The cop shut the car door and looked to Danni.
“Goodnight, miss. Drive safely.”
Danni held his gaze, then got into her car. She started it up, flipped on the lights, then left the parking lot. She drove up the road a bit, then made a U-turn and headed back towards the bar. She shut off her headlights when she got close and pulled into the gravel lot across the street as quietly as she could. She parked behind a large bush, hoping it was enough to cover her.
She was too far away to hear anything, so she didn’t get out the car. She just watched the cop car and did her best to see what was going on. From the lights outside the bar, she could see the cop in the front seat, with Cruz and the other man in back. They stayed just like that for twenty minutes, then Cruz got out. Before shutting the door, he turned back and ducked down to say something to the men, then shut the door and got on his bike. He looked irritated, but not angry or frightened like Danni assumed he’d be.
He started his bike and took off. The cops started their car and headed in the opposite direction. Danni started her own engine and went in the direction Cruz had gone. She assumed he was going back to his apartment and saw she was right when she spotted his bike parked out front.
She wanted to know what had just happened, but didn’t want to go upstairs right away. She knew she was confused and had been drinking. She didn’t think it was a good idea to be in his place with just the two of them. Yes, she had kissed him, but that was the line. She could forgive herself for that, but nothing more. But still, the thought of his arms wrapped around her, his lips on hers, was very nice. Especially after everything with Mercer.
She climbed the steps and lightly knocked on the door. It came open suddenly and Cruz looked like he was going to start yelling until he saw it was Danni.
“Expecting someone else?” she asked.
“Um, no. Just settling down for the night and I thought you were the neighbor complaining about the volume on the TV again.”
He moved to the side and let her in. Once she was in, he took a quick look around then shut the door.
Danni got right to the point. “Who were those men?”
Cruz got a beer from the fridge and offered one to Danni, but she refused. She knew more drinking was a bad idea.
“Just some guys. Guys I knew from a long time ago and they keep popping up. I owe them money and they wanted to collect.”
“Money, huh? You borrow money from cops?”
The look on his face told her she was right, but he kept to his story.
“They weren’t cops. That guy was my bookie. I owe him a few thousand dollars.”
“You’re a bad liar. You’re working for the cops. You have been from the beginning.”
Danni made to leave, but Cruz grabbed her arm. She reared back and planted a fist in his stomach. The last time a man put his hands on her was Tank when he had taken her hostage. She vowed never to put herself in that kind of situation again.
Cruz wasn’t expecting the punch and bowled back onto the couch. Danni was on her way out the door when she saw his keys on the coffee table. She grabbed them and was out the door before Cruz caught his breath. She bounded down the stairs and got on his motorcycle. On the way out to Rawlins, Mercer had taught her to ride. She wasn’t an expert, but she knew enough to get to the clubhouse. She kicked the bike to life and took off just as Cruz was making his way down the steps.
Mercer, Doc, and Red were sorting through the weapons, taking an inventory of what they wanted to keep and what to sell.
“Tell me again why Cruz got out of this?” asked Red.
“Got a call, said it was an emergency,” said Mercer.
“Don’t know what it could’ve been. He don’t know anybody in town,” said Doc. “Except us.”
They heard a bike pull up out front.
“Might be him now,” said Red.
“Might be the Rattlers. Go check it out,” ordered Mercer.
Before they could move, Danni came bursting through the door. Mercer immediately stood up. From the look on her face, he knew she hadn’t come here to continue their fight, she had something she needed to tell him.
“We need to talk. Cruz is working with the police.”
There was a pause in the room. It seemed like no one was even breathing.
“How do you know?” asked Mercer.
“I saw him. Just about an hour ago. He sat in their car and talked to them for a while. I confronted him about it, but I could tell he was lying.”
“Hang on a second,” said Doc. “I’ve known the boy for years. He’s not a cop.”
“I don’t think he’s a cop. I just think he’s talking to them.”
“Whatever. He’s MC through and through. The boy was raised in places like this.”
“Yeah, raised in an MC, with an MC father who beat the shit out of him on a regular basis. Who scarred him for life. How much loyalty do you think he has?”
“How do you know so much about him?” asked Mercer.
Danni realized she had tipped her hand. She needed to tell them about Cruz’s past, but in doing so, she had revealed that they’d been spending time together.
