Chapter 11
The first ride with Sinner felt like a game. We’d been flirting, so wrapping my arms around him while the bike rumbled underneath us was natural. It was part of the same low-level hum of attraction we’d been dancing around before we left.
Now, the connection feels more like a lifeline.
I press my cheek against his back, inhaling the sharp mix of leather, oil and whatever combination of products Sinner uses that help make up his own unique scent.
Every time I close my eyes I see the last message.
The side of the van opening. Erika’s panic.
The absolute fury on Sinner’s face as he ripped the bag off my head, ready to kill the men who attacked us.
I don’t understand anything that’s happening. We were in public in the middle of the day in a popular area. Who would do something like that?
As he rides into the lower part of the city on the other side of the river, chic, fashionable neighborhoods bleed into downtown, and then eventually into poor, working class homes and apartment buildings that remind me more of where I grew up.
Some of the businesses are boarded up, but others are thriving in spite of the death of the factories that used to keep this area alive.
A far cry from my current apartment, but it feels strangely like coming home.
We slow as we ride through an intersection. Off to the right, a church rises behind a brick wall. I don’t pay much attention to it until we get close to the gate and I realize it’s being guarded by a pair of bikers.
I don’t know what I’d expected an MC clubhouse to look like. A run down frat house maybe? With bikes on the lawn and a beer keg on the porch. Women in bikinis hanging from the windows?
I can’t imagine Priest, Sinner, and Colt in a place like that, though. Beer and women maybe, motorcycles definitely, but they’re way too organized to live in a ridiculous caricature of a bad guy hideout.
But still, a church?
The men at the gate wave us through, and I get my first look at what feels like a fortress in the middle of the city. This isn’t a handful of misfits in leather, smoking, drinking and causing trouble. These men are professionals and this is their kingdom.
Sinner pulls around behind the church and into a courtyard where a bunch of other motorcycles are lined up.
There’s an old school along the back that looks like it’s been converted into some sort of barracks for the members.
There are two houses. One to the side of the church and one behind.
Both look like they’ve been split into multiple apartments.
A massive metal garage that was probably built later is open on one side with loud music blasting out the open airplane hangar sized doors.
I get off the bike, wide-eyed as I try to take it all in. Sinner pulls out his phone and makes a call.
“Not what you expected?” he asks with a grin after hanging up. In the sun, his hair shines like golden honey.
“Not exactly, no. I was picturing something more like an old frat house.”
He laughs. “We’re a bit more of an operation than that, Demon.”
I believe it.
My gut says they aren’t involved, but should I be suspicious? That the day they showed up was when strange things started happening? It could all be an elaborate setup.
What’s the priority for escaping a kidnapping attempt?
Get to safety. Check. This seems pretty safe for the moment.
I should get in touch with Erika. And call my mom? That can wait. The police? Someone has to report it, right? I don’t want Sinner getting in trouble.
For maybe killing a person.
Sinner starts towards the church. He looks over his shoulder. “Coming? Or are you going to stand out here and gawk?”
I hurry after him.
Inside the church stops me in my tracks.
Sunlight filters through the stained glass windows, scattering splashes of color over the massive space.
Most of the pews are gone, aside from a few pushed along the walls.
They’ve been replaced with couch groups and a pool table where a couple of big guys are hanging out with bottles of beer resting on the edge.
They give me a once over when we walk by, more curious than hostile. I stick close to Sinner, who puts his arm over my shoulder, and they go back to their game, clearly not bothered so long as I’m with him.
The altar is still in place, and sitting on it like a king on his throne is a massive biker with long, black hair. He’s leaning on one arm and talking to a scowling biker with muscular arms crossed over his chest.
Behind them, where the crucifix generally hangs, is a solitary leather vest bearing the name “General”, with a banner underneath displaying the logo of the Outlaw Sons. The walls on either side are also dotted with motorcycle vests, hanging to proudly display the names of the bikers who wore them.
Memorials maybe?
