Tarnished Steel

by Carmen Faye

  Daphne thought about it. “I was really freaked. I know he said Derrick was found in some clearing, that he was killed ‘execution style,’ whatever the fuck that means, and that they knew he was in the Steel Riders. Then he starts asking who we were with last night, where did we go, did anyone have a fight?”

  “Did they mention his bike?”

  “No, his car. They found his car.”

  “You mentioned files, but I don’t see any boxes of files around.”

  Daphne got up and looked in a closet, and then in another. “He must have took them with him, because they aren’t here, which is probably why he took the car. He hates driving the car. It’s a piece of shit.”

  “Any idea of what was in the files?”

  “It was his tweaker thing. You know, some guys tweak on radios, some tweak on cleaning — god wouldn’t that have been nice — Derrick tweaked on his filing shit. I never really bothered to look. I saw some magazine pages and newspaper clippings in there, and a bunch of handwritten pages, but that was his stuff, you know? Like my diary. My space, and he always kept that. Never read my stuff. So, I never read his.”

  “Sure, I get that, and that’s perfectly understandable. So, let’s talk privacy and facts we have to spill. First, do you want the murderer caught?”

  Daphne lifted an eyebrow. “What? Of course I do. What kind of question is that?”

  “A serious one. If you want him caught, then you tell the police everything you just told me, leaving nothing out. Even add in what you recall about the tribunal last night. They’ll be all over us with questions and interviews and I’ll be busy as hell, but I’m in.”

  “Why are you in?” Daphne asked.

  “You showed everyone last night not only what it meant to be a sister, but what it meant to be a woman’s man. When you left with Cyn, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Even Knight was crying. I stood the tribunal, and I said what I felt was the truth. But I never meant that to include you. I know it hurt you, and now, like Knight said last night, I have a chance to go a dark mile with you and make some of that up.”

  “Cyn said you would help me find another lawyer.”

  Larry nodded. “Yes. I know of two real good ones and both owe me favors.”

  Daphne studied him. “I think I want you. I know you. I know you’ll do the best you can, because you always do the best you can, for everyone. So, trust isn’t really an issue.”

  Larry smiled warmly. “That’s probably the best compliment I’ve ever received. Thank you.”

  “It’s just true, that’s all. So, back to your question. I know, because I just know, Derrick, that Hank was involved in whatever shit he was doing last night. I know that. The police should know that.”

  Larry flipped a glance at Cynthia.

  Cyn said, “It might have been about him, and it probably was. But Hank was with me last night, and I guarantee you he wasn’t on the phone.”

  “He was with you?” Daphne asked, surprised.

  “As with me as he could get Daphne. We were at each other well past midnight, and he was there when I woke up,” she lied.

  Larry called his office, and he found that the detective had made an appointment for two in the afternoon the next day. Then he ordered a pizza, sodas, and salad to be delivered so that Daphne didn’t need to make anything for them.

  They spent the next two hours discussing her statement and what should be said to give the police the information they needed without involving the club more than was necessary.

  “He was already banished,” Larry told her, “but that didn’t make him open game. Remember how Knight put it? ‘I feel that simple banishment is enough.’ That was the punishment, yes, but also a directive to the club. He was telling us, that was enough and to leave him alone. So, I really doubt that it was anyone in the club, especially last night.”

  Cyn saw an opening and took it. “Alright, just a hypothetical, Larry, if you don’t mind.”

  “Alright.” He nodded, putting his game face on.

  “You find out that Derrick is going to Ruiz with the information he learned at the tribunal last night about Hank, Knight, Ben, and the determination the Riders have in making him pay for Howey and Margaret. Derrick is meeting him in a clearing, not far from here, in about thirty minutes.”

  Larry let all that sink in and glanced at Daphne. “Yes, I understand. It could be someone in the club. Under those circumstances, I think any Rider, including Hank, would kill him. There would be nothing else to do. Ruiz is too strong for us to face head on. That’s a simple fact. At least a hundred of us would die in three days, and whoever didn’t scatter would be hunted down after that. So, you think that someone was keeping an eye on Derrick last night?” he asked Cyn.

  “Could even have been a friend to begin with,” Cyn reasoned. “Just someone silently watching his back for the night. Doing a hard mile as penitence for not standing for him, and not being able to stop what was going on.”

  “I can think of two men right off the top of my head who would do that. Randy, for sure, and Rick Walker.”

  “Even after the banishment?” Daphne asked.

  “Yes, and because of it. Just to make sure you got home alright, and that no one was going to fuck with you.”

  Daphne didn’t seem to know what to think about that.

  After another two hours, Daphne had her statement. Cyn typed it for her on her computer. They printed out a copy, and Daphne asked if they shouldn’t give a copy to Knight.

  “You know,” Daphne explained, “kind of a heads up, because the club is mentioned and you know the detectives are going to be up there as soon as they hear this.”

  “Daphne,” Larry said, “Knight, and every member that was there last night would be grateful for a heads up like this. Also, it would let them know what happened and what you are going through. But are you sure you are willing to do this? Maybe you should sleep on it and think about it in the morning. You’ve been through a lot today.”

  “Tomorrow doesn’t give Knight much time to prepare,” Daphne told him, “and I’ll feel the same way tomorrow or a month from now. The cops are going to know this, so the club should know it, too.”

  “Knight only? Or those Knight believes should know it as well?” Larry asked.

  “Knight’s discretion,” Daphne told him.

  “Then, if I may, I’ll email him this from your computer,” he told her.

  She nodded. Larry logged in to his own email and sent Knight the statement with Daphne’s instructions, as well as the time of the police interview the next day.

  It was one o’clock before they were finished. Larry gave Daphne a kiss on the forehead. “You’re going to be fine. I have to run now. Remember, no cops, and if they do come, just call me. Do not speak to them, not even to tell them your name.”

  They watched him leave. Still inside, Daphne asked, “I’m really tired now, but I don’t want to be alone. Could you, you know, take a nap with me, maybe? Just an hour would be good.”

  “Come on, baby, we’ll take a nap, and then you can come over to my place, or I’ll run home and get my laptop and come back here, alright? You don’t have to be alone.”

  Daphne lay down with Cynthia, but she didn’t fall asleep right away. She just cried and then sobbed.

  “I miss him so much!”

  After almost an hour, Daphne exhausted herself and passed out. Cyn slipped out of the bed and called Hank to bring him up to speed.

  “I’m going to write her a note in case she wakes up, then run home and get my travel laptop. She doesn’t have WiFi here, but I can get enough done without it. I think I’m here for the day, lover.”

  “I’m at home already,” he told her. “I locked your place up. Was Larry able to help?”

  “Larry was a god,” Cyn told him with adoration in her voice. “Serious hero worship. And, by the way, if you ever leave me, you’ll find me keeping his bed warm.”

  “Sounds like I’ll have to keep an eye on Larry, t
hen. He’s a sly one.”

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