Devil May Care (Four Horsemen MC Book 4) (26 page)

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be givin’ me an order,” Ryker said. “I know you fed us the story about your brothers being sacrificed to the Raptors and the bad direction the club was headed in.  But we both know, part of you ratting out the club was for my mom. You wanted her and you needed to get my dad out of the way.”

Shit.
He’d be lyin’ if he said that the thought didn’t cross his mind all those years ago. Yes, he’d wanted to stop running drugs and guns and no, he didn’t want them to die in a Raptor ambush, but he didn’t exactly hate the idea of Joker going away for twenty-five to life.

 Not that he’d had a shot in hell with her at the time.

 “You know how I feel about Eddie,” he said. “But it wasn’t ever going to go anywhere.”

“Until now. Tell me the truth,” he said. “Was my dad an asshole? A junkie?”

Captain knew better than to answer that question. He was fucked either way. “He’s your dad and I am not gonna run him down in front of you.”

Ryker sat down next to him, and stretched his legs out. “Look, I spent the better part of my childhood bein’ pissed at the man. He left my mom all alone. She had to raise us, feed us, and put a roof over our head without any help from him until he died in a jail.”

Captain sighed. “Yeah, I’m bettin’ a Raptor got him, but they didn’t exactly call out Sherlock Holmes to handle his case. They wrapped it up in a week. A guard got a slap on the wrist for not watching the prisoners more carefully. And that’s about it.”

He nodded. “I figured. But, tell me. What was he like? I don’t have many memories. Mostly just seein’ him in this dingy visitor’s room at the prison. And no, I’m not going to punch you. You got a one-time free pass to talk shit about him with no consequences. I need to know.”

Captain sighed.  “Shit, kid. He liked his bourbon, but he wasn’t a junkie.  Let’s put it this way, I never saw him snortin’ any of the merchandise up his nose. He also had a rep as a pussy hound.”

His lips twisted. “Like I used to be. So, he fucked around on mom.”

“I saw him with a hellion now and then. Nothin’ serious. Not until the Beauregard woman.  And yeah, if you want my opinion, he was an asshole. Any man who’d screw over a woman like Eddie is a dick in my opinion.”

Ryker blew out a breath. “Fuck.”

They sat there in silence.

“Okay, then. Thanks for tellin’ me.” He stood up and then glanced at Captain. “What do you think would have happened if you hadn’t leaked the meet to the feds?”

About this, Captain had no doubt. “I think the graveyards in Hell would be overflowing with Horsemen graves.”

Ryker watched him for a while, evidently mulling over what he said. “I think you might be right. Then, he paused a long, moment. “But I still don’t like you.”

Captain laughed. “No shit.”

“But then again, I don’t think anyone is good enough for her. Me and Axel, we’ve been the men in her life for a long time and we look out for her. It ain’t personal, I just don’t want her to get hurt.”

On
that
, they were agreed.

“If you survive this vote and that’s a big, fuckin’ if, it’s cool with me if you see her.”

He sighed. Under different circumstances, he’d be buying Ryker a drink right about now. “I appreciate it, but I told her all of this yesterday and she hates my ass.”

Ryker clapped Captain on the shoulder. “Yeah, well, you kinda deserve it.” They stared at one another for a moment, a wordless understanding between them before he walked back in the boardroom.

Loving Eddie was something they both had in common. Maybe it could be the beginning of a solid friendship, assuming she forgave him, and assuming Captain survived the night.

***

Twenty minutes after she’d left the house, Eddie found herself standing in front of the hearth in Byron’s office. All but one of his guards were gone tonight “on an errand”, which she bet involved guns, blood, and death. But it worked for her. There were less men standing between her and the door if things went south. 

And with Byron, you could never tell what might happen.

 He’d lit a fire and the logs cracked and popped. Flames danced over them. It looked a bit like hellfire. Strangely fitting, she supposed.  He lounged in his leather chair, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

 “What an unexpected pleasure. Have you come to a decision?”

No time for preliminaries. “Yes, but first I need your help and the situation is urgent.”

His eyes twinkled with amusement. “Well, perhaps you’re not familiar with this particular notion, bein’ a vigilante type and all, but since y’all have cast me as the villain, I don’t do favors. For anyone.”

She steeled her nerve. “You’ll do this one, for me.”

