Chapter Eight
W here Was She ...
Daisy glanced around the beach with no one there. She knew this wasn’t right. There was always someone here.
There was a pressure against her temple, and she let go of the railing to touch her forehead. The moment she did, it was like she conjured up Anthony who stood right in front of her.
“We did something bad, didn’t we?”
He didn’t speak. This was not her Anthony who seemed to enjoy talking. It was like he was someone else. She stared into his blue eyes, and even though the waves were right behind him, nothing compared to the beauty within his gaze.
“Anthony?”
“It’s going to be all right,” he said.
Only his voice didn’t sound quite like Anthony’s.
He reached out and touched her cheeks, much like he did before. Again, his touch wasn’t quite as strong, but there were flashes that went off inside her mind—their time together, killing her father, how he protected her. The times at school she caught him staring at her. Anthony would never look away. She knew other people might find him a little embarrassing, but not her. She would hold his gaze, and it would be next to impossible to look away, unless there was a distraction, such as Tabitha or one of the others gaining her attention. The moment would be gone, but it wouldn’t be lost.
And then, she was transported back to that night.
“You don’t need to do this,” Anthony said.
Daisy spun around as she made her way toward the quad. She had no problem going to the quad and watching all the guys and Tabitha fight for their name. She and Tabitha had an agreement from years ago that she would never fight.
Not many people knew but when they were younger, one kid, Arnold, started to bully Tabitha really bad. It was a shock to Daisy, as she was used to being the one bullied. They would often call her the Not Skull. Most of the time, people didn’t say it to her in earshot of anyone else from the club. If her friends heard, they would kick the ass of whoever said it. It was as simple as that. Sure, it hurt, but she had gotten used to it.
But this Arnold kid had a hatred for Tabitha that was just ... strange. Anyway, one day, he went too far and actually punched Tabitha in the face. Her friend went down, and that was when she saw Arnold going for her. No one knew, no one saw, and Daisy lost it. She attacked Arnold. It was like she saw red, and she didn’t stop.
That was the last day they saw Arnold. Tabitha had to tear her off the kid, and they made him agree to promise not to say a word. He never returned to school, and the whole family left town within the week.
They were not seen or heard from again.
She and Tabitha agreed to never speak of it, and Daisy was to never fight. That promise had been kept, until now.
Daniella and her little posse of bitches had cornered Tabitha. They had attacked her friend, put her in the hospital, and there was no way in fucking hell she was going to let it slide.
“I don’t need to do this?” She looked around the quad, and knew without a shadow of a doubt there was no one else who could do this. “She needs to be taught a lesson. They were the fucking cowards and they attacked one of our own when she was alone and vulnerable. That is the act of a fucking coward.”
“Damn it, Daisy. You and I both know if I let you do this, Tabitha is going to go fucking insane,” Anthony said.
Daisy laughed. “You’re kidding, right? I thought you would be proud of this moment.”
He went to her and like so many times, he cupped her cheeks. Daisy had gotten used to Anthony showing her public displays of affection and no one truly seeing. It was like they were invisible to everyone else, and that was the way she liked it. No one talked or spread nasty rumors about them.
She looked at him and then he did what she never thought he would do. He kissed her, right there and then.
Daisy lost herself in the kiss, until he broke it and trailed his lips toward her ear. “I’ve got no problem with you fighting, Daisy. I know you can handle yourself, but I want to know you’re ready for what is about to happen. You and I both know when you start, you’re not going to stop. Tell me what you want me to do.”
She knew what he was saying. Did she want him to leave it long enough for her to kill Daniella? Was he to stop her before it got bad?
“I want you to let me hurt her,” Daisy said. “And only when she is down, but still alive, and if I can’t stop, then stop me.”
And with that, she turned toward the quad and made her way to the ring. She didn’t wait for the announcement or the current fight to end.
She climbed into the ring, and shouted, “Fuck off. Fight is over.”
There was a loud grumble, but Daisy turned to Daniella. “I want her, Daniella. The whore of the Monsters Dogs MC. She is to fight me, right fucking now. Place your bets.”
