Bubbles

by Candace Blevins

  “I’ll have a surprise for you when you get out of the shower.”

  It turned out, he’d bought a French press and flavored shit to put in my coffee, and the surprise was the perfect cup of super-strong café mocha — he even squirted extra chocolate in.

  My day only got better, and I actually had fun in class because we got to practice our techniques instead of doing boring stuff with books.

  However, three cops were waiting for me when we left the room for our lunch break, and my heart dropped into my feet. Only one was in uniform, but the street clothes didn’t hide the fact the other two were cops too.

  “You aren’t in trouble,” said the woman in the dress pants and silky t-shirt. “We just want to have a conversation, and we’re hoping you’ll sit with us while you eat. Our treat.”

  “I wasn’t planning on eating.”

  “This is a friendly visit,” said the man in the dress shirt and tie. “We hope to keep it to that, but we can take you in as a person of interest if you push it.”

  My classmates were giving me odd looks, and I walked to the courtyard and sat on a bench. I pulled my phone out of my pocket while I walked, turned the recorder on, and put it back in my pocket. I didn’t know if it would catch our conversation or not, but I had to try. The cops followed, and I said, “Don’t stand over me. Sit down and ask your questions.”

  The two in street clothes sat on the bench facing me, and the uniform stepped away, but I could see him listening.

  “The two men who attacked you have gone stupid,” said the woman. “We’re trying to understand what happened.”

  I had no idea how to respond. I wasn’t supposed to talk to them without Zeke, but they weren’t asking anything I could answer.

  “They didn’t seem that bright to start with.”

  The man turned his phone to me and I saw Reaper on video, answering questions. He had a blank look in his eyes, and he talked with… not a lisp, but it wasn’t quite right. It was like he was someone else.

  “He just needs time to get the drugs out of his system.” Or, that was my best guess.

  “He tests clean,” said the woman. “They’re both like this. Our psych people say they have IQs of around eighty, give or take. They aren’t the same people we arrested last week.”

  I had to give the asshole Playas props. They’d managed to get away from genpop and into a psych ward. Smart. I didn’t tell the cops they’d been had, though.

  “Why are you here? What is it you hope I can tell you?”

  “They’re fuckin retards!” said the man with the tie. “Someone got to them. We need to know who, and how!”

  “I didn’t visit them, and I’m pretty sure Bubbles didn’t, either. You have a record of any visitors, so I ask again — why are you here?”

  The woman leaned forward. “Rumor has it, Fury’s in the same shape. We can’t find him, but word on the street says he isn’t right either. They thought he got too heavy in the drugs, but it’s been a day and a half and he’s the same.”

  It can take a while to clean someone up, and if they had Fury drugged so his dick didn’t hurt, he might’ve been on a serious trip. “When did this happen?”

  “Guards say these two were fine Saturday, and they noticed the problem Sunday morning. Had to isolate them to save their lives.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Ya’ll are telling me an awful lot.” They usually hold everything tight. Knowledge is only power if you’re the only one who has it.

  “It’s all common knowledge. Your boyfriend didn’t tell you?”

  I reminded myself they were probably lying to try to get me pissed at Bubbles, and sat back on the bench. “I was with my sister yesterday and then had a ton of studying to do last night. If it’s something he knows, I’m sure he’ll tell me when we have time to talk.”

  “He in the habit of tellin’ you club secrets?”

  Fuck, but the man was an asshole.

  I’ve been coached all my life about how to answer questions when the po-po asks. First part of that was to avoid answering anything about club secrets. Deflect to something that isn’t a powder keg, preferably something they already know.

  “They freaking tried to kidnap me and were going to rape me. Yeah, I want to know what’s going on with them.”

  “So you’re happy they aren’t a threat to you anymore?”

  I glared at him. “What do you think? You were probably happy when Saddam Hussein was killed, but that doesn’t mean you killed him, right?”

