Reaper's Property

Chapter Seventeen

December 10—Three months later

I’d love to say that things got easy after that. That every day was a new, perfect adventure and life with Horse was like living in a Disney movie with motorcycles instead of carriages.

That would be a big fat lie.

Horse had been by himself for a long time and he was in need of the occasional attitude adjustment. I’d already lived with one asshole and I wasn’t in the market for another one. He claimed I could be a raging bitch myself. I can’t say he was wrong about that.

But it was never boring.

For every bad time we had there were ten good ones, and they were very, very good. Horse and I had been working through his list of fantasies and I could attest to the fact that using the pink vibrator with him was a lot more fun than using it on my own. Gary had been a slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am kind of guy. Horse was creative and the only thing he liked more than fucking me was making me come.

This worked for me.

I didn’t learn what happened to Max. I knew he wasn’t around for all of October and most of November, although he reappeared at the Thanksgiving party, slinking around the armory like a half-drowned cat, all grumpy and defensive. The rest of the club seemed to ignore it, so I did too. It was okay. Not quite as good as castrating him with a dull spoon would have been, but life is all about compromises, right?

Especially life in the Reapers MC.

That was another thing I had to get used to. I hadn’t just moved in with Horse at his house. I’d moved into the club, which was as much a family as he’d said, albeit a really weird family. The heart of the club was the armory, a place I kept hearing about but couldn’t quite wrap my head around until I saw it the first time. Maggs called one morning to let me know we were having an impromptu barbeque. I was supposed to make a “shitload of that fuckin’ great potato salad” (a direct quote from Picnic) and be ready at four when she’d come and get me.

The armory, as I discovered when we arrived, was an actual National Guard armory that had been purchased by the Reapers fifteen years earlier. It was just outside of town, three stories high and built like a fortress for obvious reasons. It had a large, walled courtyard in the back and by large, I mean big enough to park lots of cars and trucks and bikes. There were several sheds and outbuildings too. Most of it was paved, but it also had a grassy area with picnic tables, a giant fire pit and a swing set complete with children running around screaming and laughing.

Not exactly what I expected. Neither was the party that followed. It was wild and crazy, but not nasty like the one I’d gone to with the Silver Bastards. This was a family gathering, and I saw for the first time just how tight everyone was. We laughed and danced and took stupid pictures and ate way too much food. That night Horse brought me up onto the roof, laid out a blanket and taught me just how much nicer drunken Reaper sex could be when it didn’t end with a shooting. The kids were long gone by then and I could hear other couples in the darkness. It should have felt uncomfortable but it actually kicked ass. Go figure.

Now it was three months later and things were really good between me and Horse. I’d be starting school in January. My divorce was still working its way through the system, but Gary—as predicted—wasn’t causing any trouble. I’d been to see my mom a few times and she seemed happy enough for me, although she wanted to come and check out Horse and the club for herself when she got out.

The only thing missing in my life was Jeff. Apparently he was in touch with the Reapers sporadically and had even paid them some of the money he owed. Not much though. I still hadn’t talked to him, but I’d gotten a couple of emails from an anonymous address. They said to lay low and hold on, that he’d take care of things soon. I broke down and replied, telling him I was fine and to worry about himself, not me. I also set up a new, anonymous secret webmail account and gave him the address. I trusted Horse, but my brother’s life was on the line and to say my man had a conflict of interest was an understatement from hell. I needed to be able to communicate with Jeff privately. He sent me a couple of notes after that, but they didn’t really say much.

On the bright side, Horse and I were getting ready for our first Christmas together, which was pretty exciting. I’d decided to go shopping with the girls at the Spokane Valley Mall that day. Cookie and Maggs were the leaders of our little group, probably because they needed the support of their sisters even more than the rest of us. The Reapers looked out for them, of course, but being away from your husband long-term had to suck, especially for Cookie. Her little girl, Silvie, cried for Bagger almost every night.

That would be ending soon. We’d just gotten word that Bagger would be home right after New Year’s. He’d been out of touch a lot lately, and Cookie was pretty close to the end of her rope when we got the news. That’s why we’d hit the mall—to find the perfect welcome-home ensemble at Victoria’s Secret.

