by Jade Kuzma
Logan leaned forward. There was a kind intensity in the way he looked at me. The guy was strong enough to snap someone’s neck in half but he was vulnerable all the same.
“Sometimes things don’t work out the way you want them to,” he said. “Some people have it. Some people don’t. You have it. Don’t squander God’s gift. You shouldn’t apologize to me. You shouldn’t apologize to anybody. You just do what you have to do.”
I clenched my jaw to avoid letting my emotions get the best of me. Seeing Logan smile gave me a bit of the relief I needed at the moment.
“I just… I just wanted to let you know that I’m here,” I said. “I’ll always be here. I let you down once but it’s not going to happen again. I promise you that.”
“I know what kind of man you are. You don’t have to tell me that.”
“And I know what kind of man you are.”
“If that’s true, then you know I’ll always have your back. No matter what.”
I nodded softly.
I sighed through my nose, thinking about what I had to do. I knew I didn’t have much of a choice.
“It’s not your fault,” he said.
“…What?”
“It’s not my fault either. I… I shouldn’t have listened to her…”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Listened to who?”
“The woman I talked to.”
“The woman?”
“I was a few towns over. I didn’t have much but I was getting by. One day, this lady comes to my door. Talks to me about you. Said that it was your fault. Told me to get back at you. Gave me an opportunity to go back to Ivory. I guess… I guess I wasn’t right in the head because that shit started making sense.”
I blinked my eyes to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming.
“Logan?”
“Yeah?”
“A woman came to your door and told you to do what you did?”
“That’s right… I shouldn’t have listened to her. I should’ve just kept my head down.”
“Who was she?”
I thought Logan was joking but I kept going with it.
“I don’t remember,” he said, shrugging. “I didn’t get her name…”
“What did she look like?”
“She was an older woman. Pretty mean looking. Never smiled. She had long hair that she tied into a ponytail. I guess that’s not much of a description for you…”
“Jane…”
“Jane… That might be it. She never gave me a name but she looked like a Jane. Did I tell you about her before?”
I stared at Logan in disbelief.
Son of a bitch…
“Are you telling me Jane put you up to it?”
“She mentioned something about you being in a club. Something about it… It just got to me. It was a bad time. I was alone. I didn’t mean it—”
“Logan. You don’t have to apologize. I know… I know that’s not who you are. You’re my friend. You’ll always be my friend.”
“Yeah… I know…”
Logan smiled softly at me. Seeing him in a good mood never failed to make me smile.
“Listen,” I said. “I have to go now. There’s some shit I have to take care of.”
“The life of Dorian Sullivan. Never a dull moment. Not even when we were kids.”
“Yeah…”
I sighed and smiled back at him before hanging up the receiver. Logan gave me a salute before being ushered back into the prison.
I couldn’t get over what he just said to me.
As I rushed out of the prison, I pulled my phone out. Just as I was dialing, it started to vibrate in my hand. I saw Blake’s number and answered.
“Garnet called a meeting. Ghost has something for us.”
“I’ve got something, too.”
Endgame: Chapter 18
BLAKE
Petey knew a guy named Warlock in the city that could get us weapons. This was real military-grade shit. The kind of stuff that would get us time just for being around it.
When I saw the type of weaponry laid out, I couldn’t help but think about how serious this shit was. This was what it meant to go to war because it actually felt like it.
“You scared?”
Brawn patted me on the back. The big man had more confidence than anybody else going into a fight. Made sense considering the guy was the size of a redwood.
“Not scared,” I said. “We’ve got an arsenal. And the big man to wield it.”
“Just stay behind me when the shooting starts. Ha!”
Brawn bellowed like a fucking bear. I rolled my eyes at him and sighed. I’d never let a man like Brawn get the last word but before I could say something, Garnet stepped into the clubhouse and snapped his fingers.
“Chapel. Now.”
I followed Garnet into the room with Petey and Brawn right behind me. A few seconds later, Ghost walked in and took a seat. He was breathing hard.
“What the fuck?” I said. “You just run a marathon or something?”
“I got here as fast as I could,” Ghost said. “You guys need to hear this shit.”
“You’ve got the floor,” Garnet said to him.
Ghost took a deep breath before he started.
“Nate’s awake,” he said. “It looks like he’s gonna make it.”
“Good to hear,” Petey said.
“He told me what happened that night he got shot. It wasn’t the Triad that tried to kill him. It was someone else.”
“Someone else?” I said.
“He didn’t know who he was. Some older guy. Didn’t really look like a club member. Says he dragged a body out of a van. He took Nate’s piece and used it to shoot the other guy. The Triad.”
“He was trying to make it look like Nate was defending himself,” Garnet said.
“Right. Then he shot Nate to make it look like the Triad was shooting at him.”
“What happened to the guy?” I said.
“He doesn’t remember. Nate said he just got into the van and sped off.”