  The woman handed me a business card. “If you hear of anything, or think of something we should know, please call me.”

  I took the card but just stared at her. I wasn’t promising anything.

  As soon as they were gone, I turned the recorder off and called Bubbles.

  “Three cops just visited me at school. They say Fury and the two in lockup have gone stupid, and they say you know all about it.”

  “It’s why they got the warrant to search the clubhouse, which gave them shit because there was nothing to find. I’m not convinced there’s a problem. Sounds like some made-up bullshit to me. Others in lockup say the two came out of their cells for breakfast talking shit, like they had a death wish. The guards rescued them from a beatdown and put them in the infirmary — thought they had brain damage from the beatdown, but now they’re trying to say it wasn’t from that. We don’t know what the truth is. They’re out of prison and in a psych ward, where no one can get to them.”

  “And Fury?”

  “Who the fuck knows. He’s still in hiding and strung out on who knows how many drugs. We’ll have to talk about him later.”

  Right, because this was an open line.

  “Okay. I was going to try to study, but there’s no way. See you in a few hours?”

  “Of course. I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  I disconnected, fished my headphones out of my bag, plugged them in, and listened to the conversation with the cops. It wasn’t great, but I could make it out, and Brain would be able to clean it up if I needed proof I hadn’t given them information they shouldn’t have. Bubbles hadn’t demanded to know why I hadn’t called Zeke, but I was betting someone would remind me. I’d used my best judgement though, and hadn’t told them shit.

  Bubbles

  * * *

  I was fit to be tied, but there was nothing I could do. She was my ol’lady, and that meant run-ins with the cops sometimes, but I’d hoped to shield her from it.

  Also, this was because I’d helped clean up her mess. This wasn’t me dragging her into my shit, it was me cleaning up hers. I shouldn’t feel guilty.

  But I did.

  I found Bash and told him, “I’m leaving at one-thirty so I can shower before I pick Lexi up. Cops cornered her at lunch and she needs some TLC. Gonna take her somewhere nice for lunch and then spend some time with her. She don’t have to be at work ’til five.”

  He turned away from the bike he was working on and took a deep breath. “You’re frustrated.”

  “As fuck.”

  “She didn’t call Zeke?”

  “Don’t think it was that kind of conversation. I’ll find out more at lunch. Sounds like they told her about the guys in lockup to see her reaction.”

  He looked at the clock on the wall. “Sign yourself out at two, but go ahead and leave now. Hit the workout room, and I’ll send Duke to you so ya’ll can talk while you work through your frustration.”

  I took stock of my anger and realized he was right. “Yeah. Okay. I need ten minutes to set the car up so I can step back into it tomorrow morning, but you’re right. Thanks.”

  “Anytime, brother. We’re all in this together.”

  He pulled me to him and hugged me, and I hugged him back. I’d known Bash a long damned time, and the motherfucker had never let me down.

  The MC’s weight room is made for supernaturals. The heavy bag is supposedly heavy-duty enough to take a werewolf punch, but I’d never hit it full force before.


  Today, I decided to give it a try.

  And then watched in amusement as it came off, sailed across the room, and took out a wall.

  I was still staring at the hole in the wall when Duke strolled in. He turned, looked at it, turned back to me, and laughed.

  He left, and returned a few moments later with the bag, still intact.

  “The bag held up, but the chain didn’t. It hit the outer concrete wall in the other room, so the only damage is this wall, and a few chairs it landed on when it bounced off the concrete. Don’t sweat it. We’ll get a prospect to fix the wall.”

  I shook my head. “I’ll buy the supplies and replace the chairs. Bash told you?”

  “About Lexi’s visitors? Yeah. She’s bright. I’m not worried. Find out what you can, but I’m sure she did fine.”

  “We didn’t get a heads up?”

  “Nope.”

  “You think they know who’s on the take?”

  “They’re cops. They can smell that shit, even if they can’t prove it.”

  “Then we need someone else.”

  “Workin’ on it.”

