Zero Apologies

by Autumn Jones Lake

  “No, brother. Shadow go to those meets with you?”

  “Never,” Sway says. “I’ll let Trey know you’re both coming to this one.” Sway reaches for a pen and scribbles down the address, phone number, and a dollar amount.

  “You behind on payments?” I ask.

  “Probably.”

  That’s just fucking great. I bury my irritation and pat Sway’s shoulder. “Thanks, brother.”

  “That’s Tawny’s number. I’ll have her text you with a time.”

  “All right.” I think I’ve gotten as much as I can out of Sway. Time to let him rest. “You take it easy. I’ll keep you updated.”

  “Appreciate it, Z.” His gaze lands on Rooster. “You too. Always knew you were meant to be an officer.”

  “Thanks, brother,” Rooster grabs Sway’s outstretched hand.

  In the hallway, we run into Tawny. Sure, now that she’s back it doesn’t seem she’ll be more than a few feet away from Sway’s side.

  “How you doing, sweetheart?” I ask.

  “Hanging in there.” She taps my cut, more specifically the president’s patch. “You look good in this.”

  “Not planning to stay, Tawny. The job’s waiting for him when he’s ready.”

  She tilts her head. “You sure about that? Rock’s gonna die at the head of that table. Unless you want to move out west, this might be the only chance you have to run a club.”

  Fuck her and fuck everyone who keeps assuming I even want to run my own club. She’s a brother’s wife, though, so I try to keep my temper in check. “I was perfectly happy as VP upstate, Tawny. I’m just here to help out.”

  “Well, we appreciate it, Z.” Her gaze shoots to Rooster. “Although, I see you’ve already made changes.”

  “Necessary changes,” I growl. She’s treading too close to club business that doesn’t concern her.

  I’m not one to get snarly with old ladies, or hell, women in general. Always been a lover, not a fighter. But fuck if Tawny’s going to tell me how to run the club that her husband’s been fucking up for years.

  Enough menace radiates off me that she puts her hands up and takes a step back. “Rooster will be a good VP. Better than Shadow ever was. You made the right call.”

  “Thanks,” I answer with a healthy dose of I-don’t-give-a-fuck-about-your-opinion.

  “I better get back in there, or he’ll wonder where I ran off to.”

  We say our awkward goodbyes and I wait until she’s back inside the room before storming away.

  Outside, Rooster bursts into laughter. “Christ, she’s always been a ballsy bitch.”

  “Knew that mousy act she put on when she came back was fake as fuck.” I throw a scowl at the building we just left. “She’ll be back to queen bitch on wheels in no time.”

  Rooster shrugs. “I’m sure Lilly can put her in her place.”

  I don’t want Lilly to have to deal with any of that petty bullshit. Upstate, where Lilly is friends with all the other old ladies, is where we belong.

  Irritated again, I cram my helmet on and barely wait for Rooster to catch up before roaring out of the parking lot.

  Chapter Twenty

  Z

  We’re almost at the clubhouse when the text from Tawny comes in. The meet’s in less than an hour. Annoyed I have so little time to prepare, I pull into the first parking lot I see and Rooster follows.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I show him the text.

  “Fuck.”

  “Yeah.” I nod to the store. “I don’t think I’ll be able to pull enough out of their ATM in time.”

  “Shit.” He yanks out his phone. “I’ll call Hustler and ask him to meet us with some cash. We probably shouldn’t go in alone anyway.”

  Good point. “Call Jigsaw too.”

  While he’s busy doing that, I send a text to Teller and Murphy asking them to join our little party. Strength in numbers and all that. Not that I want to spook this cop, but I also don’t want him thinking he can fuck with me because I’m new.

  Less than half an hour later, the four of them rumble into the parking lot. I wait for them to shut down their bikes before signaling for everyone to follow me to a secluded area behind the store.

  “What’s going on, Z?” Teller asks.

  I nod at Hustler before answering. “Bring the money?”

  He taps his chest. “Right here. Envelope of Benjamins. That okay?”

