Chapter 27
27
Rogue
Well, that conversation took a turn I didn’t expect. Good thing there’s nothing she can do or say that will make me stay away from her. I told her no lies. I don’t care what she was. As long as I can call her mine now.
The kiss she gave me in that dark exam room told me I can do that with no reservations from now on.
Afterwards, I hung around the ER watching her give CPR to the bloodied victim they brought in. She gives all of herself to helping patients, I noticed it on that night I brought in Lotus and it was clear again today. And I might’ve stayed even longer, just to watch her work for the rest of the day if Manny hadn’t called, demanding we meet.
So, I told her I’ll pick her up after her shift and rode out to meet him at the Flamingo Saloon.
He’s standing in front of the bar, next to his parked car, squinting from the bright sunlight shining directly into his eyes. His dark blue polo shirt is all crinkled but not as badly as the khaki’s he’s wearing. This outfit is basically his uniform as a detective, but I don’t think he’s changed since I met up with him here two nights ago.
“What’s this I hear about Zane O’Sullivan hanging around your clubhouse?” he barks at me as I dismount.
He approaches, his fists all balled up and grimacing like he’s about to take a swing at me. But then again, he always looks like that lately. Too much working. Not enough having fun.
“He’s an old friend of mine,” I say in a friendly tone, not wanting to rile him up. “That’s why he stopped by.”
“He’s on top of the FBI’s most wanted list,” he snaps. “As his friend you know that. And you’re to detain him and hand him over when he shows up.”
I could take this conversation in a number of different directions. For one, I really want to know how the fuck Manny found out about Unholy’s visit so fast. But I gotta diffuse this tension between us first.
“Let’s go inside,” I say. “You look like you need a cold drink.”
He scoffs. “I told you over and over again that you gotta stay within the law if you wanna work with us. Didn’t I tell you that?”
“Over and over, yes,” I say.
He still looks like he wants to take a swing at me. And I’m having trouble figuring out why.
“You’re a piece of work, you know that,” he says.
“You know my MC straddles that line between the law and what needs to be done,” I say. “We always have and we always will.”
“Taking in fugitives and sheltering killers is not just straddling the line,” he says. “It’s moving so far away from it you can’t even see it anymore.”
He’s got a point, I can’t deny that. So, I won’t try.
I move away from him, into the shade of the awning over the bar’s door. It’s full of holes from years of neglect. The bright sunlight is streaming through those holes, painting misshapen circles of light on the dirty concrete ground in front of the door. He follows me, as I knew he would.
“I’m not sheltering killers,” I say. “I sent Zane away.”
I still don’t know if I did the right thing. I may not know why he killed that priest, but I do know he didn’t do it because he’s a deranged psycho. If I was a better friend to him—a better brother—knowing that would be enough.
“I had to let Clive Kruger go,” Manny says. “And I had to release all his properties back to him. Even though he’s a trafficker and a child killer. All because the information came from you. All because you think you can play both sides of the law. All because you think you’re untouchable.”
“You let him go?” I ask and I’m having trouble breathing.
“Had to,” he says. “The only things we had on him were tainted because they came from you.”
“That can’t just be because Zane stopped by the clubhouse,” I snap. “What’s really going on?”
“Orders from the top,” he says. “No more dealing with Rogue Angels MC. If I do, then I’m saying goodbye to my career.”
“So, join us already,” I say.
He shakes his head, looking disgusted. “You need to clean house, Rogue. You need to decide what side you’re really on. You can’t have it both ways anymore. You’re either with the good guys or you’re with the bad guys. Don’t call me again until you figure it out.”
He strides back towards his car.
“Manny, wait,” I call after him, but he doesn’t. Just gets in his car and speeds away.
I can still fell a tiny sliver of the good vibes I had from working things out with Melody. But it's not enough to chase away the cold, hard, smelly crap Manny just dumped on me.
Everything’s been crumbling for a while. But now it’s turning to dust. And I have no idea how to stop the destruction.
The parking lot in front of the clubhouse is packed and the bar is buzzing, clumps of members talking amongst themselves, some drinking, others just unable to sit still.
“Where have you been?” Alice asks as she intercepts me at the door and leads me back outside into the glaring afternoon sun.
“I went by the ER,” I tell her. “What’s going on?”
“We have a situation,” she says. “And you might wanna cool it with that lady friend for a while.”
I’m used to Alice giving orders left, right and center around here, but I’m usually exempt from it. And I really don’t appreciate the harshness in her tone when she told me to stay away from Melody. As far as I’m concerned, I only just got her back and I’m not letting her go anytime soon.
“Why would I do that?” I ask.
“Because the cops are not happy with us,” she says. “They told us all to stand down and leave Clive and his properties alone from now on. And I’m thinking it’s because of our Devil’s Nightmare MC connection. They probably don’t know we killed Ghost, given how hard it was to find him, but that doctor, she’s tight with the Devils.”
You can say that again.
That thought hits me from left field and its totally unexpected. Rattling too. I didn’t lie to her. I want her. Bad. But a whole MC already had her too.
“It’s because Zane showed up,” I say. “I just spoke to my cousin about it. Apparently, they now think we’re sheltering a fugitive and they’re saying all the information we gave them is tainted. Basically, they want to play it safe.”
