The Devil’s Viking (The Road Devils MC #3)

Chapter Nine

Wolf hung up his phone, then took off across the bar and up the stairs without a word to anyone.

Scars and Cole exchanged glances; while this wasn’t particularly unusual behavior on Wolf’s part, it wasn’t reassuring. Scars got to his feet and followed his President. By the time he got to the second floor, Holt was alone in the hallway looking puzzled, and Scars could hear Wolf’s raised voice. He shrugged at Holt, continued down the hall to Iris’ room, shut the door, leaned against the wall and listened. Whatever the hell was happening now, he’d pick it up soon enough: Wolf was nothing if not direct.

“Listen up, girl,” Wolf was saying to a cowering Iris. “Last chance now and no fuckin’ around… who the fuck are you?”

“I’m – I’m nobody,” she stammered. “Just Iris.”

“‘Just Iris’ nothin ’. You’ve got somethin’ to do with that cult, don’t you? The Garden of Fuckin’ Sunbeams or whatever the hell it’s called.”

“The Garden of Divine Light,” she corrected him automatically, then it clearly occurred to her that she’d just given herself away. “I mean – I don’t know…”

“You know,” Wolf growled at her, and even Scars was alarmed at the level of sheer scariness in those two words. “You know, and you’re gonna stop treatin’ me like an idiot, and I mean now .”

She gulped and stared at the floor. She pressed her lips together tight.

“So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?” Wolf’s steel-grey eyes nailed her in place. “That’s fine. How about this? How about I get my man Ice to drive you right on back to the Garden and drop your ass off? He’ll drag you up to the gate and ring every bell until someone comes, and he’ll tell them how you ended up in Denver, then he’ll turn around and leave you there. Sounds good? You think Gideon will be happy to see his runaway flower again?”

Iris looked up at him and her face was pure terror. “ Gideon ? How did you know – ”

“I know a lot, babe, so now is not the time to test me. From what I hear, your Gideon is a full-on fuckin’ nightmare, but if you think I won’t hand you over to him, you’re wrong. If gettin’ rid of you means that I get a bullshit problem out of my face, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. Just try me.”

Scars held his breath: he knew Wolf was tough but he’d never throw a woman into a dangerous situation on purpose. This was just a game of chicken and Wolf was bluffing and counting on Iris not knowing any of that; she’d blink and then confess and then they’d go from there.

But Iris surprised them both.

“You won’t do that,” she said and although she was trying to play it cool, her voice trembled. “Not with what I know.”

“And what do you know?” Wolf snarled. “Huh?”

“Well.” She cleared her throat. “I saw Viking in the forest and it sure looked like he was busy hiding something. I mean, he was way over in Utah, in the mountains, in the middle of the night, right? You think if I told the cops about all of that and they went digging around, maybe they’d find something?’

Scars almost fell over. His President was towering over Iris now, even larger in his rage, and she was obviously terrified but standing her ground. For the first time since laying eyes on this woman, it came to Scars that she had one hell of a backbone in that doll-sized body.

Or maybe she just had a death wish.

“Well, well,” Wolf said and now his voice was soft, which only kicked the menace into overdrive. “So the little flower has thorns.”

“Look,” she said. “I don’t want to do any of that.”

“But you will, right?” Wolf said. “Here’s the problem you got, babe: blackmail ain’t smart at the best of times, but it’s especially dumb when you’re standin’ in our house and you’re outnumbered and relyin’ on our good graces where you’re concerned. And you clearly haven’t thought the situation through to the very end.”

“What do you mean?” she faltered.

“What I mean is, I don’t think that Gideon will give a fuck about what anyone was doin’ out in the woods that night except for you. I bet everythin’ that I own that when Ice hands you over all bound and gagged, you won’t be talkin’ much at all, and nobody will give a shit what you have to say about some guy from Denver. Gideon sure as hell won’t be takin’ you to the cops for you to spill your little story…I get the feelin’ that Gideon ain’t got much time for cops.”

She swayed on her feet; it was pretty obvious that Wolf was right and she hadn’t thought this through. But he wasn’t done beating her over the head with truth and perspective yet:

“What will happen is that Gideon will take you down to the basement and you’ll stop existin’,” he told her. “Just like that woman who used to go into town for the shoppin’ and disappeared without a trace.”

Her eyes were almost black with fear. “How – how do you know about Lily?”