  “That’s fine.” I motion for him to hand it over and quickly count out one payment, then hand the rest back to Hustler. “We’ll see how much of an asshole this guy is before I hand over the rest.”

  “Sounds good.”

  I fill Teller and Murphy in. “Sorry, brother. I probably shouldn’t have asked, since you just got out.”

  Murphy shrugs off my concern. “I go where you go, brother. Let’s do this.”

  “Hopefully, it’s smooth and the guy isn’t a prick.”

  Jigsaw snorts. “Show me a cop who isn’t an asshole.”

  “I think it’s a basic requirement,” Hustler adds.

  “Let’s leave that attitude here,” I warn. “We’re not fans of each other, but let’s at least pretend we respect the guy until he gives us a reason not to.”

  I wait until I have everyone’s agreement before signaling it’s time to go.

  We cruise past the junkyard and execute a lazy U-turn at the end of the road. It’s deserted. Far from any houses or other businesses. Perfect spot for this sort of meet-up. Especially if they were regular.

  The gate’s open and we park right inside. A massive Rottweiler hurtles toward us. While the rest of the guys back up, I go down on one knee and call the dog to me.

  Startled, the dog blinks and approaches me slower, sniffs my outstretched hand, and gives me his rump to scratch. “Good boy, huh? Good guard dog?”

  “I don’t know about that,” Rooster jokes.

  “Ignore him, boy.” I scratch his chin and behind his ears. “Who else is here? Anyone?”

  The rottie eyes my brothers but finally trots off toward the building. We follow and around the corner spot a Union Police vehicle.

  The officer steps out. He’s alone and doesn’t seem pleased to see a whole pack of us.

  His hand grazes his gun and I mutter to the guys to back off. Holding my hands out, I walk closer. “Sway said this was a good time to meet?”

  Still wary, his gaze ping-pongs between me and the brothers behind me. “Yeah. What’s going on? Usually, we met alone.”

  “He didn’t mention that.” I won’t apologize, but I hold out my hand. “I’m Z. Taking over for Sway as president while he’s recovering.”

  We shake and he nods. “Yeah, that was fucked up what happened to him. How’s he doing?”

  “Better.” I motion Rooster to come forward. “Rooster’s our new VP. Not sure how often you interacted with Shadow, but—”

  Trey sneers. “Someone shoot him too?”

  “Nah, he took off. Going nomad for a while.” I shrug. “Not the best time for it, but can’t really stop a brother from chasing wind, you know?”

  He grunts. “You’re probably better off.”

  If you’d like to pass that story along to your cop buddies, be my guest.

  On the take or not, I have no illusions that whatever I share with this guy won’t go straight into a file somewhere. We’re not friends. An arrangement between any outlaw and cop is always tricky. Each side only there to advance their own interests.

  “So, what’s new?” I ask, unsure of how Sway usually conducts these exchanges.

  He stares at me for a minute. “You’re the one out on bail, right?”

  “Yeah,” I answer slowly.

  “I don’t know anything about your case. Sheriff’s office is conducting it.”

  I already knew that.

  “They got a stick up their asses lately about cooperating with city cops.”

  Can’t imagine why.

  “From what I heard, someone on the for
ce has a sister who used to party at your clubhouse.”

  “Really?” This trip might not be a waste of time after all. “Got a name?”

  “No, it’s just a rumor. She was out of town, traveling for a while. Hooked up with a lot of MCs around the country.”

  “Big rumor.”

  He shrugs. “Not sure it’s connected. But I thought I’d mention it.”

  There’s more he’s not telling me, but I don’t want to push him too far since this is our first meeting. First thing I’ll do when we get back to the clubhouse is start having Steer run background on all the girls who hang out at our club.

  “Any word on Sway’s shooting?” Shit, while I’m here, I should at least look like I don’t know who pulled the trigger.

  “Nothing. Couple officers have a theory the wife did it since no one’s seen her.”

