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Laughter erupted around the room, the brothers not believing the man was actually asking for something from them.
Race held up his hand to silence the room. “Hang on. Let’s hear what he has to say.” He went to stand in front of Crow, his thumbs casually hitched into his front pockets. “Gotta say this is a first. If you’re going to ask for your freedom, you’re wasting your breath.”
“No. I know I’m a dead man. All I’m asking is that you get something to my sister for my daughter.” Crow’s chest rose and fell rapidly.
“What?” Race frowned in confusion. Was this guy seriously asking them to deliver something to his family?
He was silent for a beat, debating on what he was going to say, his eyes never leaving Race’s. “In my inside pocket I have a business card for Mel’s Sandwich Shop. On the back is an account number to all the money I have left. She’s going to need it to hire someone to kidnap my daughter from her mother or maybe just pay her outright for Frankie.” His one good eye, the one only partially swollen shut, begged for their help.
“Why would we do that?” Dagger asked what they were all wondering.
“Because when I don’t come back, she’s going to know things went wrong. She’s going to know that she’s all that’s left to save my girl.”
Race stepped forward and reached inside Crow’s inside cut pocket and pulled out a business card. Just like he said it was for a Mel’s Sandwich Shop. “What’s to keep us from getting the money out of your account after you’re dead and say fuck it about your daughter?”
“Nothing, man.” Crow looked so utterly exhausted and was quickly running out of hope for his daughter. “I’m just swinging for the bleachers hoping and praying you don’t take my shit out on my kid.”
Race was confused. No biker who’d been a part of a club for long tried to make a play like Crow was doing. No. They didn’t discuss their families at all. They didn’t try and bargain for the welfare of their families. They usually begged and pleaded for their own pathetic lives. They usually talked about their club and how that club would get even, but they never asked them to take care of their kid.
“How long have you been a Phantom?” he asked.
Crow tried to shake his head until the pain caused him to groan. “Not long. Six months.”
“You look like a biker, but you don’t sound like one,” Race said. “Aren’t you going to spout that your club is going to be looking for you and they’ll get even for your death?”
“I don’t know. I’m just a prospect and until six months ago, I never thought about being a biker until it became necessary.”
“Necessary?” Trick asked.
Crow turned his head so he could see who was talking. “Yeah. I was released from prison six months ago. My sister picked me up and told me that my ex had hooked up with a guy from a biker gang. Said he was part of the Phantom Furies MC. Until eight months ago, Frankie was living with my sister. Then out of the blue, Lisa, that’s my ex, showed up and took her. She’s been shacking up with this Phantom for almost a year. I prospected for the Phantoms so I could find my girl. Took me a while to figure out that Lisa’s with a guy called Post and they are living somewhere around here with Frankie. He’s not staying at the temporary clubhouse. He has them locked down and as a prospect I can’t ask a lot of questions without raising their suspicions.” He paused and faced Race again. “She’s only fourteen years old. She doesn’t need this shit.”
“What were you in prison for?” Dagger asked.
“I’d been out to dinner with my wife. We’d been fighting, so I had a couple of drinks. We were arguing on the ride home, she jerked the wheel causing me to shoot into oncoming traffic. I killed an elderly man. Got six years. They let me out in four.”
“Why didn’t your wife get in trouble? Didn’t your lawyer explain what happened?” Jed asked.
“My lawyer said if I threw her under the bus, Frankie could lose both her parents. I thought it would be better if I went to prison than if my wife did.”
“Why were you at Ink Envy?” Trick asked.
“They told me and two other guys to break in and bust the place up. One of the guys wanted to set the place on fire.” Chris’s nostrils flared and his mouth pinched at this bit of news. “We heard the sound of pipes coming down the back alley. I told them to take off and I’d do it. I wasn’t going to really do it. I was going to pretend to be interrupted before I could set the fire, but then your guys really did catch me.”
Race stepped away, then motioned for Darren and Chris to watch over their prisoner. The rest of them stepped outside to talk. As soon as the door closed, Dagger asked, “Do you believe him?”
He rubbed his hand across his mouth. “Yeah. I think I do.”
“Yeah, I think I do, too.” Dagger pulled a knit cap out of his pocket and pulled it on.
“Why?” Tulsa asked.
“Because he sounds like a desperate dad trying to save his kid,” Tuck stated.
“Yeah.” Race scratched at his chin, quietly debating on what to do.
“What do you want to do with him?” Jed played with the tin snips. “Gimme your finger,” he told Tuck.
“No! What the fuck’s wrong with you?” Tuck growled, jerking his hands out of reach.
