Page 102 of Break Out

“Even though she’s all you’ve ever wanted?”

He tossed his hands out. “I might be young, but life’s taught me that some things aren’t meant to be, babe. In the meantime, I have to live my life.”

I looked around, trying to see if there was anyone else around in the darkness. “And you want this? Are you sure?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Won’t know if I don’t see what this club is all about.”

I sighed. “Fair enough.”

Chapter 19

Get Bloody

Steel

Early Sunday morning, I left Simone sleeping in my bed.

While at the bonfire last night, I’d received a message from Jeremiah, a member of an Augusta street gang. Motorcycle clubs and street gangs didn’t work together very often, but I hadn’t shied away from doing things for street gangs in the past. With the threat from Corrupted Chrome, I’d cashed in markers with three different gangs.

Jeremiah’s message included the day and time for CCMC’s next drug supply arrival and the address where Knuckles routinely met his mistress, Farah. I’d heard that he always spent Saturday night somewhere near the Aragon Park area in Augusta and the address was in that neighborhood.

Since this could easily be a set-up from Jeremiah – there was no honor among criminals, thieves or otherwise – I drove the Tundra to the address, kept going, and parked at a small school at the end of the block.

There were no sidewalks in this neighborhood. The homes were older, brick construction, but not all of them were well-maintained. Knuckles rode a black Harley-Davidson Street Glide, and it sat in the driveway – parked backward no less, probably a futile effort to keep people from knowing he was there. This house appeared to be kept up, at least on the outside. The driveway had a sheen that likely came from a recent pressure wash, the bushes were trimmed, and a brick mailbox sat at the end of the drive.

There weren’t many trees in the neighborhood, so I couldn’t lurk for much longer. The front door opened, and I crouched behind the brick mailbox.

I heard the jangle of keys and slowly stood.

Knuckles zeroed in on me, and he reached for his saddlebag. “I should shoot your ass. But that would start a war.”

That went both ways. The easiest solution would be for me to shoot Knuckles right now, but there would be too much blow-back. Not just on the Devil Lancers, but also on Jeremiah and his crew for giving me the information.

In theory, nobody should know how I found Knuckles, but information had a way of getting out once someone was killed. Then I’d have Corrupted Chrome and Jeremiah gunning for me and my brothers.

I took a step forward. “You’re right.”

Knuckles had long russet brown hair that was pulled back in a low pony-tail. His beard had a smattering of gray hairs and looked like it could use some grooming. He frowned. “Torque’s a wildcard.”

The upside to Torque fucking any woman he met was that he told them all sorts of shit about himself. That shit became rumors which somehow became legend. Torque was only a wildcard with women.

If Knuckles took me out, Torque would find him and make him watch all his brothers die before flaying him and bleeding him dry.

“Why this power-play? You can’t expand in your own cities?”

Knuckles rolled his eyes at me. “Why should we, when you have what we want? And we can just take your customers. No need to waste our time laying the groundwork.”

“You can try,” I said.

“Already undercutting your prices on drugs in Augusta and other cities. It’s just a matter of time.”

He couldn’t keep that up forever, but I kept that to myself.

“You’re taking the lazy approach,” I muttered.

Knuckles crossed his arms on his chest. “What you see as lazy, I see as smart.”

I stepped forward again. “Not smart to wail on prostitutes. That gets around.”

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