Page 22 of Dark Alleys

He grinned. “Yeah, big cop talk. I could take you.”

“Don’t, Leon,” hollered Perez when he saw it was me. “Shut your mouth and get away from Lukas.”

The kid walked away and leaned on the wall.

“What do you want, Donovan?”

“You got a member named Akito… something?”

“Nope. Don’t got no Akito belonging to the Dragons.”

I looked at the kid’s face and knew Perez was lying.

“Never mind. I’ll find out another way. You wouldn’t want to be accessory to rape, Carlos. Punk like you couldn’t do the time. You’d bebaby girlto one of them big bald fuckers with a swastika tattooed on his dick the minute you got past orientation.”

“Shut the fuck up, Donovan.” Perez hissed at me and his hand went to his blade.

“Come on, Perez.” I motioned for him to come at me. “I learned new moves I’m dying to show you.”

“Get the hell out of here, Donovan. This ain’t a social club. This is a business and I ain’t talking to you. I’ve got work to do.”

“Consider yourself lucky I ain’t taking yourworkwith me and booking your ass for trafficking.”

I jumped into my truck, lit up a smoke and if the pres was home in bed like Perez said he was, I decided to pay him a call before I went another route.

Vincent Residence. East Congress. Austin.

I banged on the door of the stucco slum Paco Vincent lived in and he didn’t answer the door. Sick of waiting, and my arm starting to throb, my patience gave out and I ran around behind the shack, knocked garbage and bike parts out of my way, and kicked in what Paco was using for a door.

Splintering sound of me breaking in worked as good as an alarm clock and Paco ran into the kitchen in his boxers pointing a Glock at me.

My Sig was already pointed in his face. “You didn’t answer the door, Paco.”

“What the fuck, Donovan? I was asleep and you almost gave me a fuckin’ heart attack.” He put the Glock on the kitchen table, and I shoved mine into my waist holster.

Paco grabbed a beer out of the fridge and didn’t offer me one. He chugged half of it down then asked me what I wanted.

“Guy named Akito belongs to your club. The asshole is a rapist, and I want him.”

“Got no rapists in my club.”

“Yeah, you do. I’ve got proof and as soon as I get him, you’ll be one member short of a full load.”

“Think you’re looking in the wrong haystack, Donovan. I got nobody named Akito.”

“You sure? I find out you’re lying to me, Paco, you sure as hell don’t want me coming back at you. You sure fuckin’ don’t.”

“Why you care about dis thing, Donovan? You don’t investigate rapes. Ain’t your thing.”

“Personal.”

“Aw, fuck.”

“That’s right, Paco. This rape is personal. I pullmyrapist out ofyourclub, there will be shit coming down like you ain’t never seen.”

Paco laughed. “Never seen the funny side of you before, Donovan.”

“You’re gonna die laughing, Paco. Do what you gotta do and live like every day from now on is your last. Mark them off on your calendar ‘cause there won’t be many more.”

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