by Kasey Krane
“Works for me,” I told him and we walked towards our bikes. We both got on and started our engines. I could sense Edge was still tensed, as were all the other guys in our MC. Nobody was back to being a hundred percent on top of their game. Not in the usual way. This meant that they would need even more motivation to start taking this shit seriously.
Couldn’t they see that our business was being affected by our lack of attention?
I followed Edge towards Steve Cheng’s house. He was one of our wealthiest regulars. A Chinese businessman who never missed attending our casino on a weekly basis. He usually bought his other wealthy friends with him. According to Edge and Spinner, Cheng had failed to show up last night and there was no sign from him tonight either.
By this time, when our doors were just opening up; Cheng was usually there at his usual Blackjack table, ordering multiple drinks for himself and his friends, with his hands up the dress of a beautiful new woman he’d brought with him. Him not being here tonight was a bad sign and I was more than happy to assist Edge in trying to find out what the Hell was going on.
Besides, r I was willing to do anything that wouldn’t involve letting my mind wander to thoughts about River. I needed to push her right to the back of my brain, as far there as possible. Maybe it was for the best that she didn’t want to talk to me or see me again. This way we could both move on.
Besides, why did I think I deserved her forgiveness anyway? She was here to attend the funeral of her dad and to lock up her old house. Her visit to Vegas this time had nothing to do with me.
I rode my bike hard, trying to forget the woman in another part of this town tonight who had taken possession of my mind. The only thing I could hope for now was to find vital information from Cheng that would help our MC. Someone had to do something to pull us out of this rut we found ourselves in.
We pulled up into the driveway of Cheng’s house. It was dark and quiet, there didn’t seem to be any cars parked here, neither were any lights turned on inside the house.
“He might not be home,” Edge declared as we started to get off our bikes. It was likely.
I looked around, peering in the dark towards the house and that was when I noticed it.
“The door’s busted open. We should check it out,” I said and Edge saw what I was looking at.
We rushed in. Given that Cheng had a lot of money, I would have expected him to have some kind of security around him too, but he didn’t seem to.
The house was dark as we entered it and both of us pulled out our guns as we walked in. The floorboards creaked under my boots as I slowly crunched my way through around the house. I hadn’t been here before so I didn’t know the layout of the place. Edge didn’t seem to know where we were going either. We were searching the ground floor for any signs of life.
“You think he’s in the house?” Edge hissed behind me while I kept the gun pointed forward.
“Only one way to find out,” I said. “Cheng!” I shouted his name.
“What the fuck you doing, man?” Edge hissed, but the next thing we heard was a muffled voice from the top of the stairs.
“Help! Anybody!”
“Fuck. It’s him. It’s Cheng!” Edge growled, recognizing his voice. We kept our guns in our hands as we rushed up the stairs.
“Cheng? Where the fuck are you, buddy?” Edge was the one shouting this time.
“Help! Bedroom! Please!” That muffled voice was getting louder as we walked down the hallway. We could see one door slightly open and we walked towards it. Edge and I were both prepared for the worst, for this to be a trap. Our guns were drawn and cocked. We were ready to shoot. I stepped forward when we got to the door and I tried to gently push it open with my foot.
This room was dark too and for a few moments, I couldn’t see anything.
“Help. Please. Floor.”
The voice was loud and clear now. It was coming from around the other side of the bed.
Edge behind me flicked a switch and the room was suddenly flooded with light. We ran over to the other side of the bed. Now it was clear to us that there was nobody else in the room, besides Steve Cheng, who was on the floor in a bloody mess.
I lowered my gun as I stared at him.
“Fuck man, what the Hell happened to you?” Edge asked from behind me. The guy was unrecognizable as he lay there curled up on the carpet. He seemed to be still bleeding out. There was a pool of fresh blood around him.
“Edge, get towels from the bathroom. I’m going to haul him up on the bed,” I growled. “Edge, now!” I shouted when my pal didn’t move.
***
Edge found towels in the bathroom and I used them to tie up the wound on Cheng’s forehead that was bleeding the most. It wasn’t the only part of his body that was bleeding though. For now, we had Cheng up on the bed and his head was supported by a few pillows that were quickly soaking up his blood. We needed some answers first before we were going to help him.
“What happened, Cheng? Who did this to you?” Edge asked, towering over him. I positioned myself in the corner of the room near the bed. I had my gun held up and I also had a clear view of the front driveway in case we had intruders.
Cheng coughed and Edge offered him a glass of water. He looked weak and his voice was a murmur but at least he could still talk.
“I had a group of businessmen from Hong Kong today. I was going to take them to your casino,” he said. His words were coming out all garbled but Edge and I were trying to make sense of it.
“Okay, you were going to bring these guys to our casino. Then what happened?” Edge urged him on.
“We were in a limo. Drinking champagne on the way to the casino and then the limo was stopped.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know!” Cheng tried to shout but he ended up coughing out more blood. “I wasn’t paying attention to the outside. It was a deserted part of town. I think.”
“You personally know the limo driver?” I asked and Cheng shook his head.
