Low Sided by A.J. Downey (best detective novels of all time txt) 📕

sounded sincere, but Cipher stopped him with a raised hand.

“I appreciate it, Mav, but if ever there was a time to put myself out, this would be it. I mean, fuck…”

Mav nodded.

“Glad we’re on the same page, brother,” Glassjaw murmured. Cipher nodded.

“Opportunistic scraps?” Squatch asked.

“Have at,” Mav said. “We don’t have any control over that shit but if it comes up, you fuckers better make it fucking count.”

There was a ring of chuckles sweeping around the table.

“So, holding pattern,” Nine said and didn’t sound one hundred percent happy. That made all of us, but it was what it was.

“Order of operations,” Mav declared.

“Don’t you worry,” Glassjaw said. “There’s enough of these fuckwits to go around. Everybody’s going to get a piece.”

Nine nodded, and I smiled. I wanted my pound of flesh and pint of blood just as much as anyone else around this table.

“What other business have we got?” Major asked.

“Why, you got someplace else to be?” Glass asked with raised eyebrows.

“I ain’t saying that,” Major said. “I just want to know what’s up – damn.”

“No, you’re right, there’s other shit in the works. An opportunity’s come up, but it might stretch some of our resources,” Mav declared.

“Oh, yeah? What you got?” Derry asked, curious.

“We’ve had two major medical emergencies inside the last quarter or so,” Maverick said. “Lucky for us, both times, Raven – Mace’s new woman – was there.”

“What you thinking?” Cipher asked, brow crushing down.

“He’s thinking she’s taken care of us in our time of need, maybe it’s time we take care of her back a little,” Glass said.

“What’d you have in mind?” Dump Truck asked, leaning back in his seat.

“Most of you have seen her place,” Mav said.

“Fuckin’ shithole,” Fenris declared.

I nodded. “It is that,” I agreed.

“Now, we still have to get in contact with her landlord or whatever,” Maverick started, and Fen snorted.

“Slumlord is more like it.”

“All that aside,” Glass said firmly and shot the big man a look. Fen grinned a twinkle of mischief in his bright blue eyes. I grinned and hung my head to hide it some.

“I’m thinkin’ we fix up her place for her and Mace – it’s nice and close to the club, and then we fix up the other three units up there to rent out as a crash pad. It’s within walking distance of the club and they’re not bad little units all things considered.”

“Use a shell corp to rent ‘em out, make everything on the up and up.” Cipher nodded, and I could tell he was a million miles away running the numbers through his brain like grains of sand through a normal guy’s fingers.

“Not bad, not bad.” Dump Truck nodded. “All but invisible from law enforcement, those other three units. Like hiding in plain sight.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Mav said, leaning back in his chair.

We sat in silence for a while letting the idea soak in for all the other brothers. Nods started appearing and Mav asked, “Shall we put it to a vote then?”

“I second,” I declared.

It was unanimous. Dudes were willing to put in the time and effort, might even get some skilled labor in from some of the surrounding chapters. I mean, it would benefit them too.

There was some other random loose shit to cover, but that was essentially the bulk of the fucking meeting.

By the time we were out, it was still some hours yet before Raven would be free, but I bounced anyway, preferring to spend my time at the end of her bar than with the rest of the boys hashing over the same ol’ shit. Raven was much more interesting than bitching about a bunch of tweakers.

About the only thing I gave a fuck about right now was how Tic was doing and the answer to that was resting comfortably at Dahlia’s in a drugged-out stupor for his pain, healing up as fast as his body could repair itself.

When I swept back into the bar, Raven’s smile said it all. I couldn’t wait to talk to her about what the club wanted to do. No more secrets, nothing behind her back. I wanted to do this one right.

“Welcome back, lover,” she said with a kiss and a wink before she went to pull me a beer.

“It’s good to be back, baby. You have no idea.”

“I have a few hours yet, you good to wait?” she asked.

“Sure am, you think you got a minute for me?” I asked.

She looked around.

“It’s pretty dead, now. Everyone’s got work tomorrow. Let me come around.”

She came around the bar and hopped up on the stool next to mine.

“Everything okay? How’s Tic?” she asked. I absently put my hand on her knee and massaged up and down her thigh.

“Tic’s good. I wanted to talk about you and me,” I said.

“Oh? What’s up.” She leaned back subconsciously, and I grinned.

“The club wants to say thank you, for everything you’ve done,” I said carefully. “We’d like your landlord’s name and number to see if he would be amenable to us fixing up your place. Professionally. Not any half-assed janked repairs, or anything. A bunch of us know what we’re doing. We want to see if he’d let us fix up your place and the other three apartments and let us rent ‘em out from him. Raise his property value a bunch, give him a fair rate, all of that.”

“Really?” she asked, bewildered.

“Only catch is, he doesn’t raise your rent any. You get a lifetime lease if you want it.”

She looked thoughtful and shrugged. “What’s the worse he can do? Say no?” she asked.

“That’s what I was thinking,” I agreed.

“Well, I guess he could kick my ass out,” she said and smiled.

“If he did, I would have us in a better place in nothing flat,” I vowed.

“Can I think about it?” she asked.

“Sure can.” I nodded.

She smiled then and said, “Thank you.”

“For?” I asked.

“Telling me. Talking to me and not trying to go behind my back.”

“I learn from my mistakes, baby,” I said and leaned forward, kissing her cheek.

She