Page 42 of Baiting Kong

“Teddy makes his own trouble,” Mark declared. “Now spit it out.”

“He told me that you’d want access to the scrapyard if I told you, and after you’d sent a bunch of guys to hunt up everything you wanted, that you wouldn’t have any more use for me and would probably fire me from the clubhouse and send me packing since I’d be worthless at that point.”

“Oh, fuck him,” Kong snapped. “I bet he’s the same little shit who told you that I only did one-night stands.”

“He was just, you know, trying to warn me so I wouldn’t get stupid and get feelings involved,” Scout said. “Seeing the way he got cut loose, I figured he knew what he was talking about.”

“I’m sure he hasn’t told you half of what led to me and Kat cutting our patches off of him,” Mark said, but the pinched scowl on his face smoothed out some. “But I get why you stayed silent. So, the Hounds really have nothing to do with the place?”

“No,” Scout said. “Nobody there is interested in old parts, and they aren’t the kind of people Sawyer would ever bring around our old man.”

“How’d he get hooked up with them?”

“The same way I got into shooting videos,” Scout explained. “Our old man got sick a few years ago, and we had to mortgage everything to cover the co-pays on his treatments. Sawyer and I have been trying to get us out from under it ever since. Pops is supposed to be taking it easy and manning the office, but he’s not, because he hates being in debt, so Sawyer and I figured we could get him to slow down if we made the money and took care of the note.”

Mark ran his hands through his hair and leaned back in his seat. “As a father, I can’t tell you how impressed I am by the lengths you’ve gone through to help him. I think I’d kick my kid’s ass if one of them decided that doing porn was a good way to get me out from under some shit I was struggling with, but knowing my boys, they’d try anything at all if they thought it would help. It’s admirable. But Teddy was wrong about the scrapyard. Bike restoration is a booming business for us. We’d want long-term access to the contents of the scrapyard, and if you’re as handy with tools as I think you are, then you’d be better off in the shop with Creature than mopping my bathrooms.”

“I-I’ve been building things since I was a kid.”

“How much of the work on that bike did you do?” Creature asked.

“Pretty much all, except when I got stuck on something,” Scout explained. “Then Pops helped, and my brother helped with the chains.”

Chuckling, Mark nodded at him before turning to look at Creature. “Looks like you have a new employee.”

“I guess I do.”

Chapter 13

(Kong)

“They’ve got streaming services and paid subscription tiers,” Kong said as he clicked through the website for Erotic Obsessions. “It all looks legit.”

“What did Danger say about the LLC?” Mark asked.

“That it traces back to Donny and Peter Duchamp,” Kong replied. “He also found out that the LLC took out a bank loan for that building a few months back and that they seem to be backed by an investment company, though he hasn’t been able to turn up any intel on who heads it up.”

“Tell him to keep trying.”

“Already done,” Kong replied. “I called up to Kill Devil Hills and talked to Thorn, too. It took a bit of persuading, but he let me talk to Lucky about Donny Duchamp and what went on between them. He was hesitant to give many details at first, until I told him what was going on with the porn shoots up here; then he spilled his guts. Lucky said Duchamp kept trying to persuade him to bring him to the dungeon and introduce him to some of the people who hung around, particularly the other subs. Claimed to have had some employment opportunities for them but would never give Lucky any details about what they were, so he kept stalling about taking him there.”

“Probably didn’t want anyone to know who he was running around with since he knew we were all in protective mode,” Mark admitted. “Did he say anything else?”

“Yeah.”

“Spit it out already.”

“Long as you promise not to kill the messenger,” Kong muttered, running his fingers through his hair. “Lucky said Duchamp had a fondness for rough trade and wasn’t always careful with him. It’s got me thinking about the way Scout hissed when he went to straighten up from the pool table after I found him. I thought he was biting back a curse; now I’m not so certain.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have driven away and left him standing on the curb.”

“I rode out to Factory Row.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured,” Mark said. “Didn’t find anyone, did you?”

“No.”

“You should apologize.”

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