Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
The guys roll in, and Ace stares at the prospects. “Don’t fucking sit,” he growls when Jordi reaches for a chair. “Stay right where you are, all of you.”
The men stand at attention. “The night Hector was murdered, you all remember where you were and what you were doing?”
They all nod.
Ace nods too. “Good. Diesel?”
The kid takes a step forward. “Devon came down, and he told me and Tank it was all right to take a quick break to grab a smoke and something to drink. Stella and Frankie were working the bar.”
Ace looks to Tank, who nods. “Frankie sat on my lap while I tossed back a Stella, and Stella made a joke about that. We finished our beers and had a smoke as we walked back to The Chamber.”
“Lucky?”
Tank raises a hand and starts to speak. “When we got back, Devon told us he’d take the night watch and sent us home.” He seems nervous, but Dix vouched for him. He was his bunkmate in jail. But then again, he’s only been here a few weeks.
“Who the fuck said another probie can order you to do anything?” Shades growls at them, his gaze fixed on Jordi.
Tank shrugs. “Man, I don’t need this shit. I figured the point was that there were always eyes on Santos.”
“You figured wrong,” Shades shouts back.
“Fuck you, man,” Tank says.
“Calm the fuck down. Lucky?” Ace points at one of our longest-serving prospects.
Lucky nods and shoves his hands in his pocket. “I was inside the garage that night, finishing up that green GT with the twenty-inch rims. Devon came up from The Chamber, and we had a smoke.”
“And then what,” Dix prompts with a scowl.
“Right. Devon says Hector is going on about what his guys will do to our women to get him back. Devon wanted to find Ace, and I told him it was late, and he should get back to The Chamber.”
Holy shit, could it be that Hector goaded Devon into killing him? “Where’s Devon?” I ask the question out loud, but I’m already scanning for his cell number and street cameras.
“I don’t know,” Lucky answers. “He said Jordi was down there with him and that he was heading home.”
All eyes swing to Jordi, and Shades is on his feet in an instant, closing in on the prospect. Jordi shakes his head.
“Yeah, that much is true. Devon was down there alone, and he was about to pound Hector’s face into the concrete, so I told him to go home before he does something stupid that would prevent him from getting patched.”
Shades is right in Jordi’s face, his own twisted in fury. “And. Then. What.”
Jordi shrugs. “And then nothing. Hector wouldn’t shut the fuck up, so I went outside and sat against the door until I dozed off. When I woke up, the dude was dead.”
“Preacher, what time was it when you said you came by?” Ace asks.
“I don’t know, man, like two, three. I didn’t see no Jordi sitting anywhere, sleeping. No one was here. Just a dead Santos.”
“Fuck! Someone is lying here, and it’s not me.” Ace doesn’t look happy, and I can’t say I blame him. The stories make sense on the surface, but there are huge fucking gaps of time missing in between. “We need the other prospects to fill in the gaps,” I say.
Ace and Dix share a look and nod. “I’ll watch these guys clean up the mess and get rid of Hector’s body.”
Dix grins. “Come on, kids. Let’s go get rid of a body.” With one clap of his big hands, Dix motions toward the door, and the prospects file out in a single line.
Alone again with just the patched members, Ace shakes his head. “Where the fuck is Devon?”
I shrug. “His phone is off right now, but he did go straight home the night Hector’s throat was slashed. No sign of him now.” It’s like the kid disappeared off the fucking planet. “I’m checking his family right now.”
“That’s a bad fucking sign.” Shades sighs and drops down into the closest seat.
“I’ll stop at his place on my way home,” Preacher offers. “See if there’s anything to worry about other than him being a traitor.”
Nova, who is usually silent on most MC matters clears his throat. “Is it me, or are there some giant ass holes in their story of the night?”
“Yeah,” Ace agrees. “But we have to figure out if they’re lying because they’re lazy pricks or guilty pricks.”
That’s the hard part to figure out, even after digging into their finances. “If anyone has gotten paid a big chunk of change, they’re being smart about it. No big deposits or purchases. Either they’re better than they seem or we need to consider that maybe this was coercion.”
Ace gives one sharp nod. “It doesn’t matter for them, but it’ll help us figure out who wanted Hector dead more than us.”