When I ended the brief call, I cursed. For the first time in my life I wanted something with a woman—one I didn’t deserve. After we finished asking around the few people remaining, it was late, so we helped with the teardown, then headed back to the clubhouse.
“Prez, I got the toxicology reports on that kid.” Hacker stood in my office doorway.
Motioning him in, I swallowed the shot I’d poured. “What does it say?”
But I knew before he told me.
“Pretty sure it was Black Night,” he said, confirming my suspicions.
“At a fucking fundraiser for a drug prevention and rehabilitation center. Jesus,” I said before raking a frustrated hand through my hair.
Hacker remained wisely silent.
“Did he make it?” I asked.
“Yeah, but he hasn’t woken up yet.”
“Did we talk to the other kid?”
“Yeah. Apollo knew the dad. Kid won’t talk. Insists that he doesn’t know where his friend got the shit from.”
“So we have to wait for the kid to wake up?”
“Appears that way,” he apologetically replied.
“Cops are gonna be waiting for that moment too,” I said, then sighed. “Maybe it’s time to pull in a favor. Is that all?”
“For now.”
I waved him off and took another shot. Then I picked up the phone and hit send on a number I didn’t relish calling for a favor.
“Snow,” the deep voice said in greeting.
“Venom.”
“Now that we both know who we’re talking to, why the fuck are you calling me on a Saturday night when I’m trying to get lucky with my ol’ lady?” I heard Loralei squawk in the background. Venom chuckled.
Venom is the president of the Royal Bastards MC down in Ankeny. He’d also been my best friend growing up. It was because of him that I joined the military and pulled my shit together after my brother died.
I’d also helped him and his ol’ lady when shit had gone crazy for her up here.
“I’m calling in one of those favors,” I admitted as I slouched back in my chair and stared sightlessly at the ceiling.
His tone sobered immediately. “What’s up?”
Hating that I hadn’t been able to get to the bottom of this shit myself, I clenched my fist. Then I told him everything I knew. Once I was done, I waited. He blew out a hefty breath.
“Fucking hell. We’ve heard whispers of that shit being run by some scattered members of the Bloody Scorpions and some thugs that came from out of state. But so far we’ve kept it out of this area. At least as far as we know. Damn, you’d think that would be more prevalent in a big city than up there. Wish you’d told me right away.” He was silent for a moment. It didn’t sit well with me that he was right—I should’ve reached out sooner.
“The problem is, there’s not much for kids to do around here. Not a lot of jobs for teens. Not much of a future industry-wise. Kids are bored and restless. The pieces of shit peddling that crap prey on that.”
“True. At least when we were kids it was just beer around a bonfire on a Saturday night. Let me talk to the boys tomorrow morning and see what we dig up. If I have to, I’ll see if Chains is willing to go up there and check things out.”
“I appreciate it.” They had a few more connections and, um, other advantages that most people didn’t know about. Things I didn’t tell my own brothers about.
“Now if you don’t mind, I have a woman to ravish.”
I gave a half-hearted laugh. “Well, thanks for answering my call.”
His tone went serious. “Anytime, brother. And I mean that.”
“I know.”
We ended the call, and I sat alone in silence. My mind wouldn’t shut off though. I kept going over and over everything we knew—which wasn’t much. Then it wandered to Hailey. Staring at my phone, I debated calling her. Now that shit was seriously heating up, I needed to ensure Hailey was nowhere around me or any of the shitstorm that was brewing.
Knowing I’d cave if I heard her voice, I sent a text instead.
Me: Some things came up. I won’t be able to stop by to see you.
The little dots danced on my screen, disappeared, then reappeared.
Hailey: Okay? I probably won’t be able to sleep
Hailey: If you want to stop when you’re done
More than anything, I wanted to ask her if that meant she was ready to admit it didn’t matter what the town busybodies said. Except I knew that wasn’t conducive to what needed to be done.
Me: Probably not a good idea.
Hailey: Do you want to go over the final numbers from the event tomorrow?
Me: No. I’m going to be tied up for a while. This isn’t working for me anymore. I’m sorry. If there’s any issues, you can contact my VP Vinny
The words made me feel physically ill. The last thing I wanted was to end things with her. Knowing it was the right thing to do, no matter how much I disliked it, I sent her his contact information. My teeth ground as I thought about her talking to Vinny. For a few minutes there was no further communication. Then her next text made me wince.
Hailey: Fine.
Venom had come through in spades.
“Fuck you!” the little punk tied to the chair spat, remaining stubborn.
“No, thanks. You’re not my type,” Soap said before he planted his fist in the guy’s eye. Though I already knew it, I didn’t give a shit what his name was.
I’d give the puny pissant credit—he’d lasted much longer than I’d thought he would. Soap was a big bastard, and I knew his meaty fists had to pack a wallop. The guy had to be feeling it.
“Now, I’m going to ask you again, Stuart… where are you getting the product from?” Soap quietly demanded.
“Fuck—” But the guy didn’t get the chance to finish his thought because Soap pressed a pistol to his head.
“Fuck this shit, P. Let me
