Chapter 19 #2
“Would make sense. But what the fuck do they want with Toni or Ace?” Prez rubs his eyes. “And why does Freak think that she went with them willingly?”
“Perhaps they’re going to ask us for a ransom?” the VP suggests.
I wince, knowing Freak would give up every last penny he owned to get Ace back.
“Anyone know the exact location of the MDMC compound?” Prez asks. I guess it’s a rhetorical question, as if they did, they’d already be locked, loaded, and ready to go.
“No.” Saint gives a shake of his shoulders. “When we met with Wrecker, their prez, it was on neutral ground.”
“So we wait,” Bullseye states.
“We could get some brothers on the road to rendezvous with Freak. If we’re right, and that’s where they’re heading, we could get to them quicker that way,” Saint suggests.
Prez shakes his head. “And what could they do? Ambush whatever vehicle the Mojave Devils are transporting Ace in? We don’t know how many there are with him.
For all we know, the whole fuckin’ club could be riding as escorts, and any outright attack on them could lead to Ace being caught in the crossfire, or deliberately killed.
” He pauses and rubs hard at his temples.
“Freak’s going to fuckin’ hate us. I propose we need to get ready to ride, but hold off until we know where Ace lands, and then make a plan. ”
Saint heaves a sigh. “Freak’s not going to like it. I’ll go update the brothers and get those off-site back onto the compound.”
“They’ve just joined I-10.” Pippa’s eyes haven’t moved from the screen.
Which means they’re heading toward Tucson. I watch Saint and Bullseye exchange glances. Then the VP offers a chin lift and leaves the room.
It’s now that Bullseye turns his attention to me. “While it’s fucking useful in this situation, you better have a damn good explanation for doing what you’ve done.” He looms over me, looking menacing. “How the fuck did you get hold of a tracker? Have you put them on anyone else?”
While keeping her eyes on the screen, Pippa raises her hand. “I had a couple of spares after buying them for you to hide on your bikes.” She shrugs. “I gave one to Trixie. Thought she could maybe put it in her purse.”
After casting a grateful look toward her for answering one part of his question, I swallow fast before responding to the other.
“No, Bullseye, I swear it. As Pippa said, I only had the one. I just did it on impulse. When Ace dropped his jacket off, he’d told me he was going to be alone with his aunt.
” The expression on his face shows me I’ve not given him enough.
“I didn’t trust her, okay? There was just something about Toni that didn’t feel right.
So I used the tracker. I’d have removed it once he was back. ”
“Why did you have suspicions?” he asks. He’s at last removed that piercing glare from me and is now leaning over Pippa’s shoulder.
She’s managed to do some techy shit, and the map from my phone is currently displaying on her big screen.
He’s watching the flashing dot like a hawk.
“Did you really have something concrete, or was it lucky happenstance?” he growls.
“In any other circumstances, putting a tracker on a club member or his kid without permission would be a breach of fuckin’ trust.”
Pippa pipes up. “Our Trixie survived the Mafia. She’s probably used to two-faced women, and what can be hidden under a pleasant enough looking facade.”
What the fuck? She must have done a deep dive on me. And I thought she was my friend. I blanch.
Bullseye notices. That man sees everything. “You think Irish didn’t give us your full background five years ago when you arrived? You believe we wouldn’t have asked why the Kings were transporting a half-dead woman across six states?”
“You never said anything.” My mouth drops open.
He shrugs. “Wasn’t our business.” Then his eyes narrow. “Is Pippa right? Was it some vibe you picked up on, one that we obviously missed?”
That they’ve known about and accepted my past so casually helps me regrow a spine.
I go from defeated to wanting to contribute.
“Yeah, she could be correct.” I hadn’t analysed it that way.
“I’ve learned not to trust anyone. I grew up around women who wore masks.
I wore one myself often enough. Freak and Ace weren’t looking for it, but I saw some of the looks Toni was giving behind Freak’s back.
She dismissed me as a worth-nothing-whore, so acted as if I wasn’t there. ” I hesitate.
Again, nothing much passes Bullseye by. “There’s more, isn’t there? Spit it out, woman.”
“When she stayed the night with Freak, I saw her look of distaste. As if she wasn’t really into it, you know?
” Again, I pause, wondering how much I should say.
“Look, us club girls are here to service the brothers. Sometimes one of us might not be in the mood, but we go along with it anyway. The expression on her face was one I’ve seen on Star’s, Heaven’s, and Sweetie’s faces from time to time.
