Thirty-Eight
R eacher called Church as soon as we were back, and there were a lot of confused faces sitting around that big table. It was time to come clean, but while he did, he’d asked me, Ryder, and Ice to keep our eyes moving, and watch people’s reactions. If the saboteur was in the room, the serial killer, surely he’d react differently to everyone else, right?
Reacher sighed heavily and stood up, gesturing around the room.
“Look at your brothers, look at the fucking shitstorm we’re dealing with right now. Four of your brothers were hurt today, because some fucker tampered with their motorbikes. Someone is messing with this club, and I won’t stand for it. If one of you assholes sitting around this table is the fucker responsible for this, then man the hell up and admit it. You got a problem with this club, then you fucking leave. You don’t mess with another man’s bike. You don’t risk the lives of your fucking brothers!”
He was yelling by the time he’d finished, and he kicked his chair across the room, before he slammed his palms on the table, and shared that glare with every last one of us. Hell, even I felt guilty under that deadly stare, and I knew I was innocent.
“Pres… you’re saying someone deliberately caused their accidents?” Rocket didn’t look as cowed as even I felt right now, but he looked pissed as hell.
“Someone seriously fucked with their bikes?”
“Nah, we’re all just real fucking clumsy on the same day!” Micro muttered, and Reacher let out a low growl, and nodded at Stitch, who leaned forward to look at everyone.
“Someone here tried to kill our brothers. We know it was someone in this room, because nobody else has access to our fucking rides. This happened here, in the fucking clubhouse parking area. We’re scanning camera footage, and we’ll figure this out, and if we have to come to whoever did this, rather than them owning up, you better believe you’re gonna see the fucking basement, and then nothing else, ever again.”
Wow. Those words were particularly chilling, because Stitch turned his angry eyes on me as he finished speaking. Yeah, I was definitely not out of the woods yet. He still wanted to kill me, and I half agreed with him, if I’m honest. Elise gave me her virginity, and I was still pretty sure I would never be worthy of that.
“So, wait a minute… is this the first incident, or is there some more shit you’re not telling us? I nearly lost my fucking arm today, and I want answers.” Micro slammed his other fist down on the table, and drew everyone’s attention. His shoulder had been patched up and bandaged by the ambulance crew, but I had no idea what the doctors had said, once they’d assessed him. Was it damaged badly enough to stop him riding again? Thank god we no longer had a ‘no ride, no club’ rule.
I realised that the pain in my ass and back was being made worse by the chair, and shoved it back as I stood up. Suddenly the room was silent and everyone was staring intensely at me. That was way too much scrutiny for my liking, so I raised my hands. Shit, what if they thought I was owning up or something? What a dumb time to fucking move, right?
“Sorry, not making a point or anything. I just can’t stay sitting right now. I’m in too much pain.” I moved around the back of the chair and leaned on it, trying to ease the throbbing at the base of my spine.
“Why aren’t you making a fucking point though? You came off, just like I did, just like Torch and Ryder, but somehow you’re okay with it? What’s going on with you, man? What was that shit about, back at the hospital?” Micro was standing now and his eyes were mean and angry, as he glared at me. I felt almost like he was accusing me of something, but I’d rather that than any of us focusing on my pathetic little meltdown earlier.
“Wait, what? You think I’m not pissed as hell? This club is my fucking home. The men around this table are my family. The people I’d fucking die for. Am I pissed that my bike is in bits right now? Yeah, and I’m pissed as fuck that some of us are injured, because of some asshole messing with this club, and my fucking family. You wanna point the finger, why don’t you take a look in the fucking mirror, huh? Where were you, eh? When we rushed after you to get to Torch in the hospital, how come you took so long? You left before us. You should have been there at least five minutes ahead of us, but instead you took long enough that he was discharged.”
Torch was frowning as he looked from me to Micro and back.
“What’s this? Come on, guys. This is exactly what we don’t need right now. Accusing each other is just giving whoever did this exactly what they want. Right, Pres?”
Reacher groaned, dropping back into his chair and running both hands through his hair.
“I have no idea what they fucking want, but as of right now, we’re putting a few things in place to keep us all safe. First of all, we’re on lockdown. Nobody fucking leaves without a good reason, and mine or Stitch’s approval. Secondly, we’re putting a team on watch outside, so no more damage comes to our bikes. As it is, we’ve got to scrutinise every fucking inch of our bikes to make sure no others are affected, and that’s a team job too. We’re also gonna be talking to each of you privately, so if anyone has a beef, that’s your time to bring it up. I don’t want to lose a single person from this club for any reason, but if someone’s unhappy here, either bring it up with me and Stitch, or leave. That’s your right. This isn’t one of those clubs where you can only leave in a fucking body bag.”
He nodded at Ice, who cleared his throat and spoke up next.
“I’m running extensive background checks on everyone here, and everyone you’ve all ever fucking met. For some of you, the last time I did this was when you joined us, and it was years ago. I hate digging into your private shit like this, but we need to find the culprit before someone gets killed. I’m also going to be adding some new security cameras around the place, and tracking more activity around the clubhouse. This is all to keep you guys protected.”
A few people protested at the intrusion into their privacy, but Reacher silenced them with a glare. Stitch groaned then, and dragged a hand through his hair as he stood up, going over to the window and staring outside.
“Guys, this is also the worst timing ever, but when I agreed to it, none of this shit had happened. We’ve got a nomad joining us for a few weeks, maybe longer. He’s looking for a permanent club, and hell… I thought we were the best damn club there was. I can’t turn him away now, but we’ll brief him on the lockdown and potential threats when he gets here. Jesus, he might just turn and leave again anyway.”
