Page 18 of The Echo of Violence

He throws his roll at my head, and I catch it, adding it to my plate. You snooze, you lose.

“You’re so morbid.”

“This isn’t exactly new information, Nico.”

“What did you actually do today?” Rex sits down beside me, handing me a knife and fork.

“I went to the shooting range, did some grocery shopping because all I had left was ketchup and butter, and then I went to the park.”

“You and your people watching,” he laughs, but my people watching has come in handy, so I shrug.

I take a bite of my food and let my eyes flutter shut as I savor the taste. “Sooo good.”

“What can I say? I’m good with meat,” he says with a smile, making me choke.

“Try not to make me choke before I can swallow.”

We all pause and look at each other.

“That sounded different in my head.”

We all crack up and shoot the shit while we eat. Once we’re finished, Rex gets up and starts taking the dishes inside to load into the dishwasher. I stand up to help, but he gives me a look that says, sit your ass back down. With a shrug, I walk over to one of the comfy, oversized egg-shaped chairs and take a seat.

Nico sits in the chair beside me before handing me a file. “Came in earlier. Wasn’t sure if you’d want to take it or not.”

I frown at him. I’ve never been picky with our cases before. Why would now be any different? I open it and read:

Andrew White. Twenty-seven years old. Missed his court appearance. Charged with weapon possession, assault and battery, and possession with the intent to supply.

“It amazes me how this guy made bail.”

“It was set at two hundred and fifty thousand.”

“That’s fuck-all for these offenses. What’s the deal?”

“Connections?”

I flip the page and see the photo of the man. Nothing about him is familiar, but he has that look I’m all too familiar with. This isn’t his first offense, and it sure as hell won’t be his last. He just doesn’t care.

My eyes move to the photo below the mugshot and see it’s of Andrew and another man, both of them wearing cuts with the Chaos Demon symbol on the back.

“For shit’s sake. I swear, we’ve been here for two years, and not once have I run into a Chaos Demon, or any other biker for that matter. And now they’re everywhere.”

“What do you mean everywhere?”

I wave him off. “I almost ran one over today. Some asshole cut him off at the lights. If I hadn’t been paying attention, I would have smashed into the back of him.”

“Damn. He’s lucky. I don’t think a bike would stand up against your car.”

“Well, hopefully, that’s something I never find out. Okay, what else do we know about this guy? Give me the Cliff Notes version.”

“Beyond what’s in the file, he’s had odd jobs all his life, nothing serious, and he usually loses them or leaves them within months of starting. He’s a prospect with Chaos, has been for eight months, and goes by the name Scooter.”

“A prospect isn’t so bad, but do we really want to get tangled up in this?”

“Probably not.”

“Okay, you twisted my arm. Find out when they like to party and if and when they let outsiders inside. If they don’t, we’ll have to lure him somewhere else. But you know, as well as I do, prospects are nothing more than bitch boys. So most of his days and nights will be spent at the clubhouse.”

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