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Riley

I had been friends with Ali ever since she hired me to do some life coaching with her after her first child was born. At the time, she had a new husband, an adorable stepdaughter, a household to run, and she was helping her husband operate his fitness center. Needless to say, her plate had been full, and she had been getting increasingly overwhelmed. I had worked with her for a little over a month, focusing on things like making time for herself and understanding her value as a person.

Once things were moving along nicely, we parted ways. I remembered her as being such a kind, loving soul.

That was how I met Zoe. They were sisters. Both of their husbands were officers in the Dark Slayers MC. Those bikers from the bar the week before had also been members of the Dark Slayers. Looking back, I believed they’d acted out as a distraction to give the rest of us an opportunity to get out. Although we hadn’t had drugs on us, I hadn’t trusted Detective Slater not to say we did and arrest us anyway.

It was Zoe who had called me that morning to see if I could meet with her and her husband about working with one of their club members. I wasn’t sure what assistance I was expected to give a biker, but out of fondness for Zoe I agreed to do what I could.

When I got there, they had guys at the gate, and I had to show ID and sign in. I tried not to let my amusement show because it felt like being carded to enter a biker dive. Only, when I pulled up to the building, it was surprisingly nice—brick with large windows and a shingled roof. It had a sports bar feel from the outside.

Then I walked up the front steps and entered the clubhouse. The inside was nice as well. All the furniture matched, the walls were decorated with biker-themed art, and there was a big bar jutting out of one wall, with no one tending it. I glanced down at my wristwatch to find that it was only eight in the morning—a bit early for alcohol, though for some reason I thought the club members would be drinking at all hours. The place was squeaky clean and smelled like lemon-scented cleaning products. I had to give these bikers credit for running a tight ship, I was expecting debauchery, or at the very least, a frat house.

Zoe came out to greet me. “The prospects told me you arrived.” She reached out to shake my hand. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for inviting me.”

Zoe glanced over her shoulder and then back at me. “Don’t thank me just yet. This might be the one job you regret taking.”

I smiled politely because Zoe was a well-respected member of our community. She ran a really popular local vlog that focused on crime and corruption. I assured her, “Don’t worry. I’ve had some pretty tough clients in the past.”

Her eyes flashed up to mine, and she blanched.

“What, that bad?” I asked.

She grimaced and then arranged her face into a smile, “Not bad, just frustrating.”

A deep voice came from the doorway behind her. “You still interested in the job?”

I glanced up at the tall, well-groomed man standing about ten yards behind her. He had dark hair, ice-blue eyes, and an air of authority about him. This was Storm, Zoe’s husband, and the president of the Dark Slayers MC.

“Of… of course I am. I’m not afraid of difficult clients. Everyone is teachable if you show respect, listen to their goals, and help them find the motivation they need to be successful.”

When I glanced back at Zoe, she was wearing a broad smile. “I told you, she’s the one—the only person I know who can get Havoc on the right track.”

Shock roiled through my gut. “His club name is Havoc?”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t have anger management problems. That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about when working with him.”

“Alright, I’m in.”

Zoe and I joined Storm in his office and settled down in chairs on the other side of his desk. He dropped down into his office chair and shoved a pile of paperwork to the side.

Storm began telling me about the issues they wanted me to help Havoc with.

“First of all, your services will be covered by the club because I’m making working with you mandatory for Havoc if he wants to remain an active member of the club.”

“It’s that bad?” I asked. “So bad that you’d really put him out of the club?”

Storm stared at me for a brief moment before answering. “Let me explain something to you. Most of the men in this club are former military. No matter what branch of service we’re from, our mantra has always been that no man gets left behind. That’s also a deeply ingrained core belief for our club. I vet all our prospects before letting them prospect for us. They have to prove to me that they’re good, decent men. Havoc passed all our rigorous vetting and earned his patch.”

“That’s good information to have. Thank you for sharing it with me.”

Storm took a deep breath and continued, “What I need you to understand is how fucking desperate we are to help get our club brother back on the right track. He’s as good as his name when it comes to wreaking havoc. But he’s also a fine, upstanding human being—loyal and smart in his own way. He’s generous and down-to-earth. I’d hate for him to have to leave the club, but right now we can’t trust him to help with club business.”

Zoe chimed in, “What my husband is trying to say is that we don’t want to change him. Havoc is a great guy. We like his core personality and value system. We’re hoping you can help him become a better version of himself, less of a loose cannon.”

“I’ll certainly do my best,” I assured them. “It would be helpful if you can tell me what kind of behaviors are problematic. Or just point me in the right direction to figure it out. For example, is he too rough with the club girls, does he have difficulty keeping a job, or issues with interacting appropriately with others?”

Storm shot to his feet and leaned over the desk to glare at me. He made a wide, sweeping gesture with one arm and turned to Zoe. “I told you this wouldn’t work, I don’t want some uptight therapist coming in and judging my men.”

Zoe reached out and touched his hand. “I know this is an emotional issue for you, but you need to dial it down a notch. Riley is just asking questions, you know?”

He flung himself back down into his chair and gestured in my direction. “I just told her what a great guy he is, and she jumps straight to some really shitty potential issues right off the bat. How the fuck am I supposed to feel about that?”

Zoe walked around the desk, and Storm whirled his chair around and pulled her down into his lap. She cupped his face in her hands and told him, “You should feel angry about that. It’s insulting to think Havoc could be capable of the behaviors she suggested. But just hear her out, she doesn’t know him like we do, okay?”

