Chapter 17 #2
Legion is grinning ear to ear when he exits the van, admiring the former nunnery turned MC headquarters, while he walks around the front of the vehicle to stand a few feet from us. “ Now this … This is a clubhouse!”
“The fuck are you doing here?” I demand.
“This is a charity event, is it not? I’m here to support your causes.” He turns from admiring the clubhouse to face me head-on, grin transforming to something more antagonistic. “ All of them.”
“What’s in the van?” Slice asks, getting right to the point. “I assume you’ve brought something substantial, or you would have come here on a motorcycle, considering this event is for bikers .”
“ Ah, yes . Your means to an eager end!” Legion smiles more genuinely at the Jokers’ president and grips the handle of the van’s sliding door.
“I wouldn’t dream of crashing one of your legendary parties empty-handed .
” Legion opens the door, gesturing to the interior of the dark van with a theatrical bow.
Slice leans into me, “He’s an odd one. You weren’t exaggerating.”
Something lying on the floorboard, hidden beneath a filthy blanket, looks awfully human-shaped, and we’re all silent now. Except for Viking, who lets out a surprised chuckle. “Holy shit. He’s got an actual murder van.”
Legion grabs the stained blanket and pulls it off like he’s performing some kind of magic trick, revealing a gagged and bound man who appears to have seen better days.
“The fuck, man? Who is that?” one of Slice’s Sergeant at Arms asks.
“ What did you do?” I manage to grit out.
“Anything for love,” Legion taunts, that mocking sneer twisting his mouth again, those creepy grey eyes boring into me.
“Why does he smell like you pulled him out of a fire?” Nostrils flaring, Viking leans in closer.
“Technically, he crawled out of one,” Legion says. “The other two weren’t as fortunate.”
“You took out another meth lab?” I ask.
Legion nods.
“This is the third one, now.” I narrow my gaze at him. “How are you so knowledgeable of these locations?”
I don’t miss the micro expression of resentment before Legion quickly recovers. “Well, I was the mastermind behind the original network,” he coolly replies. “Seems a few locations are still in operation. This crispy prick is going to fill us in on the rest.”
“Get him out of the van,” Slice orders a few of his men.
Two of them step forward, grabbing the guy by his bound arms. He grunts and groans behind his gag as they drag him out.
“Make him comfortable in the basement. And use the fuckin’ cellar doors.
We don’t need our guests asking questions.
” He turns to Legion and me. “You two and your crew, follow me.”
“Will there be a tour?” Legion asks with grating enthusiasm as we follow Slice up the stone steps to the tall cathedral-style doors.
Slice only glances over his shoulder to give Legion a once-over, before he looks at me, his expression reading as if he’s asking whether or not Legion is serious. I just shake my head.
“ W ho are those women?” I ask Cherry, attempting to subtly gesture in the direction of the group of female bikers. It’s obvious they aren’t sweet-butts. None of them even remotely entertains any of the male attention focused on them.
“They’re a fairly new MC,” Cherry says. “A few of them used to be club girls of the Asphalt Knights MC. They formed their own thing after the Knights disbanded.”
I look at her curiously. “The Knights aren’t an MC anymore?”
“No. They tried to make it work, but after everything they went through with the Chrome Demons,” Cherry lets out a sigh, then takes a sip of her drink. She doesn’t seem to know quite what to say.
“What do you mean?” I press.
“A lot of them liked the taste of what Legion had to offer. Drugs… Prostitution. Fast, easy cash. A lot of them decided they preferred to go outlaw. Some decided to step away from club life altogether.”
I’m not sure what to say. It’s astounding, the ripple effect of everything Legion has done. I glance back in their direction and notice the blonde president of the Steel Vixens already looking at me. Something in her expression seems almost hostile.
“Do they blame us? The blonde one doesn’t look like she’s a fan.”
Cherry shifts beside me to stand facing them, not bothering with any subtleties. “That’s Val. Their president. She’s kind of a hard-ass.”
“You know them?”
“Some of them. Jett and Boop are nice.” Cherry shrugs. “I’ll go ask her what her problem is if she’s bothering you.”
“ No , don’t do that.” I place a hand on Cherry’s arm to turn her away from them and back toward the band playing on stage.
She laughs at me. “I don’t want to start anything.
Especially when we’re not even in Saviors’ territory.
