Page 76 of Devil's Due

“Neither have you,” Lennox retorts. “You led the Jokers right to her.”

“That was Max,” Stevie enters the conversation. “It had to be the tracker on his collar.”

“How didyoufind her?” I ask, suddenly realising what’s wrong with this scenario.

A short laugh. “I found her because unlike the Warped Jokers, I can track someone and be quiet about it.”

Demon looks at me and raises his brow. I shake my head. He takes the lead again. “I suggest we put away our guns. Seems like we need to have a conversation rather than re-enacting the shootout at the OK Corral.”

“You’ve got your gun on them?” Stevie rounds on the lawman. “Beef saved my life. Twice. Where were you then?” She reaches her hand back and takes hold of mine.

“Come over here, Stevie,” Lennox instructs.

“No.” The strength in her voice is impressive. “Just because I can’t see doesn’t mean I’m not a good judge of character. Something’s wrong, Leon. Beef’s done his best to keep me safe. His club came here today to rescue me. I feel safe with them.” She bites her lip. “You told me what would happen while we were waiting in the blind. That you’d give me another new identity. If I go with you, I’ll have to start all over again. Max isn’t fit enough to work yet. He needs a few more weeks of rest before he can go in a harness again.”

She’s trembling in my arms. It doesn’t take a genius to understand why she’s upset. She was assured that a new identity would keep her safe. She moved, left everything and everyone she’d ever known but danger had caught up with her just the same. Now she’s being asked to do it a second time.

Marshal Lennox looks flustered, as if he doesn’t know what to do. He knows as well as I do, if pushed too hard, Stevie could refuse to testify. She’s not a criminal who’s got the threat of a prison sentence hanging over her head, she’s one of the few put into the witness protection program because she can help put some bad guys away.

I exchange a look with Demon. Putting the onus for her protection on the club puts the Devils right in the sights of the Wretched Soulz. Will he take the easy out offered and encourage her to put her life in the hands of the US Marshals again? The people who’ve already failed her once.

The prez pinches the bridge of his nose. “Look, I’m not happy staying out here. Fuck knows who’s on their way to the cabin even now. It’s as compromised as shit. Let’s move this conversation back to the compound. Marshal, you’re welcome to come back with us too. Far as I can see we’ve all got one thing in mind, keeping Stevie alive.”

As I let out a sigh of relief that for now, at least, Demon appears to be on my side, Lennox looks completely flustered and I don’t blame him. It’s not often law enforcement is invited into the heart of an outlaw MC.

But as we start walking down the track, Demon pulls me to one side, nodding at Thunder to take my place by Stevie.

He’s brief and to the point. “I want to know why and how the fuck Lennox was here. Want him under my eye until he comes clean.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The five of us make our way slowly back down the mountainside, making allowance for Stevie who’s picking her way carefully along the trail with the aid of my arm, and yet another makeshift stick Thunder had spied and thoughtfully picked up. By the time we get back to the cabin there’s no trace of the Warped Jokers, either dead or alive. The ones still breathing for now, will have been transported back to the clubhouse where they’ll be contained in Demon’s notorious soundproofed basement. The dead, I’m confident, have been buried somewhere they won’t be found. I do see a suspicious shovel with damp mud on it leaning against the wall, but if Lennox notices he doesn’t draw attention to it.

We hadn’t expected to have Lennox with us, so I’m doubly grateful the prospects have acted fast and have loaded the crash truck with the Joker’s rides. Only three bikes remain in sight, Demon’s, Thunder’s and mine. Those belonging to our enemy will probably, if I know anything about the man at all, have been taken to the auto-shop Pyro manages to be stripped down.

Lennox’s car is apparently parked at the bottom of the track. I could make him walk, but that would be petty, so I give him a lift, the air seems easier to breathe when the lawman’s out of the truck.

When it’s just Max, Stevie and I, I notice she’s very quiet. I rest my right hand on her left. “You doing okay?”

A quick glance shows her face scrunching. “When’s this going to stop, Beef? I’ve been run down, fire-bombed and now nearly shot. I gave up everything to be safe, and now it’s obvious I’m not. I should have stayed in LA and taken my chances.” She’s as down as I’ve ever seen her, tears are leaking from her eyes. “I know we couldn’t stay at the cabin forever, but I felt safe there, you know? Now that’s just one more place where they’ve found me.”

I don’t know what to say to her. Quickly I try to process everything in my mind. I end up speaking my thoughts aloud. “You should have been safe, Stevie. Your new identity should have held up. It should have been easy. You’d have stayed here until the court case, then given your testimony and be free to get on with your life.” I don’t tell her she’d likely never be able to go back to her old one. She’s got enough to worry about for now. The top priority being staying alive until she can testify.

Demon had it right. I don’t like how Lennox turned up today either, the timing a coincidence unless, like us, he was keeping track of the movements of the Warped Jokers. Demon made a good call inviting him back to the compound. If there’s something suspicious about him, I’d rather have him under my eye so I can keep tabs on him. If he’s innocent and as much in the dark as us, pooling our resources could keep Stevie out of the line of fire.

“Do you trust Lennox?”

“Of course.” Her answer comes fast. “Leon arranged everything, got me settled here in Pueblo. He’s the only one who knows everything about my new life…” Her voice trails off, and then she says simply, “Oh.”

“I’m not saying anything, darlin’. But it’s the knowledge he possesses, which is what I don’t like.”

I’ll get Cad looking into him. If he can’t find enough out, I know Mouse, back in Tucson, would jump to the task. He’s got deep web contacts Cad might not have. I want to know whether there’s even a sniff of a connection between Lennox and the Warped Jokers’ members? Is one a relative? Brother or cousin perhaps. Or maybe he owes them a favour. Talking about the marshal makes me glance in my rearview mirror, yeah, there he is, right behind. Would he put his head in the lion’s den if he’s guilty? He might, if he was trying to get close to Stevie, to persuade her to leave with him so he could take her out.

Stevie goes quiet again. I wish I could say something to comfort her, but the future’s unknown. One thing I feel in my gut, I’m not letting Lennox move her, not while we still don’t how her new identity was discovered. Until we know the who and why, she could be found again in another location, and I wouldn’t be there to help her out.

No. For now she’s sticking close to my side.

We come up to the compound. Beaver’s eyes open wide when he sees my companion. Guess he bought the story about her moving on.Or did he think the Warped Jokers would have killed her this morning?Nah, doesn’t fit. He’ll know by now there were no losses on our side, and that would include anyone who we were protecting.

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