He studied her. Good, he seemed intrigued, not pissed off.  Her ability to be tactful was completely gone. “Okay, I’ll bite. Tell me more.”

 “I need you to share your mother’s diary with the Horsemen.”

“Why the fuck would I do that?”

Damn. Of course, he was going to be a nosy bastard.  “It’s important.  So you can verify Captain’s story about Joker.”

He chuckled. “I see. Let me guess, your new beau had somethin’ to do with the RICO investigation. He found out Joker and Loretta were defecting and leaving behind a trail of Horsemen bodies?”

She stared at him. “You read it in the diary?”
Smart and smug, talk about a bad combination.

“Yeah, her diary was very thorough. Is Captain pouring his heart out to the club right now? Tellin’ them he couldn’t keep his fool mouth shut?”

She nodded stiffly.

 “Well, isn’t this a twist? You need me to save your honey from the biker boys, don’t you?” He laughed, triumphant about her defeat.
What a dick.

Honestly, they didn’t have time for a chat right now. “Yes, and the sooner the better. So, if you don’t mind?” She gestured to the door. “Let’s do this.”

She could practically hear the cold calculations going on behind his serene blue eyes. Then, in the distance, Eddie thought she heard a gunshot. What the hell? Was someone shootin’ up the place?

Beauregard stared at the monitor on his desk, eyes widening a moment. Did he have a camera feed? He shook his head, before he spoke again. “I’m afraid I can’t help you. Captain has no value to me. Either way, he won’t be the president after tonight.”

That had occurred to her as well. If they let him live, they certainly wouldn’t leave him in charge.  “Yes, but he has value to
me
.” She sighed. “And, if you help me save him, I will do you a favor.  If you want a partnership, I’ll push for it. I can make it happen.”

It was a bad scenario, the club working with the Dixie Mafia, but it was better than Captain’s death.  She’d worry about their partnership another time.

“And how do I know you’ll have any influence over the new president?”

She bit her lower lip to keep from screaming at him to get off his ass. Captain was in danger and they didn’t have time to fuck around. “Because I’m related to him.”

“The VP?” he asked, with a frown.

She shook her head. “No, they’ll offer it to Shep, but I think he’ll turn it down. I mean my son, Axel. He’s the natural choice. They’ll offer him the president’s chair tonight and I’ll do everything in my power to see that he partners with you.”

He rubbed the pad of his finger over his pursed lips. Then, shook his head. “Not good enough. A lover would be more motivated to save you,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not sayin’ your son doesn’t love you, but those family ties don’t have the same oomph. With a lover, you get the unreasonable fear and that all-consuming, unreasonable, incapacitating love.”

She was about to pull out her gun to convince him, but the door burst open behind them. “Put your hands over your head!”

“Agent Warren,” Beauregard greeted as he raised his hands.

“You’ve met?” Eddie asked, hopping to her feet, arms raised. She turned very slowly to face the agent, no sudden movements.

“Yes, we’ve had the pleasure,” he answered. “Do you, by chance, have  a warrant with you, agent?”

“No, I don’t,” Warren said. “But I have probable cause.”

Oh shit.
This just went from bad to worse.

“And that is?”

“Shut the fuck up,” the agent growled at Beauregard.

“Aren’t you supposed to be headed for Dallas?” Beauregard asked. “According to my sources, your investigation was shut down, because you failed to find evidence on the computers you confiscated.”

“Yeah, well, I stayed behind to play out my hunch.”

One of his Beauregard’s guards limped up to the doorway.  He had the beginnings of a shiner on his left eye. Eddie noticed he’d left a trail of bloody footprints up the hall. He’d probably been shot.  “Sorry, boss. He shot me, took my gun.”

“You’re fired,” he said with a smirk. “Get your ass out of my sight.”

The guard lumbered off.

“Let me guess, you’re using your vacation time to play Nancy Drew?” Byron asked the agent. “And your bosses don’t have a fuckin’ clue where are you?”

“Somethin’ like that,” he said. “And look what I found, the Dixie Mafia and a Horsemen rep in the same room.”

Byron smirked.  “And did you radio your fed pals? Is the cavalry on the way?”

The agent sneered at him. “Not yet. Toss any weapons you might have.”