The entire room fell silent as everybody tried to figure out what was going on. Garnet was the first one to piece it together.
“That guy we questioned,” Garnet said. “He said that he was working for the Triads. They were the ones who ordered the hit on the clubhouse.”
“That might still be the case,” Ghost said. “Probably want to get rid of us, even if they’re not responsible for what happened to Nate.”
“Hold on a second,” Petey spoke up. “That guy we interrogated… He said that the man who hired him was working for the Triads. Ghost, what else does Nate remember about the guy who shot him?”
“Not much. Just that he was older. He was bald. And that he didn’t wanna do it.”
“He didn’t wanna do it?” I said.
“Nate said he apologized after he shot him. Like he had no choice.”
“What kind of a man says sorry after trying to kill someone?”
We all looked at one another. This shit didn’t make sense. There were a bunch of puzzle pieces in front of us. There was a picture but the image still wasn’t clear.
“What else did Nate say?” Garnet asked.
“Not much,” Ghost said. “Just that he remembers who did it but he doesn’t know the guy.”
“He was older… Bald… Reluctant… You think maybe that’s the same guy who ordered the hit on the clubhouse?”
“It’s a possibility. If they are the same person…”
Ghost paused. His eyes widened like a light bulb just went off in his head. I would never admit that he was the wisest man in the club. There was no point in feeding his ego like that. But now he was the one that was gonna put this all together.
“Maybe that’s it,” Ghost said. “This was all a set-up. Shooting Nate and making it look like the Triads were going after him. Then hitting the clubhouse and claiming the Triads were the ones who ordered it.”
“And now we’re about to go to war with the Tr
iads,” Garnet said. “Somebody has a vendetta against us. Somebody who wants to take us down.”
“That could be anybody,” Petey said. “We aren’t exactly making any friends with the other clubs in this town. Especially not since we made the deal with the Chinese.”
“No,” Garnet continued. “It’s not another club. You heard what Nate said. The guy apologized after he shot him.”
“Then who?” I said.
The chapel door opened. Sully walked in like he’d run the same fucking marathon that Ghost did.
“Nice of you to join us,” I said.
“Shut the fuck up for a second,” Sully said. “You guys need to listen.”
“Settle down, Sully,” Garnet said. “Have a seat.”
We were all looking at Sully as he collected himself. He paused for a second and looked at all of us before he said it.
“It’s Lieberman. It’s her. It’s always been her.”
“What?” I said.
“I was just talking to my friend. Logan. You know, the guy in jail for arson.”
“What about him?”
“He told me that Lieberman paid him a visit. She’s the one who put him up to it.”
“What?” I said with a laugh. “Your friend went a little crazy burning down those buildings. Maybe he was just making it up.”
“Why would he make it up? I never talked to him about Lieberman before. He described her like he’d seen her before.”
“Shit…” Ghost muttered.
We all turned to the club president to see what he was thinking.
“There’s something else,” Sully said. “I talked to her.”
“What?” I said. “You talked to Lieberman without fucking telling us—”
“I didn’t know it was her, okay? They sent me a message. They must have got my number from the fire station registry. She gave me an ultimatum.”
“An ultimatum?” Ghost said.
“She said that she wanted me to give her info on the Triads so she could bust them.”
“And why the fuck would you do something like that?” I said.
Sully clenched his jaw. I didn’t know why the motherfucker was hesitating but I found out quickly.
“There was another man with her,” Sully said. “Another agent. She shot him and killed him. She said she would pin his murder on me if I didn’t give up the Triads.”
“Jesus Christ…”
Garnet leaned back in his seat and put his hand to his forehead. I could see the stress on his face even though his eyes were closed.
“She wanted to make a deal with me,” Sully said. “Give up the Triads and she wouldn’t pin the murder on me.”
“I got a question,” I said. “If you did this, what exactly happens to the club?”
“The Black Reapers would get some leniency on their sentence for dealing with the Chinese.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Everybody else in the room couldn’t believe what they were hearing. I guess we all dealt with stress in our own way.
“You turn the Triads in, you don’t get charged with murder,” Ghost said. “The Triads get locked away. The Reapers get a lenient sentence. What’s our other option?”
“We go to war with the Triads,” Brawn said. “We make sure they’re not a problem.”
“That still doesn’t solve the Lieberman problem,” Petey said.
“Sully.”
Garnet’s voice boomed and the chapel fell silent again.
“The man Lieberman shot… What did he look like?”
Sully shook his head and shrugged.
“Agent Cook, she called him. There wasn’t much that stood out about him. White guy. A little older. Some wrinkles on his face. Bald head…”
“Bald…” Ghost said.
Ghost and Garnet looked at each other.
“…The same kind of bald man that shot at Nate.”
“And the same kind of bald man that claimed to be working for the Triads,” Garnet said.
“Are you joking?” I scoffed. “You think all of these are the same people just because they’re old, bald white guys? That’s not much of a description.”
