“How would he know a thing like that?”
“The Veins have been around forever, Bones. They've got informants everywhere—” I looked skeptically around the room, sowing the seeds of discord. “—in
every
club. You have been expanding a lot lately. That must cut down on the time your boys spend as prospects. How well do you know your new patches?”
“And who's to say you're not completely full of shit?” Bones crossed his arms. He was steadfast but some of the officers looked concerned that what I might be saying was true. Were there snitches in their ranks? Who knows. But I would make them think there was.
“The Pick and Pay that went up last night, that was one of yours right? The Super 8 earlier today, any of your boys make it out of that alive? They're testing the water. Gauging your response time, man power, reach, tactics. They know there's a war coming and they want it on their terms.” All the events of the last twenty-four hours culminated in this.
This was a double cross. I didn't want asylum. For as much as I hated what we'd become, the Steel Veins would always be my family. I would never sell them out to the Lobos. But right now I needed the Lobos to think I would. “Reach out to your networks, you'll see that I'm right.”
Bones pondered on it for a long while. Everything I'd read online about him led me to believe he was a deliberate man who only took calculated risks. With him I'd have the best shot of getting Star to safety.
He began to speak when the doors were kicked open. All the officers were here, who'd dare just come in without knocking? I didn't bother turning around, I wanted to see Bones' reaction to the intrusion, to see how in control of the club he was. That was a mistake.
A cane struck the back of my knees, which followed with my swift face plant on the table from a boney old hand wrapped around my neck. I turned my head to the side in time to not shatter my nose but I came hard down on that mahogany.
I heard Star gasp and the last thing I saw before my vision blanked out was her hands covering her pretty face. All things considered, having her be the last thing I ever saw wasn't a bad way to go.
“Any of you pencil-dick fucks wanna tell me why the fuck this Steel Vein is still fuckin' breathing?”
“Been a long time, Roughneck. We were just hearing him out.” Flaco, a short, thin man like his namesake, offered hesitantly.
No shit
. John “Roughneck” Mitchim. The founder of Los Lobos was apparently still alive and well. He'd stepped down almost a decade ago due to health problems then fell off the map. I'd written him off as dead. Men in this line of work didn't tend to live as long as Roughneck had. He was short tempered and had a chip on his shoulder after being kicked out of the Steel Veins back in the seventies.
John created Los Lobos with the Mexicans because they weren't allowed to join up either. There was a time where all the clubs were pretty racist but a lot has changed since then. Now it's mostly about being vouched for rather than skin color. Otherwise, my buddy Tee never would've been allowed in. The Aryans were still old world believers though. Fucking tiny-dick, skin heads have always been on the wrong side of history.
“Let him up. He's our guest. For now.” It was good to see Bones had some balls. “He wants protection in exchange for helping us take down the Steel Veins.”
“Only good fuckin' Steel Veins a dead fuckin' Steel Vein. We kill em then we rip em out! I don't give two pulls of my withered pecker fer what he
says
he's gonna do fer us!” Looks like Roughneck survived long enough to completely lose his goddamned mind. Maybe the
health problems
that forced him to step down were actual insanity.
“I'm sorry, Bones, I thought
you
were El Presidente de Los Lobos? Else I wouldn't have come to Santa Fe. I'm sure the Angels wouldn't have minded if I swung by for a visit.” I hoped some prodding would bolster Bones' position. They hated the Angels almost as much as the Veins.
“John.” Bones' tone finally carried the weight of his position. Calling Roughneck by his birth name like that was a show of dominance.
“...Fine” Roughneck let me go. I could've stood up anytime I wanted but this was a delicate matter. I needed to be let up. He was old and crooked to one side. His wore his long, straggly hair beneath a worn bandana and let his frayed beard remain wild and unkempt. Hate and habit were the only things that kept Roughneck vertical.
The room was eggshells. The officers didn't know how to act around Roughneck so they kept their mouths shut and deferred to Bones. I rose and spit out a thick wad of blood and phlegm onto the floor.
“But he don't need the fuckin' whore fer his jaws to flap.” John's gnarled fingers grabbed Star's hair, jerking her down to his bent level. Star screamed at the abruptness.
