Page 119 of Devil's Due

She laughs out loud. Not the reaction I expected. “Like Max’s tag? You’re tagging me like a dog.”

“It’s…”not the same thingI start to tell her, then stop. Now I’m laughing too. She’s got a point.

Her mirth dies away. “Anything, Beef. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it. Get Max a tag too. I know the risk I’m taking, the danger that I’m in. I’ll do anything to stay with you. But Beef, are you sure about this? You really want to marry me?”

“That’s secondary babe. Just to make it legal in the citizen world. I’m claimin’ you. And that, to a biker, has more meaning than a marriage license. So yes, I’m fuckin’ serious. I’ve never been more certain about anything in my life.”

“Stevie can’t marry you.”

What the fuck?Can’t marry you is all I heard. I rear up. “Why the fuck not? You already hitched? You’ve got a man in the wings waiting? You engaged or something?” Fuck, I never dreamed… I thought she might have a life to return to, I never thought about her having a man. Not that he’d be worthy of the name if he let her go off alone. “You…”

“No.” She replies emphatically, sitting up, drawing up her knees and wrapping her arms around them. “No Beef. I just don’t want you to call me that anymore. That’s not me, no need for pretence between us. I’m Stephanie, okay? Steph. Stevie doesn’t exist. Stevie is somebody different.”

“Stephanie?”

“Or Steph. That’s what my family calls me. Stephanie North.”

“Stephanie Carson,” I try it out. “It has a nice ring to it.”

“The marshals suggested I use a name close to my own so I wouldn’t ignore anyone calling me it. But I long to hear my old one again.”

“Steph,” I try it out. Then do it properly. “Stephanie North. Will you be my old lady and marry me?”

“Yes.”

Round three, it seems, isn’t delayed as long as either of us had expected it to be.

Chapter Forty-Two

“You sure you’re okay with this, Steph?”

“No.” Her bottom lip quivers. “But the time has come when I need to do what I have to. Lennox has explained how this is going to play out. But you’ve got to stay back, Beef. Let them do their job.”

The marshals, it seems, are experts at getting witnesses to court and have come up with a number of ways to get them there unseen. Stevie is going to be hidden in a catering truck, the one that normally goes to the courthouse, so it won’t stand out. Another car, a decoy, and escort will be going by a different route.

I pace the room, while trying to bring myself under control. We’ve had no trouble in the last few weeks, which leads me to think it’s today when an attempt will be made on her life. I’ve been trying hard to stay positive for Stevie and not let her in on my concerns; she’s sufficiently aware of the risk herself that she’s worried enough. If I let on how anxious I am too, it won’t help her at all.

Lennox has assured me his plan is airtight, it’s worked before, no reason why it should fail now. Even getting her to the catering truck will involve switching vehicles a couple of times, a wig for disguise. Steph’s been well versed in what she has to do. She’s practiced swapping cars, so she can do so without help and give no suspicion she is blind.

Ink, Mace, and Lizard have already gone down to LA and are staking out the courthouse. They volunteered due to the skills they picked up in the Army and Marines, namely the ability to merge into the background and remain undetected.

Steph is being flown down, and Demon and I are going with her on the plane. As the nearest chapter of the Satan’s Devils is San Diego, my old friend Dart, now the San D VP, will be coming along with some of his brothers; Salem, their enforcer and Grumbler, their sergeant-at-arms, along with Pennywise and Kink. As Lennox has forbidden us to carry weapons on the plane—it had been hard enough to convince him to let Demon and I tag along—Dart is bringing weapons for us in case we need to use them.

We do know, courtesy of RIP, that Mad Bull and the officers in the pen have been removed from the general population due to threats, hopefully isolated so they can’t contact the outside, but I wouldn’t stake Steph’s life on that. As they are on remand and not convicted, they’re being protected for now. We also know there are still Jokers in LA that Stinger and his crew haven’t been able to pick up. Too many of the motherfuckers still breathing. Hopefully Steph’s testimony will get them put away for a very long time, and the feds will round up everyone else.

The only outcome from the trial that I’m worried about, is a lack of a conviction. If the Warped Jokers walk free, they’ll want revenge for having been locked up in the first place. And, of course, losing their charter from the Wretched Soulz could be laid at Steph’s door.

“It’s time, Beef.”

As Steph used her speaking watch, I’m only too well aware. At least I’ll be with her until the last moment.

Descending the stairs to the clubroom, Max scampering ahead, the only sound that can be heard is the ticking of his claws on the floorboards. The solemnity of the situation has got to everyone.

“We wanted to wish you good luck. When you get back, we’re going to have a party.”

“Might not be anything to celebrate, Vi,” Steph warns her.

“Whatever happens it will be over, and you’ll be able to get on with your life.” Melissa, Skull’s woman, who now seems to have found her place here, makes a good point. Whatever the outcome, we’ll know what we’re dealing with and won’t be hanging in limbo.

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