“I want to look hot, but not slutty,” Cookie said, digging through the nighties. “You know what I mean?”

Maggs laughed.

“Babe, he’s not gonna care what you wear. Remember what he said after you sent that video?”

Cookie blushed and I burst out laughing. Bagger had liked the striptease quite a bit…after he knew for sure none of the other guys had seen it. I’d “met” him on Skype a couple of times now, and it was clear the man worshiped Cookie and his daughter, and he didn’t like the idea of sharing her at all.

“I still can’t believe I let you talk me into that,” Cookie said finally, wiping away tears of laughter. “I can just see it now. Silvie will be fifteen years old and she’ll find it on my computer. How am I going to convince her to wait for sex when she sees me doing something like that?”

“Silvie and Em, perpetual virgins!” I said, shaking my head. “Ah, the horror of life as a Reaper’s daughter. The poor darlings are screwed, no question. No pun intended, of course.”

That set us off laughing again.

“Screwed is what I’m looking for,” said Cookie, sighing. “Screwed, fucked, pleasured and reamed, you name it. I’ve worn out three vibrators on this deployment, I swear. I cannot wait to see my man again.”

After an hour we finally found the perfect welcome-home outfit. Several of them, actually. Maggs grabbed a few things too, but I didn’t like spending Horse’s money. He kept saying not to worry about it, but I felt weird buying things for myself. We still argued about me getting a job sometimes, but to be honest I was keeping myself pretty busy. I helped Cookie at her shop, which led to me watching Silvie three days a week. Cookie told me she could teach anyone to make coffee, but finding a sitter she could trust was a lot harder. This was perfect, because I was helping out and also earning a few extra bucks each week. I’d have done it for free, but she insisted. I also ran errands for the guys and started cleaning the pawn shop when their cleaning lady flaked. The Reapers really did have a lot of stuff going on, and Horse had come to appreciate my willingness to kick in whenever help was needed. The other guys noticed too, and they seemed to enjoy having me around.

My phone dinged. I pulled it out to find a text from Horse.

Come by the armory? Need to talk to you.

That sounded ominous.

Everything okay?

Complicated. I’ll explain when you get here. No detours, okay?

Maggs and Cookie wanted to keep shopping, so I said goodbye and left. Fortunately I had my own car with me so I drove straight to the armory. I pulled up and parked in the front lot. Painter met me outside, taking my arm and guiding me through the gate and the courtyard to the back entrance, which seemed weird. He said Horse would be out in a minute so Painter and I stood and waited.

This sucked, because Coeur d’Alene might only be two hundred miles from my hometown, but it was way, way colder here in the winter. I shivered and rubbed my arms, noticing there were a lot more bikes than usual in the courtyard, along with some big trucks and SUVs I didn’t recognize. Then Horse pushed through the back door, holding it for Painter, who ducked back inside. Just seeing Horse warmed me a little. He wore a black jacket over his cut and a dark, knitted cap on his head. He’d let his beard fill in a little with the cold weather and I had to say, it looked hot. The look on his face wasn’t hot though. It was so cold I wondered if I’d forgotten something really important.

“We got a problem, babe,” he said without greeting me.

“What’s the problem?”

“Your brother’s made a deal with another club. Somehow he’s getting information about our business and he’s feeding it to them. In return, they’re supposed to snatch you and hand you over to him. These are bad guys and this is going to blow up in his face, which sucks for him, but I’m not letting it spill over on you. We’re locking you down, only way to keep you safe until it’s worked out.”

I stared at him, gaping.

“He’s trying to save you,” Horse said, shaking his head. “I swear, he’s either the stupidest fuck who ever lived or has the worst luck of any human being I’ve ever met. He reached out to the Devil’s Jacks, who in addition to being our enemies are quite possibly the least trustworthy group of bastards ever born. They’ve been looking for a way to fuck us up for a long time and now they have it. Could be a war, we don’t get this under control. The first step is to lock your shit up tight until we find Jeff.”

