Chapter 13 – Ryder Sinclair
Chapter Thirteen
Ryder Sinclair
“Can you remind me why we’re at a family meeting about our cousin?” I grumble. “It’s bad enough I’ve been my brother’s keeper my entire life.”
“What the fuck have you ever done for me?” Hunter asks, glancing nervously down at his text message thread with Juliette. They text each other non-stop when they’re apart from each other.
“This is serious,” Gideon says, eyeing the woman who called this meeting in the first place. Tamiya puts her hand on Gideon’s shoulder and his hand moves slowly around her hips.
She’s the one who picks up the explanation, although I don’t know what the hell they’re referring to in the slightest. “We can’t have folks running around the club slipping each other or our guests any pills.”
“Is that what happened?” Zayna Blackwood asks, pinching her husband Ruger so he pays attention to this Sinclair-Blackwood family meeting.
“Let’s get this meeting started then,” Tamiya says.
“We aren’t inviting Magnum, are we?” Hunter asks.
“Why wouldn’t we invite him?” Tamiya asks, sounding mighty frustrated with us in a way I don’t think she has a right to. Joslin speaks up, which surprises everyone, including me.
“I think we need to look for the motive.”
Everybody looks at her like the word “motive” is loaded in her mouth.
My wife might be petite, dressed in a modest pair of navy blue pants with a thick cream colored turtleneck sweater on the top, never without the gold cross I got her for our anniversary, but just because of one small murder in her past, folks still tiptoe around her.
Members of the club especially find it eerie that a woman so tiny and outwardly religious could have killed a man.
I wrap my arm around Joslin’s waist, fully understanding that her experiences shaped her into the person she is today, just the way mine shaped me. She allowed me room to grow and I continue to allow her grace for her so-called mistakes. Joslin did what any woman would do to get freedom.
“I can think of a motive,” Zayna says, visibly churning ideas around in her head. She’s smart, so I hang onto her words to hear what she says. “Money.”
She has a point. Money motivates several members of our organization, especially the gamblers and the investors. Same damn thing if you ask me. I’m glad the only thing that motivates me is my wife, Joslin.
“My sister didn’t do this,” Tamiya assures her, shaking her head as if the thought is too disruptive to properly engage with.
“I didn’t mean that,” Zayna says quickly, but it’s nearly impossible to avoid triggering Tamiya. That’s why she needs a man as crazy as Gideon Blackwood to tame her. Fortunately, all those spitfire in-laws mostly get along with each other, so tempers settle as quickly as they flare up.
“Then what did you mean?” Tamiya asks, aggression floating on her undertones but staying just beneath the surface. We’re all a bit tense here, so Zayna doesn’t take Tamiya’s tone personally.
She shrugs and continues theorizing. “Damara could be a pawn in someone else’s game to throw us off the case.”
“I think Oske did it,” Ruger says.
“That is so racist,” Zayna says. “Just because she’s Native American doesn’t mean she’s a thief.”
“Stealing has nothing to do with her skin color and everything to do with her culture,” Ruger says.
Hunter and I exchange glances. I hear a loud cracking sound as Zayna’s hand contacts Ruger’s face, interrupting our silent communication. Shit… It was only a matter of time before a fight broke out between a Blackwood and his spouse.
“Ow!” Ruger roars with embarrassment. “What the hell did I do now? You’re always slapping me around abusively like this.”
Given the immense size difference between the two and the fact that Ruger’s skin doesn’t even turn red, I’m certain his frustration stems more from public embarrassment than any legitimate threat.
“We talked about this, Ruger. Other cultures do not cause people to commit crimes.”
“I’m forgetful,” Ruger mutters. “Doesn’t mean I deserve to get slapped around.”
“Hateful people sometimes get slapped around. It’s not about deserving it.”
Red-faced, Ruger leans over and kisses her neck.
They lean into each other and we all get the distinct sense that their strange manner of communicating and Zayna’s occasional slaps to the face keep them functional.
I can’t imagine any living creature being nutty enough to slap a man like Ruger Blackwood, but Zayna appears to have the feral man-beast under her control.
“Do you have any reason to suspect Oske aside from racism?” Tamiya asks, apparently neutral towards Ruger’s social opinions, despite their past grievances. “I know she has caused a few problems before.”
“Deacon’s problems have everything to do with his dick and very little to do with Oske,” Hunter says, surprising all of us with a statement I’m sure he meant to mutter under his breath.
A little liquor would do a lot of heavy lifting in relaxing him.
His body is all stiff and tight. Christ, do I look like that?
Him, but grey. That’s how I look. Joslin kisses my cheek, reminding me that this family meeting has more to do with the family’s problems than my own.
My life with Joslin remains blissful. She’s a good mother and has a hell of a lot more patience than I ever could with all the crying and fussing kids do.
I insist on changing all the diapers I can, unless I’m out of the house, which I think helps out quite a bit. But being up in the middle of the night all the time reminds me of prison, and I have a hard time dealing with that. Joslin is too patient.
“I don’t think it’s Oske,” Joslin agrees with Hunter, shifting in her seat on my lap uncomfortably, and surprising us both yet again with the fact that she just spoke up in this meeting at all.
“Why not?” Tamiya trusts my wife’s instincts, and so do I, but in my personal opinion, Joslin ought to stay out of any mess involving my cousin.
My hand moves over her thigh protectively.
Joslin sinks her hips back into me. I feel you.
I feel the shift in your energy. I trust she won’t say anything out of place.
