Ride Steady Page 37

  “Where?” he grunted.

  Tack gave him the address and finished with, “Mount up.”

  “You got it,” Joker replied, disconnected, and turned to his girl.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked immediately.

  “Club business, Carrie, gotta go,” he told her.

  Through the shadows she looked beyond him to the alarm clock.

  “Club business at two thirty in the morning?” she asked.

  “I gotta go,” he repeated. “I find out what’s happening, when I get back, I’ll explain.”

  She pushed up to her forearm. “Is someone hurt?”

  “No,” he lied. “Not in the Club,” he gave her the truth. “But I don’t think it’s good, and I gotta go.”

  “I… um… okay, sweetie.”

  It was hesitant but he had to take it, so he took it by leaning in to give her a quick kiss.

  Then he rolled out of bed.

  He was on his bike and at the address Tack gave him in thirty-five minutes. But Tack could have given him the vicinity and he’d have been able to find it. There were cop cars all around, lights flashing, crime scene tape cordoning off the alley, and bystanders even though it was the dead of night. That much police activity, they crawled out of bed or stopped on the road to find out what was happening.

  Joker rode to the line of bikes, parked his, and saw his brothers huddling on the sidewalk beyond the thin line of bystanders and police tape. Tack was there and had already been joined by Hop, Shy, Boz, High, Roscoe, and Snapper.

  Lee Nightingale and his right-hand man, Luke Stark, were with them.

  And last, Hawk Delgado, Mitch Lawson, and Brock “Slim” Lucas were there too.

  In other words, essentially every badass in Denver, outside the rest of Lee’s team, the rest of Hawk’s team, the rest of the Chaos brothers, and Knight Sebring and his crew. Joker wasn’t surprised to see Knight wasn’t there, since Knight was not on the right side of the law or even straddling the line like Chaos, Nightingale, and Delgado.

  But with what Knight did as a side business and what Joker suspected he was about to learn, Knight Sebring would get interested.

  And if he did, this shit that Joker knew in his gut just got messy would blow sky high.

  Joker approached the large group of men watching Tack.

  But when they adjusted to allow him in the circle, it was Lee who spoke.

  “Sorry, Joke, Hank caught the case. He knew I was on it for you so he could give me a heads-up if he heard anything. He heard something and called me.”

  “Heidi bought it,” Joker guessed.

  “Yeah,” Lee confirmed.

  “Joke, brother,” Tack called him, and Joker looked to him. “There’s a reason the brothers are here. You need to see. But before you go behind the tape, you need to get your shit tight.”

  “You said it’s ugly,” Joker said.

  “This kinda thing is never pretty,” Tack replied quietly. “But this is worse.”

  “Valenzuela?” Joker asked.

  “Absolutely,” High growled, and it was a pissed-off growl that was beyond Valenzuela making a move and doing it using a woman.

  So Joker knew he wasn’t going to see ugly.

  He was going to see ugly.

  He looked to Tack. “Show me.”

  Tack nodded and turned to Lee, but Luke Stark had already peeled off and was standing at the tape with Lee’s brother, Hank.

  Tack and Joker moved that way, and after chin lifts, Hank pulled up the tape. Joker and Tack ducked under. Hank dropped the tape and started walking. Joker and Tack followed.

  “Anonymous nine-one-one called her in,” Hank muttered. “Probably a junkie usin’ this alley for his fix or to hook up to buy.” He stopped and looked to Joker. “You good?”

  No. He wasn’t. He couldn’t say he liked Heidi, but he could say he didn’t want whatever happened to her to happen to her.

  “I’m good,” he answered.

  Hank nodded and kept walking.

  Cops were milling around, taking pictures, putting markers on the asphalt, writing crap down, huddling, and conversing.

  They finally got to her.

  She’d been covered.

  “Do me a favor, yeah?” Hank called, and a uniform looked his way, got his message, and crouched by the body.

  When he did, Joker noted the uniform was a good cop. He knew this with the way the man carefully peeled back the cover over Heidi. She was a dead woman in an alley who deserved respect. She wasn’t just a body on display, and he treated her that way.

