Beast (A Righteous Outlaws Novel #4) (The Righteous Outlaws) (8 page)

C
ash found
a new supplier who was based just an hour west of us, but needed a face to face meeting to set things into motion. He came down with some sort of stomach bug, and I told him it was from sampling all that damn wedding cake, so I volunteered to go. He insisted Hudson tag along, since shit had been escalating with Gordita’s Army. He figured having someone riding with me was a good idea even though I usually preferred to do shit on my own.

Hudson was easy, though. He didn’t want to tell me about every girl he fucked in the past decade, or insist we stop off at some bar to pick up some locals. He pretty much stuck with the plan from beginning to end, and didn’t say much. So, if anyone had to come along, Hudson would’ve been my choice, and I had a feeling Cash knew that.

We pulled off the highway, and went toward the address Cash had given me. It was a well-developed area with strip malls every few feet and random apartment buildings wedged in between. We continued until all the signs were no longer in English, but what I assumed was Korean.

The man we were meeting with went by Kwon. He was the second in command of one of the newest, and soon to be largest, drug-smuggling operations on the west coast. Cash discussed getting out of the drug business with us, and in time we would, but for now we just wanted to get to Kwon before Gordita’s Army or Montamos did. The last thing we needed right now was for those pricks to gain more alliances.

I pulled my bike into the back lot of a restaurant, and Hudson followed, parking next to a Ferrari that cost more than most people’s yearly salary. Once upon a time, shit like that impressed me. I’d get a hard on at the sight of something like that, but that shit didn’t do anything for me anymore. After everything I’d seen, the suffering, the loss, the bloodshed, a beautiful car seemed pointless.

The war affected everyone differently. As soon as Riggs recovered, he spent every penny he made while oversees on a down payment for a car just like that one. He told me almost losing his life put things in perspective. We might not be here tomorrow, so why not enjoy life? It was the last thing he ever said to me. Three weeks later, he wrapped his car around a telephone pole going a hundred and ten miles per hour. At least he got those three weeks.

After everything we had been through… surviving that explosion, living to tell about it, and he died anyway. The only thing that made it okay for me was knowing he died doing what he loved, opposed to doing what I knew deep down he hated.

“Ready?” Hudson said.

I grunted, and started walking toward the back door where we were told to enter. Riggs was still front and center in my mind, and I tried to force him away. The thing about the past is, as soon as you let those memories seep back in, they held on with an iron fist, refusing to be pushed out of sight.

The blue-eyed bastard was just as stubborn in my head as he was in life. In life, I could give him a good hit to the shoulder, and get him to knock it the fuck off, but in my mind I had no control of him or the memories. We reached the door and I hesitated, trying to get my shit together. I closed my eyes, and focused on the task at hand. When I opened my eyes, Riggs was finally gone. Thank god.

“You loaded?” I asked Hudson, realizing I probably should have asked that before we even left the garage.

He patted his cut with a smile. “Of course. I hacked into the local police files, checked Kwon out, then went a little farther. I know what we’re dealing with, and trust me when I say, we don’t want to get on their bad side. Montamos are fucking angels compared to Kwon and his men.”

I nodded and pushed in to the building. My gun sat on the inside of my cut, and was there in case I needed it. Though, truth be told, I didn’t even need my gun. I was highly trained and could kill someone in a dozen different ways without a single weapon. It would just take a second longer, though, and, in some situations, seconds were the difference between life and death.

We moved through a kitchen that smelled like a fishing boat on a hot humid day, and made our way toward the front. A few chefs stood behind a table, preparing food and giving us a curious stare as we walked by. One chef placed a live fish on the table and, as it flopped around, the chef beat it with a stick until it stopped moving.

“The sign isn’t kidding when it says fresh,” Hudson said, as we left the kitchen behind us.

The smell lingered in my nose just like the smell of the Humvee burning on the side of the road. I only hoped that this scent wouldn’t linger for weeks.

