“Cut the crap,” Duke said. “I want you out of Vale Valley, and I want you out now.”
Ned Walker chuckled and pointed his finger at Duke. Matthew stayed perfectly still. If he read the situation right, everyone was eyeing each other, waiting for the right moment to strike.
The men at Ned Walker’s back were prepared. Theirstances looked calm, but Matthew knew better. They were waiting, poised. He had no doubt they were all packing. All except him.
Yeah, his dad hadn’t given him a gun yet. That would apparently come later. Much later. He wasn’t in a good mood.
“What is this, Duke? Some kind of joke?”
“I want your shit out of my town. Away from my people. Did you know that your shit, whoever your supplier is, it’s putting people in the hospital?”
This made Ned Walker stop laughing. “You’re being serious right now.”
“I’m deadly serious. I told you no. Your shit running through my town, or out of it—I said no.”
“And I respected those wishes,” Ned Walker said. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with it. It’s bad for business, but I’m not someone to go fucking with you behind your back. I’m an old man, Duke. Not senile. I don’t pose the risk of it coming back on my ass. Whoever is running drugs in your town, it ain’t me. And my shit doesn’t kill my customers. It makes them want more. People who kill their customer base are fucking morons.” Ned Walker shook his head. “Is that what this is? You’re blaming me?”
Matthew didn’t move a muscle, but he didn’t have to look at his dad to know Duke was pissed. He believed Ned Walker had found a way to get drugs running through Vale Valley.
Duke didn’t say a word.
“Now that we’ve got the whole insulting bullshit out of the way, how about we talk like men, and you agree to negotiate with me?”
“No,” Duke said. “This conversation is over.”
They stepped back, and Ned Walker chuckled as Duke led him back toward their bikes.
They never turned their back on the enemy.
Ned Walker clicked his fingers, moved back to his car, climbed in, and within seconds, he was gone. It was as if he was never even there.
Duke clicked his tongue and pressed his fisted knuckles against the seat of his bike.
“It’s not Ned Walker,” Matthew said.
“No, it’s not.”
“He could be lying.”
“He wasn’t lying. Did you see the surprise?” Duke asked.
“It could still be a lie. Trying to run rings around you.”
Duke shook his head. “It’s not in his interests to do that. Not if I was willing to work with him. Ned Walker is a lot of things, but he’s right. If he was going to do shit like that, he would’ve done it with The Skulls and Chaos Bleeds, and he didn’t. He stepped away from them. Unwillingly, but he did it.”
“So, that means someone else is bringing product through town,” Matthew said.
“Yeah, it does.”
The only question now was who?
Duke climbed on his bike, and Matthew did the same. They took off, heading back to Vale Valley. They would have no choice but to go to Maya, or at least to start from there. Since she had gotten out of rehab, she’d been continuing her treatment, returning to college classes, and taking weekly drug tests. So far, she hadn’t failed a single test. She’d stayed clean.
The drugs had come from somewhere. They were not a dead end. With one girl OD’ing, it meant it was only a matter of time before more people ended up doing the same.
It would bring heat to the club, heat they didn’t deserve.
Matthew didn’t like this. Not with Luna back in town. It put her at risk. It put them all at risk.