CLINT
A s the sun dropped lower in the sky, I entered Rock’s condo with its funky vibe. The tiki-style kitchen was decorated with masks and a colorful orange-and-turquoise backsplash. He had a totem pole leaning in a corner. His tastes skewed toward his Hawaiian roots. I once asked him what he would do if he fell for a woman who didn’t like all those creepy masks.
“Why would I fall for a woman with bad taste?” he asked as if I were a dipshit.
Today, I arrived to find a grumpy Rock finishing his dinner. He only knew how to cook a few things. One of them was called Huli Huli Chicken. He brought it to the club’s last potluck. The foxes were very impressed. A few of them even flirted as if he might be marriage material. Then, Rock began bitching about something, and they remembered how he was “too high-maintenance” for romance.
“Can I get a little of that to take back to Ivy?” I asked, gesturing at the stove.
“No. Your woman hasn’t earned leftovers,” he muttered and dropped onto his couch. “Ask again when she’s been here for a month.”
“That’s fine. I’ll call Tana for the recipe and let Ivy make it herself.”
“Stay away from my tutu,” Rock growled when I mentioned his grandmother. “She wouldn’t give it to you anyway.”
“You’re wrong. Tana likes me.”
Rock shot me a dark frown. “Yeah, she does, but stop bringing her up.”
“Then, give me at least one piece of chicken for Ivy.”
“I said no.”
Tugging my phone out of my pocket, I began texting Tana. “How do you spell Huli?”
“I’m not helping you.”
“I’m sure she’ll figure it out.”
“I will not bend, Reed.”
“No, but your tutu will send me the recipe.”
Rock stared at me with the fiery gaze of a man seldom pushed out of his comfort zone. However, the guy’s a big goof with his family. I know he’s got a soft, silly side. I’ve seen his mom chasing him around the yard, trying to tickle him.
But right now, Rock looked ready to tear me apart.
“When Ivy first met you, she was still a stranger to me,” I said and held his gaze. “I worried she’d find you hotter than me. It’s one of the few times in my life I’ve felt insecure.”
Rock smirked. “You’re such a fucking dickhead.”
“I’m not lying.”
“No, but you only told me that to fuck with me.”
“Well, you’re being an asshole by not letting me take an itty-bitty piece of chicken home to my woman. You’ve seen how tiny Ivy is. She only needs a small amount.”
“Fine, but only because your confession made me laugh.”
“You didn’t laugh, though.”
“On the inside, I did.”
“You’re welcome, then.”
Rock gave me a dirty look before standing up and walking to his fridge. He very deliberately dropped a single chicken wing in a sandwich bag and set it on the counter.
“Happy?”
“Sure, but I already texted your tutu while you were eyeballing me. She’s sending me the recipe.”
“Motherfucker,” he growled while I laughed at his rage.
“Let’s hurry up and talk business, so I can get that chicken back to Ivy.”
“You’re fucking whipped.”
“Yes, I am. She’s sweet, smart, and sexy. I’m keeping her, so get used to my whipped behavior.”
“Fair enough,” he said and sat on the couch across from me.
“Did you find anything on the town surveillance?”
“I’ve only scanned around the condos, Sorority House, and your parents’ community. Nothing so far, but I don’t know how far to go back. I’m putting extra people on the cameras around town.”
“If the Void doesn’t want to be seen, they won’t be. We should still shake down the local snitches to see if anyone’s been acting weird or come into unexpected money. Of course, we’re assuming today was the Void’s handiwork.”
“I keep asking myself why they would hit Rawlins,” Rock said and stretched his arms across the back of his couch. “The target feels puny. A meth house. A few young dipshits and an old timer aren’t the kind of collateral damage a criminal organization makes when they want to scare the top guys.”
“Do you think it was Zodiac and his boys? They got there fast.”
“It makes more sense for it to be them. They hit us just enough to make us nervous and play up their worth. Except I still don’t get why they would go after Rawlins. Causing a stink in Little Rock would be easier from their location.”
“The license plate numbers on those blinged-out SUVs tie back to Texas. Devin is shaking down the leads, but I doubt we’ll find anything except stolen vehicles.”
“Zodiac isn’t above stealing vehicles from Texas to do his little show.”
“Do you think it’s him?”
Rock considered my question and shook his head. “I think if Zodiac set it up, he wouldn’t have come blazing into town. He’d be paranoid about showing up too quickly. Guilty men often assume everyone might be onto them. But he showed up fast because it never occurred to him that we’d suspect his club.”
“He might just think I’m an idiot.”
