Beyond Redemption: Joker (Serpents MC Las Vegas Book 1)

by Barbara Nolan

  He buzzed Daisy’s number and hoped for the best, but if that fucker had hands on her, all bets were off, and he’d do things his way.

  Daisy’s shocked gasp was real when Joker barged into Esteban’s office. The gash on the side of his head and the blood that seeped from his bicep were also real, but why was he dressed like a biker again, and how had he gotten so beat up? Joker outweighed and outsized the guard at the door, so that didn’t make sense. Her mind scrambled through a few scenarios and stalled.

  Esteban froze for only a second before he shifted and reached for his gun on the coffee table.

  “Don’t even think about it, or I’ll fuckin’ blast both of you,” Joker commanded the room, as Esteban scrambled to the edge of the couch in an attempt to get better leverage. A futile move since Joker swiped up the gun and stuck it into the waistband of his jeans.

  “So, you and this bitch are working together?” Joker kept the coffee table between them. “I thought you, me, and Rico had a deal.” He waved the gun at Daisy. “I had to come all the way from New York to straighten this shit out. Then I find out that fucker Joker is still alive, and you jetted with the money.”

  Daisy stared at him as her brain registered his words. He was playing himself off as Digger, but why? Whatever his reasons, she had to play along, even if he was flipping the script.

  “C’mon bitch, tell me how you screwed the Raiders outta their money.”

  “This deal has nothing to do with me.” Esteban glanced at Daisy. “But I deserve the money owed me.”

  Typical, the egomaniac was all about saving his own skin.

  “I don’t give a fuck who you are or what you think you deserve, I want my club’s money, or I start blasting.” He pointed the gun at Daisy. “I’d be happy to ice her just for thinking she could get one over on us. Stupid bitch tried fuckin’ Joker’s brains out for the money, but I see right through your act. You’re just another money-grubbing whore, spreading your legs for any guy with a dick.”

  Daisy lunged, but Esteban held her back. All part of the act, although a small piece of her wanted to slap Joker’s words right back into his mouth.

  “You better be careful with this one.” Joker curled his lip at Daisy. “She’s a slippery little bitch.”

  Daisy cowered into Esteban’s side until his arm circled her shoulders. She swallowed hard and ignored his boney fingers digging into her arm.

  Esteban flitted his gaze between them, then looked toward the door, probably wondering what happened to his guard.

  Joker tracked his eyes. “You can forget about your lackey. He’s gonna be out for a while.” He smirked at her. “Or maybe by now, some big alligator ate up his ass.”

  He flashed a wicked grin, and she knew the intimidation in his voice, and the hard edge that came from experience of playing the thug many times for real.

  “Now, I’m taking what’s mine.”

  Esteban slowly slid his hand off her leg, and she twitched just enough to get Joker’s attention.

  “Hands where I can see them, asshole.” Esteban raised them above his lap, but his nose flared, and she could only guess the evil thoughts that raced through his brain.

  “Believe me, blowing her head off would be sweet.” Joker booted the coffee table, and the glass top shattered at their feet. He reached out for her bag just as the door slammed open behind him.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Everyone drop your weapons and put your hands up.” Two men and a woman stormed the room, their matching navy windbreakers emblazoned with DEA on the back.

  Joker raised his hands, then jerked his head toward Daisy. Her eyes were wide with fear.

  Esteban sprang from the couch. “What’s this about?”

  “We’ve been tracking these two for a while.” The woman nodded toward Joker and Daisy, then snatched the bag from Daisy, looked inside, and held up the money. “Looks like it’s all here.”

  “That money is owed to me.” Esteban pointed at Joker. “He was robbing me.”

  “I wouldn’t claim that money, sir.” The larger of the two male agents cuffed Joker’s hands behind his back. “It’s dirty money, and now it’s evidence.”

  “But I don’t understand,” Daisy said. “You can’t just—”

  “Did you think that blond wig would fool us.” The female agent cuffed Daisy’s wrists. “We’ve had eyes on you since you left the hotel in Miami.” She threw a look at Joker. “The one who nailed you with the tire iron had plenty to say about where you were going and how you were getting there.”

