Zero Apologies

by Autumn Jones Lake

  “She told me Alex showed up.”

  He rolls his eyes. “He ran his mouth a little. I put him in his place and that was the end of it. Seems to be worried about his sister and nephew. Since he’s not one of us, his fear is only logical.”

  “Yeah, I know,” I grumble.

  He taps me on the chest. “We can lie to civilians all day long, but we can’t lie to ourselves. This life is hard on women. Not every club shares our code. You know it and I know it. That’s why we do everything we can to make sure our women are safe.”

  He’s right. If Alex didn’t have a problem with me, he’d be an even bigger jerk.

  “Was Chance okay?”

  The corners of his mouth turn up. “He missed you, but we made sure he wasn’t lacking attention.”

  “Or stuff. Looks like a frickin’ toy store exploded in my living room.”

  He chuckles. “That was all Teller.”

  “Well, I appreciate it.” I stop before opening the door. “I’m gonna tell Murphy to take off. He and Heidi deserve a trip or something after all this bullshit.”

  “Yeah, I told him that, but he wouldn’t leave until you were out.” His mouth turns down. “Alexa had a hard time with him gone. She and Chance were either best buds or sworn enemies.”

  “Great. I’ll talk to him. Make sure he understands our future father-in-law plans mean he has to marry Grace.”

  “Shut the fuck up.” He shoves me sideways and I laugh. “Let’s go, Prez,” he growls, making me laugh even harder.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Z

  My bike’s in the garage. Someone from the club made sure to bring her home and store her for me.

  The cops were wrong about the color. She’s painted black with blue ghost flames and our skull and crown logo in silver. The softail springer might not be the flashiest ride out there, but I’ve put a lot of love into it over the years. It’s been lowered, which gives it a more aggressive look and comfortable feel. Murphy helped me upgrade the engine and exhaust.

  I back into the driveway and down into the street in front of the house before firing her up. Sounds like home.

  Rock pulls up alongside me. “Ready?”

  As I roar out of the quiet neighborhood and onto the main road, I finally feel “free.” Thunder between my legs and the wind in my face, I’m grateful for what feels like a second chance. There’s no question, I’ll fight like hell to stay on this side of the fence.

  “Welcome home, Prez!” everyone shouts when I step into the clubhouse. The ride here took us close to the Thruway. The lure of the open road and leaving all this shit behind tugged at me. But I kept it steady. I can’t leave my family and my club. Outlaw or not, a man always honors his responsibilities.

  I raise my hands over my head to acknowledge the greeting. “Feels good to be home!”

  After saying hello to all of the brothers gathered in the main room, I signal that it’s time to sit down at the table.

  “All right. I’m not sure how much everyone knows, so I’m going to lay it all out. Everyone hold your questions until I’m finished.”

  I search my brothers’ faces for any sign of disagreement before continuing.

  “I went in for arson. For the Malone’s bowling alley fiasco.”

  “Jesus Christ,” Steer mutters. “You fucking serious?”

  I glare at him to remind him of the no questions order I laid down.

  “Their case is shitty. The judge practically said so in court today. From what my lawyer said, arson is hard to prove anyway. Cops said they have a ‘witness’ who saw my bike near Malone’s the night of the fire.”

  “Well, we know that’s bullshit,” Hustler says.

  “Right. Of course, I couldn’t say that.” I place my hands on the table and lean forward. “We all know they’re more excited about who they’re prosecuting than what they’re prosecuting me for. Taking down the president of an outlaw club will make ‘em feel like their dicks got bigger overnight.”

  Everyone nods.

  “Doesn’t matter if I lit the match or not.”

  They nod again. Which is good. I need them to understand this fine point because I’m about to explain how I attempted to lay the blame at a dead brother’s feet. Yes, Shadow was a piece of shit who betrayed the club and lost his patch. Still, Lost Kings don’t snitch.

