OUTLAW KING(29)

“Fuck.”

“You know him?” Knox asked.

“Let’s just say he’s not quite a badge guy… but right there. He’s got power. He’s looking to break my balls a little bit.”

“There’s some more,” I said.

“What?” Knox asked.

“He keeps telling me there’s information about the murder of my brother, Tito. He keeps stringing me along that something is waiting there. I want to know the truth about my brother and his murder. Shit, I went out and sought revenge…”

“Which could be proved wrong,” Knox said. “You shot and took off. Your bullet might not…”

“Enough of this talk,” Uncle Jakey said. He stood up. “Enough.” He slammed his hands to the table. “So what do you want from me, King?”

“How about some f*cking answers?”

Uncle Jakey looked at me. “Like what?”

“I’ll go back inside. I’ll take the death penalty. If that’s what I need to do for the Reap. But there’s truth out there waiting. And this Anderson guy is not going to back down easily.”

“So let’s string him along,” Knox said. “Feed him some bullshit about the Reap. Let him think King is on his side.”

“You okay with that?” Uncle Jakey asked me.

“Whatever the club needs,” I said. “I just want to be out and free. If my case can be presented without this guy in the picture…”

“How do you get rid of him?” Knox asked.

“You know him, Uncle Jakey?” I asked. “Maybe you can think of something. I just wanted to bring this to the table. Right away. It’s all happening so fast right now.”

Uncle Jakey stood up. “You’re looking to make up on lost time with that woman. I know you, King. From the day I met you, you’ve been tied up with her. So tell me this out of prison thing has nothing to do with her.”

“Of course it has something to do with her,” I said. “But this is about the Reap. This guy was going to come after you no matter what. He made that very clear to me. He had the pictures of Tito’s murder scene. He had forms, data, information. He had everything. What did you want me to do? Hole up in prison and let everything fall apart?”

“Okay,” Knox said. “This is getting out of control here. We have someone eyeing the Reap. There’s not much to come after us for right now, but if he’s building a case, it can make us look like shit pretty fast. So we have to be careful.”

“Go north,” Uncle Jakey said.

“What?” I asked.

“You, Slam, Knox, a couple others,” Uncle Jakey said. “Go north. I have a family cabin about three hours away. Go north for a week or so.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I f*cking said so,” Uncle Jakey said with gritted teeth.

“You have to give me more,” I said. “Everything I’ve done here for you. For this club. I want to know what happened to Tito. What happened the night I went after his killer. Or supposed killer.”

Uncle Jakey eyed me again and stepped toward me.

Knox quickly rushed around the table, keeping distance between us. I had never really had too many problems with Uncle Jakey but I wasn't in a position to get bullied around. Fuck that. I was already living on borrowed time, so what did it all matter?

“King, listen to Uncle Jakey,” Knox said. “We’ll take a ride. What for?”

“Diversion,” Uncle Jakey said. “Buys me time to start my investigation. You break apart from us and Anderson. You can tell him whatever the hell you want. Tell him you’re working on something big for the Reap. Keep his dick hard.”

“Thanks for that visual,” Knox said.

“What about Linds?” I asked. “What do I tell her?”

“She’s not my problem. Say whatever you want.”

Knox nodded to me. A silent way of saying don’t f*cking push it.

“Fair enough,” I said.

“Good,” Uncle Jakey said. “Then we all agree.”

“What about the rest of the club?” Knox asked. “When do we talk to them?”

“You talk to who you take,” Uncle Jakey said. “I’ll tell the rest.”

“Okay,” Knox said. “We have a plan. Everyone agrees. Everyone is good here. Let’s play this thing smart. Maybe we can get rid of this Anderson guy and keep King out of prison.”

“I don’t know, brother,” I said. “I’m on death row path right now.”

“We all are,” Knox said.

“If I had a gavel in my hand, this is where I’d swing it,” Uncle Jakey. “Go make your f*cking plans.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Kingston,” Uncle Jakey’s rough voice said. He nodded. “You kept shit honest. Even if I don’t agree with this and what’s happening, you kept honest with yourself and the Reap.”

“I always said I would.”

“I’ll remember that.”

The comment seemed like it had more meaning but Knox threw an arm around me and walked me out of chapel. Tensions were high. Whatever this Anderson guy was, he definitely had Uncle Jakey worried.