Jase (Kings of Korruption MC Book 3) (14 page)

Ellen

I’m sitting in
the waiting room of the courthouse, doing my best to avoid Paul’s
glare, when the bailiff emerges and announces that the judge would
like to speak with both Paul and me. My knees are weak as I stand
from the bench and move towards him, pleading with God to make this
turn out okay. Why does the judge want to see us this time? Has she
reached her decision?

Stella stands
behind a long table at the left side of the room, motioning for me
to join her. I watch with wide eyes as Paul strides confidently to
the table where his lawyer stands, waiting for him. “You okay?”
Stella whispers when I reach her.

My entire body
shakes, my limbs seeming to have a mind of their own. I look back
at her and nod, terrified that if I try to speak, the scream I’m
holding back will come bubbling up to the surface.

“
You may be seated,” the judge declares, placing a small pair
of spectacles low on her nose. “When it comes to the case of
Chapman vs. McGrath, I have reached my decision.” I take a deep
breath and stare up at her, hot tears forming in my eyes. The next
words out of the judge’s mouth are going to affect my son and me
for the next seven years.

“
Miss McGrath, please stand.” My knees tremble as I stand from
the chair with Stella’s assistance, gripping tight to the edge of
the table. “You had your child very young. I understand that your
family did not help in any way, is this true?”

“
Yes, Your Honor,” I squeak out.

“
I also understand that you had some help from a friend and
her family, and that you were able to support your child for ten
years without any help from Mr. Chapman. You even put yourself
through school to be a nurse in that time. Is this
true?”

“
Yes.” My heart lifts slightly, and hope starts to bloom deep
in my belly.

The judge
turns to Paul. “Mr. Chapman, please stand.”

Their chairs
scrape across the floor as Paul and his lawyer stand, Paul’s face
intent on the judge, but the smug look he once had is gone.

“
Mr. Chapman, you were aware of the birth of your son, Bryce.
Am I correct in that statement?”

“
Yes, Your Honor.”

“
You did not try to contact him or Miss McGrath until after
the child’s tenth birthday. Is this also true?”

“
Yes, Your Honor, but I—”

“
I’m talking, Mr. Chapman. I will thank you to just answer the
questions with a yes or a no, unless otherwise instructed. Am I
clear?”

“
Yes,” he says, his jaw set in a hard line.

“
I believe that this is a case of two young children, getting
themselves into trouble and creating a child that neither of them
were ready for. Mr. Chapman took the cowards way out, and avoided
the child entirely, while Miss McGrath worked hard, making sure she
could provide a good life for her son.” I take a deep breath, doing
my best to hide my growing smile. “That being said, I think that
unless the parent is unfit in some way, I see no reason why a child
should be kept from them. Mr. Chapman, while I see evidence that
you are indeed a difficult man, I see nothing that says you are
abusive. On those grounds, I award you visitation rights to your
son.”

Conflicting
emotions rage war inside my heart. I knew that he would win the
right to see Bryce, and it’s much better than him getting full or
even joint custody, but knowing that it’s legal now, that I have to
comply with a judge’s order and let Bryce see Paul, makes me
nauseous.

Paul’s smug
face turns to me and smirks, clearly gloating in the fact that he
won even this small victory. He continues to smirk at me the entire
time the judge lays out the schedule. Every second weekend, every
other holiday, and two weeks in the summer, Bryce will be sent to
be with Paul.

“
Mr. Chapman,” the judge barks. “Your smug attitude is
indicative of what I meant when I said you are a difficult man.”
Paul stops smirking and looks over at the judge.

“
Sorry, Your Honor.”

“
During the ten years of your son’s life that you missed, as
well as the one you were present for, Miss McGrath has supported
your son entirely on her own. That will not do, Mr. Chapman. I find
that you owe Miss McGrath eleven years in back child support
payments, as well as monthly payments from this day forward. I will
get your lawyer to present the paperwork for you to
sign.”

Paul’s
panicked eyes dart from his lawyer, to the judge, then to me. I
almost feel bad for him. That’s a lot of money. But then I remember
my enormous student loans, and Bryce’s need for braces. Not to
mention his meager college fund that could use some serious beefing
up. That makes me feel better.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Jase

I
ride behind
Ryker in our new formation, still trying to get used to my new
title and place in the hierarchy of the club. Earlier today, Ryker
had sent two of our prospects out, intent on hunting down a couple
of low-level Crips. It didn’t take them long to find two young
guys, barely out of their teens, walking downtown.

They’d drawn
guns on our guys, but thankfully, instead of shooting, they’d
listened to what they had to say. Bosco had explained to them that
our club prez wanted a meeting with their leader, Face. We wanted
to work out an arrangement. Bosco told them to meet us tonight at
the same lot we’d shot up their men a few months ago, when fighting
against the Devil’s Rejects.

After a quick
phone call to their leader, we had ourselves a date.

Reaper and
Tease had gone ahead of us, wanting to beat our enemies to the
meeting spot. It’s the perfect place because it’s secluded and
deserted, and there are lots of places to hide, which is exactly
why we sent our two most ruthless men to sweep the place and lie in
wait.

As agreed, we
pull into the parking lot a full ten minutes after the Crips were
due to arrive. There’s a large man standing in front, two directly
behind him, and at least thirty more men, forming the rest of their
crew. It was agreed there’d be no weapons, but I don’t miss the
baseball bats and crowbars in the hands of several of the
Crips.

As a group, we
park our bikes and form our own group with Ryker in front, facing
the Crips’ leader, me and Slots behind him, and the rest of our
guys put us at a group of eighteen. I don’t take my eyes off their
leader, who cracks his knuckles and sneers at Ryker.

