Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Eight
After I drop Oscar and Henri off, I head to the clubhouse to tap a couple of my brothers to back me up. I’m still suspicious of Hangman even though the rational side of me can’t really explain why he would get involved with Kozlov picking up Selkie, favor or not.
When I get there, not a lot of the brothers are around.
Reaper is though. “What’re you doing here? Why aren’t you at Hook’s?” He looks irritated.
He’s got a right to be. Since Oscar got expelled, I’ve been missing my day shifts and when I’m not there, Reaper has to pick up the slack.
“This fucking shit with Oscar. I can’t get it sorted,” I reply.
“Speaking of Oscar, where’s his little tormenter?”
I run my hands down my face. Reaper is my brother in more ways than one.
He took my older brother, Liam, under his wing when they were both in prison.
Kept him alive. After Reaper got paroled, my brother was killed.
I kept it private from the Jury, partly because of how he died, but also because Liam wouldn’t have wanted a big send off.
Reaper showed at the funeral and we quickly became friends. He needed a home, I gave him one, sponsoring him as a Hell’s Jury prospect until he got his colors.
“Nowhere,” I reply. Then I grab his arm and pull him into the boardroom, not thinking of closin’ the door. “I gotta problem. Kozlov’s goons picked up Selkie for some reason. Don’t know why, but I got—”
“Who’s Selkie?”
Of course Reaper doesn’t know. He wasn’t in on the meeting at Kozlov’s. “Selkie Fleming. Henri’s mother.”
“And the Brother’s Circle grabbed her?”
“Yeah. I gotta get her back and I need your help.”
“Why’re you talking to me? Why aren’t you talking to Joker or Hangman. Get the Jury behind this?”
“Good question,” Joker says gruffly as he walks in.
“What the fuck are you doin’ listening in on a private conversation?” I snarl.
Joker looks like he’s about to fuck me up. “Ain’t no private conversations in this room. You fuckin’ know that. You got a problem like the one I think you said you have, you better have a fuckin’ good reason why you’re talkin’ to Reaper and not Hangman.”
Fuck. This day couldn’t get any worse. “Close the door.”
Joker slams the door loud enough for everyone to hear. “Better make it fast, asshole.”
“I’ll tell you, but it stays in this room.”
“I’ll be the one to decide that.”
I have no choice. I can’t walk out of here without an explanation and I can’t go to Kozlov’s alone or Oscar and Henri could end up orphans. “Kozlov called in a favor Hangman owed him. Then Selkie gets roughed up and grabbed by his thugs. You put the pieces together.”
Joker scowls. “You think he ratted out your girlfriend?”
I hear Reaper’s gruff laughter.
“Not my girlfriend. But she is Henri’s mother and she’s in trouble.”
“You fuckin’ prick,” Joker seethes. “After what Hangman did for you, and you undermine him this way. You actually think he’s gonna do you dirty?”
Joker’s right. Chloe and I were no one to Hangman, but he stepped in before Chloe died and then after she was gone, took me under his wing when I was falling apart. He also helped me find eight men to kill, then recruited me into the Jury. I owe him everything.
“I haven’t forgotten what he did for me,” I say through gritted teeth. “But I can’t trust that he wasn’t behind this. We all know Hangman won’t shirk on a favor.”
“No he won’t, but this is bullshit.”
“I think so too,” I reply. “But give me this, brother. Hangman don’t have to know what’s going down. I can’t go in there alone though. I need some muscle.”
Joker looks past me to Reaper. “You gonna get his back?”
Reaper nods. “But I think we need a couple of other brothers. Show of support.”
Joker scrunches his face and squeezes his eyes shut. When he opens them, he says, “Okay. I’ll go too. Stark’s here. He can come.”
“Thanks,” I reply.
“If it is Hangman who set this up, Kozlov will rat us out to him. And he’s gonna go ballistic. You better think fast, motherfucker. You’re puttin’ us all on his hit list.”
Reaper checks his gun. “Stark can be on a need-to-know basis. Then it’s just the three of us.”
“That makes me feel a whole lot better,” Joker sneers.
Joker’s right. I’m fuckin’ this up whether Hangman’s behind it or not.
I borrow a bike. Rocky’s Dyna Street Bob. He’s a family man now driving a Ford Expedition SUV more than he rides. Not as powerful as mine, but straddling it, revving it, barreling towards Reno, puts me in the right head space. I feel in control, like I could conquer the world.
When we get to the Grand Sierra, we stride through the lobby like we own the place.
A thrill I don’t usually feel seeps through me as people scurry out of our path or look at us with curiously.
I’d barely notice this shit any other day, but today, it bolsters me.
Gives me courage to face the fact that I might be too late. That Selkie could be dead.
And then what the hell would I do? She’s been under my skin since that day in Mrs. Summers office. I gotta know if it’s real.
We crowd into the elevator and head up to Kozlov’s suite. One of the Russians we saw yesterday greets us with hostility. “What’d you want?”
“Here to see Kozlov,” Joker says.
“You got an appointment?” the Russian sneers.
“Yeah,” I say as I slam my fist into his jaw. He drops like a brick.
“Fuck,” he groans, then passes out.
We step over his body and stride into Kozlov’s suite.
Kozlov is sitting in the same chair he sat in yesterday and to my relief, Selkie is sitting on the couch leafing through what appears to be a Maxim magazine.
