Seth (10 page)

“Yes!” I reply getting exasperated.

“Make it a hundred and you got a deal.”

I reach into my pocket. I’m pretty sure I don’t have a
hundred on me but I may come close. I end up finding a fifty, two twenties, and
two singles. I hand it to him and his eyes bug out.

“It’s all I have.” I say to him.

“Fine. So you really want me to go up there and get your
phone?” He asks again.

He seems to be having a hard time believing me. I guess
this is pretty crazy now that I think about it.

I nod my head.

“Alright then, but you should probably steady the
ladder.” He instructs.

“Sure.”

I position myself underneath the ladder and grab onto it
as my new friend climbs up. He does pretty well despite being stoned until he
gets up to the top. He steps off the top rung, over the gutter then promptly
loses his balance. I watch in horror as he windmills his arms wobbling forwards
and backwards. I grip the ladder and barely stop myself from yelling out. Then
just when I think he’s definitely going to fall he barely manages to catch
himself and he just flops down on the roof. I breathe a sigh of relief and will
myself to relax. In five minutes I’ll have the phone and I can go home and see
what’s really on that thing.

“What’s it look like?” He yells down to me.

I wince, and expect at any second for cops to come out of
the bushes but nothing happens.

“Hey lady, you still down there?”

“It’s a cell phone!” I finally hiss at him. “What do you
think it looks like?”

“I don’t know where it could be…wait, I think I found
it.” Then after a minute. “Yeah I got it. I’m coming down.”

With great caution this time my young friend climbs back
down the ladder without a stumble. The way he’s holding onto the phone I’m not
completely sure he’s going to give it to me without more money exchanging
hands.

“This ain’t your phone is it?” He asks.

I snatch it from his hands before he can change his mind.

“What makes you think it’s not mine?”

“You would have told me what it looked like when I asked
you about it instead of being all cagey an all.”

“You got your money now get to bed before your parents
find you out here.”

“Like they would even give a shit.”

“Hey your parents love you. It may not seem like it but
they do. All parents love their kids.”

“Maybe mine would if they were ever around. I haven’t
seen either of them for a week until they showed up this afternoon so they
don’t give a shit if I’m out here gettin’ high.”

“You’re wrong kid, but I can’t stand here explaining.
Thanks for getting this.”

“Yeah whatever dude.” Then he thinks for a moment and
says: “Hey if you need any more help stealing other people’s phones or anything
else you know where to find me.”

“Why on earth do you think I’d steal and invite you to
help me?”

“’Cause you ain’t any good at it yourself, that’s why.”

“Sorry kid, but this is the last we’ll be seeing each
other.” I’m about to leave when another thought strikes me. “Hey uh… you see
that police action here the other night?”

“Why you wanna know?” He asks, immediately getting cagey.

“Look if you think of anything important you let me know.
The right kind of information could be worth something.”

“Really? Like how much is it worth?”

“Depends on what you have. Did you see it go down?”

“Sorry I don’t give out information for free. I already
had to do that for the cops yesterday. You want information you gotta pay for
it.”

“Sorry kid, I’m all tapped out.”

“Like I said, you know where I live. Later.” He says as
he disappears around the back of his house.

Oh well…like he said, I know where he lives. In the
meantime I have to get home and check out this video. I’m literally dying to
find out what’s on here. I get half way home when a black and white police
cruiser pulls in behind me. Immediately I begin to panic. What if he saw me
back at the house and wants to know what I was doing back there? At least it
wasn’t me that was on the roof at three in the morning. I feel like my eyes are
involved in a ping pong game as they bounce back and forth from looking out my
front windshield to looking behind me in my rearview mirror; back and forth,
back and forth. Finally after a good ten minutes he suddenly lights me up! If
he’d have just waited another two minutes I would have been home safe. With my
heart in my mouth I slow down and pull over and at the same time cursing myself
for not putting the phone in my pocket. Having no other choice I decide to just
ditch it on the floor and try to kick it under my seat. All the while I try not
to look down or else I’d end up looking like I’m trying to stash drugs instead
of some outlaw bikers cell phone.

The cop takes his time getting out and approaching my
car. As he gets closer I see that he’s a Sergeant from the Watsonville police
department. I roll down my window as he walks up.

“License, registration, and insurance card please.” He
says without so much as a hi or a hello.

