Chapter Fourteen
Cash
Waiting for King, I sat in church, my mind on Rose. I was the one avoiding her this time. That fucking kiss did something to me. I couldn’t explain it. But what I felt when my lips touched hers was nothing like what I felt with Rachel.
Kissing Rose felt like a jolt of electricity through my body. Like I had been shocked back to life. One small taste and I wanted more.
Life with Rachel was simple. It was comfortable. From the moment I saw her coming out of the diner that day, something settled inside me.
I couldn’t explain it any other way. We didn’t fight. Not really. She reminded me of my mom, actually. She was a ballbuster, just not with me. With me, she was amiable. Compliant.
Looking back, I wondered if it was because Rachel knew it wouldn’t last. Fuck, was she using me? My hand fisted on the table, and I let out a long breath.
“Where are we with the Death Dogs?” King asked as he sat behind the table. My thoughts of Rachel would have to wait.
“Megan is no longer at the motel, thanks to Freeway. There is a new kid running the desk. He doesn’t appear to be interested in working with us,” Jingles said.
Matlock managed to keep Freeway out of jail. Deputy Stilton had arrested Freeway for solicitation when she walked in on him fucking the desk clerk at the motel. When she cleared her throat, he told her to wait because he was ‘getting his money’s worth. ’
Matlock explained to the deputy that making a vague statement wasn’t actually an admittance of guilt. It could mean he bought her dinner.
Was it an asshole way of looking at it? Abso-fucking-lutely. But it was the truth. And without Megan to admit he paid her for sex, she had no choice but to let him go.
If you asked me, we missed an opportunity to get rid of Freeway. The punishment for solicitation wasn’t much. But with his record, maybe Dec could have time added on.
“What has the prospect reported? He’s following Freeway everywhere, right?” Jack asked.
“He is,” Gunner confirmed. “But he says when he isn’t working, he just rides around on his bike.”
We didn’t see him around the clubhouse much. Which wasn’t unusual for what we knew about Freeway. But I didn’t believe he was just riding around. Without proof, however, there was nothing we could do.
“Ok, so with Megan gone, we don’t know what’s going on at the motel. Do we have confirmation that they have been there?”
“Only on Megan’s say-so,” Ghost replied.
“I want eyes on them. I want to know what the fuck they’re doing so close to our territory.” King scratched at his chin. “Who do we have we can send in there? What about one of the prospects?”
“They’ve all been seen in our cuts. We would need someone new,” I explained.
“I might have an idea,” Colt offered.
“What?” King asked, leaning forward, crossing his arms on the table.
“Jonah Martin approached me about prospecting.”
“Clara’s boy?” Blade asked. “She would tan his fucking hide if he joined the club.”
“He’s nineteen.” Jingles shrugged. “We could send him over to the Death Dogs. Let him prospect there.”
“Will they take him?”
“They haven’t been that discriminating in the past,” Nav said. “They take anyone who asks, they prospect for a year, and either make it or die trying.”
“I don’t want to put a kid in danger,” King said, shaking his head at the notion.
“Have you seen the kid? He’s almost as big as Tank. He’d be a shoo-in over there,” Colt challenged.
If the look on King’s face was any indication, the wheels were turning in his head. “Cash, make an appointment with Sadie. Your hair’s looking a little shaggy.”
The guys snickered, and I rolled my eyes at my president.
“Colt, get a message to Jonah to meet Cash at the salon.”
I walked into Sadie’s salon and looked around. Thoughts of Rose and her pink hair popped into my head, and I wondered if she did it herself, or maybe she had been in here.
“Well, well, well, show me the money,” Simon, Sadie’s brother, purred.
“Morning, Simon. Sadie around?”
“Sorry, you get me today.”
“I set the appointment with Sadie,” I pushed.
“You sure did, but she isn’t feeling well. Probably be out for a week,” he said as he flitted around the room, avoiding me.
I grabbed his arm as he passed. “What happened?” I growled.
Simon looked me in the eye now and said, “Ran into a door.”
“That motherfucker.” I turned toward the door, and Simon slipped around me, blocking my path.
“Hold on there, Cash. She doesn’t want the club involved.”
“She doesn’t have a fucking choice.” I moved Simon aside just as Jonah Martin walked in. His eyes narrowed at the hand I had on Simon. It was a good indication that Jonah would fit into the club.
“Look, Cash, I want that asshole to pay as much as you do. But until she’s ready, there is nothing we can do.”
“And if she ends up dead?” I hissed.
“That won’t happen,” Simon said and turned back toward his station.
“You don’t know that, Simon,” I argued, following him.
“I do. There are things in place to protect her. Trust me. My sister is proud, but I’m fucking sneaky.”
I let it go for now.
“You had a little pixie with pink hair come in here?”
Simon bustled around. “Can’t say I have. I would remember a little thing like her,” Simon deadpanned, and I knew she had been here. Maybe she wasn’t here for Amber after all.
Simon grabbed a black cape and said, “Come sit down. Jonah, honey, have a seat next to Cash.”
Simon grabbed another cape and draped it over my shoulders, clipping it in the back. “I am just going to step outside for a quick smoke break.”
“You don’t smoke, Simon,” I reminded him.