The restaurant was dimly lit with black walls that blended into black wooden booths. Cream-colored cushions lined the booths, as well as the dark wood chairs that were arranged around matching tables. A divider wall made up of shelves held different shapes, sizes and color vases. Black and orange pendant lights hung in groups of threes from the ceiling.

“Who are you?” A man with dark hair and a thick accent asked. He stood in front of us with his hand on the pocket of his black tailored suit.

“I’m Beast, and this is Hudson, Cash sent us.”

“Where’s Cash? He told me I’d be meeting with him.”

“Sick.”

He took a moment to look us over before nodding his head toward a booth. I let Hudson slide in first. I didn’t like to be trapped in the middle of anything. I’d rather be free of any and all restrictions.

I made a quick scan of the restaurant, and noticed two big guys off in the corner. Both looked like they were packing. I knew, if I had to, I could easily take both. I wouldn’t mind if it came to that. I hadn’t been in any sort of confrontation since I blew that guy’s head off down at the docks.

When we sat down, he reached his hand out to me. “Kwon.” I shook his hand then he shook Hudson’s. “Now that the introductions are out of the way, it’s time to talk business.”

“Those your babysitters?” I asked, tilting my head toward the two bodyguards.

“I don’t trust many people. I like to be protected and prepared. I’m sure you can understand that.”

I gave him nod to let him know I understood it and respected it.

“Good, now back to business. Cash said you’re looking for a new supplier. Someone closer than who you’re currently dealing with.”

Our supplier was in Florida, and it was a bitch getting shipments. Dice used to volunteer to go, since his Mom lived there and he could get her off his case by visiting when making the trip. With him gone, it was hard to find someone willing to drive all those miles.

“Yes and reliable. We don’t play fucking games.”

“Neither do I. Games don’t belong in business.”

“We can agree with that,” Hudson said, running a hand over his trimmed beard.

“We don’t want shit either. We only deal with quality.” I wasn’t about to make a deal, only to find out we were getting screwed in the end. I wanted everything out on the fucking table before any deals were made.

“That’s all I have.”

I stared at Kwon as he spoke, looking for telltale signs of a lie. I held his gaze to make sure he wasn’t avoiding eye contact. Took notice of his hands to make sure they didn’t touch his throat or behind his ears. I made sure his emotional appearance wasn’t delayed from what he was saying.

When I was convinced he was telling the truth, I nodded and moved the conversation on to the next steps.

“When do we pick up?”

“We receive shipments the first Monday of every month. We need a couple days to sort through it. You can pick up that Thursday. If you don’t show, we’ll give it to someone else. We have money to be made and don’t have time to waste.”

“We’ll be here.”

“We take seventy-five percent of your profits.”

“Fuck that. Fifty,” I said, meeting his eyes with determination.

Kwon sat back and laughed as he ran a hand over the rings on his fingers. “Seventy.”

“Fifty-five.”

“Sixty-five.”

“Sixty, and we have a deal. Anything less, and you’re wasting my fucking time.” I kept my eyes locked on his. I was a pro at negotiations, and could sit here all fucking day if I had to. “Do we have a deal or not?”

“You drive a tough bargain.”

“No, I’m just not stupid.”

Kwon pointed at me and smiled. “I like you.”

“I’ll like you too, if you shake my fucking hand already.” I held my hand out across the table and waited. Finally, after thirty seconds too long, Kwon accepted the deal.

“We’ll see you the first Thursday of the month then,” Kwon said as he escorted us out through the kitchen. “Maybe you can come by sometime for dinner.”

“I wouldn’t eat that shit if you paid me.”

“Not a fan of seafood, I take it?”

“No, I prefer my food to be from the land.”

“You’re missing out.”

“Somehow, I doubt that.”

Kwon walked us to the door, and stood there, while we walked to our bikes.

“What do you think?” Hudson asked. “Think we can trust him?”

“For now.” I got on my bike and fastened my helmet, keeping my eye on Kwon. He stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest until we pulled out of the parking lot. He might have told us the truth, and I might have trusted his word, but if I learned anything in this life, it was that even those you trust could betray you.

