Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
UNKNOWN POV
From the corner of the room, I watched them laugh among themselves as they played pool and drank their beers. The Highway Jokers were known to rule the town of Bunbury, but I wanted it for my own. I just wanted to take over for myself. If I had to burn it to the ground, I’d do just that.
“Prospect! Get another round, man.” Blackout yelled out to me. I sighed and headed towards the bar.
“Another round?” the woman at the bar asked me, giving me a smile. I gave her a nod of my head. While I was waiting someone stood next to me. The smell of her perfume made me know who exactly it was.
“Hey baby” she ran her hand along my arm, making me turn my head slightly towards her. “Aw what’s wrong?” she asked me.
“Nothing,” I snapped at her. She turned her head slightly to look at the Highway Jokers and smirked.
“Just a few more weeks before Viktor wants you home.” She says into my ear.
“What else can I give the man? They don’t share and they definitely don’t share with their prospects.” I said to the woman beside me.
She looks towards the guys once again before turning to me. “Try getting close to their Road Caption, Redback.”
“And what is so special about Redback?” I asked her when I turned towards her.
“I do know that he has a wife and a dead daughter. Oh don’t give me that look, you already know I was undercover with them a few years ago.” She rolled her eyes at me before taking a sip of her drink.
I sighed and tapped my fingers on the counter of the bar. “Make sure you give Viktor a call in a few days for an update and make sure you are out of earshot.” She said, nodding her head towards the group of Highway Jokers. Knowing damn well I needed to be away from the compound when I took that call.
“Prospect! Hurry up, man!” One of the guys yelled out, making me slam my fist against the bar counter. It made the bartender jump when she placed the jugs of beer down. Mumbling a sorry to the woman, I grabbed the jugs before turning back to the woman beside me.
“See you around baby” She sends me a wink before taking a sip of her glass. I tore myself away from her and made my way over to the tables that the Highway Jokers were using. Placing the jugs of beer down, Blackout slapped me on the back.
“Thanks, man, appreciate it.” He says to me, he looks over at the bar for a moment before turning back to me. “If you really want to prospect, then you can’t have any pussy.” My eyes snapped to him. “Thrasher’s words man. Don’t get me wrong, it sucks but you’ll get over it once your heart is in the club.” Blackout pats me on the back once again before pouring himself a drink.
I looked towards the bar and noticed that she was gone. Probably for the best.
After a week of cleaning up shit at the Highway Joker’s clubhouse, I was able to have some time for myself. I had taken the van and made my way to the outskirts of town. Climbing out of the van, I made my way towards the park benches. Pulling out my pack of cigarettes and my burner phone.
I punched in the number and waited for him to answer. “It’s me.” He waited for me to speak first.
“Anything new?” he asked me.
“Not really. Just heaps of runs and all that, same old shit.” I told him, lighting my cigarette.
“We have been through this before man. The shit you’re giving me is fucking bullshit.” He sighed. “Look, I need you to get into Thrasher’s office, into his files. I need you on those runs, I need you in their Armory. See if any of the old ladies will talk or better yet, fuck a few of their whores.”
“It’s not that easy, man.”
“I don’t give a fucking shit!” He yelled over the phone. “Don’t call me until you have the information I need. If you can’t do it then I’ll get someone who can. If you want to still be breathing and wanting to be my VP then don’t fuck this up!” he yelled out before hanging up the phone. I dropped the phone on the table in front of me and took a moment to gather my breathing under control.
After finishing off my cigarette, I made my way back to the van and headed back towards the inner town of Bunbury. Not paying attention to the speed I was going, I heard sirens and saw flashing red and blue lights. I punched the steering wheel a few times before pulling over to the side of the road.
“Heading to your location a bit fast huh?” The police officer asked me once he came over to the driver’s side of the van.
“No, I wasn't paying attention,” I mumbled.
“Turn off the car and get out please sir,” he said and took a step back.
“Can’t you just give me a ticket?”
