Chapter Twenty-Seven
Clint
We dropped my bike at a safe house in Tahoe. I slid into the driver’s seat and Jo took the passenger. I liked the Lambo, but I was glad to be rid of her. She made us a goddamn target—the only bright yellow Italian sports car on Reno highways. I was relieved when I pulled into the driveway of the delivery location. It was the house of our buyer, George. Living in a gated community on the south side of town, George obviously had some cash and I was looking forward to getting paid.
“She’s a beauty,” George said as we shook hands, but then he frowned. “What happened with the fenders? That’s a Strosek, isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir.” I walked around the side of the car. “If you look here, you can see a bit of the original fender. We had to cover up the rounded edges so the cops wouldn’t pull us over. It’s just a water-based adhesive—pour water on it and the foam will just pop right off in one piece.”
George gave her a full examination. He took in the Nevada plates and the new fenders in the front. “She’s street legal then?”
“She will be, once you send in the registration for appropriate tags. She’ll pass smog on the first try, we made sure of that.” I nodded. I knew my shit was clean—this car was gonna be perfect.
“All right, wait here and I’ll get the cash.” George said as he headed inside.
Jo and I stood in his driveway, next to the yellow sports car. It was over. The transaction was almost complete. I couldn’t believe it was that easy.
“So, everything is going well?” she asked. She’d been standing off to the side, letting George and I conduct business.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Thanks for your help. We’re on the home stretch. Almost done.”
As soon as I said that, I wanted to take the words back. What would happen after we were done? Things were so tense between Jo and me, but one thing was clear: delivering this car was the beginning of the end. She would get a job, then she’d move out and find her own place. I’d never see her again. But that was for the best, because then I would never hurt her.
“I’ve got the cash,” George said from behind us. He was holding out an envelope that was stuffed. I took a quick peek inside.
“Thanks,” I said, holding it up. “You’ll be in touch about the next vehicle?”
“I’ll give you guys a call. I have to admit, this has been pretty seamless. The Silver Souls took it pretty hard when I told them I wasn’t going to have them do it. They just didn’t have the contacts available. What did you guys do to appease them?”
Things started to click into place. George had only come to us when it became clear the Souls couldn’t produce.
Fucking shit. This might make it even harder to make nice with those guys. I needed them on our side to make Volk’s plan successful. Of course, Volk’s plan could take a year to implement. I had to start small, and it sounded like there was no way we’d get out of Reno without at least talking to the Souls.
“We go way back,” I smiled. The Souls had hated the Storm Kings from a long time ago and now that hatred was reserved for the Demon Horde. “The two presidents know each other. It won’t affect the supply chain at all.”
“Good.” George offered a handshake. “Then I think we’re done. I’ll call you guys in about two weeks with another vehicle. Let me call you a taxi to go back to your hotel.”
George and I firmed up a few more details about the next deal as we waited for a taxi. The vehicle was a Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R, which was legal in Japan, but not in the U.S. The owner wanted it brought into the country and then altered to pass smog and safety in California. Overall, an easy job and the beginning of a great new line of business for the club.
As Jo and I climbed into the taxi, she smiled at me. “Everything went well, right?” she whispered, so the cabbie couldn’t hear.
“Yep,” I lied. Everything had gone well with the drop-off and the exchange of money, but I still didn’t like the fact that George had approached the Souls first. The big question was: Did they know we were doing business on their turf?
“Shit! Goddamn bikers.” The cabbie swerved. Jo slid across the bench seat and crashed into me. I had one arm around her, reaching in my vest for my piece. “Sorry about that, folks. They didn’t use their turn signals.”
In front of us were three Silver Souls on their bikes, weaving through traffic. They’d come to give us an escort back to the hotel. We were fucked. They knew.
The trio changed lanes and quickly got off the freeway. It was some sort of message—too bad I didn’t know exactly what. We were on their land and they knew we were here.