“
You got a lot of balls demanding a meeting with me, grease
monkey,” Face sneers. My eyes scan the crowd in front of us,
watching for any sudden movements. We’re surrounded by ten, very
large shipping containers, and I know that directly behind me,
Reaper and Tease are camped out on one of them, Reaper’s silenced
sniper rifle ready to go when needed. Ryker’s plan is risky at
best, but if it works, our war with the Crips will be over, and
they’ll know not to fuck with the Kings in the future.

Ryker holds up
his hand. “We’re here to talk truce,” he states.

I watch as
Face’s expression goes from surprised to amused in an instant.
Laughter booms from his throat, the others in his group laughing it
up right alongside him. Suddenly, the two men directly behind him,
crumple to the ground, with perfect round holes placed directly in
the centre of their foreheads.

The laughter
stops and every man, Crips and Kings, pull out their pieces, aiming
and ready to fire at will. Face shakes with rage, his skin flushed
and his eyes wide. “What the fuck are you doing? You call this a
truce?” His gun is directed at Ryker. I guess none of us wanted to
show up without being strapped.

Ryker’s gun
doesn’t waver as it points directly back at him. “We just killed
your two best men. You killed our prez and his old lady. A life for
a life. I think this could make us about even now, wouldn’t you
say?”

Face’s eyes
scan the shipping containers behind us, his eyes moving rapidly.
“If you’re looking for your men, our guys have got them tied up in
the back,” Ryker says matter of factly.

“
What are you proposing?”

Ryker lowers
his gun, motioning for the rest of us to do the same. We do, but we
don’t put them away, keeping them in our hands and ready. “With
Gunner gone, I’m prez now. I want to make some changes—big changes.
I wanna go clean.”

Face eyes him
up and down before lowering his gun, motioning for the rest of his
men to do the same. They do, but I don’t miss the one guy directly
across from me who looks more pissed than any of the others. It’s
the guy from the Escalade, the one that shot at the sign on the
compound. He’s wiry and small, and his handshakes as he grips the
butt of the gun tightly in his hand. His knuckles are white as he
stares at Ryker.

“
I know you’re pissed about what happened with your men a few
months ago,” Ryker continues.

“
Yeah, you fucking ambushed ‘em,” the angry one yells. I watch
as Face turns to him and makes a hand gesture, calming the guy
down, but only slightly.

“
You’re right,” Ryker says. “We did, but our fight was with
the Devil’s Rejects, not the Crips. We just finished our war with
them, and we’re not looking for another one with you.”

“
I can’t just let that fuckin’ go, man,” Face says. “I can’t
forget that you killed a bunch of my boys.”

Ryker sighs.
“Part of goin’ clean is gettin’ out of the weed business. We grow
it, we transport it, and we sell it. We want out. I’m willing to
hand it over to you, sixty percent of our grow ops, and let you
have them with the condition that this war is over.”

Face blinks.
“And the other forty?”

“
The Bloods.” Angry rumbles come from the Crips. Apparently,
not all of them like that part at all. “Look, man, the Bloods have
been good to us, and they’re getting the rest. I won’t budge on
this.”

Face’s jaw
clenches as he weighs his options. “What’s the catch?”

Ryker smiles,
but his eyes are hard. “We fight.”

Face scoffs.
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me, man? You want to fight me?”

Ryker nods and
stuffs his gun back into it’s holster, making a point of showing it
to Face. “You beat me, you get the weed, and a truce.”

“
And if I lose?”

“
We continue our war, and the Bloods get it all.”

Face throws
his head back and laughs. “You hear that boys? The biker wants to
fight. Let’s show these greasy fuckers how we do things.”

“
What?” the guy with the teardrop tat yells as Face starts
pushing up his sleeves. “A deal? What about my brother?”

Face turns and
glares at the guy before turning back to Ryker, his fists raised
and ready to go. Just as Ryker’s steps closer, I see the guy hold
his gun out, pointing it straight at Ryker. He takes two giant
steps, nearly closing the distance between them.

Lifting my own
gun, I aim a shot right at him, hiding my grin when he jumps
back.

My shot hits
the ground directly in front of him, putting a burn mark on the toe
of his boot from where the bullet grazed it.

Nobody moves.
Even the Kings are surprised. I guess not all of them knew that I’m
a crack shot.

That’s one
thing my dad and I used to do together when he did spend time with
me. We shot guns.

Face steps
forward and grabs his man by the back of the shirt, yanking him
back and letting him fall to the ground on his ass. “You think you
know what’s best for my guys, Colt?”

“
These fuckers killed my brother! You said you’d fuckin’
handle them, and now you’re fist fighting for a fuckin’ weed deal?”
Colt stands and puts his gun back in his pocket. “That’s bullshit,
man, and you know it.”

I can only see
Face from behind, so I’m not quite sure what’s happening until his
giant fist pulls back and punches forward, slamming it into Colt’s
nose. The blow causes him to fall right back down on his ass once
more. “You don’t ever question me, you dumbass,” is all Face says
before turning back to Ryker. “Let’s do this.”

Ryker grins a
wolfish smile and raises his fists. The two men square off, and
then it’s on. Fists fly, and the sound of flesh hitting bone barely
registers above the yelling of the men as everyone rallies in a
circle, cheering on their leaders. It’s like being at a high school
brawl all over again.

I stand by,
watching as Ryker carefully aims his punches, taking an occasional
hit himself, but I’m not worried. Ryker is one of the scrappiest
motherfuckers I know. I’ve never known him to lose a fight in his
life, and he’s been in his fair share of ‘em.