Calming the Riot

by Karen Renee

  Mallory giggled nervously. “No, it’s nothing like that. Besides, I’m sure I’m being watched until we get our table assignments.”

  “Aren’t you going to the same table as Cal?”

  “Gracious, no! If there was anything I learned playing cards with Greg, it was the two of us at the same table is a bad idea. Other players might accuse us of collusion, and then there’s the criticism of each other’s play. I do not need that from Callous. Plus, I’m not so sure he can handle it from me.”

  Cal opened his mouth with a retort when Blood joined us. “Brother, might not’ve been the best idea bringin’ your old lady here.”

  “Why?” Cal grumbled.

  “Could swear I just saw Leventon’s creepy ass gettin’ on the elevator.”

  I was surprised to see Cal’s jaw clench.

  “You’re kidding,” Mallory hissed.

  “Who’s Leventon?” I asked.

  Shayla started to say something, but Blood beat her to it. “Bad damn news is what he is.”

  “And slimy to boot,” Mallory said. Seeing as Mallory seemed like a nice woman most of the time, I figured she was really saying something.

  Cal gave me a stern look. “You see him, you turn your ass around, woman. Got me? Liar would tell you the same damn thing.”

  Shayla butted into the conversation. “I don’t think you know what you’re talkin’ about. He’s a sweetie.”

  Blood looked down his nose at her. “Do ‘sweeties’ kill old ladies?” he demanded.

  “Well, I’m sure—”

  “Wrong answer. You aren’t sure of shit. Andi, you see that sociopath, get the fuck away from him.”

  With a smile, I said, “Well, I haven’t met anyone by the name of Leventon, so no worries.

  “Uh,” Shayla drawled, and I looked at her.

  “What? You introduced me to one person, and he wasn’t a slimy sociopath. ’Course, I’m not sure I’d know one on sight but anyway. Nobody slimy. Now I better wander the floor before Martin decides to look for new massage therapists.”

  As I moved around the poker tables, I admitted to myself that the man Shayla introduced me to was borderline slimy, but really, he was just slick. Regardless, this was all temporary so as long as I didn’t see Gil, all was good as far as I was concerned.

  Liar

  Saturdays were a tossup at Hock’s. Most of the time it was slow and steady business, but with the holidays approaching they were seeing an influx of people looking for extra cash. Liar could’ve asked Major or Rage to cover for him so he could watch Andrea’s back at the poker room, but he wanted to wait before he owed his brothers more than just a regular favor. Besides, with Gran’s health deteriorating and the way his father told her prognosis, there was a strong possibility he’d need to get away from the shop for more than just an afternoon.

  A customer had just walked out the door, and Liar was wiping down the glass counter when he heard a throat clear. He looked up to see, Blake, one of their regular customers looking a little fidgety. It wasn’t unusual for him to come in looking fidgety. He nearly always had something in the back that he’d pawned, and he always waited until the eleventh hour to scrounge the necessary cash to get it back. The man was an obvious tweaker. Liar always felt bad when the guy came into the shop, but Major dispelled him of such sympathy a long time ago during Liar’s prospecting days. The hair on the back of Liar’s neck went up when Blake put a wad of twenty-dollar bills on the counter.

  “You know the drill, Blake. You want your item back, then you need to give me the ticket and the money.”

  Blake’s blue eyes were often bloodshot when he came into the shop, but today they were worse. Had it been spring, Liar might’ve suggested the dude look into some eye drops, but this wasn’t allergies. Those eyes wouldn’t hold Liar’s gaze at all. Finally, the man hung his head, and muttered, “I’m sorry, man. Don’t hurt me. I couldn’t pass up the easy cash.”

  Liar backed away from the counter. “What are you talkin’ about?’

  Blake fumbled in his pockets, dropped his claim ticket on the counter and only then looked Liar dead in the eye. “He told me to say, ‘She’s sweet. Too sweet for someone like you.’”

  “Who said that, Blake?” Liar asked and didn’t realize his voice had risen until Major came out of the back room.

  “What’s goin’ on, Li?” Major demanded.

  “Don’t hurt me,” Blake whispered.

