Chapter 12

SEAN

I propped my elbow up on the table in the meeting room. My thumb rubbed against my forehead as I tried to forget about everything that just happened. The festivities happening outside in Brickstone weren’t enough to distract me from what I didn’t wanna think about.

Dammit…

The Chargers all sat around without saying a word. Cade was the last man in the room. He took his spot at the head of the table and held his hands out.

“So? Is 55th what we’re looking at?”

Kellen took a deep breath and nodded.

“Most likely,” he said. “The accidents occurred in the area. With how reckless some of those guys are driving, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were involved in the races.”

“Then we found what we’re looking for…”

“You guys don’t seem too excited about it,” Tristan said. “What the hell happened out there?”

Kellen and Zak both looked at me. There was no point in hiding it, so I just came out with it.

“I had him,” I said. “I had Leon and Roland and all of the other Demons right where I wanted them.”

“What does that mean?” Tristan asked.

“Sparrow here put himself on the line,” Kellen said. “His ride against the races. If he won, the races would come to an end. If not, well, he’d lose his ride.”

“What?” Cade said.

He looked at me, his eyes narrowed like he wasn’t sure he was hearing things right.

“You raced for pinks?” he said. “Just like that?”

“It was the only way,” I said. “If I won that race, that would’ve been the last one. Leon gave me his word.”

“But you didn’t win the race.”

“I would’ve won if he didn’t cheat—”

“Cheating or not, did you win?”

Cade stood up from his seat and locked his eyes on me. I sighed a deep breath through my nose and looked away from him.

“Shit,” Cade muttered. “We find out what the hell’s going on and one of my guys loses his bike.”

“I can replace that bike,” I said.

“That’s not the point. Kellen, why did you let him do something so reckless?”

Kellen gave him a shrug.

“The new guy was determined,” he said. “I thought he had the race won, too.”

“Those races aren’t legit,” Cade replied. “With what’s on the line, you know those guys aren’t gonna play it straight.”

“What’s done is done. What we gotta figure out now is what our next move is.”

Cade plopped back down into his seat. Everybody at the table looked around at each other but nobody had the answers we were looking for.

“Damn,” Tristan said. “This is depressing. Our man loses his ride and we’re not any closer to putting an end to this.”

“How much more time do we got?” Kellen asked.

“Detective Kennedy doesn’t know what’s up,” Cade said. “He hasn’t sent a patrol to that part of town because nobody has filed a complaint yet. I’ll give Leon one thing. He’s smart. He picked the one spot in the West Bay where nobody is. He wouldn’t have drawn so much attention to himself if those bodies didn’t start showing up.”

“More bodies keep piling up and he’ll be drawing a lot more attention to himself. And the last thing we want is Kennedy having a patrol car on every street.”

“I know, I know. That’s the reason we’re trying to figure this mess out in the first place. We have to let him know that the Chargers can police the West Bay just fine.”

“We seem to be doing a shit job so far,” Tristan said.

Everybody turned and gave him a sideways glance. He put his hands in the air and shrugged.

“I’m just saying,” he said. “I don’t see how we’re gonna put an end to these races short of putting a bullet in Leon’s head.”

“Is that an option?” Zak asked.

“You know it’s not,” Kellen said with a laugh. “We don’t know what kind of association Leon and the Demons have with any of the other crews. We kill one man and we don’t know what kind of war we’ll be starting.”

Cade looked over at me.

“What’s on your mind, Sparrow? Quiet like always. Any ideas?”

“Just one,” I said. “We go back there and do what I just tried to do.”

“Another race to end the races?” Tristan said.

“Zak and Kellen were there. You guys saw how close I was to winning that race.”

“I saw that race,” Kellen said. “And I saw you lose. There’s no telling what will happen if we take that same chance.”

“So, what are you saying? You think you can’t ride against Roland? You saw it for yourself. The guy’s got a ride souped-up so bad the cops would lock him up if they saw it. He doesn’t know how to ride. Any man in this room could beat him.”

“Maybe if this was a straight-up race. But those races aren’t straight up. Leon might keep his word but he’s always got the best interests of his club and his money at stake.”

“Kellen’s right,” Cade added. “I won’t let any man in this room take any kind of risk. Not until we know for sure we can put an end to this.”

“What do we do then?” Zak said.

The meeting room fell silent again. Cade leaned back in his seat and stared up at the ceiling.