“Like I said, I know a lot, which is bad for you. What’s worse for you is that you just played your only fuckin’ ace and it ain’t as strong as you thought it was. You lost.”

“I didn’t –”

“You did . You thought that threatenin’ me with what you saw was some kind of trump card, and I’m tellin’ you it ain’t. All you did was show your hand, and now you got nothin’ to threaten me with. I know what you know. If I want, I can have you disappeared off the earth in the next hour, no need to send you back to the Garden for your little mouth to shut up… but I’d deliver you to Gideon anyway, just ‘cause I can tell that it’s the last place you want to be.”

“Please –”

“No beggin’ now,” Wolf said mercilessly. “Not after your little mind game. Put your fuckin’ nightgown and big boots on, girl, Ice is on his way back here.”

“I – I – oh, God –” Without warning, Iris turned sickly grey, started shaking and crying. “Please, don’t send me back. If you want to kill me, just do it yourself. Please , Wolf. If you don’t want to kill me, then you can hold me here forever and send every Road Devils guy to fuck me and I won’t complain ever, not once. Please, I’ll do anything that you tell me, anything but going back to Gideon.”

Wolf and Scars looked at each other, stunned. Was she actually saying that she’d become an MC sex slave instead of of going back to where she came from?

“Whoa, calm down,” Scars said, stepping seamlessly into his role of Good Cop. “No need for that.”

“But there is!” Iris was beside herself with panic. “I can’t go back to Gideon! You have no idea what it’s like at that place!”

“OK, take a breath,” Scars said. “Sit down over there and let’s start again. Alright?”

Shuddering and gasping, Iris nodded. She tottered over to the armchair in the corner and literally collapsed into it. Wolf sat on the bed, and Scars stayed over by the door.

“Ohhh-kaay,” Wolf said. “Now. I ain’t sendin’ you back to Utah.”

“Y – you’re not?” She wiped her eyes.

“No. I’m not. I’m an asshole in too many ways to count, but I won’t throw anyone to the cult-wolves.” He grinned. “The only wolf you gotta worry about around here is me, and I’m tryin’ to be your friend.”

“Y – you are?”

“I am.” Wolf leaned forward. “Now, we know how you got here, and why you jumped into the back of a stranger’s van. We have a pretty good idea what you’re runnin’ from, and no need to go into all the details because I’m sure Gideon is a fuckin’ kool-aid dispensin’ psycho.”

Iris nodded quietly.

“OK, so. Then I think that all we need to talk about is what we do with you.”

“You mean…me being the club whore?”

Wolf blinked. “Ummmm, no. I mean you not bein’ the club whore. I mean we make a deal between us.”

“A deal?”

“Yeah, sweetheart. A deal. We help you, you help us.” Wolf held out his hands, palms-up. “The way I see it is that you got yourself out of a heavily-guarded compound, so you put time into an escape plan that actually worked. I know gettin’ to Colorado as a stowaway was all improvized – and way to seize the opportunity when you saw it, by the way – but you’re here now. Wherever you’d have ended up, you’d have needed money, clothes, a place to stay. So… what was the plan?”

Iris sighed. “I stole money from Gideon.”

“Good girl,” Wolf approved and Scars almost laughed. “Teach that cult motherfucker a lesson. How much did you get?”

“Three hundred and twelve dollars.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes. It took almost six months, but I was scared he’d notice if I took too much at one time.”

“That ain’t a lot.”

“I figured it was enough for a bus ticket out of town, then for other tickets in all directions to muddy the trail when the Guardians came looking. Cheap clothes, cheap food, cheap motel rooms.” Iris shrugged. “The plan was always to get a job and build a whole new life wherever I ended up.”

“What can you do?” Scars said.

She looked at him, puzzled. “Do?”

“Yes. Do. For a job. What skills do you have?”

“Not many.” She thought about it. “Cooking and cleaning. That’s about it. Even before the Garden, I didn’t really have a glittering resumé. I had no resumé, actually.”

“Any objections to cooking for a bunch of bikers and drunks?” Scars asked her. “You’re cool with ex-cons and sketchy types?”

“What?”

“Rebel needs help in the kitchen during rush times in the bar,” Scars said. “I manage Satan’s and I’ve been looking for a part-time cook, but no luck so far. I figure you can help when he’s overloaded, and then when it’s quiet, you can clean the building.”