  “Murphy and I shared a cell.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet, Prez,” Jigsaw says.

  Murphy flips him off.

  I’d laugh, but I’m not feeling it at the moment.

  “I’m pretty sure they were listening to our conversations. Especially after they interrogated me and I told them Shadow went nomad and we haven’t heard from him since.”

  I wait a second to allow the information to soak in everyone’s brain.

  Steer finally claps his hands. “Good call, Prez. That’s perfect.”

  His endorsement will help everyone else come to terms with it.

  Jigsaw grins. “It is perfect. Once I got wind you were in for Malone’s, I paid Myra a visit again.”

  “Jesus, please tell me you haven’t hurt or terrorized that poor woman,” I say.

  By the expression on his face, I swear if Jigsaw had feelings, I just hurt them. “No, Prez. She wants to help out.”

  Since I’ve never met the chick and don’t trust anyone who would willingly marry Shadow, I raise an eyebrow. “And we trust her, why?”

  “Bro, Shadow did her real dirty. I don’t want to get into it, but besides all the hell he put her through, she thinks he took off with some chick and left her drowning in debt. I mentioned the club could help her with that if she’d talk to the cops.”

  “And tell them what?”

  “Well, first she filed a missing person’s report.”

  “While I was inside?”

  “Yup. Can’t come back on you.”

  Honestly, it won’t matter. Even though I never got my promised phone call, cops will make the argument Jigsaw pressured her at my request or some other bullshit. I don’t say any of that because the brother is trying to be pro-active and I don’t want to shit all over his plan. He’s only trying to help save my ass.

  “Cops are supposed to follow up with her in a couple days.” He shakes his head from side to side. “I’m thinking she needs to go into more detail. About how he confessed to her that he burned down Malone’s and was worried he’d get in trouble if the club found out he took a job doing something that wasn’t sanctioned.”

  I tap my fingers on the table, thinking that over. My gaze strays to Rock who shrugs, then Wrath and Teller, who both nod.

  “We can’t be anywhere near that,” I say. “Cops will say we pushed her to lie for us. She’s gonna need to be convincing when she explains why she didn’t tell them all of that when she filed the initial report.”

  “I’m working on it with her,” Jigsaw says. “Quietly.”

  “Working your dick in and out of her is more like it,” Hustler mutters.

  Jigsaw smirks. “Wrong, brother. It ain’t about that.”

  Rooster glares at Hustler. “We’re trying to get our prez clear of this bullshit. No time for fucking around.”

  “What’s the matter with you?” Suds groans.

  Hustler shrugs. “She’s cute.”

  I snap my fingers at him. “Don’t you get enough ass?”

  “No such thing, Prez.”

  “Keep her on task.” I point to Jigsaw. “Don’t let her go off on any tangents about Sway’s shooting or Shadow working with the Vipers. At best, they’ll think we obstructed their investigation. At worst, they’ll assume we offed Shadow. We want to draw them away from the club, not give them something new to investigate.”

  “Got it, Prez,” Jigsaw says. “He cashed a large check right before cleaning out their joint account too. So, that will give credibility to him disappearing. It’s why she’s so broke.”

  “Good. Sooner the better.” I pause and think about what he actually said. “Who was t
he check from?”

  “Don’t know. I’m thinking it was a payment from Malone.”

  “What’s she need?”

  “A couple grand or her house is about to go into foreclosure.”

  I nod to Hustler. “Do we have the funds to take care of that?” I glance around the table. “Why don’t we take a vote on it?”

  Rooster raises his hand. “Less than five grand, you don’t need a vote, Prez. We all know you’re not puttin’ the money in your personal piggy bank.”

  “Appreciate that.” I glance around the table, my gaze finally landing on Jigsaw. “It goes above five, bring it to the table.”

  “Will do, Prez.”

  “All right, Shadow disappearing with all his wife’s money should give the cops something solid to dig into.”

