A Leap in the Dark (Assassins of Youth MC Book 2) (7 page)

“For sure. But sometimes, no amount of martial arts or shooting lessons will make a good outlaw. And I need one tomorrow. Someone with proven grit using firearms in a stressful situation. Like you, coming to the aid of your men. And I heard you used to be proficient as a stickup man.”

“It’s not my favorite thing in the world. I only use it if I feel someone’s safety is being threatened.”

“Exactly. I don’t expect that’ll happen tomorrow. I just need someone to deliver a load inside Cornucopia. We had a deal with Allred Chiles and we’re continuing it with Parley Pipkin and the new heir apparent to the throne, a guy named Verlan Turley. You know him?”

“Pipkin was always Chiles’ right-hand man, but this Turley must’ve been after my time.”

“There’s been a huge power play up there since Chiles left a void, as you can imagine.”

“And the void was left by…” I trailed off, waiting for Gideon to finish my sentence.

His reply was sharp and swift. “An ATF agent who saved the asses of myself and my old lady. Now
that
guy was fast with a weapon, and he knew how to use it. It might not happen that often, but when it does, you need a guy who’s prepared.”

“And you can’t do it?”

Gideon sighed. “I’m dealing with some first wives who want to claim the bodies of their husbands out at my mine.”

“What—”

“Don’t ask. Can you do it?”

“Drive a truck? Make a delivery while armed? Sure. Just tell me how to get in, who to see, all that shit.”

Gideon bro-hugged it out with me, thumping me on the back once. “Good man. I’ve got to take this,” he said, indicating his phone. He went out front to join the realtor.

With hands entwined behind my back, I walked the floorboards like a proper owner. It felt good to be branching out, doing something new. High windows would let in light without allowing anyone to see in or out. Just some new sheetrock and paint and the basic shell of the space would be done. Gideon knew more than me about plumbing and foundations, and he assured me the whole space was solid.

Just to be sure, I went into the back and checked the sinks and toilets. Everything ran smoothly with no sign of rust. No signs of dry rot or leaky roof, and the window was well sealed. I was just exiting the bathroom when a sinister shadow moved in the hallway, someone wearing a ten gallon hat. Not knowing where the light switch was, I was stupidly feeling along the wall when the fat silhouette pressed in on me.

“Who’s that?” I barked, holding my forearm in front of my face as I circled around the form.

“Well, well.” I recognized the smarmy, hayseed voice right off.
Ladell Pratt.
“Last time I saw you I had my mouth around your sweet slave prick. Now you’re trying to branch out into
my
town? My, my. You must be looking forward to all kinds of cocksucking to get your business shipshape.”

I may have been in “his” town, but the twisted fundy had gotten on my last nerve. All the rage that had propelled me down to Avalanche in the first place surged through my cells. Before I knew it, my fist landed a sharp right cross to the twatwaffle’s alcoholic nose. He went spinning down the hallway toward the back storage area. Only the corner of the hallway prevented him from crashing into the storage shelves. He stood propped in the corner like a zombie, arms out stiffly in front of himself.

“Assault,” Pratt called weakly.

I advanced on him, grabbing him by his stupid shirtfront. I rattled him so energetically his head bounced against the wall on a rubbery neck. “I’ll give
you
fucking assault, you toolbag,” I growled. “You get the fuck out of
my
shop. You might be able to bully around thirteen-year-old boys but now we’re on an even footing.”

He spat with each word he spoke. Looked like there was blood in his spittle. “Maybe we don’t want any of you and your fucking
Lost Boys
living in Avalanche.”

“What’re you gonna fucking do about it?” His shirt in hand, I whipped him to the front of the hallway. Tossing him into the big long room, he spun on his ass, his face redder than ever. His hat came off, and I stomped an angry boot down on it, smashing the crown. I tossed it like a Frisbee onto his fat stomach and snarled, “The Lost Boys are in good with the Assassins of Youth now. There’s a new game in town.”

