Page 33 of Gypsy's Lady
“Gypsy, you know Blue Line, right?” A burst of memories rocketed through his headandit was all he could do to nod. “Know him well?”
“I did. At one time. Trustedhimwith my life.” He thought abouthedging around the truth but hated the idea of holding back with these men, ones he also trusted with not only hislife,but Kelsey’s. “You know he was navy MP, right? Got a commission for atask forcewith the civilian side and thenavyjumped at the idea of partnering up. He stayed with that police work for a long time. When I left to come back here from California, he was still undercover asHound. After so long, I don’t know whether to think the UC is still inplay,or if he’s gone sodeep,that’s who he is now.”
“Oh, trust me, it’s who he is, but there’s a broad thread of cop still in the man.” Mason’s tone left no question in Gypsy’s mind that he knew what he was talking about. “Did you know he was Bear’s brother-in-law?”
Shocked, Gypsy felt his head jerk back.Jesus, maybe therumors weren’t true. After Chase’s mother, Willa, Mica, and Mason’s little sister had all been kidnapped a couple of years ago, whispers talked about how Mason had ended the man behind it all, regardless of his connections. “I was under the impression you’d dealt with Eddie’s brother. I had no idea you thought it was Blue Line. Fuck, that doesn’t even sound right, Mason. Knowing the man like Ido, I can’t believe it. Not him, not the man I knew. Are you sure?”
The air in the room had gone still, and a strain crawled across Mason’s face, muscles moving under what he tried to keep an expressionless mask. The eerie tension in the room held for a moment, then longer, and finally Mason relaxed a hairsbreadth as he blew out a breath. “Let’s back shit up a bit and bring you in on some ofthe info. Isometimes forgetyou aren’t always in the thick of things. Fuck, brother, I suspectyou know most of it, but we need to line things up.” Mason took another deep breath, then pointed to the door and told Slate, “Lock that, would ya? I can’t talk about this shit if I worry Willa’ll come in on me.” Slate reached over and flipped the deadbolt, then settled back into the couch. “Eddie’sbrother was Judge, not Blue Line. You got that part right. Still, I’m pretty sure you knew Judge back when you were hanging around with Winger. At thatpoint,he still went by Luke Morgan.”
Gypsy dugintohis memories and found an image of a skinny kid with a shitty attitude, and he nodded. He did rememberMorgan,but hadn’t put together how he was Eddie’s brother. Tohimthe name Morgan meanteither Justice or John, both had been men who carried their own brand of problems. “Yeah, I remember him.”
Mason stared at him. “You knew Bear was married before he came to us. Lost his wife and kid to a wreck.” Gypsy flinched, remembering the lost and wistful expression on Bear’s face when he played or sang certain songs. The death of his family was common knowledge, but not something talkedabout around the club. “Blue Line was abrotherto his first wife.”
Gypsy chuffed, trying to piece together what Mason was saying. “Huh. I guess that makes sense.” Mason nodded, still waiting. “Okay, I get there’s a strong connection, but I’m not sure what this has to do with anything. You wanna tell me why we’re talking about a man who’s a near-relative to Bear, and ex-partner to me?”
“He called.Man’s president of the Malcontents.” Gypsy nodded, the leadership shift had happened even before he’d left California, the last legacy of the undercover work he’d done and Joel had continued. Mason stared at him, expression unreadable. “He said he wants to pull groups from a couple of different clubs to work together. There’s an MC in his area that’s causing too much trouble, and part of whathe’s asking is for us to help him sort out the issues.” Mason shook his head. “That’s really too narrow a description of what he wants. We wouldn’t be going out to just help with the one thing. Knowing what I know about him and how he works, I think eventually I’m gonna wanna roll his Malcontents in as a support club at the least.” Mason paused for a momentandhis head swung side to side, gazetargeting each man in the room. “If I had my druthers, it would be to roll a West coast chapter.”
“That’s quite a stretch of distance between chapters, Prez.” Slate scrubbed at the back of his neck, fingers digging deep as he rubbed tight muscles. “You sure you wanna spin up a Cali group?”
“El Paso or Las Cruces to San Diego isn’t that far.” Mason shrugged, the leather of his vest riding comfortablyon his shoulders. “We could easily anchor an Arizona chapter between, once they were established.”
“Got it all sorted in your big head, huh?” Jase grinned, fingers ticking up as he rattled off info they all knew. “That’d give you a club in each southern state from Florida to California. Add those to the mass of chapters we’ve littered the middle of the country with, and it’s a significant accomplishment.”He flicked upa thirdfinger, wagging it back and forth. “What’s next, international?”
“Actually, yeah. Maybe.” Mason sighed. “I could even say probably. Melbourne sounds pretty fucking sweet these days.” He shot out the words without a pause, clearly something he’d given thought to. “Perth would be easier to break into, but Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane are all east coast Aussie real estateI’d like to see us patch into.”
Jase laughed, flipping Mason off with one hand. “So now we’re headed to ‘Straya? It’ll be all g’day, mate, throwing shrimp on the barbie, and talking about sheilas?” He looked at Gypsy. “Ain’t that how it is there?”
“Not quite, depending on where you are in the country. From what I understand there’s only a smallish group of Australians who talk like that, andthey’re called bogans, kind of like an Aussie version of our redneck. They’re more likely to put sausages on the grill than shrimp, and those are prawns over there anyway.” Gypsy laughed. “Kelsey’s managed to set me straight about a whole lot of things I found out I’d gotten wrong.” He narrowed his eyes and looked at Mason. “Me going over there, was that your first opening?”
