Mystery Man (Dream Man #1)(73)
“Really?” I asked.
“Really,” Hawk answered looking as happy about this news as I felt. “Tack’s position as president of the Chaos MC was a hostile takeover. Chaos started as a brotherhood of hellraisers. They didn’t make trouble but that didn’t mean they didn’t seek it out and embrace it when they found it. They always had the garage and auto supply but it was just a front and not very big. Their crimes were relatively victimless, knife fights with other bikers who were looking for trouble, shit like that. They grew and sold pot, good shit, made a fortune, built up the garage and the store. Things degenerated, didn’t help that internally there were two factions in the club always fighting, butting heads. Good and bad. Bad won out and the brotherhood is a brotherhood so even with bad leadin’ the club, the others followed. Stopped growin’ pot, started transporting. Not dealin’, just moving product from point A to point B. Lucrative, far more than the pot. The garage and store got built up more. But you start doin’ bad shit, more bad shit follows and it did. Made deals, made alliances, built the business, and not just the legitimate ones, broke deals, broke alliances, fought wars, f**kin’ insane. This world, their world, is a different world set right here in Denver, there are no rules, no laws but they got instinct on their side.”
I was pretty shocked Hawk was explaining this but even more shocked that he shared so many words.
“Instinct?” I asked when he stopped talking, fascinated at the same time mildly freaked out.
“You can be pretty smart when you’re actin’ on instinct in order to survive. These guys, they are far from dumb. These guys have been doin’ this so long, they’re masterminds. And I’m not jokin’.”
“Oh,” I whispered.
“Through this shit, the last twenty years, Kane has been growin’ the custom bike and car business. Quiet, at first, and patient, it turns out. He’s had a plan, all this time, twenty f**kin’ years. Slowly building the reputation, slowly getting attention for it, now everyone knows about it. Hard to keep doin’ seriously bad shit when journalists and photographers are writin’ stories and takin’ photos and Hollywood movie stars are visiting your garage. He talked the club into feedin’ the money into Ride, branched out, built stores in C Springs, Boulder. Now it’s nearly as lucrative as the illegal shit and he made it that way so, when he made his move to take over, standard of living for his boys wouldn’t take that big of a hit, they cut ties with that other shit. So, that’s what he did.”
“The Chaos MC is clean?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t say that, babe, but they don’t peddle flesh or transport drugs anymore.”
“That’s good,” I noted.
“Yeah, in the sense that Kane and his boys don’t face a future where it might be that their only wardrobe choice is an orange jumpsuit. Problem is, they were good at safe transportation and now that they don’t offer that service, sometimes demand gets cut off from supply. This has made some very dangerous people not very happy. And Kane is the man behind their unhappiness. He’s got boys in his ranks would be happy to go back to what they were doin’. There’s unrest, he’s dealin’ with that, and there’s outside pressure, and he’s dealin’ with that. He’s a marked man and until he figures out who’s behind the rebellion in his Club and the outside factions sort out their shit and move on, he’s got problems.”
“How is, um…” I took in a breath and then asked, “Ginger involved with that? Is it the drugs?”
“Nope,” Hawk replied.
Oh shit.
“Did she let them peddle her flesh?”
“No babe,” his arm gave me a squeeze, “she was the inside man on the theft of three custom cars and a custom bike, a shitload of gear and the contents of a safe.”
“The inside man?” I asked.
Hawk paused to study me then his fingers sifted through my hair and I realized he did this for the same reasons Cam took in breath. He did it to prepare me.
“Her chosen profession, Sweet Pea. She’s got one thing goin’ for her and that is that no one takes her seriously. She was smart enough to listen and learn in a lot of places. She sold information, she provided distraction for a price and, also for a price, she provided access. She wasn’t smart enough not to keep her shit quiet, not to be invisible and not to f**k over the wrong people. She wasn’t choosy, she’s equal opportunity. She f**ked everyone and now she’s f**ked.”
“How many people has she f**ked over?” I asked.
“Too many,” Hawk answered.
“And their danger zone levels?”
“Off the charts,” Hawk replied. “Kane and Chaos are the least of her troubles and, Gwen, they may have cleaned up but that doesn’t mean they play by the rules. They caught her; they’d deal with her their own way. They would not hand her over to the cops. They’d find a way to take back what she owed them and they’d be creative about it.”
My body gave a tremble as my hand clenched against his thermal and when it did, his hand left my hair and he slid his knuckles down my jaw.
“Yeah, baby, it is not lookin’ good for Ginger,” he whispered.
“Will you find her for me?” I blurted and then I tensed. I couldn’t ask that, I couldn’t ask Hawk and his boys to wade in –