  Fuckin’ punk, Darius. If he got out of this, he’d make sure he paid that sucker a visit.

  “Rico’s the one you want,” Daisy said. “He’s the one who started all this.”

  “Don’t worry about, Rico. Someone’s paying him a visit as we speak.”

  “What about him?” Joker jerked his chin at Esteban. “It’s his fuckin’ drug money.”

  “The way we see it, you were holding the gun, and she had the money.” The agent patted him down and came up with the knife in his boot.

  “You got this all wrong.” Joker rolled his shoulders.

  “Right, ’cause you’re an upstanding citizen who came to Florida for some sun on the beach.” The agent pulled at his arm, and Joker resisted. “We know all about your little trip down to Miami for your biker gang.”

  “They fuckin’ sold me out.” Joker reared back when the agent tightened his grip.

  “You don’t want to add resisting arrest to that illustrious record of yours, do you? ’Cause right now, I’m thinking that skipping and violating your parole will land you right back behind bars.”

  Joker glared at him and tried to settle himself down. He’d been arrested plenty of times by regular cops, but he knew from his buddies that DEA and FBI were different. They had a fuck-you attitude and were known to shoot people just for pissing them off.

  He caught Daisy’s eye, and she slowly nodded as if to say, “Cool it down.”

  Esteban edged his way around the broken glass of the coffee table. “Looks like justice is finally being served.”

  Joker lunged at him, but the agent caught him by the shoulder and spun him around. “Easy. Don’t make this worse on yourself.”

  The smirk on Esteban’s face almost made Joker lose his shit. He could’ve easily given Esteban a good stomping, handcuffs or not.

  The female agent pushed Daisy out of the office door, and following right behind them was Joker and the other two agents who kept a firm hold on him until they reached the back of a waiting black van. All the shit he’d ever gotten into, he’d never been nabbed by the DEA. This was bad, and worse, he couldn’t even turn to his club for help. Back in the bad old days he’d usually make bail before the cell door shut, thanks to the club’s high-priced lawyer, but that wasn’t an option now. He was flying blind on this one, and he could only hope that Daisy had some connections, although it seemed like she’d burned all her bridges too.

  Yeah, they were both fucked. Apparently, trying to go straight wasn’t as easy as he thought.

  Joker ducked as he stepped into the back of the van, then sat on one of the benches. The male agents sat on each side of him with Daisy and the female agent facing them on the opposite bench. He tried again to catch her eye, but she kept looking away from him like she didn’t want him to read her.

  The male agent who cuffed him slammed the doors shut, and the other one banged on the mesh window that separated them from the driver. Joker peered out the two back windows of the van as they pulled out of the parking lot. He hadn’t seen this coming. He glanced over at Daisy again, but her head was down, her eyes focused on the floor of the van.

  They pulled out onto the street, then stopped at the first traffic light. The agent to his right shifted, and Joker looked up. The three agents and Daisy all had weird looks on their faces.

  Daisy squirmed around in her seat, then pulled her hands to her front, free of the cuffs. What the fuck? How did she get loose? Was she
going to try to make a break for it?

  Loud hard-rock music filled the van.

  “You didn’t have to put them on so tight,” Daisy said to the female agent.

  “Girl, I wanted it to look real.” The two women laughed, then high-fived each other.

  One of the male guards pulled off his DEA cap, letting his dark brown hair fall to his shoulders, then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a joint. He lit up, took a hit, and passed it to the other guard. “Shit, did you see the look on the face of that fool, Esteban?”

  “We got him good,” the other agent said around a deep drag of smoke as he unlocked Joker’s cuffs.

  “Wait. What?” Joker leaned in. “You’re not DEA?”

  “What would a DEA agent be doin’ with this shit?” He offered him the weed, but Joker waved him off.

  “You can let us off at the Seacoast Marina.” Daisy massaged her wrists, then handed the cuffs to the female agent.

  “Would somebody please explain to me what the fuck just happened?” Joker shifted forward. He didn’t like being kept out of the loop.

