Page 3 of Deception (Deranged Drifters MC #22)

Chapter Three

Griffin’s Beach Colt

G laring, Colt refuses to be the one to break eye contact as Julian Black stares him down. He walked in with most of the police department as though the club might revolt against them, and Lily Hankinson looks more than unimpressed as she reads over the warrant.

“Don’t forget to check the walls in that meeting room there,” Julian calls out. “What do you guys call it again? Oh yeah, that’s right. The Chapel. Like this is some type of religious organization.”

The walls? The secret compartments haven’t been used for anything other than Brock’s tech shit in quite some time. Now that they have warehouses spread out, there’s not much kept in the clubhouse, and what they do have is better hidden than past years.

Just about everyone knows about those compartments except for maybe the new old ladies. We don’t use them for guns anymore.

“Don’t forget to go into the rooms on each floor,” Julian calls out.

Everyone sits around in chairs, and to their credit, no one looks particularly concerned.

Most look indifferent, even. Colt still looks at everyone, scrutinizing everything about each man, to see if there’s any tell that he may be the one talking to Julian.

It isn’t the first time they have a rat, but it’ll hopefully be the last.

“Yeah, go ahead and do that,” Lily says. “Those are apartments and considered living areas. Your warrant is only for common areas.”

“Are you worried about what we’ll find?”

“It doesn’t matter what you may find, Julian. It’s about whether it would be considered admissible. Since it’s not part of your warrant, there’s nothing you can do if you find something you deem illegal in the apartments. Unless your goal is to be humiliated further by the press.”

This feels very familiar. Almost like he’s using the same playbook Tanner Brown did when the sheriff’s department took over jurisdiction of the town. The corrupt sheriff who turned a member and got information to take the club down out of retaliation.

“You know, guys, I think I smell something burning. It could be electrical in the walls,” Julian says as he stares down Lily.

“You just got that season of Sons of Anarchy , huh?” Patriot asks. “You’re at least ten years behind, dude.”

Moving to sit on a bar stool, Lily leans back and smiles.

“You know what, Julian? Go for it. I’ll file a lawsuit against the police department and the city first thing in the morning.

Rumor has it the city officials are already sick of you.

I bet they’ll be thrilled with you when I file.

Especially because they don’t have the funds to pay out. ”

“Is that right?”

“This is harassment, especially because you have no real probable cause. What’d you do?

Find the one judge in town with a rubber stamp?

With pain and suffering over the torment, I think we could easily go for a million.

Each. On top of damages to the clubhouse because of some bullshit electrical fire. ”

An officer walks into the clubhouse carrying a fire ax, and Colt doesn’t recognize him. Must be new.

Julian holds a hand up to stop him. “You know what? Let this place burn to the ground. It’s the best way to get rid of this filth. I don’t want to risk a lawsuit while we try to protect and serve.”

Officers walk out of the kitchen and office, all empty-handed. Which means the new hiding places Ky and Colt came up with weren’t included in the information given to Julian.

Staring at everyone, Colt tries to find anyone Julian focuses on more than the others. Or avoids more than the others. Instead, Julian stays locked on Lily. In fact, every single man looks Julian in the face out of defiance and triumph.

I know it’s not Lily. She’s our lawyer and is loyal as Lex. She also has more to lose than the average woman of the club considering she’s a daughter and wife of the club. At some point, she’ll also be a mother of the club. It can’t be her.

Lily’s the only other woman here that Colt trusts to keep her mouth shut, no matter what gets thrown at her, besides Lex. And maybe Melanie, Jace Conway’s girl. And that’s when it dawns on him.

Keep your face straight, Colt. Don’t let Julian know you suspect anything.

He hopes he’s wrong. More than anything, but as he watched the police search through the old storage areas and hiding places, it feels more and more plausible. The informant is an old lady.

At one point or another, the club has pissed off every woman associated with them. Whether simply one person or the club as a whole, but never has one betrayed the club like this. Cheating? Sure. Stealing and property damage? Of course. Talking to the cops? Never.

He looks at the various men around the room. Jacob “Patriot” Norris and Phoenix Hankinson are like Colt—dating and married to daughters of the club.

Taylor “Shep” Shepherd’s wife, Heidi, was pissed at them because of his past relationship with Venom’s ex-girlfriend.

She works with the club, and they technically own the Puffy Taco, the strip club she manages.

No matter how pissed she is, taking the Drifters out would take her out, too. Plus, Lex trusts her.

A while back, Ky Short, his VP and best friend, had a falling out with his wife.

Finding out her husband lied about sleeping with her dead sister for decades will piss off any woman, but if Felicity wanted to take them down by talking to the cops, she wouldn’t do it after they made up.

Plus, her son’s about to become a patched member.

She’d never risk her child for vengeance.

I can’t discount Zane. He was pissed when we took back his leather, and he’s been gone for over a year now. His destructive behavior makes him a pretty good candidate. When he’s angry, he becomes a tornado. He wants to take out everything in his path.

He runs through the rest of the club, and none of the old ladies seem as though they’d be that angry. Sure, a few have pulled back lately, but there are many reasons for that.

Some are due to kids getting older and being involved in kid activities. Autumn Sims, Rocco’s girl, has kind of isolated herself since her kidnapping and fight with Lex. She’s always been the type to need space to lick her wounds before walking back into the fold.

“What’d you find?” Julian calls out, pulling Colt from his internal Rolodex of members and their women.

The Chief’s beer belly strains the buttons of his dress shirt, and he’d look much less ridiculous wearing a uniform than the ill-fitting suit he looks to have picked up at a consignment shop. The fit screams 90s when boxy suits were in style.

