Mace’s Madonna (Pagan Souls of Cherokee MC #5)

Jessamy Chapter 20

My talk last night with Jocelyn helped, but it didn’t eliminate all of my concerns that Mace was hiding something. I slept half decent, so I got up early and amused myself by trying to watch television until the household woke up. The kids were going to preschool, and the others were going to work. I was assured that I’d be good and that if I needed anything, I could go to the clubhouse, and one of the prospects or Atticus could help me. Bull had work to do in town at a couple of the club’s businesses.

After they were gone, I saw that most of the club had left for the day, so I tried to think of what to do. I looked through their pantry and freezer to see if they had what I needed to make dinner. A few things were missing, so I made a list.

Wanting to keep busy, rather than calling Atticus, I walked over to the clubhouse. The compound was eerily quiet for some reason. It had this air of expectancy I’d never felt. I wondered why. Shivering then shaking off the sensation, I entered the clubhouse. A quick search in the public areas came up empty. I refused to go knocking on doors. Knowing that a lot of the time, at least one of the prospects was assigned to stand at the gate, I decided to try there next. If I came up empty, I’d break down and call Atticus.

It was no hardship to walk. The weather was still warm, and the sun was out. And I needed the exercise. As I got closer to the gate, I saw Atticus. I smiled and waved when he spotted me. He grinned and waved back as he hollered, “You just out for a stroll, or do you need something, Jessa?” Several people had shortened my name to call me Jessa. I didn’t mind.

“I’m doing both. I was too lazy to sit in the house and call you to come to me. How did you get gate duty? Did you misbehave?” I teased him.

He laughed and shook his head. “No, I didn’t misbehave. The others had things to do, so I told them I’d guard it while they worked. I feel rather useless around here. You’re safe and don’t need me. My usual duties at home are covered here. I had to earn my chow somehow.”

“I think we’re both restless. I’d love for us to go home, but until that happens, we have to deal, which is what brings me to you. I want to make dinner for Bull, Jocelyn, Ace, Devyn, the kids, and the two of us tonight. What I want to make, I don’t have all the ingredients. Do you think you could get it for me? It’s not a huge list.” I took it out of my pocket and held it out to him.

He scanned it and then nodded. “I can go do that. Let me tell someone I’ve gotta run an errand, then I’ll be back.”

As he got out his phone, I remembered his primary duty was to me, so they would have to let him go. I felt a bit guilty, but the gate didn’t need a guard at the moment. It was more for ease of entry. Whoever he spoke to must’ve been okay with his plan because he was off the phone a few minutes later and headed toward where the SUV we came in was parked.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. I got directions to the nearest store. If you need someone, call this number,” he said before he rattled it off. I took out my phone and had him repeat so I could save it. When Atticus was assured I was good, he left. I didn’t want to go back to the house to sit, so I explored the outdoor areas the Warriors had. I was impressed. They were even nicer than what the Pagans had, but not by too much. It was clear this club had been around longer.

I took my time, but Atticus wasn’t back when I was done, so I went to stand at the gate. They had a small building near it. Going inside, I found cameras and buttons inside. Checking them over, I noted the camera showed the other side of the gate and along the walls of their compound. It made sense. Otherwise, how would they know who was outside and whether to let them in or not?

I was familiarizing myself with the various buttons. Thankfully, they labeled them. I thought I had it down when movement on one of the screens caught my attention. It was a car coming to a stop outside the gate. I leaned closer. When the driver’s door opened, I swore. Getting out was someone I recognized. It was that goddamn crazy bitch, Christie. The devious woman somehow followed us. How? I had no clue, but I was tired of her antics. She needed to leave me and Mace alone. I wondered if she thought Mace was with me. I watched her stomp to the gate. I jumped when her voice came over a speaker. I’d seen her pushing on something. It must be a speaker to talk to whoever was inside.

“Excuse me. I’m here to see someone you have staying with you. Her name is Jessamy. She’s not who you think she is. Please. Open up and let me in. I’ve got to let you know the real Jessamy,” she said.

