Chapter 32
32
Grim
Psycho returned just after dark, saying he’s got news about Joker’s movements. But by then, Joker was already back and the bar was teeming with his guys. So Karma, Psycho and I rode out to hear it on the side of some dark, disused road. I felt like a total shit sneaking out like that, and Karma fought like hell, saying we should at least tell Scorpio that we were leaving. But what good’s it gonna do if he knows that we’re spying on their plans? Absolutely none. It’ll just ruin everything. It’s good now. I don’t want to mess it up.
I killed my own father for the first man I ever loved. Granted, my dear old dad was a violent, abusive piece of shit, but still. And I’m willing to do worse to keep Scorpio. Because I never thought I’d feel that way again. A part of me died when Reaper died and I didn’t think it would ever come back to life. But it did. And I’m not losing it on a technicality like doing a little sneaking behind his back for the greater good.
“So what did you find out?” Karma asks Psycho as soon as we pull up, before even taking her helmet off. The light from our headlights is the only illumination here, the trees all around too dense for moonlight to filter through.
She’s not yet fully on board with my thinking on the matter. But she sees enough sense in it to be here.
“He’s seeing some woman,” Psycho says. “Taking her on dates and such. They saw the most god awful black and white movie and he looked like he loved it as much as she did. Is that what girls want? Pretending you like crappy romantic movies?”
Psycho is in his early thirties, a fine-looking man with a full head of dark brown hair and grey eyes that remind me of the stormy sky. He’s tall, well-built and brave. He could have any woman he wants. His problem is, he wants the one he can’t have. I doubt taking her to boring old movies will change that.
“Joker’s girlfriend clearly does,” I say since I don’t want to burst his bubble and I don’t know what else to say.
“That makes no sense,” Karma says. “He’s talking about joining the war against the Devils, telling us to pretend we don’t know him and he’s spending all his time with a woman?”
Psycho’s eyes light up slightly, which in his case means they turn a little whiter. “I was kinda wondering the same thing, so I followed her some after they split up. She’s connected to Devil’s Nightmare MC. I saw her with that woman Cross’ son Hunter is always chasing after. Trixie, or whatever her name is. They went up to the Devils’ HQ on the hill. That’s when I came back to the inn. Didn’t wanna follow them up there.”
“So he’s just seeing her because she’s connected to the Devils?” I say. “Maybe he’s trying to get information out of her or something.”
Karma gives me a look that’s both full of rage and condescending as hell at the same time. “He’s planning on abducting her. Gotta be.”
That didn’t even cross my mind. But I’ve long since stopped questioning a woman’s intuition on things like this. Especially Karma’s. She’s honed her intuition to the point of it being a valuable weapon.
“Why would he take her on dates if that’s his plan?” Psycho asks. “Why not just grab her?”
Karma shrugs. “Maybe he needs to get her alone somewhere. She must be too protected to just abduct.”
“They were plenty alone at that movie theatre,” Psycho says. “And far from the Devils’ home town. I didn’t spot anyone following them.”
Karma looks a little unsure for a moment, but then her eyes harden as she looks at me. “We gotta ask Scorpio. We gotta make him tell us what this is all about.”
I cringe. “You know how well that’s gonna go.”
She nods, her eyes full of determination. “But we have to know what we’re up against. You know as well as I do that the Devils kill everyone and anyone who harms their women. They don’t stop until they’re all dead. No matter what. You know that.”
I do know that very well. Used to think it was just a rumor, until a guy I was drinking with at a roadside bar, got swarmed and stabbed full of holes right in front of me by three masked Devils. I very nearly met the same fate right then and there, but once they realized I wasn’t connected to the guy and had nothing to do with him abducting one of their women, they let me go. They are pros at what they do. Ruthless and cold-blooded, but professional.
“You’re right,” I say. “We gotta stop this.”
I mount my bike and drive off, not waiting for them. I hope the ride back to the inn will offer up an idea on how exactly to achieve that. Because currently, I have none.
What I do have is that same feeling of time slipping through my fingers like sand that I had as I watched Reaper die with me not able to do anything about it. And I never want to feel that way again.