Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
Either Cayden was getting old or the thrill of boosting a high-end vehicle just didn’t have the same effect on him anymore. Personally, Cayden was leaning towards the latter.
He’d been out of the game for three years, but the basics had not changed. He was in a hot car and needed to make it disappear. It was like a magic act. Make the cops look left while he went right.
Cayden remembered a time when this was all he lived for. The chase, the crime, the escape… This had been his life, his thrill. Now, the further he drove from Romero’s, the deader inside he felt. The light and happiness Trixie cleansed his soul with were fading. Darkness was encroaching once more.
“Where are we going?”
Lee sat in the passenger seat. The only reaction Cayden had gotten out of the man was a raised eyebrow when he’d picked him up in the Spyder.
Cayden had hit Romero’s because he knew the security front and back.
He’d designed it after all. He hadn’t bothered with his access codes or even Trixie’s.
He’d bypassed the use of them all together.
L and S were about to learn the flaw in their security system that Cayden had suspected was there for months.
Cayden had just never thought he’d exploit it like this.
“Shop I know. We’ll drop off the Spyder before heading over to Carver’s.”
“Why aren’t we heading to Carver’s now? We want to show him the car, right?”
Cayden took his eyes off the road to look at Trixie’s brother. “We’d never make it in this ride. It’s too hot. Gotta watch out for these pesky little things called cops. Besides, the news that Romero’s was hit will get back to Carver before we get there. He’ll know it was me.”
“How could you possibly know that?” Lee demanded. “What if someone else takes credit for jacking this thing?”
“First, she’s a lady so treat her with respect.
” Cayden petted the dashboard. “Second, don’t ever call a car a ‘thing’ or no one will ever believe we are friends.
Third, Romero’s was my turf. Whether I was running a con or not, no one would have dared gone near it or risked pissing me off.
Bucky made sure of that when he took the news back that I was there.
” Cayden added offhandedly, “Probably the only good thing that came out of that visit you orchestrated.”
“That makes no sense,” Lee argued. Cayden raised an eyebrow. The man had almost showed some emotion with that one. “If you said you were out, why would they respect your turf? Maybe someone is going to claim they took the car to embarrass you or to get you fired.”
Cayden snorted. “You’re such a cop. Stop,” he ordered when Lee opened his mouth again. “We’re here. I do the talking. One word out of you and I’ll tell Trixie you tried to get me killed.”
The man’s mouth snapped shut. He scowled. Cayden wasn’t sure he liked the man’s scowl. There was too much promise of malice behind it. Like he wasn’t bluffing. “That’s a low blow.”
“Not a word,” Cayden repeated as he pulled down an alleyway. At the end, he parked in front of a tall wooden fence. “Get out.”
They were surrounded by tall warehouse buildings on both sides of the Spyder. Cayden could smell the saltwater of the gulf though they were still several blocks away from open water. The buildings blocked most of the morning sunlight, casting them into shadows.
Cayden and Lee were only alone in the alleyway for a minute before doors were opened around them. He caught Lee stiffening as two men exited the buildings with guns. The garage door remained closed, the Spyder still left out in the open.
Cayden heard a gun cock behind him and he forced himself to put a smile on his face. “Tex.”
The owner of this shop was a short, lean man. He wore his brunette hair long around his shoulders and had adopted a cowboy look, though Cayden was pretty sure the man had never stepped foot on a ranch in his life. His boots granted him a few extra inches of height as did the black Stetson.
The shotgun was held by Tex’s enforcer, Knuckles, a bulky man of few words.
Tex pushed the toothpick sticking out of his mouth from the left corner to the right. “Boost. Been a while.”
“Has it?” Cayden leaned back against the driver’s door of the Spyder. His body portrayed casual, but his heart was hammering like a percussion solo in his chest. He couldn’t believe he was back at Tex’s garage. How had he let himself get roped back into this life?
“You armed?”
“You know I don’t do guns.” Still, for good faith, Cayden lifted his shirt to show he wasn’t carrying.
“Where’s your armor?” Tex made a gesture to Cayden’s face. “I almost didn’t recognize you.”
“Haven’t decided yet if I need it.” At least that was the truth. ‘Boost’s armor’ had been the local slang for Cayden’s makeup, hair dye, clothing, and earrings. None of which he’d worn since his release.
Not to mention his absent cut.
