Chapter 3
DAISY
After Joker leaves, I dress, then look through the box, pulling out odds and ends of random costumes we’ve used over the years.
Since so many of the members have kids now, the club started having Halloween parties for them in the afternoon.
Later, when the kids go home with babysitters, the adults party.
Over the last few years, the event has grown to include other surrounding clubs in the area. The Serpents go all out with decorations and games for the kids, along with late-night entertainment and plenty of booze and weed for the adult after-party.
I pull out the fedora hat that would look great on Joker and complete his gangster vibe very nicely. I’m not surprised he resisted because we go through this every year. He hates the idea of dressing up, yet once he gets there, he’s usually the last to leave.
Last year, we did the Roman Empire, and he dressed as Marc Antony, and I dressed as Cleopatra. He looked so damn hot in his gladiator costume, we barely made it home before we were ripping each other’s clothes off .
I stroke my belly, imagining what our latest addition will look like. Little Deana is all dark hair and ebony eyes like Joker, but perhaps the new baby will look more like me.
We’d decided against knowing the sex, especially since the last time, the technician got it wrong and told us we were having a boy.
I’d worried Joker would be disappointed, but he told me afterward he secretly wanted a girl all along.
He wasted no time spoiling her, and Derek became her big protective brother, which Deana loves.
Derek pops his head in the bedroom. “Dad said I should keep an eye on you.”
“Your dad worries too much.”
“I know, but you know why, and you also know Dad when he gets something on his mind.”
We exchange a look, and Derek laughs. “Well, if you need anything, I’ll be in my room reading. So please, for my sake, don’t do anything dumb ‘cause I don’t feel like listening to him later.”
“Don’t worry, no more high wire acts.”
Derek and I have developed a very loving relationship and mutual trust, along with an innate understanding of how Joker’s mind works.
We’d managed to get through the rough times and become a happy blended family.
A family I couldn’t wait to add to. Having Joker, Derek and little Deana was all I needed, but adding this new baby makes it all the more perfect.
JOKER
I enter the back door of The Gold Mine, determined to keep my mind on business and shake off Warrior’s warnings. The guy is old as fuck, so maybe he’s delusional or got punched in the head one too many times. Or maybe the Nomads put him up to all that bullshit talk just to mess with us.
Only it wasn’t me and Cobra he messed with; it was just me. But that might’ve been part of the act too. Get to the VP with hopes of influencing the Prez to back down.
Yeah, that’s it. I enter the back room with a renewed well-being. All the shit I’ve been through, and I was gonna let some old man rattle me with his pseudo predictions?
I nod to the other Serpents already around the table and take my spot on Cobra’s right, with Python on his left and the rest of the brothers around the table.
Cobra slams down the gavel, the shit-talk stops, and he gets right to business. “Joker and I met with the Nomads today at The Cathouse. Seems Blade and Arrow aren’t happy about their former members’ bullshit and what’s been going on down here in Vegas either.”
“Shit, you had the meet at The Cathouse?” Rattler laughs, shaking his head. “Those lovely ladies were my first time. My father took me there on my thirteenth birthday.” He pulls his trademark smirk. “A birthday I will never forget.”
“Explains a lot,” Python deadpans.
“Maybe so,” Rattler adds, “but I never hear Serafina complaining.”
“Does she know where you learned all your tricks?” Mamba grins.
“She knows everything about me, and she loves me anyway.”
“All that time she has to spend in Hollywood with those movie stars and screenwriters,” Boa adds, “must be clouding her judgment.”
Rattler flips us all off, and Cobra slams down the gavel again. “Do you think we can stay on topic for at least ten minutes?” He shakes his head. “Like a bunch of fuckin’ children.”
“Worse.” Python laughs, which earns him a death stare from Cobra.
“As I was saying,” Cobra begins again. “The meet was somewhat successful, as in the Nomads don’t care how we handle their renegade members, but we gotta do the handling.”
I lean into the table. “Seems there’s some old Shoshone law that forbids them from offing their own.”
Looks are exchanged around the table as Python pulls a pack of smokes out of his cut. “So, I assume if we do the job, there’ll be compensation.”
Cobra nods. “Absolutely.”
“I also understand there was some old guy there who spooked Joker.” Rattler mashes his lips together, holding back a smirk.
“Nobody spooked me.”
“You seemed pretty rattled when you got back to The Gold Mine earlier.”
“Bite me, asshole.” I try to make my words sound light, but all eyes turn toward me anyway.