  As much as I’d enjoy shoving Tawny into the cops’ radar, I can’t do it. Yeah, she’s a pain in the ass, but she’s still the wife of a brother. “Nah, she’s volatile, but she loves his ass. She’s been by his side the last few times I visited.”

  His eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”

  “Yeah.” I don’t bother mentioning that Sway asked her to go into hiding if anything ever happened. That’s delving too far into personal club business. If Sway wants to tell the cops that story, that’s his call. “Anything else?”

  “There’ll be a sobriety check Friday night on Route 22.”

  Christ, is this the kind of worthless information Sway pays this guy for?

  “Okay.” I nod to Hustler who pulls out the envelope.

  Trey holds out his grubby, grabby hands for the envelope and stuffs it in his pocket without counting the bills. He doesn’t ask for any missing payments, so I don’t offer them.

  “So, what’s your arrangement with Sway?”

  “We do this once a week. If I hear of anything important before that, I send him a text and we meet here or at the pawn shop if it’s really urgent.”

  Can’t help wondering what the hell he and Sway consider “really urgent” but I’m not about to waste time asking.

  I hold out my hand again. “All right. Same place, same time, next week, then?” I gesture toward Rooster. “You okay with him joining us?”

  “Yeah, whatever you want.”

  This is almost too easy.

  While he might not have a lot of juice right now, I can see this guy being molded into something of value for the future.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Z

  “You fucking serious, Prez?”

  The only reason I haven’t reached over the table and throat-punched Steer is that it’s the first time he’s given me lip. “Do I look like I’m joking?”

  “You know how many girls come in and out of here? How am I supposed to keep track of ‘em all?” he bitches.

  Wrath does it.

  I don’t say that because it’s unfair. We’ve always been cautious about who we allowed at the upstate clubhouse because it’s so secluded and because our grow-op is downstairs. Almost everyone who comes through our gates gets checked out ahead of time.

  The way Sway’s club is set up, I can understand why they don’t bother. Not that far from the highway. Most of the brothers don’t live here round the clock. No grow-op to worry about getting raided by the cops or robbed by rival gangs.

  “Think. Anyone not been around much lately?”

  “How the fuck should I know?”

  Now he’s just pissing me off. “You’re the SAA. It’s kinda your job.”

  “Pussy is pussy.”

  “So, some cop’s sister wants to hang here and we’re just, what? Cool with that?”

  It finally seems to sink in.

  “Got some information,” I continue before he opens his mouth. “Don’t know if it has anything to do with my case, but one of the clubgirls might have a cop brother.”

  “Fuck,” he mutters.

  “Yeah, fuck.” I slap the table with my palm and turn to the rest of the brothers. “That’s it. Sway’s guy didn’t have much more information for me.” I’d already relayed the sobriety checkpoint info when we first sat down.

  I made an executive decision on the way back to the clubhouse. No more secrecy. No more cloak-and-dagger bullshit hidden from the brothers. Either I trust them or I don’t.

  “Thanks, Z,” Tiny says.

  Yeah, I’m still not his biggest fan, but all brothers are being treated equally until they give me a reason not to from now on.

  Did I give everyone the name of Sway’s dirty cop and details about our meet-up? Fuck no. Not information they all need to have. But Rooster, Jigsaw, and Hustler all have that information now. So at least if anything happens to me, they won’t be flying blind. If Sway doesn’t like it, he can fuck off.

  I end our meeting and signal Murphy to join me at the head of the table.

  “What’s up, Z?”

  “How well do you know Serena?”

  “Are you fucking kidding?” he growls.

  “What do you know about her? Like her family. She got any brothers in law enforcement?”

  He glares at me for another second or two. “Not that I remember. Doesn’t have a lot of family. Always figured that’s why she liked hanging out around the MC.”

  “All right.”

  He blows out a breath and glances over his shoulder. “I heard what Trey told you. I don’t think it’s Serena.”

  “After that last scene with Shadow, she might be pretty pissed. She hasn’t been back since.”

