Chapter 57
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
M oon sped back to where The Last Riders had the out-of-town bikers surrounded and unarmed. Bodies littered the ground, forcing him to park in the middle of the road and walk to where Viper was questioning the men.
Seeing Moon approaching, Viper broke off talking with the brothers. “Larissa okay?”
“Sex Piston will take her to the hospital and stay with her until I can get there.” Moon stared down grimly at the men sitting on the ground. “You find out which one is the leader?”
Viper shook his head. “I can’t say I’m surprised. Who would want to admit to being in charge of this shitshow?” He turned his head at the sound of a police car coming to a stop behind where The Last Riders had parked their bikes. “Fuck, that’s all we need,” Viper muttered under his breath as the acting sheriff drew closer.
Greer Porter swaggered forward, the small limp resulting from a stroke barely noticeable as he eyed the men lying on the ground then glanced at the men sitting on the asphalt. “The least you could have done was let me in on the fun.” He snorted at Viper. “All you left me do to is the fuckin’ paperwork. So far, filling in for Knox has been more of a pain in my ass than seeing any action.”
“That’s only because everyone is afraid of breaking the law with you in charge.”
Moon’s admiration for Viper grew at the brother being able to keep a straight face at the lie.
Greer narrowed his eyes on him. “You trying to bullshit me?”
Viper expression remained impassive. “I wouldn’t do that.”
Greer shrugged. “Why not? It don’t bother me none.” Staring at the men, he raised a cocky eyebrow. “I don’t mind ass-kissing, especially when it’s my ass being kissed.”
He sauntered over to where a dead body lay on the road. Using his boot, he flipped the man over. Then he walked to where the bikers were grouped together and studied each of them before directing his gaze back to Viper. “Who in the fuck are they?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Viper replied. “They tried to kidnap Larissa.” Viper pointed toward Larissa’s car, with all the windows busted out, surrounded by the motorcycles that had boxed her in.
Greer’s expression grew harsh. “She the gal Moon knocked up?”
“Yes,” Moon answered through clenched teeth.
Giving the men on the ground a dismissive glance before sauntering back to Viper, unfazed at the carnage around him, Greer said, “I can give you about ten minutes to finish this before I have to let my deputies, ambulance, and the coroner through.” He pulled up his sagging gun belt as he shared a meaningful glance with Viper.
One of the bikers on the ground tried to heave himself up, only to be met with Reaper’s elbow sending him sprawling back down to the ground.
“You can’t leave us with them!”
Greer gave the man a disgusted snort, making no attempt to prevent Razer from shoving the biker back down. Then, unsympathetically, Greer stepped on the man’s hand when it dropped close to his boot. “You came here, thinking it’s Hickville, USA. We don’t play around with scum trying to steal our women, especially when they’re carrying our youngins. You can thank your lucky stars you didn’t go after mine or any of my kin,” he spat out contemptuously. “At least they’ll give you a decent burial. You’d be dinner at a hog farm I buy from if you had messed with mine. I would’ve bought the fuckin’ hog and had your ass for breakfast.”
The biker started crying.
Content he had made his point, Greer’s gaze swung back to Viper. “Hurry up. I ain’t got all day. Wasted enough of my day already. Better have several jars of Ginny’s and Lily’s preserves sitting on my desk when I get done here.” He reached into his pocket and took out a pack of gum, removing a stick before placing it back in his pocket. He unwrapped the gum, then placed it in his mouth. “By the way, you might be interested in knowing Missouri State Police shared information to be on the lookout for a stolen semi. Seems the trucker was found dead in the stall of a restroom at a rest area there. The truck is still missing. Want to hazard a guess as to what the truck was carrying?”
Moon stared at the pathetic motorcycles the rogue bikers had been riding. It wasn’t much of a guess. “Motorcycles.”
Greer nodded at him. “They were going to be sold at a swap meet. Would be nice to let the Missouri Police know where they can find the semi, if it comes up in conversation .” Adjusting his sagging gun belt once again, Greer turned on his heel. “Don’t forget about those preserves.”
After he turned his squad car around and went around the curve, the brothers all stared at each other.
“Damn,” Moon heard one of the new recruits mutter. “I’m not going to argue over Greer’s prices of weed anymore. A few bucks aren’t worth dying over if I piss him off.”
“Me neither,” another agreed, his expression worried. “I threatened to buy it from someone else when his went up the last time.”
Moon’s eyes met Reaper’s. If the recruits were perturbed by what Greer had said, they were in for a rude awakening if they made the cut to become a Last Rider. No one could be more vicious than Reaper, Viper, or Shade when they deemed an enemy deserved to be eliminated.
“Anyone else still think they were passing through Treepoint?”
Viper’s question drew his attention away from Reaper.
“No. No, I don’t,” Moon ground out, reaching down to pick up the biker who he had seen riding the Vespa. “You want to tell us why you were in Treepoint?”
“Go fuck yourselves! We’re not going to tell you shit. You can’t scare us. You’re not going to kill us after the cop saw us alive,” the biker scoffed at him. “You’re just trying to scare us to get information out of us.”
