Chapter 16 #2
He rolled his eyes and slumped in his chair. Okay, some of us weren’t children.
The server approached our table. Joyride perked up, eagerly ordering the special, along with a beer. Ghost asked for a beer too. I asked for water.
“Water? Really?” Joy said. “You’re such an old man.”
“The water is for you. You’re the one driving. I’ll be having your beer.”
“Fuck’s sake, it’s one beer.”
I ignored him and turned my attention back to Tex. “What’s going on here with your sister?”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“You’re watching her ex like a hawk. When we went to her place, she seemed to expect trouble.”
Tex rubbed his jaw, which he’d let get more bearded than usual for him. Usually, he rocked a sort of well-groomed country-boy look. Wranglers with cowboy boots, plain black T-shirts, a Dallas Cowboys ballcap he was pretty much never without.
“Messy divorce,” he said. “My dad wanted me to come keep an eye on the situation. It might get…ugly.”
I frowned. “What do you mean by ugly?”
“It’s not your problem.”
“Come on. We have one another’s backs. You know that. If you need our help—”
“I don’t,” he said shortly. “That’s why I didn’t invite you all up here. It’s why I didn’t take your calls. Take a fucking hint. I don’t want any of you in trouble because of me.”
“What about you?” Ghost asked. “You looking for trouble?”
Tex picked up his pint glass and finished off his beer. “Maybe I am.”
“I don’t know the full story here. I get it if you’re trying to protect your sister. There’s got to be a better way, though.”
“Like what? The cops?” He snorted. “They won’t do anything until it’s too late.”
“And what will you do?”
His eyes went cold and hard. “I’ll put the fucker in the ground if I have to.”
Goddamn it.
“Your parole—”
“I’ll be violating it soon enough. Kind of pointless to worry about being a good boy.”
“You can’t help her if you’re sent to prison first,” Ghost said. “Go to your meeting. I’ll keep watch here if you need.”
Tex swept his gaze over the table of guys. “Nah, he’ll be here a few more hours, at least. I’ve been watching him every day. He knows I’m staying with her. He’s been keeping his distance.”
“Maybe it’ll stay that way,” I suggested.
“Maybe.” He didn’t sound convinced. “Or maybe it’s a matter of time before he tries some shit again.”
“I know you care about your sister, but she wants you to go.”
“Yeah, I know. She’s worried about me, but I wasn’t the one bruised black and blue when I got to town.”
I looked over at the asshole ex, seeing the situation in a new light. Okay, Tex wanted to take care of his sister and he didn’t think the law could help. We’d have to find another way.
A heaping plate of lobster mac arrived, and Joyride dug in.
“Fuckin’ lobster,” Tex muttered.
I mulled over the problem while Joyride stuffed his face. Try as I might, I couldn’t think of a nice, upstanding way to handle a situation like this. Guys like this only spoke one language.
“Joy, finish up. We’ve got to get Tex to this meeting.”
“Didn’t you hear a word I said?” Tex growled.
“Yep.” I threw a twenty on the table. “Which one is your sister’s ex?”
“Luke’s the one with the stupid haircut.”
“Gotta be more specific than that.”
“The guy with the donkey laugh.”
“Got it. Be ready to leave in a hurry.” I stood and strolled toward the table.
“What are—” Tex started to stand.
“Stay out of it, Tex,” Ghost said, voice hard. “He’s doing this to protect you.”
“I didn’t ask for that!”
I tuned them out as I approached the table where the wife-beating asshole sat with two friends. He brayed another donkey laugh, flicking a dismissive glance toward me.
“What the fuck do you want?”
I grabbed the nape of Luke’s neck, squeezing hard, and leaned in. “I want you to look at something, my man.” I turned his head to put him at eye level with the Serpents tattoo winding around my upper biceps. “See this here? This is my biker tat. Know what that means?”
“Hey, fuck off!”
The guy across from him leaned forward, and I used my free hand to shove his face back. Ghost came up behind me to block the only exit from the booth. He didn’t say anything, just stood at my back, arms crossed, exuding menace.
“Who do you think you are?” the third guy, trapped in the corner, demanded. Yeah, he was real tough with his two pals between me and him.
“I think I’m a Serpent with a whole gang of bikers who can make your lives hell. That’s who.”
Their eyes shot wide, and they exchanged worried looks. Good. I had their attention.
“I’m an enforcer. One of their best fucking fighters, so you don’t want to test me.”
“Wh-what do you want?” Luke stuttered. “I don’t know anything about any bikers.”
“Leave your ex-wife alone. You stay away from her, you stay away from her family. You cross the fucking street if you even see them. That includes Tex.”
“Or what?” he sneered, trying to sound tough, but I didn’t miss the quaver in his voice.
“Or I’ll be back with twenty guys at my back to show you what a real beating looks like.” I released him, patted his shoulder, and smiled. “Do we have a deal or not?”
“Whatever,” he said, looking away. “She’s a bitch, anyway. We’re through.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I hope for your sake that’s true.
You don’t want to get on the wrong side of a Serpent.
Look up the name. There’s plenty of stories to entertain you.
” I smiled grimly. “I went to prison for shooting a man. Got to know Tex real well inside. I owe him. So, beating your ass is nothing. You understand?”
He swallowed. “Yeah. Yeah.” His gaze flicked past me to where Tex waited by the door, fear and hate filling his expression. “That whole family is worthless.”
“Then you won’t want to risk any more trouble with them, will you?”
He wet his lips, hesitating.
I squeezed his shoulder, putting all my strength into it until he winced in pain. “No. No trouble. I swear.”
I released him with a grin I knew was creepy as fuck. “Great. Have a real nice day.”
I walked out, Ghost behind me. Tex and Joyride waited by the door when I got there.
Joyride gaped at me like he’d never seen me before. “Holy shit, what was that?”
“Yeah, I thought you came here to keep me out of trouble, not make some of your own,” Tex said warily.
“Sometimes you’ve gotta fight fire with fire,” Ghost said.
I tapped my Serpents tattoo as we crossed the parking lot. “This stupid biker tat might as well be of some use. Come on. Let’s get you to that parole meeting.”
Tex slid into the back seat, next to Ghost. Joyride started the Hummer. “So, you were a scary motherfucker in your day, huh?”
“I’m still scary when I need to be.” I shot him a look. “Don’t forget it.”
He reversed out of the parking lot and pulled around the building. “Holy shit,” he repeated. “I’m never calling you an old man again.”
Well, that was something.
“What if it doesn’t work?” Tex asked.
“Then you’ll be here, ready to do what you gotta do,” I said. “But that asshole nearly shit his pants. I’m pretty sure he’ll stay away.”
He let out a harsh breath. “You shouldn’t have risked it. Not for me.”
I turned in my seat to look him in the eye. “You’re one of us, Tex. I’d do it for any one of you. And you’d all do it for me.”
“And that lecture about my bar fight back home?” Joyride said. “What was that?”
“I meant that. We live right. We don’t make trouble. But if it comes for us, we take care of our own.”