Chapter Twelve
Zeppelin
Iwalk into Seven Crows, and Nancy rests her hands on her hips as I approach the bar.
“Am I the fucking postal service?”
Frowning, I shake my head. “I don’t know what to say to that.”
“Here,” she says, sliding a manilla envelope toward me. “Apparently, I’m a postal worker. Here’s your mail. I’m no longer working Sundays or holidays now.”
Officer Kevin Vold. “You know we can’t have Christmas without you, Nan. We love you, and thank you for giving this to me.”
“Fine. You’re forgiven. Drink?”
There’s a thickness to the envelope that has me itching to open it and read through everything. Maybe make a murder wall in my house and finally find something to pin this on the fucking Venom.
“Sorry, Nan. Raincheck. Gotta look into this.”
It’s hard to ride back to my house. And not just because I’m not sure if Chanel will be there waiting still. The envelope sits tucked into my waistband as I ride as quickly as I can to my place.
Chanel’s gone—thankfully—and I run inside.
“This is it,” I say, my hands shaking as I pull out a stack of papers.
Flipping through the pages, I let out a low growl. On every single page is the same sentence.
FUCK YOU, MOLLOY
And each page has a Venom logo stamped on it.
Calling Pacino, I tap the counter as the anger continues to boil up inside me.
“Yeah?”
“I need a phone number and address.”
“Whose?”
“Officer Kevin Vold.”
He chuckles. “Okay, I’ll get it and text it to you.”
“Any chance you can find out if he’s on duty?”
“Gimme a second.”
The plan begins to unfold in my head, and I want to get the fuck over there. If he wants to play stupid fucking games, I’ll give him a stupid prize he’ll regret winning. Make sure he understands that fucking with me is the worst decision he’s ever made.
“Yeah, he’s working until seven. Need help?”
“No, I got this. Thanks.”
“What the actual fuck?” the fake blonde hisses as she looks at the phone. “Are you… This is real?”
“It is. I’m sorry to have to break it to you, but I don’t think it’s right for him to keep this from you,” I say, trying to look as concerned as possible. “He’s putting your safety at risk.”
I do feel bad for Vold’s wife. This isn’t something any woman wants to find out, especially from another man. But he wanted to fuck around, so he’s finding out.
“What if he gave me something?” she gasps, her hand over her mouth. “I don’t… I don’t understand. He… we have sex at least three times a week. Wait, you own the Velvet Desire, right?”
“My club does, yes,” I say with a nod.
Yeah, I want her to know exactly who I am. When she talks to him, I want her to tell him a biker showed her the truth her officer husband hid from her.
“Is he a client?”
Swallowing, I do my best to look contrite. “I can’t divulge that information. It’s in the contract every client signs.”
I hope she can read the look in my eyes saying he is, in fact, a client of ours. One who won’t be able to pay to get fucked after today.
“Does he… like weird stuff?”
“Weird stuff?” There’s a whole spectrum of weird out there, and I don’t like to judge people on their kinks. To each their own as long as everyone is of age and consenting.
“Like… butt stuff.”
It’s so difficult not to laugh, and I tilt my head. “Lots of men like anal with women. I haven’t turned it down when offered.”
“I mean… his butt.”
I bite my lower lip. “I really can’t say anything, Mrs. Vold. I’m so sorry to have to break this to you.”
“I have to leave him.”
“Do you need help?”
Sniffling, she squares her shoulders and shakes her head. “I’ve suspected he’s been messing around for a while, but I wasn’t able to prove it. Everything I need to pack for me and the kids won’t take very long.”
“Will you be coming back for anything?”
“No, I’ll take everything important. Thank you for telling me.”
“How about pets?”
She stops as she walks away and shakes her head again. “We don’t have any pets. Not since my childhood cat died a year ago.”
“My mistake. Good luck.”
I move my bike and drive it around the block to the park before grabbing a backpack from the saddlebag.
Walking back to the house, I slip into the backyard and into his shed.
And then his neighbor’s shed. Between Vold and his neighbor, I have two full containers of gasoline.
Not as much as I’d like, but considering this plan is half-cocked, it’ll do.
“No, Kevin, I saw the video. If you’re into men, you could have just told me! Cheating… I’m not sticking around for this. No, I’m taking the kids right now. My parents will help make sure you never see us again.”
Putting their three kids in the back, she hops in and peels out of the driveway like she stole the minivan. I’ve never seen a minivan leave marks like that before.
I walk into the house through the back door and call Officer Vold as I check every room to make sure there’s nothing living still in this house.
“Vold,” he answers and sounds out of breath.
“Well, hello, Officer.”
“What the fuck did you do?”