He winked at me. “Thinking of taking it up so when a certain someone finally puts his mouth on me, I won’t notice the smoke in his.”
“You could just convince him to stop smoking.” I knew who Simon was referring to. The man didn’t think anyone knew his preferences, but King and I had known him a long-ass time.
“The man won’t even talk to me. You think he’ll do what I say?”
Simon stepped outside, leaving Jonah and me to talk in private.
“Colt said you approached him about prospecting?”
“Yea.”
“You approach anyone else?” I watched him through the mirror that extended the length of the wall in front of each station.
“No, sir. Waited to see what Colt said.”
“The officers have talked about it, and we have a proposition for you. We want you to prospect. But not for us.”
Jonah turned his head and looked at me. “I don’t understand.”
I nudged my chin toward the mirror, and Jonah turned away.
“There’s a club that recently moved into Hillsdale, Wyoming. It’s a big club. One that was established in Arizona until they pulled up stakes and moved in next door. We want to know why.”
He shifted in his seat. We were asking a lot from a kid who had no experience with clubs. He had never been to the clubhouse for one of our parties. I wasn’t sure he knew what to expect walking into the Death Dogs.
“What do you need me to do?”
“We want you to prospect with them. Watch them and see what you can learn. However long you’re with them will count toward us, so you won’t be starting over when this shit is done.”
“What if they don’t take me?”
“They’ll take you. They take anyone with a dick and given you’re built like a brick shithouse, I guarantee they’ll want you.”
“Ok,” he agreed.
“Hold on now, before you agree, there are a few things you need to know. Once you leave town, you can’t come back. You can’t have any contact with your mom.”
I saw the hesitation immediately. “We’ll take care of your mom. Make sure she has everything she needs. The Death Dogs”—his mouth twitched at the name—“yea, it’s a stupid fucking name. They aren’t like us. You fuck up as a prospect, you don’t ever leave the clubhouse. You get what I’m saying?”
Jonah swallowed. “Yes, sir.”
“I’m gonna give you a phone. It will have the number of a girl. If they run a check, it will all be on the up-and-up. One of our club girls will carry it around, so if you call it, or anyone else does, she will be the one to answer.”
“What’s her relationship with me?”
The kid was smart. “She’s your baby momma.
When you talk to her, you will treat her as such.
If everything is good, you talk to her like you want to bury your dick in her pussy and you miss fucking her.
If shit is going down, you cuss her out.
And it better be fucking believable. Make her fucking sob on that phone.
Don’t worry about her feelings. She can handle it. ”
He nodded. Brandy was a master; she should be in Hollywood fucking directors for the best roles.
“How do I get information to you?”
“Through her. We’ll work out a code. You’ll have two days to memorize the fuck out of it, then burn it.
” Jonah was going over everything I said in his head.
I watched as he worked it all out in his mind and knew the moment he accepted.
“Listen, kid, you’ll have to do things you don’t want to.
The Death Dogs are a 1% club that deals in drugs, guns, and pussy. ”
“I can handle it, sir.”
I studied him for a moment before conceding.
“There’s a dive bar in Sydney. Be there tomorrow night.
Brandy will be there, and she’ll make the first contact.
All you have to do is play the smitten kid.
You’ll leave with her and spend the next three days in a hotel working out the code.
And, son, don’t be afraid to fuck her.” I smiled when the tip of his ears pinked.
“Because you will be expected to fuck the girls at the Dogs’ clubhouse. ”
His grin told me fucking Brandy wouldn’t be an issue. And given his size, Brandy wouldn’t mind either.
“Get the hell out of here.”
He stood from his seat and walked to the door. Before he opened it, he turned back. “I won’t let you down.”
Simon came in, following Jonah’s departure. “You ready for that trim?”
“Yea. But don’t think you gonna fucking straddle my lap.”
“You’re never any fun.” Simon pushed his lip out in a pout, and I shook my head at him. Simon was a flirt with everyone. Except the one man he wanted.
When he was done, I paid him with a generous tip. “You tell Sadie to come to the club when she’s ready. We’ll protect her.”
“When she’s ready, I will drag her there myself.”
“Same goes for you, Simon. You need us. You come to the clubhouse.”
His soft smile had none of his usual flair. It was sad and resigned. Worry for his sister, overshadowing anything that might threaten his own life.
Simon nodded, and I left. Outside the salon, I looked up and down the street. I wondered where she was. Was she up on the mountain? Had she left town?
I looked at my watch. I didn’t have time to try to track her down. Haizley was waiting.
I walked in when Haizley opened the door and immediately sat on the couch. Digging into my pocket, I pulled out the letter Rachel wrote me and stared at it.
Holding it out to Haizley, she took it and held it in her hand. She waited for me to say the words. Now that I was here, I wasn’t sure I could. I stood and walked to the window. Staring through the glass, I rasped, “Please read it.”
The sound of the paper being unfolded in the silence felt like a tornado alarm. A warning that shit was about to get stirred up and survival wasn’t guaranteed.
I didn’t look at her. Couldn’t watch her blank face as she read. That was the thing about Haizley. She was a master at hiding her emotions from me.
“Oh, Cash,” she breathed.