Page 83 of Whiskey Shivers

He shrugged said, “Man, I don’t know what they got planned. They was just talkin’ all kinds of crazy and when I said somethin’ about it, I got my ass kicked.” He shook his head. “That’s not how this shit was supposed to go, man. I don’t know.”

I believed him, what he was sayin’. There was a sincerity and a pain in his expression. A desperation.

“What the cops have on ‘em?” I asked. “Give me as much information as you can.”

“I can’t,” he said, walking backward into the street. “It’s a good thing y’all did today, but I gotta get my family away from here, out of this mess. I’m not tryin’ to go to prison or wind up dead. I got two young’uns and a wife I can’t keep lettin’ down. This is the best I can do.”

I nodded and he fucked off. Collier came up to me and asked me, “What was that about?”

“Defection,” I said and I handed him the bag. “Before you take that anywhere inside the club, you have Saint check that shit for bugs or any other kind of electronics, devices, or signal,” I said.

Collier looked in the bag and snapped it closed, bundling it between his two fists real tight. He looked up at me and gave me a curt nod and went to find Saint. I went to find La Croix.

I found our president with his girl at his hip. He stared, bored, at a couple of minister types that were talking at him, Alina being all warm and sweet and making polite small talk with them in her bartender’s customer service voice. Yeah, I knew better. The minute they fucked off, she’d be talkin’ mad shit behind their backs. She had no time or patience for the hypocrisy of the local churches. As southern and snake bit by corruption as they were.

I leaned down next to La Croix’s ear and said low and only for him, “We got a problem.” I jerked my head toward the club. He perked up and disengaged himself from Alina’s side and made to walk away from the bow tied motherfuckers talkin’ their hot air.

“Where you goin’, brother?” one asked in surprise and La Croix pinned them with a hard look.

“I’m not your brother,” he declared. I winked at ‘em as we turned to walk away and heard Alina rush out some kind of thing to smooth shit over.

“What’s the problem?” he demanded low and slightly irritated and I shook my head and jerked it in the direction of our office. His scowl deepened and I unlocked the door, setting Fable’s helmet down on a stack of boxes just inside it.

I shut the door and he turned to me, I took out my phone and turned it off. He raised and eyebrow and did the same and I let out a breath and finally spoke up.

“We just had an unexpected visitor from the—”

The door opened and Saint poked his head in, Collier squeezing in right behind him. They shut the door and I said, “Phones.”

They took them out and shut them off completely and then looked up.

“Well?” I asked first.

“Will you cut the cloak and dagger shit and get to the fuckin’ point?” La Croix growled. Saint held out the cut that’d been delivered to my hands. La Croix’s scowl only served to deepen as he took the other club’s colors out of his hands and held them up to look at them, front and back.

“Bucket,” he muttered at the name flash on the front. “What the fuck is this shit?”

I told him and Saint and Col what’d just gone down.

“The shit was clean,” Saint said. “I think we ought to take the warnin’ to heart.”

I nodded. “Me too, man. I think he’s a smart bastard.”

“Hopefully the smartest one of the bunch o’ them inbred backwoods freaks,” Collier declared.

“Public place, middle of a charity run – weren’t no better time for him to come hit us up.” La Croix was doing the same calculations I had in his head and he sucked in a breath, his eyebrows going up as he harrumphed, standing up a bit straighter, his shoulders going back.

“Wouldn’t tell me anymore ‘n what I told you,” I said.

He tilted his head and asked, “You don’t honestly think they’re dumb enough to try and fuck with any of us, do yah?”

I shook my head. “I honestly don’t know. They got their asses handed to ‘em in that bar.”

“They don’t strike me as exactlysmart,” Saint declared.

“Clearly, they ain’t if they talk this kind of shit then beat the fuck outta the lone dissenting voice. That’s how we end up with advance warning,” I said.

“Didn’t say I wasn’t grateful for it, but yeah – that’s exactly what I mean,” Saint declared.

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