Seth (13 page)

If what I just said wasn’t so grave I would have laughed
at Marc’s response to my allegation. His mouth opened and closed several times
as he tries to form words but they fail him. Then he just shakes his head back
and forth and starts pacing around the room.

“What do you mean you have the video?” He finally asks.
“Are you talking about the one on your phone taken in the bar the other night?”

“No this is another video that someone took and it
clearly shows a cop shooting at an unarmed suspect with his back turned and you
got in the way and got shot instead. Now I don’t know what the ‘official’
version is, but I know the real version.”

“You have to give me the video Kim. Things happen so fast
it can be impossible for the untrained eye to really tell what is going on. It
may have looked like another officer shot me but until that video is analyzed
frame by frame we won’t really know if it was a cop that shot me or not.”

“Oh my god, you’re so full of shit. I saw the video and
it’s clear as can be. One of your guys tried to shoot an unarmed man in the
back and you accidently prevented it. There can be no other interpretation.”

“How about this…” Marc begins. “Let’s just you and I look
at the video together and see what it contains. Sound good?”

“No it does not sound good. You’ll just confiscate it
like you did with the other video and once your technicians get ahold of it the
evidence against your department will be erased.”

“Well for starters you shouldn’t have kept that video to
yourself. It was evidence of a crime and rightfully belongs to the police.”

“I see and the video I have now, who does it belong to?”

“I guess that depends on what’s on the video.”

“Well I already know what’s on the video and I’m telling
you it does not make the Sheriff’s Department look very good. That deputy needs
to be off the street and in jail.”

“You can’t make that call. You’re not a police officer
and you’re not a forensics expert so you’re in no position to decide that other
officer’s fate. You know, the more I think about this the more obvious it is to
me. You need to give me that video. It’s evidence that needs to be in the hands
of the police.”

A cold dark fear is beginning to creep into my heart.
Something has changed, Marc has changed and he’s no longer on my side; that
much is clear. It’s also clear to me that I cannot give him the video. He’d
destroy it and innocent bikers will go to jail; Seth and my brother included.
Marc has become the enemy.

“I can’t give it to you Marc.” I reply. “I can’t. Please leave.”

“Kim that video needs to be in the hands of the Sheriff’s
Office. Where is the video?”

“I don’t have it with me.” I reply.

“Where is it then?”

“My friend Molly has it.”

“Then we need to go there and get it.” He insists.

Oh man, I don’t know how I’m going to get out of this
one. I’m beginning to panic. Marc is treating me like a suspect now and not a
woman he used to date. What the hell am I going to do now? I have to fight the
urge to just get up and run for my life. In fact I have just decided to jump up
and run, as crazy as the sounds, but then my phone rings. Before Marc can
forbid me to pick it up I snatch it from my night stand and answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hey Darlin, sorry to call you so-”

“Help me!” I hiss at him.

“What? What’s wrong Kim? Are you at home?”

“Yes get me out of here!”

“Kim what the hell are you doing? Give me that phone. Who
are you talking to anyway?”

I scramble off my bed and sprint for my door. My sudden
movement catches Marc off guard and I barely slip by him as he reaches out to grab
me. I sprint for my door screaming into my phone.

“Help me Seth!” I pant. “Cops after me. They… want the…
video. You g-gotta help m-me!”

I don’t know what else to do so I just run down the hall
and out my front door praying that Seth will get to me before Marc does. I make
a hard right towards one of my neighbors. I run across a well-manicured lawn.
I’m gasping for breath by the time I reach the front door where I starting
ringing the doorbell and screaming for help. When immediate help fails to arrive
I start pounding on the door with my fists and screaming even louder.

“Somebody help me please. Help! Help me please help me!”

I hear my own door slam so I know Marc is in hot pursuit.
Five seconds later I hear Marc shouting my name and the thudding of his boots
on the sidewalk. I pound on the door again but its clear Amy doesn’t want to
get involved nor does anyone else in the area. I can’t believe I’m going to be
caught.

Just then I hear the sweetest sound in the world; the
roar of motorcycles, big black Harley’s ridden by Seth and someone else it
would seem. I turn around as both bikes pass Marc and pull into the driveway of
the house I am standing in front of. One bike stops between Marc and me while
Seth pulls up to me.

“Get on!” He shouts. “You’re lucky I was out and about.”

I don’t need to be told twice. I climb aboard and Seth
wastes no time taking off. In seconds we’re on the street where with a twist of
the throttle and the bike surges beneath us. I hang on as Seth picks up speed.
I venture a look back behind us and see Marc opening the door of his truck.
Dammit, this is going to be a high speed chase. Hopefully he won’t think to
call in back up. He’ll have to explain why he’s chasing me and if the entire
department sees my video he’ll be in trouble for trying to suppress it.
Actually that might not be the case.

I renew my grip around Seth’s waist and press up against
him as tight as I can. I’m wearing a thin blouse and the air was cool enough
without getting onto a speeding motorcycle. Now it’s just freezing. I don’t
know where he’s planning on taking me but I hope we get there soon. The whole
ride is only fifteen minutes and the entire time I didn’t see Marc behind us. I
don’t know if that’s because Seth lost him or Marc decided to keep things under
wraps and handle things by himself.

But just when I’m about to die from frostbite we slow
down and turn into a driveway blocked off by a twelve foot high metal wall. As
we pull up, a gate opens and Marc drives in. On either side of us is an armed
biker standing guard and the moment we clear the gate they shut it fast. When
we finally pull up in front of what looks like a bar I am shaking
uncontrollably. Seth hurries me inside. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust
to the dim light but at least it’s warm.

