Marv was Mal’s older brother. They looked a lot alike, Mal was taller but Marv was thicker. Though no one would call Mal fashionable, he was the better dresser. Margot couldn’t think of a time she’d seen Marv wear anything but a variation of his current outfit. Both brothers liked tattoos. Marv’s right arm was completely covered and his left was getting there.
Margot considered whether or not she should answer. It wasn’t like she and Marv were friends. Mal got along with his brother about as well as Margot and Mal were getting along these days, which was not at all. Marv, being five years older and already deep into the outlaw biker gang thing, had been angry when Mal became a cop. He was even more upset when Mal got himself kicked out of the police. Marv was an ‘if you start something you finish it’ type of guy even when it came to things he didn’t like his brother starting in the first place. As far as Margot could tell he never liked her much either. She didn’t figure this was a social call.
“I see you looking through the curtains, Margot,” he said to the door. “I’ll just keep coming back.”
Margot didn’t think, despite his animosity towards her, that he was here to do her harm, but after recent events, she didn’t trust her instincts as much as she used to. She slung her purse over her shoulder and undid the zipper so she would have quick access to the weapons she kept in the big pocket. Depending on the threat level, she could snatch a can of mace, a telescoping baton, or a short-barreled S&W forty caliber.
Margot opened the door. “What can I do for you, Marv?”
“You still favoring that Makers over ice?”
“I am, but I doubt you stopped by for a drink.”
“I didn’t. but that doesn’t mean I don’t want one. I know you don’t like me much, but I was hoping to ask you some questions and I figure if we keep it friendly I’ll have a better chance at getting answers.”
“Maybe if you give me an idea of what you want to ask me about and I’ll consider offering you a drink.”
Marv shrugged before he said, “I wanted to ask you about my brother.”
“I don’t know what I can tell you, we aren’t on the best of terms right now.”
“I heard. When was the last time you saw him? Or talked to him?”
“Why?”
Marv didn’t like being questioned. It was clear he wanted to be the one asking the questions, but he seemed to remember what he’d said about keeping it friendly and replied, “He’s missing. I’m worried something happened to him.”
“Did things change between you two? Last I checked, you weren’t communicating enough to know if he was missing or not.”
“No, nothing really changed, I suppose. He reached out to me. We might not get along, but we’re still family. If he asks for my help, I’ve got his back. He wanted help and I said yes. When it came time to get that help, he was nowhere to be found. He isn’t answering his phone and he ain’t at the house.”
“I don’t suppose you can tell me what kind of help he wanted?”
“I can.”
“You like your whiskey neat or over ice?”
“Neat.”
“Alright. Come in and sit down. I’ll pour you one.”
“Thanks, Margot.”
Marv sat on the couch opposite the easy chair Margot had been sitting in. She brought in the bottle and tumbler, refreshed her drink, and then poured two fingers for Marv.
She sat and took a sip of her drink before asking again, “What kind of help did Mal want?”
Marv laughed. “You know I came here to ask you questions.”
“You should have known better.”
Marv laughed again and then told her, “You know, for the most part, the Racers are just a bunch of guys who dig riding bikes, but for better or worse, there’s more to us than that. Some are in deeper than others. Mal wanted me to hook him up with someone immersed in the outlaw side of Racer operations.”
“He say why?”
“No, and I didn’t ask. That kind of thing is usually better not to know. He also asked for a place to lay low a while. He said he might be in some trouble. I didn’t ask about that either.”
Margot could have told him what the trouble was but she didn’t.
“I put him up at a clubhouse and set up the meeting. The next thing I know, Manny is calling me asking why my brother didn’t show up. I head out to the clubhouse to ask him the same thing, Manny isn’t somebody you want to be on the bad side of and Mal didn’t do me any favors not showing up. His car is still there, but he isn’t.”
“So, you start looking for him.”
“Yeah. So, have you seen him?”
“Not for a couple of weeks.”
“You know what he might want with a guy like Manny?”
“No idea.”
“How about who he was hiding from?”
“I have an idea on that one.”
When Margot didn’t elaborate, Marv asked, “Could you share it with me?”
“Mal and I got on the wrong side of one of the cartels a while back.”
“That was a dumb thing to do.”
“Yeah it was, but it wasn’t like we set out to do it. The whole thing started with an infidelity case that wasn’t what it seemed. It got worse from there when I decided not to let them
