Chapter 15
Viper held onto Diesel as if his life depended on it. In the span of forty-eight hours, this woman had solidified herself on his soul. Something he’d never thought could have been done in a million years.
“I never wanted to get married.” Viper said, softly into Diesel’s hair.
“Now’s a damn fine time to say that shit.” Diesel growled, starting to pull away.
Viper held on tighter. “Shush and let me finish, please.”
When Diesel relaxed slightly, Viper moved, his forehead going to hers, allowing him to continue to breathe in her scent. “Growing up, I never wanted to get married or have a family. My dad was in the mc, and my mother was always at home taking care of me and my siblings. I didn’t want to put someone through what my parents went through. Don’t get me wrong, they loved each other. If my father were still alive, they would still be together. Being in the Marines, I’ve seen those I’ve served with lose themselves because of the fights they had with their spouses because we were gone all the time. I didn’t want to put a woman through that. Then, I met you. I jumped right in. I know we’ve known each other a short time. Danced around each other with our cracks and shit, but Cheryl, I want to give this a real shot. I want to come home to you, or you come home to me, no matter what our schedule is. I want us to talk to one another about everything, no matter how hard it is. See what becomes of it.”
Viper held his breath after laying everything out there. No, it wasn’t love, but he knew it wouldn’t take much for him to fall for this amazing woman. He stood stock still waiting for her to answer.
“I didn’t either. I never even dreamed of a wedding like most girls. I knew it was expected of me. I had my life mapped out. Graduate high school with honors, go to college and be totally the opposite of what my parents demanded of me. Even after I was raped, I never wanted to get married.” Diesel quieted down for a moment before leaning her head back to look into Viper’s eyes “But, for some reason the idea of this being over once we find Raven makes my heart hurt…”
Viper didn’t let Diesel finish the rest of her sentence. He leaned down and crushed his lips to hers, stealing her breath as he kissed her passionately, as if his life depended on the air she breathed. Viper growled when he felt the hand she had in his hair, grip him tight as if to pull him closer to her, trying to climb into his skin to make them one. If only that were possible
When Viper heard Jacko cough, trying to hide his amusement, he growled into Diesel’s lips, reluctantly pulling back to glare at his best friend. When Jacko jerked his head back towards the door, he got the message loud and clear.
“We need to go back inside. Just know this isn’t over babe. Not by a long shot.” Viper vowed as he kissed Diesel’s lips one last time. “Go on inside. Jacko needs to talk to me really quick.”
Once Diesel was inside, Viper looked over at Jacko. “What are the odds that Prey is the same club that your sister went to before she disappeared?” Jacko asked, watching Viper intently.
“I was thinking the same thing. There’s nothing to suggest that’s connected to her disappearance. Everything points towards the Red Dragons being a part of it.” Viper huffed out, running his hands through his hair, frustration welling up inside him.
“No one’s heard from the NY chapter in a while. I sent out some feelers to find out what we can about the Red Dragons. Let’s see if they got swallowed up by the Golden Fangs. If they took out the Red Saigon’s, then it wouldn’t surprise me if they were taken out too.”
“Yeah, I need to talk to them about this. I haven’t talked to Cheryl about it.” Viper said, letting his head fall back on his shoulders as he looked to the sky.
“About damn time you listened to my advice.” Jacko mumbled, walking away without looking to see if his friend was following.
“Asshole”
Once they walked back into the room, he motioned for Diesel to come to him for a moment. Once she was in front of him, he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I need to ask your team for help on something. Marcus said he told you guys about it last year, but I think my situation and yours are possibly connected.”
Diesel pulled away and looked at him in confusion. “Your sister? The one that’s missing?”
“Yeah. I don’t know if it’s connected, but this is the first lead we’ve had, and Jacko thinks now that it’s more connected since his contacts in NY aren’t coming up with anything. I didn’t want to blindside you with what I’m about to say.” Viper advised, his eyes pleading with Diesel to understand.
“Hun, ask away. If it’s a connection, we’ll work both. Never hesitate. Isn’t that what you were just telling me?”
How the fuck did he get so damn lucky? Any other woman would have literally blasted him and thrown a fit. Yep, he was definitely starting to believe in the man upstairs again.
“Oz, Viper has a few questions about something that may be connected to our case.” Diesel said for him when he hesitated for a moment as she led him back to their seats.
“Shoot!”
“Roughly four years ago, my baby sister, Bella went to NY with a girl she was friends with in HS. They were both going to college in the fall and wanted one last trip. While they were there, they visited club, Prey. The information we’ve been able to find never mentioned the Golden Fang in NY. Everything we had pointed to her disappearance being linked to an MC called the Red Dragons.”
Viper held his breath as Oz started typing on his laptop. “She has the same last name as you, correct? McKnight?” Oz asked without looking up from his laptop.
“Yes.” Diesel answered without hesitation or verification.