“I don’t get it,” I said. “What could he possibly be giving them? How did he go from laying low to plotting a war to get me back? You said he was against the wall—where is he getting this leverage?”

“No fucking idea where it’s coming from,” Horse said, his face grim. “I swear, if he’d put half this much effort into doing his job in the first place we’d all be fuckin’ millionaires. Instead he’s playing us like his personal chess game, which would be pretty impressive if it wasn’t for the fact that all the chess pieces have guns. The guys are all worked up, pissed as hell, and it’s a damn good thing everyone likes you because this is not a good scene. You’re gonna be moving into the armory for a while, into one of the apartments upstairs.”

“How long?” I asked, feeling a little panicky. Horse shrugged.

“Long as it takes, babe. The Jacks manage to take you, the club goes to war,” Horse replied. “Jeff’s set them on you, and for now he’s got enough info to make the effort worth their while. You stay inside and lay low. Tonight you don’t even leave the apartment. We’ve got guys from other charters coming in, a lot of them already here, could get a little wild. You stay in your room, you keep your mouth shut and you do not do or say anything to draw attention to yourself.”

“Okay,” I said, feeling a little sick. “Is that all?”

He gave a short, abrupt laugh that had nothing to do with humor.

“No,” he said, rubbing his chin. “Another change of plans. It’s time for you to try to get hold of your brother. Email him, call him, call anyone who knows him. We need him to end this, for your safety and for the club. Then he needs to disappear. Permanently. He can make that happen or we will. I’m telling you this because I love you, babe. You want your brother to live, you get him to cooperate with us. That’s his only shot.”

I grew very still.

“Are you planning to kill him for this? That’s two strikes now,” I said, feeling lightheaded. “You already threatened to kill him over the money. Now he does this. I won’t lure him in for you to kill.”

“Not gonna lie, babe,” Horse said, looking me right in the eye. “He has one shot here. He starts a war, he ain’t gonna make it. He’s hired our enemies to take one of our women. This shit will not stand. He has to make things right without sucking you in. You got me?”

I nodded, feeling like I might throw up. Why did Jeff keep doing this crazy stuff? I shouldn’t have listened to Horse, I should have called Jeff a long time ago and worked with him to figure something out—or at least stayed in close enough touch for him to really believe I wasn’t in danger. I’d followed Horse’s directions because I thought it was safest for Jeff. At least, that’s what I’d used as the excuse to ignore my brother while I built a new life.

Had I been lying to myself?

“Let’s go to the apartment now,” Horse said. “Remember, lay low. You need something, call my cell. Don’t come looking for me or anyone else. I already talked to Em, she’s packing up some clothes and shit for you.”

He took my arm, opening the back door and leading through the hallways to the stairs. I saw a few new faces, male and female, and the palpable air of tension everywhere sickened me. Nobody said hi or even looked me in the eye. We climbed the stairs to the third floor, where they had remodeled the original offices to make studio apartments. I got the smallest, all the way at the end. There were bars on the windows and Horse told me to keep the shades drawn.

I sat down on the queen-sized bed, alone.

I pulled out my phone and sent an urgent email to Jeff’s anonymous account. Then I started making phone calls to as many of his friends as I could find numbers for. I had to reach him, although I wasn’t sure what I would tell him. Could I really trust the Reapers if he came in?

I wasn’t so sure about that.

Horse

Church was standing room only. Picnic presided, the visiting presidents from Portland and LeGrande flanking him. Horse leaned against the wall, eyeing Max across the room. He hadn’t forgotten what he’d done, but he’d paid his price and was back in the fold. He might not like the guy but he was still a brother—and if war came, they needed every man.

“We’ve lost three shipments so far,” said Deke, the Portland president. Horse had spent a lot of time visiting that charter, and he knew Deke didn’t fuck around when it came to security. If someone was hijacking their product, things had gotten bad. “Couldn’t figure out how they were getting their information. Devil’s Jacks aren’t exactly the brightest assholes in the bunch, but it’s like they’re reading our minds or something. This last time we caught one. He didn’t talk much, but we searched his cell and found some contacts. That’s how we learned about your boy.”

“What’d you do with the guy you caught?” Picnic.