I already have a feeling Dean is trying to smooth things over with the Jokers.
He doesn’t need me causing him any more drama.
Especially not at a charity event, in front of these other MCs. ”
“You might not have a choice,” Cherry says, peeking over her dainty shoulder. “Looks like she’s sending one of them over here.”
“Great,” I mutter under my breath, sparing them a quick glance.
The lady biker walking up to me is at least wearing a friendly smile now, though it doesn’t make her any less intimidating.
I glance down from her gorgeous face to note the road name embroidered on her cut.
Jett, Vice President of the Steel Vixens MC.
“Vanna, right?” she asks in a Brooklyn accent so thick I wonder for a moment if she’s playing it up.
“You’re Dean Keegan’s Ol’ Lady?” She looks me up and down now that we’re standing a mere two feet apart, shaking her head and lightly biting her lower lip as if in awe or disbelief of something.
I’m not sure if she’s checking me out or what, though I did notice she’s only been dancing with other women tonight.
“Yes, I’m Vanna.” I attempt to smile pleasantly.
“Damn, Val wasn’t kiddin’...” She practically sighs, and although I have no idea what she meant by that, there’s a detectable level of trepidation in her tone.
“Look, gorgeous,” Jett begins again, “We’re gonna have to have an uncomfortable conversation at some point.
Sooner rather than later. But since this is a charity event, and there’s already some rumblings about an uninvited guest showing up, this is just a heads up for now. ”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah…we were afraid of that.” She glances back at her blonde president, giving her a quick, tight-lipped look.
The one they call Val seems even less amused now, as if she were hoping for a different signal from her VP.
The blonde cocks her head in a gesture for Jett to return to their group before she turns and heads back into the clubhouse with the other members of her MC.
“What the hell is going on?” I ask.
“We’ll be in touch.” Jett winks then walks off after her crew as if this cryptic conversation never took place.
T he cool, damp air of the stone cellar still reeks of weed, even though it’s been years since the MC used this basement as a grow room.
Once the heavy door shuts behind us and we descend the old cement staircase, not even a murmur or a footstep can be heard from the party raging overhead.
With the music blasting upstairs, even if this guy did shout, for whatever reason , nobody would be able to hear him.
Beneath what had once been a room full of grow lights, now swapped out for linear fluorescents, Legion’s party gift sits slumped in a metal chair between two of the Jokers’ Sergeant at Arms. He’s still blindfolded, arms bound behind his back, but now, in addition to his restraints, he’s wearing a set of sound-cancelling headphones.
“Does this guy know where you were taking him?” Slice asks, shifting his attention to Legion.
“No,” Legion says.
“What does he know?”
“I brought him here to find out,” Legion stoically replies, and I can tell his nonchalant demeanor is beginning to wear on Slice’s nerves. The Jokers’ president scans him over slowly, before turning back to me.
“So, you two have made amends?” He doesn’t bother concealing any skepticism on the matter.
I cast a quick glance at Legion, standing there with an expectant smile. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“It wasn’t so long ago when it would have been you bound in this cellar,” Slice says, eyes narrowed on Legion, assessing him for any sort of reaction. “ Had we managed to track you down … Quite the master of evasion you turned out to be.”
“I’m a man of many talents.” Legion’s grin doesn’t falter. “Of which are at your disposal tonight, should you require them.”
“An enemy turned asset?” Slice glances back at me, waiting for my take on the dynamics of our situation.
Before I can denounce him, Legion clears his throat, pulling Slice’s attention back to him. “ An unfortunate misunderstanding , as things turned out,” he begins, but I cut him off before he can spew any more bullshit.
“That’s a fuckin’ understatement.”
“Come now, Keegan. We’re practically brothers at this point, aren’t we?
Especially in the sense you’re familiar with.
” That wicked grin doesn’t meet his eyes, rubbing what happened with Daniel and Lucinda in my face, as if he’s got a fuckin’ snowball’s chance in hell of actually getting with my wife.
Slice presses a warning hand against my chest when I take an aggressive step toward the Demon.
“ Not here ,” he insists, tilting his head toward the guy bound to the chair.
“It’s bad enough we’ve got this dreg to contend with once we’re done with him…
You’re going to have to handle whatever’s going on with Legion on your own time, on your own turf .
Enough of the fallout between you two has already spilled into our territory. ”