Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Drew
There had been a shift in power.
I sat at the head of the table for my men.
I sat there for her, too. But before the night before, I’d been coasting on a memory of what was, even when I thought I hadn’t.
Playing it safe had never been a trait of mine, but since Ayda came into my life, I’d tried to think of other people but myself.
There’d been many days to change that way of thinking, yesterday being one of them.
It had brought me to my knees again and cracked me wide open.
I loved her and I’d admitted it. That only left one option open for every other problem that lay at my feet. I had to deal with this shit myself. Head on. Take full responsibility, no matter who the enemy.
Including Sutton.
I had a clean shirt upon my back for the slimy fucker.
My hair wasn’t its usual mess, and as I waited outside on the police station steps, I tried to look at least a little bit civilized.
The usual stares and odd looks from the locals didn’t go unnoticed.
The only difference was that when they smiled their fake smiles, I grinned right back, flashing them a wink and a nod of acknowledgement before they dipped their heads and scurried on past.
My hand coasted up and down the railing as the out of place warmth shone upon my face. Even though everyone else thought it was growing cold, I welcomed whatever sun I could get. There’d been too many days without that inside.
“Tucker,” the voice behind me snapped.
I didn’t move, instead smirking to myself as I imagined the way he rolled the end of his tash before he thumbed the inside of his belt with one hand while reaching for his gun with his other.
Dickhead.
“Chief,” I acknowledged him, poking my tongue into my back teeth as I stayed looking out onto the streets of Babylon.
“I have six other officers on duty today. Any particular reason why you’re standing out here demanding my presence?”
Howard’s voice shook, even though he was trying to hide it. Spinning around on the spot, I raised a foot onto the step above before me I gave him my full attention.
“It’s all about respect. You like to keep reminding me that this is your town, so as the good citizen and ex-convict that I am, I’m trying to respect y’all by keeping you informed of what I know.
Call it my duty.” I grinned at him, unable to miss the look of contempt he was flashing me as he stood there looking down, probably imagining all the ways I’d taken his two dollar whore of a wife before he came along.
“And what is it, exactly, that you think you know?”
“Oh, I know a lot.”
“I don’t have time for games, dipshit. You’re standing on my steps, using my time. Lose the smirk and give me something or get gone.”
“Is this the way you speak to all the people in Babylon?”
“Only you.”
“I feel special.” I took a step up, pulling myself higher on the railing as I drew closer to him.
Sutton flinched but tried to hide it, moving to take a step back before he corrected himself and spread his legs even wider apart.
He’d watched too many westerns and starred in few too many imaginary gun fights growing up. The chief was too easy to mess with.
Dropping my eyes, I took a moment to focus before I looked back up at him and tried not to appear too smug.
“These kids that have been causing problems around town?”
“What about it?” he said with not even a hint of genuine curiosity in his voice.
“What are you doing about them?”
“Tucker, I have bigger fish to fry than a bunch of delinquents who seem to have come off the back of y’all, so if this is all you and your big MC are here to discuss today, I’d not so kindly ask you to vacate my premises and spend more time focusing on your own faults than everybody else’s.”
“Off the back of us?” I smirked harder, taking another step closer.
“We’ve all seen their patches.” Sutton raised his chin and puffed his chest out like a kindergarten kid facing a high-schooler.
Landing on the same level as him, I walked closer, the leather of my cut creaking and the soles of my boots sounding like an atomic bomb going off in the silence. Shoving my hands in my jeans pockets, I rocked forward, dipping my head to his for no other purpose than to patronize the little fucker.
“You and I both know they have nothing to do with me and my men, so you listen to me and you listen up real good. This town you claim as yours, well you better start respecting it. You better start paying attention and looking out for it because those kids—those kids that you seem to think serve no purpose—let me tell you, they could cost you your badge. Now, I ain’t here to save your ass because I think it’s pretty.
I’m not even here to do your job for you because I feel it’s my duty, and believe it or not, this isn’t even about the shit you project on me for having done what I’ve done to the woman you fall asleep with every night. ”
Sutton’s eyes became frantic, the confusion on his face taking over as he took a step back and curled his fingers around his gun even harder.
