Page 74 of Exile & Lula
“Well, one more dead asshole is always a good thing,” Clint said and glanced at me. “After we have this party for our clubs, how long do you think you’ll be in town?”
“I’m planning to bounce back and forth,” I explained while Zodiac narrowed his eyes as if I was acting weird. “Lula’s already looking for a place in Baton Rouge.”
When Clint and Rock only nodded, I suspected they wanted me to voice those plans in front of my president to see how he reacted.
Of course, Zodiac didn’t give away his thoughts. He often acted calm when he was pissed and enraged when he was amused. I rarely knew where his head was, so I doubted Clint and Rock would shake anything loose with these obvious questions.
Zodiac leaned back in his chair and fiddled with the ankle hem on his jeans. “If your theory is correct, who would be the biggest target of them all? Our victims, so far, have been a snitch and a little girl who survived a shooting. But those are tenuous connections to Trigger at best. If this is Ryder like you think, wouldn’t he put a giant fucking target on the giant fucking head of Tricky Curran?”
Clint smirked, likely knowing the question was coming. “We agree that Tricky would make the most sense. Plus, Joker has other kids to target.”
“So why not kill them?”
“Maybe Ryder wants to create chaos first by hitting other targets before building up to the one that’ll hurt Joker the most.”
“Or maybe,” Rock said and crossed his arms, “Ryder is a fucking moron. The Void sounds like a bunch of bitches. Shooting Exile’s sister did what exactly? Was he supposed to run away? Or go off half-cocked? What difference does it make? Killing Exile makes sense to me. Shooting his sister is stupid. These guys are fucking brain dead.”
“The snitch claimed the Void liked to make things personal. Shooting Exile would be sad,” Zodiac said, glancing at me and shrugging. “But he chose this life. So, it’s possible they went after Lula to make Pax sad. And they will kill Joker’s daughter rather than his son. The Void might keep taking out soft targets to make people cry.”
“How does someone win a war with that strategy?” Rock asked, refusing to be impressed by our enemy.
“It’s difficult to wage a war when you’re constantly at funerals and stocking up on Kleenex.”
Clint asked, “After Nova was shot, what was their next target?”
“Small-time stuff,” Zodiac replied. “But we’re damn good at playing whack-a-mole. They’ve never been able to create momentum against the Black Rainbow.”
“In Little Memphis, Tricky is a weak link,” Clint said and exhaling softly. “He will let any fucking loser into his club. If the Void wanted to put someone close to him, it wouldn’t be difficult.”
“We want to tell Jagger what we’re thinking,” Rock said as his hazy green eyes flashed between Zodiac and me. “He’s thebrains of the Jokers, and he doesn’t do drama. He’ll share info with us, even if he knows we’ll hand over the details to the Black Rainbow.”
“Going against his president seems sketchy,” Zodiac muttered. “I like that. You should deal with him. I’ll reach out to my Texas people to learn what they can dig up about Ryder.”
“How possible is it that the Void will try to grab Lula again?” Clint asked, and I immediately glanced at my president for the answer.
“Zero,” Zodiac insisted. “They never came back to finish off Nova. When these assholes fail, they just move on to the next target.”
“Who do we think that might be?”
“Not a clue,” Zodiac said and shrugged. “Maybe someone else in your family. If Ford and Pax were part of the group to bring down Trigger, they have plenty of kids to attack.”
“My sister isn’t here right now,” Clint muttered when Zodiac looked around like he was searching for Elle.
“You should assign someone to watch her at all times,” Zodiac replied immediately. “Killing your sexy ass sister would be a great win for the Void. It would both distract you and hurt the men involved in overthrowing Trigger.”
“My dad is with Elle and Sutter,” Clint explained, revealing zero fear over his sister’s safety. “Everyone has a buddy system right now. We also have our snitches ratting out any strangers. Little Memphis isn’t a tiny town, but people don’t come here for vacation. If the snitches see someone new, they put in a call. We’ve tracked down eight people so far. Two were suspicious. One is at the quarry.”
Zodiac smiled at Clint’s no-nonsense response to the situation. I felt relieved to hear the Crimson Guard had their city locked down. Sooner or later, I’d need to leave Lula and return to Baton Rouge, even if only for a few days. Knowing she was safewas the only way I’d be able to force myself to ride away from the woman who owned my heart.
LULA
Nova and I moved the girls to the backyard, where they could see their uncle talking on the deck of Ford and Shay’s house. A little part of me was offended to be kept on the outside. However, Clint liked to poke at people. Having me at the meeting might interfere with his ability to test Zodiac and Exile.
“Dan was a dorky kid,” Nova said while she brushed Lyric’s blonde hair before resting the Dumbo hat back on her little head. “He was strict about rules. I guess he wanted the world to be predictable.”
“Was that before or after the stuff with your father?” I asked, having little trouble picturing Exile as a stalwart rule follower.
“Both. But he changed in high school. Got frustrated by people bossing him around. I didn’t understand why he wanted to go into the military, where new people would boss him around,” Nova said and leaned back on the lounge chair while Lyric ran after Skylar. “It took me a long time to realize he didn’t want to be in South Dakota anymore.”