“You haven’t been around,” said Danni. “I made a friend.”
Mercer gave her a cold, accusing look.
“If you want to say something, say it,” said Danni.
Cruz appeared in the doorway. All eyes turned to him.
“It’s not what you think.”
“Those weren’t cops?” asked Danni.
“They were FBI, yeah.”
“And you’ve been talking to them?”
“Yeah, I have.”
Red said, “Shit’s starting to make sense. Cruz’s shot a guy on the street. Blew his fucking head off, and we never heard anything about it. Nobody came sniffing around, nothing.”
“No, that was Rattler cover up. They must’ve moved the body. I never told the Feds I did that. I never told them about any of the stuff we’ve been up to.”
“You have been talking to the cops!” yelled Mercer. “Give me a reason why we shouldn’t blow your fucking head off right now!”
They all heard it at once. The sound of motorcycles coming down the street. They stopped arguing immediately and looked out the windows. There were four bikes outside the clubhouse.
“Looks like the Rattlers found out we raided their supply depot,” said Doc grimly. He grabbed an automatic weapon, loaded a clip, and cocked the gun. “We’re ready for them.”
Mercer turned to Danni. “The back. Get out now.”
She nodded, then ran through the main room and into the storage and garage area in the back. When reached the rear door, she unlocked it and threw it open. There were three more Rattlers waiting for someone to come out. As they grabbed their guns, she shut the door quickly and relocked it. She heard gunfire outside and the sound of bullets hitting the exterior wall. Danni ran back to the main room.
“No good. They’re in the back, too. Three more of them.”
Mercer swore. He grabbed a handgun, checked the clip and handed it to Danni.
“I’m sorry. You shouldn’t be here for this, but there’s no other way.”
Danni nodded and took the gun.
Several shots rang out. The windows were busted and holes were punched in the door. Everyone dove to the floor. Mercer pulled Danni down and lay on top of her until the shooting stopped.
Cruz grabbed his own gun. Mercer said, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m going to shoot back, what the fuck do you think I’m doing? Jesus, I saved your life. I saved Danni’s life. I didn’t give the cops shit. If I had, you’d be in jail instead of getting shot at right now.”
Doc slid over. “We don’t have a choice. We’re outnumbered. We need all the guns we got.”
“Fine,” said Mercer, “But when all this is done, you are out of here.”
“Let’s just survive this first,” said Cruz.
More bullets came through the s
hattered windows. Red and Cruz took the brand new table, turned it on its side, and got behind it. Mercer and Danni took cover behind the kitchen island.
“They can’t shoot this much without the cops showing up,” shouted Red over the sound of bullets smashing glass. “We can wait this out, then claim to be innocent bystanders when they get here.”
“They’re not coming,” said Cruz. “Cops are in the Rattlers’ pocket. That’s why they get away with so much. That’s why the cops beat up Mercer. Rattlers can do anything and the cops’ll just sweep it under the rug.”
“Then it’s up to us,” said Doc, as he crawled on his belly to the broken window. Taking a quick peek, he saw one of the bikes had taken a stray bullet and was leaking gasoline. He stuffed a rag into a liquor bottle and lit the rag. He tossed the Molotov cocktail out the window. It hit a bike and Doc covered his head. They heard shouts and then an explosion.
Doc peered out the window. “Got a couple of bikes, but just one of them is down.”
Mercer grabbed two automatics and crawled to the window himself. He handed one to Doc. On the count of three, they popped up and fired out the window. They fired for five seconds, then dropped back down as more bullets hit the side of the building.
Doc looked over the window again, then yelled, “Take cover!”
They dove away from the door as an explosion blasted the door out of the frame, taking a large chunk of the wall with it. Mercer’s ears were ringing so much, he didn’t hear the motorcycle come through the door. The rider was in fast, spraying bullets around the room, not aiming, just wanting to hit as much as possible in the hopes of taking out one or two of them.
Red popped up and put five bullets in him. He fell off the bike and it crashed to the floor.
“That’s two down,” said Cruz. “Only five more.”
“Great,” said Red, sarcastically.
The bullets stopped and a voice came from outside. Mercer took a quick look and saw it was Fixer.
“This is how it’s going down,” Fixer called. “You come out right now and we let you walk. You leave this town and never come back.”
“Seems like assholes are always saying that to me,” Mercer said. He turned to Doc. “No way he’s letting us out of here alive.”