She sounded calm. What she said angered me. Who was she to say I wasn’t what people thought I was? I had news for her. I was over her shit. What would it take to get it through her hard head? Mace didn’t want her, and the Pagans banished her. Talk about dense as a boulder. Finding the button to the speaker, I pressed it.

“Christie, you’re so full of it. You don’t know me. You’re just a jealous cow,” I said boldly.

“Well, the bitch speaks. Imagine that. Why don’t you and I settle this like women? No hiding behind a wall or having others fight your battles. If you come out and talk to me, and you can convince me that Mace wants you and not me. I’ll leave you both alone. But I need to understand why he chose you and how it happened. You came out of nowhere. It’s not fair.” She sounded petulant at the end. I was surprised she didn’t stomp her foot like a toddler.

I debated for several moments. The ultimate thing that got me to agree was the lure of us being free of her drama. I pressed the button so I could answer her.

“Christie, I’ll come out, but I want it clear. I’m not about to put up with any of your crap. You lay a finger on me, and I’ll lay your ass out. We need to talk this out like mature women, not brats throwing a temper tantrum. Agreed?”

She nodded eagerly. “I swear, I won’t lay a finger on you.”

Knowing I shouldn’t go out without telling someone, I still made the choice. I could handle her. It would only take a few minutes, and then I’d be back inside. She was pacing. There was a smaller gate and then the big one. There was no need to open the big one. Not finding the button to unlock it, I went over to the door. I found a button right next to it. Pressing it, I heard the door click. Pressing on it, the door swung outward. I stepped outside.

Christie was about twenty feet away. When she saw me, she came hurrying my way. I turned to face her and prepared myself physically to defend myself. If she got physical, I’d put her on the ground.

“I’m glad you agreed. This has gone on long enough,” she said.

“It has. Tell me, how did you even know I was here?”

“I followed you. I was watching the compound to get a chance to talk to Mace. I know if I can do it alone, he’ll see that I’m the better choice for him. Only I couldn’t catch him. Imagine my surprise the other morning when all these vehicles and bikes came out together and then split up. I tell you, I was confused and didn’t know what to think. But it seemed likely that with what I heard was going on, the women and kids were being sent somewhere and split up.”

She sounded smarter than I would’ve given her credit for. “How did you know which one I was in?”

“I didn’t until I caught sight of Atticus. I knew he’d been closer to you than the others. With Mace and none of the other men with old ladies going with you, it made me think they’d send someone you trusted, and it would be Atticus. He’s the one out of all of them that the club seems to trust the most. I took a chance and followed you here.”

“Why did you wait to talk to me?”

“Because I wasn’t positive you came here. I was trying to get a glimpse, but it was impossible with their walls and the big gate. I was in town waiting, and then I saw Atticus. I took a chance that they might reveal you if I came here and insisted on seeing you.”

Her answers were all given without hesitation, making me think she was telling the truth. The guys would shit when they found out their subterfuge didn’t work. Enough talking about how she found me. I needed to resolve this before Atticus returned. He’d lose his shit if he found me outside the compound.

“Alright, you got me out here. Let’s talk. Why won’t you accept that Mace is mine? I’m living in his house. He’s given me a property cut and told not only his club but also their friends that I’m his. For God’s sake, he told me he loves me. What more do you need?” I asked in exasperation.

She came closer. Her calm expression was becoming upset. “You have no idea what you screwed up. What this has cost me. If you hadn’t come along, I’d have him, and this whole thing would be running smoothly,” she hissed.

“What I cost you? Running smoothly? You’re not making sense again,” I informed her.

She was standing about five feet away. She had narrowed her eyes and was glaring at me. I kept my body relaxed, although inside, I was tense and prepared for her to do something stupid. Christie didn’t disappoint. She let a frustrated, tiny scream escape as she lunged at me. When she did, her hand came up, and I saw that she had something in it. As she got to me, I grabbed the wrist of the hand with the object in it. I used my opposite hand to grab her neck. She was struggling to get loose, but the way I had my hand on her neck, I was compressing her carotid arteries, blocking the blood flow to her brain.

