Chapter 7
Menace
“Does Lynch know?”
“No, I came here to talk to you first.” I shook my head at Viper. “Not sure what to say to him. Thinking his grandparents were killed in a robbery was tough enough. I’m afraid this is going to be an even harder pill to swallow.”
“Peter was a stand-up guy. He knew the risk when he took in that girl, and he did it anyway. That says a lot about him.”
“I hope Lynch’ll feel the same way.”
“I’ll talk to him. Considering the situation, it would be better if he heard it from me.”
“Whatever you think is best.”
Axel glanced over at me and asked, “You said she was thinking about leaving?”
“Yeah, she doesn’t want anyone else getting hurt.”
“Maybe she’s right,” Viper replied. “Maybe you should just let her go.”
“Can’t do that, Prez.” I had no good explanation for why I couldn’t simply cut ties with her, at least not one that made any fucking sense. “She needs someone to help her.”
“What are you wanting to do here?” Viper pushed. “This chick is up against the fucking Italian mafia, and they’re no goddamn joke. We don’t have the means nor the desire to go toe to toe with these motherfuckers for some chick who just so happens to work at the bar.”
“It’s not like that, Prez.” I knew I was opening a door I wasn’t ready for, but I didn’t have a choice. “She’s more than just some chick from the bar.
“Oh, really?” His brow furrowed with discontent. “You claiming her or something?”
“Not like that either.”
“Then what the hell is it?” he pushed.
“That’s just it. I don’t know.” I knew I sounded like I’d fucking lost it, but I couldn’t explain what I didn’t understand myself. “I’m still trying to figure it out, but I can’t do that if she’s gone. Or worse...if she’s dead.”
Viper let out a deep, frustrated breath, then shook his head and said, “Not sure what you’re asking me to do here, son.”
“I want you to help me help her. I’m not asking the club to go against these crazy motherfuckers, but I am asking for some kind of direction because I don’t know what the hell to do here.
” I was putting my president and my brothers in a tight spot, but I didn’t have a choice.
I had to find a way to help Parker. “There’s gotta be a way we can figure this out. ”
“Anything we do is gonna bring heat to the club.”
“I’m with Prez on this one, brother,” Axel interjected. “The club’s got no issue with these guys. No sense in making one.”
“I understand. I don’t want to bring any trouble knocking at our door either, but I can’t leave her to fend for herself,” I explained.
“There’s only one way to handle this.” Viper ran his hand over his salt and pepper beard, then grumbled, “We gotta make her disappear. We’ll get her a new name, a new place to live, and—”
“She’s already tried that with the whole witness protection bullshit.
They found her then, and they’ll find her again,” I argued.
“Rossi knows Parker’s the only thing keeping him behind bars, so he’s going to have his people use every avenue possible to find her—and men like these have the means that others don’t. ”
An odd expression crossed Axel’s face, then he said, “Maybe there’s another way we can make her disappear.”
“And how do you suggest we do that?”
“Don’t have a clue, but Billy might,” Axel suggested. “The guy has a way of making things happen.”
The club called on Billy whenever we’d run into an altercation with an adversary and had a mess to clean up.
War was messy, and Billy had a real talent for cleaning that shit up.
He always found a way to make sure no evidence came back to bite us in the ass.
Hell, he’d even go so far as to make it look like someone else had come in and blown a building to smithereens if it took any and all heat off of the club.
The guy was a genius, but he dealt with the dead.
I wasn’t sure he had the know-how or the resources to deal with the living.
I grimaced as I turned to Axel. “You really think he could help with this?”
“Only one way to find out.”
“He’s right. We need to talk to him,” Viper agreed. “I’ll give him a call, fill him in on the situation, and see if there’s anything he can do.”
Without waiting for either of us to respond, Viper picked up his burner and called Billy’s number.
Axel and I listened silently as Viper told him about Parker’s predicament and waited as he listened to Billy’s response.
After a few minutes of back and forth, Viper said, “Thanks, Billy. She’ll be there sometime tomorrow. ”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Viper ended the call and tossed his burner on his desk. When he didn’t saying anything, Axel pushed, “Well?”
“He thinks he can help, but he needs her to come to him.”
“What?” I huffed.
“You heard me right, brother.” Viper grabbed a piece of paper, and once he’d written down Billy’s address, he handed it to me. “He wants her there tomorrow. Said it’s the easiest way for him to do what he needs to do.”
“And what’s that?”