“Oske and I have a good relationship and recently, she’s been coming to me about faith and spirituality. Looking after her brothers has brought up a lot for her, and she’s trying to heal toxic patterns, not get into more trouble.”
“Excuse me if I have my doubts,” Ruger mutters. “Do you know what kind of things she’s done for Deacon?”
“You like gossiping too much,” Zayna chastises him.
Hunter shrugs. “He’s not wrong.”
“Well,” Tamiya says, after letting everybody talk around each other in circles.
“I have video footage of everyone who approached Damara and Magnum that night. I’ll tell you who we see on there, but if you had a good reason for doing this that we should be aware of…
we’re family now. We need to discuss it. ”
“Frankly,” Ruger says. “I don’t see what this has to do with my family. This is Gideon’s problem. I came all the way out to the country for family business and I don’t want to get involved with Condom’s pierced dick.”
“How do you know–”
“I was with him when he got it,” Ruger says with an organically disgusted look on his face. “Trust me, I was compensated for what I witnessed, which needs no further discussion. Zayna, let’s get you some beauty sleep.”
“You aren’t going anywhere,” Tamiya snaps at Ruger, suddenly turning into the ‘bad cop’ and scaring the rest of us straight out of our goddamn skins. “You’re staying right here because your ass is on that video feed.”
The room falls quiet. Is that why they brought me here?
To put Ruger in line? To try some prison warfare against a trained Army Ranger?
Paranoid thoughts race through my head as the mere idea of Ruger Blackwood’s betrayal sends me into an immediate panic.
My brain jumps straight to war in stressful situations like this one.
Joslin senses the shift in my energy, and she reaches around to touch my back.
Instantly, her touch relaxes me. This woman brings me peace.
Ruger does the opposite, especially as his face changes color with Tamiya’s accusations.
Gideon considers him calmly with equally icy eyes.
The two are well-matched, except Ruger is a crazier man than Gideon could ever hope to be.
Discipline worked on Gideon’s mind, but Ruger was always more stubborn and even quicker to fly off the handle than the average Blackwood.
All the Sinclair men in here are tense. Joslin glares at Ruger, quick to believe that he’s done whatever Tamiya accused him of.
“Do you have a good explanation for why you were on that camera, Ruger? And did you slip Damara and Magnum Sinclair some type of drug?”
Shit. Is that what happened to them? There’s a reason I don’t let Joslin out of my sight around the bikers.
Luckily for me, she’s too introverted for the average late-night biker gathering to intrigue her much.
Joslin enjoys Irish goodbyes and retiring early to bed.
I appreciate sleep myself ever since my time in federal prison.
It’s good to have the option to turn out the lights.
“I talked to Magnum Sinclair. That doesn’t mean I drugged him,” Ruger says. He doesn’t outright deny it, though. That might be intentional, or Ruger might be an idiot. I can’t tell which is the truth.
“You’re staying here until we find out who did, or I will consider your departure suspicious.”
“Even if I did it, what’s the big deal?”
“It’s wrong, Ruger.”
“I know. But Magnum hasn’t been with a woman in a long time and he’s got enough money to take care of Damara. I can’t see the problem.”
“Do you think money could be the motive?” Joslin pipes up. Again, her chiming into this makes me uncomfortable, but I can’t do much to stop her curious mind. I hope she doesn’t drag me into hell chasing a murderer.
“Nobody in the club needs to take money from Magnum Sinclair,” Gideon responds defensively. “We all served our country and not just that, we can earn money on our own without stealing it from a Sinclair.”
He glares at Joslin in a way that makes me uncomfortable.
“I didn’t mean any offense,” Joslin says. “I don’t assume Ruger slipped anyone anything. I’m just asking questions.”
“Be careful what questions you ask,” Gideon answers in a measured, dangerous tone. “You might offend the wrong sorts.”
“Is that a threat?” I grunt, grabbing everyone’s attention for speaking for once. I don’t see the point in talking much when I don’t have any thoughts on the situation. I would much rather listen and make up my mind about what’s happening after I’ve had peace and quiet to think for myself.
“It’s not a threat,” Gideon responds, glancing up at Tamiya for strength and her approval. “It’s a warning that we live in a dangerous world and the situation we’re discussing involves malice.”
“Not necessarily,” Zayna says. “It could be someone in the Sinclair family who wants Magnum to settle down with someone and chose someone affiliated with the club to bond him to forever.”
“Why would you say something crazy like that?” Ruger grunts. “Makes it seem like you know more about the crime and maybe even participated.”
“You suspect your own wife?” Gideon asks tentatively, unsure if that makes Zayna potentially guilty, or if it’s just another indication of Ruger’s poor grip on reality.
“She said something suspicious. I’m taking a neutral approach.”
“I came up with a creative motive, but why the hell would it be my motive? I’m a mother, and I have nothing to do with Damara or with Magnum Sinclair,” Zayna says.
Tamiya doesn’t seem like she ever suspected Zayna and frankly, neither did any of us.
She balances out Ruger Blackwood perfectly and she’s far too mentally stable to engage in behavior like this.
Her idea of a motive doesn’t strike me as particularly ridiculous.
But which of the Sinclair family would be this invested in Magnum so-called settling down?
I’ll tell you right now that I don’t give a shit.
“What if someone gave an order?” Zayna asks. “Like… it is about the Sinclair family, but the order came from higher up.”
Hunter leans over and whispers to me. “You hear this bullshit? Who exactly is higher up than me?”
There’s something strange in my twin brother’s tone, but I don’t know if I’m reading into the change since nobody else reacts to it. I know him better than anyone else in this room, though. And I sense my brother Hunter might be hiding something…