He snorts a laugh before adding, “Just doing my job.”
I reach into my cut and take out an envelope, tossing it onto the table in front of him. “Keep up the good work and keep us informed,” I tell him.
“What’s this?”
“It’s your quarterly payment for being my man on the inside. You get five grand every three months paid in cash.”
“I can’t accept money. It’s all kinds of wrong and I’m supposed to be working off my punishment.”
The young cop seems like a guy who just fell off the turnip truck yesterday. I frown at him and make accepting my money easy for him. “Look, nothing I do is usually illegal. As you already know, all our businesses are legal. We don’t run guns, deal drugs, traffic women, or run illegal scams. Working for me should be a hell of a lot easier than working for Darkness’s crazy ass. Consider this a second job, like working mall security. Twenty grand a year barely pays for the expenses associated with working for me. Trust me, it ain’t a big deal.”
He quickly puts the envelope in his coat pocket and mumbles, “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Nova breaks it. “So, what happens next?”
“Right now they’re focusing on building their cases by tracking the money and seizing assets. Darkness wasn’t earning big bucks but some of his associates were.”
“I’m glad you’re sharing information with us,” she says softly. “It’s a load off my mind to know they’re not going to be getting released anytime soon.”
I lean back in my chair, watching him. “Is there anything else going on that we should know about?”
“Not that I can think of right now. If anything changes, I’ll let you know.”
I rise from my seat and he follows suit. I shake his hand and say, “Thanks for meeting with us. Remember, this relationship goes both ways. If you need any favors from us, just let us know. I’ll do any reasonable thing I can to help you out as long as it’s not illegal.”
He shakes my hand. “That sounds reasonable.”
Weaver slips out the front door, and Flint is there to escort him off our property. Ain’t no brother in our club gonna let a uniformed police officer wander around our property on his own, least of all Flint, who’s obsessed with security.
As the clubhouse door closes behind him, I feel a wry smile trying to jump onto my face.
Nova notices immediately. “What are you smiling about, babe?”
“Every time I see Weaver or read about how he’s the cop who made the biggest bust this county has seen in years it makes me smile. I don’t even think he knows that we catapulted his fucking career forward by years. He’s naive as hell.”
Nova grins up at me. “I noticed that too.”
Her smiling face makes everything else in my life worth it.
***
An hour later, I’m heading to a meeting with my old man, Jasper, Slate, and Onyx in a small meeting room. In addition to giving an update about the situation Weaver reported, I’ve decided to tell my family that I’m striking out on my own.
I’ve taken command of a rescue operation, killed a man to protect my old lady, and turned a dirty cop into a club asset. What I’m about to do shouldn’t be harder than any of that, yet somehow it is.
When I arrive, everyone is already in their usual seats, waiting on me. I close the door and lock it behind me. The click of the deadbolt gets everyone’s attention.
My old man’s eyes narrow. “Why are you locking the door, son?”
Before I can answer, Jasper states, “You look serious. What’s up? Did those fuckers decide to press charges on you after all for killing Darkness?”
Slate, who’s scraping at his fingernails with his favorite hunting knife, points it at me. “If the fucking DA thinks we’re not going to fight that, she’s fuckin’ crazy.”
I walk in and stand at the end of the table, beside the place I normally sit. “First of all, the DA is a woman. And secondly, no, she hasn’t decided to charge me with murder or anything else.”
Onyx frowns. “Then what is it, bro? Don’t tell me Nova ran out on you.”
I gesture around the table. “This is why it’s so fucking hard to talk to you fuckers about anything. You’re always so damn negative about everything.”
