Chapter Four
Zeppelin
Tommy walks into his house, and he nearly jumps out of his skin when he sees me sitting on the counter as he turns on the lights. I don’t let the sinister smile leave my face as his hand slams against his chest as a squeal escapes him.
A squeal? Fucking pussy.
I’ve been through this place and found everything I need to know. Uncovered the reason our best artist turned on us. And as much as I like the guy, no one disrespects the Daredevils.
“Zep? Wh-what are you doin’ here, man?”
Tommy’s face is riddled with scabs, and I just shake my head. How the fuck can anyone voluntarily do this to themselves? Especially when they know the risks that come with getting product from the fucking Venom?
“I took a look around while making myself at home. I hope that’s okay.”
His eyes widen as he sees the snake bite kits and ink bottles from every goddamned nook and cranny hidden around his house.
The ones that don’t hold actual snake bite remedies or tattoo ink.
The fifty or so items on the counter come filled with Venom Dust. The specialty drug made and distributed by the Black Venom.
“Look, I can explain—”
“That you’re a methed-out druggie looking to get himself dead?” I ask, jumping off the counter.
Tommy turns to run away, but I grab his arm and toss him to the ground. He’s high as a kite, which makes this far easier than it should be. And much less satisfying.
“Look, they got me hooked, okay? I owe them a lot of money, and the only way they’ll let me pay off my debts is working for them. I didn’t have a choice!”
“You didn’t have a choice? How the fuck did they get you hooked? They break in and inject you while you slept?”
Actually, that sounds exactly like something the Venom would do. They’ll do whatever they can to get new customers. Especially one that’s tied to us.
He swallows with his hands up in a pathetic attempt to protect himself. “You know their girl, Molly?”
“Yeah. So?”
“I didn’t know she was Venom. I try to stay as far away as possible, and she got me into it. Convinced me to try it one night, but she didn’t say it was Venom Dust.”
What the actual fuck? “What the hell did you think you were taking?”
“She said it was liquid X.”
Okay, he got got because he’s a moron. “You thought she was injecting you with liquid ecstasy?”
“Yeah!”
“Liquid X has nothing to do with ecstasy, Tommy. Liquid X is a date rape drug. No wonder she conned you. You were willing to take GHB.”
His eyes widen. “What?”
“Whatever. Doesn’t matter. At what point did you realize it wasn’t what you thought?”
“When she turned around to fuck me in reverse cowgirl. I saw her tat and realized I was riding the snake bite. It was downhill from there.”
Kicking him in the ribs, I growl. “You could’ve fucking come to us!” I shout. “We would have gotten you detoxed. We would’ve gotten revenge for you!”
“I didn’t want you to think less of me,” he cries, his hands holding his side.
“Less than I do right fucking now?” I ask and can’t help but laugh. “You look like a fucking drugged-out deadbeat. All you need is a car on blocks in the front lawn, and you’ll really complete this picture you have going here.”
Squeezing his eyes shut, he braces for another kick, but I don’t. It’s too easy. And not nearly satisfying enough.
“What kind of tattoos are you giving now? You’re higher than the fucking sky.”
He sniffles and shakes his head. “It’s bad. I know. I’ll walk away. Come back to Deadshot. I’ll figure out how to fix this.”
Shaking my head, I let out a long breath. “No, it’s too late, Tommy. There’s no coming back from this.”
“I’m still loyal to the Daredevils. I ain’t told them shit. I swear!”
“You don’t know shit to tell them,” I say. “We’re more careful than they are, and when they realize they wasted their time trying to turn you for information you don’t have, they’re going to kill you.”
He begins to pant as he looks up at me with wide eyes from the ground. So fucking pathetic. It’s like kicking a puppy. Except this puppy is hopped up on drugs and betrayed us worse than a simple bite.
“Are you… Are you going to kill me?”
I want to. There’s a rage inside of me begging for blood because I need some type of release, but I can’t. No matter what, Tommy was family. It’s not up to me to kill him. But it doesn’t mean I have to let him off easy.
“No.”
Sighing in relief, he relaxes on the floor with his eyes closed. I take the opportunity, and I lift my foot and stomp the heel of my boot into his right hand. His fingers break, and the cracks are drowned out by his screams.
“What the fuck?” he shouts, punching my thigh as I grind my boot on his hand, making sure he can’t use it anytime soon. “Fuck, Zep, that fucking hurts!”
I pull back my foot and smile at him as he holds his crushed hand. “Wasn’t supposed to fucking tickle. Good luck paying them back. Not sure how you’re gonna work with a broken hand.”
“Fuck you!” he cries.
