Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
FREAK
I’m trying to reconcile my thoughts about the audaciousness of a club girl placing a fucking tracker on my son, and balance them against the realisation I owe her a huge fucking debt for committing what, under other circumstances, would be seen as an unforgivable crime.
If it hadn’t been for her, I’d still be kicking my heels in Flagstaff without a clue where Ace was heading.
She’d obviously seen something in Toni that I had missed.
I don’t know who I hate worse right now, myself for being blindsided by a conniving cunt, or Trixie for not minding her place.
There’s also a niggling voice in the back of my mind that asks why I hadn’t listened to her concerns when I’d had the time?
Why had I been so quick to dismiss her and assume it was jealousy?
Like I’m God’s fucking gift to women, right? My arrogance might prove my undoing.
“Did Trix say why she had her suspicions?” I ask through gritted teeth.
Saint answers me, his voice grim even through the phone. “Don’t shoot the fuckin’ messenger, okay? I’m just repeating what Trixie said. In summary, while Toni thought the world of your son, she wasn’t so enamoured of you. The affection she showed you was all an act just to get close to Ace.”
“What the fuck does she know about it? Toni liked me well enough. And she was all fuckin’ in. A woman’s body doesn’t fuckin’ lie. It might have taken a while to get her into my bed, but hell, she was a fuckin’ wildcat when she got there. And she fuckin’ enjoyed it.”
There’s a strangled cough, a pause, then, “Trixie suggested she faked it.”
“She wasn’t faking,” I snarl. How could she have deceived me? She’d been into it as much as I had. Hadn’t she? Nah, even the thought is fucking bullshit.
Bullseye takes over. “Despite what you want to believe, it seems like she was playing you from the start.”
Leaving how she performed in bed to one side, this, given recent events, I can’t deny.
I’d have found her and Ace having fun together in Flagstaff if she’d been straight with me.
But she hadn’t. She’d been pretending all along.
Unless the neighbour was lying, and I can think of no reason for that, Toni wasn’t coerced to leave her house.
“Just tell me what you’re thinking.” I breathe out.
“Pippa thinks this shit all started with the MDMC. They want Ace because of his hacking abilities. They’d know about him from what Griz had told them. It makes sense. If the MDMC is lacking in tech support of their own, they’d hit the jackpot if they got Ace to work for them.”
Fuck. Has Toni really delivered Ace to the MDMC so they could use him? I don’t want to believe it. I cut in, “Griz disappeared more than half a year back. Why would they wait until now to put their plan into action?”
There’s murmuring in the background that I can’t quite catch, then Pippa saying, “Give the phone to me.” Then, she asks, “Freak? It’s Pippa.
” As if I can’t recognise her voice. “It had to have started with the DNA test. They couldn’t have known Toni’s connection until then.
I admit I can’t think how the hell they found out about her, or her relationship to Ace, but it must have been a complete gift when they discovered it.
They get a double whammy, a tech expert, and revenge on the Kings by taking one of our own. ”
I swear loudly. “That she was working with the MDMC is another fuckin’ thing I find hard to believe.”
“It’s possible they tricked her, Freak. I still don’t see how she was actively working for them.”
I nod, though Pippa can’t see me. “She didn’t know fuck all about MCs or their culture.
” Unless that was just one more lie she’d told me.
“I’m finding it hard to fuckin’ accept she was playing me all along.
But hell, if she was being forced, if the MDMC has some hold over her, she could have confided in me.
I’d have protected her.” I bang my fist on the steering wheel again.
Bullseye butts in. “The whys and hows can wait for explanation, Freak. Let’s focus on finding Ace.”
Yeah, I fucking agree. That’s the priority. But knowing that doesn’t stop the questions reverberating around my head.
And even less so when Pippa suddenly exclaims, “Just found she resigned from her job last week.”
So there was no damn training course she was going on. Another fucking lie. All along, she’d planned to steal my son. How could I have been taken in by such a conniving bitch?
Josie had wormed her way into my life. I should have known better than to trust her twin.
I’d been suspicious of Toni at the start.
Why had I let down my guard and let her in?
Even now, though, I can’t equate the woman who showed such affection for my son with someone who’d knowingly cause him harm.
And harm she’s undoubtedly already done.
Ace wouldn’t have blindly gone along with her plans.
However much he thought of his aunt, he’d never leave me willingly.
At the very least, he’d have found a way to get in touch with me. Fuck, what has she already done to him?
With fear rising in me, shit begins to make sense, like how she’d not been pleased when I’d stayed with them both last weekend.
Had her plan been to take him then? I can’t discount it.
Josie Mordrake had fooled me once, reeling me in with her sexy body, and damn it if it doesn’t sound like another Mordrake has fooled me again, using exactly the same charms.