“I hate you!” she screamed as she kept wiggling, but her efforts were becoming weaker.

“Drop it,” I snapped as I compressed her wrist.

I dug my fingers into the tendons. She gasped and then moaned before she dropped whatever was in her hand. I didn’t pay attention. I’d check it out after I had her subdued and secure. Her eyelids were fluttering as she yelled profanities at me. I tightened my grip. Moments later, she went out and fell to the ground. Not wasting time, I yanked out my phone and called Atticus. I knew others were closer, but he was the one I knew and trusted the most, no offense to Bull and his club.

“I’m almost there. Did you forget something?” he asked as soon as he answered.

“How far out is almost there?”

“Like two minutes.”

“Good. I have some trash that I need help disposing of.”

“Trash?”

“Yeah, I’m standing outside the wall, and I have an unconscious ex-bunny passed out at my feet.”

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING OUTSIDE THE WALL!? GET YOUR ASS INSIDE!” he shouted. I had to hold the phone away from my ear. He carried on swearing. It was almost enough to make me blush. I let him run out of steam, and then I continued.

“Atticus, I’m fine. Just get here.” Before he could say more, I hung up.

I needed to pay attention to her. Crouching down, I picked up what she had dropped. It was a syringe with something in it and a needle attached. I didn’t know what was in it, but undoubtedly, it was something that wasn’t my friend. Carefully putting it to the side, I rose. I wish I had something to tie her hands with.

The next thing I knew, I heard my name being hollered from the other side of the wall, followed by pounding feet. I sighed. Atticus had called the club. The big gate came sliding open. Three men came squeezing out with their guns drawn. Two were prospects, and the other was Outlaw. They were scanning the area as they rushed over to me. When they got to me, Outlaw spoke.

“Oh, when your old man finds out about this, your ass is gonna be sore. Why would you expose yourself like this, Jessamy? Do you want someone to snatch you?” he lectured.

“No, I wanted to get rid of this nuisance and find out how she found me. I was half done when she lunged at me with this in her hand.” I pointed to the syringe. He bent down and picked it up. The prospects were busy securing Christie’s hands. As I watched, I saw an SUV coming tearing up the road. No doubt it was Atticus. I was proven correct when the vehicle came to a skidding halt, and he jumped out. He ran over to me.

“Jesus Christ, do you want to give me a heart attack or have Mace kill me? Why did you do this, Jessa?”

“I wasn’t trying to cause problems. I was attempting to solve one. You know how she’s been, Atticus. She needs to be dealt with once and for all.”

“Well, I hope you’re ready for Mace to lose his mind when he hears about this,” Atticus said as he was taking out his phone.

“You can’t call him now! What if they’re in the middle of something?” I hissed.

“They’re not,” Outlaw said quietly. One prospect was carrying Christie inside, and the other got into her car.

“How do you know they’re not?” I asked suspiciously.

“I just do. Let your old man explain. Until then, get your ass inside before something really does happen to you,” he grumbled.

I let him lead me back behind the secure walls. Atticus got into the SUV and drove it inside. He was still on the phone as he did it. Outlaw closed the gate and made sure the small door was locked. He pointed toward the clubhouse.

“Let’s go. We need to figure out what to do. I want to know how she found you.”

As we walked, I told him what she told me from the moment she buzzed in until she passed out. His frown grew. Once we were in the clubhouse, he instructed the prospect to lay her on one of the couches in there. A minute later, Atticus came storming into the building.

“Mace is on his way. You’d better have good answers before he gets here. He’s upset, Jessa. After everything we’re all doing to make you safe, you do this.”

“How can he be on his way? They’re working. He doesn’t need to come here. And I didn’t do it to make more trouble for everyone! I wanted to get her to stop harassing the fuck out of me and my man! She’s relentless,” I reminded him.

“Well, this wasn’t the way to do it,” he muttered.

