Survivor's Remorse: Brothers of Ink and Steel (9 page)

“Nay,” Leo said.

“Nay,” Copper said quietly.

Fitz cast his vote. “Nay.”

“Nay,” Two-Tone, said.

“Nay,” added Tuck as they moved around the table.

“Motion is defeated,” Leo said.

“Vote it!” Ron snapped.

“I have to support my President,” Gigolo said. “Yea.”

“Yea,” Lucas said firmly.

“Nay,” came Duck’s vote.

Ron banged the gavel down so hard Leo thought the handle would break. “Give us the room.”

As soon as the door to the board room closed, Ron turned on Leo. “What is your fucking problem, Graves? Do you want to the gavel? Is that your game? You think you want to take me on? I will fuck you up so badly you will have two assholes!”

“You need to think about what you are doing, Ron. We can’t go at the cartel head on. They could kill every person in Vallecito if they wanted to, and we wouldn’t be able to stop them. You need to start thinking with your head and not your dick.”

“Turning into a pussy isn’t going to help the people of Vallecito either!”

“Our charter is to protect these people, not start a fucking war we can’t win! Can’t you see that? We need to see what the cartel does. Carlos isn’t even sure of his information. The last thing we need to do is bring them down on us by hitting them. What if Carlos is wrong? We would have started a war we can’t win. We
can’t
win! They have more guns, and more people willing to die using them than we do. All we can do is try to be more trouble than we are worth. That is what we have been doing. And it has worked. We don’t need to change now. You had a good plan ten years ago when you founded Lima 6. You need to stick to it.”

Ron stared at Leo, his eyes narrowed. “You’re trying to ease me out, aren’t you? All that goodie-goddamn-two-shoes shit you have been doing with your manners and community outreach bullshit. I never saw it coming, you little prick. Oh, they like you now… if there is a problem, go to Leo. He’ll take care of it. But when it comes time to make the tough choices, you’re nothing but a little pussy – afraid to take the fight to the enemy. When the shit hits the fan, you need the iron fist, not the velvet glove.”

“Believe what you want,” Leo said, his voice deadly calm. “But the club has spoken and you are bound by their decision. So the question is, are you going to man up and accept what the club has decided or are you going to tear Lima 6 apart?”

Ron stared at Leo a moment, teeth gritted in anger, then spun on his toe and stomped out.

***

“How’d it go?” Tuck asked when he and Two-Tone found Leo a moment later.

“It’s bad, Tuck. It’s real bad. He’s accepted the vote, but it has stuck in his craw. He accused me to trying to take over the gavel.”

“Are you?”

Leo glared at Tuck. “You should know better than that.”

“Just asking. You’ve been kicking pretty hard these last few months.”

“Do you think we should go head on against the cartel?”

“No,” Tuck admitted softly.

“So what was I supposed to do?”

“Just what you did, brother. Just what you did.”

CHAPTER NINE

Leo tried to mingle, but word spread fast about the fighting in the boardroom, and that put a damper on the party. Soon people started finding excuses to leave. A few expressed support, but the rank and file didn’t want to choose sides, and Leo couldn’t blame them.

After a few members left, Leo also made his goodbyes, claiming his knee was hurting and he wanted to get off his feet. He started home, but changed his mind and decided to stop in at
He’s Not Here.
It was starting to feel more like home than the clubhouse.

***

As soon as Jamie saw Leo walk in, she started pulling him a draft. “Where’s everyone else? And what the hell happened to you? You look you got the shit kicked out of you.”

Leo smiled as he sat down with a sigh and rubbed at his sore knee. “No. A little accident on my quad this morning. As far as the rest of Lima 6… let’s just say I’ve managed to piss just about everyone off.”

“Uh-oh. That doesn’t sound good. What happened?”

“We have a problem. Vallecito has a problem. The cartel… they’re tired of us interfering in their business. I heard from our contact that they are going to be sending us a message – a warning. After that, it’s going to get ugly.”

“What are you going to do?”

“That’s the problem. Ron and I ended up in a pissing contest today over what to do. He wanted to go straight at the cartel. I wanted to wait and see what they do. Our contact isn’t sure of his information and I didn’t want to start a war if we could avoid it.”