  Of course he was. Okay. “Anything new?”

  “The third guy — the asshole who ran — was alone with his girlfriend when Gavin found him. As far as we know, she hasn’t kicked his ass out yet, and hasn’t told anyone what’s wrong with him. Gavin assures me he took care of the asshole while they were both asleep, and she don’t know anything.”

  I already knew that, but it was good to know there wasn’t news of him on the streets yet. “Once she finds out the other three are in the same shape, she’ll talk. She probably just thinks he overdosed or mixed the wrong shit together, and is trying to clean him up.”

  “Maybe,” said Brain as he stepped into the room. “Could be she’s cleaning out his bank accounts and stashes while he’s stupid as fuck, too. Someone pulled cash out of ATMs yesterday, and cleaned his accounts out via a teller today. He didn’t have much, but now he has nothing.”

  “Might be good for him to disappear instead of show up stupid,” said Duke.

  Brain considered it a few seconds. “If we were being blamed then yeah, but since we’re going to put it on Marlin, I’m good with him showing up dumber than dirt, too. Marlin and his top people will know we somehow made it happen, but no one else’ll know for sure.”

  He looked at the wall and the bag. “Let’s use the same chain, but doubled. See how that works.”

  “Or maybe tripled,” said Duke.

  By the time I made it to Lexi, I was calm. I took her to the Boathouse Restaurant, and I’d called ahead to make sure we could be seated on the deck overlooking the Tennessee River.

  I kept the conversation to neutral subjects, but a few minutes in, she pulled her phone from her pocket, plugged headphones in, and handed it to me.

  “Listen.”

  It wasn’t the best recording, but I could make out ninety-percent of it, and my girl was a rockstar. She gave a few minor details she probably shouldn’t in later situations, and we’d talk about that later, but not now.

  “You kept your head on straight,” I told her when I’d listened through twice. “We’ll get Brain to clean it up and run it by Zeke, but I’m proud of you, Half-pint.”

  I emailed the file from her phone to Brain before handing it back to her.

  We ate, and then strolled along the Riverwalk a while before I had to take her to work. I debated between going home until I had to pick her up, or going back to the shop, and decided to use the lifts in the bike shop to do some maintenance on my bike.

  While I was working, our lot filled with several SWAT teams from every direction. Lights, sirens, guns, and people screaming. Chaos.

  I walked out with my hands up, went to the ground when ordered to, and let them cuff me. I hadn’t done anything wrong. It was just a matter of letting them play their games.

  I was fifteen levels beyond calm — mainly for my wolf, so he’d know we were good, but also because it really pisses LEO off when that kind of firepower doesn’t shake you.

  I was arrested for conspiracy to commit murder, and processed all the way through.

  They left me in the interrogation room with my hands chained to the table, and I put my head on my arms and slept. The wolf had learned how to deal with it. I no longer went apeshit at being restrained. No way did they have anything recent on me. Something from years past, maybe, but I’d need to be fresh when they decided to talk, so I may as well nap. They were fishing, and trying to scare me by screwing with my parole. Zeke would take care of it, once they let me call him.

  It was hours before I got my phone call, which meant Lexi had thought I’d stood her up. I asked Zeke to make sure she was taken care of, and he told me he’d been working on things since shortly after I’d been arrested — our control room had called him. I was still worried about Lexi because I’d worked so hard to build trust with her, but I tried not to let the situation piss me off so badly I lost my temper. The handcuffs they had me in wouldn’t hold me, but there was no sense in letting them know. So I put my head back on my arms, and slept some more.

  I awoke when people finally came in, and told them yet again I wasn’t talking without my lawyer. I figured he was probably already in the building, but the cops were playin’ their games and keeping him away from me as long as possible.

  Two detectives started the interrogation, and I let them talk. I wasn’t saying anything, but no harm in them talking. I soon discovered these were the two who’d questioned Lexi earlier, and I had to hide my smile when they lied out their fucking asses about what she’d told them. I didn’t tell them about the recording because I wanted them to dig a hole so fucking deep they’d never climb out once I let their superiors hear what had actually been said.