  “Yeah, but you took care of it.” He shakes his head. “She’s really not like that. Even when I pissed her off, she never tried to burn me. And she could have that time with Bull.” He glances over his shoulder again.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t tell your brother-in-law.”

  “Fuck off.”

  “You don’t think it’s possible she got fucked over by one too many Lost Kings and might have turned on us?”

  Now he just looks miserable. “I guess. Despite what you seem to think, I don’t know her that well. Everyone has their breaking point. But why go after you? You protected her. Why not say it was my bike she saw leaving Malone’s? At least she actually knows what it looks like.”

  “Good point.”

  “Who have you fucked over?” he asks a little too smug for my taste. “It’s only recent you wifed up. Got a way longer trail of heartbreak behind you than I ever did.”

  While he has a point, I don’t care for the reminder. “Careful about turning those tables, little brother.”

  “So, you can bust my ass about someone I’ve barely even talked to in the last couple years? But I can’t ask you to consider the same?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Whatever.” He gestures toward the door. “Why don’t you ask Lilly? She seems to get along with some of the girls.”

  Good idea.

  “Is everything okay?” Lilly asks when I storm out of the chapel.

  “Better now.” I lean down and kiss her forehead. “Where’s the little guy?”

  “Out back with Heidi and Alexa.”

  I steer her toward the bar where one of the girls—Lala?—is already busy pouring drinks.

  Once we’re alone in our favorite corner, I lean into Lilly. “I gotta ask you a few questions.”

  She raises an eyebrow. “I assumed you had something else in mind.”

  The corners of my mouth twitch. “Definitely, but first, this.”

  “Shoot.”

  I glance sideways, making sure Lala isn’t hovering. No reason for any club girl to think we see them as more than decoration or a fuck right now. “Any club girls you don’t trust? Or been acting funny. Think back. I don’t mean just recently.”

  She snorts. “I don’t have to think hard on it, Z. Although, Angie might have better information for you. She deals with them more than I do.”

  “Okay, so who came to mind?”

  “Two girls. Josey and Sasha. Although
Josey’s really the only mouthy, entitled one.” Her cheeks redden. “A former fling of yours?”

  Fuck, is she? The name doesn’t ring a bell, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. “I don’t recognize the name.”

  She rolls her eyes, correctly interpreting my non-answer. “Well, she was super-pissy when I explained you’re no longer open for business. She stomped out of here.”

  It’s twisted, but I fucking love how possessive Lilly is. “Wish I’d seen that.”

  “What?”

  “You.” I lean in and kiss her neck. “Explaining in no uncertain terms that I’m your man.”

  She grumbles at me but kisses me back. “She also gave me lip at Murphy’s welcome home party but he told her to fuck off and that was the end of it.”

  Well, now I feel bad for giving Murphy such a hard time. “She tell you anything about her family? Anything like that?”

  Lilly gives me a wide-eyed are-you-fucking-high face. “No.”

  She motions with her hand for Lala to join us. “How well do you know Josey?” Lilly asks.

  Lala blinks at us. “Not that well. Sasha and her are best friends, though. I think Josey only started showing up at parties here because of Sasha but I might have that backwards.”

  “Josey party with a lot of other MCs?” I ask.

  Now poor Lala looks completely terrified. “I, uh, she used to brag she’d visited the other LOKI charters, especially the one out in Washington.” Her gaze darts to Lilly and back to me. “Claimed she knew you from out there. I don’t remember her talking about any other MCs, though.”

  Since I haven’t spent more than a couple days at our Washington charter over the last ten years, I feel comfortable saying Josey’s full of shit. But what an easy cover for getting into one of our parties. Say she knows a brother and rattles off one of our other charters. Just enough to sound legit. Normally, talking about a brother or club in such a familiar way can get your ass kicked, but when it’s a pretty girl offering to suck your dick, I can see a lot of guys around here letting it slide.

  “Is she attractive?” I ask Lilly.

  The fire flashing in her eyes makes me wish I’d asked in a different way. “If you’re into the trampy, heroin-chic, mallrat look, then I guess so.”