Boa looks up from his laptop. “What’s he talking about?”
Boa holds the positions of both treasurer and secretary of the club, so he’s in charge of recording all the meetings.
“This older member, Warrior, was there with Blade and Arrow. Supposedly, Blade said he’s their spiritual leader, likes to keep the old ways of the Shoshones.” Cobra shrugs. “They called him a shaman.”
“Hmmm.” Boa taps his keyboard. “Some cultures look at them as healers, or the keeper of the spirits. The Shoshones believe they have supernatural powers and can see into the future. Back in the day, they called them medicine men, but even today, the shaman makes potions out of herbs that prove to be useful in curing certain ailments.”
“Fuck!” Python runs his hand through his hair. “You’re like a regular encyclopedia. How do you keep all that shit in your head?”
“Reading.” Boa smirks, then points to the screen of his laptop. “You oughta try it sometime.”
“Maybe there’s something to it,” Mamba ventures .
Great. Just when I was forgetting that bullshit, my own brothers are making it sound logical.
“It says here,” Boa continues, “their biggest claim is to be able to predict the future with astounding accuracy. I didn’t realize they were still practicing.”
“Shit.” Cobra shoulder-butts me. “Doesn’t sound too good for you, brother.” When all eyes turn toward me, Cobra adds, “Warrior told him he was gonna have a violent death.”
All the brothers break up laughing. “What other kinda death could he have?” Mamba pounds the table with his fist. “He’s a fuckin’ outlaw.”
“Now that everyone agrees I’m gonna go out in a blaze of gunshots, could we please get back to business?” I fumble for the pack of smokes in my cut, pissed off my hand is shaking slightly. Nothing like hearing the end might be near more than once in a day and it was gonna be gruesome.
“All right, let’s get a solid plan to take these renegade Nomads down.” Cobra leans back in his chair. “Our next shipment from the Royal Bastards is Friday, and since they fucked with the last one, I’d say it’s a good bet they’ll try again.”
“Only this time we’ll be ready for them,” Python said.
“That means getting out to the safe house early in the morning, way before the delivery, then stashing our bikes out of sight, and waiting.”
“The last time we made it way too easy for them.”
“Agreed. We’ve been so used to it all going smooth, we let our guard down, but this time, they’ll face all of us instead of prospects and a driver who’s scared of his shadow.”
“Then we’re set for Friday. The expected delivery time is eight in the morning, but we’ll get out there by seven, which means we leave at six a.m.”
“Awful fuckin’ early,” Rattler gripes. “I haven’t been up before the sun since I was a kid. ”
Mamba grins. “Maybe you oughta go to the party as a vampire.”
Cobra narrows his eyes. “Just make sure your ass is here, ‘cause we pull out at six.”
“And don’t forget we got the Halloween party on the weekend. I’m going as Clyde Barrow, and Serafina’s going as Bonnie Parker. You know, like Bonnie and Clyde. She’s getting the two of us some real authentic costumes from the wardrobe department at one of the studios where she works.”
I sling my arm over his shoulder. “You really are a frustrated actor.”
Rattler shrugs me off, and we do some air boxing until Cobra slams down the gavel again. “I also set up another meet with Blade and Arrow for after the job is done. I wanna make sure we get our money and we have their word they’ll keep better control of their members.”
Nods and grunts of agreement circle the table as we put together the rest of the plan, which basically amounts to ambushing the Nomads and making sure they keep the fuck outta our business and are no longer a problem.
“We can’t have people they can’t control coming into our territory and fuckin’ things up,” I add. “We finally got it where we’ve weeded out all the bad blood in Vegas. We sure don’t need any bullshit from way up north.”
“That’s why we have to send a message loud and clear, and we have to make sure all the surrounding smaller clubs don’t get any ideas either.”
Mamba shifts in his seat. “I’m assuming, when we get this done, Blade and Arrow will head back up north.”
“That’s the plan,” Cobra agrees. “Then we make sure they stick to it when we meet with them for the payoff.”
“Sounds good on paper,” Boa said. “Now, we just have to hope this whole thing goes off as planned, and it’s not some twisted way for the Nomads to get a hold in Vegas. ”
“Nah, I don’t think they want anything down here. They sounded like they couldn’t wait to get back to their own territory.”
I hope Cobra is right ‘cause over the years, I’d seen some fucked-up shit when it came to money and people who wanted power. I didn’t put anything past anybody.