Page 11

AJAX

Carl and the two Death Angels left Paradise City alive and with all their limbs. Jagger, Mace, and Mongoose walked inside to check out the place. Diezel closed it down and told the dancers, bartenders, and customers to go home. The club would re-open in a few days under new ownership.

The girl seemed to feel safe with me. Her name was Lindsey, and like other girls at the age of seventeen, ran away from home. A month ago, she got on a bus and left her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, to get away from whoever or whatever was putting her through hell.

I leaned against the bar beside Diezel, waiting for Lindsey to get her things from the dressing room. Diezel's adrenaline was pumping at full speed after roughing up those Death Angels and smacking Carl around. Mace called our club Treasurer, Stacks, to ride over and fill him in on the new business venture of owning and managing a strip club.

"We can't be taking in girls and saving them. We're not a goddamn homeless shelter for kids!" Diezel fumed. "What's her name again?"

"Lindsey. She didn't give me a last name, not yet anyway."

Lindsey was the first one out of the dressing room, followed by four strippers. She was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, sneakers, and a neon green jacket, hugging a purse to her chest as she approached us.

"Where do you live? Ajax can give you a ride," Diezel said, sounding annoyed, as if she was too much of a bother.

"I was living with Grim. He's the one with the eye patch, but he left."

Diezel went from looking annoyed and bothered to full of rage. "You were shacking up with that Death Angel piece of shit? He's lucky he still has that other eye!"

He pulled out his wallet chained to his belt loop, opened it, and was about to hand Lindsey five hundred in cash, but she flinched and stepped back.

"I don't need your money!" she snapped.

"You little fucking brat!" Diezel snapped, and before I could stop him, he lunged at Lindsey and tossed her over his shoulder.

He turned to me. "I'm taking her back to the clubhouse. She can stay there until we figure out what to do with her."

I knelt and grabbed Lindsey's bag, handing it to Diezel. Then he marched out of the club while Lindsey screamed and pounded on his back.

Stacks entered, chuckling when he passed Diezel as he stormed out the front entrance with Lindsey over his shoulder. "Looks like Prez has his hands full!"

Jagger, Mace, and Mongoose were laughing on the stools beside me helping themselves with some of the beer on tap behind the bar.