The meeting with the devil was enlightening to say the least.
When he told us he was willing to offer up three-mil as a cut of the money he was looking to earn, it told me there was a big player in this game and things were more dangerous than we had initially anticipated. The club wasn’t short of money. With the legal businesses and projects on the side, we all lived very comfortably, well above the average income of a two working parent family. The Brothers all got a cut in profits, more for the senior officers of the club, less for the prospects, but enough that no one struggled.
But three million dollars? That was a shitload of spare cash for someone to just throw around.
“Unlike you, Daniel, I don’t put prices on the heads of the people I care about,” I sneered. “Is that how much your daughter was worth when you sold her? Or did you just take a couple thousand and called it even?”
I watched as his face contorted into an expression of fury and his hands balled into fists on top of the table. “You know nothing of my family,” he ground out tightly as he fought to regain his previously calm composure.
I smirked, knowing I’d hit a nerve. “No, but I’m sure you know a lot about mine and how far I’m willing to go to keep them safe. So, I would suggest you grab your shit and go while I’m still in a good enough mood to let you walk away.” I stepped to the side, my Brothers following suit.
My eyes remained on him, the standoff between us causing the heat and tension in the room to crackle. He sat there for a few moments, the rigidity in his body visibly releasing. He brushed off the thighs of his suit pants and stood, his silent bodyguard following his every movement.
“I’m disappointed that things have gone this way, Mr. Cranshaw. I thought you would be more reasonable than this. Smarter, in fact.” Aiken opened the door and they both stepped through, he turned back to look at me over his shoulder. “I apologize for having to drag you away, I hope you manage to return home soon and your night isn’t dragged out too long.” With that he walked off, his words striking me in the gut. I knew he wasn’t done yet.
“We letting him go, just like that?” Wreck asked, cracking his knuckles.
“This wasn’t the place or time for this to be dealt with using force. We didn’t know how many men he had out there or what they were willing to do to protect their boss. I wasn’t going to risk Missy or her girls finding out.” The boys all nodded, accepting my explanation without question. “Do the rounds of the place, make sure they’re all out. We’ll keep an eye out for a bit before we head back.”
Rifle stayed beside me as the others went to make a few rounds of Glow. “He’s gonna play dirty, Prez. Men will do all types of crazy shit when there’s that much money at risk.”
“I know.” I nodded. “Get Tally on the phone and tell him to keep a close eye on Harm.”
“Sure.”
With Glow secure, we were ready to head out half an hour later. It was around 3:00 a.m. and I was itching to get home to my girl even though Tally had texted to say he had her locked down and safe. I trusted him to do whatever was necessary to keep her that way.
Just as we all filed out of the club’s entrance the flash of red and blues caused me to cover my eyes. I swore under my breath. “Fucking cunt.”
My Brothers all groaned and I felt them brush against my back as they rounded to stand beside me. We knew there was no reason for the cops to be here unless someone had called them. We also knew exactly who that would have been.
The club had contacts within the police force, but they were purely for information purposes, not for protection from the law. Fortunately, most of them were all right guys and generally didn’t go out of their way to hunt us down. We did a lot of positive work here and in neighboring towns, from charity runs to free security at high profile events.
We stood under the lights of the entrance as four police officers made their way toward us, hands on their weapons. “Evening guys, sorry to disturb your night, but we got an anon call to say there were some rough looking guys fitting your description carrying weapons. We need to check you all.”
My heart began to race. Fuck. My piece was tucked into the waistband of my jeans. Alabama law allowed people to openly carry a handgun unless you’d been convicted of a violent crime, something I had done time for after freshly being patched into the club. I didn’t usually carry a gun on me unless I felt it was necessary, knowing how much trouble I could get in by having one. But as soon as I’d heard the asshole’s name, I automatically picked it up, anger fuelling me.
I wanted to hang my head, knowing that I was about to be cuffed and headed for an extended stay in the big house, but I didn’t. I thrust my chin up and held my arms out. “Have at it.”
The officers went down the line, pulling a gun from each of my Brothers. Most of us had convictions for one thing or another from drugs to traffic violations. As far as I knew I was the only one present who had done time for beating the crap outta some guy and almost killing him. The officers took the weapons and my Brothers’ names. They went back to their cars to check their computers, making sure their rap sheets were clean. Even though most of the officers already knew us by first name and who should or shouldn’t have something on them.
“Kit,” the officer said as he approached me.
“Go ahead.”
He patted me down, starting at the bottom of each leg and working his way up. I held my breath as he reached my waist, feeling around the back of my jeans and the front. When he bypassed it and moved his hands, patting further up my body, I tried to hide my surprise.
My gun wasn’t fucking there. How had I not noticed that it was missing? I’d checked it just moments before we’d walked out the door ready to ride home, making sure the safety was on and it was secure before I got on my bike.
“You’re good.” Even I didn’t miss the way he said the phrase, sounding more like a question than a statement. He was just as surprised as I was.
Aiken stood to my side, the last in the line. My eyes shot up as the kid pulled a gun from the small of his back – my fucking gun and handed it to the officer. “May as well just give you this.”
The officer’s eyes flicked to me, but I didn’t react.
“This gun registered to you?”
Aiken shook his head. “No, sir.”
“You know it’s illegal to carry a gun that isn’t registered to you?”
“Yes, sir.”
He handed the weapon off to another police officer. “You’re gonna have to come down to the station, so we can write this up.”
“Sure.” He followed the policeman to his vehicle.
“Aiken!” he turned to look over his shoulder at me with a grin. I couldn’t help but smile. “Make sure you try get my pop’s gun back, or next time he takes you down to the range to show you how to shoot, you’re gonna be the target.” I tried to give him all the info he would need to make things sound legit. They would ask him who the gun was registered to, and if he couldn’t tell them they might try to do him for theft.
“Sure, Prez.”
“We’ll catch you there, Brother.”
He lifted his chin and climbed in the back of the police car.
The guys got their guns back, all clear, and we watched the cop cars file out of the small lot.
“Why was the kid carrying a gun?” Loose asked, knowing that prospects weren’t allowed to carry weapons unless told specifically to do so by me.
“It’s mine! He fucking slipped it from the back of my pants when we filed out of the place and saw the red and blues. Didn’t even fucking feel it. I was sweating bullets when they came to pat me down.”
The boys all laughed. “Kid has a quick mind and even quicker hands.” Rifle laughed.
“Yeah, to lift that without you noticing. That was fucking ballsy,” Loose commented.
“Lift…I like it. Think he just earned his road name and saved my ass from a long haul in a cell all at once.” I knew Aiken was quick, but not many would have put two and two together and thought that fast.
“Lift it is.” Rifle nodded, the others all grunted in agreement. “Well, let’s go support our boy. Hopefully with a first offense, he’ll get out of it with a fine.”