“Yeap. But let’sput aside the ideas of international for now. Focusing on Blue Line and his ask, he’s interested in three or four men, and isn’t opposed to them bringing their old ladies with them, since it’s not a turn and burn deal. We’re talking weeks at a minimum. You thinkKelsey’dbe up for the trip, or would you leave her here?”
“She’ll go withme,if I go. You really need me to do this, Mason? I’m still…brother,I’ve got my hands full with her and the bar right now.”
“Don’t worry about the bar, we can sort that out. No worries. What makes you have your hands full with Kelsey?” Brute shifted like he wanted to say something, but Mason held up his hand, forestalling whatever comment he’d been about to make. “We all know the general story of what happened with her, but beyond where it intersected with whatthe Hawks needed, other than me, the men in this room have only heard the few specific details you’ve shared. And as free as he was talking about business, Talon was still pretty tightlipped about the girls when he and I chatted.”
Gypsy rubbed across his jaw with the back of one hand, holding Mason’s gaze. Telling Kelsey’s experience felt oddly intimate, and he considered balking for amoment,because it was something she should have a choice in who knew or not.But, Mason wouldn’t be asking if he didn’t have a reason. And dammit, I trust the man. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to ask why. “Humor me a minute. It’s my old lady, Mason. You need to know this, why?”
“Brothers.” That was all Mason said, just the one word but Gypsy knew what he was implying. A problem shared was easier to bear,and if they knew what was going on with Kelsey, they could more easily avoid any pitfalls. Like with Ruby back in the day, when they had to dance around her fears. Back before Slate took her on.
Mason was offering the support of every man in theroom,if Gypsy would only trust them.I do, he thought, and then for a moment wondered if it went both ways. Mason had stumbled along the edges of truthearlier when he assumed Gypsy knew about some club activity, and he hadn’t. Whether by design or not, the only man in the room who hadn’t known for certain if Mason had killed Judge was the one ex-cop. It didn’t take a genius to work that out, and now he wondered if it was the tip of the iceberg of hidden truths. Pushing all that aside, he decided to exhibit his trust, giving Mason what he wanted.
“You’ve all heard the official debrief, right?” He waited, seeing every man nod tensely. “What wasn’t in that was the specifics about what my Kelsey went through.” Calling her his was secondnature,because it was how he thought of her. “Baxter, the local guy on the operations, organized the sweep she got caught up in. He was the guy who got to grade the girls based on a variety of criteria, earmarkingthem for one customer or another. My Kelsey, though, the asshole took a liking to her when she came in. He got permission from on high to ‘sample’ the merchandise.” Gypsy made air quotes with the fingers of one hand, the other gripping just above his knee tight enough his muscles stung from the pinching pressure. “He finagled things to keep her in his compound for a while. A fucking longtime, Mason. Most of the girls they kidnapped were sold within days or weeks. They moved through the system and out to wherever their owners were. Not Kelsey, though.”
Slate broke in, and Gypsy knew he was thinking about Ruby, his old lady. After being lied to by someone she thought she could trust, Ruby had been held prisoner by a Michigan MC for a long time. His voice was gruff when he asked,“How long?”
“Eight months. They used clean clothes, baths, food…anything they could think of as bargaining chips to getherto behave. It worked. They tricked and trained her into being compliant.I’ve got an idea she even unknowingly helped them with the other girls, by first being an example of all the things a woman didn’t want to happen to them, and then by actively coaching the girls notto fight, to go along so they could get placed, so they didn’t get raped or beaten…mostly so they could get out of there via a sale.In Kelsey’s mind anywhere was better than the hell where she was stuck.” He swallowed, a rancid, bitter taste sharp on the back of his tongue. “She’s coming to grips with that knowledge. At least I think she is. It chases her up from sleep sometimes, and she talks.I don’t know if her consciousself hasfigured it out, but I know her mind understands what it all means.”
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Slate shook his head. “Fuck me, man. When it happens, that point where she figures it out? You know you’ll have to convince her survival was worth it, right?”
“Yeah, brother. It’s a long road ahead of her, and a lot of healing to do.” Gypsy turned to Mason. “Youcatch a glimpse of why I’m not yet convinced I’m the right member to lead the Rebels west?”
Mason studied him for a moment, eyes tracking back and forth across Gypsy’s face. Leaning forwards, Mason placed both hands palm-down on the desk, muscles in his arms quivering with the strain he placed on them. Whatever this was, he knew it was a big ask, and still had to make it. “I need you.” Gypsy’schin jerked upandhe waited, knowing Mason wouldn’t be talking for no reason, that he’d be taking the conversation somewhere, but not understanding the destination. “We’ve got an opportunity in California I don’t want to turn my back on. A chance to set a partnership in motion that will be the foundation from which we’ll grow going forwards. I’ve trusted you since before you had my patch on yourback, brother. You might have your hands full with Kelsey, but I believe you’ll find a way to make this work.”
“You need me, you’ve got me. I’ll want a little time to be sure it’s not going to be a step back for Kelsey.” Gypsy frowned and looked towards the door leading back to the living room. “She’s not comfortable with a lot of folks, boss. This is going to be hardforher.”
“But you’ll doit.” That wasn’t a questionandGypsy knew it, nodding at Mason.
“Like I said, I’ll make sure it’s not abackwardsmove for her.”Why is Mason pushing so hard for this?“Mason, you know whatever is needed, I’ll do. And I don’t give a shit about how it runs up against anything else I’ve got planned, I’ll do it. I need a little time to ease her into the idea.”
