Calming the Riot Read online

“Yo, big man!” Yak boomed.

  “Shit’s goin’ down, but I don’t know what yet. I’m at Andrea’s massage studio. Door was unlocked, but she ain’t here. There’s a businessman slumped outside. He’s got a pulse, gonna see if I can wake him up. Know most of the other brothers may not give a damn, but my gut says Leventon’s makin’ moves.”

  “Be there in ten. Bringin’ Rage with me.”

  Roll wanted to kick himself. He had been right behind Leventon the entire ride across I-295, but he couldn’t possibly run the light getting onto Highway 17 without giving himself away. The morning rush was headed the opposite direction, so the light for southbound traffic lasted half as long as it should have. If he’d been in a truck, he wouldn’t have had that problem. He blew out a sigh and went to check on the man outside.

  Just as Yak and Rage walked up, the man came to looking at Roll. The man’s body went tight, and he tried to get his feet under him.

  “Slow down, man. Slow down. I’m a friend of Andrea’s. Who did this to you?”

  The man shook his head. “I don’t know. He was wearing a winter hat.”

  “Have a pompom on it?” Rage demanded.

  When the man got an eyeful of Rage and Yak standing side-by-side his eyes bulged.

  With all the patience he could muster, Roll said, “Don’t worry about them. They’re with me, but did this guy’s hat have a silly-ass pompom?”

  After a beat, the man said, “Yeah. It was black and white. The bottom of his hat had a word or letters on it.”

  Rage walked away muttering, “That’s Prank.”

  He heard Yak call after him, “You callin’ Volt, or am I?”

  Roll knew they’d get that done, so he focused on the man in front of him. “I was gonna ask you if you knew where Andrea is, but I don’t suppose you saw her at all, did you?”

  “She was out here with the guy when I walked up. Then he threw me to the wall, and everything went black.” The man rubbed the back of his head and winced.

  “I’m Roll, by the way. Lean forward, let me see the back of your head. My guess, he cold cocked you with a gun-butt.”

  When he got a look at the man’s head, Roll found he was right. The man’s brown hair was thinning, but there seemed to be a large bump rising on the back of his head.

  “Yep. You got someone you can call? I’d stick with you, but I gotta find Andrea. The men who are with her are not good people.”

  “Men? There was only the one man here.”

  “Followed someone else here. They must be workin’ together. Either way, neither one’s good, the two of them together are the worst thing that can happen to Andrea.”

  The man looked at Roll and saw the sincerity in Roll’s eyes. He threw a hand out. “Go. I’ll be fine.”

  Roll walked back to his bike where Yak and Rage were standing. Yak spoke, “Volt didn’t pick up. New daddy syndrome most likely. Called Blood. He ain’t convinced. Figures Andrea was workin’ with both of them the whole time.”

  Roll ran a hand through his hair. If this woman got raped or lost her life, he was gonna kick the ass of every brother who wouldn’t fuckin’ listen to him. His patch be damned. Trying to tame the anger in his eyes, he looked to Rage. “See if you can talk Major ‘round. He’s got grown daughters. Try Turk, too. He seemed on the fence a few weeks back. I’m gonna call Cal.”

  Yak gave him a sideways glance. “Cal thinks women’ll do or say anything in order to manipulate men.”

  Roll looked back at him. “Yeah, except he knows that Leventon will also do whatever he has to in order to prove a point. Plus, he owes me a solid. I’m callin’ it. He refuses, I’ll beat his ass double when this shit’s over.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Andrea

  At first, I thought I was in my massage room taking a nap on my table. It was padded and more comfortable than some beds at low budget hotels. Then my senses were clearer, and I knew I heard the sound of a car engine. The funny thing was that it was so dark. I blinked and could hear the rasp of my lashes against fabric. That was when everything came back to me. The man who went by Prank, instead of Geoff, but then in a weird way I couldn’t blame him, and Allen fucking Leventon.

  Sudden memories came to me of a woman who attended massage school with me. Marla was an older woman who was funny in a very quirky way, but we had had a lengthy conversation about a kidnapping that had been solved. I forget what brought the conversation on, but she said sagely, “Of course the criminals were caught. Most criminals aren’t smart. If they were, they wouldn’t be turning to crime, now, would they?”