I know it’s been on mine.” I hurriedly add, “Hey, fucking you guys is normally no hardship, but sometimes it feels more like a duty, though we’re practiced at hiding it.
Enthusiasm in bed is easy to fake. But us girls have a tell that’s not immediately apparent to you men.
And that night, that was what I saw on her face. ”
“You think she was trying to set Freak up?” He seems to be taking me seriously.
“Before I knew the MDMC were in the picture, I thought it was because she didn’t want her dead sister’s son to be raised by a biker.
I believed she could make a move to take him for herself.
” I shrug. “Hence, the tracker. From what I could tell, she was leading Freak on and wasn’t as enamoured of him as she led him to believe.
But with that club involved?” I toss my hair and shake my head.
“I can’t understand it. I’d have laid down good money she’d do anything for that kid. ”
“If you’re right…” Saint has re-entered both the room and the discussion. “And she just wanted to take Ace, where does her fucking connection to the MDMC come in?” He addresses his question while looking toward me.
It’s Bullseye who answers when I can’t. “The MDMC is using them to get revenge on us. It has to be.”
“Or…” I hesitate to offer an alternative suggestion. “She could have hired them. Ace loves his aunt, but he wouldn’t have willingly left Freak. She’d have needed help to execute a kidnapping.”
Bullseye tilts his head to one side and lines etch his forehead, as if considering my words. Then he asks, “But why the fuck would the MDMC help?”
Pippa takes her hands off the keyboard and swivels on her chair to face us.
“I can’t believe you haven’t latched on to the most likely reason.
You’re all focusing on Toni. Whether Toni wanted to play fond aunt or not, it might not have been her who instigated it.
Rather than Toni getting the MDMC to kidnap him for her, I think she made it easy for them to take him.
” She waits a beat, and with her head moving from side to side, she reminds us of two things.
“I think the MDMC might be behind everything. Firstly, Ace is a fucking genius. He can hack into almost anything. And secondly, Griz would have known that from his time with the Kings.” Griz had been a prospect who’d infiltrated the Kings on behalf of the MDMC.
It makes sense they’d know all about Ace and the shit that kid could do.
“Fuck!” Saint spins around and puts his hand through the wall.
“Jesus, how did we miss that?” Bullseye rants. “Could she have been working for the MDMC all along?”
Having dropped her second bombshell of the day, Pippa returns to tapping away at her keyboard and looking up at the information scrolling on a second screen.
Now she informs us, well, Prez and the VP, I doubt I’m still supposed to be there, “I’m doing a double-check on Toni.
I got her employment records, her credit score, and every damn thing I could find out about her.
” She pauses, swings her chair around again, and faces Bullseye and her old man head-on.
“I’ve just checked her dad to see whether he had any known affiliations.
I’d originally left him alone after I’d confirmed he was dead. ”
“What have you found?” Bullseye snaps.
“Not a damn fuckin’ thing. There’s nothing to show any connection between Toni and the MDMC.”
“Damn,” I breathe out. I hoped this would be easier. My interjection has brought Bullseye’s attention back to me. He narrows his eyes, and here it is, what I’ve been expecting.
“We can take it from here,” he states, but not unkindly. “Why don’t you take baby Jade out of here? I do appreciate everything you’ve done to help us find Ace, but there’s nothing you can do now.”
Of course, I don’t want to leave. I’m concerned about Ace and worried about Freak, but I’m not a member or even an old lady. I scramble to find an excuse as to why I should stay, but traitor that she is, Jade begins to wake, her face scrunches, and I know from experience, she’ll soon need feeding.
Pippa notices at the same time. She winces with sympathy, but she knows, as do I, that she’s more useful here than looking after her baby. As for me, I’ve said my piece. There’s nothing more I can do.
“I’ve pumped some milk,” she tells me gently. “Can you take her to our house? The bottles are in the fridge.”
For now, it’s the only way I can be useful. “Please let me know if there are any developments, and if there’s anything I can do.”
Bullseye’s phone rings, attracting their attention. Suspecting it’s Freak, I delay leaving, hoping they won’t notice I’m listening in.
“Nah, Freak. We’re still tracking. They’re still heading in the right direction if they’re going to meet up with the MDMC…
” He breaks off, raises his brow toward his VP, who answers with a chin lift.
Interpreting that, he tells Freak, “We’ve called all brothers in.
They’re on standby, ready to roll as soon as we know a destination.
Yeah, we were just asking that same fuckin’ question.
” He sighs, and then his eyes land on me.
He waves his hand in my direction. Taking the hint, I reluctantly leave. The door is closed behind me.