Chapter 3 #2
“They’re currently going through all their toys,” Pope says with a shudder.
“What’s the plan?” I growl with arms crossed over my chest. “Some of us have a plane to catch against our fucking will.”
“Blitz, stop whining like a little bitch,” Terro sneers.
I flip him off, crossing my arms over my chest. The door across the room bangs open as Mercy storms through it, his ever-present glare on his face.
“If you have questions, you better ask them now,” he announces roughly before spinning around and going back through the door he had just kicked open.
Raider stands looking around the room. “I know this isn’t how things normally go, and not everyone is okay with what’s about to happen. If you choose not to join, there will be no judgement. Those of you joining, let's get this shit done.”
Several brothers give nods, settling back into their chairs, not moving.
Raider, Terro, Rhino, Anvil and I follow our Prez into the warehouse, finding Shea tied to a chair shaking with tears running down her face.
We all stop in front of her, standing in a semicircle.
She looks between everyone, trying to find an in with one of us.
Her eyes finally land on Raider, and the tears fall faster.
“Please, Raider, I’ve known you practically my entire life. You can’t be okay with this,” she begs.
“Shea, you can dry the fucking tears up,” Raider growls in annoyance. “We all know that you're putting on a show.”
Not at all surprising, the tears dried up, and she relaxed back into the chair. “Fine, let's get this done with. The being kidnapped thing isn’t fucking working for me.”
Anvil barks out a laugh, shaking his head. “Kidnapping? Do you hear yourself?”
A hand drops onto Shea's shoulder, and the smirk dies on her face.
“It doesn’t matter if she can hear herself,” the man behind her says, low and steady. Too calm for the deadly promises it holds. “What matters is whether we get the answers we need before someone loses control.”
We all freeze. No one blinks. No one speaks. The air thickens, heavy with something we can’t name yet.
We all look at the mildest among us. The calmest. The man who spends more time locked in his office behind his computer than talking to people.
Keeping every scrap of knowledge locked behind like a steel trap.
The one who never raises his voice, never shows anger, never allows any emotion to crack his logic.
In this very second?
All that is reflected at us is pure hatred warring with vengeance and pain raw enough to steal every scrap of oxygen from the room.
“Hermes,” Raider’s cautious voice finally breaks the silence of the room.
His eyes, harder than I thought I would ever see from this man, snap to us.
“Raider, get it done before Blender doesn’t get his chance,” Hermes’s words are glacial.
Terro takes a step closer with his hands up in a placating manner. “Shea, at this rate we can ask you and you can play like you don’t know, or you can just fucking tell us what we want to know.”
A shiver runs through her as Herme’s grip on her shoulder tightens.
“I don’t have anything to tell you,” she sneers, glaring at everyone.
A whimper escapes her lips as once again Herme’s grip tightens even more.
Hermes bends down close to her ear. “If you think that keeping silent will keep you alive, you’re fucking wrong. All your silence will do is end things faster.”
She searches everyone's faces again, hoping to find someone that she might convince to help her. “At this point, I can’t tell you anything that you don’t already know.
I was using the Kings, Lucifer's Knights, and the Cartel to run a very lucrative sex trafficking ring. It got several people killed, including the entitled little princess bitch Relic was so fucking in love with. Fuck, at this point the Cartel has turned their back on me. You’ve done away with Relic, so that would only leave Lucifer’s Knights, and they’re so doped up that they can’t see straight.
So again, what exactly can I tell you that you don’t fucking know? ”
The moment Shea mentions Jenny, Hermes’s face goes so dark that I truly believe Blender isn’t going to get his chance.
“Hermes, why don’t we talk for a second?” Terro calls, noticing the same thing.
Knowing we need to steer this to the parts of her story that we don’t know, I step forward and squat in front of her. “You’ve mentioned that the Lucifer's Knights was a part of the ring. What part did they play?”
Our eyes meet and I see pure malice looking back at me. “Instead of asking me these questions, why don’t you look within your own club and question the one you hold dear to you?”
My jaw goes tight, “Trying to turn us against each other really isn’t your style, Shea. You're more of the in your face and stir up chaos kinda woman.”
Shea leans forward as much as she can. “You're right. You see, at this rate, I’m turning a new leaf.” She leans back and looks up at Raider. “All I’ve got to fucking say is this—not everyone in your house is who you think they are.”
She looks over her shoulder at Hermes. “Now do your fucking worst. I’m fucking done.”
Raider growls, throwing his hands up, before turning and storming out of the room. We fall in line behind him. I stop at the door and look back at Hermes, who hasn’t moved.
“Hermes?” I question.
He lifts his head, shaking it slightly. I just give him a nod of understanding before stepping through the door and closing it behind me.
Raider is pacing the floor, running his hands through his hair.
Terro and Rhino are leaning against the table while everyone else just watches. Remedy is rubbing his chin in thought.
“What the fuck did she mean about looking in-house?” He finally asks the same question we all want to know.
“I don’t goddamn know,” Raider is finally fraying at the edges. “One motherfucking time I want some damn answers that don't fucking come with more questions.”
My chest is tight, and I feel as if I can’t breathe. Shea’s words are playing over and over in my head. There is no way she could know anything. Fuck me, at least I hope not. The world starts to spin, and I lean back on the wall so I don’t fall on my ass.
An alarm on someone's phone goes off, and Rhino stands, “As much as I would like to stay here and keep talking, Blitz, Token, and I have to get back to the clubhouse so we can catch our plane.”
“Yeah, go. Just be fucking careful,” Terro waves us off.
Rhino and I make our way out of the slaughterhouse.
Getting our bikes started, we tear out of the parking lot, hauling ass back to the clubhouse.
The terrifying realization that the secrets I hold are on the verge of coming out, combined with my deep-seated hatred for flying, sends my head into a spin from the sheer anxiety.
It nearly makes me pass out from a panic attack.
Pulling back on the throttle, I shoot past Rhino, taking the corners a lot faster than I should.
I know I shouldn’t take the risk, but I need to shake some of the fucking anxiety, doubt, and stress of everything around me.
We pull into the clubhouse sooner than I really wanted to.
After I back my bike into its spot and pull my helmet off, I let out a heavy breath.
Sitting there, I work to steady myself so I can get my shit together before we leave for the airport.
Rhino and Token slap me on the back as they make their way into the clubhouse.
Sitting on my bike, I drop my head back, staring up at the sky while breathing through the anxiety of being trapped on a motherfucking plane for who knows how fucking long.
Taking a steadying breath, I stand and begrudgingly make my way towards the clubhouse.
Just as I pull the door open, Token and Rhino come out with Twitch on their heels.
“Here, Remedy gave me this for you,” Token says, holding his hand out with two gummies in it.
Cocking an eyebrow in question, I ask, “What the fuck are these?”
Toke shrugs. “He said it would help calm your nerves.”
“I’m not taking that shit,” I grumble.
Token shrugs again and then slides it into the pocket of his cut. “Whatever. Let’s get this shit show on the road.”
Spinning on my heels, I make my way to the SUV, sliding my cut off and laying it over the seat.
I slide in and lay my head back on the seat.
I try to push everything that has happened to the back of my mind and prep for this flight to Arizona.
We pull up to the gate, waiting for it to open.
I look out the car window to see Charlie running down the fence line in nothing but running shorts and a sports bra.
Her long, dark hair is pulled up high on her head.
Warmth spreads through my chest at seeing her whole and healthy.
I instantly push all of that away because what comes with it is guilt, anger, and frustration from lying to my brothers about everything.