They finally checked into a mid-range motel near the local university. As they settled in Jamie sent Kat a text, telling her they had followed the drugs and that Leo would like to meet with Copper and discuss the future of the club and his role in it.
As they drifted toward sleep with Jamie wrapped comfortably in Leo’s arm, Kat had not responded to her text, but she wasn’t worried. If Kat wanted Copper to meet Leo, there was little doubt in her mind he would be there. It was only a matter of time.
CHAPTER FIVE
Jamie and Leo were approaching Alpine when her phone chirred with the arrival of a text. She fished the phone from her purse and read the message. “We’re set. Kat wants to know if we can meet tonight, about nine o’clock, at HNH.”
“It works for me.”
Jamie typed a moment then held the phone in her hand. Moments later it buzzed again. “We’re set. She said she is coming with him.”
“Probably for the best. Copper and I aren’t exactly on friendly terms at the moment.”
“I’ve known Copper for a long time. He’ll come around. He wants to do the right thing, I’m sure of it. He just needs something to help him realize he has to go against the club to save the club.”
“If this doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will.”
***
A little before nine, Copper and Kat walked into He’s Not Here. It’s not a busy night and the few other customers watched them, some warily, others with barely veiled contempt, as they moved to a booth and sat down.
“Bobi, cover for me,” Jamie said as Leo rose from his stool and moved to join the couple.
“Copper. Mind if I sit down?” Leo asked as he glided to a stop.
“Doesn’t appear I have a lot of choice,” Copper said as he glared at Kat.
Leo slid into the booth next to Kat, Jamie sitting down next to Copper and placed a beer in front of each of them. “Look, Rich, I know you and I have had our differences of late, but this is about the club and what it means to Vallecito.”
“The club you shit all over when you went to the DEA.”
“I know that is what Ron told you, but I told you truth after the hit by the Prieto Cartel. I didn’t rat out the club to the DEA, and Carlos didn’t sell us out. If we had, then the DEA would be crawling up our ass already.”
“Baby, listen to him!” Kat implored. “He was your friend once, loyal to the club. Leo didn’t turn on the club, the club turned on him.”
“You don’t know shit about it!” Copper snapped.
“I know the club is going bad, baby. I know that, and you do too. Just listen to what Leo has to say.”
Rich Copperton glared at his old lady a moment then turned his attention back to Leo. “Why should I believe a word you say?”
Leo tossed two dozen photos on the table. “Jamie and I took these yesterday.”
Copper didn’t move to pick them up. “So?”
Leo sighed. “I guess we are done here. I’m sorry Kat. I really thought Copper and I could do something.” He moved to get up and Jamie followed his lead.
“Leo! Wait! Please, baby, for me?” Kat begged Copper. “Just give Leo a chance. I know you don’t like where the club is going. Please, Copper. Just… open your eyes for one moment!”
Leo sat back and waited. Copper finally picked up the photos and flipped through them quickly. “So? Ron, Gigolo and Carson are talking to someone I don’t know. Big deal.”
“Do you know where this is?” Leo asked.
“Is that the dairy bar out on 118?”
“Yeah. Do you know why they were there? Why Jamie and I were watching?”
“Because you don’t have a life?”
“Because I was tipped there was going to be an intercept there. Some intercept, huh? A bit friendlier than when you and I used to run them, don’t you think?”
“Who tipped you?” Copper asked as he looked at Kat.
“Doesn’t matter. But I found out.”
“This doesn’t prove anything. It could be nothing.”
“Could be,” Leo agreed before tossing another twelve photos on the table. “These were taking in Odessa four hours later.”
Copper picked them up and thumbed through them, then placed them on the table and looked through the others again. “Fuck…”
“Yeah. Same truck the cartel arrived in. Then Gigolo and Carson drive that truck to Odessa, leave that truck, and bring another one back? Notice they are not wearing their colors? Yeah, I’m sure it’s nothing. They probably drove all the way to Odessa to deliver some flowers.”
“So we are running drugs for the cartel now? Goddamn that Ron Terrill.”
“You still think the hit a month ago was all the cartel? Or maybe the cartel acting to protect their pipeline?”
“Every member that was hit knew about the muling?”
“Every last one. And not one other.”
“Fuck.”
“Now you know. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to just sit back and let the Prieto Cartel run Lima 6. Is that what you want to be, part of a drug cartel? I didn’t sign on for that. Did you?”
“Baby, listen to him. You’re a good man. I know this isn’t what you want. This is your chance! You can make a difference again! A positive difference!”
“Rich, you’re one of the founding members of Lima 6. You remember how Vallecito was. The drugs and the violence. You helped clean up this town once. Do it again. Be a hero again. Be our knight in shining armor again,” Jamie said quietly.
