I can’t wait.
CHAPTER 18
MERRICK
As Saturday night plays out at the Leaky Skull, I keep looking at the stage where No Lucky Break is playing tonight. It looks different with the four kids in black jumping around, screaming lyrics, but I can picture this morning with Marietta on the pole.
And what happened after.
We’re playing with fire, and I figure I ought to loop Iron Jack into what’s happening, if I get a chance. I don’t know how Marietta will feel about that, though. It’s her situation.
I figure I’ll bring it up after church, but then Iron Jack himself strides into the bar around midnight.
The place is pretty full, with the band finishing out its set. I’ve called off the twenty-something influencers for the time being, but the young women are still coming based on the info circulating. Two tables of them watch from near Hookup Heaven as Iron Jack commands the attention of the room just by walking.
“I can cover the bar,” Diesel says as Iron Jack tilts his head to indicate he wants to talk to me.
“Hopefully, it won’t be long.” I hop the bar, wondering why the president of the club would seek me out. Maybe Marietta talked to him? Or she told someone who tipped him off?
Iron Jack chooses a table near the girls, who can’t take their eyes off him. He’s got a black shirt on under his cut today and a leather skullcap over his shoulder-length blond hair. He looks right out ofSons of Anarchy, and probably, those girls are fans.
He turns a chair around and straddles it, resting his tattooed arms on the back rails. It’s an intimidation tactic, surely, since the words visible on his forearms in this position are “Death” and “Revenge.”
It’s not a bad idea, putting out a message like that. I think about what my two words would be, but I haven’t sat down two seconds when Iron Jack says, “We have to watch the mouse.”
Whew, boy. I don’t know what to say that won’t incriminate me, so I mumble, “All right.”
“Lucifer’s Kin is aiming to infiltrate our territory with all sorts of bad shit. Drug warehouses. Gun running. They do construction coverups. Mainly buy future demos and use them for storage.”
I hold back from releasing a sigh of relief. “And what does this have to do with Marietta?”
“They snatched Cilo’s girl a few days ago. They thought he was still in the Wild Hair. Sent the message to the wrong dick.”
“Did y’all get her back?” I’ve been so focused on Marietta, I haven’t kept up with the club.
“Fuck yeah, we did. And we sent the whole MC to their club outside of Fort Lauderdale.”
“Was that the Wednesday night gig?” The one that allowed me to be all over Marietta alone without anyone noticing.
“Yeah. The retrieval. It didn’t go clean.” Iron Jack grimaces. “I hate getting the club’s hands dirty on that.”
“Were there bodies?”
Iron Jack shakes his head. “Close, though.”
Damn. “Are they after Marietta?”
“They’ve heard we have a virgin mouse. You can imagine what they want to do with her.” He pauses as Vicki rushes up and leaves him a scotch, then scurries away. “We have to keep the club protected, plus really watch her on campus. You think she’ll take a break from that dance thing she does? It’s a lot to ask the club to do on top of the school.”
“I’m with her at those.”
He nods. “I’m not saying I doubt your ability to protect her, but you’re a prospect, and you don’t do our protection gigs. My priority when I chose you to take her was to keep my men off her. But now, it’s to keep theirs away.”
Fuck. “What do you have planned?”
“We took on a new prospect. He might seem green, but he’s a marksman. That boy can shoot the eyelash off a ladybug.”
“You think a marksman is the best protection? Seems like you’d want some brute force.”
