Crash (Black Ice MC Novella Book 2) (7 page)

They backed away, staring daggers at the both of them.

“Just wait,” the Rattler called to Danni.
 
“You’ll pay for what you did.”

They disappeared around the corner and Danni let the out the breath she had been holding.
 
Cruz didn’t put his gun away until he was sure they weren’t coming back.

“You OK?”

Danni nodded.
 
“Thanks.”

“Come on, I’ll make sure you get back to your car safe.”

Cruz escorted Danni to her car, then followed her on his bike back to the clubhouse.
 
When they parked, he came inside with her.
 
The windows had been replaced but the club was empty.
 
She’d hoped Mercer would be around to tell him about what happened.

“Does this mean you’re staying?” Danni asked Cruz.

“I hadn’t made up my mind until just now, but yeah, it does.
 
I still think this club has problems, though.”

“Maybe by sticking around, you can fix those problems instead of just drifting all over the place.”

“Maybe you’re right.”
 
Cruz looked around for second, then said, “Given what just happened, do me a favor, stop treating me like something you found in the garbage.
 
If I’m going to stick around, I’d rather not have to deal with your attitude for the rest of my life.”

“Can you not be a total jackass?”

“Wow.
 
You just don’t know how to say thanks, do you?”
 
He grabbed a beer from the fridge and popped the cap with an opener on his keyring.
 
“I’m just asking for a little decency.”

“Were you willing to give decency when you stole food?
 
Or robbed that gas station?”

“Hypocritical much?
 
Your boyfriend is the leader of a criminal organization and you’re jumping up my ass about stealing a few bucks and lousy sandwich?
 
It was a dick move, sure, but I was going to starve if I didn’t do what I did.
 
I’m a survivor and I don’t make excuses for how I live my life.
 
Not to anyone.
 
I sure as shit don’t make them to you.”

Danni grabbed a beer for herself.
 
She looked around for an opener but couldn’t find one.
 
Cruz grabbed her bottle, used his keyring opener, and handed the beer back to her.

“Wow,” he said.
 
“Did I actually shut you up?”

Danni drank her beer and said, “Thanks.
 
For everything.
 
How about we wipe the slate clean?
 
Start fresh right here.”

“Deal.”

Mercer, Doc, and Red came back in.
 
There was a pause when they saw Cruz in the clubhouse.

“Didn’t think we’d be seeing you again,” said Mercer.

“Didn’t think you would either, but we need to tell you something.”

Danni and Cruz explained what happened.
 
When they were finished, Mercer slammed his fist on the table.

“They’re fucking dead.
 
Everyone mount up, we’re dealing with these assholes right now.”

“Fuck yeah, let’s do this,” enthused Red.

Doc stuck his hand out.
 
“Hang on just a second.
 
We need to think this through.”

“No way,” said Red.
 
“They just attacked one of our own.
 
We need to hit them now.
 
Show them they can’t push us around.”

Doc turned to Danni.
 
“You OK, Darlin’?”
 
Danni nodded.
 
“Then this could’ve been much worse.
 
Much, much worse.
 
We can’t just go in there hot-headed.”

“The hell we can’t,” said Mercer.
 

“They attacked the woman I love.
 
I’m not sitting here and letting them get away with that.”

“Kid, it sounds like she already paid them back and then some for what they did.
 
They have ten guys.
 
We have four.
 
They have automatic weapons.
 
We have a few pistols.
 
If we run off half-cocked, we’re likely to get killed.”

Mercer rubbed the bridge of his nose, then ran his fingers through his hair.
 
“Yeah, you’re right.
 
Let’s start hearing alternate plans.”

“This is bullshit,” said Red.

“Your opinion’s been heard.
 
Now sit down and shut the fuck up,” snapped Mercer.

Red’s face became as red as his hair.
 
“You said we’d always have a voice in this gang.
 
Maybe we should take a vote.”

“This isn’t something we vote on.
 
This is personal.”
 
Mercer said.

Cruz said, “This isn’t personal.
 
This was a calculated move, meant to get us running blind, just like Doc said.
 
The Rattlers want us out of the way and it would easy if we ran in their without enough men or weapons.
 
We have to be smarter than this.”

Mercer nodded and gave Cruz a curious look.
 
Danni noticed it, but didn’t say anything.

“What do you suggest then?” Mercer asked Cruz.

Cruz took off his jacket and sat down.
 
The clubhouse still wasn’t the most comfortable place in the world, but it was getting better every day.

“You know I used to run with this crew out of San Clemente?”

“That was Mad Dog’s crew, right?” said Doc.

Cruz nodded.
 
“That’s right.
 
Mad Dog Fernandez.
 
Doc probably knows this, but they called him Mad Dog because he would lay into somebody and never let go.
 
He had a wild streak in him that you wouldn’t believe.
 
He’d go on tears for days, drinkin’ and screwin’ his way from the coast to Riverside.
 
I never saw anything like it.”

“What the hell is your point?” said Mercer.

Cruz’s eyes narrowed, but instead of rising to the challenge, he kept on with his story.
 

“Like I said, they called him Mad Dog because he would lay into someone and never stop until they were dead or run out of town.
 
