Page 26 of Baiting Kong

“He happen to say if he mentioned it to the cops?”

“No, because he couldn’t be a hundred percent positive that the footprint had been heading away from the scene,” Mark said, “But he was a hundred percent positive that Scout stepping on it and twisting his foot before walking away was deliberate and left behind nothing but an unreadable smear. He said Scout got twitchy too and glanced towards the back a few times when the cops started heading that way as part of their search. Between me and you, I think there was someone else there.”

Okay, now that possibility had never entered Kong’s mind. Was Scout covering for someone?

Well, shit. He’d stood right there on the sand and admitted to not working alone.

Had whoever was helping him with the bike parts been in the gas station with him that day and managed to slip out the back while the cops were coming in the front to secure the scene? Okay, now that he really thought about it, that scenario was way more plausible than Scout’s story about the two tweakers getting into a fight over some chips. Creative though. He had to give it to the kid for coming up with something like that on the fly and somehow managing to get Axel to go along with it. Admirable too. Every club brother knew that a rat was the lowest of the low, never to be trusted again once their treachery had been discovered. If Scout was protecting someone, then no one was going to hold that against him, but whoever it was damn surebetter be worthy of Scout’s loyalty. Kong just hoped the cops didn’t start looking for reasons to poke holes in Scout’s story.

“Looks like you have reason to feel the same way.”

That was Mark. The man always had his head on a swivel and was as intuitive as anyone Kong had ever met.

“I asked him point-blank about the car parts and who he was working with. He wouldn’t answer, but he did admit to not working alone.”

“There’s no way it’s a chop shop; those pieces are clean, serial numbers clear, and certifications authentic,” Mark said. “Creature has scrutinized every one of them. Prices are reasonable too. Not even top of the market, so if he’s buying them from somewhere, he’s not upcharging us to the degree that he could, so I just don’t get what the secret is.”

“Unless….” Kong murmured, stroking his chin as he stared thoughtfully at the wood.

“Spit it out already.”

“This is just a theory, but with that Hound ink on his neck, what if those parts are coming from them?”

“You think he’s trying to get us in bed with them little by little until we’re too deep to break ties?” Mark asked.

Grimacing, Kong shrugged, because the thought had entered his mind.

“I just don’t see how,” Mark said. “And that’s the thing that’s got me the most bothered. I’ve even had Creature disassemble the pieces he’s brought to see if maybe they were hiding drugs or something in the parts that they intended to come back for later. That was so fuckin’ far-fetched I felt stupid suggesting it when there were no trackers on anything he’s brought us. I feel like I’m going around in circles trying to come up with the missing link, and I hate coming up blank.”

“You and me both, brutha,” Kong said. “Ever since that night on the beach he’s been avoiding me.”

“And leaving his ride behind.”

“Yeah, that one has me scratching my head too.”

“Care to do a bit more investigating?”

“How so?”

“He left the bike,” Mark said, grinning.

A slow smile crept across Kong’s face, and he nodded. “Let’s go take a closer look at it.”

“Hang on, if we’re gonna do it, let’s do it right.”

Mark pulled out his phone and, in minutes, had Creature on speaker. “Hey, you’re not too busy at the moment, are you?”

“Never too busy if you need me, Prez.”

“Then get your ass over to the compound and bring your toolkit,” Mark said. “We’re fixing to get up close and personal with a rat bike.”

“Oh hell yeah, I’ve been dying to get my hands on that thing.”

“Good deal, now get moving.”

“On it.”

They’d be breaking an unspoken rule about never touching another man’s bike without permission, but in instances like this, it was better to just say,Fuck it, and do what you needed to do to keep you and yours safe.

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