  Liar’s hands had balled into fists, but he put them on the countertop with his elbows cocked and took a deep breath. He leaned forward and hoped he didn’t look like he was ready to launch himself over the counter at this guy. “Not gonna hurt you. Need to know, who told you to say that to me. He give you a name?”

  Blake looked fearful but shook his head.

  “Are you sure?” Liar growled.

  Major had moved to Blake’s side. “You want to keep doin’ your business here, Blake, you damn sure need to answer my man’s questions.”

  Blake turned pleading eyes between Major and Liar. “I swear, he didn’t tell me his name. He gave me a grand just to give you that message today. Didn’t care how I did it, but I had to do it before you closed up shop.”

  Major crossed his arms over his chest. “And of course you had to get yourself a hit first.”

  Liar almost thought he saw the man’s lip tremble, but he said, “Wanted to, but my girlfriend got to it first. Then she insisted I come get her jewelry back before I blew all the money on more ice.”

  Grabbing the claim ticket from the countertop, Liar said, “I’ll get his shit, so I’m not lookin’ at him anymore. Don’t trust my temper right now. Can you deal with the cash, Maj?”

  “Yeah, man.”

  Liar moved to the back room and located the gold Blake had brought in for easy cash nearly two weeks ago. He took in a steadying breath and went back out to face Blake. A thought occurred to Liar as he set the jewelry on the counter. “Get you a picture of this guy, would you be able to recognize him?”

  Blake gave him a skittish gaze. “Uh, um. Yeah, sure. Long as it doesn’t get back to the guy, sure.”

  Liar lifted his chin at Blake. “Gonna go to the office, make a call. Thanks, Major.”

  He grabbed his cell and called Volt. “Yeah,” the president answered.

  “Volt. Not sure if our IT guys can help with this or not, but one of our regular customers just came in here with a message for me from some man. Said, ‘She’s sweet. Too sweet for someone like you.’ I’m assumin’ it’s Andi’s stalker, but Blake says he can identify him if we show him a picture.”

  Volt sighed. “Don’t like makin’ assumptions, but it’s valid. It might also be someone else. Gonna put Blood on it. See if he or Razor can get a picture of Prank since it might be a Leatherneck. To be honest, I’m hard-pressed to believe this Gil asshole had eyes on you enough to figure out where you’d be today and nail down a regular in an effort to send you a message.”

  In the back of Liar’s mind that had occurred to him too, but then again, he figured any Leathernecks wanted his head for Bush’s death they’d come at him direct. He had no idea how the mind of a stalker worked, but if the man was crazy about Andrea, he wouldn’t put it past him to follow anyone who interacted with her.

  “Is that really how they’d handle this?” Liar asked tentatively.

  “As a club, no. But considering the amount of time Prank spent with Bush, it seems clear to me he’s not all there, so I can’t say it isn’t how he would act on his own. Bottom line, gonna hold church as soon as I can get everyone to the clubhouse. You and Major shut down the shop on time and haul ass our way.”

  It was already twenty minutes to closing time, so Liar made his way back to the front. He was pleased to see Blake was still there. As he moved to the front to turn off the neon ‘Open’ sign, Liar said, “Don’t do anything stupid like makin’ yourself scarce, Blake. You got me?”

  Blake’s eyes bulged at him. “No way man. Hock’s offers the best damn
rates. I couldn’t get my rent paid without you guys.”

  It was on the tip of Liar’s tongue to say, ‘that was exactly what he was afraid of,’ but he held it in check, giving the man a chin lift instead.

  “We’re glad to hear that, Blake,” Major said, clapping the man on the shoulder. “Make sure it stays that way. We’re gonna get a picture for you to look at soon. May not be until Monday. We gonna be able to count on you to help us out?”

  Blake looked between the two men looking skittish as hell. “Yeah. Yeah. I’ll be able to do that. You guys aren’t gonna hurt me for this?”

  Liar smiled. “Why would we do that? You did us a favor. Paid off your debt, and I know someone’s keepin’ tabs on me. You’re a good customer, the way I see it. Don’t you Major?”

  “Yes, sir,” Major said moving to the back.

  “Well, you’re all paid up, Blake. It’s closing time. We’ll see you soon.”

