Zodiac gave Clint an annoyed scowl. “These guys aren’t like you and me. They hide in the shadows and likely have a small circle of people they trust. Imagine if you knew someone in your club was snitching to the enemy. There’d be only so many options, right? How could you plot against the rat if the peopleyou’re plotting with could be the one sabotaging you? I think they’ll chill now.”
“Of course, there’s a problem,” I said, considering the snitch who helped me save Lula and catch the guy who shot Nova. “We won’t know when the Void is making a move until they’ve done it, just like with Lula. Hell, we won’t know if the Void caught the rat until we get hit without anyone giving us a warning call.”
“So, you think we ought to assume the next few days could be the only quiet we get for a while?” Clint asked and glanced in the direction of approaching motorcycles. “Rock has added people to watch the security cameras around Little Memphis and Rawlins. We’ve made a list of soft targets like the courthouse and schools. Our snitches are looking for anyone checking into hotels like those two teams did the night before the attack. No one in our club rides alone anymore.”
“What about this neighborhood?” Zodiac asked as Lula’s siblings and Sabrina’s girlfriends parked in front of the house next door.
“We’ve got people at the entry points. That’s who alerted me to your arrival.”
Zodiac cocked an eyebrow. “But no one stopped me.”
“My dad has had you in his sniper scope since you arrived. Hell, he might still be watching us from the attic,” Clint said and waved toward his parents’ place.
Zodiac looked at me and rolled his eyes. “He’s showing off.”
“I see that,” I replied, “but I’m glad our allies are ready to go to war.”
“What happens now that Nova is safe here?” Clint asked Zodiac. “Are you returning to Baton Rouge?”
“I just fucking got here. My damn bike’s engine is still warm.”
Clint cracked a smile. “Yeah, but I remember the last time Tricky and you were in the same location.”
“I’m not worried about your boy,” Zodiac sneered. “He didn’t do much more than shove me when he thought my club attacked Rawlins. I can’t imagine he’d be any scarier on his turf.”
“You’re about to find out,” Clint said and frowned behind us. “As soon as you arrived, everyone in the community knew, and Tricky’s parents live here.”
“Am I supposed to be pissing my pants right now?” Zodiac asked, and I inched closer to him.
“He’s all worked up over his ex-girlfriend getting hurt in the attack,” I told Zodiac as we watched Tricky ride toward Lula’s place.
“Tricky is a bitch,” Zodiac replied. “If it wasn’t his banged-up girlfriend, it’d be some other damn thing. He doesn’t think about shit. He just lashes out like a fucking child.”
Clint didn’t respond to Zodiac’s complaints. His gaze remained on Tricky pulling up in front of the house. I wasn’t sure how to play this situation. Zodiac expected more appreciation from the Crimson Guard, especially Clint. In my president’s mind, these people ought to be treating him like a fucking king.
Zodiac was my president and friend. I viewed situations through his eyes. But over the last few days, I had gotten a sense of the people here in Little Memphis. The cocky, detached vibe from Clint was a con. He seemed over his head or passive, but he was testing people and making them wonder.
Right now, I suspected he was playing the angles. Zodiac was Clint’s ally, but Tricky was a man who shared a zip code.Whose ass should he protect in this situation?
Tricky was a bear of a man with long, strawberry blond hair and a thick beard. Unlike in the condo’s courtyard, he held himself today with barely contained aggression.
“What the fuck is this?” Tricky asked, climbing off his motorcycle.
Clint shook his head. “They’re here for personal reasons, making it none of your business.”
“Personal, huh?” Tricky said and rubbed at his thick beard. “The rumor all over town is that Lula’s got one of these fuckers shacked up in her house.”
Maybe beckoned by the mention of her name, Lula came storming outside. She walked right up to Tricky and frowned.
“Get off my property.”
“Are you really sharing your pussy with this Louisiana fucker?”
Before I could rush the asshole, Lula slapped Tricky hard and fast.
“Don’t you talk to me like a clueless whore hanging around your clubhouse,” Lula sneered as she held her own with the much larger man.
Tricky’s demeanor shifted, and his hostility exploded. He got right in Lula’s face. When I ran at Tricky, Zodiac and Clint grabbed me by the shoulders to keep me back.