  Well, she was damn sure right about Allen Leventon not being smart. He thought I was Frankie. He thought abducting me would get back at Vamp while Prank had some idea of leaving a present for Liar and his statement told me I’d be part of that not very pleasant present. My brain went into hyperdrive as I wracked my mind for ways to get the hell out of this. Nothing was coming to me, and it stressed me out, which caused me to sigh louder than I ever should have.

  “I think she’s coming around,” I heard a female voice say.

  The air in my lungs froze for two reasons. One, I didn’t want them to know I was awake, and two, that damn voice was familiar. Very familiar.

  “That’s good to know, Shayla, but it doesn’t matter,” Leventon said.

  I fucking hated myself. It never failed. It was part of who I was to try and help everyone. People took advantage of me, or maybe I was so fucked up in the head that I let them take advantage of me. Shayla was a fine example. Back in February after the horrible scene with Gil, Shayla tried to guilt me into sticking with her and Paula at the poker room. It was ridiculous, so I had to lay down the law with her. Things were uncomfortable between us for a long while, which probably bothered me ten times more than it ever bothered her. The awkwardness we went through back in the spring was yet another reason I was so surprised she called me to help her out in November.

  Obviously, she only wanted me to help out as part of some other agenda with Allen fucking Leventon! I didn’t know what the hell she was getting out of this, but I had no doubt money was involved. I also had no doubt that if I got my mitts on Shayla Kingman, I was gonna rip her face off.

  “But, Allen, why wouldn’t it matter?” she asked with an entirely fake sweetness.

  “I still need to get both men who used to be prospects. One killed my daughter, while the other killed the man who loved her.”

  I closed my eyes trying to think. Little did I realize, that was a bad idea because I fell asleep again.

  ***

  My eyes opened when the bright light hit them. I was inside a musty room with my body tied to a chair in front of a card table. There was fabric in my mouth, and something tied behind my head to keep the gag in place. Prank and Shayla were seated at a card table. Prank’s face was blank, but Shayla was looking at me as though I was getting what I deserved. How I didn’t see she was a back-stabbing bitch at heart, I’d never know.

  I heard footsteps behind me and then Leventon’s voice. “What do you mean your woman is right there? I sent you a picture of her. I have her tied to a chair.”

  My eyes closed again as I wondered how this was going to go down when Leventon realized his massive mistake, but sprinkles of water hit my face forcefully. I looked back to the table, and Shayla had a straw in her hand and a Styrofoam cup in front of her. My eyes narrowed at her.

  “Save it for someone who gives a shit,” she said.

  I heard fingers snapping and saw the flick of a hand from the corner of my eye. I realized Leventon wanted her to shut up, but also, he was near me. I tried screaming around the gag and being as loud as I could and willing my voice to travel through my nostrils.

  Prank bolted to me and backhanded me. The chair teetered, and I felt blood trickle from my nose.

  “She means nothing to you, then why were you all so adamant about getting Gil Grant out of the poker room over a month ago?”

  Leventon moved around to pace i
n front of my chair with his back to me. When he turned to face me, his eyes were empty. I thought I knew fear earlier in the day, but I was wrong. This was fear. Vamp was telling him I meant nothing, and the blankness in Leventon’s eyes communicated I was soon going to be nothing.

  My mouth filled with saliva and nausea was trying to take center stage, but I had to fight it. I would need every wit about me in order to fight against three different people.

  The cell phone dropped to the table with a clatter. Leventon speared Shayla with an angry look. “Seems your colleague means absolutely nothing to Vamp. Care to explain that, Shayla?”

  Shayla’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she stammered out her answer. “P-P-Paula told me Andi had been living with a man who cheated on her with two women at the same time. St-St-Starla told me Vamp had cheated on his dark-haired beauty with two women simultaneously.”

  Leventon turned to Prank. “And you? You sure as hell know what Vamp’s woman looks like, and you—”

  Prank yelled at Leventon. “I tried to tell you! You told me not to interrupt and gave me a fuckin’ grammar lesson while you were at it.”

  Boy, if Marla could see this situation playing out, she’d point out every little nuance of stupidity in the criminal element. While ‘at the same time’ was technically synonymous with ‘simultaneously,’ the contexts of my situation and Frankie’s were quite different.

