Viper's Kiss (5 page)

five.

“
Want
to stick a finger up my ass?
”
Blaine asked.

The cop swung a back hand, sending
Blaine stumbling to the hood of the police cruiser.

“
Hey!
”
Miller yelled.
“
That
’
s not how we do this.
”

Ethan stepped forward and took his
sunglasses off.
“
This is not
how
we
do this? Who the fuck is
we
? You
’
re Miller, right?
”

“
Go
fuck yourself,
”
Miller
said.

Ethan reached and flicked at the
President
’
s patch.
“
What
’
s wrong, Prez? You don
’
t like this?
”

Blaine grabbed at Ethan. He knew
the risk and he paid the price. Ethan threw an elbow and hit Blaine in the gut.

“
It
’
s okay!
”
Blaine yelled.
“
He
’
s never had any strength.
”

The last thing Blaine wanted was
for Miller - or anyone in the MC - to lose their cool and pull out a gun. Ethan
was waiting for something to go wrong here.

“
You
’
re attacking an innocent man,
”
Miller said.

Ethan chuckled.
“
The words
innocent
and
Blaine
have never been used in the same sentence.
”

“
You
’
ve got nothing on him right now,
”
Miller said.
“
He was clean last night.
”

“
Some
of the girls weren
’
t,
”
Ethan said.
“
Makes me wonder what other side
deals you
’
ve made around
this town that point back to you.
”

“
Get
the fuck out of this lot,
”
Gaige said.
“
Unless you
have a reason or a warrant.
”

Blaine got between Miller, Gaige,
and Ethan.
“
Look at me,
Ethan. You want my ass, right?
”

“
I
want it all,
”
Ethan said.
“
I want this place shut down.
”

“
Then
where will all the great people of Frelen take their junk?
”

“
I
can
’
t argue that. This
place is full of junk. Look at yourself, Blaine.
”

“
I
’
m looking at you, Ethan. The
bigger the badge the smaller the cock, right?
”

Ethan wound up and Blaine caught
his fist and pushed. As Ethan stumbled back, two of his officers pulled out
guns.

The scene got ever hotter. Blaine
didn
’
t stand down either.
He walked right to the weapons drawn, no fear in his eyes or heart. Some told
Blaine he was brave. Others said it was stupidity. Blaine liked to live in some
blurry area between the two.

“
We
’
re done here!
”
Ethan yelled.

“
Listen
to what the President said,
”
Blaine warned. He stood chest to chest with Ethan.
“
Unless you have a reason, stay the hell away from
us. You want to break our balls because you
’
re
the new law? Try it.
”

“
This
isn
’
t going to work like
before,
”
Ethan said. He put
his sunglasses on and walked to his SUV.
“
I
’
m not Jerry. I
’
m not going to end up dead.
Suicide? Come on, guys. You think I
’
m
stupid?
”

“
What
does that mean?
”
Blaine
asked.

“
You
know exactly what that means. Just know I
’
m
not going to be on your payroll. I
’
m
not going to do you favors. I
’
m
not going to look away. You fuck up, I
’
m
there to take you down. There
’
s
a reason I got this call.
”

“
This
town is going to eat you alive, Ethan,
”
Blaine said.

“
Don
’
t forget where you came from,
”
Ethan said. He chuckled.
“
Couldn
’
t cut it on the street so you went to the dogs.
”

Ethan got into his SUV. He started
to back up and Blaine hurried to find a rock. He knew he could bust the
windshield with one throw.

“
Brother,
hold up on that,
”
Gaige
said and grabbed his wrist.
“
Let
them leave. We have a bigger issue.
”

“
What?
”
Blaine asked.

“
Eight
Under,
”
Nate yelled as he
hurried to his motorcycle.

“
What
happened?
”
Blaine asked.

“
Come
on,
”
Gaige said.
“
We have to go visit some old
friends.
”

“
What
the fuck happened?
”
Blaine
yelled.

“
They
want us to be on Ethan
’
s
radar,
”
Miller said. He
started his motorcycle and everyone followed suit.

Blaine hurried to his ride and made
sure to stay up next to Miller. If there was going to be bloodshed, the
President needed to be fully protected at all costs. If anything, Miller should
have been in the middle of the pack or in the back. But Miller would always
refuse that.

When they hit the streets, the
motorcycles were like rolling thunder. Plenty of people in town weren
’
t sure about the MC but everyone
deep down inside knew that Frelen was safer with the MC there.

The wind ripped at Blaine
’
s face and he thought about
Ethan. The new chief was going to be a big pain in the ass. There was no way
they could just kill the guy either. It would bring too much heat on the MC. So
they
’
d have to deal with
Ethan. Keep their noses clean or maybe Ethan would see the pressure from the
other crews and towns. Hell, all Miller had to do was pull back and let the
shit bleed into town. Ethan wouldn
’
t
be able to keep up and he
’
d
be begging for the MC
’
s
help.