  “Joker, meet Seth, Tobias, and Sheena. They’re old friends who I helped relocate to Vegas a few years ago.” She pointed to the front of the van. “And the driver is Seth’s brother-in-law. He drives for us when he needs extra money.”

  “I like the way she says ‘relocate.’” Sheena pointed to Seth and Tobias. “More like, these two fucked up a deal, and it was either lose some fingers and toes or ‘relocate.’”

  “I like to put a positive spin on it,” Daisy joked.

  “Seriously, we owe Charlie.” Seth motioned between them. “So, all this is a small payment.” He drew on the joint. “And it was the most fun we’ve had in a long time.”

  Sheena nodded. “Now we play it a little straighter. We work at the Pirate’s Cove, a theme bar in Vegas.”

  “And I make a damn good pirate.” Tobias winked as he twisted his shoulder-length hair into a leather tie. “The worst thing we do now is spit in an obnoxious customer’s drink, or give a few free beers away to friends.”

  Daisy laughed with them as they bantered back and forth about previous jobs and narrow escapes, but Joker wasn’t satisfied. He figured the scare of being locked up by the DEA easily robbed him of five years off his life, and he needed a shit-ton more information.

  “Where’d you get the van?” Joker asked.

  “Out of my brother-in-law’s garage,” Seth said. “Slapped on a few magnetic DEA emblems. We had the badges from some other stings, and the rest is making people believe what they already think they know. The DEA in the Keys has a lot of people down here running for cover and happy it ain’t them getting picked up.”

  They all laughed and high-fived again.

  “Oh man, you should’ve seen your face.” Tobias bumped Joker’s shoulder. “You were like, I’m fucked.”

  “Damn, when you started resisting, I was thinking, I’m screwed.” Seth eyeballed him. “You’re a strong motherfucker. What do you press, three hundred?”

  “Three fifty.”

  “Shit.” Seth nodded in appreciation.

  “The look on his face reminded me of that job in LA,” Daisy said to Tobias, “when you got caught in the walk-in freezer and we—”

  “Oh shit, man, don’t even go there.” Seth pointed the joint at Tobias. “You were so fucked up, I had to save your ass.”

  “Ohhh, no, sucker, I saved your ass.”

  Sheena eyeballed Joker then turned to Daisy. “He would’ve been a good addition to our little group. He wouldn’t have to say anything with that mean mug. People be scared shitless just looking at him.”

  “So, I’ve been told.” Joker needed way more information, and he’d be grilling Daisy for more details later.

  The van stopped, and Joker saw a sign for the Seacoast Marina out of the window. Daisy hugged Sheena, Seth, and Tobias. “Thanks, guys. You’re the best.”

  Joker did some fist bumps with the guys and nodded to Sheena. Seth unlocked the door of the van, and Daisy hopped out.

  Sheena caught Joker’s arm. “Don’t you go giving her shit about this. As a matter of fact, don’t you give her shit about nothing, or I’m coming to find you.” She smirked. “And I ain’t afraid of that scary face of yours.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m cool,” Joker assured her.

  “Mmm-hmm. Be the first man I ever met who was.”

  Joker appreciated Sheena looking out for Daisy, but it wasn’t gonna stop him from getting answers one way or another.

  The van pulled off as they stood in front of the metal security gate of the marina. The smell of fish, fried foods, and gasoline hung in the humid air. Daisy adjusted the bag on her shoulder.

  “You didn’t trust me?” Joker said behind her.

  “Wasn’t about trust.”

  “So, why not tell me?” He swiped at the sweat on his upper lip.

  “I had to make sure you were genuinely surprised.”

  “Well, yeah, I was fuckin’ surprised all right. Although the thought of going back in the cage again kinda messed with my gut.”

  “The fewer people who are in on it, the better.”

  “For fuck’s sake, I was in on it. Who do you think was waving that gun at Esteban.” He huffed out a breath. “And just for the record, the bullets in my gun were real.”

