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I’m already on the move toward Doherty when I shout, “Trigger!” My forearm takes the Sheriff down as two double taps sound behind me, the beautiful rhythm of sending a dirty cop straight to hell.
“You good, Wild Man?” Ace’s voice is tight and tense.
“I’m good. Sheriff is good, too,” I pull back and look down at him with a smile. “Right?”
“My back took a beating it didn’t need, but, yeah, I’m good. Thanks,” he grunts as I help him back to his feet.
Shades stands after confirming that Briseno has no pulse and smiles. “Like old times,” he grins, and fist bumps Ace.
“Shit,” Doherty grunts. “I have to call this in, boys.”
“No, you don’t.” Ace steps in front of Doherty with a cool yet serious expression on his face. He’s not intimidating or threatening toward the Sheriff, just two men without a lot of choices. “If this goes out, the news will get wind of it, and it’ll erupt in a shit storm for all of us.”
Doherty is listening and nodding. “What do you suggest?”
Ace drops a hand on his shoulder like they’re old friends. “Let Internal Affairs keep investigating. When they find what they need, they’ll assume he fled to avoid prosecution. We’ll take care of the rest.”
The Sheriff frowns and shakes his head. “I don’t like the sound of that. What does it mean?”
Shades takes a step forward. “It’s best you don’t know the details, Sheriff. Keep an eye out around the cop shop to see if Briseno was the only one serving Hector or Nogales.”
“Yeah,” he nods. “All right. Thanks again, young man,” he says to me and ambles back to his cruiser, the load on his shoulders now heavier than ever. He turns back to us and gestures to the dead body on the ground. “I don’t know anything about this, okay?”
Ace says, “About what?”
With a nod, Doherty gets back in his police car and drives off when the back door of the clubhouse opens, and Dix steps out. “Did I hear gunfire?” He looks down and sees Briseno bleeding out on the ground. “Shit. Fuck. What the fuck? I’m not getting rid of this one. That shit stinks.”
Ace nods. “Yeah, you will. Make it look like he disappeared. Take his car to the long-term parking garage at LAX. I want it found in a few days, leaving more questions than answers, got it?”
“God, I hate you sometimes,” Dix grumbles. “I’ll take Tank and Lucky with me.” He whistles and calls for the prospects, who come running quickly. “Clean up duty. Again,” he grins.
We all head inside while Dix and the prospects take care of Briseno, and I stop to check on Maven, knocking on the door before I unlock it and step inside.
“You all right?” I ask, but she’s just sitting on the bed, staring off into space. “Maven?” I say a little louder, and she finally looks at me.
“What the fuck do you think? You kidnapped me and locked me up in a dungeon, so I’m just fucking peachy,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest.
“It’s not a dungeon, it’s a bedroom. And you’re not a prisoner. You’re my…guest.” I say, coming further into the room and leaning on the doorjamb.
Okay, so she’s still upset, and honestly, I can’t blame her, but this is where we are right now. “This will be over as soon as you tell us what you know, Maven.”
She growls and picks up something from the nightstand only to hurl it toward the door and my head.
I duck just in time, and it narrowly misses me as it smashes into the door, shattering into pieces.
“Maven!” I exclaim, jumping out of the way. “I know you’re mad, but you need to calm down.”
She stands up from the bed and comes toward me, poking me in the chest. “Calm down? You want me to calm down? How do you expect me to calm down when you’ve kidnapped me and locked me up in here like some kind of animal!”
I grab her wrists to stop her from hitting me, and she tries to pull away, but I hold her firm. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry this happened, but it’s not like I had a choice.”
She finally stops struggling and looks up at me, her eyes blazing with anger. “And what about my choice? What about my business? I'm going to lose everything sitting here in this dump.”
“You’re not going to lose anything. Your shop is open. We talked to Willow, and she agreed to open up. We have one of our guys, Preacher, there to keep her and your business safe.”
Maven shakes her head and slams her eyes shut. “I don’t want to hear it, Wilder. The only thing I want to hear from you is that I’m going home.”
“I can’t do that, Maven. I’m sorry.” I say, and she opens her eyes to look at me.
