Page 26
N AVY
“I’m not sure I’ll be able to survive this falling in love shit,” I admitted. Chewie picked up a man’s foot, and I grabbed the other so we could drag him to the van that Ajax had procured somehow. “I’m not sure my heart can take another scare like I had today.”
“I have a feeling that every day with that woman is going to be an adventure. Especially if her cousin is involved. I think she may be a little bit . . . unhinged.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked as we hefted the unconscious man into the van. He landed on one of his buddies, and they both groaned through the duck tape covering their mouths as we turned around to go get another of their cohorts. “She’s been through a lot.”
“She was instant besties with Lurk.”
“I consider Lurk a good friend. Thank god because I know what kind of enemy he would be.”
“Preach it,” Chewie said with a shudder. “It was just odd how they took to each other so easily. Did you hear that they made plans to go dancing this weekend?”
“Lurk can dance?”
“I don’t fucking know,” Chewie said in exasperation. “It’s more that he made plans to go out in public, on purpose, with no nefarious reason other than to get his groove on.”
As Shorty dragged a man toward the van, I asked, “Did you check him?”
“Nothing on this one,” Shorty assured me. “What the fuck are we going to do with these guys once we get them loaded up?”
“I don’t know,” Chewie answered.
“Other than the fact that they drive shitty bikes and dress like Hollywood douchebags, what do we really have on them?” Shorty asked as he walked toward us after dumping the guy next to the van.
As Chewie started emptying the next guy’s pockets, I checked his hands and shouted when I found what I was looking for.
As I tugged it off his finger, I said, “Well, this motherfucker beat the shit out of my dad and stole his wedding ring.”
“Fuck it. Kill him,” Shorty said as he bent over to check another man. “I wish we had more information on the rest of them, though.”
“That would have been easier to figure out if Lurk hadn’t blown up their clubhouse,” I mused.
“He didn’t. He blew up their shop. The clubhouse is still standing. There were people inside, so he didn’t detonate that one. He was going to wait until he was sure it was empty first,” Chewie explained.
“It’s not going to be empty once we put all these worthless fuckers inside it, but I still don’t think he’ll push the button.”
I saw Ajax walking toward us and held up my father’s ring. “Found it!”
“Hell yeah! Clark’s gonna be happy about that.” Ajax laughed before he said, “Lurk and I took a minute to get to know one of the tattooed douchebags, and he was nice enough to give us the history of their little motorcycle club.”
“They’re an official club?” I asked.
“Not so much official as stupid.”
As I started dragging the guy who had the ring on his finger toward the van, I said, “Look at ‘em. I could have told you that.”
“It’s a little more in-depth than how they look, man.”
“I don’t give a fuck who they are. This asshole attacked my father and then stole from him. He’s lucky I don’t chop his fucking hands off for that.”
“They’re a gamer club.”
“What’s that?” Shorty asked.
Ajax scratched his head before he explained, “They’re a bunch of gamers who met online and then got together at a convention where they . . . What’s it called when they dress up like their favorite characters?”
“Cosplay?” I asked in shock.
“Yeah! That’s it! Anyway, they all met up in Vegas, got hammered, and then went to a tattoo shop to get matching ink. While they were hanging out, they came up with the grand idea to move to Oceanside and start a club, using one of their grandpa’s storage buildings for their clubhouse.”
“What?” me, Shorty, and Chewie asked in unison.
“This Diablo asshole found one of them online - which is something I’m going to investigate, considering what we know about his disgusting proclivities, and he became their de facto leader.”
“You’re fucking with me, right?”
“Some people really get lost in certain games.” Shorty laughed before he said, “I think this might go above and beyond, though. Why the hell did they start shaking down businesses? What’s that about?”
“They watched way too many movies,” Chewie answered sadly. “Poor kids weren’t even living in reality.”
“Kids? This asshole is at least my age!” I yelled.
“Their clocks aren’t wound tight enough,” Shorty explained.
Ajax chuckled before he said, “Even their club name is based on a video game.”
“You’re fucking kidding,” I hissed as I glared down at the man at my feet. “They were playing a game?”
“Yep. However, I think their gamer days are over now.”
“Goddamn right, they are!” I said angrily before I kicked the man who’d hit my father.
As he groaned loudly, Ajax said, “We can’t have their leader, and we have to leave the rest of them at their clubhouse.”