Moon gave him a twisted grin. “Greer wasn’t playing at being bad cop just to get a confession out of you. He’s as mean as a rattlesnake. He was actually playing nice. If we run out of bullets, all we have to do is call him for more. He might charge us a fortune for them, but he’d give them to us.”
He moved closer to stand over the biker, letting him see the full force of his fury. Then, grabbing him by his shirt, he jerked him to his feet. “That was my woman in the car.” His fist flashed out, hitting the biker in the ribs, knocking him back a step. Moon took another step forward, striking him in the gut. “ My child …” When the guy doubled over, Moon’s boot kicked out, smashing him in the face, sending the biker back to his knees.
Going to his haunches, Moon used the biker’s hair to lift his face. “These motorcycles aren’t worth the parts to fix them. The only bike worth a crap is the one you were riding. You rode them to Treepoint to ditch them somewhere in the mountains, didn’t you? The semi wasn’t stolen for the cargo, was it? The semi was the score, wasn’t it?”
Moon could see he had hit upon the truth before the biker hastily lowered his eyelashes.
“Who did you hand the semi off to?”
The biker’s defiant eyes spat at him.
In one quick move, Moon reached toward the sheath he kept strapped to his ankle, sliding his knife free.
“Moon …” Viper cautioned.
“Don’t worry; I’m not going to kill him … yet. I’m just going to make him wish I did.”
Adeptly, his hand darted out, stabbing the biker in the same place Larissa had been cut.
His defiant attitude changed.
Moon smelled the fear which began permeating the air from him and the other bikers as they watched.
“How were you and the others going to get out of Treepoint after you ditched the bikes?”
The biker’s jaw clenched stubbornly. “Fuck you!” he screamed. “I’m not telling you shit!”
Moon gave him another grin before his hand darted out again to stab the biker on the opposite side. “Answer my question,” he told him coldly. “I hope who you’re protecting is worth dying for.”
“You’re going to kill me, anyway.”
“Maybe … maybe not. Would you rather at least fight for your life than giving it away without a fight?”
“How do I know you’re not lying to me just to get the information?”
“You don’t. You’re just going to have to take my word for it.”
It took two more cuts before the man broke.
“We were going to use the woman to rent a couple of vans,” the biker admitted.
Moon rested his hand on his thigh, keeping to his side of the bargain. “What were you going to do with her after you rented the vans?”
“We would have let her go,” he whined.
“Bullshit.” Moon chose the soft part of the biker’s belly to demonstrate he didn’t appreciate being lied to.
“Okay!” the biker sobbed. “We would have had some fun with her, and then I would have passed her along.”
“That, I believe.” Moon’s hand holding the knife rested back on his thigh. “Who would you have passed her along to?”
“Whoever wanted a piece of ass and was willing for pay for it. She would have been a hot commodity with her being knocked up.”
It was everything he could do not to sink his knife into the biker’s throat. Biding his time instead, he resumed questioning the lowlife.
“Where’s the semi?” He really didn’t give a fuck about the semi, but Greer did. It would give him bragging rights, and Greer loved to brag. He deserved to get more out of the shit he was going to have to cover up than the preserves.
“I don’t know …” Then the biker screamed when Moon started to raise his hand, “I really don’t! We drove it to a truck stop in Sparta, Kentucky. Unloaded the bikes, and I drove it to a truck stop. A hauler was waiting for us. Last I saw it, it was being loaded onto a semi hauler.”
“How much you get paid for the semi?”
“Ten grand.”
“How were you given the money?” Moon asked one question after another.
“I was given the money on delivery.”
“Who hired you?”
“It was friend of mine who just got of prison. He wouldn’t tell me the name of the person who bought the semi. He said I didn’t need to know.”
“What’s the name of your friend?”
“Rick Pine.”
“Where can I find him?”
“I don’t fucking know. When he wants a job done, he calls. Last time I saw him, he was living with some chick in San Diego.”
“Where’s your cell phone?” With his free hand, Moon reached out for the cell phone. After a small hesitation, it was reluctantly placed on his palm.
After giving the phone to Reaper, Moon turned back to the biker. “What’s your password?”
The man snarled out the four digits as he stared at him, his face full of hatred. “You’d better leave it alone. Rick doesn’t like anyone messing around in his business.”
“I can’t say there’s much in life that scares me. The only thing that does is standing over there with your phone.” Moon stood up. Then, glancing at Viper, he received the nod he’d been waiting for before looking back at the biker. “Get to your feet.” Moon handed his knife to Viper as the biker stumbled to his feet.
Glaring at him, the biker pressed a hand to the wound on his stomach that was bleeding profusely. “You think you’re so fucking bad.” He sneered at him as he derided him, “You had to get me half dead before you could take me on. I hope you do go after Rick. You really will be The Last Riders .”
Loosening his neck muscles by tilting his head from side to side, Moon braced his feet apart as he let the fury he had been holding back take full reign. “Maybe so … but you won’t be alive to see it.”