A handful of condom packets litter the bottom of the marble baptismal font.
The long-haired guy sounds agitated. “I don’t give a shit, Grimm. We got plenty of space in the barracks. You left, asshole. It was fine when it was temporary, but you can’t just move back and get your own fucking apartment.”
“I saved your damn life,” the other guy grumbles.
“You and half the men in here. Pack your shit.”
“Are we interrupting something, ladies?” Sinner calls out.
The man on the altar flips him off. “Who’s your friend?”
“Hellfire, meet Quinn. She and Priest go way back.”
Hellfire hops down from the altar and strides over. His dark eyes flick over me, assessing. “The actress.”
Sinner nods. “Yup.”
“Interesting. Do you know who I am?” He says it like it means more than just ‘have we met’.
I shake my head.
“I’m the president of The Outlaw Sons. These boys? They’re mine. This place? Mine.”
The hairs stand up on the back of my arms. My initial impression of this place as a kingdom seems to be true, and this is the man on the throne. I step closer to Sinner who angles himself so he’s slightly between me and Hellfire.
Hellfire huffs, like an amused dragon. “Relax, I’m not going to hurt your little kitten.
I just want us to be clear. This club and the lives of the men inside are my responsibility.
We aren’t toys for the media. If you’re looking for something to spice up your image, you’re in over your fucking head, girl. ”
“That’s not what this is.” Sinner’s head is up, his back straight as an arrow.
“No? Good.” And with that, Hellfire flicks a lazy salute and walks away like he didn’t just imply that I’m the one that’s a danger to Priest and the others.
“Oh! Prez? I might’ve shot a guy about twenty minutes ago.”
Hellfire stops and I can see him take a breath before turning back around. “Might?”
“Well, I definitely shot him. I’m just not sure how he’s doing right this moment.”
“Is it going to be a problem?”
Sinner shrugs. “We didn’t exactly stop to talk about it. He was trying to kidnap Quinn at the time.”
“Hold up, who the fuck was trying to kidnap you?” Priest walks in from the back of the church, with Colt right behind him.
“All of you. My office. Now,” Hellfire snaps. “Grimm, I’ll deal with you later.” He turns and walks towards the back of the church, confident that we’ll follow.
It turns out that Hellfire’s office is in the room where the priests used to get ready. There are still floor to ceiling wooden cabinets where their robes used to hang. He sits at a solid wood desk at the back, littered with coffee cups and a couple of beer bottles.
There aren’t enough chairs for all of us. Colt pulls up a seat for me, and he leans against the wall with Priest, while me and Sinner sit across from Hellfire.
“Okay, start at the beginning.”
Right. “I had a thing today. Not official-official, but a photo date or whatever you want to call it with one of the other actresses from the show. We were just supposed to walk along the river together so the paparazzi could get some photos.” I glance up at Sinner.
“Sinner and Colt dropped some stuff off at my place, so Sinner offered to drive me over on his bike since he was already there.”
Hellfire’s dark eyes narrow, taking in my words and hopefully making sense of them. I kind of started in the middle. “But you hadn’t arranged that ahead of time?”
I shake my head. “No. I don’t have a car right now so I normally just order a ride or my mother drives me when I need to get somewhere.”
“Everything seemed fine? I guess? Until I started getting messages.”
“What the fuck? What messages?” Priest pushes off the wall like he’s getting ready to punch those messages until they stop bothering me. “You didn’t say anything about that.”
“Sorry, I was a little busy getting kidnapped.” I pull out my phone and bring up the call log.
It’s all right there, the blocked number, the strange photo, and then the threat.
Cooperate and nobody gets hurt. “I showed Erika the photo. We thought it was strange that the photographers only sent it to me, and that the quality wasn’t that great, but we were there to get our photos taken, you know?
The van pulled up right after the last message.
There wasn’t time to get out of the way before the men grabbed me. ”
“And you were there doing what exactly? Jerking off?” Priest scowls at Sinner.
