Immediately, I crashed into someone, almost falling back thanks to the weight of the bag. Whoever it was reached out to steady me with a firm grip on my arm, their face obscured by the bulk of the bag.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, righting myself and heaving the garbage into the dumpster beside me.
“No problem, Miss Irons.”
I froze, trying to swallow the scream lodged halfway up my throat.
“Danner,” I said coolly, surprised by my composure. “What can I help you with? Do you need a book? Perhaps one on ethics?”
He was actually a handsome man, a lot like his son Lion, beautiful in a way of classic movie stars like Robert Redford and Paul Newman, right down the to the squint and swagger. But all that goodness was stained with hatred as he glared at me, his hands in his gun belt, legs braced and slightly bent as if ready to attack.
“You’ve got my wife.”
“Excuse me?”
“You sons of bitches took my wife. Is there any line you won’t cross? She’s ill, and you take her to make some kind of threat against me?” he demanded, stepping forward so I’d feel pinned between the dumpster and him.
“What are you talking about? Susan came to King. She said she didn’t feel safe seeing anymore, and she stayed with us for a week until Lionel moved up her with H.R. She’s living with your son,” I said reasonably.
But there was no reason to be had. I could see the manic hatred in his eyes, how it had corroded his soul after so many years. He was a corrupt cop and I think maybe that was the most dangerous kind of criminal, a man convinced he was doing right just because he wore a badge and blue uniform when really, he would do anything to better himself.
“You listen to me,” he said, voice so low I felt it like excess gravity. “You let your dogs know I have eyes on you. Cops following each and every one of you across town, not just the bikers, but their family. We’re watching Louise Garro and those little babies walk across the street. Seeing Tayline Brooks get on her knees for that one-eyed freak in their bedroom late at night. Following you as you try on pretty dresses and eat cake.” His smile was like a gun held to my temple, aimed to frighten me to my core. Unsurprisingly, it worked. “Entrance is my town. Not the Garro’s, not the fucking Fallen’s. Mine. And if you think for one moment I won’t end each and every single one of you, you’re wrong.”
“We haven’t done anything,” I said because it was true.
Sure, The Fallen were criminals. It was basically Canadian lore at this point how the club produced the best weed in the nation and owned more territory than the next largest clubs or gangs totalled together, but that didn’t mean they deserved this.
To be stalked by a crazy man with a vendetta.
“Two unidentified bikers shot three bullets through the door of my apartment. You’re saying that wasn’t the work of The Fallen?” he sneered.
“Are you saying you didn’t ask two of your cops to illegally search my bookstore for evidence of criminal activity by the club?” I countered coldly.
“Besides,” I said, playing a sudden hunch, remembering that slash of dark hair and conjoining it with the fact Susan had said he’d been arguing with a trashy woman with the same feature. “Why are you so upset about your soon-to-be ex-wife? Haven’t you moved on from Susan? I heard Paula’s been the one to keep your bed warm lately.”
Danner’s face placed white, then red like police lights with shock and rage. “You shut your mouth. Susan’s ill, and she doesn’t need you feeling her head with lies.”
“They aren’t lies though, are they?” I pressed. “You even asked Paula to go to our engagement party and steal Zeus’s gun so you could frame him for Riley Gibson’s murder. What was it like taking the life of one of your brothers in blue just to see Zeus Garro swing for it? Did you know you were going to kill him before he showed up at our party and the opportunity presented itself to you?”
“You shut the fuck up,” he roared, slamming me up against the dumpster so the breath expelled from my lungs like a shot. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“You took King and H.R. into your home once,” I reminded him breathlessly, searching his features for some kind of crack in the ice as I stood back up. “How can you threaten them now?”
“Thought for a moment they could learn better, but I should have known criminals breed criminals. It’s in their blood. That biker bitch even corrupted my son and almost got him killed.”
“I’m done with this conversation,” I announced, moving sideways to the door. “You call us scum, but you’re the one who’s corrupted your badge and put a good man, a new father, behind bars.”