  Steer lets out a dark laugh. “They ain’t ever finding what’s left of Shadow’s carcass. So, he might as well be riding the wind nomad for all they’re ever gonna know.”

  “Amen, brother,” Rooster says.

  Teller raises his hand to grab my attention. “After she talks to the cops, Z needs to let his lawyer know. We don’t want them waiting until trial to drop the charges. Or putting her on the stand.”

  “Awww, look how helpful you are with the lawyer for an ol’ lady,” Rooster jokes.

  Teller flips him off. “Outlaw 101, asshole. Cops will fuck us any which way they can. Don’t need Charlotte to tell me that.”

  Rooster fake-salutes him and the two assholes end up laughing at each other.

  I wave my hands in the air to get their attention again. “Everyone, simmer down.” From the corner, Rock laughs at the borrowed expression he’s used on us thousands of times. I roll my eyes at him. “You don’t own that, brother.”

  He only laughs harder.

  Fucking assholes, every single one of my brothers. And I missed the shit out of them.

  “What’s next?”

  “Priest wants to talk to you,” Rooster says. “I got a secure burner all set up for you to make the call.”

  “All right. He give you anything?”

  “No, but I’m guessing he’s not real thrilled with us at the moment.”

  Take a number. I’m not thrilled with myself right now. Although, other than not being part of the club, I’m not sure how I could’ve avoided this current mess.

  “When’s he expecting the call?”

  “He said whenever you were ready.”

  “Fuck.” Probably should’ve done that first. Last thing I need is Priest to think I’m disrespecting him.

  Not that I don’t trust Rooster, but I’m not feeling the love for anyone at the moment so I search my office quickly before sitting down to call Priest.

  “Yeah?” comes the gruff voice of our national president.

  “It’s me. Your problem child.”

  He blows that off with a laugh. “You’re the least of my concerns.”

  “It’s Z,” I remind him.

  “Yeah, asshole,” he grumbles over the line, as clear as if he was standing right in front of me. “I know who it is. I heard what’s up. You out?”

  “Don’t know for how long.”

  He’s silent, absorbing how serious this might be. “You do it?”

  “Fuck no.”

  “Another brother?”

  “Possibly. I’m not sure. We had a change in leadership recently.”

  “Heard about that.” He pauses. Probably looking for a tactful way to ask if we put Shadow to ground. “He go nomad?”

  “Yup.”

  “Should we be looking for him before the cops find him?”

  “Probably.”

  “All right.” He’s quiet again and I wait for what’s next. “You got my full support, Z. But you understand why I can’t be up there now, right?”

  Of course I do. If I do go down for this arson, the club will want to distance themselves. Say I acted alone. Otherwise, the government might come in and try to make a RICO case that all of our clubs across the country were involved somehow. Weak? Sure. Doesn’t mean they won’t try it. Several clubs have been through that bullshit. We always manage to stay clear and want to keep it that way. Not to mention if he has to come run a charter every time someone goes to jail, he’d have to close down a hell of a lot of clubs.

  “Yeah, Prez. I understand.”

  “You need anything, though, don’t be afraid to reach out.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Rooster’s your new VP?”

  “Yes, sir. I think he’ll be a good fit. He’s been vital to helping the club through this difficult transition.”

  “Good. Good. How’s Sway?”

  “Better last I saw him. I just made bail today. Planning to go see him next.”

  “All right. Give him my best.”

  “Will do.”

  I hang up, not feeling much more reassured than before I made the phone call. But at least Priest won’t be showing up on our doorstep any time soon.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Z

  Damn, it’s exhausting getting out of jail. I didn’t spend nearly enough time with my family and I still need to go talk to Sway.

  “Want to visit Sway with me?” I ask Rooster. Better let Sway get used to Rooster being VP now. Fuck knows, Rooster’s done more in a couple weeks to earn his job than Shadow did in his whole miserable life.

  “Yeah, brother.”