Pratt struggled to stand without assistance. “Oh yeah? You’ll be singing a different tune, you two-bit hustler, once the town council finds out what you do for a living in Bountiful. Profiting off the filth and downfall of your fellow men.”

Something struck me, but I didn’t have time to ponder it. “Well you were fucking
soliciting
my house and getting your rocks off, Pratt, so I’d say that makes us even. Wouldn’t want your million-year-old town council to find out about
that
, would you?”

He was on his feet, arms twirling like a ballerina. A very beefy, lumpy, uncoordinated ballerina. “Who are they gonna believe, Rockwell? Me or some uneducated ass peddler? Besides. I think I’ll be getting me some of that long, juicy cock every day from here on in. Don’t forget. I’m your master.”

“Don’t count on it, pervert. The sight of you makes me ill. Now get the fuck out of my establishment.”

He took a few wobbly steps toward me. He held his smashed hat like a discus thrower. “Oh, I’m counting on it, slave. I’m fucking counting on swallowing your meaty sword a few dozen more times before you cry uncle. Because if you don’t, I’m going to make sure Deloy Pingree doesn’t see the inside of that dental school.”

And he reached between my legs and gave my cock a squeeze.

I think I was in such shock, I did nothing. The overwhelming thought was
how did he find out about Deloy’s dental school?
Then Gideon came in—there was still a little bell attached to the door, old-time style—and he gave the exiting mayor a giant shoulder bump. The mayor crashed into the doorjamb and the two men growled at each other, but soon the pervert was toddling on his way, slamming on his hat that now resembled a boater. I stood speechless when he hopped on what looked like a hoverboard and wheeled off down the sidewalk.

“What the fuck was
that
idiot doing in here?”

I figured it was best to be honest. I had done nothing wrong. “He came to threaten me about my business. Said I’d never get it off the ground unless I let him suck my wiener.”

“Fuck
that
!” spewed Gideon. “You know, that guy’s been trying to run this town like a fucking dictator for years. The fucking town council has the same seven members that existed when it was formed in 1985, can you fucking believe it? They claim it’s evidence of everyone’s satisfaction! Well, you know what? We’re gonna have a sit-down soon and choose our
own
fucking candidate.”

“That’s actually a good idea. Sounds like you’ve got a lot of people coming around to your way of thinking.”

“Damn straight we do! Levon, we don’t give a shit that you run a whorehouse in Bountiful. You think we’re shining examples of so-called upstanding morality? No, but if those fucking polygs are any example of upstanding, we don’t want it.”

I sneered. “They’re the worst examples of hypocrites. That guy beat me within an inch of my life, then comes up to Bountiful to blow me.”

Gideon sputtered with indignation. And I hadn’t even told him about the threat to Deloy. “That’s it. That’s fucking it. I’m scheduling a sit-down—sorry you can’t come, brother, but that’s how it is—to decide who our candidate will be. Elections were in November but primaries are in June. We need someone with a clean background, so that rules out most of us. I’m sorry all this shit is happening to you, man. Makes Avalanche look like a pathetic, twisted place. And that’s the last image we want to project. Listen, I’ve got to get up to the Altar of Sacrifice Mine.”

I frowned. “But it’s dark. Don’t you close it down at night?”

“Yeah. But Dust Bunny just called. He’s got two unclaimed, unidentified bodies up there. I’m bringing Dingo, as one of the most recent apostates, to see if he can’t ID the decrepit things. It’s the story of a biker’s life, man. I’ve got to run. But get with Linda here if you think you want this space for your studio.”

I didn’t offer Deloy’s services, as a recent Cornucopia apostate. If Ladell Pratt was really going to go after Deloy, expose him and smear his name into the mud, the poor kid was already looking forward to enough crap. He didn’t need to look into the caved-in mummy’s face of yet another guy who used to beat him up or run him out of town on a rail. I didn’t even know what the bodies were from. A mining accident, I assumed.

I could’ve turned tail and run. I could’ve gone back to my safe house in Bountiful, high above the city. But the more I thought about Ladell Pratt’s threats, the more determined I was to join Gideon in taking him down.