  Joker looked at her and froze solid.

  This was not because he saw a lifeless Heidi.

  It was because the word Chaos had been carved into her forehead.

  “Ugly,” Tack said quietly beside him. “But, Joke, there’s more and it ain’t good either.”

  “Show me,” Joker grunted.

  The uniform looked to Hank and must have gotten the go-ahead because he pulled the cover further.

  Her shirt was up.

  And in her stomach, the word Joker was carved.

  “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me,” Joker clipped out.

  The uniform dropped the cover.

  “Tack says you boys knew her,” Hank noted, and Joker looked to him.

  “Valenzuela’s stable, sent to work our patch,” Joker told him what he knew Tack would have already told him.

  “She special to you?” Hank asked.

  “We had a relationship,” Joker shared.

  “You wanna share that with me?” Hank pushed.

  “She got cash for info on Valenzuela,” Tack told him. “Gave you that already, Nightingale.”

  “Tryin’ to understand why Valenzuela, if he did that shit, would carve one of your boy’s names in her stomach,” Hank returned.

  “Like I told you already, she snitched and her handler was Joker,” Tack replied.

  “And she was pregnant,” Joker put in, and Hank looked to him.

  “It yours?”

  “Nope,” Joker said. “Never touched her.”

  “Valenzuela think differently?” Hank went on.

  “Obviously,” Joker bit out.

  “Could be a different message, brother. Just sayin’ he knew she was yours,” Tack told him.

  “Could be, but it doesn’t fuckin’ matter what that asshole’s message is, except the fact a woman and her baby are dead to give it,” Joker returned.

  “Calm, Joke,” Tack warned, reading him easily.

  “I’m calm,” he clipped, but he was not.

  He still expended the effort to find it. He couldn’t grab hold, but he got enough of the edge not to lose his mind, turn on his boot, and find someone to hurt.

  “Tack says she left Valenzuela’s stable ’cause she was pregnant, that right?” Hank asked.

  Joker nodded and added, “She was gone, Hank. Be surprised she was still in town. Valenzuela did this, no doubt, but he tracked her down to do it.”

  “Before this happened, Lee told me you were lookin’ for her because she shared she was up for findin’ a home for her baby,” Hank continued.

  That was a nice way to put it.

  “Yeah,” Joker confirmed.

  Hank got close so Tack got close.

  But Joker didn’t take his eyes from Hank.

  “Pretty clear this isn’t Chaos, but it’s also clear shit that’s sticky just got stickier. I am not in the know with what you’re doin’ with Mitch and Slim. I don’t wanna be in the know. What I do know is you got two of my brothers in the know. They got blue blood. And they gotta keep their team clean. So I’ll need alibis for all of Chaos, and I don’t give a fuck that gets your backs up. You do what you gotta do to keep that team clean.”

  “You’ll have them,” Tack said.

  Hank turned to Joker. “Please God, tell me you got an alibi.”

  “With my woman all night.”

  Hank sighed as he nodded.

  “Why you prayin’ to God?” Ta
ck asked, and Hank looked to him.

  “Because Joke is a focus, and Valenzuela’s focus is not good to have. Might just be that woman,” he tipped his head to the street where Heidi was. “Might be a specific vendetta. Valenzuela plays any angle, and Chaos is known for a weapon of choice. Those bein’ knives.”

  “Not gonna carve my own name and my Club in a dead woman’s body,” Joker ground out.

  “No, you wouldn’t,” Hank said. “But past history, when Chaos was a different club, members had a way with knives and were so up their own asses, they didn’t mind markin’ their territory.”

  This was history not shared while he was a recruit, and Joker looked to Tack.

  Tack looked pissed.

  “That isn’t past history, Hank, it’s ancient history,” Tack stated. “Only one fuck did that, and his back is blacked for puttin’ Chaos out there with shit like that, not to mention seein’ as he’s doin’ time until he dies for havin’ his head up his ass. He carved Chaos, but when the Club was fucked, he was more fucked, and even the brothers who wanted to walk that dark path we were on before I pulled the Club out were all over strippin’ his patch.”

