Page 109 of Clint & Ivy

The possible answer to his question filled the quiet morning with the sounds of more approaching motorcycles. Members of the Black Rainbow Motorcycle Club rolled past the barricades.

I glanced at Tricky to find him ready to attack. “They did it,” he sneered and frowned at me. “How can you not see that?”

“They wanted an alliance to push back against the Void. If they’re working an angle here, you flipping out will play right into their hands. Be cool and make Zodiac wonder if we’re onto him.”

Tricky, of fucking course, didn’t heed my words. He instantly rushed toward the bikers climbing off their rides. While Jagger wasn’t as quick to follow, the younger LM Jokers members ran over to back up their president.

I held back with Rock, watching shit play out. Zodiac wasn’t a child. He could defend himself against Tricky. Besides, I didn’t wholly trust either man.

“You have a lot of gall showing up at the scene of the crime!” Tricky hollered, rushing at Zodiac.

The older man only grinned at Tricky. His people weren’t as chill. Exile nearly tackled Tricky before getting waved off by Zodiac.

Ignoring Tricky yelling accusations in his face, Zodiac walked toward Rock’s parents. He looked more like a biker president than a lounge singer this morning, but he still strutted like a showoff.

“Oz Savo,” Zodiac said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Did you hear that, Ging? I’m fucking famous,” Oz announced while shaking Zodiac’s hand. Sizing up the other man, Oz said, “I’ve heard you’re charming. Say something that’ll light my panties on fire.”

Zodiac chuckled at Oz’s taunting while Tricky stood back and eyed Jagger. They were arguing as usual. The men ought to be well matched, like Rock and I were. My VP was the scary badass who distracted our enemies while I was the sneaky asshole taking the kill shot.

Within the LM Jokers, Jagger was the brains, pondering issues to death while Tricky ran on instinct and rarely gave plans a second thought. Right now, they couldn’t figure out how to play Zodiac, who treated them as bystanders.

Despite Zodiac’s cool, Exile looked pissed as he approached Rock and me.

“How many people did you lose?”

“Four,” I said, wondering about the dead men still in the smoldering house.

“Any leads?”

“None I trust,” I lied. “My gut says this might be a personal beef with one of the guys who died.”

Exile frowned. “The Void is testing you.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. A meth lab exploded,” I muttered and pulled out my phone. “Shit happens.”

“Are you fucking kidding?” Exile growled at me as I typed into my phone. “Your people are under attack, and you’re texting like a teenage girl.”

“I’m checking on my woman,” I replied calmly while I actually texted Cher. I asked her to use her charms to distract Tricky before her ex-boyfriend got into a fistfight with Zodiac. Once I finished texting, I told Exile, “You need to calm down.”

Exile opened his mouth to give me shit. I felt him struggling with his temper. I wasn’t familiar with Exile’s background besides he wasn’t originally from Baton Rouge. Oh, and he wore a cowboy hat all the time.

“How do you keep that thing from flying off when you’re riding?” I asked while gesturing at his hat.

“That’s not a real question,” he sneered before noticing Zodiac strolling over.

I glanced back at Tricky, finding him distracted by Cher, who seemed to be whining about the cold and her fatigue. Tricky kept glancing at us, wanting to blow off Cher and come after Zodiac. Once she asked for a hug, he gave up and cuddled her shivering body.

Next to them, Sabrina, Vanessa, Moe, and Xandy were working their magic on Jagger. I also spotted Rowdy chatting with the Black Rainbow members.

“Slick move sending the green-haired one to distract Tricky,” Zodiac told me. “I’m surprised you didn’t bring your sister along to pull the same move on me.”

“Would that have worked?” I asked, still rolling with my feckless bitch routine. “I assumed you were faking interest in her to mess with me.”

“How did you get here so fast?” Rock asked Zodiac. “You arrived nearly as fast as we did.”

“It’s called speeding, Rock,” Zodiac replied and offered a sneering grin. “You might want to stop following traffic laws and see if you get places faster.”

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