“Step out of the car,” he said, placing his hand on his hip. Shaking my head slightly as I turned off the ignition. Stepping out of the vehicle he waved his hand over to the vehicle. “Place your hands on the car.” He told me.
“Seriously?” I raised an eyebrow.
“The longer you take the longer it will be to get back on the road.” With cars flying past, I sighed and did what I was told. Placing my hands on the side of the van, I spread my feet apart. I knew this drill all too well. I was known to be a hothead with the police but that was in Sydney.
I hung my head as he patted me down, once he was done he told me to sit on the footpath while he looked inside.
I watched as he looked through all the compartments of the van until he came across a few baggies. “Stand up, you’re under arrest.” He told me once he came over to me. He slapped the cuffs on my wrists and pushed me inside the back of his police car.
For hours I had been sitting in the interrogation room. For hours my knee was bouncing up and down. For hours I was staying quiet until they brought up a deal.
“We will let you go on bail if you give us information about the Highway Jokers.” A police officer said to me.
“And what makes you think I’m part of the Highway Jokers?” I asked him as I sat back in the chair.
“For one you have their van. You have a prospect patch on and your boys have been running up your phone for the past few hours.” He says with a smirk.
“I don’t know anything,” I told him but he wasn’t taking it. I sat there for 20 minutes trying to figure out a way to get out of this situation but nothing was happening. I sighed and ran a hand over my face. “They have shipment runs every month.”
“And what are on these shipments?” He asked once he stopped writing something down in his notepad.
“Weapons”
“Drugs?” I shook my head, no.
“They have businesses, do you know if they are doing anything illegal with those businesses?”
“No”
He hummed and wrote something else down. After heaps more questions and a few more hours being stuck in the interrogation room, I was finally let go.
When I walked into the Highway Jokers clubhouse, Thrasher was pissed. “I give you prospects half a Sunday to do whatever the fuck you want but when I call you, I expect you to fucking answer that goddamn phone. Where the fuck have you been?” He asked me when I took a stand in front of him and his VP Stone. The rest of the guys were hanging around drinking beer or playing pool but they went quiet to listen in. Even the rest of the prospects stopped what they were doing.
“The van ran out of petrol, so I had to walk to the petrol station,” I told them. Thrasher glared at me. I could tell he didn’t believe me. I pulled out the receipt and placed it on the table before him. He glanced down for a moment before looking up at me.
“You’re on a warning. Another one and you can kiss that patch you are wearing, goodbye.” He warned me. “Get the dorms cleaned, we have another chapter coming in tomorrow.” I nodded my head and went up the staircase.
Monday afternoon the Perth chapter were down for a few days. As I wiped down the tables I watched as they entered the chapel. Once the chapel doors were closed I looked around, I noticed that none of the other prospects were around so I quickly and quietly made my way to the chapel doors to listen in.
“We have a really big shipment coming into the docks on Thursday, do you mind if we can store some of the gear at yours?” I heard Thrasher ask the Perth chapter’s president.
“Yeah man, just send a few boys around and we can help you out.” The Perth’s chapters president said. “But, I do have a question for you though. We are thinking about doing an escorting business. Do you mind if I can have a look at yours to gather some ideas and all that shit?” It wasn’t illegal to have an escorting business but this was information I needed to get back to Viktor.
“Hey man, You okay?” I heard another prospect call out. I quickly bent down to pick up some rubbish to act like I wasn’t eavesdropping.
“Yeah, just picking up some shit,” I told him. Saint, the guy who was going to be a full patch member in the next few days was always giving me a weird look. Like he didn’t trust me.
“Right.” Saint glared for a moment. “Anyways, Thrasher wants you to clean the bikes,” he says nodding towards the clubhouse doors. Jaw clenched, I walked off towards the storeroom to grab the stuff that I needed before walking towards the clubhouse doors. As the full-patch members of the Highway Jokers came walking out of the chapel, I couldn’t help but notice that Saint was talking to Thrasher and Stone.
I knew I had to be extra careful from now on.