“He was just some guy I called for. Some service I found.”
Edge and I exchanged looks. I knew he was thinking what I was thinking too. The limo driver had to be in on the planned attack.
“Then what happened? After you were stopped?”
Cheng coughed some more and Edge offered him a towel.
“It was a black SUV that stopped us. Some men in suits started pouring out of it and they forced us all out of our limo.”
Cheng was starting to shake now as he told his story. I could see that he wasn’t feeling well at all. His body was beginning to deteriorate.
“They forced us into the SUV and then they started driving somewhere. I was in the backseat. The other guys weren’t all with us in the car. I don’t know where they were taken. What happened to them.”
Cheng started to cry, while blood continued to drip from his wounds.
“What did they do to you?” Edge asked, in a more somber voice now. Cheng couldn’t wipe the tears from his face. He couldn’t even lift his hands up.
“They started beating me up in the back of the car. They were shouting at me. Threatening me.”
Edge moved closer to Cheng now.
“Threatening you with what?”
“That if I ever took any of my associates to your casino again, if I ever went to your casino again; they will find me and kill me. They told me to spread the word amongst my friends.”
He was blubbering as he spoke. Barely able to keep himself together.
“How did you get back here?” I asked and he was shaking his head. Like he was amazed he was even alive now.
“They drove me back here, broke my front door and dumped me in the hallway. I pulled myself up the stairs here. I thought I could patch myself together. I can’t call the fucking cops!”
He continued to cry while his head bobbed from side to side.
Edge turned to look at me.
“We need to take him to the hospital, man,” he said. Cheng cried out in pain a
nd I nodded.
“Find his car, drive him there. I’m calling Church.”
***
Now we had first hand evidence that Mr. Money was behind the reduced revenue of our casino. We of course had our suspicions of this all along.
When I called for Church, the other guys showed up at the Clubhouse eventually. The casino outside was open but I could see it for myself that it wasn’t in full attendance. Most of our regulars were missing and I wondered how word had got out.
Shark and Rook reported back saying that some of the guys they had spoken to said they’d received verbal warnings over the phone from unknown callers to stay away from the High Rollers Casino. Bingo and Spinner said that guys they spoke to claimed they’d heard about Steve Cheng being abducted tonight. Everyone assumed that he was missing and someone was going to find him dead in a ditch somewhere.
Edge eventually returned after having checked Cheng into a hospital. He was going to live, even though he had a dangerous concussion and had already lost a lot of blood.
The guys were sitting around, cursing and discussing the situation. I was one of them, going over the details of Cheng’s abduction—but nobody had a plan. We had nobody to give us orders regarding what we were to do next. We were all sitting on the edge of our seats, waiting for a plan to proceed.
“What the fuck are we going to do now?” Spinner spoke out loud. He’d caught the attention of some of the guys and they turned to look at him. Mr. Money’s men were scaring our regulars shitless, discouraging them seriously from coming to our casino—which meant that our business could start going downhill. It already had.
“Let’s call The Black Hornets, see if they can offer up some guys for muscle to tide us over for now,” I suggested.
A buzz rang out when I spoke. They were considering this suggestion.
“Yeah, that could be a good idea. We need more men,” Spinner said and some of the others were nodding their heads. It was the only way we could go up against the vast numbers that Mr. Money had.
Chapter Thirteen
River
After we left my old home, Marley took me over to her apartment where we spent the rest of the night talking some more. There was so much to talk about.
Even though we used to speak on the phone often while I was in Texas, it was never the same as this. When we could actually sit together and share our lives with each other this openly. It finally felt like no time had passed at all. We were still both the same people and I was glad to have her as a support system in my life.
Marley had a spare room in her apartment where I spent the night and dumped all the stuff I’d carried with me from the other house. She was generous enough to tell me she didn’t care how long I stayed here because she didn’t need the room. I was yet to decide what I was going to do now.
Would I stay here in Vegas? There was nothing left for me back in Texas.
I’d quit my job; my mom didn’t care where I went. But what did I have in Vegas?
Even though I was exhausted and sleepy, I forced myself to stay up that night, thinking. There were so many important decisions to make. I had to decide on what I was going to do with my life. Marley had convinced me that I needed to talk to Spade; to give him at least one chance to offer me an explanation…so was I supposed to just stay here in Vegas till that was over?
Should I look for a job here now?
The next morning when I woke up, my mind was still muddled with thoughts about Spade and my own future. I’d overslept, it was nearly the middle of the day now, in the kitchen Marley had left me a note. She wanted me to help myself to breakfast and coffee, but she had to go to the bookstore and take care of her business.
As I sat in her kitchen, sipping my black coffee and eating an apple; I was thinking about what I was supposed to do with my day. Even though I was back ‘home’, this didn’t feel like home anymore. It was like I would have to rediscover Vegas all over again.
On the kitchen table, my cell phone lay by the side. I stared at it, trying to push out thoughts of Spade. I still had his old number in my phone. I had no explanation for why I’d carried it with me all these days. I’d never called him or texted, but somehow it gave me comfort knowing that I could reach out to him whenever I wanted—if he still had the same number!
