Maddog (Black Reign MC #10)

Chapter Four

Holly

Raised voices penetrated my sleep fogged brain. I was alone, but my head rested on a surprisingly comfortable pillow and there was a blanket draped over me. The room was lit by only a couple of small markers at the base of the wall, like safety lights or something.

One of the voices was Chris. It took a couple of minutes, but once my head cleared somewhat I could make out what he was saying.

“We’ve been treated like dogs on this trip home,” he snarled. “I demand you let me in there to get some rest. We’ll all be going back to Rodadero to finish what we started, and I have to be ready.” Yep. That was definitely Chris. Pompous, selfish asshole. And who in their right mind would turn around and go back into that hell? I knew I wasn’t going. Fuck that shit.

I sat up on the cot and groaned. The walls must have been paper-thin, because Chris heard me.

“See? She’s awake. Make her go back and sit with the others while I take a power nap. You can come get me when we’re ready to land.”

“Jesus Christ.” I swore under my breath. “What a fuckin’ pussy.”

I didn’t have on shoes, but a thick pair of socks were on my feet. I was dressed in a T-shirt that was a size or two too big and some soft, cotton pants. The pants fit loosely but weren’t overly big on me. It took me a second to remember how I’d gotten changed. When I did, I sucked in a breath at the memory.

Jax had washed me off and helped me change. I’d told him to help, and he’d been so careful with me. I remember crying myself to sleep while lying on his chest. He’d held me in a protective embrace, rubbing his chin over the top of my head gently. I hadn’t exactly had a restful sleep, but I doubt I’d have slept at all if not for Jax.

With an irritated sigh, I stood and jerked the door open. “There you go, Sir Whines-A-Lot. Get your beauty sleep. Looks like you need it.” I shoved past the bastard and back to the passenger seats. Which… yeah. Military transport. Not exactly Air Force One, but the fucking prick should be glad we were on the aircraft at all. We could be fucking dead.

I sat next to the other women with us. The only people in our group I knew were Andrea and Chris. Chris could go fuck himself, but Andrea was the whole reason I was here. Even though this had been a clusterfuck of epic proportions, I was glad I’d been here because I knew Andrea needed someone, and it was obvious Chris didn’t give a damn.

Andrea looked up at me when I sat next to her, then immediately looked down at her lap. “You told me not to do this.” Her admission was soft. “This never would have happened if we’d stayed home.”

“It would still have happened. Just not to us. Everyone else here would likely be dead or wishing they were.” That’s when I realized that the only men on the trip had been Chris and his bodyguard, and two other men, both of whom were killed in the attack. I think in the back of my mind I knew there were more women than men on this trip, but I’d been focused on other things.

“Chris says you’re all going back to Rodadero.”

Andrea gave me a funny look. “He said what?”

“Yeah. Before he demanded to have the room Jax let me use to clean up. He said he needed to rest before you guys headed back once we landed. Sounded like it was going to be a pretty quick turnaround.” I was fishing. From the expression on Andrea’s face, this was news to her.

“I’m not going back.” Andrea shook her head violently. “He can’t make me this time, either.”

“Make you?” That surprised me. “I thought you wanted to go.”

“I didn’t want to go, but he said if I wanted to be with him, I needed to get used to international travel and charity work.”

“He seriously told you that?” One of the other girls sitting near us questioned Andrea. “Those exact words?”

Andrea swallowed as comprehension washed over her. “He did.”

“Me too.”

“Me too.”

“Fucker.”

All the women on the plane other than me seemed to have been sold the same song and dance. And the motherfucker had been so cool and smooth, he’d managed to make it from South Carolina all the way to Rodadero, Columbia with every single one of them and no one knew the secrets he was keeping.

“What about you, Holly?” Andrea looked ashamed, but like she really wanted the answer to that question.

“You mean, did I betray you and try to take your boyfriend?”

She ducked her gaze then, her shoulders hunching. “I’m sorry I asked that question, Holly,” she said softly. “I didn’t mean it like that. Honestly.” She took in a shuddering breath. “OK, that’s not exactly true. I did mean it like that. But I swear, I’ve never thought you’d do that kind of thing. It never crossed my mind before this very moment.”

“Relax, Andrea. I understand. You thought you had something real with Chris, and everyone else said he played them too. You’re emotionally raw and still scared after everything. Wondering how I fit in is natural.” I tried to give her a smile, but the very last thing I felt like doing was smiling. “I’m here because I knew something was up with Chris but couldn’t put my finger on it. That’s why I tried to talk you out of going on this trip.”

“I should have listened to you.” Andrea was crying now.

