thing that would help him. Justice.”
“What happened?”
Pip’s eyes meet mine. “The senator returned stateside. I followed him. Found I wasn’t the only man on his trail. We ended up working together as a team, and the senator met with a fortunate accident. That man…” he pauses, and looks directly into my eyes, making me feel the next piece of information is going to be significant. “That man went, still goes, by the handle, Devil.”
That name rings a fucking loud bell. But surely, it can’t be? “He have a jagged scar down his face?”
Pip smirks. “I thought you’d know him. Jason Deville is his proper handle. Of course it was long before he met Drummer in Tucson. When that business blew up with Sam, it was me who recommended he contact Drummer head-on.”
“I thought it was because Drummer had met Devil’s business partner at the sheikh’s wedding.” I press my lips together.
“That was the useful thing. He had. But we’d been monitoring the sex slave traffickers. We were the ones to find out Sam was being targeted, and Devil was already on that case.” His eyes meet mine. “You’ve already seen what we’re capable of. Devil is just one of the people who use our skills.”
Skills that shouldn’t exist in Utah. But I don’t comment about that, instead I think of what I know of Devil. He’s a partner in a security company based in the UK. He works for the feds as a consultant from time to time. If he hadn’t have appeared when he had, Drummer wouldn’t have known Sam was at risk. I know Drummer remains suspicious of his motives, but then he’s that way about everyone who doesn’t wear our patch.
“Getting back on track, the senator was dead, and Devil was already investigating one of the people Gianetta’s information had named. We pooled our resources. I’d taken Cowboy under my wing. He was anchorless and needed to exact revenge. Well, let it just be said that another man who didn’t deserve to live is now gone. As I’d proved useful to Devil, he offered me a job with Grade A Security, but I didn’t want to work for anyone anymore, whoever they were and whatever their resources. And Devil himself? Well, it wasn’t just his surname that earned him that handle. He’s straddled the line between good and evil for so long, I’m not certain he knows which side he’s standing at any one time.”
Much like Drummer’s assessment of the man. Devil hadn’t led us wrong and seemed to be on the right side. He’d helped us rescue Mariana from Colombia, but it had suited his purpose to take her evil father out. If we hadn’t been treading the same path, would he have gone to the same lengths he had? It’s impossible to know.
17
Road…
“It must have destroyed Cowboy. I can understand that. But I don’t see where the link is between you and the Satan’s Devils MC.”
Pip slowly raises his head and dips it again as though I’ve asked something intelligent.
“Cowboy was a man who had no dreams, and nothing left to live for. He’d planned to go home to Texas, but that was when his family was alive. He couldn’t even stomach the thought of returning alone. He needed a fresh start. To be honest, we’d struck up a friendship, and I was worried what would happen to him on his own. I decided to stick with him. We basically stuck a pin in the map and headed here, to Utah.”
Snatcher glances at Pip, who raises his chin toward him, and he takes over again. “Our club had been decimated, our businesses taken away from us. The auto-shop was turning a profit, but again, the mafia started fuckin’ with us, and wanted to use our skills to adapt their vehicles so they could transport weapons and drugs. None of us remaining members wanted to work with them pulling our strings. One night, we were out drowning our sorrows and chucking ideas around, when Pip and Cowboy appeared.” Snatcher chuckles. “Well, it’s fair to say Preacher threw his beer over Pip—quite accidentally—but Pip, well, for a moment I wasn’t sure how he’d react to that. He was a man who could handle himself, and for a moment I worried that we might be carrying Preacher out in a box. So I stepped up, apologised, and invited him and his companion to join us.”
Pip sighs. “Cowboy and I had just arrived in Utah. If we wanted to