With a grunt, Beauregard tossed his pistol, and then snatched a Kleenex from a box on his desk.  As she was removing hers, real slow, from the pocket of her hoodie, Byron seized it with his tissued hand, then shot the agent twice. Right in the head.

Eddie screamed.

The fed slumped to the floor, blood spewing.

“Oh my God!” She rushed to the agent, but there was nothing to be done, he was dead, grey matter was leaking onto the carpet, along with an enormous pool of blood. Her hand accidently landed in it, it was hot and wet on her palm. “Damn you! You didn’t have to kill him.  He’s a kid, he had his whole life ahead of him.”

Byron sighed at the blood pool rapidly soaking the floor. “Fuck. And I just had this carpet cleaned. That’s a couple hundred bucks down the drain.”

She stared at the dead agent, his wide-open shiny eyes. “He was only trying to shake us up. We weren’t doing anything, just having a conversation. It didn’t have to end like this.”

He laughed. “I can’t have them associatin’ us together, it’ll make my business operations smoother, if they don’t know we’re in cahoots. Besides, Agent Warner here, wouldn’t have let this go. This man’s a true believer, a fanatic.”

“We aren’t in cahoots, remember? You turned me down.” She held out her hand. “Give me my gun.” She must have been insane, or desperate to come here anyway. She would be better off tryin’ to talk the boys out of it.

“No, I’ll be keepin’ it.” He turned to the safe and began entering numbers lightning fast. Then, he tossed the gun in, grabbed something else, and shut the door. “There. Now, I can grant your request because I have an insurance policy.”

The implication sunk in slowly…

Oh, God, no.

She stood up, feeling like her legs might buckle. He’d used her gun to kill a federal agent. “I’ll tell them you shot him.”

Beauregard laughed. “Be hard to prove. I didn’t touch the gun with my bare hand, and I bet you left a print or two on it. And I know your prints are all over the bullets inside the chamber, as well as the ones I put in his skull.”

For a moment Eddie stared at the drying blood on her palm.  No amount of water and soap could wash this stain off.  If this came to light, she’d get the death penalty.

“But look at the bright side. I’m going to help you with your problem.” He showed her a dog-eared journal he’d retrieved from the safe when he’d tossed the gun inside. “I have my momma’s diary. Let’s go rescue your beau.”

She didn’t know what to say. This is what you get when you make a deal with the devil. She glanced down at the agent. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

“Oh, don’t look so stricken. You’re getting what you want. I’m going to help Captain. And I get what I want, a deal with you and then the club. Win-win. Now, you wanna seal this arrangement with a handshake or that kiss you mentioned earlier? Personally, I’m hopin’ for a kiss.”

“Fuck you! I didn’t want it like this!” she screeched.

“Fine, you’ll get what you
need
, then. There’s a bathroom down the hall. Why don’t you wash up right quick and we’ll be on our way?” He looked down at the dead man. “I’ll have my boys take care of this while we’re gone. We’ll make sure he’s never found…unless I need him to be.” He gave her a toothy little grin.

What a fucking bastard.
“You’re the devil,” she said.

“Ain’t the first time I been called that. Won’t be the last either,” he said, waltzing out of the room. “Now, let’s go, time’s a wasting.’”

Eddie had no choice but to follow him.

Chapter Twenty

Eddie arrived at Perdition with Beauregard in tow fifteen minutes later. She’d wiped off the blood, but she swore she could still feel it on her hand -- sticky and thick.

“What are you doing here?” Captain said, shooting to his feet, as she walked down the hallway with her brand new business partner. A pair of zip ties had been fastened around his wrists and he’d been sitting on a steel bench.  Evidently, his meeting with the club hadn’t gone well, not that she’d expected it to.

 From inside the boardroom, she could hear loud voices, though they were muffled. Captain probably only had minutes left if she didn’t intercede on his behalf.

“Eddie, I don’t want you to see this.”

“I’m not here to watch you die. I’m here to save you.”

“Save me?” His gaze moved behind her to Beauregard. She peeked over her shoulder to see him looming up like a dark storm cloud.  And then Captain put it all together.  “No! You’re working with him? Eddie, you can’t. I won’t let you.“

“You can’t stop me,” she said. “It’s a done deal. The time for negotiating is over.” She’d wanted to play
let’s make a deal
with the bastard and she’d lost. No point in going back on her word now. He had her and the club exactly where he wanted them.