“Would you do anything different if he was?” asked Doc.
“Hell, no.”
Another grenade came through the hole in the wall. Mercer yelled for everyone to get behind something. He dove over the couch and was tossed against the wall by the force from the blast, knocking the air out of him.
He slowly got up. His vision was blurry and he was having trouble getting to his feet. As he struggled to get up, he saw two Rattlers rush the club. They had guns drawn and were heading towards the spot where Danni had dived before the blast. Mercer tried to get his gun raised, but he was moving too slowly. Then he saw Cruz jump up and shoot both Rattlers multiple times. They fell to the ground.
Mercer got up and stumbled to the door. He saw the remaining three running towards the club. He took a wild shot and managed to hit one in the chest. Fixer returned fire and Mercer heard someone call out behind him.
Cruz was on the floor, bleeding from his shoulder. The blood spread quickly and Mercer thought it had hit an artery. A shoulder wound could be easy to deal with if the bullet passed through, but if hit bone and bounced around inside Cruz’s chest, he was done for.
Danni kneeled on the floor and put Cruz’s head in her lap. Mercer didn’t like the sight of that, but held his tongue. He reached under Cruz and found the exit wound, which meant the bullet passed through. With some bandages and some time, Cruz would most likely be OK.
Mercer got up and joined Doc and Red. They were on either side of the door. Mercer looked outside, but saw no one. The last two Rattlers had decided to call off their rush. Black Ice had won… for now. Mercer let out a long breath. It seemed like he had been holding his breath since the attack began.
“They gone?” asked Red.
“Looks like it. For now, at least.”
They went back inside the clubhouse. Cruz was on his feet, but resting against the upturned table.
“Can you ride?” Mercer asked him.
“Yeah.”
“Then you’re with me. Doc, Red, start cleaning up this mess and see what you can do about patching the hole in the wall.”
“Wait, where are you going?” said Danni. “A lot of people died here. God damn grenades went off and blew a hole in the side of the building. Are you sure the cops aren’t coming?”
“We need to find Fixer,” said Mercer.
“As long as they think the Rattlers won the fight, the cops won’t get involved, but they won’t stay gone for long,” said Cruz. “I have an idea that’ll get us out of this.”
He took off his shirt and grabbed a bottle of whiskey, pouring it on his wound. He winced and grabbed a bandage. It was a sloppy job, but it stopped the bleeding. Cruz wrapped his arm and pulled his bloody shirt back on.
Mercer and Cruz left the shattered remains of the clubhouse and rode to Cruz’s apartment. They moved quickly but cautiously, in case Fixer was planning another attack. Once at his building, they made their way up the steps and inside.
“We’re going to have a long talk about your loyalty,” said Mercer. “You helped us out today, but I won’t forget that you talked to the feds.”
“Mercer, we can talk loyalty all day long if you want. You have to give to get.”
Mercer put his hand out, stopping Cruz in his tracks.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You. You come back here to get the club going, but you don’t follow any of the rules. You bark orders at us, but you were never elected president. You expect us to follow you, but you’ve shown us nothing in return.”
“I was here long before you. I have a right to give orders.”
“Bullshit,” said Cruz, going into the kitchen. “Doc was here longer than you and he’s not pushing people around. No one voted for you. You get the patch, I’ll respect the rank, but until then, you need to remember we’re all in this together. This is what I was looking for.”
Cruz had opened a vent and pulled out a small flash drive, similar to the one Mercer had delivered to Billings.
“I was talking to the feds because I got busted for possession back in California. I was out on parole, but I wasn’t allowed to leave the state. I needed to leave for a lot of reasons, but mostly I needed to get away from the MC I was in and get away from the ghost of my father. The FBI came and told me they suspected corruption in the police department of Rawlins. They said if I worked with them, I could leave California and come here.”
“And that meant ratting us out.”
“No it meant spying on the Rattlers. FBI wanted me to join the Rattlers. Get in good with them and give them dirt, but I couldn’t. They wouldn’t let me in. Then I got a call from my Uncle Larry asking to join Black Ice in Rawlins. I couldn’t believe it, what were the chances. So I told the FBI I would spy on the Rattlers, just in a different way. So I followed them around and snapped pictures of everything they did.”
Crash (Black Ice MC Novella Book 2) Page 8