Anthony was there in her corner, as were Miles, Rachel, and the rest of the guys. One by one, they came and joined.
There was no arguing. The guys that had been sparring before shrugged and left without another word. It was known that no one should interfere between the Skulls and Monster Dogs MC.
Daisy took a deep breath, but she didn’t feel nervous. There was no fear and she watched as Daniella, the cocky little bitch she was, jumped up onto the stadium for all to see.
“I see you want me to kick your ass as well.”
She stared at her, feeling that numbness take over. “Let’s see how you handle one on one.”
Daniella’s smile faltered, but Daisy stepped back, keeping an eye on her.
Seconds passed, and the fight was started. She moved in close and watched Daniella.
I’m going to hurt you. One day, I am going to kill you, for the club, for what you did. You will die.
Daniella got the first and second hit. That pain filled her body, but it was strange, as it wasn’t hurting her. No, the strikes fed that need deep inside herself. The fuel to the fire.
With each hit Daniella gave, she saw the girl before getting cocky, thinking like everyone else, that Daisy was weak. The Not Skull. The charity case. The adopted one. She had no place among the Skulls.
But she was just waiting for that right moment, and it came as a strike across the face, and Daisy felt the change. She didn’t feel panic or fear. There was no anger or rage. It was the strangest feeling, just like that day with the kid Arnold. It was the strongest sense of calm and understanding, and then she hit back.
Daniella wasn’t expecting it. She blocked her and hit back. There was no way for Daniella to get a hit. With each blow she blocked, she counteracted with one of her own, and it wasn’t long before she drew blood.
Daisy pulled out of that memory, and immediately she was in Anthony’s embrace. That day, she scared Daniella.
She didn’t need to see it because Tabitha had let herself out of the hospital, had gone to her, and stopped her from fighting. There was so much that happened at the quad, but she also believed that was the day Tabitha also got stabbed.
“I miss you,” Daisy said.
Anthony didn’t say a word.
Another flash, and she saw Daniella again. The reason she was here, at this lonely beach, was because of that girl. Only this time, Daisy hadn’t been able to see it. She had been distracted, and Daniella had put her in this place.
In another flash, Daisy was at the hospital, and she finally got to see where she was. Lying down in a hospital bed. She looked toward the door where Anthony had just walked out. She saw his back, and he wasn’t wearing his leather cut.
The guys were in the hospital. She saw Miles, who kept glancing over at her, at the bed, and then looking away.
“We fucked up,” Miles said.
“No, we didn’t,” Rachel said. “We did what we had to.”
“At what cost?” This came from Constance. She moved toward the bed, and was close.
Daisy attempted to reach out, but she pulled back at the last minute. Was she dead? Dying? What the fuck was happening to her?
“If Daisy dies, then we may as well kiss goodbye to Anthony. We all know that guy will go on a warpath.” Again, this was Constance.
“Don’t,” Miles said. “Daisy is going to live. She has to.”
She couldn’t be here. Not with them talking about her death. Rushing out of the room, she was not going to acknowledge that she actually walked through a fucking door. That is insane.
Anthony was heading to the stairs, which made sense. He liked to keep moving and he never trusted elevators. He didn’t like how vulnerable they made people. He’d seen one too many movies where the elevator didn’t quite hold up.
She chased after him, screaming his name.
“Anthony, I can’t make it back. I want to get home. Please, stop. Please.”
She rushed at him and put a hand on his shoulder, and it was so odd as he suddenly stopped. He paused right there on the stairwell, and she heard his breathing. Daisy paused, not wanting to believe he could see her, hear her, or feel her.
“Anthony, I am here, I love you, and I want to get back to you.” She touched his shoulder again, and this time he moved and touched the same spot she was touching him.
“Daisy, come back to me. Please, come back to me.”
She watched as he closed his eyes, but then it was like he had to pull himself away, and she watched as he went. This time, she didn’t follow him but went straight back to her room and stared at herself in that bed.
How did she wake herself up?