  “You really have a hard time following directions, don’t you?” Daisy whipped around and narrowed her eyes. “I guess we should all be glad you didn’t decide to shoot your way out of there.”

  “Would’ve helped if I knew it was a setup.”

  “I could’ve lost a few friends if you freaked.” Her fists clenched at her side like she was holding back from ripping his head off. Then, she squared her shoulders and punched in the security code on the keypad, unlocking it on the first try.

  “’Cause you didn’t let me in on it.”

  “I needed your true reaction, and since you’re not a professional, I couldn’t take the chance of a possible screw up.”

  “Not a professional? I was the only one with real fuckin’ bullets.”

  “And you still don’t get it.”

  “What I don’t get is you not giving me a heads-up.” The heavy metal gate slammed behind them. “Like maybe saying, ‘some of my buddies are gonna show up as DEA agents, but don’t freak, it’s all an act.’”

  She led the way to slip number five, mumbling and shaking her head.

  “I saw the way Esteban was eye-fuckin’ you. Believe me, I would’ve been happy to smoke his ass.”

  “And there it is.” She stopped so suddenly he almost ran into her. “You struggling to keep your cool. This is about subtle timing, not violence.”

  Joker heard a noise, pivoted, and leveled his gun.

  “It’s just the water sloshing against the dock,” she said.

  Joker scanned the area, but most of the boats were empty. The semi-dark marina with its creaking pilings and moving shadows creeped him out. They set off again and remained silent, but Joker kept his gun at his side.

  When she stopped in front of slip five, Joker pulled her to him. “You should’ve trusted me enough to tell me.”

  “You can’t admit I was right, can you?” She sighed deeply. “Look at the big picture. Now Esteban thinks we’re in the system, and the money is evidence. No way anybody will ever talk about this money again.”

  It did make sense, so he shrugged and nodded, but he still wasn’t feeling it.

  “And you flipped the script too.” She harrumphed. “Passing yourself off as Digger?”

  “I figured, let him take the fall, but now it doesn’t matter since Esteban thinks we’re behind bars.”

  He hoped this Lizbeth had a full liquor cabinet on board ’cause right now he needed a few shots.

  She snickered. “Although the look on your face was priceless.”

  Joker examined her for the first time since she’d left him at the Pink Flamingo. He inspected every inch of her, and when he
got to her arms, he froze. “What the fuck is this?” His low rumble made her pull away from him.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Not what I asked.” He locked eyes with hers, demanding an answer. “Esteban did this?”

  Something rustled behind him. He spun and drew his gun.

  “Relax, tough guy, it’s just Javier, my cat.”

  Joker faced a short, pudgy woman in her fifties, wearing a flowery caftan. The voluminous material blew behind her as she walked to the back of the boat and opened a low gate, allowing them to step aboard.

  “Might be a better idea if you had this fight inside the cabin.” She eyed them from head to toe. “You both look like hell.”

  He had to agree. Gripping a gun with a blood-stained arm, sweaty t-shirt, dirty jeans, and blood-matted hair couldn’t look too good. He was probably lucky the poor woman wasn’t running for cover.

  “Lizbeth, this is Joker,” Daisy said.

  Lizbeth’s critical eye silently roamed over him as they boarded the boat. She stretched out her arms, and Daisy walked into her embrace while they muttered in Spanish.

  “How’d it go?” Lizbeth asked.

  Daisy pulled away. “Perfect.” She shot a look at Joker. “Everyone played their part.”

  Lizbeth nodded. “Still, be careful, Esteban is a slippery weasel, popping up when you least expect him.” Then she threw orders at the three mates in Spanish, and the boat came alive with activity. A few minutes later, they were moving away from the dock and into the Florida Bay, heading north.

  Lizbeth led the way into the interior of what he guessed to be a sixty-five-foot yacht. Very impressive. There was a large sitting area and a gourmet kitchen including an Asian man cooking something that smelled delicious. His stomach growled, and he didn’t even realize he was hungry.

  “You both look like you need a shower.” Lizbeth handed Daisy some fluffy white towels. “Go below, shower, and then we’ll eat.”