Penguin! That’s what he reminds me of. A fucking penguin!

The man was married once, briefly, to a woman who didn’t realize he didn’t make the type of money she thought he did.

His salary is more than sufficient for the average person, but his wife wanted more.

Vacations to Italy and Singapore and Paris.

It didn’t take long for her to leave him after draining his bank account and maxing out all of his cards.

“Nothing,” says a kid who looks like he’s trying to reinvent the Village People into a punk rock band. The purple mohawk and gauged ears don’t quite fit with the uniform.

Market’s not what it used to be, I guess.

“Same,” an older man calls out.

The man looks familiar, and Colt knows the asshole. He’s arrested him more than once.

“Nothing,” Alex McKenzie says.

She’s the only woman on the force now, and despite the unflattering uniform she’s forced to wear, she’s not an unattractive woman. But Colt stops focusing on her appearance when he watches her give a sideways glance to Brian Morris, one of the newest members.

“Guess you assholes got lucky,” Julian says, and rubs his balding head. “Until next time.”

Jennings Molloy and Colt lock eyes, and he knows the former President figured it out, too. Someone’s talking to the cops.

Once the cops are all gone, Colt calls out Brian’s name. “Chapel. Venom and Ky, you, too.”

The dark-haired man sporting a buzz cut looks scared. If Colt wasn’t aware this was his usual face, he’d worry the twenty-five-year-old was about to piss himself.

“What’s up?” Ky asks, his voice low.

Venom gives them a questioning look as he shuts the door, but Colt never takes his eyes from Brian. He’s clearly the only one who noticed the brief interaction.

“Got anything you need to tell us?”

“No.”

“I’m not going to ask again.”

He pales and stares at his feet. “It’s not a big deal, I swear.”

“What’s not a big deal?” Venom asks.

“I don’t tell her anything. Honest! You gotta believe me, Colt. You can ask her!” Brian cries.

“And why would she tell us the truth?”

He swallows, and this time, Colt thinks he may piss himself. “Because she’d get in even more trouble than I would.”

“Well, if you told her anything, we’ll fucking kill you, so I don’t know how true that is.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Ky asks from behind Colt.

“No fucking clue,” Venom says.

Jennings pops his head into the room, and Colt glares at the man who should know this isn’t a time to be interrupted. “We’re a little busy, Jennings.”

“I know, but you got a visitor who needs to talk to you immediately. And you don’t wanna keep her waiting.”

“McKenzie?”

He nods, and Colt waves to let her step inside the coveted room. The door shuts, and she leans against the room. “Soundproof?”

“Yep.”

“Good. No one can know we’re talking right now,” Alex says. “I know you caught the look, and I’m here to tell you it’s not what you think.”

“Then what is it?”

Shrugging, Alex looks almost disgusted. “It’s not exactly easy to find a guy in town who isn’t taken, and it’s even harder to find one who can fuck you senseless. It’s just sex. I don’t even really like him.”

“You don’t?” Brian asks.

“I like… parts of you,” she admits, “but you’re a little young for me. Mentally. Not physically below the waist.”

“What about my mouth?”

Her hand lifts and moves side-to-side. “Eh, that needs work, but I’m particular in my sexual tastes. Brian can satisfy them.”

“I don’t tell her anything,” Brian says, his hands in the air. “And she doesn’t ask. In fact, we don’t really talk. We just… fuck.”

“Wait,” Ky says and steps forward with his finger in the air. “You’re bedding the lady cop?”

“I’m not just a cop, guys. I’m a woman, too. A woman who has needs, and the truth is, very few men can screw like a biker.”

Venom slaps Ky’s shoulder. “I know it’s not okay, but I’m a little impressed, kid.”

“Why should we believe you’re not getting information from him?” Colt asks.

“First of all, have you ever tried to have a real conversation with him? It’s like pulling teeth. Second, I’m the one who called Grayson.”

His eyes widen, and it makes sense. A little. “You’re working against Julian?”

“That’s why no one can know I’m here, and if Julian finds out I’m fucking a Drifter, he’ll have my badge. And then some. But he’s become a corrupt son of a bitch, and so has Travis.”

“She gave Grayson the heads-up that the warrant was being served?” Ky asks. “That’s kind of solid.”

“Look, I don’t want to lose my job because whether you believe it or not, I actually like helping people.

And the only reason the city hasn’t gone to total shit is because the big players in the game don’t want to intrude on your turf.

You’re doing more for the town by simply existing than Julian and Travis have done in years. ”

Venom lets out a long breath. “I mean, if she’s helping us, and just getting her freak on, we can’t really be that mad, right?”

“I don’t even remember how it started—”

“You arrested me, and then we were left in the lockup alone during the power outage,” Brian says. “You ran into me and brushed my cock with your hand. It got hard, you got naked, and then we fucked three times until the lights came on.”

Laughing, she nods. “That’s the most I think you’ve ever said to me.

And, sure, I remember. I was trying to help you out, but the truth is, we just meet in the parking garage and have at it in the backseat of a car or against it.

There’s no talking. We don’t even say each other’s names. It’s just sounds and grunts.”

“Like Animal Planet .”

Colt can’t stop the snort at Brian’s assessment of his relationship. “This ends now, okay? For all of us, this can’t continue.”

“Or,” Brian says, “I continue to keep her happy, and she keeps her ear to the ground for us.”

“I’m gonna go,” Alex says. “But I am on your side, Colt. At least with this.”

She leaves, and Colt decides not to say anything about the rat. No one else needs to know that someone’s talking. Not yet. Not until he can get a better handle on figuring out who it is.