Page 3 of Remiss
He could call a club cleanup crew, but if it got back to Christopher, he’d have to explain himself, using yet another lie.
“You don’t run this show, Johnnie,” Bash barked. “I do. Keep your fucking comments to yourself.”
“Fuck you,” Johnnie replied, anger surging in him. “You’re on my fucking turf. I could shoot you as a fucking trespasser and leave no fucking trace of you.”
“You think?” Bash demanded. “You had your motherfucking chance to shoot me down. I was alone, which you fucking knew. You could’ve taken your goddamn shot, so fuck you.”
Humiliation invaded Johnnie and he placed his hand on the gun holstered at his side. Before he drew his weapon, Bash and Easton pulled on him.
“Drop your motherfucking hands, Johnnie,” Bash said coldly. “I didn’t plan to fuck you up, so don’t make me.”
Grinding his teeth, Johnnie raised his hands. “Christopher isn’t stupid. If I disappear, he’ll know it’s because of you.”
“I can fucking kill you and make it seem like you betrayed me in the act of betrayinghim. You think he’d avenge you or dance on your fucking grave?”
Johnnie didn’t answer. He didn’thavean answer. Once again, Bash had backed him into a corner, leaving Johnnie’s life on the line.
“I’m bored.” Bash’s gun disappeared inside his cut and he nodded to Easton, who holstered his gun too, so Johnnie lowered his hands. “I’m also sick of you dicking me around. Everything’s at a fucking standstill.”
“How the fuck is that my problem? Christopher knows everything, dickhead. He’s looking into the documents. You have anything to say—”
Bash grabbed a handful of Johnnie’s shirt and jerked him forward. “Listen to me, motherfucker. I don’t give a good fuck who’s in charge. My fucking club’s in trouble. I need money. I need what rightfully belongs to me. I need Christopher’s cumrag broken figuratively and literally.”
He shoved Johnnie away, unmoved by Johnnie sputtering and coughing.
“You insane fuck!” He thought of Torie and the same fear he’d experienced last night surged into him. “Christopher will kill you, me, and Easton or Pounder. He’ll blow your motherfucking club out of existence if you fuck with Megan.”
Studying Johnnie, Bash took his time lighting a cigarette and puffing on it a few times. “What do you thinkIwill do if you ignore what I want?”
Johnnie couldn’t say and didn’t want to find out. For two years, he’d been at Bash’s mercy. With each passing day, the power imbalance worsened. He’d even been made to kill twoof his own brothers. Which reminded him. “The bones of three Dwellers were found. I only killed two.”
“You can’t prove it,” Bash said. “ButIcan show that you killed those two bozos on camera. Who the fuck knows what you were willing to do off camera?”
“Christopher already knows,” Johnnie said smugly. At Bash’s surprise, his satisfaction increased. “Obviously, it doesn’t matter.”
Bash and Johnnie faced off. The longer the silence extended, the more comfortable Johnnie grew that he’d outwitted the asshole.
Then, Bash smiled, so coldly it chilled Johnnie.
“I wonder how the brothers would feel knowing Outlaw’s a fucking traitor.”
“What…?”
“You heard me, motherfucker.” Bash poked Johnnie’s chest. “He found out you fucked up Dweller brothers in cold fucking blood and didn’t put you to ground? He’s as much a turncoat as you.”
“No! What do you mean? No! I didn’t say that! No—”
“Shut the fuck up, dickhead,” Bash commanded. “You listen to me. If you don’t do every fucking thing I tell you to do, I’m exposing youandOutlaw.”
“No one will believe you!”
“Unlike you, motherfucker, I know how the fuck to bring about the demise of fuckheads. You want to fucking test me, go ahead.”
“We already know you’ve infiltrated the school and you’re listening in on phone conversations.” Johnnie nodded to Easton. “He proves that. How else would you know how much Megan likes Channing Tatum?”
“Research, motherfucker. Research. That fucking school’s a fortress. The closest we got to getting in was when I was stalking my nieces and nephews.”
“You’re a fucking liar. Furthermore, what the fuck’s going on with the Gnomes? They rode up on Megan and they were wearing Scorpion cuts.”