  We ride over alone. I’m careful to pay attention to the speed limit and everything else on the way. Don’t want to give the cops any excuses to toss me back inside.

  We find spots near the entrance and make our way to Sway’s room.

  Tawny’s sitting with Sway. From what I’ve heard, she’s been here all day every day. I’d love to be a cynical dick about it, but whatever. If they’re working out their issues, great.

  “I’ll leave you boys alone.” She sways her hips over to Rooster and plants a bordering-on-creepy kiss on his cheek, then mine. “Go easy. He needs his rest,” she warns us before strutting out the door.

  Sway watches her go with a doofy smile on his face. “Who knew hospital handjobs could be so much fun?” he quips when she’s gone.

  Christ.

  “More than I needed to know, brother,” Rooster says.

  “More than anyone ever needs to know,” I add.

  “Fuck off. You know what I’m talking about.”

  “Things are good?” I hold up a hand. “Besides getting jacked off?”

  He grins. “Things are looking up.” His words come out a bit slurred and he shakes his head. “Still having issues with speech therapy, but it’s not like I was gifted in that area before, right?”

  Nothing like getting shot to humble a man. “I don’t know. You sure run your mouth enough.”

  Not insulted, he laughs for a minute or two, then turns serious. “Heard you were inside. What’s going on?”

  I glance at Rooster who nods. Guess he gave Sway a head’s up, but not the whole story.

  I pull one of the chairs closer to Sway’s bed and give him the details.

  “Fucking Malone. He was always a pain in my ass.”

  I’m not here to debate that or ask him why he kept working with DeLova if it caused him so much trouble. “Who are you close to in law enforcement around here?”

  “Fuck, Z. Used to be the Union County sheriff, but he retired last year. His replacement is no fan of ours.”

  “What about Union City PD?”

  “Got a few guys I can get information from, but no one high up.”

  My stare must be saying a thousand words. How the fuck do you run an MC without a few friends in strategic places?

  “I don’t have the connections Rock’s always had,” he says.

  The bitterness in his tone isn’t lost on me but I try hard not to roll my eyes at the piss-poor excuse.

  “Why you think I’ve been trying to move us to the porn stuff?” he insists.

  “Well, the cops got a hard-on for us now. So, what else
were you up to with DeLova?”

  “Pickups. Protection. Running supplies from outside the city up to the Demons. That’s it. Nothing local should give a shit about.” He stops and seems to think harder. “Call DeLova. He’s got juice everywhere.”

  “I’d rather not ask that prick for any favors.” No fucking way do I want to be indebted to DeLova for anything. I’d rather pin my hopes that Jigsaw can help Shadow’s wife put on a convincing performance.

  “We’re working another angle,” Rooster says.

  “If it doesn’t pan out, I’ll talk to DeLova,” I promise. I probably won’t have a choice.

  “DeLova must’ve gotten paid. If Malone really burned it down for the insurance money. Probably got paid and put Malone to ground.”

  “I don’t know if the insurance would’ve paid out if there was an open arson investigation.”

  “True. Let me call my guy and see what I can find out. You may have to meet with him.” Sway clenches his fists. “Shoulda had you do that right away.”

  “Easy, brother. You’ve been a little preoccupied.” Christ, last thing I want is Sway feeling guilty about this. The guy did take a bullet to the head. I think he’s suffered enough.

  Sway nods absently. He’s already looking exhausted and I probably pushed him farther than I should’ve, considering his condition.

  “Right now, everything’s good, brother.” I strive for an upbeat tone. “I’m out on bail. No conditions were set other than I show up for all court appearances and don’t leave the state. Talked to Priest this morning and he’s not coming up.”

  “Thank fuck,” Sway mutters. “I’ll call my guy, Trey. We usually meet at the junkyard out on West Parkway.”

  “All the way out there?” Rooster asks.

  Sway shoots a glare at him. “Where would you suggest? Downtown Union? In front of the Police Department?”