  ***

  All of the brothers were gathered around the table for church. Volt gave everyone a quick rundown, and silence ensued when he was done.

  Liar couldn’t hold his silence. “Why wouldn’t the Leatherneck’s just approach me direct like any other beef? I mean even if it’s just Prank going rogue or some shit, why would he be so conniving?”

  “Why would anyone willingly hang with a man like Bush?” Cal asked.

  “Forgive me for being out of it, but what ‘beef’ does this club have with Liar?” Beast asked.

  “Liar shot Bush, a Leatherneck, while takin’ Razor’s back. That’s the beef, but so far the rest of the club isn’t riled up. Don’t have a picture of Prank. Asked James to get on it or have one of his IT guys send us a picture. But I did get a recent picture of Gil, Andrea’s stalker, from the Poker Room director. Abby ran some copies, pass ‘em around.”

  Liar couldn’t believe he didn’t think of that himself. Then it hit him, it was likely because weeks ago he didn’t expect Andi to be around in his life. He wasn’t used to having decent women in his life, let alone the ins and outs of protecting those women. His chest tightened at the realization. A huge part of him wanted to cut her loose on the double, but then her words to him about not trusting life was a form of fear came back to him. The other shoe was always ready to drop for Liar. He wasn’t sure if this was the dropping of that shoe or not, but it felt damn close.

  “Don’t go there, man,” Beast said.

  Liar lifted his eyes to his cousin on the other side of the table. It was still surreal to have his cousin as part of their chapter, and Liar was going to have to start doing his damndest to hide his thoughts.

  He shook his head. “Not goin’ anywhere, Beast.”

  Beast’s blue eyes glittered at him. “Your road name ain’t as tongue in cheek as you’d have people believe, Liar. You think you need to cut her loose to keep her safe. She’s good for you, but nevermind that for now. Don’t matter who the fucker is behind this shit, you do that, and you’ve given in to a scumbag. Not only is that not how Riot does things, it damn sure ain’t how Huntleys do things. So don’t go there, brother.”

  Rage was sitting next to Liar, and he slugged Liar’s bicep with a fist. “He’s right. But, just to say, you cut her loose, I’ll be happy to protect her ass. That ass especially.”

  “Rage,” Cal grumbled.

  The picture of Gilbert Grant had made its way to Liar. He put it on the table in front of him, and his gut told him he wasn’t behind Blake comin’ into the shop. While there was every possibility the picture was deceiving, there was no way this guy would be menacing to a tweaker like Blake. Liar knew Blake could damn sure take someone who appeared to be as weak and gangly as Gil. No, the amount of fear Blake was running on, it was definitely someone with real fighting power behind them. Still, it was good to have this picture in his mind’s eye because Andrea was working the poker room at night beginning on Friday. Now, Liar knew who to expect.

  Major pounded a fist on the table. “I’ll get this pic in front of Blake tomorrow mornin’. I don’t trust a damn thing that weasel said to us at the shop. He looked ready to bolt in the worst way. It ain’t this scrawny lookin’ scum sucker; we’ll have at least eliminated one possibility.”

  “Can already tell you, this guy didn’t get to Blake, Major. We might be lucky to find Blake again ‘cause you’re right. He was skittish as fuck. This picture may not say it all, but no way this fucker put that amount of fear in him.”

  Volt lifted his chin at the men. “I agree, but like you said, Li, the picture may not say it all. Asshole might have something else against our customer, could’ve been pointing a gun on him, but let’s track it down anyway. Meantime, soon as a decent picture of Prank’s available we’ll need to get that not only in front of Blake but Martin over at the Poker Room as well.”

  “Not sure that’ll help, Prez,” Blood said.

  “You’re right. They aren’t gonna be able to keep him off the floor, but they’ll want to know about potential trouble.”

  Silence settled in the room, but Liar swore he could hear the lilting tones of Andrea’s laughter outside the doors. He had no idea she was here.

  “Unless there’s any other business,” Volt said, lifting the gavel. “Meeting adjourned.”

  “Did I just hear women laughing?” Liar asked nobody in particular.

  “Yeah,” Vamp said. “Frankie brought Andrea by, along with Mallory and Abby, they’re planning Jackie’s baby shower.”