“Got him at a safe house,” Deke replied, giving a feral smile. “Holding on to him for now. Figured it might be useful to have him, goddamn bastards are loyal, if nothing else. That’s more than I can say for this Jensen guy. Business is out of hand, Pic. Why didn’t you take him out?”

“That’s my fault,” Horse said. “His sister’s my old lady. The man’s got incredible skills, really thought we’d be able to turn the situation around and keep using him. Obviously I made a serious error in judgment.”

“Whole club made that decision,” Duck said. “Mistake? Maybe. But you go around putting talented people down all the time, eventually you run out of talent. In this case we fucked up. Could’ve gone the other way just as easy. And we all know the Jacks have been looking for a way to move in on us for years. We’d be facing this sooner or later no matter what.”

There were grunts of agreement all around the table.

“So how’s he getting his information?” asked Deke. “That’s the real question here. You know him. What are we missing?”

“I have no idea,” Horse said, shaking his head. “Hacking? Only explanation I can think of, although it’s a long shot. We aren’t stupid, not like this shit is on a spreadsheet or something. The other explanation is a rat.”

The room grew quiet. Then Deke spoke.

“We do business online all the time, banking, transfers, you name it. Money’s gotta move somehow, can’t do it all in cash. That’s the reality. Someone could be giving out clues without even realizing it.”

“Maybe texts or personal emails?” Ruger piped up. “We all got burners for business, but we’ve got personal phones too. Email. All that shit. Can’t get by without it and I’m thinkin’ someone’s gotten sloppy. Could even be a kid or a woman, no idea what they’re doing. We need to lock information down, take it from there and see what happens.”

“Marie’s upstairs trying to get in touch with him,” Horse said. “I gave it to her straight. She knows this is serious. If she finds him, she’ll let me know.”

“Can we trust her?” asked Picnic, scratching his chin. He looked tired. “You know I like her, but shit like this would fuck with anyone and she’s new to the club. She might tip him off.”

“Even if she tips him off, that’s better than letting things stand,” said Max, surprising Horse. “She tells him he’s putting her in danger, he might back down. He’s doing this because he’s scared and he’s trying to help her. Must not’ve been able to pull the money together so he’s playing a new game. I’ll bet he has no idea the shit storm he’s creating.”

“I’m keeping her here until this is handled,” Horse said. “She’s up in the back apartment. Anyone have a problem with that?”

Picnic rolled his eyes, and Ruger shook his head. Deke laughed and pulled out a knife, picking at his fingernail with it.

“Got no problem with that, brother,” he said. “She’s club property. We don’t share with anyone, don’t care how or why they want her. It’s about all of us now.”

Horse felt the tension in his chest loosen. He knew Jeff wouldn’t harm her, but the Jacks? He’d seen what they could do to a woman.

“We still owe those cocksuckers for Gracie,” Deke added, his face grim. “I know we took action, but I still say it wasn’t enough. We need to show them who owns this land, throw their asses so far out of our territory that the fall back to earth kills ’em. We stop Jensen, great. But I think we should consider taking the fight to them, finish what we started ten years ago. I don’t give a shit about this guy, I want to take them down.”

“Fuck yeah,” muttered one of the Portland guys. Horse nodded, understanding. The Oregon charters had suffered over the years and a threat to one of the club’s women would hit them harder than most. He didn’t want war, but if it came he wouldn’t be holding back. They owed the Jacks for a lot of things.

“So here’s how I’m seeing it,” Picnic said. “We reach out to all the charters, in person. Tell them to get ready. Make sure their information is locked up tight. New phones, new codes. Women and children taking safety precautions. Marie may be the one with the bounty on her head, but they’re all vulnerable. Might wanna consider bringing them in for the duration, especially you guys down south. You think Marie can make contact with him?”

“Yeah,” Horse replied. “She’s got an email. He’s a smart little fuck, he’ll be waiting for her to reach out. Might be able to use him to feed the Jacks information, offer him a way out. We have a shipment we can afford to give up for an ambush?”