  Leventon turned evil eyes on Shayla. “I paid you a hundred large, and you delivered me the wrong woman!”

  “You only paid me half of what you owe me. How was I to know? Besides, she had all the Riot women hangin’ around like they were long lost sisters and shit. All those Riot boys showed up to the poker room, you’re the one who didn’t stick to your own plan.”

  I could respect a woman who threw attitude at a man trying to short her on money, but even I knew this was not the time to throw shade. Further, it didn’t take much to know Allen Leventon was not the man at whom you gave the attitude. His evil eyes turned blank on Shayla. It was the same look he’d aimed my way not five minutes ago. Just as the thought crossed my mind, he whipped out a gun from his waistband. The gunshot was far louder than nearly any noise I had ever heard before, seeing as how I’d never been around guns before now.

  I jumped in my chair and willed my bladder not to leak. Tears burned my eyes. I may have wanted to rip Shayla to shreds, but the fact was I didn’t want her to be dead.

  The ringing in my ears subsided marginally, and shock gripped me. As my hearing slowly returned, Prank yelling at Leventon pulled my attention. “What the fuck? You never do the dirty work?’

  The blankness in Leventon’s eyes was replaced by maniacal glitter as he turned to Prank. “You’re right. Good thing this is your thirty-eight.”

  One thing was certain; this man was not the man I met six weeks ago.

  He looked to me and then to Prank. “You forget I have people who will do anything for my approval. Had someone bring me one of your many guns. Andrea, here, is expendable. Your gun will be tied to her murder and Shayla’s. You’ve been seen with Shayla publicly. I recall your ex-girlfriend, what was her name, Gloria, was it? She was very vocal when she confronted you and Shayla at that bar in November.”

  Prank’s eyes bulged at Leventon. “You’re settin’ me up, you—”

  Leventon shook his head. “Not setting you up. Only if you don’t get your shit together. Right now, you’re going to set up a meet with both Liar and Razor.”

  The stance Prank had assumed told me he wasn’t down with Leventon’s plan, and the tension in the room was downright dense. Things were about to come to a head, and I had no idea what I was going to do to get out of this. Only my arms were tied, and I wondered if I could run with my arms and a chair tied to my back. I thanked my lucky stars that I opted for my heavy-duty hiking boots instead of my more stylish black leather boots with the three-inch heels. Those wouldn’t do in this situation.

  I was pulled from my thoughts of footwear, when Leventon spoke menacing and low. “Or, I shoot Andrea, and then you.” One of his slim shoulders shrugged. “It really makes no difference to me, Geoff.”

  It was faint, but I thought I saw Prank’s chin go up in acceptance. Leventon turned to me with the gun lifted, and all thoughts of running left me. With my feet firmly planted at the sides of the chair legs, I threw my body to the right as a cacophony of sound erupted. There was the gunshot, but I could swear I heard glass shattering, and I heard and felt the vibration of heavy footsteps clomping through the trailer.

  Liar

  Every instinct in Liar told him something was wrong, and not just because of Vamp’s phone conversation he heard. Vamp didn’t normally pull shifts at Hock because the pawn shop was not Vamp’s thing. The Riot MC was different from other MC’s in that members had options. They weren’t obligated to work at one of the club’s businesses. Patch and Blood were two men who worked jobs outside the club. Vamp was more of a rover but typically stuck to the hard labor associated with window and door installation with Cal. Today though, Rage called in and not twenty minutes after opening the shop, Major took a call and needed to take off. Jim had manned the shop alone before, but half an hour later Vamp and the prospect showed up.

  When Vamp had hung up on Leventon, he noticed Liar’s face was set with anger. “Don’t let that asshole get to you. Like I said to him, for all we know, he’s usin’ her as bait, and it’s been part of their plan all along. We ain’t fallin’ for that shit.”

  Liar shook his head. “I don’t plan on lettin’ him get to me, but what the hell had Major tearin’ out of here so quick? Somethin’ ain’t right.” His own words brought Roll to mind. It was what the man said at every session of church lately.

  Needless to say, the subject of Andrea in collusion with Leventon had not been put to rest. Mallory, Abby, and Frankie had been at the compound tying one on the Friday before Christmas. Frankie and Mallory challenged him to a game of cutthroat. At first, he thought they were just trying to cheer him up, but with two and a half margaritas in her, Frankie became chatty…or chattier.

