by Blue, Jayne
“Shit,” I said. “I’ll tell you what I think. I think we’re heading for a different kind of club war. And this time, the cops are taking sides.”
Colt slapped my back. He had more to say. I could see it in his eyes. But my phone rang. I had it sitting on the table in front of me. Tara’s number came up.
“You better take that,” he said. “Make sure she’s really okay. And find out what she said to the cops.”
“Jesus,” I said. “You think Tara sold me out? No way.”
“I’m not saying that. But she’s not used to club life. She doesn’t know what to expect. You serious about this girl?”
I closed my eyes as I exhaled. The bitch of it was, until the cops showed up and screwed me over, I was having one of the best nights of my life.
“Yeah,” I said. “I think I could be. She’s good for me. She could be good for Toby.”
Colt nodded. “Good then. So do what you have to do to bring her into the fold. I’ll do what I have to on my end.”
I picked up the phone and answered just before it went to voicemail. Colt slapped me on the back and gave me the room.
“Hey,” I said.
“Joker,” she said. There was real fear in her voice.
“Tell me you’re okay. I need to hear it again.”
“I’m fine,” she said. “And what happened ... Joker, that was nuts. I can’t …”
“Not on the phone,” I said. “I need to see you. We need to talk about a few things.”
“I didn’t tell them anything,” she said. “They didn’t even ask me anything, if you want to know the truth. They dropped me off at home. I tried to call the Den. I didn’t know whether you’d get a phone call and I figured the club would know what to do.”
“You did great,” I said. “But like I said, we should talk in person.”
“I get off at seven. Joker, Toby doesn’t know anything about what happened. Your friend Amy dropped him off this morning.”
“I’ll be picking him up at four,” I said. “Call me when you get home. I’ll stop over.”
“Okay,” she said. I could hear the kids laughing in the background. Thank God for Amy. As soon as Colt got word to her, she sprang into action and brought Toby over to their place. It helped to know that none of this had touched him. So help me God I would keep it that way.
It just killed me that it had touched Tara. I swore to myself I wouldn’t let that happen again, no matter what I had to do to prevent it. Not even my president could stop me.
Chapter Twelve
Tara
“Where is he?” I shouted.
Monday mornings, my father had Louise, his housekeeper, come in. She’d been with him since my mom got sick. Actually, my mom had been the one to hire her. She knew my father would never clean up after himself when she was gone and didn’t want to burden me with the chore.
Louise was tough, street smart, and I was fairly sure she and my dad had a thing on occasion when one of them had an itch.
“Whoa,” Louise said. “You’re like a bat outta hell, Tara.”
I stormed through the kitchen. Louise was busy loading the dishwasher. I made my way down the hall to the back bedroom. Dad was standing at his bathroom vanity in boxer shorts and a tank top, leaning far over so he could see as he shaved.
“Was it you?” I asked. He tapped the razor in the sink and turned to me.
“Well, good morning to you too.” He wiped his face on a hand towel. “Aren’t you late for work?”
“I have an hour,” I said.
“Was what me?”
He turned from the sink and faced me. I looked over my shoulder catching Louise peering in from the hallway. As soon as she saw me look, she cleared her throat and opened the hall closet to pull out the vacuum cleaner. I turned and shut my father’s bedroom door. I waited a moment until I heard the vacuum whir to life.
“That was rude,” he said. “Louise is family.”
“Louise is paid to be here,” I said, hating the edge to my voice. I had no beef with Louise per se. But my rage spilled out.
My father tossed the hand towel on the counter and brushed past me. He sat on the edge of his bed and started putting on his socks.
“A friend of mine got hassled by the cops this weekend.”
“Friend?” he asked.
I crossed my arms in front of me. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what’s going on. I’m talking about Joker Smith. Tell me what you know.”
My father raised a brow. “If you’re asking me to spill official police business, you know exactly where this conversation is going to go, honey. Plus, I warned you about that thug. If he’s caught up in something, it serves him right.”
“Dad, two Lincolnshire P.D. patrolmen and a sergeant planted drugs on Joker’s bike.”
“Hold on there. That’s a pretty bold accusation.” My father pulled on his other sock and put his hands on his knees. “Did you see them do that?”
“I saw enough,” I said. “But I know that’s what happened. The whole thing was ridiculous. Joker’s not a drug dealer.”
He narrowed his gaze. “How well do you know him?”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
He slowly rose from the bed. “What’s going on is you’re choosing to associate with a loser, Tara. Again. It’s getting to be your M.O.”
“Dad, I’m not a lawyer. I’m not a cop. But what happened out at Liberty Bridge even I know violated about three different constitutional amendments. It felt like a setup. So I’m asking you what you know.”
He grabbed a pair of khakis from his dresser and pulled them on.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He combed his hair back. “I’ve been out of the game a long time. I don’t even have any real contacts with the locals. Who were the responding officers?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I think one told me his name was Redford. They put me in the back of a patrol car, for heaven’s sake.”
My father set his comb down. “Tara, you’re lucky. You mean to tell me you were with Smith when he got popped for possession? They could have arrested you too. So for that, be grateful. Somebody was looking out for you. My best advice to you is the same as it was before. Stay the hell away from Joker Smith and that club.”
