Stay Vertical (The Bare Bones MC #2)(40)
The men turned on their boot heels and clomped down the echoing hallway like an invading horde of barbarian Tartars. Turk was the last to go, actually touching me on the shoulder. “I love you, June, but you’ve seriously got to rethink your alliance with that guy.”
I probably muttered something like, “Yeah, sure, whatever,” and Turk was gone too. I said to Maddy, “I guess that ruins our plans for the vortex. I’d better get over to Ingrid’s anyway.”
I’ll have to admit, I didn’t even go to Ingrid’s. She already had enough weed to last another few days, and to be honest, I couldn’t wait to get back to Lytton’s. It was a good excuse to bust on in, having heard about the murder, being concerned.
It was almost completely dark when I passed by Mormon Lake in my “cage” and started up the mountain. Lytton had given me the pass code for the front gate—another good sign if ever I saw one. Even more important, he’d agreed to pay for Ingrid’s hospice and I had a move in date for her all set. That had hugely alleviated any sense of guilt I’d been feeling.
What did I think I was doing, consorting with the sworn enemy of my sister’s husband? Ford Illuminati was a powerful man in the Pure and Easy area and beyond. The P & E Bare Bones charter was the dominant charter, but there were others, for instance in Flagstaff, Prescott, and Phoenix. Once a month they’d have an enormous fish fry and hold a “church” meeting at the Citadel with all the brothers. It was something to behold, a hundred and fifty leather-clad, inked rowdies all coming together like that, the airfield runway a sea of chrome and black. Knowing Ford was President of the dominant charter made me flush with pride, so I knew what I was doing shouldn’t be taken lightly.
But it wasn’t just a cheesy fling. I’d known I was seriously, gut-wrenchingly in love with Lytton Driving Hawk for awhile now. My every thought was sucked up by him. I’d changed my clothing and appearance to embrace the image I thought would arouse him. Hell, I even bought some Kush essential oil to dab behind my ears, thinking that on some subliminal level Lytton would be attracted to me smelling like a marijuana plant. Even if he wasn’t consciously aware of it, I figured that scent would remind him of fortune and fame.
Was I stupid enough to tell Lytton that I loved him? Not on your f*cking life. Because I knew he didn’t love me back.
He was too wrapped up in his inner turmoil, his vendetta against his brother and The Bare Bones. He didn’t have much time or room in his brain for me. Instead of moving on with things, he’d stagnated in his rage. When he found out his father was Cropper Illuminati, he’d also discovered his brother had buried him. I just wanted to be there for him when he inevitably gave it a rest, failed in his vengeance, or came around to Ford’s side of things. I really hoped the latter.
Tobiah’s hawk nose stuck out like a toucan’s beak from under his bowl of hair. Even so, I could tell his face was white with fear. “He’s in the family room with Iso, but really June, I think you want to tread lightly.”
“I know,” I whispered. “I heard about the dead driver. Who did it, do you know?”
“I wasn’t there, luckily.” Toby’s voice trilled with nerves. “But it was Iso who took out that beaner driver. As far as I could tell, he had no f*cking reason to. The guy got out of the truck all right when they told him to while they jacked all his medicine. Iso’s laughing how he just shot the guy through the forehead because the cholo was playing mariachi music and had a Tweety Bird sticker in the side window. I f*cking told Lytton no good would come of this association with The Cutlasses. He’s blinded by revenge, June. We don’t need to bury The Bare Bones to make more money. Hell, Lytton doesn’t need more money. Do you know how much we pull in a month here? I’m helping him with this one more job and that’s it, June, I’m telling you.”
“What one more job?”
“Oh…nothing major, really. I just have to pay an innocent visit to your friend Turk at the—never mind. Let’s just say I enjoy stretching my acting chops.” Holding a hand to his stomach proudly, Toby relaxed for the first time since he’d opened the door. “I was a pretty major player in theater arts at MIT. ‘How can he find himself on a farm? Is that a life? A farmhand? In the beginning, when he was young, I thought, well, a young man, it’s good for him to tramp around, take a lot of different jobs. But it’s more than ten years now and he has yet to make thirty-five dollars a week!’”
I was eager to see Lytton, not listen to a revival of Death of a Salesman, so I said, “Is anyone going to get caught for icing the driver?”
“Not that I know of, but Iso’s kind of hiding out here for awhile just in case, to keep the heat off The Cutlasses. Look, it’s no secret that I like you and Lytton together. I want him to eventually reconcile with his brother. We could work hand in hand with The Bare Bones. I’m not overly fond of The Cutlasses, seeing as how they’ve been trying to rob us for years. Especially a guy who would take out a cholo just because he had a stuffed tiger tied to his bumper.”
“June, hey!” Lytton was being overly hearty as he strode down the hallway. He had that demeanor of someone who is trying to steer the attention off something else. He even put his hands on my shoulders and literally walked me toward the stairs.
I tried not to be such a pushover. “Lytton, hey, I heard the job went south today.” I knew it wasn’t a woman’s place to ask about business, but I wanted to be sure he had no hand in the murder.