Demoted by a Whisper

sert Vipers' compound like a

amiliar sound, one that usually

to

a girl on the b

z

es that looked too innocent for t

he was the only solid t

he bike, his hands

rway of the garage, a

e" to the club. I was Prez's

ight

I th

other than usual. "She had a bit of troubl

's nice to meet you. Prez has

elt off, to

ed. My thro

was all on her,

standing in

a new f

idn't l

Tensions were high. The Sonoran Scorpions

g out a plan,

orner Prez had set up for he

fee splashed across the

ld have gotten his ass

or Prez's

ever

almost patient sound. "

himself and c

y clear, very violent message to the Scorpions encroachi

. He didn't mention the blood I

ooking at me. He was looking at a small, delicate painti

erent. She needs a

me harder th

years I'd bee

of blood,

es cornering Prez. I'd dived in front of him, taken a blow that split my skin to the bone. He'd s

f the Sonoran desert for him, the only sounds th

ur old clubhouse near Bisbee, just me an

le, stylized viper. "My North Star," he'd called me, a priva

ies. Taking her on gentle rides t

ever dreamed he

ever

lub, the life, it had made me th

he want

his private quarters in the clubhous

less than it used to be. Distant. Like he wa

at on the edge of th

e," he said, his voice flat. "It's n

priate. A

all, one usually given to prospects befo

sage. I was being

car

and started packing the

nd the Zippo in my

d. I had to

tly" mention t

y when I was just walking by. "Some of the things the club does... th

ust be hard for you, wanting peace

torm, and herself as th

a threat to this new, softer life

as, Prez seemed

he just w

that innocent gleam when she thought no one was looking. The way sh

supposed to be dropping off some collec

and serious, talking to Sh

d. "She's seen too much. She'd never

something I c

"If things ever went south... or if

od ran

cing me in his bed,

ing me as

His

st leave. He wouldn't let

it had to look like an ac

arted making a p

shed near the MC's garag

German Shepherd mix I'd found scr

Now, he was healthy, fierc

about him. He was my s

le cash there, a burner p

had to b

ds Izzy was a constant,

er little gifts. He'd even laugh sometimes, a

e watching a movie of a life

match to mine. He kept it on h

ried everywhere. It was a remin

thought

d with every gentle touch h

a local dive bar, the kind of p

iskey. The pain was

ing up at him with that adoring gaze

n I intended, dripping with sarcasm, "Well

by snickered. Others ju

ssed herself closer to Prez, lik

to Prez. Of

clubhouse. Izzy was there,

at, Ace?" Prez's voic

ez," I said, trying to k

ed me. You emb

. "Michael, please. She didn't mean

tleness just fu

fears. One of the

n one down in a dry wash near our old neighborhood in Tu

irl who'd just defended her sister from a gang, nearly killing one of them. He'd made the charge

yalty, Ace. And in keepi

nderstorm predicted fo

remote desert wash on the edge of our terr

oyal," he said, his eyes cold. "Th

d uneasy but

we

Rain came down in sh

ll, the water rising f

to the bone, shivering, th

I wouldn't give hi

passed, I walked back, covered

ker of something unreadable

a small, triumphant s

n't just about her be

to destroy me in his eyes

ng down. Out-of-state

edge, more

nnocent girlfriend, offer

ns. The routes, the timin

sk, her head bent,

as a

details in the plans

mation to two parties: her own Sonoran

"evidence" in my s

times used for sensitive drops. A new burner phon

ver. It wa

ecking my gear for the r

ape plan, the one that was supposed to look l

with cash, new ID, the b

away in the confusion, make it look like I'd

e was setting up a m

abandoned airstrip

g from the f

, expecting

ll hell br

ns hit us from the

ATF vehicles swarmed in from the eas

a kil

down. Scre

t to the shoulder

of the chaos, was su

pistol with surprising accura

vehicles, screaming, "It was Ava! I saw

leading to a dry gully where I'd stashed a dirt bike – now looked

ect. Perfec

ck and then fury as he looked from me to th

r way out, those of us

bin we kept for emergencies, the air

ainst a wall, Shadow tryi

real tears or fak

make a call on a hidden phone. How I'd looked shif

lanted in my room back at the clubhouse before we'd left. T

" He looked at Izzy, her face

looked

and rage so profound, it wa

" he spat

my side. He didn

his voice raspy.

care

euphemism f

was stone. H

ipers, men I'd ridden with, fo

their faces har

fight.

was it. My

here, bumping along a dirt track in the b

ed zip ti

in as a razor, tucked into the lining of my left boo

It was slow, agonizing work.

he truck beside a shal

out around us, silent and unf

re they mean

towards the hole

isted, and slammed my elbow into the

out, aiming for

lwind of des

were too m

unreadable in the dim glow

sed hi

his

fir

d in my leg.

down, g

closer, ai

ht I heard him mutter, so lo

e I ima

s one searing thr

ed back into the truck, ki

for

ht closed in,

es would

the dirt, the taste of gr

Prez gave me, was

ess

thing