Page 7 of Blue-Eyed Jacks
Was I bored?This meet was club only.Tonight’s potential threats were cat fights amongst the hookers and the usual drunken assholes who bumped chests.Even my counter part, BamBam, wasn’t much of an opponent.He’d relinquished his .44 at the gate.Without it, he was a mass of beer fat with a short reach.
A wrecking ball, sure, but slow.I’d have him on the ground with his throat cut and bleeding out life in five seconds flat.He’d be dead in thirty.And by that point, I’d have stabbed him at least fifteen more times.He had no fucking clue how to defend Shock.Could I be tuned in to the wrong shit because there was no other threat?
But of course, therewereother threats.There always were.Despite wearing the same patch, drinking the same booze, and fucking the same whores, my brothers were always a threat.Some of them were not worth the urine to piss on them with.Shock being the main one.
Despite pushing forty, he had definition.Big, sure.Most bikers packed on pounds as they got older.But he also was goddamned ruthless.I measured his potential for violence as he talked shop.In my determination, he had no soul.Nothing stopping him from drilling me between the eyes, brother or not.And unlike his SoA, he kept his gun.Only a fool would tangle with that combination of ugly mean and armed.
Again, why the fuck did this girl matter so damned much?
She didn’t.In the grand machine of crime, she was cog grease.A statistic.Someone who shouldn’t factor.
But Shock thought enough of her to make her one of his pet projects.
I caught Sprout’s attention.He was Jolly’s kid.The club let him hang around out of respect for his fallen father.Jolly had been a legend and one of the deciding factors when I chose this quiet little town west of Harrisburgas my home club.He’d left us too soon, leaving behind a wife and Sprout.Murdered by the fucking cops.Which made vengeance nearly impossible.To make up that lack, we all raised the kid.Wrong?Sure.But Sprout was useful.He was barely fourteen and already doing more than most prospects ever did—without one peep of complaint.
“Sup?”He grinned like an idiot.It made his ears stick out.I often wondered if that was on purpose.
I slipped him my phone.“Give this to your Ma.”
He pocketed it.“And?’
“And nothing.Just tell her I gave it to you.”His ma was a smart woman.She’d figure it out.
“Sure thing.”He hovered.
“What the fuck you waiting for?”
He grinned.“I’ll get you a beer first.”
Goddamned kid.Too fucking helpful.He ran across the room, picking up two cups and filling each to the brim.He brought them back cautiously and handed one to the president first, then to me.“Here.”
Then he took off toward the kitchen.
“What?None for me?”Shock laughed, but under his friendly tone was a hint of accusation.
I handed my beer off, moving close so I wouldn’t spill it.The girl looked up at that moment.
Snared.Like a rabbit ina trap.
Her eyes were the gray-green of dense early morning fog hanging over a lake.Or the glistening pale scales of a juicy fresh-water bass.I forgot about the cup in my hand and when Shock grabbed it too hard, the foam sloshed over the edge, coating my fingers and breaking the spell.I smiled at him.“I’ll get one for myself later.”
His eyes narrowed and dipped down to the girl.A cruel grin twisted on his lips.“I’m sure you will.But this one’smine.”He locked his stare on my face, daring me to argue, laying his verbal bait, and waiting to see if I was dumb enough to bite.
“Not a problem.We got plenty to go around.”I raised my eyebrow, acknowledging his game and begging for a reaction.
He slammed the beer, belched, and then turned his anger toward the girl.
I’dfucked up.
“Didn’t I tell you to show your tits?”
Sweat dotted her forehead, and she was unusually pale.
I stepped back, snagged a trash can, and slid it closer, just in case.It bumped against her shoulder as she struggled to get to her knees.The smell of it must have triggered something because she spun, grabbed it with both hands, and practically donned it as a hat as she wretched into it.
“Fucking Christ!”Shock jumped to his feet.Toro leaned back, but his eyes moved to me.In them, I read the question.“How did you know?”I sent him a wink and waited until the spit and bile sputtered to a halt.
But Shock didn’t give her any quarter.Almost as soon as she wiped her mouth on her sleeve, he was on top of her.
