Chapter 23

Heart

“You get fucked or somethin’, Heart?” Tongue throws at me as I take my seat at the table, my legs protesting at the workout they’d just got under the careful scrutiny of Peg.

Tongue’s caught me unawares, and I stutter my answer. “No, what? What the fuck? Why the fuck you think that?”

Marvel’s watching me carefully, his face splitting into a grin. “You look more relaxed. You’ve got rid of your pent-up tension some way or the other.”

“And,” Blade sitting opposite points his knife my way, “you have picked up an ol’ lady.”

“For fuck’s sake.” I round on them. “I’ve been workin’ out. Fuck, yer worse than kids in a playground.”

Drummer enters and takes his seat at the top of the table. Thank fuck for that. He’ll shut it down now. But he too is given me an intense scrutiny. “Everything workin’ out with your ol’ lady?”

Inhaling sharply, I toss a glare at them all. But for once I can’t respond I haven’t got an old lady. I actually have. Just not the one I want. And what Marc and I did last night? I’d woken in the small hours and spent the rest of the night convincing myself there wasn’t any betrayal involved. We were two people coming together just for one night, two horny fuckers who both had the same need. It wasn’t like anything I shared with Crystal, no loving touches, no kisses, no closeness involved. But it was fun, I can’t deny that. And then hate that a smile’s come to my lips.

Quickly I force the corners back down and respond to the prez with a gruff, “She’s behavin’ herself.”

As suggestions come my way about exactly what form her good behaviour might have taken, I swear under my breath and straighten my shoulders. They might mock all they want, but I know the truth.

“Hope you gloved up. Don’t want no cop-biker spawn.” Joker’s comment is louder than the rest.

Now wouldn’t that be a fuck up. And I didn’t, of course. She’d told me she was covered so she couldn’t get caught. I trusted her. And only shortly after finished explaining why it would take a long time before she earned my trust. She wouldn’t have lied, would she? Nah, she’s got as much to lose as me.

A loud bang of the gavel gets my attention.

“Right, everyone shut up. Heart’s got his work cut out watchin’ his ol’ lady. If we want the cop out of our hair, we need to sort a few things out.”

“Like who’s after her, and whether it’s got anything to do with us.” Wraith nods at the prez.

“Exactly.” Prez raises his chin at the VP. “Right now we’ve got a whole lot of coincidences and nothing to connect them. Heart, you up for recordin’ this shit?”

“Sure am, Prez.” I flex my fingers, well, nine of them anyway, demonstrating they’re all healed up. It feels good to step into my secretary role again.

Drummer tucks at his beard. “Right, put the Herreras at the top of that list.”

“My name should go there, Prez. Someone copied my explosives to blow up the cop’s house.”

“Yeah, Slick. And add Jayden’s. That might be a dead end, and I fuckin’ hope it’s just that, but we need to be careful and not dismiss it.”

“Should I note down the change at the top of the Herreras?”

“Yeah, Heart. Right now we don’t have a fuckin’ clue how that will affect us.”

Lady taps the table. “What about the names of those cops Marcia’s knocked heads with? Her sergeant and partner.”

Drummer scrunches up his face. “Reynolds, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” I drop in, “and Garza.”

“Found anything on them, Mouse?”

“Interestingly, both are squeaky clean. Nothing to find in their records.” He looks from his laptop to the prez. “If they’ve got someone on their side who can trace Heart’s ol’lady’s activities, it’s more than possible anything they don’t want found has been removed.”

So that’s a red herring.

“We ever come across them? Any of you assholes been picked up or questioned by them?”

Joker raises his hand. “I was pulled over when I first patched over, for havin’ Nevada plates. I think it was Garza who questioned me. If it was, he’s got a hard-on for bikers, I can tell you that. All but took me to the border and pointed me back home.”

“Why did he pull you over?”

“He didn’t, but he talked to me once they’d taken me in. I had a Tucson patch and a bike from out of the area. They tried to pin a theft charge on me. Course my documents sorted it out, but they held onto me as long as they could. Fuckin’ pigs.”

And a murmured grumbling around the table shows that everyone here agrees with his views.

“Let’s get back to the Herreras. I didn’t like that we had to come up against them a few months back, it put us on their radar. Before Slick’s ol’ lady’s problem, we kept to our side of the street and they kept to theirs.”

Slick looks down. He’ll be feeling sorry he was the reason we got put in their sights, but none of us care. All of us are prepared to lay our lives down for our brothers. And his woman’s sister was saved, but not before she’d been groomed and molested—or so I’d been told. But from what I’ve seen of her, she’s on her way back. My eyes go to Paladin, and I see him clenching his fists. He’s certainly got a soft spot for young Jayden. Any mention of the girl and he’s ready to leap to her defence.

“What happened that night when you met them, Prez?” I’d been in a coma at the time. Oh, I’ve heard the story about the Satan’s Devils being set up as hit men to take the rogue elements of the family out, the men who’d been leading a child grooming ring, the same one that Jayden had been caught up in. Archer’s death had been swept up in that. But I can’t remember hearing the full version, or what happened when Prez, Peg, and Slick met Leonardo Herrera and his lieutenants.

“Not much to tell, Heart. We met with them, they backed us into a corner and offered us a deal.”

“Didn’t trust them,” Peg adds, “that’s why we got the women out of here and sent them to Vegas, just in case it all came back down on the club.”

“Herrera gave me no sign they’d come after us. In fact, what we’d done had got the family out of the sights of the cartel. In his view we did them a favour.”

