Chapter 10 Phantom
PHANTOM
It takes every shred of strength I possess to leave Poppy behind.
I loaned her an old shirt and a pair of my boxers to sleep in, and after she’d changed for bed and brushed her teeth, all I could look at was the swell of her large, perfect tits underneath my shirt.
If it weren’t for the boy, even with my daughters here, it would have required every ounce of my will to keep myself from scooping her into my arms and taking even more than what she offered me in the kitchen.
There will be time for that later.
I’ll make sure of it.
For now, I need to know whose life I’m going to end.
Once everyone is tucked away, I arm the house and check the camera feed to my phone.
Satisfied that nothing will go down here without my knowing about it, I text Hawk to come keep watch until I get back, and I text Dylan aka Jizz to make sure he’s working at Poppy’s on cleanup.
Then I head down to the garage, let myself out, and get behind the wheel of my truck.
I drive to the compound with the wheels spinning so fast, I can’t keep the anger and fear separate. If there’s nothing in Poppy’s life that led to this, maybe it was random. Could’ve been anybody casing the house who just happened to notice that the people who are always home actually weren’t.
I hope that’s what happened.
What’s going to be harder to do is face the one person I stopped calling for help years ago.
By the time I storm into the club, the party is in full swing. Blade’s sitting in a recliner, his head thrown back and his cock in Stella’s mouth. They both must be really, really fucked up because Stella and Blade are friends. Not fuck buddies like most of the bitches who hang around here.
I look away from what appears to be Stella giving a decent blow job and scan the crowd for Shadow. He’s got himself an old lady, so he’s the only one not fucking or trying to get himself fucked here tonight.
Penny and a new girl whose name I can never remember are both topless, their tits out while they play strip poker with Viper and a prospect who’s also missing half of his clothes. I smell weed and sweat, piss and the heavy scent of cigarette smoke.
As soon as I see the prospect here at the compound and not at Poppy’s house, my vision goes red. I storm over to the recliner and grab Dylan’s vest, yanking him up and out of the chair so hard the bitch on his cock falls off and tumbles onto the floor.
“What the fuck?” she screams, her eyes red.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I point to her. “You fucking him? He’s not supposed to be here, so unless you’re going to fuck somebody else tonight, you better get the fuck out of here.”
Dylan looks stunned, but he’s zipping his pants and wiping his mouth. “Phantom, fuck, I…”
I grab him with both hands, lift him off the floor, and throw him into a wall. “Where the fuck you supposed to be, prospect?”
The entire compound goes silent except for the music, which someone turns off once it’s clear the party is over.
Dylan crumples against the floor and covers his face like he expects me to hit him.
I bend down, pick his ass up by the shirt, and again shove him into the wall. But this time, I lean so close to him I can smell the sweet stink of something on his breath.
“I don’t care what you snort, smoke, or suck,” I seethe into his face, “as long as you’re never so out of control that you can’t do your job. Now what the fuck were you doing here? Because fucking that bitch is not your fucking job. And if I have to remind you what your fucking job is…”
“No.” Dylan’s whole body starts shaking. “I’m sorry, Phantom. I’m sorry. I left Jasper at that lady’s house. He—”
“I don’t remember telling you that you could delegate the job I gave you. Have I gone fucking senile and forgot what I told you to do?”
Dylan shakes his head even faster than the rest of him is trembling.
Viper is by my side in a second. “I got this.” Viper’s voice is ice-cold, and I’m damned sure that Dylan pisses his pants. He’s lucky he’s not pissing blood right now.
I nod at Shadow, who’s leaning against the bar drinking a beer. “My office.”
He nods.
“Turn the fucking music back on!” I shout, and the music picks back up. The party resumes—except, of course, for Dylan. I don’t envy the lesson Viper’s about to teach him.
I walk through the crowd, dodging pool sticks and limbs with Shadow close behind.
“Fuck that kid,” I seethe.
“Fuck that kid,” Shadow agrees. “I made some calls. You want news on the break-in?”
“It was her, wasn’t it?” I grit out, my hands in fists. “Tell me you got eyes on Shayla and she wasn’t involved in this.” I don’t think my blood pressure can take any more tonight.
“I got eyes on her,” Shadow confirms. “Drove past her place myself. She was home. Lights on. I could see her through the window. Doesn’t mean she didn’t have something to do with this, though.”
A sick feeling settles in my gut. My ex-wife knows better than to target me or my house or my kids.
There’s no way Shayla knows my lawyer has a statement from Poppy.
Which means the only thing Shayla knows is that I found out she tried to rip Poppy off.
She probably assumes Poppy ratted her out to me so I’d pay the bill, and she’s pissed enough to take it out on someone.
Poppy is the most obvious target. Shayla knows what will happen if she comes anywhere near me, the compound, or our kids.
Shadow is ten steps ahead of me. “If Shayla is behind this… Once she finds out that Poppy wrote a statement to the judge about what happened…” he says, his lips a thin line.
I tear a hand that’s shaking with unspent rage through my hair. He doesn’t have to say it. I know what this means. Poppy could be in very real danger.
I can’t let that happen. If my shitty ex-wife is behind what happened tonight … Whether she did it herself or got some crackhead boyfriend to do it, I’ll protect Poppy until Shayla is behind bars, paying for what she did. And I don’t say that lightly.
“If she did this, I swear to fucking God, she’s going to pay.
” I pick up a soft stress ball Holly gave me for Christmas this year that’s sitting on the top of my desk and squeeze it, but the goddamn thing doesn’t bring even an ounce of relief.
I whip it angrily against the wall, where it hits with a thud.
“One step at a time,” Shadow reminds me. “We got eyes and ears all over the county. It might take a day or two, but we’ll get a name. But, Phantom…” He hesitates, lifting one brow in question. “What’re we going to do if Shayla’s behind this?”
“You’re going to leave that to me.” I say it a little too quickly. “Only me. You got that?”
He nods. “You sure? You know how Shayla gets—”
I hold up a hand and glare. I know better than anyone how Shayla gets. That’s how I know that I’m the only one who can be trusted to handle this.
“Leave Shayla to me,” I grit out. “Get me evidence, and then get the fuck out of the way.”
Shadow nods, then heads back toward the party. I drop down in my chair, but the muffled sounds of music and laughter make it impossible to think.
I don’t know at this point what I hope for more—that she is behind the break-in at Poppy’s or that she had nothing to do with it at all.