A
fter hearing
Dad’s entire story from the beginning, I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about all that he had seen, and trying to remember some point in my childhood when he had come home looking like another man. There was no way he saw all of what he said, and did what he said he did, without changing. Without becoming somebody else. But, every memory I had of him was the same. Dad had always been even-keeled, kind and loving. Some days, he looked a little more worn down, but nothing that would tell me of the horrible atrocities he was a witness to.

I slipped into a pair of yoga pants and a sports bra, tied my hair back, and went out for a run. If I was ever going to sleep tonight, I would have to expend my energy and clear my mind. It was the only way, or I’d be a walking zombie tomorrow. As a cop who needed to be on her game at all times, that was not an option for me.

There was a chill in the air, and it was only a matter of time before I’d be pulling out the hoodies. For now, I enjoyed the crispness skating across my body as I set my pace. I had become familiar with this side of town in the days since I had moved back to Black Hills. It was an area that I didn’t see much of as a kid since there was no reason to. There was nothing on this side of town, except for houses and apartments.

I turned down Sycamore, feeling the familiar burn in my calves. I probably should have stretched first, but I was plagued with a tired mind that couldn’t seem to shut off. My heart rate kicked up, and I pushed harder in hopes to wear my body out.

The area was peaceful, and the only sound came from my feet smacking the pavement. I glanced around as I went. Call it paranoia or whatever, but being in my line of business, witnessing the horrors that I had, it was smart to be constantly aware. Women joggers were a target for male predators. I couldn’t even count how many cases I had come across in my years on the force. An innocent jog could turn deadly in a matter of seconds.

I moved at a good speed now, and did my best to let my thoughts fade away. Unfortunately, as Dad’s stories left my mind, memories of the day Chris was murdered crept in. I didn’t talk about it because, when I did, that day haunted my thoughts just like they did for months after his death. It was like the day was on a movie reel, unwinding in my mind, replaying every single moment that lead up to the final one. Every scenario of what I could have done haunted me and reminded me that it was all my fault.

I might not have been the one who pulled the trigger, but I should have been able to stop it. Push Chris out of the way. Save him just as I knew he would have saved me. Now, he’ll never know his daughter. He’ll never meet her. Never be able to teach her to ride a bike or to swim. He won’t be there on her first day of kindergarten, or when she graduates. He won’t be there to walk her down the aisle and give her away. I took that chance away from him by getting distracted. I took him away from his little girl.

Footsteps sounded behind me, snapping me out of the past, and bringing me back to reality. It was one o’clock in the morning, and I doubted whoever was coming up behind me was out for a jog. I was the only idiot that ran in the middle of the night.

I picked up my pace, scanning my surroundings, and trying to come up with a plan. I didn’t have my gun with me, thinking it wasn’t necessary. I should have listened to Dad all those times when he insisted I carry pepper spray with me.

Panic rose inside of me, thinking back to the docks and to what Beast said.
That guy would have killed you.
He didn’t because Beast killed him, but what if someone in Gordita’s Army found out I was involved in the killing? What if they were after me?

I pushed the panic down. I was a cop, for crying out loud. I didn’t panic. I kept a straight head in tense situations because I was trained to do so. I knew how to fight. I didn’t need a gun or pepper spray. And if this were someone from Gordita’s Army they would have taken the shot already.

This was someone who I could take. Who I could handle without a weapon. At the corner, I made my move, pivoting on my feet and ready to lunge. I stopped mid-lunge when my eyes locked with a dark stare that only belonged to one person.

“Beast! What the fuck?” I grabbed my chest and hunched over, trying to catch my breath when a tiny dog jumped on my leg. “Well, who are you, cutie?” I asked, scooping her up into my arms, and petting her head. She tried licking my hand as I pet her. “Is she yours?”

He nodded and I smiled, attempting to hold back a laugh. Someone as big as him with a dog as little and as frou frou as this was kind of hilarious.

