Page 101 of Ink's Devil

Bomber scoffs. “Girl lives with her mom.”

Hell shrugs. “Sure. But look at Beth. Does she look like someone to lean, or be leaned on?”

I’ve got a suspicion I think I know where he’s going with this. “Whatever Beth is like, she comes across as big and strong, not a woman who needs someone to stand up for her. So it makes sense she didn’t call for help, she’s used to doing shit on her own.” I think about it a bit more and find myself uttering words I wouldn’t have thought would come out of my mouth a day or so ago. “You have to admire the bitch, she’s probably got no one in her corner.”

“Even her brother went straight to her for help,” inputs Judge. “He didn’t give a thought to her safety, just offered her up.”

Hell picks up when other voices trail off, “Look at what she didn’t know rather than what she did. She didn’t know the cops were there that night, didn’t know Ink was anywhere close. Even if she did, his actions took her by surprise. Pure accident the part she played in putting Ink behind bars.”

Lizard is frowning, looking at his now properly stitched and bandaged hand. “I suppose you, Prez, or you, Ro, can better understand why Ink is so intent on protecting Beth. Can’t myself, never found a broad who would make me give up the life that I know. In some ways, I wonder whether it’s how Ink’s justifying what happened, rather than what he feels for her. He’s looking at being charged with something he didn’t do. He can’t get out of it, but if he’s doing it for a reason, it becomes worthwhile. Fact is, as we all know, if he hadn’t stepped in, it would be Beth looking at thirty years.”

“I’d do the same for Steph,” Beef offers.

“For Sindy too,” echoes Buzz.

Hell and Bomber look at each other. Then laugh. Hell puts it into words. “May have to think on it for a moment. Things look a bit different after you’ve been married darn near forty years.”

Demon’s eyes go large as they look down the opposite end of the table at his father. His mouth opens, shuts, then opens again. Then Hell snarls, “Fuckin’ with you. Damn it, I’d do the same as Ink, even though Mo can be a pain in my ass. What this club is about, isn’t it, Brothers? Protecting those we love. Especially the weaker sex.”

Liz snorts. “From what Dirt said, Beth’s not weak. She disarmed that fucker who went to her house.” His observation is acknowledged with comments of begrudging respect.

“Her mom was no slouch either,” Rusty reminds us all.

I think to what Dirt had said. If Beth hadn’t reacted so fast, she’d probably be dead. I can’t blame Dirt though, he couldn’t shoot through her and had been unable to see the fucker’s head.

“Seems like it’s time to bring this up. They were threatened at gun point. I really don’t like leaving her and her mom in that house,” Beef puts in. “Those motherfuckers could be back. They want answers and they want the heroin. The next time, they’ll know they’re not dealing with two powerless women.”

“Agree with you, VP. But I can’t see another option.” Demon wipes a hand over his brow, drawing attention to the crease lines on it. “It’s likely the cops will question her again because her fingerprints were on that bag, and not unlikely, cops will pay us another visit. Any other time, I’d pull them in, but a link between us and them would only do more harm. The fact we’re not visibly watching out for her cements the view she was a casual fuck to Ink, and not his old lady.”

Beef slams the table with his palm. “Then we protect them another way. Find out who the fuck we’re facing, and deal with them. If we can’t keep them out of danger, we stop it touching them. We need answers from Connor, and I’m in the fuckin’ mood to get them. Mace?”

“I’m in.” Won’t even take much to make Connor hurt. All we were doing was waiting until he was fit enough to feel it.

“Okay. We’ve covered everything we can for now. I agree with the VP, we get these fuckers and stop them. Connor’s got answers, VP and Mace will get them. Church over. But stay fucking close. Soon as we know anything, we’ll reconvene.”

Like Beef, having gotten Demon’s blessing, I waste no time getting to my feet.

As I walk past him, Hellfire stays me with a hand to my arm. “Wring that fucker dry,” he instructs unnecessarily. I raise my chin back. That’s exactly what I intend to do. We might have filled him back up with blood, but I’ll soon let it out again if I have to.

When I open the door, I’m pleased to see Connor sitting up and spooning broth into his mouth, well more accurately, raising his spoon to his lips, then sucking in the contents, his jaw still being swollen. But hey, the man can eat, the man can talk. And I’m in the mood to make him.

He pauses with his spoon halfway to his mouth, looks to me, then the man behind me, and replaces it without partaking of the contents, putting the bowl down on the bedside table.

“This is it, then?” he says, the words understandable if not well-formed. He glances from one to the other of us again.

“You’re a dead man, Connor,” Beef tells him, pulling up a chair and turning it around, folding his arms over the back.

Connor’s eyes close briefly. When he opens them, he asks, “You get far with that approach? Letting me know whether I speak to you or not, you’re going to kill me.”

If he thinks we don’t know what we’re doing, he’s very mistaken. Though I must admit I was taken a bit aback by Beef’s opening words. My face, however, remains impassive as I wonder where the VP is going with this.

“No,” Beef contradicts. “But whoever did this to you,” his hand indicates Connor’s bandaged body, “thinks that you expired because I told them you had. So yeah, it doesn’t matter what we do with you now. But it does, however, leave you with a choice, should you choose the right one.”

Connor looks confused, but I understand Beef’s opening gambit now. If it works, I may not be called on to ply my trade.

“A choice suggests you might let me live.” Connor’s eyes are swollen yet manage to convey a glimmer of hope.

Beef shrugs. “Maybe.” He waves toward the broken body on the bed. “I’d bet good money if whoever did this to you finds out you’re alive, you wouldn’t be that way for much longer. You tell us everything, we find it to our satisfaction, then you have the option to start over. A clean slate because Connor Foster is dead.”

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