Chapter 5
Maddox
With a dull headache pressing at the back of my skull, I enter church and grab a seat by the door.
Pops stands at the front beside Wolf, who looks particularly grim. I don’t blame him.
We got weird intel last night which left us reeling. Margie, one of the sweet butts, was murdered. Whoever did the cruel deed, dumped her body in the middle of nowhere in Turner Park.
She probably wouldn’t have been found but for a hiker who decided to blaze his own trail through the forest.
Since the news came through, I’ve been searching the internet to find any information. Although we have our own informants within the police department, it will be a while before they release anything to us and reporters seem to know shit before anyone else.
Normally we wouldn't put the brutality nor the lack of respect for a woman past the Smokin’ Aces, our enemy, and a rival MC but this isn’t their M.O.
They ain’t much into hiding their crimes, especially when they’re against the Saints.
This all started with a feud that goes back forty years over territory and shit. The brutal war came to a head when Mom was murdered, and Pops spent years hunting down the assholes who changed the game.
Ice, the Smokin’ Aces MC president, eluded him though and slowly they’ve been ramping up their attacks again.
This included planting a rat amongst our ranks but despite him being neutralized after threatening Lilli and her sisters, I’ve been on edge since.
If it was so easy for Hand to infiltrate and wait years to act on his betrayal, who’s to say there aren’t more. But how do we know without someone making a false move?
We don’t and that shit burns.
As long as those fucks live, our women and children are in danger. Duke’s baby girl, with the cutest chubby cheeks and tiny fingers and toes, is at risk.
Lilli with those wide brown eyes could die.
This I will not tolerate, which is why I approach these meetings with a good dose of caution. I know Pops wants to believe in our brothers and I do too, but the prospects haven’t truly shown their loyalty and it’s a risk.
Whatever, I’ll be waiting and watching because if even one of these assholes steps out of line, I’ll cut the colors from their skin my-fucking-self.
Nothing else matters but my brothers and their families.
“Alright,” Pops says and the voices around the room reduce to a low murmur. “We’ve got ourselves a situation here.”
Wolf stares moodily over the crowd and I nod when he meets my gaze. It’s a promise, one that he acknowledges by tipping his head.
It’s never good when one of the women is targeted and while this was a sweet butt who may have gotten herself caught up in the wrong crowd, it’s still too close to home for Wolf.
Frankly, I pity the man who thinks he might hurt Lilli because Wolf will rip the fucker apart limb by limb.
Wolf don’t mess around when it comes to his woman, especially after his pops disappeared, coming on a year ago.
We know it leads back to the Aces but until we can pin down Ice, we won’t be able to bring our brother home.
It burns to consider but Diablo has to be dead, there’s no other plausible explanation. He wouldn’t leave his MC brothers or sons behind.
Romeo drops in the seat beside me, and I tune back into the conversation as Pops says, “We need to retrace her steps. Figure out where she was last seen. Time to do some investigation’. Margie was a sweet girl who didn’t deserve this shit, and we will make the fucker pay.”
“Fuck yeah!” someone shouts from the back and several brothers echo him.
A few bump their fists against the table and Pops smiles, although the rendition is not exactly joyful…more like feral.
“Jersey?” Wolf barks and Jersey nods. “Find out what you can about that club she was working at.”
Jersey pushes his chair back and stalks from the room. Several of the prospects give him a wide berth and I grin.
Jersey is one fierce motherfucker. I don’t know his story beyond that he was in the military, but I do know that there was never a colder, more sadistic brother to walk our halls.
He’s the perfect man to have around when we need information, and I have no doubt Jersey will find something soon enough. You don’t say no to that man.
“Romeo?” Wolf says and Romeo looks up. “Go talk to her family. Spike has an address for you.”
Around the table we go, assigning the next steps. I’m not upset when they skip over me because I know when the time is right and the project fits, I’ll be doing my part.
In the meantime, Pops says as we all stand, “We’re on lockdown tonight. Anybody who don’t have a man at home, stays here.”
Most of the established women have a man at home but if they’re out scouring the town for a killer, that means the women will be here.
Unfortunately, that includes Draven, and I dread telling the little sourpuss the news.
With Romeo behind me, I quicken my steps, hoping to avoid the task but that’s all dashed when Pops says, “Maddox, round up your sister.”
Fuck me but I’d rather be sitting across from Margie’s grieving family then doing this.