“So you’re not going to tell me anything?” I asked.
He grabbed a button-down shirt from the closet and stabbed his arms through it. “I just did. Stay the hell away from that asshole.”
“Joker’s a good man,” I said.
“Right. Honey, forgive me. Your good-man radar isn’t the most finely tuned. So how’s Brian Windham these days?”
The vacuuming stopped. Louise started humming just outside the door.
“Gotta go, cupcake. I’m going to be late for a golf game. And you’re gonna be late for work. Don’t wanna keep all those kiddos waiting.”
He came to me and kissed the top of my head. I curled my fists to my side. He was patronizing me. It was the thing that irritated my mother most about him. He was of the “don’t worry your pretty little head” philosophy. My body quaked with anger.
Dad brushed past me and started humming the same tune as Louise. I realized he’d given me all he would on the subject of Joker and the Great Wolves M.C.
From the window, I watched him head out the front door.
* * *
Toby seemed perfectly normal all day. He greeted me with a big smile and a hug that melted my heart.
“Did you have a good weekend?” I asked.
He nodded so violently, a little cowlick near his ear flopped up and down. “Cam and Carly and me went to the fair. I got a elephant ear.”
“Those are my favorite,” I said. “And I like the fried Oreos too.”
Toby scampered off to join his buddies. I kept an extra-close eye on him throughout the day. But he seemed happy and high energy.
As much as I enjoyed my kids, I found myself watching the clock more than usual. I would see Joker
at four when he came to get Toby. Despite my father’s warning, I couldn’t wait to see him again at the end of the day. I had so many questions about what happened and wanted to know he was okay. For sure.
Just before four, Laney found me in the art room.
“Hey, you,” she said. “You ready for the weekend?”
“The what?”
Laney rolled her eyes. “For crying out loud. You are hopeless. Um ... the wedding?”
My stomach dropped. Brian and Em’s wedding. With everything going on in my life, I had truly forgotten about it. The good news was, it just didn’t seem to matter to me as much as it did a few weeks or months ago.
I pressed a hand to my forehead. “God, I so regret agreeing to be part of it. You think it’s too late to back out? I could tell Em I’ve caught leprosy or something.”
Laney laughed. “Would you stop? We’re going to have fun. You get to wear that fabulous teal satin dress.”
I groaned. I had a final fitting last week. The thing was awful. A tight-fitting bodice that I swore might be bulletproof. A slit that ran all the way up to my leg.
“Yeah,” I said. “I still don’t know how that one got past Mrs. Windham. I’d have thought she’d want us all wearing something from the Victorian era.”
“Forget what you’re wearing on that gorgeous body of yours. What are you wearing on your arm? Who are you bringing?”
“I hadn’t …”
“Tara, I’m going to have to smack you one of these days. You’re bringing a plus one. You have no choice. Do you really want all of Brian and Em’s friends and families talking about you behind your back again?”
I didn’t have a chance to answer her. I saw Joker pull up in an SUV. My heart raced.
“We’ll pick this up later,” I said to Laney. I left her sputtering in my wake as I went out to get Toby. He was already getting his backpack from his cubby.
I went out in the hall, hoping I could steal a quick moment with Joker before Miss Linda brought Toby out.
Joker seemed to have the same idea. He strode toward me with a purpose that made my blood sing. He caught my elbow and pulled me into the shadows down the next hallway.
“Hi,” I said, breathless.
“Hey. You okay?” He ran his hands down my arms as if he were checking to see if I was in one piece.
“I’m fine,” I whispered. I glanced at the classroom door. We had about two minutes before Miss Linda came out with the four o’clock pick-ups.
“I was worried about you. Joker, what’s going on? What was that? I know those cops planted that stuff on you. And they had no right to search our bike like that.”
He nodded. “Tara, you haven’t known me long, but I need you to understand. That shit didn’t belong to me. I don’t care how it looks.”
I put a hand on his arm. This was crazy. On paper, everything my father warned me about was true. Joker Smith was a rough-and-tumble biker. The Great Wolves had a particular reputation in town. Girls like me didn’t mix with men like him. And yet, since the moment I met this man, he consumed my thoughts, my dreams, my desires. The simple truth was, I believed him. Even if I hadn’t seen what happened the other night, I knew in my heart Joker Smith was no hardened criminal.
“I know,” I said. “Joker, they set you up.”
“The last thing I wanted was to drag you into club shit,” he said. “But there might come a point where I need you to testify to what you saw.”
“Anything. You don’t even have to ask.”
“I’ve got some things in play that will hopefully keep this from going that far.” He looked behind him. Worry lined his face.
“Why though?” I said. “What’s the cops’ beef with the club? I mean, can you tell me that?”
He turned back to me. “This is a longer conversation than we can have out here in the hallway. I don’t want Toby catching wind of any of it.”
“He seems fine,” I said. “I mean, he was really upbeat today talking about his weekend at the fair. Whatever you’re doing to insulate him, it’s working.”
