Loving The Biker (MC Biker Romance) (6 page)

Seven

Terin

I quickly followed Chips out of the building.

“Freeze!” I yelled, wishing I still had my gun.

Ignoring me, he kept running.

I tried chasing him down the alley, but unfortunately, my early morning shoe choice and the fact that his legs were much longer than mine, made it impossible to catch up. Out of breath, I stopped and walked back to the deli, both my feet and my ego sore. I just knew the fact that I’d blundered the arrest and lost my gun was going to make me the laughing stock of the office. I’d never hear the end of it, especially since I was a woman. The only thing I had going for me was that I could easily ID the three men from the Devil’s Rangers and I wouldn’t rest until I had Chips, Gomer, and Ronnie in handcuffs.      

By the time I returned to the deli, backup had arrived but both the stranger and Gomer were gone. I reported what happened to the other officers on the scene and a few minutes later, two familiar faces walked in. Walters and Bronson.

Bronson smirked. “What’s going on O’Brien? You scare everyone out of the place?”

I explained what had happened.

“Devil’s Rangers, huh?” said Walters. He looked at Bronson. “Let’s put out an APB for those three assholes.

“Okay,” he replied, making notes.

Walters turned back to me. “So, Ronnie left with Pete. What was the make and model of his vehicle?”

“It was a newer white, Toyota Camry. I memorized the license plate,” I said, giving it to him.

“Good. What about the other guy? You know who he was?” asked Walters.

“I think it might have been Cole Johnson,” I replied, remembering the conversation. “Chips mentioned that he’d screwed them over.”

“I’m sure a lot of people have screwed those dirt bags over, and vice-versa. Was he wearing a cut?” he asked.

I sighed. “I couldn’t tell. He had on a black leather jacket. No patches.”

“What did he look like?”

The word ‘handsome’ popped into my head and almost escaped my lips. “He, um, he was about six foot two, black hair cropped, blue eyes, darker complexion… possibly Italian or Greek decent,” I replied.

“Any tattoos or piercings noticeable?”

“Nothing on his face. No piercings that I could see. Like I said, he was wearing a jacket.”

“Your description sounds like it could be him,” said Pen, who just walked into the deli and was now standing next to us.

“It does, although we can’t know for sure until O’Brien ID’s him,” agreed Walters. “We’ll round him up too and get a statement. Let’s pay a little visit to the Gold Viper’s clubhouse.”

“You want me with?” I asked. “Make sure it’s the right guy?”

He sighed. “You may as well. I doubt we can have you going undercover now anyway. If it wasn’t Cole, it’s going to be someone who associates with one of the clubs.”

“True. Sorry,” I replied.

“It’s not your fault, O’Brien. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he replied.

“Or… maybe she was in the right place at the right time, especially if Pete ends up dead,” said Pen.

“Old Pete’s lucky,” he answered. “Once Ronnie finds out you’re still alive, they’re going to let him go. Money or not.”

I nodded.

Walter’s phone rang. When he answered it, Pen asked how I was doing.

“Much better if I hadn’t made such a rookie move,” I replied, smiling grimly. “I should have called for backup right away.”

He shrugged. “Probably. At least you walked out of the situation alive. Normally they don’t leave witnesses.”

“And they wouldn’t have, if not for Cole,” I said. “I’m surprised he did what he did and helped me.”

“Don’t be. Cole Johnson has a sister and from what I hear, a soft spot for women,” he replied. “Especially pretty ones.”

I smiled. “Even so, he’s still a member of the Gold Vipers and from the files that I’ve been reading, they are not exactly altar boys.”

He chuckled. “That’s true. These guys are dangerous and think they’re above the law. Slammer certainly did and sure as hell Tank feels the same way. When it comes to women and children, however, they won’t hesitate to lend a helping hand. Even when the one needing assistance isn’t part of their club family.”

“Like modern day Robin Hoods, in other words?” I asked, amused. “Helping damsels in distress and stealing from the rich… only filling their pockets instead of the poor’s?”

“That’s probably how some of them see it,” he replied.

“Is that what they told you?” I asked.

“No. My niece did and believe me, she knows them pretty well.”

I stared at him in confusion. “Your niece?”

He nodded and sighed. “My sister’s kid. Yes. We don’t speak much anymore, but she knows most of them pretty well.”

Something about the expression on his face told me that he was less than thrilled about the idea.

“So, how does she know them?”