“Not by choice,” he growled, and I finally looked away from the dog, noticing he was shirtless. His clothes couldn’t hide his size, but strip away the shirt and you could see every single line cutting hard across his abs. The massive ridges of his arms and, with a glance down past his shorts, I could just make out the strong muscles of his legs. Every inch of him was sculpted solid rock.

My eyes swept over his many tattoos, but the one that stood out to me most was the American flag on his arm. There was writing beneath it, but I couldn’t make it out in the dark, and I didn’t want to look like I was checking him out.

I tore my eyes away from his arm, and brought them to his dark stare. “Mind telling me why you’re following me in the middle of the night?”

“I wasn’t.”

My eyebrow arched at his response. “Really? Then, how do you explain being here at the same time as me. Coincidence?”

“Yes. Your eye looks better.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I answered your question.”

“And I don’t buy it. Not for a second.”

“Well, you should because it’s the God’s honest truth.”

The dog licked my cheek, and then pushed her paw against it. “You like attention, don’t you…What’s its name?”

“Beauty.”

Everything I thought I knew about Beast suddenly went out the window. I stood there staring at him, trying to figure out this complicated man. He killed someone in cold blood right in front of me, yet he had a Yorkie that weighed no more than five pounds, and was named Beauty no less. “You’re kidding?”

“Do I look like I kid?”

That obviously wasn’t a trick question since there was only one acceptable answer. No, he didn’t. Not in the least.

“She came with the name,” he offered, and I finally felt like we were getting somewhere. “Which is why Aubree insisted she come home with me.”

“Aubree?” I didn’t mean to sound so disappointed when I said her name, but it was too late. It already came out.

“Jealous?”

“Not in the least. I’m just surprised a girl can put up with your ass.”

“She’s not my girl.”

“Oh.”

“Is that relief I hear?”

“In your dreams.”

“So, where were you that this Aubree insisted you take this cutie?” I held Beauty up and gave her a kiss on the snout before placing her back on the ground. She immediately rolled to her back, and put her legs in the air, wiggling around to get my attention. I bent down and ran a hand over her stomach. “She really loves attention.”

“Tell me about it,” Beast mumbled. “I’m sure you’ve heard of The Hill Foundation’s Paws for a Cause.”

“I remember seeing fliers for it when I came home for a visit last year.”

“It’s a bi-yearly event the club runs. Our way to prove to the good citizens of Black Hills that we’re puppy-loving, good-natured boys.”

“Your way of trying to get them off your backs, in other words.”

“Pretty much.”

“And Beauty happened to be one of the pups up for adoption.”

“Yes, and the fucking rat wouldn’t stop following me.”

“Aww she’s not a rat,” I said and scooped her back into my arms, which excited her. She jumped from my hands, and attacked my face with her tongue. A laugh rumbled up my throat as I tried to get her under control.

“Beauty!” Beast said and she stopped, turning to look at him with her big puppy dog eyes. “Behave.”

I watched as his hard stare softened beneath the stare of a five-pound pup, and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face.

“What are you smiling at?”

“You.”

“Why?”

I shrugged. “It’s just…unexpected I guess.”

“What? A biker in an MC can’t have a dog?”

“Of course they can, but make that dog a cute little Yorkie, who clearly has your number, then it’s a different story.”

He grunted at me in response, and that was more satisfying than any words he could have responded with.

“So, back to you being here.”

“You still don’t believe me?”

“No.” When he saw my black eye, he went into over protective psycho mode. I contributed it to the fact that we went through a pretty crazy experience together that somehow made us closer than we ever needed to be. But now, as all these things fell into place, it became a little suspect.

“Would you believe me if I told you I live a few blocks over?”

“We live in the same neighborhood?”

“Apparently.”

How the heck did I not know that? Wait. I looked through his records and saw his address. “The address on file for you at the station is across town.”

“Looking into me, huh?”

“I looked into all the Outlaws.”

“Sure you did.” He tilted his head at me, a knowing smirk on his lips that I was tempted to smack off, but his lips flattened into a straight line on their own. “That was my address five years ago when I got arrested. I moved. Bought a house over on Pine.”