Without a word I get out my wallet and fish out my
license and insurance card. Then I open my glove box to retrieve my
registration card. I hand over all the required documents and he looks them
over. I’m tempted to ask him why he pulled me over but I decide to just keep my
mouth shut. After what seems forever he makes like he’s going to give my stuff
back when my phone starts ringing. That’s a little odd. The officer looks at me
pointedly.

“It can go to voicemail.” I say to him with a smile.

He nods and extends my papers when as luck would have it,
the phone down at my feet begins to ring too. Now I’ve got two phones ringing
with two completely different ring tones going off at the same time. I look
down and there’s a glow coming from my purse and a glow coming from down by my
feet.

“Why do you have so many phones ma’am?” He asks.

“It’s only two.” I reply.

“Well in my experience the only people who need more than
one phone are police officers and drug dealers and you’re not a police
officer.”

This is not good. For about two seconds I seriously
consider just taking off and I very nearly do that when all of a sudden his
radio crackles to life.

“7502 we’ve got a 5150 at 21413 York Drive are you free
to respond?”

The officer grabs his handset. “Dispatch I’ll take that
call. I’m two blocks away, please show me responding.”

“7504 is 10-8.”

“I don’t know what you’re up to at this hour ma’am or why
the multiple phones but I suggest you get yourself home.”

With that he thrusts my paperwork back into my hands,
turns on his heels and strides back to his patrol car. I just sit in my car for
a long minute before pulling out into the street. I can’t believe how close
that was. I don’t know what I would have done if he’d asked for Seth’s phone. I
need to get it home and see what’s on this phone. Then, just in case I get
stopped again I’ll just email the video to myself.
Then I can do
whatever with the phone. I just can’t have it on my person where it could fall
into the wrong hands. That brings up another dilemma. Whose wrong hands? Here
I’m going out with a Sheriff yet I’m helping the biggest, baddest outlaw biker
club get one over on the police. So I guess that makes me the real bad guy
doesn’t it? I search around Seth’s phone and find the video. After two tries I
keep coming to a dead end. The file is too large to email so I’ll have to go
home and see if I have a data cable so I can connect this thing to my computer
and transfer the file then.

The second I’m in my house I plop down on the couch and
take out Seth’s phone. I’m literally holding my breath as I search for the
video. Five minutes later I’m pretty sure I have the one he’s interested in. It
shows a still of a Sheriff’s Deputy holding his nightstick. I take a deep
breath and press play.

The scene that unfolds before me is utter chaos! There’s
about ten cops, twice that many bystanders, and what looks like three or four
Soul Eaters. Each biker is in the process of being subdued; even the two that
have obvious wounds. The whole video is only about three minutes long and
really doesn’t show any wrong doing on the part of law enforcement. Obviously
the video was taken at the end of the incident. There has to be at least one
more that I missed.

I flip back through the most recent videos until I came
across a dark grainy one that I previously dismissed as impossible to view. On
closer inspection this one is seven minutes and three seconds long and starts
with a shot looking down at the pavement. It just stays that way for about
twenty seconds before the camera pans up and it shows the first patrol cars
arriving at the scene. In the middle of the street are four bikes all belonging
to the Soul Eaters. A fight is in process. It appears to be two biker gangs
locked in combat. Two officers get out of the patrol car and pull out their
weapons. Four of the five combatants immediately comply and drop to the
pavement. One however doesn’t appear to have heard the command to drop to the
ground and is shouting at someone from the crowd. One of the officers steps
closer and draws his weapon shouting for the biker to drop to the ground. The
biker still doesn’t hear or chooses to ignore the command. I’m thinking he
didn’t hear because he doesn’t even turn and look behind him. Then several
things happen at once. The cop with the gun settles into his shooting stance
and it’s obvious he’s about to shoot. At that same moment I hear someone
shouting for him not to shoot a split second before Marc appears and grabs the
non-compliant biker putting his body between the biker and the cop with the
drawn gun. There’s a loud bang and Marc goes down dragging the biker with him.
Marc got shot by one of his own. Seconds later the picture on the video starts
spinning wildly then goes black. I’m guessing that’s the point when Seth threw
it up on the roof.