Slick raises his head and lifts his chin toward me. “Cartel deals in skin, Herrera’s arrangement with them is that they don’t.”

“But that was Leonardo and his lieutenants. Now there’s a change at the top, things might be different.” Prez takes over again.

Wraith taps his hand against his mouth. “What if the new head wants to start up the trade for themselves? Fuck ton of money ridin’ on that.”

“They’d be puttin’ themselves up against the cartel.” Peg’s brow creases. “And we need to steer well clear. Haven’t the manpower to put us in the middle.”

We throw ideas around for a while, Hyde’s been called in twice to refresh our beers. After a while, Road says he’s got to get back to the strip club and get it ready for opening, so Drummer sums up.

“We keep coming back to the Herreras. Archer was family to them. If it’s simply that they’re putting pressure on the cops to keep his record clean, I think you should persuade your ol’lady, Heart, to leave it at that. The man’s dead. We know what happened to him.” He nods at Slick who grins, having shot off the man’s dick. “Don’t much care whether they think he’s a hero or not. He’s not in our sights anymore.”

“What about my sweet mother-in-law?”

There’s sneers around the table. “Wouldn’t use that description for the bitch.”

I give an evil grin. “Neither would I.”

“We were waitin’ to see what you wanted to do with her, Heart. Seems that time might have come.”

I’m thinking aloud. “As long as I’m livin’ she ain’t got no rights to custody. And now Archer’s gone, no one to help her.”

“She’s still got to clear her debts.” Prez’s hands link behind the back of his head. “If you die, Heart, or she can prove you unsuitable, she’s next in line to look after the kid if she can clean herself up and convince a judge. That’s what your woman was worried about when we were still wonderin’ whether you’d make it. Marcia wanted to get the kid into foster care to protect her, but obviously we weren’t going to allow that.”

“Yeah, she seemed to think bikers weren’t good enough family. She tried to take her away, didn’t she, Prez?” Wraith’s eyes crease as he remembers.

The words register, but for now wash over me. I’m still thinking how to ensure the best provision is made for my daughter.

Mouse nudges me. “If the cops are involved you could be picked up and jailed on a trumped-up charge. That would allow Clyde to step straight in.”

Having survived two attempts to kill me, I’d really rather not think there would be a third. But with my luck, it’s a possibility, as well as a very valid observation by Mouse. I lift my chin at the prez. “I’ll see the lawyer, make a new will. Anything happens to me, I’ll see you and Sam get custody.”

“Sam.” Drummer corrects. “Put it in Sam’s name. She’s an upstandin’ citizen.” There are a few smiles. Yeah. When she’s not being the old lady of the president of an outlaw motorcycle club.

“Hate to say this, Heart, but might be time to go visit with Susie Clyde.”

My mouth drops open. “Prez, the hatred between us is mutual. Fuck, she even hated her own daughter.”

“If you’re that afraid of the bitch, take someone with you.” Now people laugh, but it’s no joke. She’s a foul woman.

Shooter raises his hand. “I’ll come with. Reckon I can hold my own with a drugged-up bitch.”

All emotion is suddenly wiped off Drummer’s face. “If you get one whiff that she’s not keepin’ straight, get an inklin’ she’s still got the hots for your kid, we’ll take her out. And I don’t think the world will be a worse place for it.”

I jerk my head. He’s completely right.

“Okay. Let’s wrap this up. Mouse. Can you get the contact information for the son who’s taken over from Leonardo Herrera? Not committin’ right now, but I may need to go have a chat. And everyone, keep thinkin’. And you, Heart. Talk to Marcia and see if you can find out what else she knows, any little thing that doesn’t add up. We’ll meet again when we’ve got something to discuss.”

When I stand I do so carefully, my legs have become stiff after sitting for so long. I exit the room and see Jekyll standing in the entrance to the kitchen, looking bored out of his head. That must mean Marc’s in there along with the other women, and I hope they’re not giving her a hard time. I hadn’t realised I’d be leaving her to have such a long meeting. But as I limp across to find her, laughter soon reaches my ears.

“So I said to him, if I wasn’t so blimming knackered I’d have dropped my knickers there and then. The pillock just looked at me as if I’d lost the plot. I’d just have soon settled for a cup of char. And that’s how it all went pear shaped.”

As I enter, I see Marc with her mouth open, and the rest of them doubled up.

“Would someone please translate?”

Sandy slaps her on the back. “Stay around and you’ll start to pick up how to speak her language. Then you won’t look so gobsmacked.”

“Sandy!” Sophie yells in delight. “You’re learning.”

Fuck me, these women. And I get a strange feeling when I see Marc’s settling right in. And then a deeper emotion as Amy, who hasn’t noticed me yet, is running over to her, and Marc sweeping her up into her arms. “Can we go swimming tomorrow?”

As Marc goes to answer, she catches my eye. “If it’s okay with your dad.”

“Daddddy!” And now I’m subjected to the full-on force of my daughter.

I lean down to cuddle her close. “Swimming, eh?”

“Marcia’s teaching me how to swim.”

“Is she now.”

Marc looks slightly sheepish, and I’m not too certain what I think about her getting so close to my kid. She’s only got a temporary position in my life. Then I think back on what I hadn’t paid much attention to at the meeting. Marc had wanted Amy out of the club and out of the biker life. Well that’s not going to happen, not even over my dead body.

But she can’t want to do me wrong, can she?

As my head’s spinning with so many problems we need to sort out, I park that extra one for now.