“This is about two things,” I went on, leaning over him.
“One, keeping Babylon safe from gas station fires and the loss of innocent lives. I’d hate to see your record for peace darkened even more than it already is.
I’m sure your superiors would start questioning your competence if that happened again. ”
“You’re talking to me about innocent lives?”
Ignoring him, I went on, not accepting the invitation to that particular fight. “And two, maybe I’m just a good guy in bad guy’s clothing.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe a word of the bullcrap you just fed me.”
“You’ll listen, Chief, and you’ll believe it.
Unfortunately for you, you don’t live on the edge of society like I do.
Protocol: it’s your law. You gotta follow it, even when it’s the scum that’s feeding you the evidence.
Can’t leave no stone unturned, right?” I grinned harder, the skin tightening around my smile as I looked down on him.
These kids were going to be off our back once and for all, and Sutton had no choice but to listen to every little word I was about to feed him.
His balls were now in my hands.
Jedd sat on his bike, not hiding the fact that he looked bored as he focused on the road ahead of us, his head moving slowly from right to left with every car or truck that drove past. His long black beard was reaching epic lengths, the edges of it tickling the handles of his bike as he rested over them like the lazy bastard he was.
Seeing the patch I’d known since birth on the back of one of my brothers always sent me into some kind of nostalgic head spin.
The sun caressed each curve of the reaper and it’s guard dogs and called to me like it was my home…
because it was my home. Those three figures, those three sets of eyes and teeth, they represented who I was and who I stood for, and as job two for the day loomed ahead, I felt a new surge of urgency take over.
I swung my leg over my Harley, coughing loudly as I picked up my helmet and gave Jedd a satisfied glare.
When his attention turned to mine, his eyes lingered on me for too long before he shook his head and smiled. “Your life goes from good, to fucked up, to smug, to death, to cocky little shit way too quickly these days, pres.”
“Pres?” I scoffed, landing my helmet on my head as I worked the strap beneath my chin. “The fuck do you want?”
“You’re my pres, ain’t ya?”
“I guess so.”
“So what’s so shocking about it?”
I looked out onto the streets of Babylon, not able to answer him right away. There was no doubt in my mind that I was a brother. There was not even a doubt that I was their leader, even after spending so much time away.
Casting him a sideways glance, I dropped my hands to the handles and knocked back the kickstand. “It’s just rare from you.” I grinned bigger. “VP.”
“Yeah, well, lotta unusual shit going down in the world today, pres.” He smirked, following my lead as he started up his bike and the chugging roar of his Harley filled the air right alongside mine.
For a moment, we were just two men on machines, no more than two brothers with a love for wheels and speed.
The gentle winds blew around us, the cold biting at the exposed skin of our bodies as the road invited us to take a ride out east or west. It didn’t matter to them.
The asphalt would be waiting for us whichever route we chose.
But our patches soon clutched at our hearts, reminding us that that kind of freedom really didn’t exist for the likes of us, and that the only thing we had to look forward to was our own kind of protocol.
Our own kind of rules to follow. Our own kind of family, hierarchy and a never ending list of jobs to complete.
The small shit had been passed on to someone else.
The real problems hadn’t even been touched.
Rubbing my lips together, I squinted against the light before reaching into the pocket of my cut and pulling out my shades. Once I had them in place, I looked at Jedd again and sighed heavily.
“I love you, brother.”
He turned back to me instantly, his head snapping around as he tried to figure out if he’d really just heard what he thought he’d heard.
“You feeling okay, Tucker?”
My short burst of laughter was quickly drowned out by the roar of the engines beneath us. I shook my head at him, both brows rising as I shouted a little louder, “Just got a case of the I love yous, apparently. Suck it up, dickhead and enjoy the taste of my dust.”
I took off as fast as I could, tearing out in front of him, wondering what Ayda had been doing since I left her. Memories of the night before floated through my mind and soon brought another shit eating smile to my face that only the sun and sky could see.
From then on, some things would always stay private.