“This is our home,” Kat said. “Five years ago, when I followed Lima 6 here, I came for the parties. But Vallecito gave me a home. They didn’t care that I was some biker’s old lady. I don’t want to see Vallecito go back to the way it was in the beginning. This is my home now and I want to protect it.”
Copper stared into his beer, spinning the mug on the table. “I don’t like this anymore than you do,” he said, talking to no one in particular. “But I don’t see how I can change it.”
“You can’t,” Leo said. “I can’t. None of us can do it alone. But together, we can. We can take the club back. We can make Lima 6 mean something again.”
“Why do you even care? You’re not part of the club anymore. We threw you out.”
“Because I owe it to Tuck, and Two-Tone. I owe it to Maggie, Ellen, Will, Jamie, Wade, Boggs, Jeff, and everyone else whose blood is on my hands. I owe it to them to make this right so these men are remembered for the sacrifice they made for Vallecito. I want them to be remembered for what they did, not what that fucking Ron is doing now.”
“Yeah,” Copper agreed soberly. “But even the two of us, I don’t know if we can take back the club. I think I can convince Fitz to get on board, but only because you told me this right after the hit. If you were to bring this to me now, I probably wouldn’t believe you. Not from just some pictures. And maybe not over just muling drugs. Ron is keeping Vallecito, the town itself, clear of the violence.”
“But for how much longer? The Cuervo Cartel is trying to push Prieto out. If this is Prieto’s last viable pipeline, how much longer until they start hitting us here? Before the cartels left us out of their fight, but Lima 6 is part of the Prieto Cartel now.”
“Baby,” Kat said softly. “I don’t want to live like this. Something has to change. You have to leave Lima 6 and we have to go somewhere else, or you have to help Leo take the club back and make it what it was.” Kat paused for a long moment as she reached across the table and took his hands in her own. “Baby… I’m pregnant. We’re going to have a baby. But—”
“What?” Copper nearly shouted, causing everyone in the bar to turn to look at him.
“We’re going to have a baby. Vallecito is not any place to raise a baby. Not the way things are going. I love you, and I can’t leave you, but I won’t raise our child here.
Jamie and Leo stared at each other with wide eyes. Neither saw that coming. “I think you two have some things to talk about. Why don’t
you use my office,” Jamie offered as she slid out of the booth, Leo scooting out right behind her.
“Thank you,” Kat said as she looked at Jamie with tears in her eyes, then slid out of the booth, never releasing Copper’s hands.
“Holy shit!” Leo whispered as they returned to the bar to give Copper and Kat some time to talk alone. “Poor Copper!”
“What do you mean, ‘poor Copper?’”
“Talk about a one-two punch. Did you know about this?”
“No! Did you?”
“Hell no! I wonder if Kat finding out she was pregnant is what started all of this?”
“I don’t know, but maybe. That explains why she didn’t finish her beer the other day, and didn’t touch the one I brought her tonight.” Jamie paused a moment as she thought. “She planned it this way,” she finally said. “She waited to tell him until he had a chance to talk to you. She could see him thinking about it and she gave him a push. I’ll bet you my last dollar if he hadn’t started to come around she wouldn’t have told him and would have just scheduled a trip to Dallas.”
“For an abortion?”
“Yeah.”
“Jesus. That’s heartless.”
“Yeah. But I can’t say I blame her. If the town is actually going back to the way it was, I wouldn’t want to bring a baby into this world here either.”
It took about a half-hour before Kat and Copper reappeared from Jamie’s office. Both of their eyes were red and they had obviously been crying. Seeing Kat’s still bruised face made Leo cringe inside, imagining how Copper must feel after beating his pregnant old lady.
They walked up, Copper’s arm around Kat’s waist. “I’m in,” he said, coming straight to the point. “I’m tired of being the bad guy.”
Leo smiled and offered his hand. “You were never the bad guy, Rich. And now you are going to prove that to the town.”
“We should bring this to the rest of the club. They—”
“No,” Jamie said quietly. “Not yet.” All three turned to look at her. “Remember how you reacted when you first stepped in here? You weren’t interested in anything Leo had to say. Talk to Fitz, if you think he will join, but nobody else. I’ve seen men’s macho bullshit before. It feeds off itself. You bring this to the club like this, you will be lucky if either of you get out alive. Let Kat reach out to the other women of the club. Find out who we can turn and who we can’t. Then bring the men in slowly, one at a time.”
Copper and Leo looked at one another. “She has a point,” Copper said.
Kat smiled and stepped in close to Copper. “Women are smarter than you men give us credit for.”
“More devious at least,” Leo agreed.
“You guys get ready to do the fucking. Jamie and I will figure out who needs to get fucked,” Kat purred, her voice pure sex.
“You okay with this?” Leo asked as he looked at Copper. “She’s carrying your child after all.”