“Bought a house. The drug business must be going well.”

“Excuse me?”

“Sorry, that was uncalled for. I tend to speak before I think. I also am extremely sarcastic, which my mother can’t seem to grasp after twenty-nine years.” I cut myself off, having no idea why I was babbling.

“Don’t apologize.”

“Okay, then I take it back.”

“Good.”

Beauty started squirming, and I placed her back on the ground. She ran to the edge of the road, and sniffed along the curb. “So, you just happened to be out for a run when I was?”

“Yes,” he said with a hint of a laugh. “I know you don’t believe me, but this is a normal thing for me. I’m sure this won’t be the last time we bump into each other. Though you really shouldn’t be running by yourself in the middle of the night.”

“Oh, but it’s okay for you?”

“I can handle myself.”

“And I can handle myself as well, thank you very much. So, you can keep your sexist remarks to yourself because I don’t want to hear them.”

“Like you handled that drunken asshole?”

“Are you going to hold that against me for the rest of my life? It wasn’t even my fault.”

“No, it was your fuckhead of a partner’s fault.”

“Seriously, why do you care?” I asked, wanting to know what made him tick. Wanting to see if he’d give me more than a shrug of his shoulder, or a dismissive few words.

“I don’t like seeing girls get hurt, that’s all.”

“Why?” There had to be a deeper reason that made him feel so strongly on the subject. Did he have a sister maybe? A girlfriend in the past who was abused by someone else? I knew I was digging much further than I needed to be, but Chris was right. I liked to find out what motivated people to do what they did. Everybody had a story and, nine times out of ten, that story was the reason they were the way they were. If I could figure out Beast’s story, I could figure out him.

“I just don’t, that’s all.” It clearly wasn’t going to be tonight, but that was okay. I was here to stay, and dealing with the Outlaws was going to be an ongoing thing, so I had all the time in the world to start piecing the puzzle that was Beast together. “Maybe we should start moving. Don’t want to look suspicious.”

“How would we…” I stopped myself, realizing he was right. Two people standing in the middle of the road in the middle of the night would definitely cause concern for the homeowners on this block. “Feel like jogging?”

“Always,” he said.

Which, for me, made him even more interesting. Most of the club members were smokers or heavy drinkers. Their nighttime activities wouldn’t include a run around the neighborhood. It seemed completely out of character for a motorcycle club member. Then again, if I learned anything in my life, it was to not judge a book by its cover. It could cost you an investigation or could even be a fatal mistake. Never assume you knew someone before you actually knew them.

“Beauty, let’s go,” Beast called out to the little dog, who trotted over to his feet and landed belly up on his sneakers. “Really?” he groaned.

“What’s the matter?”

“She loves to come with me, but, after the first few blocks, she prefers to be carried.”

“Spoiled little thing, isn’t she?”

He grunted, and then scooped Beauty into his arms. She was a small dog to begin with, but against Beast’s big frame, she was absolutely teeny tiny.

He started jogging without warning, and it took a minute for me to catch up. I was just about to fall into step with him when we passed under a streetlight. The light caught his backside, and I noticed a massive tattoo covering almost his entire back. In large script, the words Semper Fidelis curved around a globe with a bald eagle perched on top and an anchor under the globe. Beneath the picture in straight, bold font, was the letters USMC.

United States Marine Corps… Beast was a marine? Suddenly, the comment he made to me about war became clear. He wasn’t just making a reference. He was speaking from experience. He, at some point in his life, was a marine who served our country. How did someone like that turn to a life of crime?

He turned back and caught my eye. “You coming?” he asked.

I nodded and fell into step with him. I let him set the pace since he was holding extra cargo, even if Beauty did weigh practically nothing. My mind was stuck on the tattoo. A few more chapters just got added to Beast’s story and now, more than ever, I wanted to unveil them.

“So, what gets you out running so late at night?” he asked, and I let the million questions running through my head take a backseat. He was talking, asking questions. Maybe if I answered truthfully, we would talk more and I could have an opening to ask about his tattoo.