Chapter Nine
Hard knocking on his door woke Mastema. Before he had a chance to crawl out of bed, the door opened and Leroy, one of the prospects, poked his head inside. “Gorgon called an emergency church. You have ten minutes.”
Kayla sat up, glancing around. By the time she realized someone else was in the room, Leroy got an eyeful. He was still ogling her tits as Kayla pulled the sheet over them.
“I heard you,” said Mastema. “Now get the fuck out of here.” As he pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, he mumbled that they needed fucking locks on these damn doors.
“That was rude.” Kayla had pulled her knees up to her chest and still had the sheet draped over her, up to her neck.
“Yeah, but you know how it is here. I didn’t wake you last night because you were sleeping so hard, I figured you needed the rest.”
“That’s okay.”
He kissed her. “Will you wait for me to come back?”
“I wish I could. I’m on laundry duty today.”
“Fuck.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. My fault for not waking you up. Later, then? There’s something I want to tell you.”
“Of course. I’m not going anywhere.” She cut her gaze toward the door. “You think he’ll be back?”
Mastema’s thoughts returned to that horrible moment in the private room when he’d nearly made her relive her worst nightmare. “He better fucking not be.”
“Okay. See you later then.”
He kissed her again, taking his time, even though doing so made his dick rock hard. He’d survive. Inside the church, everyone else was waiting. Mastema took his seat next to Phenex, raising his eyebrows at the sight of Donny and a man he didn’t recognize. Had something happened with Howler or the other Outlaw Dogs?
“Okay,” said Gorgon, standing. “You all know Donny, of course. This other gentleman is his nephew from Brooklyn, Daniel Basile, known as Digger. Donny has some information on the men who tried to cut the fence in back.”
After Gorgon took his seat, Donny leaned forward, clearing his throat. “Thanks, Gorgon. Digger doesn’t get to Ohio very often, but he’s staying with us for a while right now. Last night, we got to talking about some of the people we knew back when his father, my brother, and I were just kids in the old neighborhood. One thing led to another, and I realized I’d heard two names before, but not only in connection with my youth.”
He tented his fingers on the top of the table. “Two men you might know as part of the Outlaw Dogs MC, called Keith Jones and Christopher Buckley, but those are fake names. Their real names are Tom Becklin and Merle Grady. They’re wanted for a string of petty crimes throughout most of the five boroughs.”
No one said a word.
“I don’t know their road names. Don’t care. And I only know their fake names because like I told Vassago after your fence was cut, Vito and I have been talking, trying to work out a solution to this issue. I asked him for a list of names of the Outlaw Dogs MC members, et cetera. I wanted to run background on them, just in case.”
“Did he ask for the same from us?” asked Mastema.
“Wouldn’t matter if he had. I wouldn’t have given it to him.”
Mastema grinned. Only Donny could have pulled that off.
“So I ran this background on all the Outlaw Dogs last week. And when Digger here mentioned Tom and Merle, I recalled finding their names in the background checks, so I went to have another look. I’d bet good money on them being the same two who tried to cut your fence. Their MO is using wire cutters and small weapons ‘cause they’re light and easy to carry around.”
“Are you fucking telling us they had weapons on them?” asked Tannin.
“More than likely. Armed robbery is all over their rap sheets.”
“Can we prove it was them?” asked Gorgon.
“Don’t have to. I’ll have a little chat with Vito about those two, and we’ll make sure the state of New York knows where they are now.”
“That won’t bring more trouble here, will it?”
“I doubt it. Not once word gets out that Vito’s protection doesn’t extend to anyone who is wanted in another state, and who is stupid enough to try shit like that here. I suspect you’ll see a sudden decrease in the Outlaw Dog MC’s membership soon.”
A few of the Brothers laughed, but Mastema didn’t join them. He’d rather know for certain what Tom and Merle had intended that night, but clearly that wasn’t going to happen.
“Regardless, I’ll leave Gene and Dominic here a while longer, just in case anything else happens.” Donny gave a quick nod in Gorgon’s direction. “As long you don’t mind, that is.”
“’Course not. We appreciate it.”
Donny’s men had been enjoying the hospitality of most of the sweetbutts, so they certainly weren’t going to complain about sticking around.
“Sounds like it’s a mess over there,” said Mastema. “The MC, I mean.”
