Page 36 of Fury

“He’s been real jumpy and paranoid since you left. Losing his shit over nothing all the time. Shit got crazy.” Gyp shook his head. “He got himself transferred to the chapter out there and seems to have settled in real nice. Guess he’s in line for the big leagues, eh?”

Reich had taken off. I guess getting his dick assaulted was a real nasty hit for him. He saw enemies everywhere.

“Oh hey, before I left to see my ma, Coop had a big meet and greet with the motherfuckers that took you,” said Gyp.

“With the Smoking Guns? With Med?”

“Yeah, bro. He is one fucked up dude. Total dust freak. Coop said he kept babbling on and on, then he’d start making some sense then drift again. Oh, and Coop said he’s got a fucking harem going.”

“A harem?”

“He’s got more than one old lady. Like one of those cults out in Utah.” Gyp snorted. “Is that how it was when you were there? Would’ve like to have seen that. Sounds like a pain in the ass, though. Don’t they get fucking jealous? Shit, remember when Tracy tore out that skank’s hair over Marty? That was something—”

“No, Med only had one old lady when I was there.”

“Coop said he’s got three or four now. Passes the older ones around too. What a fucked up fucker.”

“Yeah. Fucked up is right,” I murmured, my heart thudding in my chest. Serena had been with Med for over four years now. She was definitely the older old lady in his harem.“After last night...I’m on the shit list now.”

My stomach cramped. The beer suddenly tasted like piss, and I spit it out.

Gyp let out a loud, long burp. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” I wiped a hand across my mouth.

I’d had to be the good soldier in Nebraska, and I had been. Now I had to make my plans. Secret, against-all-the-rules, insane plans. How much time did she have left?

“Hey man, watch it.”

I bumped into a long-haired blond guy with the name “Butler” patched on his colors, a One-Eyed Jack from Dig’s chapter here in South Dakota. He had his arm hanging around Sister’s shoulders, steering her through the crowd, and they were laughing. She caught my eye and sobered up, looking away quickly just like most people.

“Asshole,” muttered Gyp.

“Heads up. Something’s going on over there.” Drac gestured with his beer down the small hill.

Slade gave us a lift of his chin from where he stood at the base of the slope. His eyes lit up, a huge grin splitting his face. “Fight!” You would’ve thought Muhammed Ali was down there by the way he’d said it. Nothing like a good fight. After all, riding and fighting were who we were.

We made our way over to check it out. The Broken Blades, our frenemies from Nebraska, were arguing with another club. My face fell. The Prez of the Blades was arguing with Dig.

Ah shit. Dig was facing off with the club he’d wanted to make an alliance with? Over what?

Notch, the Blade’s VP, had some teenage girl tied to a leash and was pulling her around, making her available to everybody. She didn’t seem to mind, she was laughing, and so were the men standing around them.

“Don’t you think she’s a little young for this shit?” Dig bit out, his face red, veins popping along his neck. His bros shoved him back and held onto him as he argued with Notch and the Blades Prez, Zed.

“You gonna tell us how we gonna be?” Zed yelled. “Fuck no!”

Battle lines drawn, excuses made, attitudes hardened, weapons at the ready.

“He gets in my face one more time, that’s gonna be the end of him,” declared Notch as he pushed his little underage bitch, sporting a bikini and a bulging fanny pack slung around her waist, toward two other Blades. Most likely Notch has stuffed that fanny pack with all sorts of narcotic goodies. His men latched onto her like hungry puppies being rewarded with bacon for good behavior.

Notch was a known freak, but who the hell wasn’t? To overstep the way Dig did just now was not done, especially with an officer of another club. And it wasn’t over an old lady, but some random piece of ass. I guess Dig had moral principles.

Dig’s troubled eyes snagged on mine, an eyebrow jumped. He knew he’d stepped over the line. I shook my head at him, and a shadow passed over his straining features. He was pulled away like a wild animal having been given a tranquilizer, crumpling in his brothers’ hold. His old lady and that Butler guy came running.

I pressed my lips together. I wouldn’t be telling Kwik about Dig’s offer, Dig’s grand idea, even though it sounded useful to us. I couldn’t now. This sort of hostility between the Jacks and the Blades was a liability and it could only get worse. So much for a “velvet network.” Fuck, on the turn of a dime, on tempers and highs, plans get destroyed like a glass slipping out of your hands, shattering on the floor around you.

End of story before it had even begun.

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