I stop the video. I start to shake all over as an ugly
fear works its way into my heart. I get up and double check my door to make
sure it’s locked. Then I check my back door before going into my bedroom to
retrieve my Glock 17 9mm handgun. I feel like my life is in immediate danger;
like someone is secretly going to see me looking at this video and suddenly
show up guns a blazing. Oh my god I can’t fucking believe this. An inept cop
shoots another cop and the Soul Eaters are getting the blame pinned on them! Oh
shit! I can’t believe they’re protecting an idiot cop who seriously fucked up
on the job and caused injury to a fellow officer! No wonder Seth took such a
risk to tell me to get the phone. I continue watching the rest of the video but
most is complete chaos and I can’t really tell what the hell is going on
although it does appear that the city cops and some of the guys from the Sheriff’s
office rolled up on the fight without even identifying themselves. At least it
seems like that but it’s hard to really tell.

I need to come up with a plan. At some point I am going
to be called in and questioned about the video I took of the Soul Eaters attack
on the fake biker in the bar the other night. They might even talk about
obstruction of justice but given that I dispatch many of the officers in the
area and have worked professionally in the field with many of them when I was a
firefighter I think they’ll show me some professional courtesy. I can’t see
them throwing the book at me and if they do I’m sure Marc will help me. Still
Marc seemed pretty pissed that I was holding onto the video and if he ever
finds out that I kinda went out with a Soul Eater I might find myself no longer
in the good graces of the various law enforcement personnel.

One thing I really cannot understand is why I am going so
far out of my way to help a criminal organization; namely Seth and my brother,
both of whom I really need to talk to. Well, I’m not going to solve any of my
problems right now. I need to get some sleep before the sun comes up. Tonight I
start my four day shift. But by day shift I actually mean nights from 11pm to
8am, Tuesday through Friday. I know it’s crazy but when I finally crash I sleep
with my Glock in my nightstand and for the first time it’s loaded! In some ways
I feel totally paranoid doing this, but then every time I think about that
video on the phone that’s hidden in my closet I realize I may not be that
paranoid after all.

Within fifteen minutes of my head hitting my pillow I’m
fast asleep and I don’t wake up until nearly noon. It’s not enough sleep but
it’ll have to do. I’ve just finished my second cup of coffee when Seth’s cell
phone rings; it’s from the Sheriff’s Office and I can guess who is on the other
line.

“Hello?” I say into the handset.

“Oh good you’re there.” Says a familiar voice. “I wasn’t
sure you’d answer my phone but I had to try since yours is off.”

“What’s going on?”

“Could you pick me up?” He asks.

I really should say no, but just the sound of his voice
and my resolve just melts away. There’s just something in his voice that just
scratches an itch that no other man can seem to reach. And when he begins to
scratch I’m all but ready to beg him to keep talking. I really don’t care what
he’s saying; I just want to hear his voice.

“Kim?” He asks. “You still there?”

“Oh…sorry, yes I’m here. How’d you get out anyway? Aren’t
they charging you with something?”

“They really haven’t made up their minds yet. I think
they want to keep their options open given there were so many witnesses on
scene and so much happened in such a short time. Plus we have pretty killer
lawyers on retainer.”

“Of course you do.” I reply. “Fine, but why me? Can’t
whoever bailed you out give you a ride?”

“I really need to talk to you though. So will you come
get me?”

“I really don’t want to be seen around that place. Can
you like walk to that diner just down the street?”

“You’re strange. Why can’t you be seen here? You wanted
for something?” He asks.

“Nothing like that. Just…let me come get you and we can
talk then. But go to the diner, the Black Bear Diner.”

“Fine. When will you be here? I don’t have any money so I
can’t sit there and order anything.”

“It’ll take me twenty minutes or so. Just order whatever
and I’ll join you. I just got up so I haven’t had breakfast yet either and I’m
starving.”

“Got it. I’ll see you then…and thanks Darlin’”.

“Bye.”

I stash my burner phone in my purse and consider stowing
the other phone in there too but I decide against it. Since the file is too big
and I don’t have a data cable for some odd reason the phone needs to stay
hidden. It’s the only way for me to stay safe. I remember enough to tell him
what I saw and when his lawyer needs it I’ll be able to produce it.

Thirty minutes later I’m walking into the Black Bear
Diner. Seth is sitting in the back facing the entrance. As I walk up he stands
up and gives me a big smile. He looks very relieved and happy to be here out of
jail. We hug warmly and for a moment all the stress and fear gets pushed out of
my mind and is replaced with Seth’s masculine scent and his strong arms.
There’s just something about him that gets my motor purring.