I waved her off. “The heart wants what the heart wants. What I can’t figure out is what he planned to gain from taking all his girlfriends to Columbia. Together. Or why he welcomed me with open arms when I wasn’t in his… err… circle.” I almost said harem but knew it would only insult and alienate the women here. They were victims. Not polygamists. And Chris had played them like a fucking master. Which likely meant he’d done something like this before.

That’s when Andrea started crying softly. I put my arm around her, trying to console her. She shook her head and pushed away from me, crying all the harder. “This is all my fault.”

“Of course it’s not your fault, Andrea. How could you know we’d be attacked like that? Besides, Chris has done this before. Whatever this is. You weren’t looking for it. I knew something was off, but never imagined he had a dozen girls he was stringing along. But had I been as close to the situation as you were, I probably wouldn’t have noticed either. He’s a pro at manipulating women. Man needs to be castrated.”

Instead of helping, my words seemed to make Andrea cry harder. “You don’t understand!” she wailed. “Stop being nice to me! I’m a horrible human being and don’t deserve anyone to be nice to me, least of all you, Holly!”

“What?” My internal radar started going off, telling me to leave it alone. Unfortunately, I’ve always been too curious for my own good, even knowing that curiosity killed the cat. “Why would you say that? You’re my best friend. I’m always going to have your back and, though I’m a first-class bitch and never nice to anyone, I’ll never be horrible to you. Especially not now.”

That seemed to make her cry even harder. She fell against me, her arms going around my neck in a tight embrace. I tried to comfort her, but now I was on guard.

One of the other girls sneered. “She’s upset she knows she’s caught.” This girl had been sitting quietly in the corner, but she seemed to have had all she could take.

“Caught?” I glared at the other woman. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“She’s the reason most of us are here.” This came from another woman who sat huddled in the corner, her feet on the seat with her knees drawn up to her chest. “It’s probably why Chris keeps trying to get off on his own, too.”

Still sobbing, Andrea clung to me like her life depended on it. I was stunned and wasn’t sure exactly what to say, but I knew I needed to hear it all, no matter how much I didn’t want to.

“What’s going on?” Jax approached us, a wary look on his face. His gaze landed on me first. Checking on me? Then he took in everyone and frowned. “What happened?”

None of the other women said anything. Even the two who had engaged earlier looked away, obviously not trusting Jax. Andrea continued to cling to me and sniffle, but stopped her loud weeping.

“I don’t know,” I said softly. “But maybe you better check on Chris.”

Jax gave me a long, assessing look, then turned and headed back the way he’d come. Not long after, there was a banging on the door to the room Chris had taken over after I left.

“Open up, Alistair.” I was relieved to hear Jax actively checking the situation. He might be an asshole, but Jax and I had a connection. It was like we were drawn to each other. No matter how many times I told him to fuck off, the annoying asshole was always there when I needed him. And me? No matter how many times I told him to fuck off… yeah. I always welcomed him with open arms. Eagerly.

“Andrea, please tell me what’s going on.” I turned and gripped her slim shoulders gently, pulling her away from me so I could get a good look at her face. When I did, I felt an overwhelming rage start to simmer in my mind. Despite all the weeping and wailing, Andrea’s eyes were completely dry. Her makeup was as perfect as always.

I gasped, standing abruptly and taking two steps backward, away from the woman I’d called my best friend since grade school. I looked at the other women. The ones who’d spoken out, especially, gave Andrea looks of scorn, all but rolling their eyes. How had I not seen these looks before? Had they been there since the beginning of the trip? Had I missed some really strong anger there?

“I’m curious.” The bold woman looked from me to Andrea a couple of times. “You hated Chris. You obviously didn’t want him for a lover or partner, so why did you come with us?”

“I thought he was up to something. That he’d hurt Andrea. I came to have her back.”

“Uh-huh. So she didn’t encourage you to join us?”

“Well, yeah. She did. When I asked her not to go, she said I should come with her. That way I could see she was fine, and I’d get to help some really disadvantaged people. She knows I like to participate in projects that help people in poor communities. She said these people were about as poor as it got.”

“She introduced most of us to Chris.” The other woman picked up the explanation. “I thought it was odd there were so many people going when I’d thought it was going to be me and Chris alone. It wasn’t until after we landed in Rodadero I started putting it together that my relationship with Chris wasn’t everything I thought it was.”

“I can’t prove it and I have no idea how to explain it,” the first woman interjected, “but I’d almost bet she and Chris set up that ambush. At least, they both knew it was coming before it happened.”