“You just let me worry about that,” Kat answered for him. “I can take care of myself. I have stomped more than one bitch into a greasy spot that has gotten out of line. I can do it again.”
Copper smiled at her then looked to Leo. “Ain’t that the truth. Before you joined, she—”
“If you ever want me again, you will stop right there,” Kat said, her tone adding weight to her threat.
“See what I mean? Just be careful,” Copper said pulling her in tight and kissing her quickly on the lips.
“Always,” she replied.
***
“What the hell?” Leo asked as he rose off his stool again as the windows strobed with lurid red flashes. He strode to the door and opened it, staring at a Vallecito de Grande firetruck sitting in the parking lot with its strobes flashing.
As he tried to figure out what was going on, a DEA SUV pulls to a stop in front of the door and Lundergrund stepped out from behind the wheel.
“What the hell is all this?” Leo growled as Lundergrund stopped in front of him.
She slapped a folded piece of paper into this chest. “Fire inspection. Seems there have been some concerned citizens worried about the safety of this establishment.”
Leo took the paper, opened it, and read the text. “What game are you playing, Lundergrund?”
“No game. Now step aside so these men can do their work.”
Leo stepped back inside and handed Jamie the document. As the firemen cleared the building, she scanned the paper. “This is Lundergrund’s doing!” she hissed.
“I know. Just keep your cool.”
“Keep my cool! I’m going to have close until the report is complete. Friday and Saturday are my two busiest days!”
As the last of the customers filed out and the firemen began their inspection, Lundergrund sauntered up. “I want to talk to your supervisor!” Jamie demanded.
Lundergrund smiled and pulled a card from her back pocket and wrote a number on the back. “Here you go. Of course, he won’t be in the office until in the morning, but feel free to call and leave a message. I’m sure he will be very concerned about what you have to say.”
“Why are you doing this?” Leo demanded.
“What? The fire inspection? I just reported to the Vallecito fire chief that he should be concerned about code violations. With all the damage done to the place lately, there could be some shoddy repairs. I could be mistaken, but I thought I smelled smoke when I was here last. He thought it better to check it out. Just to be safe.”
Jamie could feel her skin burn as she poured herself a double of Southern Comfort, tossing it down to try to dampen her impotent rage. “Someday Lundergrund, you’ll get yours.”
“Yeah. We’ve had this discussion before. As I recall I offered you your chance, but that luscious brother of yours stepped in. It’s too bad too. I was looking forward to soothing him after I kicked his sister’s ass.”
Leo grabbed Lundergrund by the arm and hustled her across the bar and away from Jamie. “Oooh, I like take charge men,” she purred as he spun her around to face him.
“What the fuck are you doing, Lundergrund?”
“Nothing. Just watching out for public safety.”
“Bullshit! Jamie has nothing to do with what you want!”
“Leo,” Lundergrund purred again as she stepped in close. “It doesn’t have to be this way between us. We could work together to solve our problems. Just the two of us. I could take down Lima 6 and the cartel, and you could build another club to play cops and robbers. I would go away and everybody wins.”
“You can just go fuck yourself!”
“I would much rather do that with you. Haven’t you ever wondered what it would be like? You and me getting all sweaty? Trust me, I can make you forget all about little Miss Barkeep over there.”
“I’m not going to shove my dick someplace I won’t even poke a stick.”
***
Jamie had been watching as Leo and Lundergrund talked intensely but quietly, then Lundergrund went stiff and stepped back. “I’m going to break you, Graves! I’m going to take down your precious Lima 6 and you with it!” she snarled loud enough for her to hear.
“Give it your best shot, you skanky bitch!” Leo sneered back.
For a moment, Jamie thought Lundergrund was going to slap him, but she backed off another step and smiled. “Have it your way, Leo. I’ve tried to work with you, but you just don’t seem to get it. I guess you are not a bright as I thought.”
“Smart enough to not get into bed with you.” Leo turned on his toe and strode purposely to Jamie before pulling her to him and kissing her lustily. After he broke the kiss, Jamie turned her head so she could see Lundergrund as Leo held her, and with elaborate slowness, gave her the middle finger as she smiled.
CHAPTER SIX
Jamie was sitting at her kitchen table wondering if slitting her wrists or blowing her brains out with her pistol would hurt more. It has been four days since Lundergrund pulled her little stunt with the fire inspection. While having Leo all to herself a
t night is nice, and he had performed admirably keeping her from being bored in the evenings, sitting around doing nothing all the time was making her crazy.
She hopped up from her chair and paced around the kitchen again. Leo had dropped her off at her house on the way to work this morning and she had spent the morning scrubbing the place top to bottom just to have something to do. If they ever get the Lima 6 problem under control, she is going to spend a week sleeping in the backyard, even if it is on the ground, just to be outside!
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