“She's part of the deal.” My words raced his knife, barely halting him from slicing her throat then and there. I looked directly at Bones, no one else. I would only deal with him, further limiting Roughneck's authority.
Bones held up a hand as his cell rang. He answered. The conversation was brief, then he addressed the room. “Rio's dead. Looks like Poet's telling the truth. Roughneck's right, though. What can she offer us?”
Roughneck laughed, tugging at the bow that kept Star's shirt closed. He attempted to loosen the fabric completely but couldn't get her with just the one hand. Star was a smart girl. She'd knotted it on the drive over, just in case. Roughneck would have to use both hands to untangle the knot. I hoped he'd try. With the knife lowered, I'd have been able to drop him before anyone could stop me.
Everyone looked at Star. Her eyes went wider than I'd ever seen. Of course she didn't know what to say. With the cold edge of a blade to her throat she had trouble drawing in full breaths. She was still present though. If I told her something she would at least hear it and be able to act. Any other girl I knew, and most guys for that matter, would be catatonic in her heels.
“No.” I pulled out a cigarette, took my time to light it and get a drag out before continuing. They were trying to make me feel rushed. “Let her be and I'll give you something much better.” I took another pull. “I'll give you Lorenzo.”
Caballo cursed in Spanish before switching to English. “Lorenzo escaped before we got there.”
“What do you want more, some innocent girl's blood staining everything, or the man who tried to kill your cousin? You harm her and my lips are sealed.” I casually took another puff.
“Where is he?” Bones was skeptical.
“We got a deal?” I asked.
“A life for a life.” Bones agreed.
“On your word?” It wasn't the best way to do business but my sleeves were running out of aces. At least there were witnesses. I could call him out on his honor, if necessary.
“Si. On my word.”
“In the trunk of the car we came over in.”
Bones nodded to Caballo and the portly man ran off to check. I turned to address Roughneck. “Now give the lady some breathing room. Or I'll come over there and do it for you.”
“If Lorenzo isn't in that trunk, I'll kill her myself,” Bones interjected.
The whole time Caballo was gone, I looked only at Star, reassuring her with my eyes that she would be ok. I mouthed the word 'Breathe' at her. She nodded, her faint, short breaths lengthened. The rapidity in her chest falls steadied. The knife was a hairsbreadth from spilling her life out all over the carpet.
Roughneck saw this and lowered the knife to let her breathe a little easier then brought it quickly back into her. The twisted old man raised her as high as he could until she squeaked or grunted, then let her down. He'd slap her throat with the flat of the blade all the while staring at me. He put the point of his knife into her shoulder just enough to draw blood then put it back against her throat.
He was torturing her to get a rise out of me. For as much as I wanted to tear his fucking head off we both knew I wouldn't be fast enough to stop him if he decided to kill her.
Bones' phone went off. “Someone's in the trunk,” he casually replied while texting. “Pretty beaten up though.”
“He was alive when I put him in there. Now call off the ghost of Christmas past, here.”
“In good time. Let's see if it's the man you say it is.” Bones put his phone away and studied me for signs of breaking. He would find none.
It was an eternity until the Lobos dragged Lorenzo in. Lorenzo was thrown into the room like a bloody sack of potatoes. Aside from his busted jaw, I left him mostly recognizable.
“Hola, Lorenzo. It's good to see you, my friend.” Bones walked across and squatted down to meet him eye to eye. “We have much to discuss.”
Lorenzo immediately started talking but it all came out a garbled mess.
Talk your way out of this one, asshole.
Bones stood back up and kicked the man in the face then ribs.
“Cuff this maldito hijo de puta to a chair in the next room. I'll be over in a few minutes.” Bones spat on the man and spread his fingers across his mustache in what looked like a triggering mechanism to force himself to calm back down. Lorenzo coughed teeth and gore and left a blood trail as they dragged him out of the room.
“Let her go.” Bones was riled up at seeing his old adversary. Roughneck complied, shoving her toward me. I caught her and brushed her hair from her face. “You kept your word, you delivered me, Lorenzo. So I’ll keep mine. One life for One life. She may live. Pero, tú, mi amigo, a pesar de ser útil, sigues siendo un Steel Vein.”
Damn.