  “Regardless if you wanna claim it, it’s still Chaos. Shit like that makes legend, and legend never dies,” Hank returned.

  “So you think Valenzuela is settin’ up the Club?” Tack asked.

  “I think it’s lost on nobody you’re cleaning a new patch, and that nobody includes Valenzuela,” Hank said by way of answer. “Now, you already know to watch your back, so I won’t repeat it.” He looked to Joker. “Don’t know if you were tight with her, but sorry for your loss.”

  He wasn’t tight with her, but he didn’t want her and her kid dead.

  “Thanks,” he muttered.

  There was hand shaking, and Tack and Joker walked back to the tape. When they did, Joker saw Lee had broken off and was standing with Luke and another member of his team, Hector Chavez.

  They got looks and nods and ducked under the tape to go to their own crew, which had grown to include every member of Chaos, excluding those on patrol, but including Big Petey.

  They barely stopped before Hawk declared, “Know you’re not gonna like it, but I think you need to pull back from claimin’ more territory.”

  “That’s not gonna happen,” Tack replied.

  “A woman’s dead,” Hawk returned.

  “Chaos didn’t kill her,” Tack bit back.

  “Your advance was too aggressive,” Hawk retorted.

  “It’s done and it’s not gonna get undone,” Tack stated. “We took our turf, we hold steady.”

  “Then what?” Hawk asked. “His return play was that,” and he pointed to the tape, indicating Heidi.

  “Right,” Brock Lucas put in, eyes to Hawk. “You and Tack could argue about the color of the sky.”

  No matter how tight Hawk and Tack were, that was the damned truth. Then again, well before Cherry, Tack had made a play for Hawk’s now wife and the mother of his three kids. A play that was almost successful. Shit went down to make them brothers, but even brothers fought. Especially when women were involved. Both men were good with what they got. But no man ever let that kind of shit go.

  “Someone talked, gave up Heidi,” Hop put in.

  “The one you tried to turn,” Hawk replied to Hop.

  “Could be any a’ them. They all knew she gave it up to Joker,” Snapper told Hawk.

  “Right, and he was lookin’ for a way to send a message and, I’ll repeat, his return play was that,” Hawk growled.

  “Chaos made their play. They can’t back down, Hawk, and you know it,” Brock cut in. “And somethin’ had to give, we all knew it,” he said this looking at his partner and fellow cop, Mitch Lawson. “Valenzuela is greedy but he’s careful, and we’ve all been lying in wait with nothing happening. He’s gotta be tripped to make a mistake. Chaos pushed and we gotta hope he’ll fall. For now, bottom line, no one is responsible for that woman in the alley except Valenzuela. Any of us could take that on, because all of us were a go with Chaos pushing. We just didn’t know how Valenzuela would push back. It sucks, but this is war, and these fuckers don’t fight fair. Not even close. So we gotta suck it up and keep on our path. Vigilance. Information. Message. Now can I go home to my wife?”

  “I know I’m goin’ home to mine,” Tack said.

  Lawson looked to the heavens.

  He wasn’t on board, Joker knew. Then again, he was a straight shooter. Or as straight as he could be, possed up to a commando, an ex-DEA deep-cover agent, and a biker with a mission.

  But as much of a straight shooter as he was, he was a better man. A man who took his brothers’ backs no matter what that meant.

  So he might not be on board, but he was along for the ride.

  The men broke up, but Joker caught the glances between the brothers, these emanating from Tack and his lieutenants, Hop and Shy.

  No words were exchanged, but Joker knew.

  Heidi might have been what Heidi was for reasons she had to be that.

  But she’d backed Chaos, she was theirs.

  Now she was dead in an alley, her baby dead inside her, with words carved in her skin.

  So the expanded team had the goal of vigilance, information, and message.

  But Chaos just added vengeance.

  Several of his brothers stuck close to Joker as they walked to their bikes.

  As he stood at his pulling on his gloves, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Shy.

  “You good?” Shy asked.

  “I’m good,” Joker answered.

  “Fucked up way to go, brother, sorry,” Shy said.