Delaney
I spend the weekend catching up on homework when I’m not at the diner. I’m off today, thank God because I need time to rest my aching feet before the next shift.
I’m studying for a quiz when Joey stumbles down the hall, his basketball shorts sagging beneath his belly.
Eyeing the hairy trail that no one should have to see, I silently pray that he’ll keep going right into the bathroom and leave me the fuck alone.
The bitter tang of the alcohol pickling his system precedes him and I wrinkle my nose when he burps and blows the noxious fumes between his lips.
Of course, my luck is virtually gone because he pauses at my door, rubbing his fucking belly as he says, “Short a few bucks.”
“Okay,” I say, avoiding his expectant gaze.
I’m not his fucking piggy bank. If he needs money, he should drink less beer.
Asshole.
“Need twenty.” When I shake my head, he says, “Not asking.”
“I don’t have twenty bucks,” I grit through my teeth.
“Look, little princess,” he sneers. “You don’t like my rules, you can go back to Helen’s.”
Dropping my pencil to the bed, I shove my notebook aside and sit up while Joey grabs the doorframe and stretches, pushing that hairy fucking stomach in my face.
“Don’t you have clothes that fit?” I say.
“Fit just fine,” he snorts.
“Jesus, I hate you,” I mumble under my breath.
He merely holds out his hand and I pull a crinkled twenty-dollar bill from my pocket before tossing it on the floor.
I feel no victory though when he mutters, “Fucking bitch.”
After swiping it up, he slams his way into the bathroom and with a groan, I roll over and sit up. I can’t believe my mother ever touched that man.
“Gah,” I say into my hands before grabbing up my phone when a text comes through.
You got those math notes?
Rolling my eyes to the ceiling, I blow out a breath. Although she’s a pain in my ass, I don’t need to take my frustration at Joey out on Draven.
Yeah…
Need them. I can come by in thirty. Going to party if you want to come
Chewing my lip, I consider her message. I should do my homework because I have that quiz tomorrow but at this point, I’ll take any offer on the table if it means I don’t have to be here with Joey.
Draven, no surprise, is twenty minutes late. By the time she rolls up, I’m feeling bitchy and frankly tired.
As soon as she pulls to a stop, I slide inside. Here I was worried that my skinny jeans, skimpy top and dark makeup might be a little much, but I should have known Draven would outshine me.
Pink fishnet stockings lead to short shorts with a silky blouse, hanging off one shoulder to create a sexy goth look.
Her green tipped hair is pulled back in a sassy ponytail and her dark eyes glitter with sparkly shadow.
“Ready?” she asks, with her customary scowl and I nod.
Revving the engine, she backs from the spot and peels out, leaving behind rubber on the faded pavement.
The loud pulse of some rock band throbs in my temple and I watch her lip sync to the music before turning away.
After a ten-minute ride while I wonder what the fuck I’m doing hanging out with this sourpuss, she enters the freeway.
I don’t mind though because I’m still stewing over Joey. We fought again on my way out the door when he decided to grow a conscience and ask me where I was going. I blew him off, weirded out about his questions.
Is my old ass, gross as fuck father hoping to get down with Draven? Yeah, no.
Still, his insistence on knowing where I was headed and with who devolved into a screaming match that I won when he collapsed to the couch, grabbed a beer, and called me a bitch.
Dick.
Once we enter the freeway, I feel a little thrill as I ask, “Are we going to the track?”
Even though Maddox was clearly teasing me the other night, I wouldn’t mind seeing the sexy biker again, so I can admire the view.
“Can’t,” she grumbles, dropping her phone in the console with a frown. “We’re on lockdown.”
“What’s that?”
Shaking her head, her mouth folds into a grimace before she finally mutters, “Prison.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask again what that means, when she rolls through a gate, with a fence covered in razor wire and I glance at her sideways.
Are we at the compound? Fuck me. Am I about to party with bikers?
Note that down as something I never thought I would do. Of course, I never thought I’d be hanging out with Draven and yet here we are.
Before us is a squat concrete building with another fence around it. Lights blaze to the left and beyond are nothing but trees and dark sky.
After parking the vehicle, she stares at me a beat too long until I say, “What?”
Crinkling her nose, she says, “Try not to do anything stupid and remind them that you don’t belong.”
“I mean, I kind of don’t…right?” Not too long ago, I was a preppy princess with a football boyfriend and crew of stuck-up friends.
Now I’m about to party with people I wouldn’t have been caught dead with before. Trying to blend in is laughable.