“It is. That’s why me and Vito want to resolve this before the group that followed Mad Dog goes rogue and no longer gives a shit what either of us say.”
“Mad Dog was definitely talking to a boss in Queens,” said Digger. “Name of Roberto di Stefano. You don’t want him or his men coming here to fix this.”
“Mad Dog was talking to him?” asked Vassago. “Shit.”
“Yeah,” said Donny. “Now you see why this is a priority for both me and Vito.”
“I take it you’re acquainted with this di Stefano guy?” Tannin asked Vassago.
“Not personally. Only by reputation.”
“I know him,” said Donny. “And believe me, you don’t want to.”
“If the two who tried to cut the fence are members of the Outlaw Dogs,” said Apollyon, “wouldn’t they have known we have a security system? They certainly didn’t think they could bust in here.”
Mastema was glad someone asked that while Donny was here.
“I’m sure they knew,” said Donny. “But I think that’s the reason they waited until the club was open. They’d been told there were only two people guarding the back area. If they had weapons like I suspect they did, they would have likely shot your two prospects that night.”
John and Mark exchanged an uncomfortable glance.
“Which explains why they didn’t try to break in after hours,” said Phenex. “They knew about the security system. They knew about the prospects guarding the back lot. But they didn’t know about the extra men on the perimeter we have now. They figured all they needed to do was take out the guards in back.”
“Why not simply walk in the front door, then?” asked Phenex. “Flash fake IDs and they’re in?”
“I don’t think they were coming here to watch the dancers,” said Vassago. “It might have been a trial run. To make a quicker way in later, once the club was closed for the night. Or, to scope out what they needed to get past after hours.”
“There are plenty of places to hide in here,” said Digger. “It’s not an uncommon practice. Gain access to a place, leave a way out, aka the hole in the fence, and hide out until everyone goes to bed.”
“Holy fuck,” said Tannin, as the officers each exchanged glances. “We were right about one thing. One of the assholes we kicked out of here, or Tarot, told them details about the set up.”
“But they don’t yet know that Donny’s men are here full time,” said Vassago. “And they don’t know we have extra patrols along the perimeter. If any of them try it again, they’ll have a nasty surprise on their hands.”
“Now that we have names,” said Gorgon, “we’ll watch for them at the door. Won’t stop them from using fake ID, but no known member of the Outlaw Dogs, whether they follow Howler or not, gets in here. Got it?”
Everyone nodded.
“Anything else we need to talk about?”
“One quick thing,” said Mastema, giving Leroy a hard stare. “Knocking on doors to wake others is enough if it’s not a true emergency. No one needs to go poking their heads into rooms and staring at tits they shouldn’t be looking at.”
“Someone in your room has tits no one else should be looking at?” asked Rahab, smirking.
“Yeah.”
“The same tits we see on stage when she dances?”
Everyone laughed, but Mastema ignored it. Rahab was right, after all. Although watching her dance and busting into a bedroom, then deliberately eyeing her, were two entirely different things. But he wasn’t going to argue the point here and now.
“All right then,” said Gorgon. “Let’s respect each other’s privacy and boundaries outside of a real emergency. Anything else?”
No one spoke this time, so Gorgon stood and banged his fist on the table. “We’re done.”
Mastema didn’t wait around to kiss Donny’s ass or meet Digger, the way the other officers and some of the members did. He headed for the laundry room, where he found Kayla and a sweetbutt they called Zipper hard at work. They were laughing about something as they loaded piles of clothes into the machines. Kayla’s face flushed when she spotted him.
“Speak of the devil,” said Zipper, her gaze roaming up and down his body. “I was just talking about you.”
“We just got started,” said Kayla. “I’ll be a while yet.” Her hair was still wet. She must have taken a shower. Mastema’s cock grew hard as memories of fucking her in the shower danced through his head.
“That’s fine,” he said. “I’ll see you later, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“That sounds like fun,” said Zipper, her eyes shining with the promise of group sex. “Need any help?”
Mastema had fucked her as much as anyone here had. They called her Zipper because she liked to pull them down with her teeth. But those days were over for him. He wanted no one now except Kayla.
“Thanks, but no.”
Kayla’s eyes went all soft and tender. “I’ll find you when we’re done.”
“I’ll be waiting.” Damn, it was hard to walk away from her right now. It was really fucking hard.