Page 13 of Outlaws' Dirty Secret

I grab his shoulder and slam his ass down into a chair only a couple feet from Harry’s body. “Yeah, then you don’t owe him shit. What’s your name, kid?”

“Renegade.”

Big name for a scrawny man. If he has more brains between his ears than the other guy, he might live to grow into it. I catch Ghost’s eye and we share a silent understanding. This kid's got the fear of God in him, and right now, I am that fucking God. Time to tighten the screws.

“You can start by telling me what the fuck drew a shitty ass crew of assholes like you to our meeting yesterday. This was way above your paygrade.”

“I—we didn't know it was the Outlaw Sons. Word got out that there was an opportunity. It sounded like an easy hit.” He grunts as I pull out a knife and rest the point against his sternum, pushing hard enough to make him feel it but not enough to hurt. Yet.

“Bullshit. The group you were with was fucking organized. You knew when and where to be, and that wasafterour boys got jumped just a couple days ago on a related job. Sure, maybe I’ll buy you didn't know who you were fucking with, but you had details. The kind of details that require firsthand knowledge. So think real hard. When did you first hear about this opportunity? Who started talking about it, and who pulled everyone together? Because either we were the ones getting set up, or you were.”

“I’m getting bored here,” Blackout rumbles. “Ghost fucking cheats.”

Ghost huffs out a dry laugh. “Not my fault you play like a grandma.”

Skyhigh crosses his arms over his chest and just glares.

“I just did what Harry told me,” Renegade whimpers. I twist the knife. “I swear to fucking God! Look, while you guys hang out here behind your fucking walls, not all of us have it so easy, okay? I go where I’m told and do what I’m told because if I don’t, then who the fuck would ever give me a shot at anything else? He told me he had contacts in the Jackals and would put my name up if I showed I could hold my own.”

We have it easy? Good to know. But he’s not completely wrong. The outside world looks at us like we’re the scum of the earth. The fuckups that fell through the cracks. What they don’t understand is that clubs like ours are on the top of the food chainof a brutal world that runs alongside theirs, not beneath it. Just like in their world, sometimes who you know is just as important as what you know.

“You took a risk and now you’re paying the price. You want to prove you’re worth something? Then you need to grow some balls and think for yourself.”

Renegades eyes spark. He didn’t like that.

“No fucking club worth shit wants an idiot in their ranks.Think.” I point at the body that’s seeping blood onto the cell floor not far away. “If he had contacts that were worth anything, he’d be wearing a cut and be safe and sound behind walls of his own. He was using you and all the idiots like you who are so eager to prove yourselves that they turn their fucking brains off. You know more than you think you do. See this? Want to know how it feels?” I ask, pulling up my sleeve and showing him the nasty slice I took to my arm.

I grab his wrist and put the blade of the knife to his skin.

“No. Please!” He shivers under the strain of not yanking his arm away and causing real damage. “I—Harry was talking with Bone the other night at the Diamond Club. I didn’t hear much but they were real excited. Harry even bought a round. He was saying we just needed a bunch of muscle so we could swoop in and clean up.”

“Who the fuck is Bone?” Skyhigh growls.

“He’s a middleman. If you’ve got shit you want to buy or sell, you talk to Bone and for a feel, he’ll either handle it, or find someone who w—will.” The words tumble outta him so fast his tongue stumbles.

I wipe the blade of the knife off on his jeans and slip it back in its place inside my cut. “Good. See how easy that was? Did Harry contact Bone, or was it the other way around?”

“Uh…I—I don't know. I—Wait! Bone must’ve called Harry because that’s not our usual place.”

“Was Bone there with you yesterday?”

Renegade shakes his head. “Nah, he deals in information.”

“Would you know how to contact him?”

“M—maybe? I don’t have his number but if you ask around he’ll turn up. Probably at the Diamond Club.”

Skyhigh gives my shoulder a nudge. “C'mon. We’ll take this to Hellfire.”

“What about him?” I ask, dispassionately, gesturing at Renegade who looks a little sick.

Skyhigh shrugs. “Up to you.”

I wrap my fingers around the front of the kid’s neck and lean down to look him in the eyes. “I’m going to let you sit here and see if your memory improves. Maybe it’ll give you time to think about where the fuck you want your life to go when this is over.”

Blackout throws down his cards and pushes back his chair. “Finally! Let's go. I’m fucking starving and this place stinks.”

Pulling the kid by the neck, I drag him back to his cell and toss him in there. He flinches when the steel door slams, but more than anything, he looks relieved he’s still alive.

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