“Even if that were the case, they know I’m not,” Rock said, smirking at the thought. “But I really don’t get the vibe that Zodiac views you as weak. He’s a guy who wins fights. You’re the son of a man capable of breaking him. There’s gotta be some respect there.”
“Okay, so let’s assume the Black Rainbow aren’t behind the attack. That leaves the Void or the Jokers.”
“I can’t imagine Tricky coming up with that plan.”
“No, but Jagger could. His president wants to drive a wedge between the Black Rainbow and us. Jagger figures we’ll be suspicious of the other club, so he hits us where he knows it won’t cause a lot of drama. None of the guys who died were important to anyone who matters.”
Rock rubbed his stubbled jaw and muttered, “The old timer had been around a long time.”
“How long?”
“Since Trigger ran things. The guy ran drugs for the old club up in Little Memphis. He only moved to Rawlins in the last decade.”
Exhaling, I closed my eyes and admitted what I had fought to accept since I got the call about the attack.
“It’s the Void, right? That’s where we are now.”
“Probably, but if this morning was the depth of the Void’s talents, I’m not impressed.”
Standing up, I walked to the windows. My thoughts flashed to Ivy’s uncle fighting for every damn thing in the Reno house. I figured Linus was making a strategic choice to regain control of Ivy. But now, I considered how his reaction might be more personal. The asshole wasn’t thinking about her inheritance. He was being petty because she had dared to stand up to him.
“Smart men make stupid choices when their egos are bruised,” I said to Rock over my shoulder. “We’re confused by this morning’s attack because it didn’t hit us hard. A lost meth lab and four nobodies felt insignificant. But maybe it wasn’t about us or our business. The attack might be personal.”
“But we know those assholes made a show for everyone. This wasn’t a guy fighting over a woman.”
“No, but the old timer worked for Trigger. Zodiac claimed someone in the Void wanted revenge on Little Memphis. If we assume the hit today was personal and the old timer was the main target, where does that leave us?”
“We need to find out more about him and who he ran around with back in the day.”
“Zodiac thinks he can smoke out the Void by finding the guy focused on Little Memphis. He might have the right idea. But we can’t wait for the Void to keep attacking us and hope to use the targets to link us back to the enemy. If these attacks are connected to shit that happened before we were born, we shouldn’t come at the problem like professionals. If it’s personal for the Void dickhead, he won’t make the smartest choices.”
Rock scowled hard and muttered, “Trigger ruined a lot of lives back in the day. The list of his enemies would be long.”
“Don’t do that,” I warned Rock and sat across from him. “Don’t make assumptions. We can’t assume the Void asshole was Trigger’s victim. He ran Little Memphis for a long time and had plenty of allies. Many of those people got pushed out or targeted when Trigger died and Joker took over. We might be looking at a disgruntled fucker wanting payback for Trigger, not against him.”
“There’s no way to know. Today’s attack doesn’t give us much. If the Void asshole is connected to Jagger’s grandfather, he and Tricky might be in the know in the way we aren’t.”
“We can’t shake down info from Joker and Madden, but I’ll ask Ford and Pax what they remember about the meth house guy.”
Rock’s hard exterior cracked as he lowered his voice to admit, “I’m nervous about this first strike happening in Rawlins.”
“If this is the Void, it’s bound to get ugly. And if this guy is pissed about the end of Trigger’s reign, both of our families are in danger.”
Ginger Jones was the catalyst for Trigger’s demise. Though presumed dead by most, she slipped back into town with her crew. Rock’s mom reached out to Trigger’s son, Madden. They eventually took their plans to Joker and his loyal guys, like Ford and Pax.
Trigger’s death led to a stronger Little Memphis. The Reed brothers built happy lives with their women. Joker was a strong president. Madden made a solid VP. By the time I was born, Trigger was rarely mentioned in Little Memphis.
As I left Rock’s place and took the baggie to Ivy, I found myself irritated by how this trouble had to show up now. A year ago, I wouldn’t be so worried about every little thing.
Entering my condo, I smiled at my weakness who sat at the windows with Hanzee. They turned their heads in unison to look at me. Loving this woman was putting me at a disadvantage against enemies with no such weaknesses.
However, Ford met Shay during a dangerous time in Little Memphis. Pax claimed Bebe only weeks before shit hit the fan with Trigger. Shay, Bebe, and Lula were nearly killed before Trigger met his end. Life must have seemed hellish back then.
However, my parents had survived together during a dangerous time. I had no choice except to trust Ivy and I would be as lucky.