them resting on top of the worn wooden table. “You let her get arrested. You were supposed to be their leader. You were supposed to look out for them, for her! And she’s been rotting in jail as you, what, fuck your little girlfriend here and send the rest of us on a wild goose chase.”
Carla could see the intent grow in Joel’s silver grey eyes, in the way his entire body tensed at Sparkplug’s words, but to her surprise, suddenly Elle was there, standing between them and snapping in front of Sparkplug’s face to draw his attention down to her. It seemed odd, that with her petite frame and short stature she could halt the violence brewing like a storm between the two men, but he instantly looked contrite.
“Look, I don’t know what weird, testosterone, chest-beating, penis-measuring thing is going on here,” Elle started and Honey snorted softly at her words. She cast him an arch look and he held up his hands in a mock gesture of innocence before she continued. “But it’s a good plan. We know that Maurice is dirty. And if we can find evidence against him, it might just be enough to clear Joel and Hot Wheels. Do you have a better plan, Mr. Muscles?”
Elle stared him down, all five feet nothing of her and Carla watched in shock as Sparkplug slowly deflated, turning back towards her with an apologetic shrug. Carla had to bite back a smile, and Honey wasn’t even trying to hide his.
“Did you bring the stuff I asked for?” Carla asked, the question directed at Elle and her friend nodded primly before picking a tote bag incongruously crocheted with flowers and birds from the floor next to her chair and handed it across the table to her.
Carla took it with a nod of thanks, dug out the phone and extended it to Sparkplug. He looked at it like she was holding a snake in her hand and she hastened to explain.
“It’s turned off right now.” When he still didn’t take it, she set it on the table and slid it across to him, “Maurice won’t be able to track it until it’s powered on, and hopefully he won’t think to check until after Elle calls him.”
Sparkplug nodded, stowing the device carefully in the inner pocket of his patch-covered leather jacket before walking towards the door. Halfway there he stopped, casting a serious glance of his shoulder.
“I’m only doing this for Hot Wheels, you know? To help her.”
Joel slowly nodded at the other man’s words, looking just as serious, “Yeah, I know.” With that, Sparkplug turned and walked out of the clubhouse and just like that the plan was in motion. There was no going back now.
“Okay Elle. Now you need to wait until Sparkplug is at least forty or fifty miles away and for me and Joel to get into position so you need to wait about forty-five minutes before you make the call.”
“Okay, well, what am I supposed to do until then?” Elle asked, her voice suddenly horrified as it dawned on her. Carla nodded slowly.
“You’ll have to wait here, with Honey. No one else will be in the clubhouse so you’ll be safe.”
“Safe? Alone with him? I don’t think so,” Elle said, her voice breathy and her cheeks flaming, but she refused to look behind her at the smirking Honey. Carla felt a moment of concern for her friend but she knew deep down, underneath the flirting and the charm, lay the heart of a good man.
“You won’t let anything happen to her?” Carla asked him, meeting his warm chocolate gaze and his expression suddenly became serious as he straightened, dropping his arms to either side as he faced her, open, exposed, and revealing more to her than she thought he meant to.
“She’ll be safe, I promise. I’ll protect her with my life,” the gleam was suddenly back in his eyes, and the regular mischievous Honey was back, “Don’t worry, Carla, nothing will happen to her that she doesn’t ask for.”
Elle drew in a harsh breath at his words and Carla hastened to speak before she could unleash the tirade that was building behind her friend’s eyes.
“Please, just, try and get through the next hour without killing each other, all right? This is too important.” Carla gave them both a scolding look until she got reluctant nods of acceptance. Only then did she pull Elle a little bit away.
“Did you bring me the other stuff that I asked for?” Carla asked quietly and Elle nodded again towards the bag.
“Yeah, it’s all there. All the clothes and everything, but…” She drew a deep breath, looking at her eye to eye, “are you sure about this? I mean, we always knew that Maurice was deranged, but this is…this is whole other level stuff.” Elle shook her head again, “I’m just worried about you, that’s all. What if he comes back? The man’s a creep, and a drug smuggler. Who knows what he’ll do if he catches you.”
“He’s not going to catch me, Elle. You have to convince him that I’m missing. You can do that, right?”
“Of course, but–”
“Listen, I know you won’t let me down. And besides, I’ll have Joel there with me. If anyone can keep me safe, he can. But if it makes you feel better, Joel got me a temporary phone. Here is the number,” Carla grabbed a bar napkin and scribbled the new number on it, handing it to her and Elle clenched it tight in her fist.
“Just promise me you’ll be careful, alright?” Elle asked with a trembling smile and Carla returned it with a quick, sidelong glance towards Honey.
“You just promise me you won’t kill Honey while we’re gone.”
That drew a laugh from Elle and she covered her mouth with a delicate hand.
“That might be asking too much,” she started, sighing at Carla’s look of reproof, “Alright, alright. I promise not to do any lasting damage.”
Carla stared at her for a moment before letting out a soft chuckle herself.
“That’s the best I’m going to get out of you, isn’t it? Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you two–”
“Nothing. Nothing’s going on.” Elle hastily interrupted before throwing her arms around Carla in a short but fierce hug.
“Be careful,” she whispered before pulling away. Carla nodded once before grabbing the bag that Elle had brought and sharing one last look with everyone before taking a deep breath.
“Okay, me and Joel are going to get ready, and then it’s show time.” Joel gave her an encouraging smile but even she didn’t really believe it. Then they were turning away, walking towards the back where Joel’s apartment was and leaving Honey and Elle staring at each other as she pushed open the door to the hallway and disappeared behind it.