“She’s basically a Gold Viper roadie,” he said with a sour expression.

The term “Club whore” came to my mind. “Oh.”

“You’ll probably meet her eventually. She goes by the name of Cheeks. She also bartends at Griffin’s.”

“Oh,” I repeated, not exactly sure how to respond.

“Her real name is Maddy. My sister died when Maddy was eighteen and she started hanging out with some of the club members. Eventually, she got to be really good friends with Tank and Raptor.”

“Hmm… What did she tell you about them?”

“Not much. She mentioned that they always treated her with respect and she felt at home with them.” He smiled humorlessly. “I tell you one thing, though, my sister Julia must have turned over in her grave when Maddy hooked up with that lot. Julia was a good, church-going woman. Very strict, though. Maybe even too strict at times. Maddy was very sheltered and wasn’t even allowed to date. Probably why she went so man crazy after her mother died. Decided to sow her oats and make up for lost time.”

“You said she’s happy though?”

“Yeah. As far as I know, she’s not into drugs and has been dating a new guy, who isn’t a Gold Viper. I guess that’s something.”

I nodded.

Walters walked back over to us, a thoughtful expression on his face. “The department just received an anonymous tip, in regards to the vehicle used during Slammer’s shooting.”

Up until now, the only thing we knew was that it was green, an older model van, and possibly a Chevy. Two women had noticed it parked and idling across the street from the credit union, near the time of the shooting. They’d also witnessed a young woman wearing a hoodie and dark sunglasses entering the bank. Unfortunately, the video footage shot inside of the building hadn’t given much details on the assailant, other than it was definitely a petite female with possibly brown or black hair.

“So, what did you find out?” I asked

“Get ready for a shocker… Someone called, about ten minutes ago, claiming that the shooter was Raina Davis, and the driver of the van was her brother, Cole Johnson.”

Eight

Cole

I drove back to the clubhouse and called Raina to let her know that I wouldn’t be able to meet her.

“Why?”

“Some club business.”

She let out a frustrated sigh.

“Sorry, Raina. Tell Uncle Sal that I’ll visit him tomorrow.”

“What kind of club business, Cole?”

“Nothing you need to worry about,” I replied, knowing that Tank wouldn’t want me telling anyone anything. Least of all Raina. If he wanted her to know, he’d do it himself later. After I told him.

“Cole-”

“I gotta go,” I said, walking back toward Tank’s office. “Bye.”

I hung up before she could grill me anymore. Now that Raina was engaged to Tank, she was always trying to pry info from me. It was because she knew so little that I knew opening my big mouth would have been a mistake.

I knocked on Tank’s door.

“Come in,” he said.

When I entered his office, Tank was alone and staring at his laptop, wearing eyeglasses.

“I didn’t know you wore cheaters,” I said, sitting down in front of him.

He took them off and shoved them into his desk. “Only once in a while.”

“You see an eye doctor?” I asked.

“No. I’m sure it’s because I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep. What’s up?” he asked. “I thought you were on your way to see Sal?”

I told him what had happened at the deli.

“Good. They’re royally fucked now,” he replied, smiling.

I nodded. “Hopefully I’m not in too much trouble. She wanted me to stick around, but I hauled my ass out of there when I heard the sirens.”

He leaned back in his chair and sighed. “The cops will be showing up here. They’ll want to talk to you.”

“They couldn’t see my cut,” I replied, unzipping my leather jacket. “So, I doubt the woman even knew who I was.”

“Did either of those two idiots mention your name?”

I thought back. “I don’t think so.”

“Not that it’s a big deal. I’ve got nothing to hide. I just don’t like them coming into my clubhouse and snooping around.” He chewed on his lower lip. “Actually, why don’t you just go to them? They could use you to back up her story.”

I stared at him in surprise.

“Normally, I wouldn’t suggest it, but those dirt bags have it coming,” he explained. 

“Okay. If that’s what you want. I’ll leave right now,” I said, wondering if he was testing my loyalty to the club somehow.

“Good idea. Get it over with.  And Ice, don’t let them coerce you into giving any kind of Intel on
us
.”

“I’d never do that,” I said, a little hurt that he felt he needed to remind me. “Seriously, I want you to know that I’m committed to the club. In fact, I swear on my life, I’d
never
double-cross you.”

Tank smiled. “I believe you, brother, and I’m not worried that you’d do anything on purpose. I just know that once you’re downtown and getting grilled, they’ll try to put words into your mouth. Don’t let them.”

