Have Gun, Will Travel (The Bare Bones MC #5)(43)
Sax told Wolf, “Did you hear that? Those are some mighty words to live up to.” With that, Sax barreled down the hallway.
He didn’t get far before he crashed right into Fred Birdseye, freshly minted Veep of the Flag chapter. Sax had known him from fish fries over the decades, but Birdseye was so new to Flagstaff that Sax had barely had time to greet him, much less have a conversation.
Birdseye seemed to want a conversation now.
He was three sheets to the wind, as usual, gripping a flat pint bottle of tequila. Sax didn’t normally trust anyone who was perpetually drunk, but Birdseye seemed to be a maintenance drinker—a guy who drank round the clock and never seemed drunk. Now he appeared to have an urgent issue to tell Sax.
“I don’t want to be Veep anymore, Sax. You’ve got to go to bat for me with Leo. You’re the f*cking logical choice for Veep since you’re his older brother.”
“Why don’t you want to be Veep?”
“It’s too f*cking dangerous, Sax. Did you hear what just happened to Funkhauser, after what happened to Panhead? They’re building some kind of RICO case against us. That stands for racketeering and—well, it means that anyone in the club is liable to be arrested next on the flimsiest grounds possible. Anyone, until we figure out where the f*cking leak is, who’s the f*cking snitch who couldn’t hold his mud!”
“I couldn’t f*cking agree more. I’ve got my suspicions but I’m far from having any proof. I never did understand why Leo didn’t make Harte Veep—”
“Yeah, why he chose a no one from the Tucson chapter. I wondered the same thing, Sax. Harte’s his only f*cking kid. Why not him?” Birdseye’s face drained of its color when he contemplated his next words. “Because Leo knew the next guy would be going up the river?”
“Look, I’ll have a f*cking talk with Leo, not that it’ll do any good. Is he about to admit to me if he’s up to something? I’m the last person he’d admit anything to. And how is this benefitting him, anyway? What’s he getting out of it? The blowback is too great if he was the rat.”
Birdseye intoned morbidly, “Not if he was doing it as part of a deal he struck with the ATF to turn in his men in exchange for immunity. Remember, Leo was arrested several months ago driving a truck full of Russian ladies, but nothing ever came of it? Funny how that happened.”
Clapping Birdseye on the shoulder, Sax continued down the inner stairwell. Things were sure turning into a massive clusterf*ck. Having Bee, patched as his property, seemed more and more like the only stable thing in his life. He had no idea why the concept of stability was suddenly so important to him. It had even occurred to him a couple of times lately that he might want another kid. That idea was terrifying, of course, but his mind kept returning to it time and time again.
The first person he met at the bottom of the stairs inside the hangar was Lulu Saxonberg, Leo’s wife. With her lustrous bottle-red hair piled on top of her head, she wore heels so high she teetered when she walked. But she was still a fine piece of ass after all these decades, keeping herself fit and trim. She was the perfect Prez’s old lady. Sax had always wondered how Leo had scored with her. He was such a jerk. Lulu was so wise, so mature, so open about her feelings.
“Sax. We need to talk. Listen, let’s go over here behind this toilet trailer.”
“Sure. I heard what happened to Funkhauser.” Sax assumed that was what Lulu wanted to discuss.
“Yes, that’s horrible, but it’s not what I had in mind…”
On their way to the trailer, parked inside the hangar for people too squeamish to use the port-a-potties outside, Lytton raised a hand to Sax.
“Hey. Wanted to let you know. My buddy Saul Goldblum is going to make an unscheduled, unannounced inspection to your salon tomorrow.”
Sax nodded, pleased. “Good. Thanks, Lytton. Now, what’s up, Lulu?” It was always nerve-wracking being around Lulu. Sax preferred to keep his distance, and that was usually possible. He didn’t often just happen to run into her. She was at the heart of his decades-old feud with Leo, and it made him nervous when that emotion bubbled so close to the surface.
She crossed her arms beneath the shelf of her breasts. “It’s Harte, Sax. I know you don’t like me to come to you with issues about him. But listen. I know you’d be a lot more open-minded about this than Leo.” Chagrin shot through her face. “Sax, Leo would murder Harte if he found out, and I don’t know what to do!”
Sax was starting to comprehend the situation. “Are you referring by any chance to Dayton Navarro?”
Lulu exhaled all in one whoosh. “Yes! Yes, how did you know? So you know what I’m talking about then. Is this just a f*cking phase or something? Harte has always been so handy with the ladies. And imagine what Leo will do when he finds out he’s not going to have any grandkids?” Her hands flew to her face, covering everything but her eyes with her long, manicured nails.
Sax risked putting his hands on her shoulders. No one could see them from here, unless they stumbled around the wrong side of the trailer. “I saw them earlier in the dispatcher’s office, ah, going at it. I didn’t say a word because I was in a rush. Also, like you said…Leo. Last time I stepped in when Harte got that girl pregnant, well, that was the last time I saw the inside of the Flagstaff chapel, to say the f*cking least. You know how Leo doesn’t want me parenting Harte.”