  “Roll’s right, you know,” she said a little too loudly thanks to the Cuervo.

  Liar dipped his chin at her. “About what? He been givin’ you tips on shootin’ pool? No wonder this is so damn easy.”

  Frankie shook her head. “No. About Andrea bein’ a pawn in this fucked-up mess.”

  Mallory cut her off before she could continue. “Frankie! Mum was supposed to be the word.”

  The only thing that kept Liar from breaking his cue stick was that it was his own custom ordered stick and he wasn’t about to bust it over his knee. He was so pissed he didn’t trust himself to say anything that wouldn’t buy him a heap of trouble with Vamp or Cal, so he stormed to his room, slamming the door.

  During church a few days later, Vamp tore into Roll for sharing with his woman. Roll said nothing, and the divide among the brothers widened to a chasm. It wasn’t Roll against everyone else though. Yak and Rage were with him, in thinking that there had to be more at work than Leventon using a woman to infiltrate Riot. Some brothers could be swayed like, Major, Turk and maybe Patch. Rage pointed out with Liar’s Gran passing, Andrea didn’t have anything of substance to give Leventon. Volt had shut down discussion about it, but the dissent remained.

  Vamp pulled him from his reminiscing. “Yeah. What ain’t right is a woman findin’ her way under your skin and lyin’ to you about knowin’ an enemy of the club.”

  He didn’t want to care so much about Andrea after her deception, but he couldn’t stop himself from needing to protect the woman. Liar’s eyes focused on Vamp, and two things hit him: his Gran’s last words and Roll being right. Hang on to Andrea, she’d told him, but he was ignoring every instinct reminding him of that. Add to this, Andrea was definitely a pawn in Leventon’s fucked up game. Leventon didn’t send her to him. Vamp sent him to Andrea. A pit opened in the depths of his belly with the truth of the matter.

  “
Fuck,” he hissed.

  “What?” Vamp asked.

  “We were wrong,” Liar clipped out while pulling his cell from his back pocket.

  “How so?”

  Liar pinned his brown eyes on Vamp’s blues. “Think back, brother. You sent me to get that fuckin’ certificate for your woman. Leventon couldn’t manipulate that shit if he fuckin’ tried. Told me she loved me from the moment I walked in her door. Believed her then, but I let scum like Leventon make me doubt it. Roll’s right. We’re bein’ played, and if he’s right, we’re bein’ played in the worst way because we’re a brotherhood fightin’ amongst ourselves.”

  ***

  Just over half an hour later, Liar’s phone buzzed in his back pocket. He whipped it out to see Major’s name on the display.

  “Yeah, man,” Liar greeted.

  “On your bike. Southbound to Palatka. Rage’ll be waitin’ for your ass just past the county line. Now. Your girl’s hurt, and we’ve got Prank and Leventon.”

  Liar opened his mouth to speak, but the distinct nature of the silence on the other end of the line told him Major was done. Major had two daughters who were nearly old enough to date Liar. He shouldn’t have been surprised that Roll got to him, but at the same time Roll getting to Major told Liar his instincts were dead on. There was more to this shit than met the eye and he damn sure never should’ve been so quick to judge Andrea. Especially if he loved her as he said he had.

  Acid built in his stomach but the thoughts feeding that acid had to be pushed out of his mind. He shoved his phone into his back pocket and looked between Vamp and the prospect. No way was the prospect ready to man the pawn shop by himself. He’d been prospecting just over six weeks, and Liar didn’t need reminding that he had to actually earn his patch before he was left with Hock in his hands alone.

  “We’re officially closed for the day,” Liar announced to Vamp but flicked a glance to the prospect.

  “Says who?” Vamp snarled his question.

  Liar exhaled a silent and humorless laugh. “Says me, man. You haven’t manned the counter here in the last eleven months. While most of those months I was a prospect, it doesn’t negate the fact you weren’t here. Not about to leave our shit in the hands of a prospect. You can hit the clubhouse, go home, whatever. Don’t give a fuck. Major and plenty of our other brothers have stirred up some serious shit right now, and I’m headed out to do my duty.”