But the crazy part is, he almost never laid a hand on anybody.
 
Didn’t have to.
 
See Mad Dog knew that if a war dragged on, it just cost everybody.
 
You might win, but if you don’t have anything left, then you’re wide open to the next crew that comes along.”

“So you’re saying wait until we have enough men and firepower?”

“Wait to destroy them until we have enough men and firepower, but hit them where it hurts now.
 
They have same weakness everyone else does.
 
Money.
 
We need to take it from them.”

“That was pretty good thinking from Cruz,” said Danni.

Mercer swallowed his drink. “Yeah, it’s not bad.”

There were sitting at a table in the corner of the bar where Danni worked.
 
It was a slow day and the manager said she could take lunch break with Mercer as long as she kept an eye on the place, which wasn’t hard to do with no one else in there.

Still, she was nervous.
 
Her eyes kept darting to the door whenever she heard a noise.
 
She had gotten over the attack the day before, but she was worried the Rattlers might come in when she was working and make trouble.
 
Dealing with them was one thing, but losing her job was unacceptable.
 
She almost asked Mercer not to stop in, fearing they would follow him in, but she didn’t want to live in fear.
 
And she wanted to see Mercer.

“I’m kind of surprised to hear you say that,” said Mercer.
 
“‘You’re not his biggest fan.”

Danni shrugged.
 
“He came through for me yesterday.
 
Guess it made me warm up to him a little.”

“Yeah, I’m glad he was there.
 
But I still want to know what game he’s playing.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are things not adding up about him.
 
He tells stories that don’t match.
 
Like yesterday.
 
He said he ran with Mad Dog’s crew, but when we first met, he said he was in the Vipers for a while.
 
No way the San Clemente crew would allow in a guy who used to be with the Vipers.
 
Not only that, if he’s really been with as many crews as he says, the guy’s got no loyalty.”

“He proved that when he stormed out the other night.
 
What’re you thinking?”

“Don’t know yet.
 
But the way he’s acting… he could be an undercover cop or even a Rattler spy.”

“Then get rid of him,” said Danni.
 
“You don’t trust him, then kick him out.”

The front door opened and Danni’s heart skipped a beat, but calmed down when she saw it was some regulars.
 
Old guys, long retired, who started drinking at noon.
 
She got up and poured them each a shot and a beer, then got their order in.
 

Back at the table Danni, sat down.
 
“Sorry.
 
What were you saying?”

“Just that Cruz is a mystery.
 
Yeah, I thought about getting rid of him, that he’s not trustworthy, but if he really was a Rattler spy, he wouldn’t have argued about waiting to attack.
 
He would have wanted to jump right in, because he and Doc were right.
 
They could wipe us out if we tried something now.”

“Then maybe he’s a cop?”

“Maybe.
 
But he and Doc go back years.
 
Undercover cops don’t stay down that long.
 
They’re undercover for a couple of months, get the evidence they need, and make arrests.
 
And if he was a cop, then he’d be trying to get in with the Rattlers.
 
Wouldn’t make any sense to be with us.
 
Not right now, not until we’re up on our feet again.”

The men at the bar shouted for more drinks and Danni got up to serve them.
 
Mercer drained his beer and waved goodbye to Danni as he went out the door.
 
He fired up his bike and tore off down the street, making sure to roar by the police station.
 
He may not be allowed to wear his cut inside city limits, but there was no law against riding, and he wanted to show them he wasn’t afraid.
 

Mercer thought about Cruz.
 
All the things he’d said to Danni were true.
 
He was a mystery that didn’t add up, but he had good points too.
 
There were two reasons Mercer just didn’t send him packing.
 
The first was that they simply needed men.
 
Black Ice couldn’t run with just Mercer and Doc.
 
Hell, they needed a lot more men than what they had, but for the time being, they had four and they needed them all.
 
The second, and most important reason, was that Doc vouched for the guy.
 
Mercer hadn’t known Cruz long, but Doc had known him for years, and if Doc trusted Cruz, and Mercer trusted Doc, then Mercer had no choice but to trust Cruz.
 
That was life in an MC.
 
You might not like the guys standing next to you, but you sure as hell had to trust him.
 

Mercer came to a stop at a red light.
 
He was there for no more than twenty seconds when he heard the unmistakable sound of motorcycles approaching.
 
The Rattlers pulled around him.
 
It must have been the full MC.
 
There were three guys to his right, three to his left, and four behind him.
 
Mercer sat motionless while they revved their engines in an attempt to intimidate him.
 

Mercer remained fearless.
 
He had faced down much worse than this.
 
He had faced down Tank at his very worst.
 
These Rattlers were nothing more than a bunch of punks that needed to be taught a lesson.

The light turned green, and Mercer squealed his tires and took off quick.
 
Not out of fear, but to give them a chase.
 
Mercer was a damn good rider and he knew this town well.
 
He wanted to show them what a real rider could do.

He took the first curve going fast, pushing his weight against the bike to balance.
 
There were buildings on either side, the street barely bigger than an alley.
 
He knew if the Rattlers wanted to keep up, they’d have to cut the curve fast, and he doubted all of them could keep up.