  “Your girlfriend had no idea how you managed it, but said she heard you talking about getting to them through their cellmates. We have those inmates in solitary until we figure out what you did.”

  “You charged me with hiring an assassin, right? Conspiracy to commit murder? You’re so far off base, I don’t even know how to respond, so let’s just wait for my attorney.”

  The woman slammed down a huge file and got in my face. “You paid to have them killed! We have proof.”

  I took a breath, smelled the lie — and the anger, rage, and fear. Were they threatening her job if she didn’t make an arrest? Or was she friends with one of the guards? We’d need to get to the bottom of it, but she wasn’t going to tell me anything, so I didn’t bother asking. Instead, I gave her my calmest look and told her, “I’m trying to be polite. Talk to your fellow officers and they’ll tell you we aren’t assholes even when we’re in the wrong. This time, I’m in the right. I had nothing to do with this.”

  “Your girlfriend ratted you out, Adam.”

  I smiled. “There’s nothing to rat, Detective. Where’s my attorney? He should be here by now.”

  The door opened and Zeke said, “I am. They delayed me with every strategy they have. You good?”

  “Yeah.”

  He looked to the female detective who’d been grilling me. “Miss Washington recorded her conversation with you and your cohort. I made sure your superiors had your written reports of the conversation before I supplied them with the recording.”

  I smelled fear from the detective and rejoiced inside while trying not to smirk too much. She turned to me, saw my face, and leaned against the wall.

  “I’m sure the little bitch cut out the parts that would get her in trouble with the MC. No surprise.”

  The door opened and Chief Keller stepped inside. “You’re free to go, Mr. Ross. All charges are dropped. I’ll personally contact your parole officer and let him know we have to report bringing you in, but he shouldn’t consider it a black mark. I apologize for the inconvenience.”

  “It was more than an inconvenience,” Zeke told him, “but I appreciate your professionalism.”

  Another officer stepped in to release my handc
uffs, and I resisted the urge to pop out of them. They didn’t need to know I could.

  I kept my mouth shut while they handed my belongings back to me at the main desk. I double-checked to be sure nothing was missing, signed I’d received it all back, and followed Zeke out of the building. “Is Lexi okay?”

  “Viper took her to your house and stayed with her. Gonzo let them in. She should be in your bed waiting for you.”

  Later, I’d find out the local PD was in panic mode because something had happened to prisoners that couldn’t be explained, and the county was in danger of a mega-lawsuit. However, at the time, I couldn’t figure out why they were willing to go to the extremes they used to nail me with something that happened in county lockup.

  I looked at the clock on his dash when he turned the ignition on. Five o’clock in the damned morning. I must’ve slept through more of it than I realized. “That took entirely too long.”

  “They blocked me, which is illegal as fuck, but they’ll be in plenty of trouble. If their scheme had worked, I’d have difficulty making waves, but as it stands? This’ll be fun.” He shrugged. “Once I was sure their written reports of the conversation were part of the documentation for your arrest warrant, I had Duke call Keller to let him hear it. He hadn’t read the reports yet, so it took him a little time to drive to the office and investigate, but he was in full-on damage control by then.”

  Zeke was worth every damned penny we paid him.

  20

  Lexi

  * * *

  I heard the front door open and ran into the hallway. Bubbles was there, bigger than life, and he caught me as I ran to him, and lifted me into his arms. “I’m okay. Just a little harassment, but it backfired on them because of your recording.”

  A sob caught in my throat, and he held me tighter.

  “I’m good, Lex.”

  I felt him look around, and I turned in his arms to see Viper standing in the hall.

  “Thanks for taking care of her. Any problems?”

  “Glad I could help,” Viper answered. “I’m gonna go back to bed a few hours, since I’m already here.”