“Oh fuck off. I knew there were going to be eyes on the girls so I couldn’t exactly hold her hand, could I?
They were in motherfucking Brentport for fuck’s sake.
I was more worried about someone calling the cops because I was stinking up the place than Quinn being in danger.
” Sinner glares at Priest until Priest sighs and nods.
“I was just hanging out on the grass near the parking lot waiting for her to finish up. I had no clue anything was happening until people started rushing by, talking about a car driving onto the path. I got there in time to see a couple guys in ski-masks shoving Quinn into the back of a van. It was fucked up, man.”
“How do you mean?” Hellfire asks.
I snort. “They taped my mouth and put a bag over my head? That’s messed up, isn’t it?”
Hellfire glances my way, unamused. “You mean it was fucked up for a kidnapping, I’m assuming.”
Sinner nods. “Nobody with any experience would plan it like that. Even if I hadn’t been there, so many things could’ve gotten fucked.”
“There’s one other thing I should probably tell you.
” I reach out to take my phone back, and find the first message I got.
“I already reported this. It was after I had an interview and talked about Axel, the day after Inferno I think. Everyone said it was probably just bad timing. We all get messed up messages sometimes, saying we’re going to go to Hell or whatever. ”
“Why didn’t you say anything when I saw you?” Priest looks more than a little pissed off.
“Because I’d already reported it!”
“To your fucking mother?” he snaps.
“Yeah! She’s my manager. She’s the one that talks to the production people and handles all that stuff. I know you never liked her, and yeah, she’s not in the running for world’s greatest mom, but she’d never do anything to risk my career.”
Colt looks at Hellfire. “Protection duty?”
Hellfire shrugs. “Up to you boys. It’s not a bad idea.”
“I’ll handle it,” Priest says. “Something’s clearly going on and she’s not safe. It’s personal and we don’t have to get the club involved.”
“Club’s already involved because you are,” Hellfire points out.
Sinner nods. “I’m in. Don’t bother arguing. Even if I didn’t already want to do it for Quinn, they’re not gonna forget that I shot one of their boys today.”
“All for one, one for all, and all that shit,” Colt adds with a laugh.
I look between the three of them. “You guys can’t just babysit me. How am I supposed to explain that?” The fact that they’re even offering is too much. I’m usually the one looking after Mom. I’m not used to other people focusing on me.
Priest shakes his head. “It’s not babysitting. We’d be your bodyguards until the danger’s over.”
Oh God. There’s no way Mom would accept a bunch of bikers following me around all the time. Not unless…
“Only if it’s for real. You guys do stuff like this for other people, right? You said that before. I want a contract and everything. Then if anyone asks, it’s official.”
Hellfire points at me with a smile. “I think I like this one. Let’s get this in writing. Family and friends discount, obviously. Let’s say two weeks minimum. We can renegotiate if the threat level changes.”
The final sum isn’t as bad as I thought it could be, but it’s still way more than I have. “I’ll need to wait until the streaming residuals start being paid out. If that’s okay.”
I already knew I had to have a talk with Mom about my finances, and this is just another reason.
Hellfire doesn’t waste time once we’ve agreed on the details, emailing me a document for digital signature, and also making a print copy.
It’s all surprisingly organized and professional, but I should probably stop being so shocked. They do this regularly.
Priest reaches out to take my hand. His touch is warm as he captures mine in both of his.
Hellfire nods after looking it over. “Alright, you’ve got a deal.
One of my boys will be with you at all times until we figure out what the fuck is going on.
” He looks around at Colt, Priest and Sinner.
“I’m sure they’ll keep you safe, but I’ll give you my personal number so you can contact me directly if something changes. Okay?”
“All the time? Even at home?”
“Especially at home,” Colt cuts in. “They know where you live and your fucking doorman is a pushover.”
There’s a knock at Hellfire’s door.
“Come!”
A bear of a man pokes his head in. “Cops are at the gate.”