“I have the police report here. The cops didn’t really do much investigation on the matter. I can see a complaint was filed by a Daniel McKnight against the officer because of a statement that was made about the lackluster investigation. Didn’t the girl she went with also disappear?”
“Yes. Both girls disappeared. Neither one has been found.” Viper answered, his hands folded into fists on the table until Diesel gripped one into both of her hands and pulled it to her lap.
“What was the second girls name?” Oz asked, looking at Viper with a confused look on his face.
“Sarah Delfinio. They were best friends in high school.” Viper responded, his heartrate going crazy.
“Did she have a nickname in high school?”
“Bella always called her Scarlet. She tended to dye her hair this dark red. Neither of them went through a goth phase such as some girls do, yet Sarah always dyed her hair a dark red. We assumed it had to do with Scarlet from the Avengers.”
“Scarlet witch?” Pratt threw out there, making Viper stop to think.
“Fuck, I didn’t think of that. I was thinking Scarlet Johansen, the black widow character. Her hair was always a dark ass red.”
“The Red Dragon MC was actually dismantled four and a half years ago just before your sister went missing. Looking at a police report, looks like every member was literally executed but the case is still open since it was literally a blood bath.” Oz announced, causing Viper and Jacko to look at each other.
“When was the report written?” Jacko asked, without taking his eyes away from Viper.
“Looks like the report was taken a couple of months before you guys filed your missing person’s report.” Oz answered, sending Viper’s world upside down.
“Oh my God. Dean, what did your sister look like?” Diesel asked, her voice a whisper.
“She got my mother’s dark mahogany hair, her whiskey-colored eyes, fair skin completion. My mother was well endowed in the chest area, both my sisters inherited her chest regions. She stood roughly five feet four, was curvy.”
“Did she ever dress like she was showing off her gifts?” Diesel asked, her eyes pleading with Viper to say no.
“Honestly, I don’t know the last two years of her in high school I was rarely home. I didn’t even get to make it home for her graduation. I was deployed to Afghanistan. I know the times I was home she would wear t-shirts with cartoon characters and funny sayings. Dresses and stuff like that weren’t her thing much to Sarah’s dismay…”
Viper stopped midsentence when he realized what he was saying…Sarah. Sarah always liked to show her boobs. Especially when he or his brothers were around. It drove Bella crazy, and the two girls always had words over that. Sarah was always telling Bella she needed to dress sexier so that men would notice her.
“Sarah was the one who wanted to go to NY right?” Pratt asked, catching on to what Diesel was asking Viper.
“Sarah wanted to go into fashion. The week they were going to be in NY, there were some shows going on, modeling scouts or something that Sarah wanted to look into. Bella really didn’t want to go but Sarah had talked her into it. Sarah was the wild child of the two. Bella was the conservative type.”
“Would Sarah be the type to try and push Bella into someone’s arm if she thought it would get herself more attention?” Raso asked hesitantly, chewing on her bottom lip.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” Viper yelled out, smacking the table with his free hand, making some of the women jump. “Wait, but Sarah is missing also!”
“What if she wasn’t?” Oz asked, pulling a video up on the screen. “I did a digital search of your sister’s high school looking for her and Sarah’s photo. The police interviewed a woman who identified herself as Scarlet Widows, claiming she saw your sister at the club but that was the only time she saw her. Did you or any of your family members talk to her after her trip to Prey?”
“My mother received a text saying all was well and that she would call in a day or two. That was the last communication any of us had from her.”
“It came from her phone?” York asked, looking around at her teammates.
“Yes…”
“If Sarah has been alive this whole time, why hasn’t she come forward?” Kermit asked, standing near Viper.
“Best I can figure from what I’m seeing in the report, she’s part of the Golden Fang MC. While Dymetrus is the head man, his right-hand man who goes by Blade is the one that Sarah is associated with. Seems Blade is originally from LA but moved to NY about four and a half years ago.”
“Wait, you said four and a half years ago?” Viper spoke up, something clicking in his head. “I remember Bella used to complain about a guy named Blake that Sarah had been dating. He moved out of state roughly four and a half years ago. Do you have a picture of this Blade?”
When Oz pulled up a photo of Scarlet and Blade as seen through a video, Viper about lost his shit. He didn’t even register when Diesel stood up and wrapped her arms around him or what she was saying in his ears. All he saw was red as his temper spiked. He honestly believed if it wasn’t for her, he would have exploded massively.
“That’s Sarah and Blake. Son-of-a-mother-fucking-bitch.”
“Then nine times out of ten, Sarah new where this Blake guy went, and their trip was all a set up.” Pratt said, staring at the photos.
“Bella would have never gone if she knew Blake was on the other end of that trip. She couldn’t stand that guy.” Viper said venomously, his anger coming through loud and clear.
“Ok, so everything is connected. I think it’s time I came out of hiding. Let my family know I’m alive. Starting with Symon.” Diesel announced, shocking everyone including him into silence.