  At least one thing was off Liar’s list of things to do in the next twenty minutes. He had wanted to put hands on her from the moment Blake relayed the message to him. He’d be able to hug the hell out of her and know she was fine. Maybe he had some of that protective instinct, after all.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Andrea

  I was sitting at the bar in the Riot clubhouse with Frankie on my left. Abby was sitting in between Mallory and Frankie. We were discussing plans for Jackie’s baby shower. I had meant to bring my big day planner so that I could take notes, but I had inadvertently left it at my office.

  Abby swirled her orange juice and amaretto. “Where is Trixie? She needs to be in on this for certain. She’s been all over Blood and me about procreatin’, and now there’s a freakin’ shower to plan, and she’s nowhere to be found.”

  “And you’re surprised by that?” Frankie asked.

  Abby shot her a questioning look. “Well, yeah. She’s been scarce quite a bit lately.”

  “Yeah,” Frankie said in a sarcastic yet annoyed tone. “And there’s no wondering why that is. It has everything to do with Roll having his head firmly situated—”

  “Don’t finish that statement, Frankie,” Mallory implored.

  Frankie gave Mallory an exasperated look. “Ha! Sometimes the damn truth hurts, and I’ve been itching to lay the truth down on that big-man for months I tell you!”

  Mallory leaned past Abby to briefly put a hand on Frankie’s forearm. “You know the bass-ackwards way things work in this club. Doesn’t matter how right you might be or how badly a brother needs to have that truth laid down upon them. They won’t take it from us.”

  Frankie tilted her head just a touch. “You know that I know that, but what you may not know, is that at this point, I think I’m willing to take the wrath of all the brothers and even triple the wrath from my old man. If I learned anything at the end of May, it’s that life’s too damn short. Roll’s got to get that shit straight too.”

  “I hear you, but you know Tennille told us Trixie’s working night-shifts at Wal-Mart. She’s trying to get promoted. I can’t imagine that’s easy these days, so you never know. The fault may not rest solely on Roll.” Mallory held up a finger when Frankie made noises as though she was gearing up to argue. “I know some of it does, Frankie, but I’m just saying, we ought to text or leave Trixie a message. Maybe she wants to help, and we don’t know it.”

  I couldn’t hold my tongue at this by-play any longer. “Okay, ladies. I haven’t met Trixie, but I’m more than
happy to take her input whenever she’s free. Hell, text her my studio address. She can chat with me there, on the phone, whatever. If she’s working retail and standing up eight or ten hours a day, I’ll throw in a quick massage if it helps bring her around. Baby Adler, hell any baby, needs all the love they can get.”

  “You can say that again,” Abby said raising her drink at me.

  We discussed possible games to play during the shower. I hadn’t realized how incredibly unqualified I was for hosting this party. I couldn’t remember the last baby shower I attended, but luckily Mallory kept us all straight because she had had a son and therefore had attended baby showers thrown for her. I worried that this was too much for her, but she must have noticed the worried look on my face.

  “Don’t sweat it, Andrea. Celebrating two people I care about having a child is not a reminder of my lost son or at least not any more so than the sun rising every day. I miss Landon. I miss Greg. I’ll always miss them and have a chunk of my heart dedicated to them, but I can’t change what happened. Every day I have to remind myself to be grateful that a man like Cal came into my life, no matter how bossy he can be. I mean after all, if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t be sitting here, and you guys would be planning tired baby shower games instead of kick-ass biker-babe baby shower games.”

  I giggled at that, but I had my doubts that the games we were planning were the least bit kick-ass.

  Not two minutes later, I found myself violently turned on my bar stool. Then I was gazing into Liar’s coppery eyes. If I wasn’t mistaken, they were worried, but I couldn’t imagine why that would be. His hands plunged into my hair on either side of my head, and he planted a hot and heavy kiss on me. While our lips were still connected, he moved his hands from my head in order to wrap his arms around me and lift me from the stool. Those arms tightened on me in a fierce manner. So fierce I couldn’t breathe.

  I managed to bang on his arm with my fist, and he loosened his grip. While I was reluctant to break such a ferocious kiss, I had to do it so I could look him in the eye. “Hello to you, too, but what is with the intensity, mister?”