“So Lurk can make it go boom?” Shorty asked.
“No, so the real club who runs shit around here can chat with them.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh.” Ajax winced before he said, “Boss talked to their chapter president, and these nerds were already on his radar. When he found out they were trying to shake people down, including his great aunt who owns a convenience store down the way, he was pissed .”
“So, to make peace, we have to hand them over.”
“Yep,” Ajax answered.
“It would be more humane if we took care of the problem ourselves,” Chewie said sadly.
Suddenly, Ajax had become a man of few words and repeated, “Yep.”
“What about that Diablo douchebag?” I asked.
“They’re coming to pick him up themselves. They want him as an insurance policy. This new mayor has aspirations that far exceed being the mayor of this piece of the state. My guess is that they’re going to use that to their advantage.”
“Do you think they’ll leave him alive?” Donner asked.
“Doubtful,” Chewie scoffed.
“I think they will just so they’ve got some ammunition against the mayor if his dreams of holding higher office happen to come true.”
“That means we can get to him in the future,” I said cheerfully.
“Well, good! At least there’s a partially happy ending to the story,” Shorty cheered.
“Lurk wants to do one while he’s here,” Ajax warned.
“No!” I shook my head before I said, “He’ll go off the rails and change shit up. We can’t do that. Each one is exactly the same every single time. That helps to throw off the scent for the cops since the same crime has happened all over the place.”
“I know, but I’m not really sure how to tell a man like Lurk no.”
“Talk to him while he’s out dancing with the crazy girl,” Chewie suggested.
“Lurk’s going dancing?” Ajax asked.
“I know, right?”
“I’m kind of worried. He’s not been himself lately.”
“Maybe he’s just ready for a change,” I suggested.
Ajax laughed before he said, “He might be, but I’m not sure the world is.”
“I’ll talk to him before he leaves,” I promised.
“I asked Donner to feel him out too,” Ajax informed me. “He’s hanging out with him now while they watch over your girl and her fun cousin.”
“I think I love her,” Shorty announced. “She’s perfect for me.”
“I guess she’s going to be part of the package if I want Dali in my life, but I’m sure having her around is going to bring some adventure to my boring life.”
The guys laughed along with me before Chewie said, “Yeah. Living in a condo on the beach while you play on your computer and plan the demise of predators is sooo boring.”
“It’s a burden, but I think I’ll manage.”
◆◆◆
NAVY
The metal chair made a horrible noise as I dragged it across the concrete floor, and when I saw the prick flinch at the sound, I began walking even slower. By the time I’d gotten the chair set up in front of him, the sound was grating on my nerves too.
“Jerry . . . Can I call you Jerry?” I asked sarcastically. He moaned beneath his gag, and I said, “We need to talk about your future.”
He started bucking around in the chair, and I frowned as I shook my head.
When he didn’t stop, I reached over and slapped the side of his head, making sure to hit his ear that had just recently stopped bleeding after Jodie tried to rip it off while they wrestled in the back seat.
His head whipped back with the force of the hit, and he groaned before he looked back at me.
“Hush!” I snapped before I lifted my hand again. When he stayed quiet, I said, “Thank you.”
I took a moment to gather my thoughts before I said, “Now, your future hangs in the balance. I know what I want to do to you, and honestly, I can’t even imagine what the other guys are going to do to you.
Unfortunately, it’s out of my hands. They couldn’t promise me they’d let you live, but if you do, I’m going to visit you someday so we can have another little chat.
Until then, I am going to have to insist that you forget all about who you saw today and how you got injured.
I need you to develop amnesia when it comes to any detail about today or even the last week.
You picking up what I’m putting down, Diablo ? ”
He hurriedly nodded, and I sighed before I said, “I really, really wish I could be in charge of punishing you for your stupidity. That’s really what it was, after all.”
The asshole who had been so smarmy before had now turned into a sniveling lump of bruises. Even though that was nice to see, it just wasn’t enough to sate my thirst for vengeance. I knew what this man did when he surfed the internet, and the majority of it had nothing to do with online gaming.
However, I didn’t want to show my hand in case the MC that was on its way to pick him up happened to let him go free.
I doubted that would be the case, but on the off chance it was, I wanted to surprise him some dark night by appearing like an apparition in the doorway, there to change his life in ways that he could have never imagined.
“They’ll be here any minute.”
I glanced over at Ajax and said, “I know.”