“Let me get you something to warm you up.” He says and
directs me to a stool at the bar.

“Prospect!” Seth yells. “Get the lady something to warm
her insides. She’s freezing cold. And bring me a jacket.”

Instantly a guy in his mid- twenties jumps to life and
runs through a door and disappears. When he returns he’s carrying a leather
jacket. Seth takes it and helps me into it. It’s not my size but it’s warm and
that’s all I care right now. A few minutes later I’m being handed a drink. I
gulp the fiery liquid without hesitation. While I’m sitting here getting warmed
up my phone begins to ring. It’s Marc. No way in hell am I answering that. He
calls maybe five times over the next half hour and each time he leaves a
message. I’ll listen to them later.

I gulp down a second drink and a third before I finally
begin to feel the effects of the first one. Thankfully it works its magic on my
frayed nerves and gradually I begin to feel better. Seth sips his own drink
silently while I get my bearings. I take this time to look around me. I’m in a
large bar…or it looks like one at least. Behind the counter on either side of
the room are doors that I’m guessing lead to the clubhouse rooms I guess. I
can’t imagine them having meetings out in the open here. Although maybe this is
closed to members and prospects only. On the right side of the only door
leading into the bar area is a giant…very old Harley in perfect condition. When
Seth led me in I noticed he ran his fingers along the bike’s huge gas tank. In
fact I noticed there was an area where the paint was worn down to the metal on
an otherwise perfect paint job.

“Hey what’s with that bike there?” I ask.

“That belonged to the clubs founding member and first
president. He died riding that thing and the brothers had it restored and set
it up there so now everyone touches the tank for luck when they come in and
leave. Did you see where the paint has worn off on one side of the tank?”

“Yeah I thought that was odd given the rest of the paint
job.”

“Bikers tend to be a superstitious lot and most have
rituals they do before going on a long ride or a mission for the club.”

“So what’s your ritual?”

“I never change my socks.”

“Oh gross!”

“I’m kidding. I can’t tell you though. If I do it loses
its power.”

“That sounds like a superstition right there.”

“Damn girl, you’re gonna get me killed.”

“Sorry, it’s just that you said-”

“I know, but that’s not my ritual though. That I can’t
tell ya, sorry.”

“So what is this place anyway?” I ask.

“This is our compound. Normally we keep the outer gate
open because we have a Harley shop to run but we have the capability of locking
this place down in times of war. We also have eight fully contained apartments
on the property that we can move member’s families into if we’re under siege.
Behind the bar are the bachelor pads and we can house an additional ten guys,
twenty in an emergency. The last time we were at war with the 59
^th
Street Gang we had like thirty more guys in sleeping bags here every night.
That was a crazy time. The gang got muscle from some organization in Mexico and
was trying to take over our H trade but we made them pay so bad they broke off
the deal and eventually relocated.”

“Wow… I’m glad you guys aren’t at war with that gang
anymore.”

“No, we’re just at war with the cops now.”

“What?”

“Things are gonna blow up darlin’ cuz of that video I
took that you still have right?”

“Of course.”

“Better let me take it then so the heat will be off you.”

“I don’t actually have it on me.”

“What?”

“I was going to email it to myself but the file is too
large and my phone won’t do it so I hid it in my house.”

“You realize the second they believe you no longer have
it on your person they’re going to tear up your house looking for it.”

“Oh I hid it real good.”

“You are so naïve darlin’. They’re gonna bring in metal
detectors and x-ray equipment and if it’s in there they’ll find it.”

“I’m not sure they’ll do any of that. I think it has to
be off the books because not everyone is going to go by Marc’s interpretation
of the events when they see the video. As you know it’s clear it was a cop who
shot at an unarmed person with his back turned. It’s damning evidence and if
they suppress it and try to convict some witness may come forward and blow the
whole thing even if the cops destroyed the video. I think Marc has to find it
by himself and destroy it. Soon as he does that he can decide how to go about
getting charges against you guys. He may not even want that and may just sweep
everything under the carpet.”

“Well look who’s been watching Law and Order.” Seth
replies.

“Shows like that take incompetent crooks and turn them
into knowledgeable criminals.

“Well this competent criminal is going to your house to
retrieve that video and see what can be done to make copies before it
accidently gets destroyed. Where’d you hide it?”

“I took a page from your playbook.”

“How so?”

“I put it in a water tight, air tight box and put it in
the gutter on the roof on the back of the house. That’s about the last place
anyone would look and the gutter will throw off metal detectors right?”

“That’s actually not a bad idea. Good work detective. You
look exhausted. Let me take you to some place you can lay down and get some
sleep. Then I’m going to cruise by your house and see if it’s being watched.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea Seth. They’ll probably
be hiding out and will see you long before you get to my house or see them.”

“Relax darlin’, I have done this before. I know how to
move in and out without being seen. If the cops still have eyes on the home
I’ll keep my distance. Now let’s get you a place to rest your pretty head.”

I get off my stool and follow him through one of the
doors behind the bar. Soon as we get through the door I detect bachelor. Now
this is what I thought Seth’s house would have smelled like. Obviously these
rooms are used by single brothers. I’m almost afraid to sleep here. He leads me
past four doors and to one that is open. I follow him in. It’s Spartan, but
clean. There are two single beds and a small desk. Other than that the room is
empty.

“Don’t worry Kim, everything is clean. You’ll be able to
sleep here unmolested. No one knocks much less opens a closed door here. That’s
the cardinal rule of the bachelor pads. The guys value their privacy. How long
do you want to sleep?”