“I hate this,” Joker said. “But I swear to you this is all temporary. I’m going to get this crap handled and then we can all just get back to normal.”
“I believe you. And I meant what I said. Anything you need from me.”
Joker rubbed my arm. “Right now, I need you to keep your eyes and ears open. Something just doesn’t sit well with me about the other night. I didn’t even tell anyone from the club our plans. I know when I’m being tailed and I wasn’t that night. But somehow those cops knew exactly where we were.”
My stomach flipped. I’d confronted my father. He hadn’t come out and denied knowing anything about Joker’s trouble. Still, I hadn’t told him I was meeting with Joker either. If he knew anything at all, it had to be after the fact.
I hesitated, wrestling with whether to tell Joker who my father was. It went against everything I’d been raised on. Gavin Kimball worked a dangerous job. I hadn’t even been allowed to tell my friends at school what he did for a living. He’d taught me to simply say he worked for the gas company. Kids assumed he was a meter reader and I never corrected them.
None of it made any sense. My father was a lot of things, but he would never set anything in motion that would put me in harm’s way. If he wanted to come after Joker or the club, he’d do it when he knew I was nowhere near them. Besides, he’d been retired from the FBI for years.
For now, I said nothing. I walked a fine line between protecting my dad and loyalty to the man standing before me. The man I was growing fonder of by the day.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I said. “If you come over by eight, I’ll make something for dinner. I’m not much of a cook but I’ve been told my crockpot fajitas are to die for.”
Joker’s devastating smile warmed me to my toes. But his face fell.
“Baby, I hate this, but I have to take a rain check tonight. All this stuff has made things crazy at the club. I need to spend some time with Toby and work some things out.”
I found a smile. “Of course. Toby comes first.” I resisted telling him that was one of the things I loved about him the most. He was a good man and a good dad. Oh how I wanted to kiss him right then and there.
“Hey, Dad,” Toby called out. Miss Linda stood in the doorway. Her withering stare cut through me.
Toby walked out. His face lit up when he saw his father.
“Make sure you have all your stuff, buddy. I’m just gonna say goodbye to Miss Tara.”
Linda ushered the boy back into the coatroom to get Toby’s art project.
“Raincheck,” Joker said to me.
I bit my lip. I couldn’t believe I was about to ask. I more or less blurted it out.
“How’s your Saturday looking?”
Joker smiled. “I think I’m free. What did you have in mind?”
Laughing, I smiled back up at him. “Well ... there’s this wedding …”
Chapter Thirteen
Joker
On Saturday morning, things went from bad to worse.
Doug Bailey showed up at the club to talk about progress on my case. Colt gave us the conference room and started to clear out.
“No,” I said. “This is club business as much as it’s personal to me.”
Bailey gave me a hard look. “I’m sorry, Joker, but that might not exactly be true. I need to make it clear from the get-go: if we go forward, you’re my client. Not the club.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “What happens to me happens to the club. I wouldn’t be in this situation if it weren’t for the chief’s vendetta against us. He’s going to keep coming at us. We need to be ready.”
Colt cleared his throat and closed the door. He sat beside me at the table.
Bailey was a seasoned defense lawyer. He’d worked for the men at this table for over twenty years, long before I could drive a car, much less a Harley.
He wore a corduroy suit coat with brown patches on the elbows. His hair was a tra
gic, dyed comb-over. What he lacked in style, he made up for in the courtroom. Bailey was ruthless, fearless, and he was on my side.
He pulled out a yellow pad and clicked his pen. “You know I can never make promises, but the facts behind this felony charge are paper thin. You’re saying your girlfriend is also willing to give a statement?”
Colt shot a look to me. “Yeah,” I said. “Tara’s on board.”
“Good,” Bailey said. “Give her my number and tell her to set something up with my secretary. The sooner the better. In the meantime, I’ve reached out to the prosecutor assigned to the case. I gotta say, it was one of the more strange conversations I’ve ever had at this stage.”
“In what way?” Colt asked.
Bailey clicked his pen closed. “Frankly, I don’t think the county wants to touch this one. The prosecutor’s hands are tied. I mean, he doesn’t want to bad-mouth law enforcement in front of me. But ... he knows this is bullshit.”
“They planted that shit on me,” I said.
“I believe you,” Bailey said. “Between you and me, I think the prosecutor believes you. But he’s trying to navigate in this new climate with Chief Davis too.”
“He’s up for reelection next year,” Colt pointed out. “The prosecutor.”
“That he is,” Bailey confirmed. “And believe me. I took the opportunity to remind him. The majority of the people in this town don’t want trouble for the club. They like their rising property values too much. They like being able to come downtown and to the docks and spend their money. Davis is just flexing his muscles.”
“So what’s he offering?” I asked. Bailey looked uncomfortable at the question. My heart sank. I’d hit it on the head.
“Sheeit,” I said. “He is offering a plea deal. You gotta be kidding me. No way. I don’t care what it is. That dope wasn’t mine.”
“Joker, I know,” Bailey said. “But this thing could go sideways down the road. It depends on how much power Davis truly yields. The prosecutor’s offering simple possession. No jail time. You pay a fine basically and we’re on our way.”