Chuckling, I start tossing the gasoline around the living room. “You have no idea who you just pissed off.”
“You told my wife!” he shouts.
“You made a mistake, Vold. And if you think that’s all I’m willing to do, you did choose the right club to work with.”
I move to the master bedroom and toss more gasoline on the bed. It’s a favor for his wife, actually. It’s a bit ironic I’m outing a cheater when I was in a similar situation. Granted, I’ve never cheated. I’ve been the other person, but never the unfaithful one.
“Fuck you, Molloy!”
“No, fuck you, Vold. And just so we’re on the same page, what I’m doing now will not have any evidence pointing back to me. Not unless you want that video I showed your wife to make it to your cop brothers’ phones.”
Hanging up, I laugh and continue pouring a line of gas throughout the house. The dining room table. The garage. The stairs to the basement.
“Fuck off to you, sir,” I say, lighting a match and tossing it onto the couch.
It immediately goes up in flames, and I smile as I watch it spread. Butch can just buy him a new house.
There’s no doubt in my mind that he called the Venom president before deciding what to do.
Maybe he couldn’t get the file and needed advice.
Or maybe it was his plan to keep me hanging on long enough to think he was an ally.
Either way, Butch no doubt promised him nothing bad would happen if he crossed me.
Well, Butch fucking lied.
I walk outside and smile at my handiwork from the backyard. It’s beautiful. But I can’t watch it too long. I have to get out of here before someone sees me.
Slipping through the hedge between his yard and the neighbor’s, I walk a few houses, pulling my leather and sweatshirt off, shoving them into my backpack. I walk until I find a bike path to the street between a few of the houses, and I step out onto the street.
I hear the sirens before I see them. With as much gas as I spread in there, I’m not sure whether they can put it out to salvage the house or not.
I hope not.
I hope Officer Vold pulls up to find his house crumbling to the ground.
Just like his life just did.
A cop comes into view, and I take a chance. This could bite me in the ass, but it’s worth it.
Waving them down, I bend down to the passenger side window as it rolls down. “I saw a guy carrying a gas can running that way,” I say, pointing the opposite direction. “I think he had a gun on him, too.”
The cop peels away, chasing an invisible assailant, and I laugh. I laugh hard. “I can’t believe that worked.” They’re all fucking stupid, aren’t they?
I take my time walking to my bike, turning around to see the cloud of black smoke even when the flames are out of view. Two firetrucks whiz past, and I think it might actually be too late. Two cans of gas went further than I thought they would.
My phone rings as I reach my bike, and I wait to answer it until I’ve pulled my leather back on. It feels weird being out in the world without my club logo on my back.
Considering how this day started with Chanel, this really turned things around for me. It was cathartic.
“Yeah?” I answer.
“You set my house on fire?” Vold screams.
“I didn’t do shit.”
“I’ll fucking nail your ass to the wall!”
I laugh. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Actually, you prefer it the other way around according to Angel.”
He gasps. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it, asshole.”
“No thanks, I have no interest in your asshole. Not my thing, but you do you. I ain’t here to judge you, bro.”
“Fuck off!”
“Look, you had a choice. You could have chosen the right side, but you didn’t. Hell, I’d bet money Butch assured you things would end when you gave me that fucking envelope with nothing in it.” I wait, and there’s no response. “He did, didn’t he?”
There’s a pause before, “Yes. He said you don’t know how to retaliate.”
“He fucking lied. You now have another choice. Come for me. I don’t give a fuck. But you might.”
“You’re blackmailing me?”
“I ain’t doing shit. You’ve proven you’re useless to me.”
Sniffling, he says, “I’ll get you that report.”
“Don’t bother. Thought I’d give you a chance, and you blew it. I’ll get it another way.”
“What do you want?”
“Stay the fuck away from me and my club.”
“That’s it?”
He poses a good question. Is that it? “For now.”
“Look—”
“I’m bored now.”
I hang up and head back to the Seven Crows. I smell of smoke, and it makes me a little hard. There’s something satisfying about being karma. That bitch can take too long sometimes.
As soon as I walk inside, something in the air shifts. Something’s wrong. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end, and I try to figure out what it is.
“What happened?” I ask, even though I know I should be asking who not what.
“Tommy’s dead,” Lainey says, her eyes red from crying. “He was found off the highway. Looks like he was beaten and disposed of.”
Shit, I forgot he spent time with more than just the club. Didn’t think Lainey would cry over him, though.
“Been missing for a while. He was found a week ago, but they couldn’t identify him until now,” Nancy says.
Oh, that’s not really that bad. In fact, it makes my day even better.
“That’s a shame,” I lie.
Jethro sits at the bar and locks eyes with me before giving me a single nod. Mission accomplished.