“Buck said you were playin’ it straight. What’re you doin’ here with a Spyder?”
“That’s between me and Carver. Clubhouse still over on Birdview?”
Tex sucked on his toothpick for a moment.
Cayden waited without breaking eye contact.
He knew Tex was testing him. Tex didn’t care whether or not Cayden was trustworthy or if he was still loyal to the MC.
Tex had no preference, because he still got the Spyder.
Club business was club business. What Tex cared about was whether or not Cayden had led anyone else to his shop.
“Who’s your friend?” he finally asked.
“He’s one of Massey’s,” Cayden answered without looking over his shoulder at Lee.
He figured, if Lee could keep a straight face as he told his sister he was an undercover cop who was taking down the man who had murdered their brother, the man could keep a straight face while being interrogated by a chop shop owner who fancied himself a cowboy.
One of Tex’s eyebrows disappeared under his Stetson. He knew Massey’s name as well as anyone who lived a life of crime. He was also smart enough not to question Lee’s presence further and risk Massey’s wrath.
“Carver moved the clubhouse over to the eastside last year. Said he liked the view better.”
Cayden nodded. He knew exactly where Tex meant when he said Carver had moved to the eastside. Carver had many safe houses throughout the city. Cayden stood up off the Spyder and tossed Tex the keys. “Thanks. Make sure I get my cut.”
Tex was a little slow catching the keys. It wasn’t often the vehicles he had dropped off to him had keys accompanying them. “Usual accounts?”
Cayden nodded. He hadn’t touched anything since he’d been out, so they were still safe to be used.
He was risking his life for Lee’s case. He might as well make sure Trixie and Gran were set for life if something were to happen to him.
He’d just have to make sure Gran understood to split the money with Trixie now.
Everything had happened so fast that he hadn’t had a chance to talk to Gran before leaving with Lee.
He would need to write her a letter through her pastor, as phone calls, text messages, and emails were too easily tracked.
One of the boys leaned in through the passenger side window and pulled out a detached steering wheel. “Um…?”
Tex gave Cayden an equally confused look.
He just shrugged. “Gift from the cops.”
Tex burst out laughing. “Oh, Boost, how I’ve missed your flair!” Cayden did a mocking bow before nodding to Lee to follow him. Tex called after them. “Need a ride?”
Cayden snorted. “I never do.”
Tex’s laugh echoed down the alleyway after them. “There’s that Boost dazzle we all know and love! Good to see you, man!”
Cayden couldn’t say the same, so he kept his mouth shut.
Jeff found her sitting in the center of her private collection room.
Trixie couldn’t remember the last time Jeff had come into this room.
He had access but that was more for emergencies than an open invitation.
She’d always found solace in this room. Why now did her babies seem to be staring back at her in aggravation?
Of course, that was her imagination. Cars didn’t stare.
Trixie’s arms were resting on her bent knees, her head laying on her arms. Cayden’s coin necklace was in her right hand.
The old man groaned as his knees cracked as he sat on the floor in front of her.
His coveralls were open around his waist like hers.
When Jeff sat in front of her, she turned her head away from him, unable to meet her mentor’s eyes.
It didn’t matter that he was her employee now.
His opinion and praise still mattered too much to her to risk seeing his disappointment after the debacle of the stolen Spyder.
How could Cayden do this to her? How could he rob her shop?
Breaking his parole publicly at her place of business was one thing but stealing from her was another.
They had not agreed to that. She had never agreed to that.
Did he have any idea what taking that car did to her? Did to her reputation and business?
“Are you ready to tell me what’s going on?”
She flinched. For a childless man, he certainly had a way of sounding like he was supporting and scolding her at the same time.
Rather than answer his question, though, Trixie narrowed her gaze as she turned towards him. “Are you ready to tell me how you’ve known Lee’s been a cop all these years while the rest of us knew nothing about his whereabouts or what he’s been up to?”
Jeff’s face paled, confirming her suspicions. “How do you know about that?”
Trixie snorted. “He told me when he showed up shot on my patio Saturday night.”
“Shot?”
She ignored his exclamation. “Worse, I find out that he’s been having my head mechanic spying on me and my employees.”
“Come, now, Trixie, it wasn’t like that—”
Her glare cut him off. “On top of that, I have to deal with my runaway ex-boyfriend stealing from me. And you have the nerve to ask me what is going on like it’s some big fucking conspiracy?”