“In a few days, Kennedy will come here expecting some answers,” he said. “If I don’t give him the answers he wants, he won’t hesitate to send patrol cars here to start sweeping the streets clean. Or at least try to, anyway.”

He stared at all of us then nodded.

“Keep thinking,” he said. “Sleep on it. We’ll meet back here tomorrow and see if we’ve got any ideas. I’m sure we’ll have something. Meeting adjourned.”

Everybody got up from their seats and started to head back into the bar.

“Sean…”

Cade called out to me.

“…Let me talk to you for a second.”

I took a seat back at the table. A smirk appeared on his lips but it only lasted for a second.

“What happened out there?” he asked.

“You should’ve seen it for yourself. There were more gangs and clubs than I could count. Just a bunch of thugs racing for cash.”

“You think the cops have what it takes to clean that place up?”

“That depends. This Detective Kennedy you keep talking about… He’d have to be really focused to do what you’re saying he’s gonna do. You know the West Bay as well as I do.”

“And I know Uriah as well as anybody. The man’s determined. But if he comes here, the people in this town won’t be safe. The criminals will still be able to hide in the shadows. And those who need help won’t have another alternative to turn to.”

I leaned forward and looked Cade in the eye.

“I joined the Chargers because I wanted to make a difference. The West Bay is my home. It’ll always be my home. Random accidents and dead bodies being found… That ain’t the West Bay I know and love. We’ll put an end to this. We’ll figure it out.”

That smirk reappeared on Cade’s face. He nodded to me and gave me a pat on the shoulder.

“You’ll need another ride in the meantime,” he said. “I’ve got a spare.”

“Thanks… But I don’t plan on doing much riding. Not until we get to the bottom of this.”

 

* * *

 

Despite all of the noise and celebration around me, I felt completely alone in Brickstone. The only thing keeping me company was the whiskey I swirled around in my glass.

“Maybe it’ll make you feel better if you drink it.”

I slowly turned toward Joshua right next to me. That tender smile on his lips, it was strange to think I’d forgotten he was there. I knew I wasn’t in a good mood because even being here with him wasn’t enough to cheer me up.

“I don’t think this will do it,” I said. “I don’t think there’s anything that can change this.”

“I’m sorry,” he sighed.

“You’re sorry? Joshua, you’ve got nothing to be sorry about.”

“But I do. I’m the one who worked on Roland’s bike. I should’ve been clearer about how fast he’d move.”

“You saw for yourself. I had him beat but he cheated.”

“He cheated but that’s not how it works.”

“What are you talking about?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. Joshua shifted his gaze away from me and sighed a deep breath.

“The nitrous doesn’t kick in until after a few seconds. When it does, the bike gets propelled like a rocket.”

“What? If he could do that, why would he cheat?”

“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “Maybe he just wanted to rub it in your face because he already knew he was gonna win.”

“Damn… I lost worse than I thought I did.”

I shook my head and finally gulped down the shot of whiskey. It burned down my throat but it didn’t clear my thoughts enough. It’d take a lot more whiskey to do that.

“Maybe this was a mistake,” I said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Joining the Chargers. Heading to 55th. I let everyone down. I let you down.”

“What? You know you could never let me down—”

“Maybe your sister was right. Maybe I’ll never amount to anything, like she said. I’m always losing.”

“Sean… You don’t mean that.”

I looked into his eyes. He was so kind, so gentle, so innocent… And it hurt me to think that he stuck in the middle of this.

“Roland pays you well, doesn’t he? Maybe the races shouldn’t end. That way you can still make a good living.”

“The money doesn’t matter to me. I care about the West Bay. Knowing that people are getting into those races and dying… Sean, it hurts me more than anything. I’m… I’m not proud of taking Roland’s money. I just…”

“Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.”

I flipped my glass upside down and set it on the counter.

“You should probably just stay away from me tonight,” I said.

“Sean—”

“It’s for the best. Joshua… Please… I… I just need some time to think…”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine… I’ll… I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“…Yeah… Okay…”

Joshua got up from his seat and gave me a kiss on the cheek. That wasn’t enough to break me out of the mood I was in. I kept staring at the empty glass in front of me. From the corner of my eye, I could see Joshua heading toward the exit. As soon as he was gone, I felt my heart sink in my chest.

I sighed a deep breath and flipped my glass back over.

“I need another drink…”