Page 8 of Deception
Taylor “Shep” Shepherd’s wife, Heidi, was pissed at them because of his past relationship with Venom’s ex-girlfriend. She works with the club, and they technically own the Puffy Taco, the strip club she manages. No matter how pissed she is, taking the Drifters out would take her out, too. Plus, Lex trusts her.
A while back, Ky Short, his VP and best friend, had a falling out with his wife. Finding out her husband lied about sleeping with her dead sister for decades will piss off any woman, but if Felicity wanted to take them down by talking to the cops, she wouldn’t do it after they made up. Plus, her son’s about to become a patched member. She’d never risk her child for vengeance.
I can’t discount Zane. He was pissed when we took back his leather, and he’s been gone for over a year now. His destructive behavior makes him a pretty good candidate. When he’s angry, he becomes a tornado. He wants to take out everything in his path.
He runs through the rest of the club, and none of the old ladies seem as though they’d be that angry. Sure, a few have pulled back lately, but there are many reasons for that.
Some are due to kids getting older and being involved in kid activities. Autumn Sims, Rocco’s girl, has kind of isolated herself since her kidnapping and fight with Lex. She’s always been thetype to need space to lick her wounds before walking back into the fold.
“What’d you find?” Julian calls out, pulling Colt from his internal Rolodex of members and their women.
The Chief’s beer belly strains the buttons of his dress shirt, and he’d look much less ridiculous wearing a uniform than the ill-fitting suit he looks to have picked up at a consignment shop. The fit screams 90s when boxy suits were in style.
Penguin! That’s what he reminds me of. A fucking penguin!
The man was married once, briefly, to a woman who didn’t realize he didn’t make the type of money she thought he did. His salary is more than sufficient for the average person, but his wife wanted more. Vacations to Italy and Singapore and Paris. It didn’t take long for her to leave him after draining his bank account and maxing out all of his cards.
“Nothing,” says a kid who looks like he’s trying to reinvent the Village People into a punk rock band. The purple mohawk and gauged ears don’t quite fit with the uniform.
Market’s not what it used to be, I guess.
“Same,” an older man calls out.
The man looks familiar, and Colt knows the asshole. He’s arrested him more than once.
“Nothing,” Alex McKenzie says.
She’s the only woman on the force now, and despite the unflattering uniform she’s forced to wear, she’s not an unattractive woman. But Colt stops focusing on her appearance when he watches her give a sideways glance to Brian Morris, one of the newest members.
“Guess you assholes got lucky,” Julian says, and rubs his balding head. “Until next time.”
Jennings Molloy and Colt lock eyes, and he knows the former President figured it out, too. Someone’s talking to the cops.
Once the cops are all gone, Colt calls out Brian’s name. “Chapel. Venom and Ky, you, too.”
The dark-haired man sporting a buzz cut looks scared. If Colt wasn’t aware this was his usual face, he’d worry the twenty-five-year-old was about to piss himself.
“What’s up?” Ky asks, his voice low.
Venom gives them a questioning look as he shuts the door, but Colt never takes his eyes from Brian. He’s clearly the only one who noticed the brief interaction.
“Got anything you need to tell us?”
“No.”
“I’m not going to ask again.”
He pales and stares at his feet. “It’s not a big deal, I swear.”
“What’s not a big deal?” Venom asks.
“I don’t tell her anything. Honest! You gotta believe me, Colt. You can ask her!” Brian cries.
“And why would she tell us the truth?”
He swallows, and this time, Colt thinks he may piss himself. “Because she’d get in even more trouble than I would.”
“Well, if you told her anything, we’ll fucking kill you, so I don’t know how true that is.”
