Viper's Kiss (3 page)

“
I
don
’
t care. Leave right
now.
”

He let out a breath.
“
Okay. I
’
ve overstayed my welcome. I
’
ll be back, Jessa. We are so far from done.
”

“
You
come near me again and I
’
ll
call the police. I
’
m going
to call the police right now. I
’
m
going
…”

“
Before
you waste your energy with words, look in the box. Look at what I brought you.
Remember, Jessa.
”
His lip
curled.
“
Remember exactly
who the fuck I am.
”

With that, he turned and walked
away.

Jessa felt the fear rise up within
in her like a tide. She touched her chest. Her heart was pounding. Nobody would
believe if she told them. Nobody was supposed to know about what had happened
before.

“
Uh,
Jessa?
”
Terri asked.

Jessa stepped toward the box and
then looked over her shoulder.
“
What?
”

“
We
have a small problem.
”

“
What?
”

“
One
of the cats
…
it
’
s missing.
”

“
What
do you mean it
’
s missing?
”

“
I
went to check on everything. Mrs. Soldier
’
s
cat is missing. The cage is shut and everything. It
’
s just gone
…”

“
A
cat can
’
t disapp
…”

Jessa sucked in a breath. She
looked at the box and shook her head. She thought about the last thing he ever
said to her before he was arraigned and put away.

Don
’
t worry, my little kitty,
I
’
ll be back
for you.

Slowly, Jessa grabbed at one of the
loose flaps of the box. She knew what she was going to find inside but yet she
had to see it anyway. She did her best not to scream and cause a scene, but she
did fall forward, into the wall, catching herself with her other hand.

There was only one person she could
call. A man she swore to herself she would never ever see again.

She had to call the man responsible
for her best friend
’
s
death
…
she
had to call Blaine
…

three.

Blaine kicked open the door and
everyone stood to applaud him. He put his hands out and nodded.
“
Bring it in, boys. Bring it in
…”

Behind him, Miller pushed through
the door and gripped Blaine
’
s
shoulder tight.
“
You done
yet?
”

“
I
’
m just getting started,
”
Blaine said.
“
I think I have everyone beat.
”

“
Don
’
t forget,
”
Miller said,
“
I
stole the Chief
’
s wife and
baby. I think that takes the cake over getting a blow job in jail.
”

“
True,
”
Blaine said.
“
But I didn
’
t get a blow job in jail. I was
face down in some sweet, nasty stuff too. They couldn
’
t get the cell open fast enough. I pulled the one
away from my face and looked right at the new chief and shot my load into the
other one
’
s mouth.
”

“
Wait
a second,
”
Trev said.
“
You came while staring at
another guy?
”

“
Yeah,
”
Blaine said.
“
Well, no. Yeah. I mean, it was
the chief. You know? Like a
…
like a big fuck you to you
…”

“
That
’
s weird,
”
Gaige said.

“
Really
weird,
”
Miller said.

“
No,
no,
”
Blaine said.
“
You guys let that woman suck on
your dick for a few minutes and watch what happens. The pope could have come
into the cell and I wouldn
’
t
have been able to stop.
”

“
Oh,
Christ,
”
Miller said.
“
Just sit the fuck down so we can
talk.
”

Miller closed the door behind him.
Everyone at the table took a seat.

Blaine sat down and rubbed his
chin.

What a fucking night.

He was running on empty right now.
He sat in jail until almost two in the morning. That
’
s when they all got released. At the same time.
They went back to the strip club so Blaine could get his motorcycle. He had
room for one of them to come with him
…

“
So
I see we have a new guy in charge of the Frelen PD,
”
Miller said as he made fists and put them on the
table.
“
Blaine was the
lucky one to meet him.
”

“
Yeah,
lucky,
”
Blaine said. He and
Miller looked at each other. Not a lot of people knew Blaine
’
s deepest secrets. Not that he
had any ties to the law or justice, but it still stunk on him a little.
“
The guy
’
s an asshole. As expected.
”

“
We
’
re his first target,
”
Miller said.
“
And why not? It was no shock the
relationship we had with Jerry for all those years. Keeping the balance between
good and bad. We did the dirty work and the PD came out looking brave and
clean.
”

“
Fuck
them,
”
Nate said.
“
Everything we just went through
with Jerry
…”

“
None
of that matters,
”
Miller
said.
“
They knew he was
fucked in the head. That
’
s
why the suicide was accepted and let go. They won
’
t
memorialize Jerry. They won
’
t
talk about him. They
’
re
pushing to move forward. But I
’
m
sure somewhere in the back of their minds, they blame us.
”

“
It
’
s been a bloody and rough time,
”
Blaine said.
“
But it
’
ll settle now. There
’
s
no more shit outside. Eight Under has been kept under control for a while now.
Coast Road has nothing since we took their deals away.
”

“
Now
we just have the entire PD looking at us again,
”
Shay said.
“
Like we
’
re ants  under a magnifying
glass.
”

“
Except
there
’
s no sun,
”
Miller said.
“
They
’
ll come hard, but they have nothing. I need all of
you to keep your noses clean. No getting busted at the titty bar
…”

“
Whoa,
”
Blaine said.
“
Let
’
s get something straight. It
’
s not a
titty bar
. It
’
s an entertainment establishment.
”

“
And
they entertain you with their tits out,
”
Landon said.

“
Not
just their tits, man,
”
Blaine said.
“
Not for me.
You can
’
t imagine
…”

“
Oh,
we can,
”
Gaige said.