Nodding toward the items on the counter, I shrug. “Don’t want you doing anything stupid like overdosing on their shit, so I already trashed everything.”
“Zep! That’s like four grand!”
“Probably should’ve thought about how we’d react to our best artist turning his back on us. Don’t worry about trying to come back to Deadshot. We don’t need washed-up artists. We’ve already filled your spot.”
“Fuck you, Zep!”
Tommy repeats it over and over as I walk out to my bike, a smile on my face. I may not have killed him, but I secured his death.
No one betrays the Daredevils. No one just walks away and joins the enemy. Not without consequences.
My phone vibrates to see Pacino’s message.
PACINO: Got what you wanted.
Ilean against the car in the parking lot as I wait for the cop. I know, I know. Stupid, right? A biker looking for a cop in a police parking lot. But I’m legit. My club brings in money from a legal brothel with the proper licenses and permits. Among other legal business ventures.
“Can I help you?” a pudgy officer asks.
There’s no way this man could pass a physical test to save his life.
Hell, he’s the officer you pray pulls you over because you could outrun him with a sprained ankle.
The way I can hear him breathing because he’s out of breath simply walking from the building to his car makes me question so many decisions of this police department.
“Officer Kevin Vold?” I ask.
“Yes.”
Hopping off his car, I smirk rather than hold out my hand to shake his. I only shake the hands of men I respect. Men I know will do business with me. I don’t think this asshole will be playing along.
“I’d like to talk to you.”
“I don’t have anything to talk to a biker about.”
He tries to push past me to get into his car, but I don’t move. The man is a good three inches shorter than me, and while stockier, I’m a hell of a lot stronger. This motherfucker has nothing on me if push comes to shove.
“That’s not what I hear.”
“I don’t care what you’ve heard.”
“You handled the investigation of Johnny Sloan’s death,” I say.
This piques his interest. “I did.”
“You ruled it an accident.”
“It was an accident.”
Cracking my neck, I shake my head and fight the urge to punch him in his fat fucking face. “No, the fuck it wasn’t.”
“All evidence—”
“You want evidence? He was the president of a rival club to the Black Venom. We’ve been at odds my entire fucking life, and they killed him. I know they did.”
“If you have something to provide that will point us in that direction, I’d be happy to look into it. We don’t have the car that took him out. No witnesses. No video. Nothing.”
He walked right into my trap. “I do have evidence, in fact.”
“You do?” Vold looks surprised. “What evidence is that?”
Pulling out my phone, I show him his bank account. “First, these are monthly payments from the Venom directly to your bank account. The one your wife isn’t on. Guess it’s not just your boss you’re fooling, huh?”
“Where’d you get—”
“But this one might get your attention.” I swipe to show him a video of him getting down and dirty with one of our girls at Velvet Desire. “Dirty things your wife probably won’t let you do, huh?”
He snarls, his face reddening. “You record your customers?”
“Yes, and it’s in the waiver you sign before every visit, so it’s legit. It’s for the protection of our girls. Does your wife know you get off on choking? Spanking? Getting pegged?”
“You can’t show my wife this. It’s in your agreement.”
So, he did read it. “True. But I can show her this one that didn’t come from our establishment.”
In the next video, I turn the volume up full blast. His eyes widen, and I get a sick pleasure knowing I have him by the balls. “Where did you—”
“Doesn’t matter. Now, how would your fellow officers feel if they saw this video?
Or your wife? I mean, I have no issues with you exploring your sexuality with our girls.
Or willing men. Honestly, you do you, man.
But I’m not sure your boss would be too happy that your exploration was with a man in custody. ”
Grabbing my phone, he stops it and shakes his hand. “What do you want?”
“I want a real investigation into Johnny’s death. I want to nail the Venom to the fucking wall!”
“I did!” he shouts and catches himself. He hands me back the phone and lets out a long breath.
“There is nothing to suggest it’s anything other than a hit and run.
We have nothing to connect the accident to anyone.
All we know is that the paint scrapes are from a black Ford.
It was a special paint color called Agate Black Metallic. Likely from an Explorer.”
“Not good enough.”
He shakes his head. “I wish I could give you what you’re looking for, but I have nothing else to offer.”
“I want the case file. Everything you’ve got.”
“Fine. It’ll take a bit. Where do you want me to bring it?”
“Seven Crows. Give it to Nancy. You have a week. And I want all of it, not just what you want me to see. If I don’t have it in my hand by then, I’m going to ruin you.”
I walk away knowing there’s something in the notes they’re overlooking. Or concealing.
Either way, I’m finding it. I’m going to get to the bottom of this one way or another, and if the cops won’t make Butch pay for this, I will.