Was this all a dream?
Was she just imagining everything that was happening to her?
****
A nthony rested against his car and looked down at his cell phone. He’d texted Luke, and then called. Still no sign of him. The guy hadn’t died. He had told him to get Daisy out of there as he took care of the rest, and now he didn’t like that he was missing.
Luke had been injured. His memory was foggy, but that much he did remember. His side had been cut, possible bullet wound, possible knife wound. He’d not stuck around to get the details as Daisy had been dying in his arms, and he had to get her to the hospital.
Pulling up his name again, he called, but it went straight to voicemail. Anthony had a horrible feeling. Luke had promised him, had made a vow, and even begun the removal of his Monster Dogs MC ink.
Anthony rubbed at his temples, feeling his temper start to rise. This was not good.
Getting to his feet, he rounded his car and climbed inside. The only other place to go was Luke’s. Not that he made it a habit of going to his place. They never wanted to alert suspicion about him and Luke hanging out. They were the complete opposites of each other.
However, Luke had told him if anything bad were to happen, he was to check out his apartment, and more specifically, his safe. He didn’t want to do this, but with Luke suddenly missing, there was no other choice.
Pulling out of his parking space, he made his way toward the apartment building Luke had purchased in Fort Wills. This had come as news to him, because he figured Luke would stay in Monster Dogs MC territory. It would have certainly been safer.
Anthony had memorized all the necessary codes to get into the building. Luke lived on the fourth floor, and the building was nice, but then most things in Fort Wills were nice. Sure, they had a good area and a bad area like most towns. Even still, Luke had chosen a nice area.
To show his loyalty and trust, Anthony had made a spare key to access Luke’s apartment. Stepping inside the apartment, he expected to see a shithole. He just assumed all the Monster Dogs lived like animals, but the place was clean.
The curtains were still open, drawing in a nice swath of light. Luke didn’t have a lot of possessions but what he did have was nice. He liked it. The apartment was pretty good.
He didn’t stay and linger but went to one of the rooms. The first door he opened was a bedroom, and the second was an office. He went to the desk, and started to look around, trying to find what he was looking for, but he was coming up with a blank. There was no safe. Then, he took a seat at the desk and looked across the room. He looked at the singular picture on the wall. It was a random flower, and it was kind of fucking creepy. The picture was of a Daisy.
Was that a coincidence, or did Luke have a feeling he wasn’t going to make it? When Anthony asked why he wouldn’t give the location of the safe to him, but insisted on him having the codes, Luke had always told him if the time ever came, he would know where it was.
He made his way over to the painting. The office had no other decorations. No art, not even a book. He reached out and took the painting off the wall, and sure enough, behind it, inside the wall, was a safe. He had remembered the combination and figured it was a long shot. There was a chance Luke was faking it all this time, and yet he tried the combination. The safe opened up.
Luke was no longer looking like the enemy. In such a short time, it seemed he had truly come to hate his own club. With the safe, there was only a single file. It was thick and Anthony pulled it out, glancing over it. He didn’t recognize it. He opened it and frowned as there were pictures. None of them were quite clear, until Anthony realized what his father had been talking about.
He moved back toward the desk and spread the file out. Luke had come to realize the kind of shit his club was into, and it would seem he was not a fan. He had created a full document of everything his club was into. Containment holdings, pictures of the women. Some of the images were blurry, but it was all here. Luke knew this.
Anthony pulled out his cell phone and dialed his father. Lash was not known for patience.
The call went to voicemail.
He tried to call Luke again. The man had been alive and breathing when he left him. There was no reason for him to have escaped.
No answer.
Finally, he called his mother.
“Hey, sweetie,” Angel said.
“Where’s Dad?”
There was silence. “I’m not sure. He was handling club business. That is all I know. Why?”
“He’s not answering. I’ll call you back.” He hung up before she said anything.
Holding the file within his hand, he spun around and headed out of Luke’s home. He had to try and find his father.
Once inside the car, he started to call for him again.