I released the butt of my gun and left it in my shoulder holster, but I didn’t let go of Jo. It felt good to have contact with her. “Do you have your knives?” I whispered.
“Yeah.” She patted her hip. “Did we just receive a message?”
“Loud and clear.” I nodded. “And it’s not one I can ignore. We’re gonna go get checked in and then figure it out.”
The cabbie continued to the hotel where we were supposed to meet up with Rip and Roach. I scoped out the street as the cabbie dropped us off. No Silver Souls anywhere to be found, so we got out of the cab and headed to the front desk.
“One king or two queens?” the clerk asked.
“Two,” I said.
“One,” Jo told the girl at the counter.
“How many?” The clerk frowned, confused.
Jo smiled at the girl and said, “We’re on our honeymoon. We’d really like an upgrade if you can do it.”
What the hell was she doing? We were going to be here one night and we sure as shit weren’t on our honeymoon. There had to be some angle, so I put my arm around her waist and gave her a squeeze.
“Yep, we just signed papers at the courthouse earlier today.” I grinned at Jo and she smiled back.
“Awww.” The check-in girl laughed. “Let’s see what we can do. How about a room with a great view? You can see all up and down Virginia Street.”
“That would be wonderful!” Jo squealed. “What a great way to start our honeymoon!”
The clerk handed me the keys and we headed for our room. In my head, I ran through the reasons why Jo pretended we were newlyweds.
“After you, Mrs. Remmick.” I held the door open to the elevator.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Jo said as the elevator doors closed. “If someone comes looking for a biker and a woman, I want the girl to think hard as to who that might be. She just labeled us the honeymooners and it will take longer for her to think of you as possibly a biker.” She shrugged. “At least that was my dad’s reasoning. It was one of his tricks.”
“Well, I’m glad for his help.” I opened the door to our room. King-size bed with a view of Virginia Street below. We’d been riding for over twelve hours and it was closing in on eight o’clock at night. All I wanted to do was shower, make love to Jo, eat a steak and go to bed. In that order. But we had shit to do. At least I could shower.
“All right, you get settled in. I’m gonna take a quick shower and then go downstairs, find the guys, and figure out our next steps,” I told her.
“So I’m not going with you?” she asked, crossing her arms. “I came all this way to help protect you and I’m supposed to stay in the room all night while you go risk your life?”
I groaned. I did not want a fight, but I also didn’t want her getting hurt.
I stripped off my shirt and threw it across my duffel bag. “You came all this way to be my cover. Which you’re doing a great job of, Mrs. Remmick.” I smiled and tried to make it a joke as I undid my belt.
Jo turned and moved close to me, close enough to kiss me, but she wasn’t giving off that vibe. Her movements were fast, definitely not sensual. That’s when I felt it. Something hard poking me in the ribs. I grabbed her wrist.
“What’s in your hand, Jo?” I narrowed my eyes. Was she playing a game?
She stepped back and showed me the hilt of her knife.
“It could have been the pointy end, you know.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m good at this. I can help. Take me with you and I won’t be a liability. I promise.”
“Come here.” I slipped my arms around her waist. She melted against my chest and I held her. God, it was so fucking right between us. How could I have risked this for a bet?
Finally, I kissed the top of her head. “If you come with us, I’ll be protecting you and not myself or the other guys. I hate to put it like that, but it’s true. I need you here, where I know you’re safe and I can focus on whatever is going to happen with the Silver Souls.”
She was quiet. I could feel her tracing the engine tattoo on my chest. Over and over she traced it, saying nothing.
“I got that one when I moved out,” I explained. “My dad said my heart was an engine, because I was so good at fixing them. It was the only nice thing he ever said to me.”
She laid her head on my chest. “It’s not an engine—I can hear it beating.”
I held her close. “It’s just a regular old heart, and that’s why I need you to stay here. I want to be able to come back to you.” Finally I pulled away.
“Fine,” she whispered. “I don’t want to get you hurt. I’ll stay here.”