Iris had almost stopped breathing. “Do you mean that?”

“Damn right I do, but Wolf has final say. As bar manager and club Vice-President, I can make the offer, but it’s his call.”

Iris’ eyes snapped to Wolf’s hard face; the hope was almost vibrating off of her. It made her beauty shine bright enough to chase off the winter gloom outside the window.

“Hmmm.” Wolf crossed his arms. “I’m open to it – as long as we get one issue straight between all of us.”

“Anything.”

“You never – and I mean fuckin’ never – tell anyone about what you saw in the woods. I don’t care if you save up what money you need in two months and move on then, I don’t care if you stay workin’ for us until you die. You forget what you saw…it never happened, you get me? I ain’t crazy about threatenin’ you all over again, but here it is: we may look like a bunch of loser pricks in leather cuts who can’t write our own names, but we got guys in the MC with serious skills, skills you don’t want comin’ your way. You do not want those boys downstairs mad at you, or gunnin’ for you. If you think that you can walk into a new life and just start talkin’ to the cops or anyone else, you’re wrong.”

Iris swallowed hard

“If you leave here, we’ll know where you are all the time. We’ll be watchin’ you, and the second any interest comes our way about anythin’ in that forest, we’ll grab you up and take you straight back to Gideon.” Wolf locked his eyes on hers. “You may be able to hurt us, but we sure as hell can hurt you. We can always go back to Utah and remove anythin’ incriminatin’, but Gideon will never forgive or forget that you escaped. Remember that.”

Iris nodded, chastised. It was crystal clear that Wolf held all the cards and she had nothing. She’d certainly overplayed her hand, and not even in a smart way, and she was lucky to still be sitting at the table. It could have all gone way worse. She could have lost a whole arm – or her head.

“So.” Wolf stuck out his hand. “We got a deal?”

Right away, she extended her hand and shook his. “Yes. Deal.”

“OK, then. We’re done. We never need to talk about any of this again.” Wolf got to his feet and gave her a wink. “You start tomorrow at ten a.m. Cain will be watchin’ your door overnight, you understand, just until we get some trust built up between us. He’ll bring you down to Rebel in the mornin’.”

“Thank you,” she said, and she was teary again. “Wolf – thank you.”

“Remember that I drink my coffee scaldin’ hot and black, and I ain’t good about waitin’ for it.”

“Got it, boss.”

Scars nodded at her, then the men left the room. Holt looked askance as they passed, but said nothing. He knew that the Prez and Vice-Prez kept everything to themselves until they decided to let the MC in on it; they’d share if and when it was time. For now, he’d maintain his post like the good foot soldier that he was, and not worry about anything beyond that.

He subsided back onto the sofa and picked up his book.

**

When Wolf and Scars came back downstairs, Ice was standing down at the bar with Cole. His face was its usual granite and his eyes gleamed coldly.

“Into my office,” Wolf said. “Scars, come with us.”

Once they were inside, Wolf turned to Ice. “You’re goin’ to Utah.”

Ice nodded; he wasn’t even slightly surprised. “To Walton?”

“Yep. You’re gonna find out everythin’ that you can about the Garden of Fucked-up Psychopaths, and you’re gonna report back every night.”

“And Iris?”

“Stays here with us. I ain’t handin’ her back to a guy who’ll just kill her.”

“Even if she can hurt us?”

“She can’t. I got that covered.”

Ice nodded again, didn’t press for details. If Wolf said that he had taken care of it, then he had; Ice had learned many years before to take Wolf Connor at his word in everything. It was why Wolf was such a great President, and why Ice had stuck with the Road Devils even as several of his ex-brothers had peeled off with Dawson Kinney and started their own MC. Ice was a lot of things, but a traitor to Wolf sure as hell wasn’t one of them.

“I’ll go pack and leave for Utah right away.”

“Take the cage,” Wolf told him. “And take one more thing – well, two , actually.”

“What’s that?”

“Take the twins.”

Ice paused. “The twins?”

“Yeah. You might need the extra Enforcer muscle if this Gideon asshole starts anythin’, and if we need someone to charm the locals for help or information, it’s hard to beat the dream team of Dux and Drake. They could charm the panties off a nun, and we all know it.”

“According to Drake, they did actually do that once,” Scars said. “ Back at Catholic school.”

“I ain’t surprised,” Wolf said wryly. “I ain’t surprised at all .”