“Makes sense. I don’t see why anyone would object to that.”

“Well, there is the school of thought that says the best defense…”

“Is a strong offense. Yeah, I’ve heard that one,” Jamie said. “Seems like I also remember one about the nail that sticks up gets hammered down... or something like that.”

“Yeah. It’s also easier to defend a position if you are dug in.”

“So who won?”

“I did… if you can call it that. Jamie, I’m pulling the club apart and I don’t know what to do. If I go along with Ron, I’m afraid it’s going to get very ugly very quickly, but if I keep pushing against him, I’m going to destroy Lima 6.”

Jamie looked at the pain in Leo’s eyes and her heart went out to him, so much pain. “Hang tight a moment, okay?” she asked as she moved off to serve another customer.

As she pulled two beers, she watched Leo out of the corner of her eye as he picked the beer up and offered a small silent salute to someone unseen before taking a sip.

When she returned he hefted his beer again. “To William Boyles, your brother, the Marine. May the path he walks always slope downhill,” he said solemnly and took a sip.

Jamie was surprised at how hard Leo’s words hit her, and she had to wipe tears from her eyes. “Thank you, Leo. Thank you so much.”

“The honor was mine, Jamie.”

Jamie laid her hand on his and squeezed it gently, smiling at him as she fought her tears, then found a reason to step away for a moment so that she could gather herself.

***

Leo sat nursing his beer for the next several hours. Jamie would wander up and talk to him when she could, occasionally pulling him another. It was pleasant conversation and he felt a small measure of peace.

As they talked in short bursts between her waiting on other customers, he told her of the looming conflict. Jamie had lived in Vallecito de Grande her entire life and she remembered well the dark times before Lima 6 had arrived and started pushing the drug trade out.

“No idea what, or when, this warning will come?” she asked.

“None. That’s the problem.”

Jamie glanced at the clock over the bar. “Last call, people,” she said loudly. It was only nine forty-five, but traffic had dropped off considerably in the last hour and she had intended to close at ten today.

“I guess I should be going,” Leo said as he slid off the stool. Getting off the knee for several hours had made it feel a lot better.

“What? You don’t want to stay and help Bobi and me close up?” Jamie teased. “What if the cartel shows up? We’re just two helpless women. We might need a big strong man around to protect us.”

Leo snorted a laugh. “I’ve seen you with that shotgun. I would be more worried about the gunmen.” He paused a moment, thinking. “But sure. I can stick around if you want. I’ve pushed my share of brooms,” he said as he sat down again.

By ten-fifteen the last customer was leaving. “Bobi… you can go. Leo is going to stay and help me clean up,” Jamie said.

“Are you sure?” Bobi asked.

“I’m sure,” Leo said. “Enjoy an early night.”

Bobi kissed Leo on the cheek. “You’re
such
a
sweetheart
. Thank you!” It took her only a moment to count out her money pouch and throw it on the bar. “Last chance to change your mind, Leo. If I make it to the door, the only thing you will see of me is a dust cloud.”

Leo grinned. “I got this, Bobi,” Leo said as he continued to wipe down the tables then stack the chairs on top. “I’m sure Jamie will keep me in line. She has a shotgun behind the bar, after all.”

Bobi giggled. “Okay, you two… I’m outa here. Y’all have fun,” she said then began to giggle again.

As Jamie locked the door behind her, she turned to Leo as he continued to clean the tables and stack chairs. “What do you suppose she was implying?” she asked with a grin.

“I have no idea.”

“I’m going to load the glassware into the washer then count out the register. Once you finish cleaning the tables, please sweep the floor. The broom and pan are in the storage room, just inside the door.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You yes ma’am me again, I’m going to kick your ass. It makes me feel old.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Leo said with a grin, then ducked as a bar towel flew in his direction.

***

After she loaded the glassware into the washer, she returned to the bar to count the register. Leo was working on the last few tables. He wasn’t as fast as Bobi, but she could tell he was thorough as he wiped the tables several times in a crisscross direction to make sure he didn’t miss any places, then repeated the procedure with the oiled towel that made the wood glow. As she counted, she grinned. She might have to put him on the payroll.

