Brain(22)

“What research have you done on the club?”

“Once I realized it must be the MC after me, I read a good bit of what I hacked off your servers.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I looked through the Atlanta PD’s gang task force’s files on the Atlanta RTMC chapter.”

His look was appraising, and he asked, “Why Atlanta and not Chattanooga?”

“I hacked into the Atlanta PD years ago, and wrote myself a back door so I could get back in. They’ve compartmentalized some things since then, and I couldn’t get to some of the more official records without spending some time, but the gang unit has what amounts to an online whiteboard, so they can share information and collaborate without having physical meetings. It’s surprisingly organized.”

“What did you learn about us?”

“I’ll tell Brain how to get in later,” I hedged, “so you can read it for yourself.”

“I appreciate that, but I’m asking what stuck out in your mind, what you learned that made your highly illegal jaunt worthwhile.”

Was he fishing about the werewolf thing? Surely not. I took a breath and dove into something that didn’t seem incendiary. “There’s a good deal of discord about how to deal with you amongst the ranks of the task force. Some want to spend a lot of time investigating you, others feel their time is better spent elsewhere. The upper brass seems to have told everyone to back off, and I got the idea that…” I paused and tried to explain in as few words as possible, because Duke seemed like the kind of guy who got impatient with long-winded explanations. “Teachers nowadays have to teach to the standardized tests, because they get graded by how well their students do on them. In much the same way, police departments are graded on their crime numbers, so anything that brings the numbers down is seen as good to the people in charge. Apparently, the bad guys are afraid to do bad shit in your territory, so the numbers look good without having to use police manpower. So, the upper brass seems to have a hands-off approach to the Atlanta Chapter, as long as they aren’t doing anything to increase those numbers.”

Duke sat back a little more, crossed his ankles and his arms, and said, “Anything else? Something you maybe want to ask us?”

“Nothing that’s any of my business,” I hedged.

“Ask anyway.”

No way in hell was I asking if they were werewolves. I needed some misdirection. I threw my arms up and exclaimed, “Ya’ll do bad shit. You’re pimps, or they are, anyway, and you used to be part of them. I saw pictures of people after ya’ll beat them up. You’re bad, and yet… most of what you’ve been arrested for, I approve of. The men who gang-raped the teacher? I loved seeing the pics of them after ya’ll were done with them, and sad some of the men responsible saw jail time for it. Some of the members did really bad shit before joining the MC — bank robberies, home invasions, car theft — but it seems they straighten up once they join you? It doesn’t make sense!”

“What else do you want to know?”

I shook my head. “If there’s something specific you have in mind, perhaps you can give me a clue. Like I said, I can tell Brain how to get in, so you can read it for yourself.” I looked towards the back corner of the room and remembered my ordeal in the damned cage, with my jaw stretched open until it spasmed, and my arms behind my back so my shoulders hurt. I rubbed my jaw, and then wrapped my arms even tighter around my legs as I remembered how bad I’d hurt during the hours I waited for Brain to return — unable to move to relieve the strained muscles.

Duke watched me, and then looked to Bash. “I rode your bike up. Why don’t you head on home.”

He shook his head. “You’ll need help moving her.”

I squeezed my legs tighter, remembered my humiliation in the cage, and put my head on my knees. I didn’t know if they could truly smell emotions, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.

“I think the two of us can handle moving her. Head home, Bash.”

I could feel Bash’s glare as he walked by me, but he went into the bedroom he’d been using, and came out with a duffel. He left without saying anything else.

“Thank you,” I told Duke as Bash roared away.

“Lotta my guys are gonna feel the same as him, and you’ll have two men on you for at least another week. I’ll put the word out they aren’t to treat you as he did, but if you’re down to one man and need to be left alone in a room for any reason, you’ll find yourself naked and in a cage, bound in some way so we’re sure you can’t get out. The dog crate can be escaped from, so he was right to restrict use of your arms. There was no call to put you in the exact position he did, but I’m not going to apologize for him. You’re responsible for his best friend getting hurt, almost killed.”