“We got something coming through in a couple of weeks,” said Grenade, the LeGrande charter’s VP. “You leak it, we can set things up. Might not be bad to hit them back at the same time. Send some boys down to Cali, raid ’em while we ambush up here.”

“Not a bad idea,” Picnic mused. “Guys from Roseburg could do it. Thoughts?”

“I like the idea of turning him,” Deke replied. “Take it from there. I don’t want to send men down unless we’re sure we’ll catch the Jacks off guard. Could be a bloodbath otherwise.”

“That settles it then,” Picnic said. “We need a vote? Any opposed?”

Nobody spoke.

“All in favor.”

Assorted “ayes” echoed around the room.

“That’s settled then,” said Picnic. “You guys staying tonight? Got the girls pulling together food and shit already.”

“Sounds good,” Deke said, grinning. “Eat and drink while you can, boys. Got work to do tomorrow. Fuck with us and we will fuck you back!”

“Hell yeah!” someone yelled.

Church was over. Time to party.

Horse didn’t plan on getting drunk, but it felt good to kick back with his brothers. Em’d brought shit for Marie, which he took upstairs after church. He’d grabbed her some pizza and a couple of beers too, and spent half an hour sitting with her. But she didn’t look at him, didn’t kiss him back when he’d tried to get close, so he figured she needed some space. Hell of a lot to process, he got that.

Downstairs things were getting crazy—always the case when charters got together, particularly when blood was in the air. Didn’t get much bloodier than the Devil’s Jacks. Tonight wasn’t a family party either, something Picnic made clear when he sent Em packing after she dropped off Marie’s things. Horse grinned, thinking of her. Poor kid, at this rate she’d be fifty before she found a man.

As he sauntered into the main lounge, a girl wearing a miniskirt and thigh-high fishnets, along with a bikini top so small it defied physics, brought him a beer, reaching around his waist and rubbing her boobs against his arm. Some chick from the Line, he couldn’t remember her name. He gave her a pat on the ass, then shrugged her off. Sweet butts and strippers, place was crawling with them, hospitality for the visiting brothers. Horse chugged the beer and handed the cup to another girl as she walked by. He wanted a word with Ruger before things got too crazy.

The man wasn’t in the main lounge or the meeting room, so Horse headed back toward the office. They kept their records there, at least the official ones, and Horse stored the legitimate business accounts there too. It was convenient and would make things efficient if they ever got served with a warrant. Just for fun, he’d filled a couple lockboxes with shady-looking paperwork and decoy overseas account numbers—he liked the idea of some cop blowing his wad if he found them, then spending months trying to put it all together. Horse opened the door to find Picnic pounding into a woman face down on the desk, his pants around his ankles, her hair pulled back like reins.

“Getting an early start?” Horse asked, smirking. “No wonder you wanted Em the hell out of here. You’re a perv, you know that?”

“Get the fuck out unless someone’s shooting at us,” Picnic grumbled and Horse laughed, closing the door and heading back toward the shop. Ruger was a hell of a gunsmith and he did his most sensitive work back there, away from any curious eyes at the gun shop. If the visiting boys needed hardware, that’s where they’d find it. Horse threw open the door and saw Ruger at his bench, holding up a fully automated assault rifle, one of his specialties. Several of the brothers stood around, talking shit, while one of the Portland men reached for the gun.

“It’s a thing of beauty, but not exactly practical,” he said, laughing as he hefted it. “Can’t see this in my saddlebags. Like something out of Thunderdome.”

“Yeah, I know,” Ruger replied. “But these dumb-fuck militia dicks can’t get enough of ’em. Think they’re all Rambo or something. ‘Master race’, my ass, I make a fortune off those idiots.”

“Ruger, got a minute?” Horse asked. Ruger ambled on over.

“What’s up?”

“Marie’s upstairs, and I’m thinking about security for the next few days,” Horse said. “You got any thoughts on that? I know manpower’s limited, and I’m wondering if we wanted to rig up any extra precautions.”