“Damn it, Dad, fucking pick up.” For some reason, he had a feeling Luke was in the hands of his father.
****
L ash looked down at his cell phone. There were several missed calls from Anthony, as well as one from his wife. He snapped his phone closed and turned back to the man currently tied to a chair. There was blood coming from his mouth.
His patience was running out but Luke seemed to be handling himself a lot better than he gave him credit for.
Dragging a chair over to him, he straddled it. “You’re going to tell me what I need to know.”
“I need to talk to Anthony,” Luke said.
“Do you think I’m going to allow you to continue putting my son in harm’s way?”
Luke laughed.
He hadn’t fully tortured the man, but he had given him a taste of what was to come. Going through the Monster Dogs MC clubhouse had been a complete and total bust. It was empty. No sign of missing women or girls.
Whizz and Nash had helped him torch the place. It was the best thing he’d done since having to deal with their enemy club.
Monster Dogs MC hadn’t even registered on the Skulls’ radar until their kids went to the same school. That had started the problem. He should have ended them years ago, and that was his regret. Anthony shouldn’t have had to make the decision in the first fucking place.
His anger started to build.
“I am not the one who put Anthony in danger,” Luke said. “Your son is perfectly capable of doing that on his own. I made a deal with him and he is the only one I am willing to talk to.”
His cell phone went off. Only, this time, when one call went off, another came in. Glancing at his cell phone, he saw that his son had called him, and started to work his way down the tree. Adam, Tiny, Murphy, Tate, Angel, Nash, Zero, Alex, Hardy, had all tried to call him. He couldn’t ignore it anymore.
Gritting his teeth, he left the abandoned basement and made his way up to the main storage. There was a time the club used this place to store drugs and guns they moved for Ned Walker. They did have other plans for the property, but nothing concrete. The space wasn’t costing them anything.
He pulled out his cell phone and answered the next call that came in. It was his son.
“What?” he asked.
“You have Luke,” Anthony said.
“Look, son, I don’t know what game you’re playing—”
“For fuck’s sake, Dad, he knows, okay? He knows his club dealt with women and children. He has a file here. Where are you?” he asked.
Lash was not going to let Luke go just yet.
“Meet me at the clubhouse, I’ll be there.”
He looked toward the door he had just vacated. No one else knew he had found Luke, or that he’d chained him up. He was not on death’s door, not yet. There was going to be plenty of time to send him there.
Lash made his way back to his bike, climbed on, and took off, heading back to town, and riding through Fort Wills. Several people stopped to watch him. Over the years the club had gone in and out of favor with the locals. In recent years, they were in favor, because they supported the locals as well as businesses and everything in between. The club no longer brought war to the streets. They helped keep it safe.
Arriving back at the clubhouse, he saw his brother was outside, shining up his bike. “Your son’s in your office,” Nash said. “You want to tell me what is going on?”
“No.”
He was still close to his brother, but there were some things he couldn’t share with anyone.
No one else bothered to stop him, and for that he was thankful. He was not in the mood to deal with shit today. He missed being the old Lash. The guy that just shot to kill, and asked questions later.
The Billionaire Bikers MC hadn’t made him soft but had made him question fucking everything, and that drove him insane.
He knew there were bad people out there. He’d dealt with them and tried to kill as many as he could. Billionaires didn’t just want to kill them. They wanted to serve and protect, and put them away for life. They wanted to do it the hard way. Lash got it, as it meant they could sleep easier, but it didn’t make the job easy.
He had seen the state of some of the women and children. The men who did that sickened him.
Stepping into his office, he saw Anthony and a lot of paperwork spread across the desk.
“I know you’ve got Luke, but that guy is not the enemy.”
“He’s one of them.”
“He pledged his loyalty to me and the club.”
“You are not the one in charge here,” Lash said.
“For fuck’s sake, Dad, don’t you see? He saw what was happening, he didn’t agree, and built this up. He found the evidence. Isn’t that what you need to deal with the Billionaires?” Anthony asked. “I’ve got to talk to him. Whatever you’ve done, he doesn’t deserve.”