With the count finished, she took the cash drawer into her office, made up her deposit, and locked the register drawer in the safe. She then moved back to the kitchen to put away the glassware.

When she returned to the bar and began to wipe down the wood of the bar with the oiled towel, Leo was about halfway across the room, methodically moving the bits of debris along with sure strokes of the broom.

“Bobi would have been done by now. I may have to dock your pay,” she grinned as she caressed the wood with the towel.

“It’s so hard to find good help these days,” Leo replied, but the tempo of his strokes never wavered.

She was putting away the second load of glassware from the washer when Leo appeared beside her. “What now?”

“Now, you can go. As soon as I put the rest of these glasses away and load the freezer with mugs, I’m out of here too.”

Leo gathered four mugs in each hand, carried them to the freezer tucked under the bar by the taps, and slipped them inside. He had just finished stacking the mugs when Jamie arrived with a tray of twenty more.

“Work smarter… not harder,” she said as she sat the tray down. Hand over hand, Leo passed Jamie the mugs and the tray was empty in moments. “We need six more then we are done. Thank you, Leo. You were a big help.”

“I’ll get them,” he said as he stepped away with the tray. “Why don’t you get your stuff ready?”

He was just shutting the freezer door when she stepped out of her office, purse and deposit in hand. “You ready?”

“If you are. Want me to escort you home?”

Jamie looked into Leo’s eyes, but his face was carefully neutral.

“You don’t have to do that, Leo. I’ll be fine,” she finally said to give him an out.

“I don’t mind.”

She smiled. “Then sure. Thank you. Never know when the cartel may be lurking around.”

“That’s my thinking.”

As she locked HNH up, she smiled to herself. She could go to the bank tomorrow.

***

“Sorry about the mess,” Jamie said as they stepped into her house.

“Looks fine to me,” Leo said as he glanced around the kitchen.

Jamie stopped at the refrigerator. “Up there,” she said pointing to the cabinet above. She watched as Leo stretched on his tip-toes to pull down the nearly full bottle of Southern Comfort. Pulling her eyes from the view, she pulled two shot glasses out of another cabinet.

She poured a splash into each glass and handed one to Leo. “Memorial Day is almost over. But before it is… To Leo Graves… and the Army of one.”

She tossed her drink down and banged the glass on the cabinet as she grimaced and growled though the burn. Leo smiled, held his glass up to her in acknowledgement, and tossed the amber liquid down. His glass joined hers a moment after she sat hers down, though a little more quietly.

“Come sit with me a while? It’s early for me and I need a moment to unwind.”

Leo looked longingly at the bottle, but left it on the counter. So long as he
could
walk away from it, he figured he was okay.

“Sure. I would like that.”

“Thank you for bringing me home,” she said as she settled on the couch and patted the cushion next to her. Leo sat and she turned to face him. “It’s just us. You want to talk about it?”

“It?”

“What has been bothering you the last week or so. No one will interrupt, and what you say in this house will stay in this house.”

“Nothing to talk about, really.”

“Oh? Everyone talks to ghosts?”

Leo smiled sadly. “Not ghosts, exactly. Just memories.”

“Bad ones?”

“Some, yes. But some good ones, too.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

“You already are. Just offering to listen if I need to talk. Caring. That means a lot to me.”

“I do care about you, Leo. I worry about you seeming so sad.”

“I’m not sad.”

“Not all the time, no, but more than you should be. This last week especially.”

“It’s always the worst this time of the year… around Memorial Day. This is when I… had my accident.”

“The accident that forced you out of the Army?”

“It didn’t force me out, but I didn’t want to stay in and work a desk. That’s not why I joined. But yeah. The Friday before Memorial Day.”

“I’m sorry, Leo.”

“Not your fault. But what about you? I just found out your dad has Alzheimer’s. How are you holding up with that?”

“Okay… I think we all knew it was coming for a long time. Even before Mom died he would forget stuff. We used to tease him about it, but that’s how these things go.”