“Already ahead of you,” Ruger said, flashing a smile. He flicked his lip ring with his tongue as he grabbed a laptop from the bench, popping it open. The guy looked scary as hell with his tats, mohawk, chains and piercings, but around technology he was more like a little kid at Christmas. Ruger popped open the security control panel for the clubhouse on the laptop, and he clicked on a multicolored layout of the armory and surrounding property. “See here? We’ve got the cams and basic motion sensors, of course, but I’m planning on putting in some new stuff around the perimeter, right here. We need detection, but I’m also worried about manpower. I want to rig some traps that we can trigger by computer or phone if we need to. I know we can’t count on the electronics a hundred percent, but we can only spread ourselves so thin. This gives us more options.”

“Can we put something outside her room?” Horse. “I know it’s not a top priority, but I’d like to keep an eye on her. Just in case they buy off one of the girls or something. This probably won’t come down to a frontal assault.”

Ruger scratched his head, considering.

“I can rig something up for you,” he said. “Won’t be until tomorrow. After I fix the guys up back here I’m ready for some pussy. Speaking of, you sure about yours?”

“You sayin’ I have a pussy?” Horse asked, crossing his arms and cocking an eyebrow.

“Don’t be an asshole, you know I meant your girl upstairs. I get that you’re into her. But she knows his life is at stake and we might be the ones to kill him. You might want to consider the possibility that she’s working with Jensen on this. She’s only human, Horse.”

Horse shook his head.

“Marie can’t lie for shit,” he replied, pinching the bridge of his nose, feeling tired. “And even if she was, she doesn’t know a damn thing. Couldn’t be his source of information.”

“If they’re talking, she wouldn’t have to be his only source,” Ruger replied, his tone reasonable. “He might be using her. I don’t think she’s screwing you on purpose—”

“Oh, she’s definitely screwing me on purpose,” Horse replied, deadpan.

“Fuck you,” Ruger replied, grinning. “You know what I mean. She’s the victim in this situation and she believes in her brother. She tells him about your day-to-day life, he puts that together with a couple other sources, could add up. You don’t tell her about club business, but she sure as shit knows when we’re on a long run. All the women do. Fuck, for all we know he’s on Facebook with them or something, pretending to be some chick they know. You get enough old ladies talking about their men being gone, it adds up.”

“Shit,” muttered Horse, shaking his head. “Never thought of that. This is a pain in the ass, you know that?”

“Ya think?” Ruger asked, rubbing a hand across his tattooed scalp and the short buzz of his mohawk. “So you want cameras on her. Sure you don’t want something inside the room too?”

“Nope, don’t want your sick ass watching us fuck,” Horse replied. “But I do want to check on her, make sure nobody’s lingering, trying to get to her. You know what I mean? Oh, and a GPS on her car. Want to be able to find her. Make sure she doesn’t see you, want to keep her safe, not freak her out more.”

“I’ll do it tomorrow. Right now I need someone sucking my dick, and unless you’re planning to share your old lady, I got higher priorities than this conversation.”

Ruger grinned and Horse laughed, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it hard enough to leave marks.

“Touch Marie and I’ll cut off your balls.”

“Yeah, right,” Ruger replied. “So much for taking care of your brothers, you cock-blocking bastard. Talk to me tomorrow and I’ll set it up to feed to your phone, along with the computers.”

“Thanks, man,” Horse said.

The party was raging back in the main lounge. Two girls were bumping and grinding each other up on one end of the bar, and a third served up body shots in the middle. Duck, the filthy old pervert, sat back on a couch with a barely legal redhead eating out his mouth with her hand thrust down between them, working furiously. Picnic caught Horse’s eye across the room, apparently finished with his important business in the office. The man gave a chin jerk, inviting Horse to join the Portland and LeGrande officers at his table.

“Interesting times,” Picnic said as Horse grabbed a seat. “Deke tells me the Portland boys are itching for this.”

“Glad for the excuse,” Deke said. “Jacks’ve always been trouble, we all know that, but they’ve been working up on us for a while. Nothing too overt, always just this side of what’s acceptable behavior. Wearing their cuts on our territory, dicking with support clubs, that kind of thing. There’s a group of them that’s set up near Brooklyn Park. They’re just camping in some shitty rental and doing their thing like they think they’re citizens or something. I know two of them are going to school at PSU, if you can believe it, and they aren’t doing anything for us to call them on, besides existing and being general assholes. No respect.”

