Page 70 of Roses Are Dead
Wolf let him stew a moment before replying. “Tell me, if you were sitting on four hundred and fifty million, would you want to share it with a bunch of fucking idiots who can’t even piss straight?”
Fry’s quiet laugh didn’t make a sound. His eyes drifted to Wolf’s prosthetic leg. “I suppose if I was in your position, I’d be a little paranoid.”
That was a threat. One I shouldn’t let him get away with. If I were still the SoA for the chapter, I’d pull my gun, odds be damned.
Instead, I strolled forward, almost stopping within arm’s reach of Fry’s bike. I smiled and tipped my head to the guy on his left who had his hand jammed down his vest so hard it was going to get stuck that way. “Did you ever find out who shot your men up north?” As far as rumors went, Demons were supposedly very easy to kill. One half-out-of-it Destroyer and an old man wasted almost seven of Fry’s crew. Hell, one woman killed four right under their own roof. Which would be a good thing to remind him about. “And Killer’s getting better with a gun.” I let my smile go wide and leaked a little crazy out. The kind that one day would get me killed.
But Fry loved crazy. He ate it up like candy.
“I like you, Bear. Wanna ride with the big boys?” He motioned to his crew.
His scrawny addict-infested bunch was no match for five well-armed Destroyers. “Wanna see how fast your house goes boom with some C4?” I winked.
His face dropped into a scowling pit of hatred. “Go fuck yourself.”
He circled his hand once, and the bikes fired up. They roared around us three times before they took off in the opposite direction that Tits took.
Wolf let a silent sigh of relief leak out as soon as the thunder from their motors dimmed in the distance. “They still didn’t ask for permission.”
“I noticed that. They’re going to be a problem in a couple of years.” I muttered.
“They’re a problem now.” Wolf answered.
The Demons weren’t technically our enemy. That was reserved for another group. The Wicked Legion had always been our enemy. And their biggest tactical mistake was making the Demons one, too. Which put us and the Demons on the same side.
That only worked if there was an even balance between our crews. But numbers didn’t lie. Speaking of…
“Fish. Get your ass over here.”
KC’s tweaker friend crawled out of the shadows he’d taken residence in. I patted him down and pulled his nine-mil before introducing him to Wolf. “Meet KC’s buddy, our eyes and ears on Carl. His name’s Fish.”
Wolf scanned him. Then motioned for me to hand over the gun I’d confiscated. He looked at it for barely a second. “Are you always armed?”
Fish almost lied. It was right there on his face. But he had at least one brain cell left. “No.”
Wolf handed the gun back to him. “From now on, you will be. Understand?”
Despite whatever he was on, his nod was sober.
But Wolf wasn’t done. “And whatever shit you’re on? Get off it. I will not recruit anyone so fucked up they put my brothers’ lives on the line like you just fucking did.” He grabbed Fish’s gun hand by the wrist and clamped down hard. “They saw you, you fucking idiot.”
Sprout nonchalantly re-holstered his gun. He’d seen it, too, and kept his coverage hidden from even me.
Apparently, Wolf knew because he dipped his head at our very own class clown. “Sprout can hit dead center of a moving target at 80 meters. You may want to come to the lake house with KC and get some practice at being a little more…discreet.” He let go abruptly. The marks from his grip turned white and then flushed into an angry red. Wolf was not a weak man. Too many people underestimated his abilities just because of a missing leg.
Hopefully, Fish would get the hint and begin taking advantage of our hospitality. It would be at least a year before anyone stepped forward to sponsor him, and double that long before we’d even think about patching him in.
Fry was right. We were down in numbers. Our feeder chapter down south had its own charter now, and we hadn’t found anyone who could fill their shoes. West of us, Pittsburg was disintegrating. Maybe we could poach members from that implosion, but losing that chapter would leave a huge hole that someone needed to fill. And if we weren’t careful, that someone would be the Demons or the Wicked Legion. Then we’d be screwed.
Jackson was right to swap me out for others. And we were damn stupid letting his wife and kid tag along on a border ride.
Even if it technically wasn’t on our border. The Demons coming this far into our territory worried me. Truce or not, it had been a test. One we failed.
Wolf nudged my arm. “What’s got you quiet?”
“You know what.”
He snorted. “You need to get laid.”
