Page 95 of Caution to the Wind
Jumpin’ ashes was the Chinese slang term for dealin’ heroin.
I side-eyed my brother, realizin’ for the millionth time how little we knew about him. Really, how little the club knew about the histories of any of its brothers. Zeus knew the most, bein’ Prez, but sometimes, I fuckin’ marvelled at the trust he had in us. This ragtag group of criminals who each had hearts of gold under all the tatts and records and bad attitudes. How did he sense it?
I’d stopped trustin’ my gut instinct for that kinda thing around the time Mei left me to rot in jail.
“They gonna recognize you?” Zeus asked as he stepped up beside us, Bat and King takin’ up his other side so we flanked him.
Wrath grinned the way a wolf might’ve grinned, all teeth and peeled-back lips. The guy was so good lookin’ it was a town joke that any of the single women would make a deal with the devil for one night with the biker even though he never took notice of any of them. But I could not fuckin’ see it.
Dude was the scariest motherfucker I knew.
Priest used to take the cake on that, but he had Bea and a little one on the way now. It made him more dangerous ’cause he had somethin’ to lose now, but it also made himhumanin a way he’d never been before.
Wrath’d lost his humanity along with his heart when his woman was killed a few years back.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” he assured us, then wiped the smile from his face when the group hit our row of boats, and Priest and Nova led them across the planks to our boat.
“Not very hospitable, taking our weapons when you retain yours,” Jiang called in an almost friendly tone as he stepped up the ladder and onto the boat.
Zeus shrugged a shoulder. “You wanted a meet when I’d rather never’a set eyes on your ugly mug. Beggars can’t be choosers.”
Jiang’s smile was thin as he struck a pose––hand on hip, pushing back the trench coat to show his empty holsters, the other drumming his fingers against his thigh. “Well, we make concessions when we deal with infamy and you are infamous, President Zeus Garro. What a delight it is to meet you in the flesh.”
Zeus’s response was to cross his arms over his chest and cock an eyebrow.
Jiang laughed in delight. “You certainly do live up to your reputation.”
“Then it won’t surprise you when I say I don’t give a fuck ’bout your expectations. The only reason we’re meetin’ is ’cause you rolled intomymotherfuckin’ town and threatenedmymotherfuckin’ townsfolk andmy goddamn motherfuckin’brother. So quit the act and settle up. What has you so desperate to meet?”
Jiang’s persona fell away from one second to the next. Now, he stood straight as a rod, facin’ us head-on, chin tipped down so he could stare at us through narrowed eyes. When he spoke, it was a hiss. “I’d think again about your attitude, Garro. I’m here because once, a very long time ago, your associate Axe-Man tried to help me, but mostly, I’m doing this as a favour for a friend. In fact, I could get my own ass in a sling just by extending this little courtesy. I always told them trying to help you lot would be like pulling a cow up a tree.”
It was a Chinese expression that didn’t translate properly to English, but we all understood his meaning.
Zeus shifted position just slightly, rollin’ to the balls of his feet, hands curlin’ into loose fists. He’d have his beloved brass knuckles in his pocket, and I could see his desire to use them.
I felt it, too. My hand curlin’ around the handle of the hatchet at my side.
“A favour to who?” I demanded, ’cause somethin’ about that didn’t sit right.
Jiang only raised both brows at me in haughty disdain before addressin’ Zeus again. “I’m here towarnyou. My brother has set his sights on Entrance. He believes it’s a good foothold to dominate the Sea to Sky passage, and he wants it for Seven Song.”
“Yeah, we figured as much based on the dead animals he’s left our shopkeepers,” Zeus drawled. “Too bad this foothold’s been owned and operated by The Fallen MC for decades, and we won’t ever give it up.”
“Without a fight,” Jiang amended with a click of his tongue. “Because my brother isn’t well versed in the wordno.”
I wondered if he realized how he touched the scar on his right cheek, the same scar I’d watched Kasper slice into his face the night I went to jail. It didn’t surprise me that Jiang still worked with his brother even after all that. Chinese cultural emphasis on family before all else was so deeply embedded, Jiang probably thought he still owed everythin’ to his older brother even though Kasper’d killed his lover and publicly scarred and humiliated Jiang himself.
I’d been willin’ to stand by Rooster for too long, and he wasn’t even blood, so I couldn’t pretend I didn’t understand where he was comin’ from. Loyalty as a fundamental characteristic was a double-edged sword I’d cut myself on one too many times.
“You sure you wanna take us on?” Zeus was sayin’, flippin’ open a blade to clean under his nails. “We’re not the Calgary chapter ten years ago. We’re the fuckin’ mother chapter of The Fallen MC, and we got allies up and down this province. You wanna go to war with us and the Red Dragons, be my guest. You’ll be torn apart an hour after you fire the startin’ gun.”
“I don’t want to go to war with anyone.” Jiang opened his palms to the sky as if beseechin’ God for peace. “That’s why I’mhere. To warn you. He wants access to the marina, a financial hold on the town, and power. But he isn’t the only one. The White Snake, the leader of the Red Dragons, has his eye on Entrance too. The car dealership owned by a Reece Ross? They’re in negotiations right now to take over the lot. They’ve also got their eye on Purgatory Motel and Main Street B&B. It’s the devil you know,” he said with a dramatic flourish to himself. “Or the devil you don’t. You can go to war with him––and with us––or we can reach an agreement. We’ll let you run your guns and weed, but you mule our heroin and cocaine from the Washington border up through Whistler.”
A growl worked low in my throat because that was the same deal Kasper’d blackmailed Rooster into acceptin’ after takin’ some of the club’s women hostage.
He lifted his open palm, and one of the silent men behind him placed a stack of papers in it. Jiang accepted the package without looking at it and offered it to us. “It’s all very above board. We’ve laid out fair terms and percentages, and all you need to do is agree.”
When no one stepped forward to take the contract, Jiang tossed it at our feet. Without hesitation, Wrath unclipped his flask from his belt and poured booze on the papers. Before he was done, I was lightin’ a match from the Eugene’s Bar matchbook in my pocket and droppin’ it to the papers.