“Razor, get that motherfucker out here before you really do have to explain to Cain how this bastard decided to jump out of the plane.” Jax sounded angrier than I’d ever heard him.

“Shit,” I muttered. I turned and headed toward Jax and the other guys. I thought I should probably stay with the women to offer as much support as I could. After all, we’d all gone through something horrific and come out traumatized, but physically unharmed. At least, most of us had. Besides, I knew that, wherever this conversation was headed, I needed to divert it for a little while. Like for at least a week. I needed time to heal both mentally and physically. Though I hadn’t been hurt too badly, I was still going to be pretty Goddamned sore.

“Jax? What is it?” I went to his side. He put out an arm to keep me from getting near the door, but tucked me in behind him, holding me to him with one arm, urging me to press myself against his back.

“Motherfucker’s locked himself in and refuses to open the door. Do you know what’s goin’ on?”

“Not sure. At least some of the girls think he might have been responsible for the attack on us.”

He started, looking over his shoulder at me before turning around. “That’s a pretty serious accusation.”

“I know. And it might be all an attempt to get even with him, but something isn’t right. Andrea was only pretending to cry a while ago. And the women who are talking for the group say Andrea introduced most of them to Chris. She actively pushed for them all to go on this trip. She pushed me too. Just passively.”

“OK,” Jax said, nodding his head. “Assuming they’re right and he had something to do with the attack. What does he gain?”

I shrugged. “Bust in the fucking door and ask the bastard.”

Razor grinned. “I always liked you, Holly. This is just one of many reasons why.”

Jax bared his teeth at Razor and pulled me into his arms. “Mine. Don’t even look at her.”

Razor chuckled. “Lock her down if you want to keep her, man. She has enough of a vicious streak to make the perfect old lady.”

“She knows I’m keepin’ her. Had her property cut made when I made prospect.”

“Uh, hello? I’m right here.” I shoved away from Jax, but he refused to let me go. I wasn’t as torn up about it as I should have been. “Don’t talk about me like you think I can’t hear you.”

“Wouldn’t think of it, Maddog.” Razor winked at me, and it was hard to keep the grin off my face, but I managed. Barely.

“I know you have no reason to suspect Chris had anything to do with the attack. Aside from being a shitty human being, I can’t figure out how hurting everyone he brought on a private jet, including a congressional security detail, benefits him in any way. All I’m saying is, maybe Shotgun or someone should look into the trip. See if they can find any breadcrumbs leading off in a tangent.”

“Do you want to call Shotgun? Tell him what you suspect and give him some details?” Jax spoke softly. Neither man continued to pound on the door to the room where Chris was hiding. It wasn’t like he could go anywhere. He’d probably try to call someone if some kind of deal had gone south, or to have his daddy’s lawyers meet us at the airport. But, unluckily for him, we weren’t going to the airport.

“Yeah. I need to let my mom and dad know I’m OK, too.”

“Wrath’s been in constant contact with us since we left, so he knows.” Jax stroked my cheek and smiled down at me. “But I know it’ll be much better to hear your voice.”

“I’d offer you the use of the conference room, but it seems to have been requisitioned by Senator Alistair’s office.” Razor’s dry humor was almost welcome. I fought another grin.

“Well, I voted for the other guy,” I quipped. “So unless the senator actually did hire ExFil to come get his son, tell that rat bastard he needs to sit out here with the women he played. If you give the green light, there’s at least one of them who’d gladly change him from a rooster to a hen.”

“Noted.” Razor nodded to Jax. “You want to do the honors, or do you want me to?”

“I got this.” Jax took one step forward and kicked the door to the small room so hard, the whole thing splintered off its hinges. The room wasn’t supposed to be secure or anything, so the doors were pretty flimsy. I had no doubt the effect was what Jax was going for. If so, it sounded like Chris was suitably impressed if his screams were any indication.

“Now,” Razor boomed, stepping in the doorway, his massive shoulders so wide he had to turn sideways. “Time to buckle in for landing.” Razor snagged him by the arm, jerking Chris’s cell phone out of his hand as he did. He glanced at the screen before putting the phone to his ear. He listened for a brief moment before speaking. “Sorry. Your son’s a little busy right now. I’ll have him call you back after we land.” Razor ended the call and tossed the phone to Jax. “Might need this later.”

“Hey! Gimme back my fucking phone!”

“What are you talking about?” Jax said, looking at him all innocent-like. “I didn’t see no phone.” He lifted his chain at Razor. “You seen one?”

Razor grinned. “Nope. Now, come on. Let’s go sit over here. There’s a nice seat waiting for you in the middle of some really beautiful women.”