“Yeah, I get what you’re saying, babe. I just didn’t know if this is the right way to go. I want Havoc to feel respected, and that isn’t gonna happen with some high-class, prissy woman who’s gonna make him feel less than. We already get enough judgment from outsiders.”

I came to my feet and leaned over the desk and snapped my fingers to get their attention. “Hey, lovebirds. Stop talking about me like I’m not here. The reason I’m suspecting the worst is because you’ve told me everything except what the actual problem is. When I have to dig this hard to get a glimpse of why someone needs a life coach, it’s usually because there’s something to hide. Now, you two are either going to be straight with me, or I’m walking the fuck out of here.”

I expected them to explode, but Storm was smiling, and Zoe threw back her head and laughed. She got up from his lap and returned to her seat.

Storm’s expression turned rueful. “I can tell you don’t usually curse because the word sounds forced when you say it out loud.”

I snapped back, “I curse a lot in my head, if that matters.”

Zoe said, “Aw, I think it’s cute that you’re giving Storm back the same energy he’s giving you and talking like a biker to get through to him. That’s pretty smart.”

I sat back down in my seat and said, “Let’s start again. Tell me what Havoc’s doing that’s so troubling to you that you might put him out over it.”

Storm steepled his fingers together and took a moment to order his thoughts. “We’ll start with the most recent and work our way back. Five nights ago, he was fucking around with the electrical system, trying to fix a flickering light. He accidentally set off the fire alarm and all the sprinklers in the building. The damage to our building was significant. It took our entire club working in unison to clean up the mess, and we’re still waiting on replacement widescreen TVs, computers, and server equipment to arrive. Our security system just came back online today, which means our club was vulnerable for three whole days.”

I said, “Understood, Mr. Storm.”

He frowned at me. “It’s just Storm. No need to add ‘Mister.’”

Glancing at Zoe and then back at me, he continued, “About two weeks ago, he got the prospects all riled up during a police raid at a bar in town.”

I knew exactly what he was talking about. It was the only police raid in town all year, and even the local media had been talking about it. I interjected quickly, “If it’s any consolation, they didn’t do much damage to the bar. I think they were just causing a bunch of chaos because the cop who called in the raid is dirty and was keen to arrest a bunch of us on trumped-up charges.”

Storm’s hands came down to rest on his desk. “Is that so? How do you know this?”

“I was there. It’s the bar where me and my friends meet up for our girls’ night out. Bruno Romano owns the place. I’ve always suspected he deals drugs out of the back of his bar, but no one has ever tried to sell drugs to me personally, and I’ve never watched a drug deal go down with my own eyes.”

Storm suddenly hung on my every word. “Tell me everything you know about that bar.”

“Well, it’s a popular bar with a good atmosphere. The place is always slammed on Friday and Saturday nights when I’ve been there. People mostly come to dance, it’s a place women can go and not get hassled,” I paused, thinking about Detective Slater again. “Well, usually we don’t get hassled. The drinks are reasonably priced, and their nightly specials are fantastic.”

Storm’s voice shifted to something a little more accommodating. “That’s all good information. Tell me more about why you think this Romano guy is dealing drugs.”

Without missing a beat, I told him exactly what he wanted to know. “I’ve been there a bunch of times and noticed that people leave way more messed up than when they came. I’ve even seen people walking around with white powder dusting their nostrils. To be honest, a lot of people seem to be snorting drugs there. The bathrooms are at the back of the bar down a little hallway that has an office at the end. The way it’s set up, people could be pretending to go to the bathroom and then slipping into the office to buy drugs. To be honest, I’ve never really given it a lot of thought before you just asked. It’s not like a dive bar, the place always seems nice.”

“Do you think that dirty cop is involved?”

I stared at Storm for a second as I thought it over. “To be quite honest, I’d never thought about it, but there’s this one cop, Detective Slater, who was there that night. He’s a Class A asshole. There was something about the way Bruno kept looking at him that was weird. It almost felt like Bruno couldn’t believe he was being arrested and kept looking for Slater to do something to stop it.”

Storm asked, “Is that all you remember? The reason I ask is because two of my club brothers were arrested that night along with eight prospects. Their bail cost the club a nice chunk of change and our club attorney has been working overtime to get the prosecuting attorney to drop the charges. In short, it’s been a cluster fuck.”

I totally sympathized with his plight. “Yeah, I see how this could be a real pain in the ass for your club. To be honest, I don’t really interact with Bruno or his employees very much. Mostly, my friends and I are joined at the hip. Our rule is, we all leave together no matter what.”

Storm pointed out sagely, “So you’re careful not to leave a woman behind, right?”

I flashed him a quick grin for pointing out that we did our own female version of ‘leave no man behind’ . “You got me there. See, we do have something important in common after all.”

Storm pulled out his phone and began texting, so I assumed the interview was over. Turning to Zoe, I asked, “So, when do you want to set up a meeting between me and Havoc?” Pulling out my phone, I opened my calendar and started scanning my availability.

Storm lowered his phone and answered my question. “We’re doing this right fucking now.”

Zoe shot me a helpless look and murmured, “Yeah, before you decide my darling husband and his club brother are too much trouble.”

I told her, “Fat chance of that happening. I’m a woman who loves a challenge.”

Her eyes flashed from me to her husband and back again before she added, “Well, prepare for the challenge of a lifetime. Havoc is one of the most stubborn men on the planet.”