  Joker had no response to that because what Shy said was true.

  “Listen to Lucas,” Snapper, whose bike was next to Joker’s said. “That’s not on you.”

  He knew it wasn’t. Time had passed. She was gone. Safe. Nightingale would find her, but he’d find her nowhere near Denver.

  Valenzuela found her too. Dragged her back and laid her out for his message.

  “Say it one last time,” Joker said to Snapper but did it quiet, not pissed. “I’m good.”

  “Mount up,” Hop called, already astride his bike.

  Those around him moved away and Joker swung his leg over his bike.

  They started up, backed out…

  Then as one, Chaos rolled.

  * * *

  Carissa sat in the bed, legs crossed in front of her under the covers, wearing his tee, lights on, and she stared at him.

  Not surprisingly, she’d waited up for him.

  Not surprisingly, when he got back, she asked if everything was okay.

  Not surprisingly, she looked way fucking worried.

  So sooner than he wanted to share at a time so deep in the morning he just wanted to go to sleep, he shared.

  Everything.

  Or everything he knew his brothers gave to their old ladies. There were no lies, but that didn’t mean old ladies weren’t kept safe from some truths.

  Some brothers shared more than others.

  Needless to say, Joker didn’t include the fact he’d just been to a crime scene where there was a murdered woman with his and his Club’s names carved into her skin.

  But she knew about Chaos history and their mission, their turf and patrol.

  She also knew some history about Valenzuela.

  Now it was after five in the morning, and she had all she was going to get.

  “Butterfly, it’s late. You got a shift in a couple of hours and I got a deadline. I just laid out a lot for you, and I don’t wanna push, but I need you to talk to me so I know where you’re at.”

  “So…” she started, stopped, started again, “You’re…” again with the stop and then the start, “Essentially…” Her head tipped to the side. “Vigilantes?”

  There really wasn’t anything essentially about it.

  “Essentially,” he stated.

  “And there’s a bad guy who’s mad at you because yo
u saved Tabby’s friend, who’s a junkie, from being in a porno movie?”

  He never in his life wanted to be discussing porn flicks with his good girl, Carissa, unless she got a wild hair and had a hankering to be seriously naughty and watch one with him.

  He didn’t get into that.

  He just said, “Yeah.”

  “Are you in danger?”

  “Cops are involved, so the hope is it won’t come to that.”

  “But you’re in danger,” she whispered.

  “Potentially,” he hedged.

  She fell silent.

  “You’re not. This guy knows his beef is with the brothers,” he assured her.

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” she muttered.

  Fuck.

  “Baby—” he began.

  “I don’t want to offend you by making the comparison,” she said over him and kept going. “But Aaron defends criminals. You… don’t.”

  That was good.

  He thought.

  So he gave her more in hopes of making her understand.

  “Like I said, Club was tied to some nasty shit,” he told her. “Tack took over the Club, it was hostile, and he got them out. This was before me. But I hope it goes without sayin’, I would not be a brother if that’s where they were still at. That said, not sayin’ if I knew where Tack was leadin’ them, I wouldn’t be all in to get the Club where it is now. We got two missions. Keep the store and garage thriving, keep our patch clean so that shit can’t ever touch the Club again. I came on board knowin’ both and givin’ allegiance knowin’ it. Chaos is not a club I’m a member of, Carrie. It’s a part of me. That work is a part of me. And I need you to understand that.”

  “Well, of course.”

  It was then he was staring at her.

  “That’s it?” he asked.

  “What’s it?”

  “You’re down with that?”

  She shrugged. “If you changed my tire and took me to coffee, sharing all this, probably not. But now I know you. I know them. I know who you are. I know what you all stand for. And it isn’t the garage and the store and vigilantism. It’s family. So am I happy my new, handsome, manly man biker boyfriend and his brothers are in a power struggle with a bad guy? No. Am I okay with the fact that you take me as I am, all my baggage, the way my life was messed up, the unknown ways Aaron hopes to keep messing it up, and you don’t waver? Yes. A thousand times yes. So it wouldn’t say much for me at my first opportunity, I waver against you.”