Page 96 of Dizzy

“Dizzy, you got to be reasonable.”

“You ain’t gonna fuckin’ touch her. And she ain’t goin’ nowhere. You want to ask her anything, you can do it at the kitchen table.”

Heavy exhales slowly, stomps over to stare down at the project I’m working on. It’s still in pieces. Ain’t nothin’ to see. “Dizzy, you have to think about the club.”

I hold my peace, his words echoing in my head.Put her down. He don’t get to fuckin’ look at her again.

“Think it through,” he argues. “If Rab’s involved, the Rebel Raiders sent Chaos for the blueprints. That means the Rebel Raiders know there’s somethin’ going on with the buildings. They want to destroy us. Somehow, they stumbled on the way to do it. Now that Chaos is missing, they have confirmation they’re on the right track. But they got no moves left. They tipped their hand. It’s a dead end. Except for the house mouse.”

“Her name’s Fay-Lee.”

“She can put Chaos at the clubhouse the night he disappears. They collect one or two other pieces of evidence, they have us over a barrel. Blackmail. The Feds. She could put a RICO charge on every man in this club.”

“She ain’t gonna say shit.”

“You’ve known her a few weeks. I seen her ribs, man. All the Raiders need to do is offer her a few hundred.”

“You can keep talkin’ all you want, college boy. You ain’t goin’ near her.”

“You’re not seeing clearly.” He raises his voice, lets it boom. I remember when he was a pimply beanpole with an unhealthy infatuation with that card game where you roll dice. This master of the universe shit might work on civilians, but I ain’t impressed.

“You understood back at the clubhouse that day when we found her. You think I changed my mind? She’s mine. You can talk to her inside the house with me right there, or you can fuck off.”

“You’re not makin’ sense. We’re your brothers. We’refamily.”

I nod. That is true. Buthedon’t get it.

“Yeah, we’re family. You gonna ask for my ride when you’re drunk? You gonna ask me to hand over my kids? Family don’t ask for that shit. And you’re president, you’re not God. You don’t get to decide what’s mine or not mine. She belongs to me. You want to come for her you go through me. End of story.”

I fold my arms and raise an eyebrow. Nickel shifts from leg to leg, eyeballin’ us.

And then a shot rings out. Close. Jesus. Fay-Lee.

I sprint, Heavy on my heels.

There’s Jed, pistol smoking.

No Fay-Lee.

“What the fuck happened?” Heavy roars.

Jed points across the street. I grab him by the collar. “Did you shoot her? Is she hurt?”

“She grabbed my gun. She ain’t hurt, man. She shot the ground. She got the jump on me. She ran. That way.” He jerks his weak chin at the woods.

Shit. Shit.

I run, heart crashing in my chest. Nickel, Heavy, and Jed are on my heels.

“Spread out!” Heavy shouts.

She was scared. She didn’t trust me to handle it. Goddamn it.

“No one hurts her!” I roar. “Jed, put your fuckin’ piece away!”

We crash through the undergrowth. You can run for a yard or so, but then thickets and gulches slow you down. The terrain favors a smaller person like her. I can’t hear her. Heavy’s busting through the woods like a stampeding elephant, sending birds squawking into the air.

“Baby, come back,” I shout. “It’s okay. No one’s gonna hurt you.”

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