“Do you have my phone?” He asks.

“It’s in a safe place.”

“Did you watch the videos?”

“There’s two. One doesn’t show a thing but the other one
is going to cause an uproar Seth.”

“What’s it show? Does it show how the cops started it
all?” He asks, sitting on the edge of his seat.

“It clearly shows some plain clothed cop firing at you
guys. He doesn’t identify himself. Basically he just whips out his gun and
shoots. But at that same instant, Marc hurls himself at the guy and gets
himself shot in the process.”

“Wait a second. Who’s this Marc?”

Oops, I shouldn’t have said his name. “He’s the deputy
that got shot by his own man. The plain clothed cop didn’t identify himself and
just up and shot at your brother. The only reason your brother didn’t get shot
was because the Sheriff’s Deputy was tackling the biker at the same time shots
were fired. A cop shot a cop and they’re trying to pin it on you guys. The
video puts the blame squarely on the shooter, the detective or whoever he is.”

“So who’s this Marc guy?” Seth asks again.

“Just someone from work.” I say without thinking. 

For some reason I didn’t want to say my boyfriend or the
guy I’m dating so I say work. Not sure I should have said that either…

Suddenly Seth gets up. “Now I know why you didn’t want to
be seen at the cop shop. You’re a…a… pi-cop!”

He just stopped himself from saying pig. This is going
sideways fast and if I don’t say something quick he’s gonna be gone.

“I’m not a cop; I swear I’m not! I used to be a
firefighter so I know a lot of these guys from fire calls. Every time there’s a
fire they show up so we talk.”

“I thought you had some kind of back problem or
something. How could yo-”

“Used to be one.” I say. “I had to quit because of a back
injury so now I am a part time writer slash reporter and part time 911
dispatcher so yeah, I know these guys but mostly by their voices and call
signs.”

Seth takes a deep breath and lets it out. I can see the
lines on his face soften as the anger leaves. He takes another breath and sits
back down.

“I see. But you know…you don’t call anyone else by their
names, just Marc’s. There something else going on there?”

Damn…he’s pretty astute.

“Nothing at all.” I lie.

“Great, then you won’t have a problem going out with me.”

“What?”

“Are you suddenly hard of hearing?” He asks.

“No, I just thought I heard you ask me out on a date.”

“Then your hearing is acute.”

“I can’t go out with you.” I protest.

“Because…”

“You’re an outlaw for starters.”

“That’s debatable.” He replies.

“Really? Because every time I run into you there’s some
kind of commotion going on whether you’re handing out a cut for killing someone
to staking a guy’s hand to a table, fighting with police or with dirt bags at
two in the morning at 7-11. Does any of that sound like a rational person’s
behavior?”

“Look, we have to make an income and a lot of the
brothers have criminal records and cannot easily get a job. It’s just far
easier to make money other ways. We are working on some legitimate enterprises
though and your brother is key to that. We’re starting a management company and
trying to get other fighters to train and manage. We just signed a new fighter
who has just turned pro. His amateur record was 21-0-3 and since he’s turned
pro he’s 6-0-0. If we do this right it’ll go a long way in keeping some of the
brothers gainfully employed. If your brother becomes a star we stand to gain
huge paychecks right behind his considerable checks. You should ask him about
it sometime. He has big plans. We’re even considering getting into making fight
videos, you know, documentaries. We’ll film our fighters as they go about their
daily lives including training six or seven days a week.”

“So that’s why you patched in my brother.” I reply. “You
suddenly saw huge dollar signs and the only way you could control it is if
you’re not only his manager but a brother.”

“Absolutely not!” Seth replies as his fist comes crashing
down on the table.

Nervous diners look furtively in our direction but
there’s no way anyone is actually going to say anything to us or complain to
the wait staff.

“I knew your brother when he was just fairly new to
martial arts. He was a green belt in some Chinese martial arts and he worked
out like crazy. I knew right then that he was gonna be a damn good fighter. He
began hanging out more and more and pretty soon your brother and I became
pretty good friends. I’m the one who originally vetted him and introduced him
to the guys. I don’t know what all you have against your brother but he’s a
good man and a valued member of the club and he’s gonna be a famous cage
fighter. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.”