Three of Kozlov’s goons race into the living room, guns pulled.
We yank out our pieces and aim at them. We’re at a standoff until Kozlov waves his hand lazily. “Put them away. All of you.”
In the meantime, Selkie tosses the magazine onto the coffee table. “Thank god you’re here. Kozlov was boring me to death.”
Joker glances at me and shakes his head. “I can’t believe you got me into this.”
“Did you come to save me?” Selkie asks me.
“Yes.”
“Oscar got to you then. I told him to wait in the car, but he seems to have a hero complex.”
“Shut up!” Reaper snaps at her. I want to break his neck for his disrespect, but he’s right. She doesn’t need to share personal shit with the Russians.
She glares at him, then flicks her eyes to me. “I need to get Henri.” She looks at Kozlov as she stands. “Thanks for the vodka.”
“Sit down,” Kozlov says to her.
She doesn’t move.
He pulls a Glock and aims it at her.
Of my brothers, I’m the only one who pulls my gun and aims it him.
“Jesus Christ,” Joker says as he grabs it from my hand. To Selkie, he says, “Sit the fuck down until we straighten this out.”
She rolls her eyes and sits. “I really don’t have time for this. Sadie’s out there running around.”
I give her a warning glare, and she primly purses her lips.
To Kozlov, I say, “Why the fuck do you have Selkie?”
Kozlov is not one to be intimidated. “Tell me why you think this is your business?”
Good question. “You’ve met her kid. If something happens to Selkie, I’ll be stuck with her.”
Selkie looks hard at me. “We’ll be talking about that later, asshole.”
“If you can still talk with a broken jaw,” Kozlov interjects.
I take a menacing step towards Kozlov, but Reaper grabs my arm and pulls me back. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
I know what’s wrong with me, but I’m reluctant to face the truth. “He threatened her.” I look at the bruise high on her cheekbone. “He hit her.”
Joker swivels his head at me. “When did you become so fuckin’ pathetic?”
I ignore him. I say to Kozlov. “She belongs to me and I’m taking her out of here.”
Selkie opens her mouth and I stab a finger at her. “Shut it!”
She narrows her eyes. “I’m gonna let that go because you’re rescuing me.”
Kozlov stands. “Enough of this,” he commands. “You come into my home uninvited. You hit one of my men. You pull your guns on us.” He waves his hand at Selkie. “All because of her.” He says to Selkie. “Explain to these thugs why you’re here so we can get back to business.”
Selke looks from Stark, to Reaper, to Joker then finally to me. “My dad owes him 100 grand. If he doesn’t get here in…”
Kozlov looks at his watch. “Eighteen minutes.”
“Eighteen minutes, Kozlov will break one of my arms. Then the next one in two more hours and so on until the money arrives.”
I’m appalled at Koslov, but I also feel ashamed I suspected Hangman. “Your father got you into this mess?”
“Yeah,” Selkie nods. “He can be a prick.”
Kozlov laughs.
“You’re not fuckin’ breaking her arm,” I say to him.
He pierces me with his eyes. “If I don’t get my money,” he looks at his watch again, “in 16 minutes, I am breaking her arm. I don’t give a shit where I get the money from, so if you’re carrying the cash, I’m happy to take it from you.”
Selkie huffs. “He’s not carrying a hundred-thousand-dollars. I went through his wallet when we were camping.”
“Camping?” Kozlov says as if he’s never heard the word before.
Joker, of all people, bursts into laughter. “Jesus fuck.” Still smiling, he says to Kozlov, “You’re not breaking her arm.”
“He doesn’t have to,” a male voice startles us from the doorway. We twist around, pulling our guns and pointing. So do the Russian thugs.
A guy in his late forties is standing there wearing a charcoal suit and shiny shoes with a briefcase in hand. “You’re Selkie’s fuckin’ dad,” I snarl. I can’t believe it. He’s Selkie in a suit.
“Yes.” He strides by us like he doesn’t notice that we have him in our sights.
“You clean up nice,” Selkie says. “What’re you now, a gentlemen robber?”
Kozlov rubs his hands. “Jonny Fry, you’re in time with minutes to spare.”
“Jonny Fry?” I say bewildered.
Selkie rolls her eyes. “Don’t ask.”
Joker holsters his gun and the rest of us follow suit. He says, “You got your money. Let the girl go and it ends here.”
I feel like I’m in a 1930s gangster movie and Jonny Fry’s about to pull out a gatling gun and wipe everyone out.
Kozlov hands the briefcase to his second in command, who opens it and starts counting the bills.
In the meantime, Jonny Fry turns to Selkie. “Do you not have any fucking common sense? What’re you doing picking up Reese Toper? You think Renfrew’s gonna leave this alone?”
Selkie shrugs like she doesn’t have a care in the world, but I’m starting to understand her. Maybe she can lie convincingly but I see the fear in her eyes. “He’s not gonna take this personally. A payday’s a payday and he knows that.”
“We’re leaving,” Joker growls, then turns his back and walks towards the door. All the other guys follow suit except me.
“I’ll catch up,” I tell Joker.
He stops, turns and glares at me. “When you’re done with the fuckin’ family reunion, you get your ass to the clubhouse. You don’t talk to Hangman, I fucking will.”
“No. Better coming from me.”
“Yeah, you prick,” he replies and leaves.