Page 54 of Shar: A Woman Alone

“You’ve had your fun andgames, Everard. Now it’s my turn. Get your shit from the desk, get to thelawyer and sign the papers. If we see you anywhere near this yard again, we’llmake sure you become one with it. Understand?” Seeing him go white and nod hishead, I look for the three new owners. “Crack… Take the new owners with you andescortMr. Everard to the signing.”

Everard starts to grabpapers, shoving them into a bag. When he goes to a safe in the corner, which isstanding open, I say, “Ah, ah, ah. Only from the desk. You’ve had plenty oftime to organize robbing the yard, you should have organized taking your ownstuff first. Whatever is left here now is ours. Psycho, get him the fuck out ofyouroffice.”

I can see him wondering if hecan get his stuff from the safe, but he resigns himself to having lost it whenI wave Crack towards the safe. As he leaves the office he spits, “This isdaylight robbery…”

“Nothing worse than you’vebeen doing to the citizens of this town all these years.” Turning to Psycho Isay, “Go with him into the lawyer's office. For every minute you’re in there,break a finger on his left hand. Then break his toes and keep going till hesigns. If the lawyer says anything, ask if he wants to take his place.”

Psycho knows that I don’tmean it, but Everard knows no such thing. We can all see him squirming at thethought. Psycho takes his arm and drags him out of the office. I hope that’sthe last we see of that dirtbag.

Watching Crack and the guysleave, I wander over to the safe and have a peek at what he wanted to loot.There’s a few thousand in green, but not as much as I would have expected. Acouple of journals that I slap onto the desk, and a box, like you would use forpetty cash.

Sitting at the desk, I openthe first journal. False account books by the look of it. The second is farmore interesting. Businesses and dollars per month? It looks like our Everardis running a protection racket or something similar. Skipping through the pagesshows it’s been going on for a while. At the back of the book is a list ofofficials that he has been either bribing or blackmailing. That wasn’tsomething I was expecting, either. Damn.

I’m not surprised, however,when I don’t see our good mayor on his list. Taking out my cell, I place a callto Grant. I feel we should be on first name terms by now, and when he picks up,I strongly suggest he gets down here at warp speed.

Minutes later and he’ssitting opposite me and reading the journal. I can see how angry he is when theveins at his temples are dark blue and pulsing.

“Son of a bitch. Dirty,filthy, scumbag, son of a bitch. If this gets out, we could have a riot on ourhands. The people aren’t going to believe I didn’t know about this, and theyare going to want heads rolling. I can’t blame them either. Jesus Christ, thatman needs buried in a shallow grave for all of this. How the hell do I put thisright, Sharp?” Grant slumps back in his chair and shakes his head.

“First off, I’d suggest youlet us keep the journal at the clubhouse. If you ever need it, you can get toit easy enough. If anything comes out, you can play the ‘plausible deniability’card. Second, I could get my financial team to go through the protectionpayments and then we can divvy up and return the dollars from the safe.”Nodding to the safe which is still open, Grant sees the piles of notes.

“Shouldn’t that be your cashnow, though?”

“Well, Grant…we won’t misswhat we’ve never had. How much is the goodwill worth to the MC when we rock upat nearly every business in town and give them a wad of cash back and freedomfrom future payments? I don’t think we have a bad street cred in town, buthaving a boost like this can’t be bad. Unless you have other ideas for thecash?”

“Hell, no. The less I’minvolved with that stash of ill-gotten gains, the happier I’ll be. What afucking mess he’s left behind.” Grant rubs his hands over his face, head andthen the back of his neck.

“This conversation staysbetween us, then. Any preference on where the shallow grave should be?”

“What? No. No shallow grave.I was just venting my anger. That wasn’t a real thought or suggestion.” Seeingme grinning, he sighs. “You’re a horrible man. Nasty, mean and horrible.”

“A nasty, mean, horrible manthat has just saved your ass. I might not vote for you next time after all thatname calling!” Reaching over the table, we shake hands.

Laughing like a couple ofschoolboys, we leave the office, and he heads back to his office, or whereverhe was when I called. I take a quick dive back into the office, grab thejournal and the cash, before taking a leisurely stroll around the junkyard. AsI wander, I wonder what else is hidden amidst the trunks and bodies of allthese vehicles. Bodies? I hope it’s only car bodies in here.

I hang around long enough forCrack and the guys to return and once they’ve confirmed everything is nowlegally ours, I head back to the clubhouse. Psycho, Porky and Croc already knowto get the outside done first. I promised the mayor that much as part of ourdeal, so let’s get the place looking businesslike again.

I’ll sit down with theofficers at some point, and we can draw up a plan of how to get the yard itselfsorted in the least amount of time. The club’s coffers are sure going to startlooking healthier again with all these new business ventures.

CHAPTER 28

Shar

Another week has flown by.I’ve been busy organizing everyone at the club to be at the diner this Sunday.Wow, that’s tomorrow, to get the place painted, as well as the grounds tidiedand spruced up. Everyone that helps out will be getting a free meal, and asit’s not optional, anyone that doesn’t turn up will get the sharp edge ofSharp’s boot.

Sharp’s foregoing churchtomorrow morning and will get involved himself…or so he says. I don’t knowexactly what he’s getting involved with unless Taylor shows up. She came to theclub with Zara for a meal during the week and Zara had to tell Uncle Sharp thatTaylor was her guest, and as such, he should go back to his office.

Lira will be attending thediner and as much as I wanted it to be a day off for her, she has got her headtogether with Sourdough, and they have planned quite a menu for theday…apparently. I have been told, none too politely, to stay out of any and allkitchen preparations, as they have everything in hand. All the servers haveagreed to donate their days off to help out, too. All except Annmarie. If shewasn’t getting paid, she wasn’t coming in, but unluckily for her there was aschedule change, and it’s now her weekend in. I know it’s not my concern, but Isincerely hope that Sourdough fires her ass.

Snore stepped in and arrangedfor the paint, brushes, drop cloths, and basically everything equipment wise,to be ordered through the hardware business. Then had a couple of garagecustomers with pickups agree to collect it all on Saturday, store it overnightand deliver early tomorrow morning. I suspect it cost us a free meal, but hey,what the hell.

Joel is on bar duty tonight,and there is a sign posted stating,‘No Alcohol After 9PM. Bar shuts down 11PM’.It caused a fuss until Sharp got out his marker and added,‘By Order ofPres’.That stopped all the complaints in short order, I can tell you.

I had Snore take my SUV for aservice this week. These guys don’t know when it was last serviced, and I usedit as an excuse to get it checked out thoroughly, so when I’m ready, it’ll begood to go.

A couple of the brothers havesaid they want a big send-off for me when it’s time, but that’s not what Iwant. Maybe I’ll let them organize their party and slip away the night beforeor something.

Most of my stuff has beenpacked for a couple of weeks now. I’ve done way more than the month I wassupposed to be here to help out, and the changes are definitely there for allto see. Sharp and Crack both know I’m getting itchy feet. They have had eyes onme for a few days now.

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