“You’ve gotta admit, it makes sense,” Petey said. “A federal agent would apologize after shooting an innocent person.”
“And there was no way for that club to verify he worked for the Chinese,” Ghost said.
All of the pieces were coming together.
“Lieberman,” Garnet said. “It was Lieberman.”
“All right, so it was Lieberman,” I said. “That still doesn’t solve our problem. It’s not like we can just walk into the police station and put a bullet in her head. There’s also the matter of the Triads who want an answer for their dead soldier.”
“Not to mention that Sully here has a murder charge hanging over his head,” Ghost added.
Everybody was quiet. It was the kind of quiet that gnawed at your stomach like a starving rat in your gut.
“What the fuck do we do?” I said.
We all looked at Garnet. He was calm as he stared forward.
“There’s only one thing we can do to get out of this,” he said.
He slowly turned toward Sully.
“Talk to Lieberman,” he said. “Tell her you’ll give her what she wants and you’ll rat on the club and the Triads.”
“What?” Sully exclaimed. “You can’t be serious—”
“It’s the only way out of this. You’re just gonna have to trust me on this one.”
“There’s no way!”
“You can’t make him do that!”
“Bullshit!”
The whole club was talking over each other. Garnet held an index finger up to make everybody quiet down.
“Sully. Talk to Lieberman.”
“But—”
“Do what I tell you to do. You have to play along with her. We only got one shot at this.”
“And what about the rest of the club?” Sully asked.
“The rest of the club…”
Garnet looked at all of us one by one.
“…We’ve got a meeting with the Triads to take care of.”
Endgame: Chapter 19
JANE
Having to spend so much time in Ivory, I almost got used to it. The buildings. The people. The obnoxious exhaust from the clubs riding up and down the streets at night. I had to remind myself that I wasn’t here to enjoy myself. I had a job to do. This would be the last night I would have to spend in this damn place before my job was finally finished.
I grabbed the last of my things from my office and put them in my car. I was just about to leave when I saw a familiar-looking old man step out of the station.
“Agent Lieberman,” Sutton said. “I was just checking in on you. Your office is empty.”
“You can have the space back.”
“We don’t have many detectives around here. It’s not like we need the space.”
“I don’t need it. I think my time here in Ivory is over.”
“Finally solved your case, eh?”
“One way or another.”
The old sheriff leaned back and put his thumbs in his belt. When I looked at Sutton, I saw a man who was too old to do his job. There was no way he was capable of keeping all the clubs in this town in check. I figured he knew about everything but he just didn’t care. It was another reminder that my goal, my only goal, was the Chinese. Once they were taken care of, I could leave this town to burn in the fire that Sutton was unwilling to put out.
“My task force will be checking out,” I said. “We’ll be out of your hair by tomorrow night at the latest.”
Sutton gave me a nod and sighed. Then he turned his head up and stared at the sky.
“Ivory is a beautiful town at night,” he said. “When the stars come out like this, it’s the perfect time to do nothing at all and just enjoy it.”
“Do nothing at all and just enjoy it… That sounds like something you’d do.”
Sutton looked at me with
a sly smile on his face. The way he smirked made all of the wrinkles on his face more pronounced.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he sighed again. “Ivory’s got some serious problems with all of the clubs riding around.”
“It’s not my problem. I’m here on a case. That’s it.”
“Sure. That doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate this town for what it is.”
“I’ve been here long enough to know what this town is.”
I slowly took a step toward him, my eyes locked on his.
“It’s a town where the inmates run the asylum,” I said. “It’s a town where people are free to do what they want, as long as they keep it under the table. Ivory is so far away from everywhere else, I guess a little lawlessness is expected.
“I’m sorry you feel that way. That’s not what this town is though.”
“What is it then?”
“Home. Home to honest people. People just living a simple life. People who want safety and security. Ask any citizen of Ivory and they’ll tell you that’s what they get living here. You might think I’m not doing my job but my job isn’t what you think it is. It’s to serve the citizens of this town. That’s more important than anything else.”
“…Then I suppose that’s where you and I differ, Sheriff.”
I headed back to my car and opened the door. Just before I stepped inside, I called out to him.
“Just one last thing… I need to ask you something.”
“Sure.”
“You know what they’re doing. The clubs in this town are doling out their own justice. You don’t have a problem with that?”
He smiled for only just a second before putting his head down.
“You’re right,” he said. “You and I are different. I’ve done a lot of things in my life. I’ve lived here longer than most. The one thing I can say for sure is that whenever I’ve put my head to my pillow, I’ve been able to sleep comfortably. Can you say the same?”
“…I suppose I’ll find a good night’s sleep somewhere else. Thank you, Sheriff.”
“Lieberman.”
He bowed his head then started shuffling back into the sheriff’s department. I didn’t bother waiting any longer before hitting the road.
There was nothing left for me to do in Ivory. All of the pawns were in place. Now it was just a matter of letting it play out.