The room fell deadly silent, and even the few protesters had died down as he finished what he was saying. His words settled around us. We were the best damn fucking club, so why the hell was someone in this room trying to destroy our home? Our family?
“Guy goes by the road name ‘Grease’, and I think he’d be a good fit for the club.” There was more silence, while I stewed on my thoughts, and then I caught Ice’s glare. Oh shit, that’s my cue.
“Hang on. Did you say Grease? I knew a nomad called Grease. Italian looking guy, that him?”
Stitch turned and frowned at me, like I’d said something wrong, but then, that could just have been his hate continuing to show. I missed our previous relationship, missed him being a brother I could shoot the shit with.
“Yeah, sounds like. He’s been hanging up near the midlands, but said he wants a quieter life, and somewhere to settle. Boy, did I mis-sell our club right now.”
“He’s a good bloke, I knew him back when I was a nomad too. It’ll be good to see him again. I mean, he can be a jackass at times, but he’s good people.”
Reacher stood up again.
“Yeah, we’re not sending him away and that’s final. He’s had a long fucking journey to get here, and he’ll be arriving today or tomorrow. Be nice, yeah? And if one of you really is trying to kill us, maybe give him a break, because whatever perceived shit you have against us, he’s obviously never been a part of it.”
He closed the meeting then, and it was a solemn group that left the room. As I reached for the door to follow them, Stitch called out to me.
“Has, stay for a minute.”
Oh fuck.
Elise
T hey were in their meeting for so long that we were all getting edgy, because we were all missing our men, and worried about them, and desperate to know what was happening. We’d seen them come back, but Ice had sent Lissa a message to confirm they were going straight into another meeting, and they’d been in there ever since.
“Do you think they’re all okay down there? Like what if someone went nuts on the rest?”
Alicia frowned at Tori, and shook her head.
“That’s a bit dramatic, babe. I think what’s going on is they’re talking, and when they’re done, our men will come and get us.”
Tori shuddered. “Honestly, I feel safer in here. This is the only room that looks like it’s not easy to get into.” She had a point.
“Maybe they need to improve the security of all the rooms now. It makes sense, right?”
Alicia nodded, checking her watch for the fiftieth time, because despite her nonchalance, she was worried too.
“I’ll discuss it with Reacher, when he finally comes to let me out. Did you hear we have a new guy coming to the club?”
She shrugged when we all stared at her dumbly.
“It’s one of the mafia guys, masquerading as a biker. Reacher wanted me to make sure you all know that he’s safe, because he’s not from here, and he’s on loan from Tori’s ‘daddy don’.”
“Ugh don’t call him that, it doesn’t even make sense anyway.”
“Is it wise to bring him in now? He might be an easier target for whoever this is, based on the fact that he’s not someone the killer might be close to.”
Lissa smiled at me. “I think that’s part of the reason why he’ll be safer. Not only is he like Ice, and going to be helping with all the tech stuff, thank god, but he’s going to be monitored carefully for any attempts on him. He’ll also be watching for anyone badmouthing any of the club members, and trying to cause trouble. I don’t know if it’ll work, but it’s worth a try. This escalation today, that’s scary as hell. Any one of them could have been badly hurt or worse.”
Badly hurt. My man was in pain, and not just the physical kind. I caught Lissa’s attention.
“Can I talk to you privately?”
She glanced around the room.
“If we whisper and stay over in the far corner, I guess so.” Alicia pulled out her phone, and scrolled through a playlist, setting a song playing quietly. She was doing all she could to give us some privacy. The others stayed where they were, by the window, and we headed over by the bed, sitting on the floor beside it,
“What’s up, babe?”
“It’s about Has-Been. I’m not asking you to tell me anything about him if he’s been to see you, but I’m worried about him.”
Lissa grabbed my hand, squeezing it gently.
“Because of the accident?”
“Because of what happened after. Something… something triggered a bad memory or something, and he was… I don’t know, trapped in it or something. It was like he couldn’t even see me, and he was so desperate to not be touched. I know that means something really awful happened to him. Will you please see if you can help him? He may not be able to tell me, but maybe he can let it out with you.” Lissa offered me a sad smile, giving my hand one last squeeze before she released it.
“Of course I’m willing. He’s never been to see me, but I’ll let him know my door is open. I’m guessing others saw this reaction?”
I nodded, feeling like I was breaking a confidence he hadn’t even trusted me with, by even mentioning this much.
“The others at the hospital saw him, but it started in that exam room, when the doctor was assessing him.” I didn’t want to detail anything further, and I didn’t feel like I needed to, because from the look in her eyes, she either already knew something, or she had already drawn the same conclusion as me.
“I’ll be there for him if he’ll let me, Elise, but don’t underestimate the impact all of this is having on you too. My door’s always open, okay? Club members and family get all the free help they need.”
The door to my room suddenly resounded with the pounding of fists, and we all hurried over as Alicia confirmed it was safe to open. Men flooded the room then, each going to their old lady, and for a moment, I stood there like a spare part, wondering why I was alone, and then Has stepped through the door, making a bee-line straight for me. I practically fell into his arms, and sighed with relief as he pressed me against that hard chest of his, and kissed the top of my head. I took a deep breath, his manly scent filling my senses.
“God, I missed you, babe. I’m so sorry about earlier.” He was speaking in a very low tone, but I caught every word.
One by one the others said their goodbyes and left us, and when it was just us and my brother and Cammy, he stepped away from her for a moment and came over to us. Has backed up and Seth hugged me tightly.
“You okay, sweets? Sorry we were gone so long. That was some heavy shit we just had to deal with, and it’s not over yet.”