Page 27 of Hallow’s Eve
Since I was already naked, I stepped out of my white flats. Any other night I’d have on my Cowboy boots. I wiggled my toes.
“Let’s see the bottoms,” Kingpin demanded.
Hallow spun me and brought up each foot.
“Where’s her friend?” Kingpin asked. “Was she the other girl? The one Buzzard lost?”
Donette had gotten away. Good for her. I was still mad that she mentioned anything about my dad to these bikers. I’d sworn her to secrecy.
“I don’t think she’s involved either. Thorn’s bringing in my suspect soon. Buzzard suspected Eve. He’s wrong. Eve’s innocent.”
“How so?”
“Grady…” Hallow began.
Kingpin stopped him “We don’t use our real names around here. Would you like me to use yours? Wolf was only probate but show him some respect, man’s cold.”
“Wolf,” Hallow corrected himself. “He went to help Eve when someone tried to take her last night, abduct her from a parking garage on Church Street. She’d left the scene, so Wolf was really helping their friend Ford who had been knocked out. Ford had been walking Eve to her car.”
“What a gentleman,” Kingpin commented.
“Wolf told Ford he almost caught the guy, almost hit him with his car. Told him that last night. Then this Jasper guy comes in to work limping, says he’s been run over. If Wolf figured out that it was Jasper who tried to abduct Eve, there’s your motive. Jasper slit Wolf’s throat in the walk-in freezer with a chef’s knife.”
Jasper? Wait, that didn’t make any sense. If Wolf, I mean Grady told Ford he about ran over the guy who tried to abduct me last night, told him about that last night, that was before I saw Ford and Jasper today. So why didn’t Ford say something to me earlier when Jasper came in Bootsies limping? When had Hallow even talked to Ford about it? He hadn’t mentioned it to me. Ford hadn’t said anything to the other bikers. I’d asked them when they questioned me right before this mess. I made all kinds of noise into the gag wanting to ask Hallow when Ford told him about Jasper and tell him about Ford’s omission. I also thought about Ford’s change of clothes. Bouncing up and down, I tried, but Hallow and Kingpin completely ignored me.
Lordalmighty. The awful fact struck me and made me still. If Jasper tried to take me, Ford had to have been in on it. I remembered him practically shouting through the parking garage, announcing our arrival before someone struck him in the back of the head and came at me. Nevertheless, I hadn’t suspected anything amiss until now. With Ford’s change of clothes, I settled on him as my suspect. That boy didn’t give a flip about what he wore and wouldn’t have changed but to cover up a murder.
“I wanted the girl here anyway because of her connections. Buzzard had been following my orders. Thorn’s bringing in this Jasper?” Kingpin asked, drumming his fingers together.
“Yeah, he should be. If he can catch him. Squirrely little fucker ran off.”
“You think he killed Sadist, too?”
“Why wouldn’t he? He already killed his boss.”
Kingpin bit his fist. “Sadist, he was my favorite. Sadistic bastard.” He bowed his head and Hallow followed suit. Were we having a moment of silence? Kingpin peered up and rubbed his beard, thinking before he said, “Who is going to run our BDSM club now? Anyone tied to Sadist’s death will suffer greatly. I’ll have to question Jasper myself. Your girl here and the others too, but tomorrow. This shit’s not going to ruin Halloween.” He waved us off, trying to look around us at the orgy.
Hallow bowed a bit and started to drag me away, but Kingpin stopped him. “Wait. About you not bringing a treat. Not sharing…”
“Sir, I claim this one.”
Kingpin’s face lit up, and his eyes widened. “Is that so? So soon after…” He snapped his fingers.
Hallow helped him, “Steph.”
“Steph? Yeah, that firecracker. I don’t know if I believe it. Why are you keeping this girl from me?”
“I ain’t,” Hallow began.
Kingpin wasn’t listening. “I know the good cop in you would hate to think, I’d take advantage of this sweet girl, but I promise you, that won’t be the case. If I find out she’s really the daughter of Fighting Cock, I won’t just fuck her myself, we will all get a turn to use her before I send her back to her pop in little pieces. I’m certain the biker you are now knows as much.”
“She’s mine,” Hallow growled, pulling me to his side like an animal.
Kingpin bowed to him a bit. “Are you sure you want to claim her? She’s connected to a rival gang, tattoo or not. I ran the Asphalt Gods out of Tennessee. You want to give them a reason to try me again?”
Out of nowhere a woman appeared beside Kingpin wearing nothing but a pumpkin mask. That and her boob-o-lanterns. Each tit had an orange jack-o-lantern painted on. I had no idea where she’d been hiding the pistol, she pointed at Hallow.
Hallow stood his ground until she pointed it at me. He relented, “No, sir. I mean, yes, I claim her. No. I don’t want no trouble.”