Sobering resignation washed over me. I touched my forehead to hers and breathed her in as deep as my lungs could carry her. I let her scent fill my soul. My soul. Something I had regained by having her with me. For the first time since Maria, I felt like everything was ok. I was ok.
“Star,” I whispered to her. Bones pulled a gun from one of his hanging dual shoulder holsters. “In the end, looks like you saved me.”
“Remy, what's going on, I don't understand?” Star's beautiful hazel eyes became shining pools of dread as they started to water. She couldn't know what was coming but she knew something was very, very wrong.
The climate in the room shifted. Bones wore an expression of resignation. The rest of the men were caught somewhere between surprise and righteousness. Everyone backed away from us. Roughneck giggled like a storybook witch.
I smiled at the angel in front of me. When she tried to hug me, I used all the willpower I had left and shoved her away as hard as I could. I'd only known her for such a short time but I couldn't imagine my life withou—
Blam.
Blam. Blam.
Blam.
Blam.
“N
o! Nononono! Remy!” The scream swelled from every fiber of my body.
The bullets punched into his chest and arms. The final round skipped off his head. It didn't seem real at first. Then the dark holes in his clothing filled with color. Four sickening roses bloomed on him. I couldn't move. Or breathe. Or think. I could only gaze on in horror. The room was silent as a grave. Smoke rose from Bones' exhausted gun barrel but Remy still stood.
He turned his head to look at Bones. A line of flesh on his cheek, where the bullet glanced off him, had been burned and tore away. Remy's cheekbone peeked out before immediately sinking beneath a river of blood.
“Sorry, Poet, you know how it goes. Only good Veins a dead Vein.” Bones shrugged, reloading his pistol. “I am impressed though.” He raised his gun again. “You claw your way outta hell, come see me. I'll put you to work.”
Remy teetered like a weathered statue finally about to succumb to gravity, then collapsed. Openly sobbing, I scurried to him. One of the bikers cursed at Remy and went to spit on him. I couldn't see which one. I could barely see anything at all through the tears and mucus.
Bones scolded the man.
I couldn't understand exactly what they were saying but I understood the gist of it. They argued about what to do with me. I honestly didn't care. Remy was my tether in this dark jagged cave. It was hard to tell up from down but as long as I was secured to him I was safe, strong and confident. Now I'm still in that dark place but I'm falling free. I didn't dare look up because I knew that every glance or touch from one of those men would cut me like a jagged rock.
I felt so hopeless.
My hands hovered shakily over him. I was terrified to touch him. He was bleeding from so many places! I didn't know what to do! Was there even anything to do? He wasn't breathing...
Oh Remy please don't leave me.
I finally placed my hands on his chest. I don't know if I thought I could stop the bleeding or if I just needed to touch him one last time.
Remy gasped.
His eyes flitted open then shut again. He was still alive! I needed to do something. He was dying and I needed to save him!
Pull it together, Star. What would Remy do?
“Hey.” No one heard me. “Hey, assholes!” I screamed, drawing every set of eyes in the room.
Ok, don't freak out.
“Someone help me get him into the car.”
“Bitch, you don't tell us what to—” Spyder started speaking but I cut him off.
“No! Bones, you offered Remy a job if he lived. If your word— if your honor is meaningless then shoot me in the head right now. When I get to hell, I'll make sure to tell everyone how much of a coward and a liar you are.”
“Do not insult my honor. Now leave here before I reach the limit of my patience.”
“Not without Remy.” I had never sounded more unyielding in my life. Those three words could've chipped granite.
“Chamaquita...” Bones exhaled. “I don't want give the Veins a martyr. Papa, Caballo, put him in the Cop's car.”
“You knew?”
“Of course I knew. I had them run the VIN numbers when they checked for Lorenzo.”
Flaco and Spyder argued with him but Bones silenced them and reaffirmed his order. “—It doesn't matter.” He switched back to English so that I could understand. Probably as a warning. “They can't nail us to any of it. If she gets pulled over, or if she's stupid enough to talk while driving a stolen cop's car, it'll be her word against ours and we own these cops. Last I heard it was the Steel Veins that abducted her. The Steel Veins that put the hit out on her boyfriend, Poet. Not us. Now put him in the fucking car.”