“I won’t,” I said firmly.

“Speaking of heat, what did you say her name was?”

“Terin O’Brien. Tell you one thing - she sure didn’t look like a cop,” I replied, thinking she was hotter than any I’d ever seen.

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s just say that if you saw her, you’d want to be frisked. She did a number on Chips though. Kicked him in the chin and he went down hard. It was pretty comical.”

Tank grunted. “Sounds like he got what he deserved. I wonder if she caught the fucker.”

“From the amount of sirens headed toward the deli, I’m sure someone got a hold of him.”

“Chips is a piece of shit,” said Tank, staring ahead. “He’s been to Griffin’s a few times. Once we had to kick him out because he started touching some of the girls and wouldn’t stop.”

“No surprise there,” I replied.

“Swear to God, the Devil’s Rangers must recruit their members directly from the neighborhood sex offender list. They’re all fucking deviants.” Tank’s smile fell and he gave me an apologetic look. “Shit. No offense.”

I chuckled. “None taken. Even I have to admit, most of them are fuck-nuts.”

“Lucky you left.”

“No shit. Unlucky I ever got involved with them. Worst thing I ever did.”

He shrugged. “You didn’t know what those guys were about.”

“Actually, I kind of did,” I said, feeling shitty. “I mean, I didn’t know everything. I just knew that they were one-percenters and liked the sound of it.”

“Let me tell you something – obviously, you can be a one-percenter and not be a degenerate. That’s the problem with those fuckers. They have no integrity and play dirty with other clubs. They’re nothing but pieces of shit and I hope that eventually, they’ll just fade away all together.”

“There aren’t too many chapters left,” I replied. “Maybe three?”

“That’s what I heard too. Anyway, their time is coming. After this, maybe even faster than we think.”

I nodded.

Tank looked at his watch. “You should get down to the station soon. I have a feeling you’re going to be there for a while.”

“What about church?” I said, checking the time.

“Looks like you’re going to miss it. There’s always next week.”

“Why was I invited?” I asked bluntly.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m a Prospect. Normally we’re not asked to be there for the weekly ones.”

He smiled. “Honestly, I wanted you to go over what you knew about the Devil’s Rangers. Not just who’s who, but what kind of deals they were working on and who they might have double-crossed lately.”

I nodded. “Sure. I can do that. They’ve made enemies, that’s for sure.”

“One of those enemies almost killed your nephew. I’d like to find out who.”

“Me, too. Believe me, I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out who they were.”

“They rode in on motorcycles?”

“Yeah. Sounded like Harley’s.”

“You couldn’t identify them by patches?”

“To be honest, I wasn’t around when it happened. I was taking a leak. I heard the commotion but didn’t see anything.”

“Why did you assume they were us?” he asked.

“Just like I said before, Ronnie told me. I had no reason to doubt him back then. And the way they talked about you and the club, it just seemed logical.”

“Hell, I could hear the praises now,” he said with a smirk. “What about your Ex? Patty? She must have seen the shooters.”

“After I found out that you weren’t the ones behind the attack, I tried talking to her about it but she couldn’t remember much. Just that they were bikers and looked scary.”

“She wouldn’t recognize any of them?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. To be honest, we got into this huge fight afterward and I haven’t seen her since.” She’d actually wanted to get back with me but I’d lost all respect and feelings for Patty. It wasn’t that I hated her for what she’d done, by showing up with my nephew at that party, which I probably should have. I pitied the fact that she was so insecure, especially since I’d never given her reason to be.

“Maybe I should talk to her,” said Tank, grabbing a piece of paper.

“You sure you want to do that?” I asked.

“If it will help find out who those assholes were, of course. Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt her.”

“I wasn’t worried about her, I was worried about you,” I joked. “She can be very stubborn and temperamental.”

He grinned. “Most women are. What’s her address?”

I gave it to him.

He wrote it down. “Where does she work?”

“Last I heard, she was waitressing at Rumors.”

“Okay. Good to know.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned back in the chair again. “No,” he said, staring off. “Something tell me it’s a bad idea. If Patty is still mad at you, she might be too pissed off to cooperate. I’ll bring Tail with me. He has a way of making women talk.”

“She’s a head-case, so tell him not to fuck her or she’ll be looking at wedding rings the next morning.”

He grinned. “Noted.”