“Anything you gotta take care of before we roll?” Copper asked.
“Nah, I’m good. Told Toni I’d probably be riding out with you today. She won’t expect me till later. Let’s handle this,” Zach said as he held his closed fist out.
Copper bumped his fist against Zach’s. A president couldn’t ask for a better enforcer. Zach anticipated what was required of him before Copper even floated an idea. A sit-down with Joe was set for midafternoon. Ragnar would have been preferred as he was at the top of the food chain, but the fucker wouldn’t come down off his kingpin throne in Maryland to make a trip to Tennessee. Joe was Ragnar’s eyes and ears in the area and apparently his mouth as well. Unfortunately, the agreed upon location was a good few hours outside of town. Since the Handlers requested the meet, Joe wouldn’t go out of his way and drive to Townsend.
Copper was no fool. Joe couldn’t be trusted and wasn’t an ally. He’d be remiss not to take backup along, but he didn’t want to appear as though he was rolling up with the whole MC in tow. There was a difference between protection and an outright show of force. Joe needed to understand Copper took this shit seriously and wouldn’t be fucked with, but he wasn’t interested in sparking a war with Ragnar either. The man’s reach was too far and too wide.
“Thanks, Z. Rusty is riding too. I just talked to him. He should pull in any minute.”
Zach opened his mouth then shook his head and sat at a table to wait.
“Something on your mind, brother?” Copper asked.
Waving a hand, Zach said, “Ain’t a thing. Forget it.”
“Don’t give me that shit.” Since when did he hold back? “You leave your balls in Toni’s purse? Speak your mind.”
Zach cocked his head then shrugged. “Just surprised you’re bringing Rusty is all.”
Copper frowned. “Why are you surprised?”
“Look, Prez, he’s your family, so sometimes the guys don’t wanna say shit about him, but he ain’t exactly snuggling back into the fold if you know what I mean.”
“You’re all my fucking family.” Seriously? Zach was going to play word games with him. “No, I don’t fucking know what you mean. Man the fuck up and give it to me straight.”
Zach ran a hand through his hair as he grumbled, “Fine, Prez, but remember I’m just the damn messenger.” Of course, when he was done abusing the blond strands, they fell back into place exactly as they’d been.
“Z,” Copper growled.
Raising his hands by his ears, Zach said, “He’s pissed off just about every brother he’s run across since getting free. He’s mouthing off, hitting on women who aren’t available to him, and he’s overly aggressive.”
Fuck. Copper had suspected the transition wasn’t going well. Sucked to have his doubts confirmed. Half his head had been on the clusterfuck of missing money and meth running through his town. The other half was consumed by Shell. Meant he wasn’t giving enough brain power to his brother who was obviously struggling. “Aggressive?”
Zach nodded. “Drove away a few of my members at the gym. Lost his shit over nonsense. Screaming at them, getting up in their face, tossing them off equipment. He doesn’t quite understand the customer’s always right mantra. Hell, he doesn’t think the customer is ever right.” He scratched at his cheek where an unusual amount of stubble had been allowed to sprout. Zach was usually the cleanest shaven of the MC.
“Gets worse. Last week, LJ took him on a debt collection. Good customer. Borrows a shit-ton from the club, never once late on a repayment. Fucking ideal situation. That morning, the dude’s wife was in a minor car wreck. It made him late getting his hands on the cash. He asked LJ to come back in two hours. Rusty went apeshit. Pulled a fucking gun on the guy. Took LJ all afternoon to get my guy to agree to keep borrowing from us.”
“Goddammit,” Copper spat. This was shit he didn’t need. Between the stolen money and increased meth in town, he had enough garbage on his plate. Last thing he needed was to start babysitting his grown-ass brother. “All right. I’ll get on his ass. Anything else?”
Zach looked uncomfortable. “Sucker punched Maverick a few nights ago.”
“The fuck? That’s how Mav got that black eye? The jerkoff told me it was some kinda acrobatic sex injury.”
They stared at each other and for a moment then the tension dissolved as they chuckled. Leave it to Mav to turn his injury into some kind of kinky sexcapade.
“Nah, nothing so glamorous, Prez. You know a bunch of the guys went to see Jig’s fight three nights ago. Well, Steph tagged along cuz she loves that shit. And I think she and Mav have some kinda thing going where they try to fuck at each of the fights.” He swiped his hand as though dismissing his own statement. “Anyway, Rust drank enough to float a fucking barge and got a little handsy with Steph. Grabbed her ass and tried to shove his tongue down her throat. She gave him a good knee-to-nuts shot, but Mav got up in his face anyway. Nothing major, just warning him to back the fuck off his ol’ lady. Rust clocked him.”