I was about to defend myself more when a groan from Christie caught my attention. Well, it got everyone’s attention. Outlaw, Atticus, and I went to stand next to her. The Warriors’ prospects were standing a safe distance away, but they had their eyes on her. It took only a few moments for her to surface fully.

As she did, Outlaw asked, “How did you knock her out?”

“Easy, I choked her out. Compress those carotids, and it doesn’t take long. She’s lucky that’s all I did,” I muttered.

When Christie saw us, she gasped and tried to sit up. That’s when she found out her hands were tied. “Let me go. You don’t know what you’re risking by holding me,” she hissed.

“Tell us,” Outlaw ordered.

She remained mute. I thought I knew enough about her personality that if pushed by me, she’d answer. It had to be done the right way.

I smirked and told the three men closest to me, “She’s talking out her ass. She does it all the time, Outlaw. You should see how she makes a nuisance of herself. I would think a bunny would know what she was getting into. They’re not there to become old ladies,” I sneered.

This got her attention. “We’ll see who’s laughing when they come for me and you. I’ll be the one laughing, and you’ll wish you’d never run from Leland. Why the hell didn’t you just go peacefully? You’re trying to ruin everything.”

The mention of Leland and her reference to me ruining everything made us all freeze. Her words made it sound like she knew more than we did. How could she?

“What does that mean?” I snarled.

She smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

I moved closer to her. “I would, and you’re going to tell me because if you don’t, I’m going to beat it out of you. I’m tired of being at the mercy of others. You have five seconds to start explaining yourself and those remarks. And tell us the truth of why you’re here and how you found me.”

“Jessa, Mace will be here any minute. Let him deal with her,” Atticus suggested.

“I don’t need him to do this. Undo her wrists.”

“Why would I do that?” Atticus asked.

“Because I don’t want her afterward to say it wasn’t fair. This way, it won’t be in doubt.”

He hesitated. Not bothering to ask again, I took out the knife that had been my companion and went to her. She watched my every move, so I warned her as I went to cut the zip ties.

“You try to hit me while I’m doing this, and I’ll stab your ass.”

She must have believed me because she stayed still. When her hands were free, I put my knife away and stood there, waiting to see what she said or did.

“Anytime now,” I prompted.

“I’m not telling you shit,” she said with a snort.

I didn’t say a word. Rather, I drew back my fist and hit her in the face. I aimed for her nose. I heard the crunch as her nose gave out. She hollered in pain and put a hand over her face. Her eyes were watering, and she was looking at me with disbelief, peeking through the tears. I heard the swift inhalations from the guys.

“How about now?” I asked.

She came to her feet. When her hand dropped, I saw the blood. She put up her fists. “You got lucky,” she spat out.

Then she dove at me, swinging as she did. Her punch barely grazed my cheek. I’d moved out of the way. Not making actual contact seemed to upset her. She let a strangled scream out, then rounded to throw another punch. My history of being kidnapped probably led most people to assume I wasn’t able to fight. They’d be wrong. My kidnappers grabbed me by surprise. Then, when Leland had the upper hand, I waited.

Today, I let it out. As we circled the common area, there were a multitude of punches exchanged. Few of hers landed. Mine were much more successful. Seeing she wasn’t able to get the upper hand that way, she began to kick. I laughed. She shouldn’t have done that. I lashed out with a forceful push-kick when she came in close. Once I made her stumble back, I landed a few others just to show her I knew how to kick and do it way better than the pathetic ones she was doing.

Eventually, she was kneeling on one knee, panting hard. She looked worse for wear. I was still watching her to be sure she didn’t try something when I heard a voice boom, “What the fuck?”

I whipped around. I couldn’t believe my eyes for a moment, and then I ran over, throwing myself in Mace’s arms. He held me tight and kissed the anger right out of me. When he let me go, I was limp.

“Madonna, would you like to explain why I got a call telling me you left the safety of the compound to talk to her? And tell me what this beating was for?”

