the “fat cat” is that he’s referring to, but I hope to hell some underworld thug hasn’t crawled out of the woodwork looking to wage war. The Outlaws are already on the brink of a war with the Bastards. We don’t need someone else looking to take out MCs right now.
As far as the Circuit, I can guess what that part means. The Circuit is a term used for those in the slave trade, for the routes that are used to traffic human merchandise from one location to the other. Stopovers—locations where merchandise is put in holding between locations or to wait for buyers—being compromised is a problem for whomever is using them, but it has nothing to do with me or my club. No one in the Outlaws is in the skin trade. Still, in the underworld, all information is valuable, even if it doesn’t pertain to why I’m here.
And as far as the bit about the Bastards… That part almost makes me smile, but it isn’t news. Wolf would have been gunning for me the minute he found out I’d taken Helix and Gunner’s brother out. If I panicked every time someone had it in for me, I’d have died of a coronary long ago.
“Interesting information, Lenny, but none of that is why I’m here.”
“Then what the fuck do you want?”
I don’t waste time. “Where’s Jamison?”
“I… What?”
“You heard me. Where is Jamison?”
“How the fuck should I know? I haven’t seen him in months.”
I throw my fist into his face. There’s a nasty crack when his nose gives, and blood spurts down his face and onto his pristine white shirt. He yelps and covers his nose. I keep my fist pulled back and clenched. “Don’t lie to me, Lenny boy.”
“I’m telling the truth, Spider, I swear.” He sounds as if he has a cold now. “None of us have seen him. He owes this place too much. He isn’t allowed in here until he pays up.”
“You’re the one he hits up for cash when his family gets too smart to let him suck them dry. He may not have been here, but you’ve seen him.”
He drops his shoulders, eyes darting around for a way out.
Obviously being roughed up isn’t enough.
“Suppose I tell Viper where you are, Lenny? He’s looking for you. You owe him a hundred grand, don’t you?”
And if that doesn’t work, I’ll tell him I had one of Gary’s friends’ hands cut off and sent to him.
There’s no need. At the mention of the loan shark, his face blanches. He looks like he’s about to piss his pants. “Okay, look. He came looking for cash a month ago. I told him he wasn’t mooching off me again. The last I heard, he went to jail for trying to kill his wife.”
“The fucker got out,” I growl.
And then he tried to kidnap his own son and nearly cracked my Wildcat’s head open.
“Well then, he’s probably at The Docks. He’s got a piece of ass who works there. She always lets him in when he’s got nowhere else to go.”
The Docks. That’s a dive bar near the Port of Long Beach.
“Name.”
“Lynne, I think. Waitress.”
Lynne, he thinks. Better if he was sure of the name, but if that’s the best he’s got, it’s better than nothing.
“See? Was that so hard?” I croon.
“You broke my fucking nose.”
“Lie to me again, and I’ll break your legs.” I back up a pace and wait until he relaxes. Then I throw my fist into his gut, a single punch just to make my message clear. Lenny doubles over and groans in pain, choking for air.
“Don’t hold out of me again, Lenny,” I say.
He moans and slides down the fence to the ground.
“Shit. You hit like a hammer.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
He looks up at me, his eyes pleading, his breathing shallow. “Please… Don’t tell Viper… where I am.”
I pat his cheek with my palm and give him a noncommittal smile. “Be seeing you.”
“You’re an asshole.”
I grin, already walking away toward the other side of the club and my bike. “I know.”
It’s almost two in the morning by the time I get my room for the night and flop onto the comfortable mattress. I’ve paid for a night at a simple but comfortable motel in downtown LA. Knowing The Docks would be already closed when I’d arrived in Las Angeles, I’d planned to save my visit with Lynne for tomorrow. I’d called Dragon earlier to give him my obligatory update, and I’d hated telling