“
Why
did they bust up the place?
”
Trev asked.

“
To
flex their muscles,
”
Blaine
said.
“
They were checking
for licenses. For issues. Alleged rumors of prostitution and drugs. They wanted
to shake down the dancers.
”

“
Looks
like you got mouthy,
”
Gaige
said and touched the side of his face.

Blaine touched the swollen cut on
his face.
“
You know me,
man.
”

“
Always
an opinion.
”

“
One
of them hit one of the girls,
”
Blaine said.
“
I don
’
t go for that shit.
”

“
Christ,
”
Shay said.
“
He
’
s
pushing power, huh?
”

“
He
’
s trying to create rank,
”
Miller said.
“
Trying to show who is big,
little, whatever. We can push back. We will push back. He
’
s not going to find anything he
thinks.
”
Miller slowly sat
down.
“
But we still have to
survive.
”

“
That
doesn
’
t sound good,
”
Blaine said.
“
I know that tone, Miller.
”

“
We
have a job,
”
Miller said.
“
A delivery run.
”

“
A
shipment,
”
Gaige said.
“
Got a call from Southern Cali.
They have a shipment of weapons that
’
s
being tied up just outside Reno. Our neighboring charter has themselves on a
couple Fed lists and are being watched worse than we are here.
”

“
So
we
’
re moving the shipment?
”
Nate asked.

“
Yeah,
”
Miller said.

“
Jesus,
”
Shay said. He stuck a cigarette
between his lips and lit it. He took a drag.
“
So
much for keeping our noses clean.
”

“
It
’
s not anything crazy,
”
Miller said.

“
How
big?
”
Blaine asked.

“
Box
truck size.
”

“
Fuck,
”
Blaine said.
“
That
’
s
…”

“
We
’
ll be out of Frelen
jurisdiction,
”
Miller said.
“
For most of the ride. I
have an idea to help take the heat off us a little.
”

“
Listen,
”
Blaine said,
“
Ethan isn
’
t going to buy anything we do. We leave town, he
’
s going to be on us. He
’
s going call in favors. He
’
ll do whatever, Miller. You don
’
t know how deep and dark this
guy will go.
”

“
How
do you know?
”
Gaige asked.

Blaine looked at Gaige.
“
Trust me, brother, I know. He
wants to make a name for himself in this town. Anything to get us
…”

“
We
have to do it,
”
Miller
said.
“
There
’
s no question on that. We can
vote it if anyone wants to, but I
’
m
telling you guys, we have to help move these weapons. To protect two charters.
To protect ourselves. These other crews are going to rebuild and push again. If
they don
’
t, others will.
”

“
What
about those guys in Rusted Devil?
”
Blaine asked.
“
Our boy Jake
went up there and took care of business.
”

“
They
still have cartel issues,
”
Gaige said.

“
We
’
re not mixing clubs,
”
Miller said.
“
Let me work on the details for
this run. Everyone keep their eyes open and their noses out of shit.
”

Blaine raised his hand.
“
What about pussy? Because if I
have to keep my nose out of pussy, I
’
ll
kill myself.
”

Everyone laughed.

“
Get
the fuck out of here,
”
Miller said. He quickly grabbed for Blaine.
“
Not
you.
”

“
Ah,
shit,
”
Blaine said.
“
Am I in trouble, Miller?
”

“
Maybe.
”
Miller looked away.
“
Hey, Jace! Send a prospect in
here with a couple
’
a shots
of whiskey.
”

Blaine then sat in silence with
Miller. It was uncomfortable. Miller was a damn good man, a powerful President,
but also scary as fuck. He didn
’
t
need bulging muscles and tats running all over his body. He had the power of
silence. The kind of guy that could sit there and not say a word but still
command the room.

Nothing could scare Blaine though.
He
’
d been there, done that,
twice even. That was just how his life had been set up. He rubbed his jaw and thought
about Ethan.

Excuse me, Chief Ethan now.

They had been on the streets for
years together. Busting up gangs, stopping murders, investigating the nastiest
stuff that nobody else wanted. Hell, it was those long nights that pushed
Blaine to the other side of the law. The nights where they
’
d find a beautiful young woman
huddled up because of shit some asshole had done to her. Then they
’
d catch the guy and they couldn
’
t hurt him -
because of the
law
- and then the guy would go to trial and weasel his way off.

She had it coming.

She teased me, okay?

She was just drunk
…

She wanted it.

There were times when Blaine would
show up to court to watch it all unfold. But when cases started to turn and
shit went sideways he realized that law and justice was nothing but a mere
cloak that covered some deep seeded corruption. And when he pushed back
…

“
You
okay?
”
Miller asked.
“
You look ready to cry.
”

Blaine grinned.
“
Just thinking about those
kitties
,
Miller. One had herself pierced down there. Goddamn.
”

“
Nothing
you ain
’
t seen before.
”

“
I
know. But it still surprises me.
”

A prospect came into the room and
put two shot glasses down on the table.

“
What
’
s this about?
”
Blaine asked.

“
I
know where you have to go now, brother,
”
Miller said.
“
You have to
step back into that darkness.
”

“
No,
”
Blaine said.
“
I don
’
t do that. I don
’
t
step back. I just go forward. The problem though? Everything is round. The
world is round. The sun goes around. The calendar repeats itself. I go forward,
I
’
m forced to go around.
”

“
You
know, you
’
re actually
pretty smart when you
’
re
not acting like an asshole.
”