“They’re up to something,” Horse replied as yet another half-naked girl set a beer down in front of him. “They always are. Shit, if it was us, we’d be up to something.”

They all laughed, knowing he was right.

“My thoughts exactly,” Deke replied. “And since we’re the ones losing shipments, I’m thinking there’s a good chance the leak is close to home. But no matter how much we check on the local guys, we haven’t caught them doing shit. I wanted to ask you about this Jensen guy. How good with computers is he? Do you really think he could hack in, pull stuff from our home computers, that kind of thing?”

“Yeah, he’s good,” Horse said. “Guys like him are why I do the books on a laptop without a wireless card. Lock it in a safe, back it up once a week and keep that backup in a different safe. That’s the only kind of computer security we can really trust.”

“That’s what I thought,” Deke replied. He tugged on his short, black goatee, shaking his head. The Portland president was a big guy with long, black hair he kept in a ponytail. His arms were covered in full-sleeve tattoos, and the rumor was he operated as national’s unofficial hit man. Horse didn’t doubt it for a minute. “We find him, we have to get rid of him unless he hands us the Jacks. Even then, might have to get rid of him.”

Horse nodded, knowing the truth of it. Fuck, this was gonna kill Marie.

“If it comes down to that, can you make it an accident? Maybe in a couple of months?”

“I can,” Deke replied, glancing over at Picnic, who shrugged. “Gotta tell you, I’m a little concerned about your commitment on this one, Horse. You seem more worried about your girl’s feelings than someone fucking with the club. We got a problem?”

Horse shook his head.

“No problem,” he replied. “This is my life, I know that and she knows it too. Just hoping to walk out alive and still keep my old lady. We all make sacrifices. Hoping mine isn’t bigger than it needs to be.”

“Good to hear,” Deke said. “I’ll keep that in mind. Make our lives easier if the Jacks killed him anyway.”

“That’s the truth,” Picnic said. “But don’t count on it—they’ve never done anything to help us before, doubt they’ll start now. Wish we had better control over the timing, but it’ll be good to take them down, especially given your situation, Deke. But that’s enough business. I know you boys had a long ride today. Time for some hospitality.”

Picnic glanced around, spotting a couple of girls standing not too far away. He whistled, calling them over.

“Take care of Deke and Grenade for me, will you?”

They smiled and obediently moved toward the visiting charter officers. Picnic looked at Horse and cocked an eyebrow.

“You planning to partake tonight?”

Horse shook his head.

“Got something better waiting for me upstairs,” he said. “Giving her some time to settle in, get used to what’s happening. That’s all.”

“Some men say a brother who’s afraid to enjoy pussy at a party is a pussy himself,” Picnic replied. “Who’s in charge, you or the old lady?”

Horse laughed.

“You’re full of shit,” he replied. “When your old lady was alive, you were a monk. I saw how it was.”

Picnic looked thoughtful and took a long pull of his beer. Then he looked up and held Horse’s gaze.

“Caught a lot of shit for that,” he said. “But I’m telling you, I’d give every piece of ass I’ve had in my life for another day with that woman. This,” he continued, gesturing toward the party. “This is good fun. But it’s not the real thing. We’ll do our best to protect your girl. And if we take out Jensen, we’ll do it quiet. Want you to know that.”

“Thanks,” Horse said. “You’re a good brother.”

“That’s what it’s all about,” Picnic replied. He smiled. “What I said aside, my old lady may not be here, but remembering her makes me horny as fuck. Girl in the office only took the edge off. Think I’ll do something about that.”

Picnic got up, moving toward another group of giggling women. Hands came around Horse’s head from behind, covering his eyes as a warm body pressed into his back.

“Hey sexy,” said a woman’s voice. He recognized it instantly and smiled broadly. Serena. He pulled her hands off and stood to hug her.

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” he said, stepping back to take her in. “Fantastic like always. Haven’t been around at all lately, what’s up with that?”

She offered a knowing smile.