“Honey, I will. But first, tell me why you’re here. You should be home with the others working to take down those sick bastards.”

“I was, and we did. The leaders were eliminated early this morning. We’re playing clean up on the others in their organization and pipeline, but the boss and the whole club helping him are gone. I was on my way here to tell you in person when I got Atticus’s call. Christie, what the fuck are you doing here?” He snapped.

She raised her head and stared at him in disbelief. “You killed Thurman and the Black Outlaws? They’re all gone?”

We both frowned at her tone. “We did. The wee hours of this morning saw them take their last breaths. We even got Thacker’s two main right-hand men and the trucker who took her. They gave us a ton of people and information to bring down the rest of them.”

“Noooo!” she shouted as she doubled over and held her stomach. The way she acted made it clear she knew the men who’d been making my life hell.

We let her wail for a good minute or two before I’d had enough. I walked over despite Mace trying to hold me to him. I grabbed the top of her hair, forcing her to raise her head and look at me.

“Tell us how you know those monsters. Why would you?”

She spit at me. I dodged it. “Fuck you! You’ll pay. You wait until the others find out it was you. You’re dead, whore!” she snapped.

I slapped her face. “Don’t spit. It’s disgusting. How do you know them?”

“You’re the spy. They told us they had one in our club, but I refused to believe it,” Mace muttered.

“Spy?” Outlaw asked before I did.

Mace quickly told us what they had been told last night. Fury filled me. “Did you learn everything you needed from them? Or do you need more information?” I asked him.

“We think we’ve got enough to bring everything and everyone else down. It’ll take some time, but the immediate threats are gone,” he assured me.

“Good. Let’s make sure this one has nothing to tell. Here’s the deal, Christie. You tell us everything you know about the Black Outlaws and their boss, and I’ll make sure when I’m done, you can still walk. If you don’t, your fate will be far uglier and more painful than it had to be,” I warned her.

As I expected, she didn’t take me seriously. I proceeded to beat the tar out of her. In between, I asked questions. Finally, she broke and rambled off a bunch of stuff. When she was done, I asked my man, “Is any of that new?”

“A few things. We knew the majority.”

“Good, then do I get to finish this, or do you?”

“If by finish you mean to kill her, I think that should be my job. I don’t want you to get blood on your hands or soul, Madonna. Let me do it. I can see you’re more than capable, but I do the dirty work whenever possible.”

I saw that he needed to do something, so I reluctantly backed off. He stepped closer. Christie huddled on the floor, wept. She raised her head.

“Mace, it’s not too late. You and your club can take the Outlaws’ place and make a fortune. I’ll help you do it. We can be together.”

He growled in disgust, and then, in a blink, she was gone. He snapped her neck and dropped her to the floor. I went and wrapped my arms around him. He faced Outlaw. “Sorry for the mess. If you tell me where to get rid of her, Atticus and I will do it.”

Outlaw waved his offer away. “Don’t worry about it. We have a special way to get rid of unwanted trash. Guys, why don’t you show Atticus here to our special place? Once you’re done, we need to get rid of that car. You know how to do it.”

They nodded, and then one picked up Christie. I knew I should feel terrible that a life was lost, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Maybe I was horrible. I vaguely heard Outlaw explaining that their club had a crematorium on the compound from when it belonged to a family that ran a funeral home.

The three of us took a seat, and Mace told us what happened last night. I got the impression it wasn’t news to Outlaw and primarily for my benefit. The more I learned, the more astonished I became. By the time he was done, I felt like I was in another universe. I jumped when Outlaw stood.

“You need to get her to rest. It’s been a crazy morning. Bull is on his way home. Let me show you to his house. She’s staying with him and his family. Later, after everyone is here, we’ll celebrate. You should stay at least the night and head back fresh tomorrow.”

“We might just do that. Thanks,” Mace said.

I let myself be led to Bull’s house. I felt numb. I couldn’t believe my nightmare was over or close enough. The rest of my life with Mace could officially begin without this hanging over us like a dark cloud.