CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Cody—
Stalking down the hall, I fling the door to my father’s room open, but the bed is empty. I backtrack through the clubhouse and find them in the kitchen.
Heather and Tucker are sitting at a table, drinking milk and eating toast and jelly.
She takes in my demeanor and pauses with the bread halfway to her mouth. “Hey.”
“You need to come with me. I’ll find someone to watch Tucker. Come on.”
“Where are we going?” she asks.
“My president’s office. Let’s go. He doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
She stands and takes Tucker’s hand. “Is everything okay?”
“Nope.” I’m short with her because I’m fucking pissed. Not only did she keep this from me, but it made me look like a fool in front of my club.
“Cody, what’s wrong?”
“We’ll talk in a minute.” I lead them toward the bar. “Hey, can one of you boys show Tucker here how to play pool?”
They take the three of us in, knowing the order our president issued a moment ago.
“Sure,” Marcus says, squatting and holding out his hand. “Hi, Tucker. I’m Marcus. You want to see our cool pool table over there?”
He nods but looks worriedly at his mom.
“It’s okay, honey. I’ll be right back.”
“Hey, kiddo,” Billy says. “You like pretzels?” He grabs a bag from behind the bar and brings them over.
“Can I have pretzels for breakfast, Mommy?”
“Just this once. We’ll get you something else in a few minutes,” Heather says.
My brothers lead the boy to the pool table, and Marcus starts racking the balls.
I take Heather’s hand and walk her to Cole’s office, tapping on the door.
“Come in,” Cole barks.
When we enter, Crash is also there.
I nod to the empty chair. “Have a seat, Heather.”
She slowly lowers next to Crash. “What’s this about?” she asks, a tremor in her voice.
“You tell her anything?” Cole’s question is for me.
I shake my head.
“Two Death Heads just showed up at the gate lookin’ for you, darlin’.”
“Oh my God,” she murmurs, half coming out of her chair.
I push her back down.
“I have to get Tucker.”
She’s starting to panic.
“They’re gone. They don’t know you’re here,” I say, trying to put her at ease.
“They must know, otherwise they wouldn’t have come here.”
Cole answers for me. “They came because we own Sonny’s, and he tracked you there. He says you’re his property.”
“I’m no man’s property, least of all that asshole. The only thing he’s interested in is how much money I can make for him. I left Alabama because he started to get violent and possessive. What did you tell him?”
“He wants us to turn you over to him.”
“I’m not yours to turn over,” she spits.
“I get that, Ginger,” Cole replies.
“It’s Heather. Ginger is just my stage name.”
“Okay, Heather, tell us everything.”
Her shoulders drop. “Snake came into the club I danced at in Huntsville. He was nice at first, but then he wanted to take me to the strip club the Death Heads run somewhere down in Florida, and I knew that meant he’d take all my income.
I didn’t want any part of that, only he wouldn’t take no for an answer. ”
Cole looks at Crash, then back at her. “Go on.”
“One night he hit me and told me to pack my shit. That he was taking me to Texas instead. I could make him more money there. He left to get us a vehicle to travel in. As soon as he was gone, I grabbed my son and a duffel bag and got the hell out of there.”
“Where’d you go?” Cole asks, steepling his fingers.
“My brother’s house in Memphis, but I stopped at a store on the way out of town because I had this gut feeling Snake had put a tracking device on my car, and I wasn’t about to lead him to my family.
There was a retired cop working at the store, and he checked my phone.
Snake had gotten a hold of it and had enabled my phone’s location sharing with him.
The man came out to my car with me, and we found the tracker in the wheel well.
He told me he was going to put it on his car and let Snake track it to him.
Then he told me I needed to get out of there before he showed up.
I told the man to be careful because Snake is dangerous and violent. ”
“This retired cop… this store he worked at was in Huntsville?”
“Yes, why?”
Cole lifts his chin to Crash. “Check the latest news out of Huntsville.”
Crash pulls his phone out and starts searching. A moment later, he looks up.
“Retired officer John Williams found shot to death in his car in the driveway of his home.”
Cole looks at Heather. “I’m guessing Snake caught up with his tracking device.”
A sob escapes Heather, and she covers her mouth. “Oh my God. It’s my fault. That sweet man is dead because he tried to help me.”
Anger surges through me. “This asshole needs to die,” I say to my president.
“He’s a Death Head, Cody. We’re not starting a fucking war with the Death Heads.”
“We’re not turning her over,” I snap.
“Didn’t say we were. Calm the fuck down,” Cole barks.
I drag in a breath, my hand going to Heather’s shoulder. “That asshole will not touch you or Tucker, babe. I swear it to you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Crash glance at us then roll his eyes. “Young stupid love,” he murmurs.
“Wasn’t so long ago that was you, Crash,” Cole reminds him.
“You too, old man,” Crash counters. “You were the king of saving damsels in distress.”
“And you were right there with me, brother.”
“True.”
“I have to leave town. I have to get Tucker and run.” Heather stands and tries to push past me, but I’m not letting her out the door. “Get out of my way, Cody.”
“Settle down,” Cole says. “You’re not running anywhere. This is the safest place for you right now.”
She whirls on him. “You just said I’m not worth starting a war with the Death Heads over.”
“I didn’t say you weren’t worth it; I said I didn’t want a war. Do not put words in my mouth, understand?”
“Same difference.”
“Heather, he’s my president. Have some respect,” I snap.
She folds her arms defensively and lowers her head. “I’m sorry. I’m just terrified and determined to protect my son, no matter what that requires.”
“Everyone here understands that,” I say softly.
“You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” Crash asks Cole.
“Lucky’s?” Cole replies.
“Yep. There’s that apartment above the bar where the last owner kept a place. It’s empty. We put her there and give her a job.”
“And that doesn’t look suspicious? Her getting that apartment?” Cole asks. “If I was that manager, I’d think she was an insider.”
“Maybe that’s the angle we use up front. She’s under the club’s protection for a reason we don’t tell him. We need him to give her a job. He’ll think it’s some form of biker witness protection and never suspect what she’s really there doing.”
“You may have something there, brother.”
“What do you mean ‘what I’m really doing’?” Heather asks.
Cole leans in his chair. “Looking into what’s going on at the bar.
We just bought the place, and the daily earnings are down significantly.
I think someone is stealing from us. They’re either serving free drinks or pocketing the money and not ringing them up.
I need to find out which it is and who’s doing it. ”
“But what about Tucker? Who would watch him?”
“I’ve got a clubhouse full of brothers and ol’ ladies with kids. We’ll take good care of him, and he’ll make some new friends.”
“You ever wait tables?” Crash asks.
“Yes, before I had Tucker.”
“Then it's settled. You start tomorrow.” Cole lifts his chin. “Go feed ‘em breakfast, Cody.”
I lead a stunned Heather out of the room and back to her son, who is having a great time with my brothers.
“This is crazy. Are we really doing this?” she whispers.
“Looks like it. He’ll never look for you there, babe, and the club will keep Tucker safe.”
An hour later, the place is packed with women and children, and Heather meets so many people, I’m sure she’ll never keep all the names straight.
As dangerous as the situation could be, I’m happy to see the entire club pull together over this.
“This is crazy,” Heather whispers, gazing over the crowded room. Kids are playing with Tucker and running through the clubhouse, laughing and having the best time.
“This is what an MC family looks like, sweetheart. Crazy chaos, but you’ll never find more love than what’s in this room right now.