AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Grabbing the envelope, she opened it and flipped through the bills. “I won’t ask for anything else, I promise. I just want to go back to the Seven Devils.”
“Get your pretty little ass in there and sign your shit. You can be riding Devil’s big, glorious cock within the hour.”
Abby rushed into the warehouse so fast that Ryder almost couldn’t keep up with her. Thank God his crew had covered the weapons they’d thrown down with a heavy tarp. God knew the attorney didn’t need to see that shit. He whistled for Cork to bring the legal eagles.
By the time they arrived, the room had been cleared of dead bodies, and the desk had been shoved over the pool of blood. Sweet Jesus, it was nights like this that made Ryder hate his work. Literally, the only silver lining was that his brother didn’t end up in a firefight with the Seven Devils. The loss of life would have been high.
Abby jumped into Devil’s arms the moment her eyes landed on him. Ryder always thought it was good when crazy people hooked up with each other and left normal folk alone. Abby and Devil being together had a certain symmetry that he could really appreciate. She slid her envelop immediately into his hand, like any woman in love would, earning herself a hot kiss.
Ryder stood shoulder to shoulder with Ace and watched her sign off on the divorce and custody paperwork. When Darkness pulled out the cancelation for the insurance policy they had taken out on him, neither of them had the decency to even act embarrassed.
Some of the tightness in Ryder’s chest loosened once he knew they could no longer benefit in any way from his friend’s untimely demise. He’d thought Abby would kick up a fuss about visitation or something, but she didn’t mention a thing about it. It was just as well because Darkness had a sister moving back to help out with his little one. She was likely his only living relative. It would do him good to have some family around, assuming she was remotely sane.
Once the legal eagles took off, Darkness made his payout to Devil. The money was duly counted, and Darkness pulled out the guns. They went through the entire case, checking that each worked and firing off some shots. It was a regular, run-of-the-mill gun trade. This particular set of stock had been sitting in the basement for a long time. His club had stopped moving hot guns a while back. It was risky and not worth the markup.
The Seven Devils didn’t give a good goddamn if they were hot or not. It fell in the category of trading something the club valued very little to a person who valued it a great deal. Devil would consider the weapons a force multiplier in dealing with the numerous gangs that inhabited his territory.
Normally, his club would party and smoke a little weed with MCs if they were on friendly terms, but the Seven Devils didn’t fall into that category. They were the kind of men that you couldn’t really be nice to or you might wind up with a knife in your back.
Heading outside once again, Ryder realized it was well past sunset. Floodlights illuminated the small dock area as the speedboat rocked gently in the water. Standing beside his club president and close personal friend, Ryder watched the Seven Devils load the last of the weapons onto their little boat. Together, they stepped out face-to-face with Devil for the final phase of their plan. This was the part where they made sure the Seven Devils understood they were not welcome in Blind Jack’s territory.
Darkness was the first to speak. “We both made out on this deal, Devil. You wound up with an injection of cash, your woman free and clear of me, and nice little bonus cache of weapons. I ended up with a daughter and that damned insurance policy cancelled. This makes us square, but don’t think for a fuckin’ minute it makes us friends.”
Devil smiled indulgently. “It ain’t gotta be that way, Darkness. Now that my dad’s outta the picture—”
Interrupting before Devil even got the words out of his mouth, Darkness brought him up short. “Your old man’s only been out of the slammer for three months. You sent your old lady to me over a year ago. I don’t have to be a fuckin’ brain surgeon to recognize a head job when I see one.”
Staring at him for a brief moment, Devil took a step back. “Not that it worked particularly well, but I get where you’re coming from on this one.”
“Good. You’re in Bind Jack’s territory right now. Don’t ever let that happen again. The next one of your crew we run across gets a dirt nap, and that goes double for you.”
Devil’s anger flew hot and fast. “Think you fuckin’ rule the world, don’t you?”
Darkness sucked in a disgusted breath, clearly deciding he’d had enough of the whole situation. His voice was calm and deadly. “Just like you, I rule my own little corner of the world. I won’t come sniffin’ around your territory, and I don’t wanna catch you or yours crawling around mine.”
“Waterways are neutral territory. Nobody can claim the ocean, my friend.”
“Or the tributaries that eventually empty out into the ocean,” Darkness added. “I know the rules, Devil. You fire one shot toward the shore, and I won’t be givin’ a big shit about the rules.”
“Always got to be a hardass, don’t ya?”
“Goodbye, Devil. Safe journey back to where you came from,” Darkness said dismissively.
“Fine, catch you on the flipside, freak.”
Watching the now angry man climb onto his boat for the last time, Ryder noticed how disorganized their crew was. They were undisciplined, practically tripping over each other and fighting over who was going to drive the speedboat. Devil wasn’t a strong leader, and it was a constant source of amazement how the man managed to hang onto the gavel.
Ryder just shook his head. “I think we should have put that money in a college fund for your little one and give the lot of them a dirt nap.”
Darkness nodded. “I considered that option but decided it was a bit too risky. Cops investigate missing persons. They might not give a good goddam about bikers in general, but if that many turn up missing along with a woman, they’ll come poking around. What with the kid, the insurance policy, and me filing divorce papers, it wouldn’t take even a stupid cop long to put the pieces together.”
“Yeah, I know the paper trail was pretty tricky on this one. Devil got off easy.”
“Ain’t never easy when you gotta drop a body. Tell me Ratchet’s body is gone,” Darkness said, his dark eyes fixed on the water.
Mirroring his stance, Ryder said, “He’s in the cage we used to bring Abby. Cork’s standing guard.”
“You know how I feel about killing.”
