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Bruno pulled out his wallet and retrieved a faded Polaroid photo that had been trimmed to fit inside. He turned it to Gator and said, “Not having seen this.”
“Oh, mon Dieu.” Gator's eyes widened as he stared at the photo. “Oh, mon Dieu putain!” he exclaimed. “Who took this?”
“Me,” Bruno said, a hint of pride in his voice. “When I was fifteen.”
Gator shook his head in disbelief. “You’re...”
Bruno finished his sentence, “Single, just like you.”
* * *
Gator had losttrack of time. He and Bruno had been swapping old stories for hours, and it was well past the time he had planned to leave. Baptiste had left earlier, after Elodie had finished her shift. Gator had had a few drinks with Bruno by that stage…against his better judgment. Bruno called it a night and headed straight for the door but as Gator stood up to go, he noticed someone he didn’t expect to see walk into the bar. It was Marvin.
Gator's thoughts immediately went to Sylvie.What the hell is Marvin doing here? This is supposed to be a cop bar. Is Marvin a cop? Surely not. But if two bikers were allowed in, then why not him?
He considered going up to Marvin…for what, he wasn’t sure…but before he could even make a move, the hot little blonde barmaid appeared and sat on Marvin’s lap. Gator was taken aback. Marvin was a married man…the motherfucker. He couldn't let this slide.
He walked up to Marvin and confronted him. “Shouldn’t you be home with your wife tonight?” Gator asked.
The blonde giggled and didn’t seem to care that she was sitting on a married man’s lap. Gator wasn't having it. “You don’t deserve her, you know,” he told Marvin.
“Who? Daisy?” He gave “Daisy” a peck on the cheek and said, “Mind your own fucking business.”
“Not this bimbo, asshole.” Gator said.
“Who the fuck are you calling a bimbo?” the blonde retorted.
“Fuck off, Alligator Man,” Marvin said, “before you wish you hadn’t come into this bar.”
Gator had balled up his fists and as Marvin looked down at them, he said, “You going to hit me? Right here in this bar full of cops?”
Gator relaxed and opened his fists when he saw a couple of the cops behind Marvin eyeballing him.
He got right up in Marvin’s face and threatened him. “You don’t want to mess with me,” Gator said. “And if I ever hear that you so much as raise a finger to Sylvie, I’ll break all your fingers, your hands, and your fucking neck.”
Marvin turned to the two cops sitting nearby and said, “Did you hear that? He just threatened to kill me.”
The two cops stood out of the barstools and Gator held his hands up and said, “I’m going.” He walked out of the bar, fuming. He didn't know what to do about Sylvie, but he knew he couldn’t let Marvin get away with anything.
Why the hell is Sylvie still with this asshole?
5
Bruno pulledinto the parking lot of the Jokers MC, a place he hadn’t been since he was on the force. He had spent many nights and days working near there, undercover on his latest assignment, but he’d never had reason to call in at the club even though his friend Baptiste was a member of the Jokers.
He’d just come to realize that Baptiste had never invited him to the Jokers club even though Baptiste had spent a lot of time at the cop bar.
Bruno wasn’t at all surprised since bikers and cops mixed like oil and water. He chuckled to himself as he wondered whether there were things at the club that Baptiste didn’t want him to see.
He knew that even Baptiste was often on the wrong side of the law, but the Jokers were well respected within the community and never got up to anything that would endanger anyone who didn’t deserve it.
Today, he had a much different purpose. He was there to see Gator.
He had only been drinking and talking with him hours earlier, but he was already concerned that Gator was going to cause problems with his investigation. That and the fact that he’d threatened to kill the person Bruno had been monitoring, in front of all his colleagues…cops.What the hell was he thinking?
Bruno parked his car and stepped out, squinting against the bright sunlight. He could hear the music from inside the club and the roar of engines from the bikes coming and going from the parking area in front of the building. As he walked towards the entrance, he noticed the old, faded sign on the wall. It said, “Don't Cause Trouble.”
He shook his head and chuckled. Bikers telling people not to cause trouble. Bruno wasn’t there to cause trouble. He was there to keep Gator out of trouble. He knew if his old friend started getting mixed up with Marvin, things could turn bad in a hurry.