“I’ve got no idea. Guess she’ll just have to go find out for herself.”
“Wait...I’m not sending her there alone, Prez.”
“Hmm.” He cocked his eyebrow, and a teasing smile crossed his face as he suggested, “We could always send Country with her.”
“Oh, hell no. That shit’s not gonna happen.”
“Didn’t think so.” He snickered. “Get things sorted at the club. Have Lynch or Hawk cover for you until you can get back.”
“Any idea how long this is gonna take?”
“No clue.”
Even though he always bitched about me coming, I tried to go see Jagger at least once a week. I didn’t like the thought of missing the chance to check in on him, so I told Viper, “I’ll swing by the prison and see about Jagger on my way through.”
“I talked to him earlier this week.” His eyes grew fierce as he said, “I wasn’t happy to hear about the altercation he’d been in, but he assured me all was good.”
“I’ll be sure to check when we stop by there.”
“The girl’s going with you? You sure she’s gonna be okay with that?”
I shrugged. “She’ll have to be.”
“It’s doubtful that he’ll know anything, but you should ask him about this Rossi guy while you’re there. See if he’s heard any of the other inmates talking about him,” Axel suggested.
“Will do.” I turned my attention back to Viper. “Thanks for this, Prez. I appreciate it.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” he scoffed. “I’ve got no idea how this thing is gonna turn out.”
“He’ll fix this. He has to.”
As I left Viper’s office, I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
I still didn’t know what Billy had in mind for helping us, but at least he would be able to Parker a chance.
I walked out to the club’s parking lot and pulled out my burner.
Since I wasn’t sure how long Parker and I would be gone, I put in a call to the prison, informing my contact to have Jagger add Aubrey Cash to his visitor list for the following morning.
With that done, I started up my bike and headed over to Stilettos to check in on Parker. I’d gotten Country and Locke to swing by her apartment and pick her up on their way to work—it was the only way I knew for certain she wouldn’t try and run off while I talked to Viper.
I’d seen the look of uncertainty in her eyes when I talked about the brothers and how they could help us with her situation.
Even though she played along, I knew she wasn’t buying it and was considering sticking to her plan of leaving, and I understood why.
It was hard for her to trust, and rightly so.
Everyone who’d promised to protect her and keep her safe had failed, so it was no surprise that she was hesitant to trust me or anyone else for that matter.
I just hoped I’d be able to convince her to give Billy a chance.
When I got to the club, it was late and things were already rolling.
Customers were streaming in through the front door, and the bar was hopping with each of the waitresses filling their table’s orders.
I spotted Parker walking away from the bar with a tray full of drinks, but I didn’t go straight over.
Instead, I walked over to one of the back tables where Hawk was sitting with Delilah and her best friend, Krissy.
“Hey, brother.” Hawk slapped my shoulder as soon as I sat down. “Where you been all afternoon?”
“At the clubhouse talking to Viper and Axel.”
“That talk have anything to do with Aubrey?”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t get into it all with Delilah and Krissy sitting there, so I simply said, “I’m gonna need you and Country to fill in for me for a few days. Maybe longer.”
“You going somewhere?”
“I am.” Again, I couldn’t tell him what was up, so I nodded my head in Delilah’s direction, giving Hawk the signal. “Marlowe should be able to handle the nightly receipts and basic inventory, but I’ll need you to check in with her now and then to make sure she’s got everything covered.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem.” His brows furrowed with concern. “Viper know about you leaving?”
“He does.” I leaned over to him and said, “He can fill you in on all the details later.”
Marlowe came over from the bar with a round of drinks. She handed the girls theirs first, and although neither of us had ordered one, she placed a couple of beers down in front of Hawk and me. Marlowe smiled as she said, “You both look like you could use a drink.”
“Definitely, thanks.” I grabbed one of the beers and took a long pull, then turned to her and said, “I was just telling Hawk that I’ll be needing you to cover for me for the next few days. You gonna be okay with that?”
“Absolutely. Is everything okay?”
“It will be. Just let Hawk know if you need a hand with anything.”
“Sure thing.” Marlowe turned her attention back to the girls. “I’ll come hang out with you guys as soon as I get my break.”
“Great,” Delilah replied. “We’ll be here.”
When Marlowe walked back to the bar, I stood up and said, “I better get to the office. I have a few things to take care of before we head out.”
“We?” Hawk asked. “That means Aubrey’s going with you?”
“Yeah. Like I said, talk to Viper. He’ll fill you in.”