“I’ve got a new man, I think. Guy from California, comes up here on his private jet, that kind of thing. Been seeing him for a while, but his divorce is final now, so he’s got a little more freedom. We’ve been hanging out. I’m thinking about heading south with him, unless there’s a better reason for me to stay around here…”

Horse caught the unasked question and shook his head ruefully.

“I’m taken, babe.”

She nodded, looking a little wistful but not unhappy or surprised. That was Serena—always a realist, and a good friend too. He’d been hooking up with her on and off since high school, and she was one of the few women he’d slept with that he actually liked and trusted.

“I heard rumors,” she replied. “Kind of scary rumors, to be honest. Answer me one question and I’ll leave you alone. She a prisoner?”

Horse shrugged.

“I told her she can leave, but her brother’s under a sentence. It’s way beyond her now, he’s on his own at this point.”

Serena studied his face, then shook her head.

“You’re tricky,” she replied. “You ‘told’ her she can leave? Does she know you lied?”

“We’re not having this conversation,” Horse said, his voice firm. Serena laughed.

“Okay, big boy. Just asking. I always thought the two of us might make something of it, that kind of thing. But I’m happy for you, Horse, I really am. You’re one of the good ones. Buy a lady a drink, for old times’ sake?”

He offered her his arm as they headed toward the bar. Just one girl danced on top now, and she’d lost her clothes. The other was down on a couch, one of the brothers from LeGrande eating her out while she gave a blowjob to another. It didn’t interest him much, which made Horse feel sort of old and jaded. He might be taken, but a man could still look. But honestly, it just seemed so boring.

He snagged a couple of beers for them from the bar and looked around for a spot quiet enough to talk, but it wasn’t happening.

“Let’s go upstairs to the game room.”

Nearly half of the armory’s the second floor was a large, open room where they’d set up pool tables, an air hockey table and a bunch of old couches. There was a big-screen TV up against one wall hooked to the satellite and about six different kinds of video consoles. Later on people might bed down in here, but for now it was quiet. Down the hallway was a series of rooms they used for all kinds of things, from storing extra inventory for the businesses to privacy for a quickie. He escorted Serena to the couch in front of the TV. She looked around, eyes lingering on the hallway.

“The room in use tonight?”

Horse grimaced and shrugged.

“Who knows,” he said. “Nobody makes ’em do it. You starting to judge?”

She shook her head and laughed, leaning toward him to brush her hand along his cut.

“Babe, I’ve spent a night or two in there myself,” she replied, winking. “I think you were off with the Marines or something.”

“You mean you were with someone else while I was gone?” he asked, clutching a hand to his heart, pretending to be offended. She burst out laughing.

“You know me. I’ll stand by my man so long as he’s in the room and has a pile of cash.”

Horse laughed with her, loving her honesty. Being with Serena was comfortable, no question. A part of him wished he could care about her the way he did about Marie. They would’ve been a good pair, and she sure as shit knew her way around the club. Intimately. Yeah, that wouldn’t work, he decided. Someone took her as property the other old ladies would probably kill her.

Or she’d kill them, he decided, eyeing the long, red talons she called fingernails.

“What’s the look for?” she asked, arching a brow.

“Just wondering who’d win if you got into it with the old ladies,” he answered. “I’m not sure.”

She burst out laughing so hard that she snorted beer out her nose, which made her laugh more. That’s what he loved about Serena—whatever she did, she did it openly and without any pretense. He took the glass from her, looking around to find something to help her clean up. There was an old sweatshirt tucked into the end of the couch, so he snagged it and leaned toward her, helping to wipe off her chest and lap. Serena didn’t help, giggling and slapping at him.

“You’re just trying to cop a feel, you dirty bastard!” she exclaimed. He grinned at her.

“Yeah, you know me. Always looking for my next lay.”

Then a voice cut through his laughter and it was his turn to choke.

“I can see why you t-t-t-told me to wait upst-t-t-t-tairs.”

Horse turned his head to see Marie standing behind the couch, wrapped in a blanket, face pale and teeth chattering.

“Well, shit,” he muttered. Serena looked between them, eyes wide.

“I take it this is the old lady?”