She rolls her eyes at me. That’s what she usually does when she thinks I’m leaving a bunch of things unsaid in favor of being placating.
“Yes, OK, fine, it’s fucked,” I say. “But Melody has nothing to do with it, I sent Zane away and Clive still needs to be stopped. If the cops won’t do it, we’ll have to. I want our people watching the strip clubs and making sure nothing happens to any more of his captives.”
She shakes her head while rolling her eyes this time. Never a good thing.
“What we have to do is be on our best behavior and get back into LAPD’s good graces,” she says.
“No, Alice,” I snap.
We’re standing in direct sunlight, because there’s no damn shade to be found in the parking lot—a design oversight we’ll have to remedy soon—and the heat beating down on me, coupled with my blood boiling is making this conversation unbearable. Not that the heat is the only reason for that.
“We’re not the cops’ lap dogs. We exist for the sole purpose of bringing down criminals the cops can’t touch. You seem to have forgotten that lately.”
To her credit, she doesn’t roll her eyes again. And she looks shocked. As she should be.
“Maybe this setback is for the best,” I say. “We can save the rest of the women Clive is holding easier and more efficiently than the cops can. And we can let them go, while the cops will just deport them. So maybe this is for the best.”
The door opens and Skye peers out, squinting at the bright sun. “I think I managed to track down Hydra. They’re on the move again.”
“See?” I say to Alice. “All the more reason we need to get involved again.”
I don’t wait for her to answer. I just follow Skye into the bar where multiple conversations are still going a mile a minute.
“Are we really just gonna sit on our asses now?” Trinity asks, rounding on me as I enter.
Her jet-black hair is hanging in a silky smooth, shiny braid down her back and her dark eyes are glowing in anger. I’m glad to see it.
“No, we’re not just sitting on our asses,” I tell her then face the rest of them, most of whom have stopped talking when Trinity asked her question.
“Don’t go anywhere, any of you. I’ll need you all tonight,” I tell them. “We’re rolling as soon as I go over Skye’s intel. We’re finishing what we started, I promise you that.”
Relief seems to wash over them all. Or maybe that’s just what I wanted them to see. I don’t look too hard, I just tell Skye to lead the way to whatever she wants to show me. Alice is on my heels as is Blade. I can’t read what he’s thinking, but his face is so impassive that I’m sure he’s thinking lots.
Skye’s computer room abuts the War Room and as always, it smells nice—like lavender and peaches today. She sits on her purple and black computer chair and wakes the huge screen that takes up most of the table in front of her. We’re looking at a bunch of pink blinking dots on what is the map of LA.
“I’ve been lowkey tracking those fancy headpieces the Hydra dudes use for a couple of days,” she says. “Not hard enough to be notice, just enough to see if there was some activity.”
“Was there?” I ask to speed her along. She really knows her stuff, but she has a tendency to get too technical when she’s talking about it.
“Not until just now. I thought they just switched frequencies because they were aware I was tracking them,” she says. “But about an hour ago they all came back online. They seem to be scrambling. Trying to get something done fast. Doesn’t it look like that to you?”
I look at the map on the screen, trying to get my bearings. Some of the blinking dots are definitely at Clive’s house, which is easy to locate on the map, given its remoteness. And some of the rest of the spots where the blinking dots are converging are the strip joints.
“It does look like they’re busy doing something,” I say as I straighten up.
The computer room is dark since there are thick blackout curtains covering all the windows, and even after looking away, I can still see the bright dots and map lines superimposed on the walls. “We have to assume they’re getting rid of evidence. Probably because Clive was questioned by the cops. Which in our case means?—”
“Killing more of those women they own,” Blade finishes the sentence for me.
“Yeah, I’m thinking the same thing,” I say.
Alice just looks at us both with very serious eyes. “Then we gotta ride.”
“We will,” I say, already trying to formulate a plan of attack in my mind.
But there’s really no time for planning. If we don’t move now, all we’re gonna find is corpses. Again.
“We’re gonna wing it,” I say. “We don’t have any other choice. We’ll need radios and maps and then we ride. Here and here.”
I point at the two spots where there seems to be the most blinking pink dots bunched together.
“They seem to be on the move,” Alice observes, pointing out the dots that are trailing all over the map.
“Then we hit them en route,” I say. “We can’t wait. They’re trying to cover their tracks and we have to stop them. I’ll alert my cousin, but we’ll probably be on our own. Are you with me?”
Both Alice and Blade nod solemnly.
“We finish what we started,” Blade says.
I leave them to sort out the details and step outside where I text first my cousin and then Melody to let her know I won’t be able to make it tonight.
She texts back almost immediately with.
So, you’ve come to your senses. I understand.
Just two short sentences, but they feel like a knife to my chest.
There’s no such as thing as coming to my senses. I’m crazy about you! I text back.
It doesn’t seem enough. Doesn’t convey all I want her to know. But it’ll have to do.
I stare at the phone for a good two minutes, waiting, but she doesn’t reply.
That’s OK. Once tonight’s work is done, I’ll show her just how serious I am. And just how true my words were.