Chapter 17 #2
We’d been back at the clubhouse for two hours.
Cherisse was in the bunker, being watched by Dravin.
He and his twin brother, Devlin, were prospects along with another guy, Madden, who began prospecting in January.
Draven and Devlin had been prospects for eighteen months.
They were due to be patched in or sent packing by the end of the year.
Based on how they’d performed, no one doubted they’d become brothers.
I was surprised I hadn’t worn a path in the floor of the common room.
It was there that the club gathered. The women were in the children’s room with the kids.
No one wanted to be far away as we waited for news from Spawn.
The old ladies had welcomed Aubrielle and taken her with them. She’d been a mess over Astrid.
Spawn had been heads-down in his clubhouse office since we got back. We stayed out, though it was damn hard to do, so that we wouldn’t disturb him. I knew the moment he had anything definite, he’d tell us.
I finished another circuit, but before I was able to circle again, Reaper came over and stopped me. “Brother, you need to sit down and rest. You’re wearing yourself out. We need you in top shape when we go get Astrid, which means you need to rest and eat.”
I waved him away. “I can’t eat anything, and if I sit, I might explode.”
“I know, but you have to take a break at least, even if it’s only twenty minutes,” he urged.
I was about to say no when I heard the roar of several bikes coming closer. With all of our brothers home, I knew it wasn’t them.
“It’s Jinx and his guys. Good. We’ll have reinforcements if needed,” Reaper said.
To give myself a change of scenery, I accompanied him outside to stand in front of the clubhouse and wait for them to make their way to the parking lot.
Madden was at the gate, so he opened it for them.
It wasn’t long before they streamed into the compound and found their way over to take up spots next to our bikes.
From the looks of it, Jinx had brought his entire club.
We gave them space to get off their bikes. As they came to greet us, Jinx frowned.
“What’s up? You look tense, and Mayhem looks like shit,” the Ruthless Marauder’s president said.
“Welcome. Sorry. We had an incident on our way home,” Reaper told him as they shook hands.
“What happened?” Animal, the Marauder’s VP, asked.
“Mayhem’s old lady was taken. Come inside and we’ll explain,” Reaper told them.
“Is Spawn in his office inside?” Beast, their club’s hacker, asked.
“Yeah, he is,” I croaked. With a nod, Beast took off. He would undoubtedly offer his skills, which we would gladly accept.
Entering the common room, the somber mood hit everyone.
The rest of Jinx’s club surrounded me and Reaper while our guys stood close by.
There was Sarge, his enforcer, King, Mad Dog, and Thrasher, his treasurer.
Rage, the Marauder’s road captain, Styx, his secretary, Sinner, Crow, Cujo, Suture, and the newest members, Rivet and Vandal, were also here.
Greetings were subdued. After they were out of the way, I was guided to a table and more or less forced to sit by my president.
My brothers and the Marauders followed. Some sat at the table while the rest stood or found chairs to move, so they surrounded us.
I was about to jump out of my skin and scream.
Why hadn’t Spawn found anything? Had Baker somehow outsmarted us?
How did he get into the country? What was Baker planning to do with my woman?
These questions and more raced through my mind.
A hand landing on my shoulder and squeezing made me aware that I was clenching my fists on the tabletop, and my right leg was jumping up and down. It was Tinker. I slowly released my hands, which were white-knuckled, and then stopped bouncing my leg. Softly, Tink spoke to me.
“I know it doesn’t do much good to say this, but Astrid is tough, smart, and she has skills.
She’ll do everything in her power to hold on or even escape Radley Baker.
He has no idea about the woman he took. We’ll get her back, brother.
Not even God can save the ones responsible for this. ” The last bit was growled out.
I recalled what we’d done to his old lady, Haven’s ex-boyfriend, after he tried to rape her.
It was Astrid who saved her from rape. Plus, we’d seen her spar.
He was right. I had to think positively.
I nodded so he would know I’d heard him.
As we did this, I heard Reaper quickly bringing the Marauders up to date.
I let him fill them in. I didn’t have the energy to do it.
“Jesus Christ, what the fuck is wrong with people? Every time we turn around, someone is pulling shit like this and worse. Damn, it’s times like these that I’m grateful we’re all single.
If we had old ladies and kids to worry about, we’d probably keep them locked in the compound twenty-four seven,” Animal muttered darkly.