Before I could change my mind, I quickly picked up the phone and dialed his number. A part of me hoped that it wasn’t the same one, that someone other than Spade would pick up.
But on the fourth ring, the call was answered and I recognized his deep sexy voice immediately.
“Ya,” he said groggily. He obviously had no idea who was calling. I’d caught him sleeping.
“Hi,” I said and he went quiet. Had he recognized my voice too? It was strange to be speaking to him again, after I’d vowed never to do it.
“I wasn’t expecting to hear from you again, River,” he said. All of a sudden, his voice sounded a lot clearer. He’d been jolted up from his grogginess.
“I think I’m ready to talk to you now,” I said.
“Okay, good, now? I can meet you at a cafe in like twenty minutes, if you’re close by.”
He sounded excited and I had to admit that I could feel my heart racing too. Spade gave me directions to a cafe that I could easily take a cab to and we decided to see each other in half an hour.
Which meant that I had just about fifteen minutes to get ready. The call ended and I quickly jumped in the shower. I couldn’t believe this was actually happening. That I was willingly going to meet Spade.
This wasn’t a date, I had to remind myself, as I stared at myself in Marley’s mirror. I was going to keep it simple.
I slipped into a pair of old jeans, which fit me well and a simple floral blouse. I brushed my hair but tried not to worry too much about how messy my curls looked. I put on boots, just the minimal of makeup and then I was out of the door.
In the cab, I checked and rechecked myself in the mirror. This wasn’t a date. This was just going to be a coffee shared between two old friends. I had decided to put our past animosity behind me and move on.
Not because I forgave him yet for what he did seven years ago, but because I wanted some answers about my father. I was agreeing to just act civil.
Then why was I so nervous to see him again?
I could feel my feet shaking as I waited in the car to arrive. I was already trying to picture him in my head, trying to decide how I was going to greet him—a hug? a handshake? A peck on the cheek maybe?
Just the casual thought of Spade’s lips on my cheek, his hand on my body was capable of setting me alight.
I shifted in my seat, trying to get a grip of myself…and then we arrived. The cab pulled up in front of the cafe and I saw that Spade was waiting there for me. He threw his cigarette to the ground and stubbed it with his boot before he came forward to the cab.
I opened my purse to pay but he’d already pulled out a few bills and handed it to the driver. Then he was opening the door of the cab, waiting for me to step out.
I tried to avert my eyes, keep this business light and casual; but inside, my soul was on fire. I’d fantasized about him for so long.
***
Spade found a spot for us by the windows at the cafe and we sat down there with our cappuccinos.
“I was glad to hear from you, River,” he said, looking me over. I was forcing myself to not focus on how sexy he looked in that tight t-shirt and the leather jacket. His chiseled jaws and that strong velvet-smooth voice gave me goosebumps. Some of his brown hair was falling over his forehead as he sat there in front of me, rolling his cup of coffee in his hands.
I had no idea what he was thinking about when he saw me. I wanted to know. Did he see me as the same girl he wanted seven years ago or had his tastes changed?
But the way he looked at me from under his heavy eyelids, reminded me of the way he used to look at me before…or was I just daydreaming again? Fantasizing about the possibility that he might still want me?
> “I figured I owed you an apology for the way I behaved yesterday; first at the Church and then at dad’s house,” I said.
Spade glanced down at the coffee in his hands and shook his head.
“You really don’t need to apologize, River, we’ve all been having a tough time since Buck died. It hasn’t been easy for any of us.”
I stared at him as he spoke. There was a darkness in his deep blue eyes. I could see he was genuine. He meant what he was saying about my dad.
I licked my lips nervously. There was so much I wanted to ask him, so much I had waited to know…I didn’t even know where to begin.
“Were you and dad close? Was he a kind of mentor to you?” I asked, watching him as his eyes darted everywhere around the cafe.
He shrugged, without actually meeting my eyes and then nodded.
“Yes, he was a mentor to me, to most of the guys at the MC. He was like our father figure…but I don’t know if I can claim to being close to him. I respected Buck. I looked up to him. He was a great man…but we weren’t exactly friends.”
I could sense that Spade was uncomfortable talking about my dad. The same way I was uncomfortable raising his subject too. I hadn’t realized how deeply my dad had affected the lives of so many people. Especially the people in the MC.
He looked up at me all of a sudden, catching me by surprise. I blushed when I realized he’d caught me staring at him.
“How have you been, River? Believe it or not, I’ve always wanted to find out how you were doing in Texas. I just couldn’t ask Buck because I was sure he wouldn’t tell me anyway.”
Spade was peering at me, like his blue eyes were capable of drilling a hole right in my brain. I felt naked under his steady stare. Another wave of goosebumps and shivers rushed over me. No other man could ever have this effect on me.
“It’s been seven years. A lot happened to me in Texas. Most of it left me disappointed, but I’m here now and I just want to get over it,” I said in a low voice.