Flannery O’Connor wrote that people don’t realize the cost of religion. They think belief is a giant electric blanket, when it’s really the cross to bear. That’s been my mantra for fifteen years now, and Ladell Pratt was just proving it to me. I believed he’d really take down an innocent, idealistic guy like Deloy Pingree just to exert his superiority over us. It’s much harder to have faith in moments like that than it is to throw up your hands and declare yourself an atheist. To make a leap of faith in the dark means we have to work in a realm of complete doubt and skepticism. We just need to plow ahead, not knowing.

I was a rough and tumble asshole who could be hard as flint when it came to business dealings. I wasn’t going to let some abusive, roly-poly lush scare me out of town. If Gideon’s man won the primaries next summer, we’d be fighting a downhill battle. In the meantime, I wasn’t caving. I’d already sent two Lost Boys to Brigham Young University with profits from Liberty Temple. I was a businessman in my own right back in Bountiful. I could always tell anyone who was curious that our business was strictly an escort and stripper service.

Women liked that sort of thing, I’d found. Maybe I could get all the polyg wives secretly on my side.

I wasn’t worried.

OAKLYN

“D
id he wear
pajamas? Did you see him walking around…naked?”

I brushed off my sister with a superior air. “Of
course
he didn’t wear pajamas! He’s a bad to the bone kind of guy. And I took the master bedroom, so I did see him stumbling to the main bathroom around six in the morning while I made coffee.”

“So? What did he wear?” You’d think Mahalia didn’t have her own banging hot old man to rock her to sleep at night. She was absolutely voracious.

“He had on those boxer briefs type of underwear. You know what I mean.”

Mahalia’s eyes were shining. “Yeah. The kind that plumps up their giant package.”

I slapped her in mock shock, looking around The High Dive to make sure no one heard her. “Mahalia! But yeah. I saw a glimpse of a package.”

“Speaking of stumbling, have you heard from Giovanni since you hung up on him?”

I shook my head and looked at my gin and tonic. Mahalia had a soda water. “No. No doubt he’s taking advantage of my absence to go gamboling around Provo having a massive meth binge.”

“I don’t understand drug addiction. Giovanni is so
handsome
.” As if someone’s looks would prevent them from falling prey to a drug.

“It’s complicated. I think some of it’s genetic. But also, Giovanni’s dad is a partier. That’s part of his job as a book publisher, showing people a good time, taking them out.”

Mahalia looked blank. “But Giovanni isn’t a publisher, right? He’s not following in his dad’s footsteps.”

“Right. He just remodels houses that his dad buys for him. When he can manage to get out of bed. Hey, listen. I just went by that Avalanche Urgent Care again to talk to the nurse practitioner there. She said she’s going out on maternity leave soon.” I gave Mahalia a coy look, waiting for her to pick up on the meaning, but she didn’t. I sighed. “I might fill in for her.”

Now
there
was the surprised face I’d been looking for. “
Oaklyn!
Get
out!
” Just as swiftly, though, her face fell. “What about your regular job in Provo with Doctor—”

“Doctor Wise. Well, I was thinking of quitting.”

“Quitting? You mean moving here?”

“Sure. Why not? I have nothing holding me back in Provo, but here I have you. And your Save Our Baby Brides, which is going to need my medical expertise. You’ve got that sister-wife Emersyn you said wanted to escape Cornucopia.”

“And her three kids.”

“Yeah. It makes sense for me to be close by. I miss you, Mahalia. And you’ve got to admit this is one stunning place of beauty. I look out my bedroom window and I feel like Moses is going to be illuminated in a beam of light.”

“Oaklyn! You’re getting all religious on me.”

“That’s about the extent of the religion you’ll hear from me. It’s regarding nature, which I feel is the kingdom of God on earth.”

Mahalia nodded. “I’ll buy that. Gideon will let you stay as long as you like. And then you can mother that sweet Deloy.”

I grinned. “That’s part of the plan.” My phone buzzed. The number looked familiar, but I couldn’t place it. “Hello?”