“I don’t see that happening. They’d be like the other old ladies and revolt. Despite the danger, I still want one,” Mad Dog told him. His remark had his brothers nodding and muttering agreement, even Animal.
“True, but that’s a conversation for another time. Right now, let’s concentrate on helping get Astrid back. I came here to be introduced to the woman crazy and strong enough to tame this bastard. I won’t go home disappointed,” Jinx informed everyone.
“She’s amazing and has already survived horrible stuff. I don’t want her to relive any of it,” I croaked out past my dry mouth.
As if my mind had been read, a bottle of cold water was set in front of me.
Glancing up, I saw it was Devlin. He and his brother placed more bottles on the table and asked if they could get everyone anything else to drink.
There were a few requests for beer, but most were content with water.
I removed the cap and guzzled almost half the bottle before I no longer felt parched.
“Tell us how we can help. Do you need boots on the ground searching for her? Beast is helping Spawn already. How long ago did this happen?” Jinx asked.
“We don’t know if searching for her will do anything.
More than likely, Baker took her out of town.
It’s what we would do—too many people around to chance keeping her in Bristol.
According to what Aubrielle told us, it’s been…
” Ink paused to consult his watch. “It’s been two hours and forty minutes. ”
“Okay, I say we wait until the three-hour mark, and if our two computer wizards have nothing for us, we go out searching. It’s better than sitting here on our asses. In case we do that, do you have a picture of Astrid?” Jinx asked.
I took out my phone and brought up a close-up of her. I passed my phone to him. Jinx whistled before passing it to another Marauder.
“Damn, she’s a looker. Lucky bastard. Study that hard, boys. What about this Baker puke?” he asked next.
It was Maniac who passed his phone around.
All of them studied both pictures carefully.
While they did, Jinx asked more questions.
Like the other presidents we knew and our own, he wasn’t a man lacking intelligence.
People who thought bikers were stupid were wrong.
Sure, some were, and others had no morals, but that wasn’t all of us.
“Have you thoroughly talked to this Aubrielle? There might be something she heard but doesn’t recall. Could we speak to her?” Jinx asked.
“Sure,” Reaper said.
“I don’t think you’ll get anything new from her. I’ll get her, but try to look less intimidating, and don’t all of you hover. Aubrielle is sweet and shy. She’s nervous around a lot of people,” Shadow said.
“And she’s a stripper?” Sinner asked.
“Yeah. But I don’t believe she likes or wants to do it. Just take it easy on her,” Shadow warned before walking off to get her.
I was surprised. Shadow tended to stick to the shadows, hence his name, or at least partially why he had the road name he did. He seldom spoke. I wondered what made him speak out about Aubrielle like that. Could he like her? The answer to that was a mystery for another day.
It was merely a couple of minutes before Shadow returned. He had an arm around her back. Aubrielle walked slowly and wore an apprehensive expression. Shadow had his head bent and was murmuring in her ear. I had no idea what he said to her, but Aubrielle nodded and gave him a faint smile.
Her eyes widened when she saw all the men waiting for her.
Many of my brothers and the Marauders had moved back and spread out before she came, but it was still over thirty men watching her.
Nothing close to how many eyed her when she stripped, but we were scarier, and there was no bouncer to protect her.
I hated to see the bruising on her face and the split lip.
The mascara had been cleaned off. Even with those injuries, she radiated an angelicness.
We’d emptied a chair between Jinx and me.
Everyone thought she’d be most at ease with me, since I was her boss.
Shadow pulled out the chair, and she slowly sat in it. After scooting it into the table, he took up space behind her with his arms crossed, like he was guarding her and daring someone to fuck with her. Yeah, something was going on with him.
“Aubrielle, there’s nothing to be nervous about. You’ve met a lot of my club brothers. These other men are our friends. They’re a club in Knoxville called the Ruthless Marauders. They came for the holiday but are trying to help us find Astrid,” Reaper explained.
“Hello. I’m so happy there’s more help,” she said softly.
“It’s nice to meet you, Aubrielle. I’m Jinx. I’m the president of this crew. Don’t be scared of them. They look scary, but that’s because they practice it in the mirror every day, so they fool people. They’re all a bunch of kittens,” Jinx told her, smiling.