They all rode to the east side of
Frelen. A little bit of a rundown part of the town, it was famous for drugs,
violence, and plenty of domestic calls. Not to mention it was like a cesspool
for other crews to sneak in, make a few bucks, and get the hell out.

That wasn
’
t happening today though.

There was a woman standing with
messy hair, a long t-shirt with holes in it. She had a cigarette in her hand
and she sucked on it like it was an inhaler keeping her alive. There were two
kids clutched to the woman
’
s
legs. One boy, one girl.

As Miller stopped, a man came out
of a ground floor apartment building. His face was bleeding. He hurried and
took out a gun, causing both kids to scream. That made everyone in the MC draw
their weapons. Blaine jumped off his ride and rushed to the guy.

“
What
the hell are you doing?
”
Blaine asked.
“
They
’
re going to light you up.
”

“
I
don
’
t give a fuck,
”
the guy said.
“
They fucking roll in and fucking
shoot at my fucking family. They fucking hit me, take my money, give me nothing
good.
”

“
Whoa,
whoa,
”
Blaine said.
“
That wasn
’
t us, brother. We got a call to come down and help.
They were a different crew.
”

“
Reggie!
Put the damn gun away.
”
The
woman yelled.
“
You're
scaring the kids.
”

“
They
ain
’
t mine. You need to
shut your fucking legs, woman.
”

“
Holy
shit,
”
Blaine said. He put
a hand to Reggie
’
s chest.
“
Go clean yourself up. You come
out here again and I
’
m
going to shoot you.
”

Blaine then went to the woman.
“
What happened?
”

“
You
heard it,
”
she said.
“
Two came in and they beat up
Reggie. He was just trying to buy stuff. He had good money. He had my fucking
money.
”

“
Okay,
”
Blaine said.

He touched the woman
’
s shoulder. She was boney
everywhere but her belly. Her shirt went down past her knees. She had no shoes
on. The kids clinging to her looked tired and terrified.

“
So
what are you going to do?
”
she asked.

“
We
’
re going to find who did that
and make sure it never happens again,
”
Blaine said.
“
I need you to
work with me, beautiful. Okay?
”

“
I
ain
’
t beautiful. Don
’
t butter me up, asshole.
”

Blaine stepped back. Miller and
Gaige came forward. Nate, Jace, and Landon stood with their guns out, eyeing
the rest of the rundown apartment building.

Blaine crouched and looked at the
kids.
“
You kids like magic?
”

The girl nodded. She had greasy
hair stuck to her face.

“
Don
’
t talk to strangers,
”
the boy said.

“
That
’
s good thinking,
”
Blaine said.
“
So you don
’
t have to talk to me. But I
’
m going to show you a magic
trick. I can make a quarter appear behind your ear.
”

“
No
you can
’
t,
”
the boy said.

“
Devin,
”
the girl said.
“
Stranger.
”

“
He
ain
’
t no stranger. He
’
s going to kill us.
”

“
Whoa,
”
Blaine said.
“
I
’
m
not going to kill you. I
’
m
just
…
wait a second
…”
Blaine reached out and flicked
the kid
’
s ear.
“
Ah, look.
”

He opened his hand and there was a
quarter.

“
Wow,
”
the little girl said.

“
Can
you do that fucking trick with the rent money?
”
their mother asked.

Blaine closed his hand. He shook
his hand and let the quarter slide away. When he opened his hand again, the
quarter was gone.

“
Ah,
man,
”
Devin said.
“
A quarter
…”

“
You
kids do good in school?
”
Blaine asked.

“
She
does,
”
Devin said.
“
I don
’
t give a damn.
”

Blaine touched the young boy
’
s shoulder.
“
You should give a damn. The
greatest thing about life, my man, is that you can change anything at any time.
Remember that.
”
Blaine
reached into his pocket. He took out some cash.
“
I
want you each to take this and get yourself something nice. Okay?
”

Blaine stood up.

“
What
the fuck was that for?
”
the
woman asked.

“
How
much did they take?
”

“
Fifty,
”
she said.

“
Here,
”
Blaine said.
“
There
’
s sixty. Don
’
t
give it to Reggie.
”

Blaine walked back to his ride.

“
What
the hell was that, brother?
”
Shay asked.
“
You thinking
about hitting mama over there?
”

“
I
have no boundaries,
”
Blaine
said.
“
Nothing wrong when
it
’
s dirty. Kind of does
the work for you.
”

“
Aye,
”
Shay said.
“
You
’
re really fucked up.
”

“
Hungry
kids,
”
Blaine said.
“
It ain
’
t right.
”

A few seconds later Miller and
Gaige came back.