My hands clasp the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turn white.
Ace will be freaking out. He won’t cope well in a new environment.
There seems little doubt it’s the Mojave Devils who’ve taken him, and he’ll be unable to deal with that type of men.
They’re cruel, ruthless, and they traffic people.
If indeed they want him for his mad skills, I know he’ll be tortured until he agrees to work for them.
And Toni, even if I give her credit and believe that she cared for my son, even if she wanted to, she’d be unable to do fuck all to protect him.
She’ll be collateral damage herself. For the MDMC, women have only one value, and that’s counted in how much money they fetch.
“You still there, Freak?”
“Yeah, Prez.” My voice all but breaks as I answer.
“We’re working on the assumption that Ace is on his way to the MDMC compound.
I’m not going to wait for confirmation. I’ll give Bigfoot a heads-up to see if he’ll give us some support.
If we’re right, we’re going to have to go in heavy-handed to retrieve Ace.
You get your ass back to the clubhouse. We’ll be waiting for you.
Hopefully by then that tracker will have stopped, and we’ll have their exact location. ”
“Just give me the fuckin’ coordinates.” Then I’ll go in guns blazing and get my boy back myself.
“Not going to give you that info, Freak. You go in by yourself? It will be a suicide mission. Best chance Ace has got is us keeping our heads and planning his rescue properly.”
“That will take time we might not have.” I’m so damn angry. Why can’t he see that every moment counts?
“Rushing in without backup isn’t the solution, Freak. You want to know where he is? You get your fuckin’ ass back here.”
Internally I scream. But there’s a part of me that knows what Bullseye is saying makes sense. Through gritted teeth, with no other option, I begrudgingly agree.
I’m about to end the call when Pippa’s voice sounds again. “Freak, Ace sees the good in people. He takes them as he finds them. Could be if they ask him to do something, he might think he’s trying to help.”
“He knows who the fuckin’ MDMC are.”
“And he knows Toni. We can’t take the risk that she’s come up with some bullshit excuse and that he still trusts her. I’ve taken preventive action, and I’ve locked him out of all our systems, just in case. He can’t hurt the Kings.”
As if I’ve not got enough to worry about.
Pippa may think she’s being reassuring, but my son’s fucking brilliant.
Even if she believes she’s closed every back door, there could still be weak points where Ace could find a way in.
Which reminds me, after the attack on our compound, Pippa had stolen two million dollars from the MDMC.
Maybe that’s why they want Ace – to get their money back.
If I know my son, he’s probably capable of doing just that.
And it would kill him to know he’d been used to harm our club.
I end the call. There’s nothing more they can tell me until they have the information I need.
The miles pass slowly, each one seeming to last a lifetime, and my destination barely getting closer as I force myself to replay every detail about Toni over and over in my mind, looking for clues that would help me understand her behaviour.
There’s a part of me willing her to be innocent, hoping that when she sees how evil the MDMC really are, she’ll find a way to contact me, beg for forgiveness, and bring Ace back home.
But then my heart hardens. I gave her no reason to think I’d failed Ace as a father. There was no need to part him from me.
I would have preferred to think that Toni had just stolen him from me, in some fucked-up hope she could claim him. Knowing he’s with our enemy is like acid eating away at my gut. They’re monsters, evil. They’d want nothing better than to see me and my brothers tortured and dead.
If they’ve harmed a single hair on his head… they won’t see me coming, or even be able to imagine the punishment I’ll wreak out. I’m not the club’s enforcer for nothing. I know how to hurt a man so he wishes he were dead, but hold off on that ultimate gift for days or even weeks.
I delay as long as I can, then, losing patience, I call Bullseye again.
“Has the tracker stopped moving?”
“Yeah.”
“Give me his position.”
“Freak, I know you’re fuckin’ out of your mind with worry.
I know what you’ll do if I tell you. You’ll head straight there and take on the whole fuckin’ MDMC by yourself.
And that will end with you dead, and them moving Ace deeper under cover.
We will get your son home, but you’ve got to start thinking clearly. ”
I don’t care what happens to me. “Just give me the fuckin’ coordinates.”
“No can do, Brother. It would destroy Ace if they capture you. You really want him to see you tortured and killed? Get your ass back here, and we’ll start planning.”
“Prez…”
“No, Freak. You know I’m right. There’s no reason to think otherwise than they’re treating him well and trying to persuade him to work for them.”
“They might hurt him…”
“Even the MDMC must know you’re more likely to catch flies with honey than piss.
Toni’s there. They’ll more likely use her to persuade him.
She’s had time to get to know him. She may well know his triggers, his thrill for the chase.
Trixie reckons she really has feelings for him.
Nothing about her relationship with her newfound nephew was faked. ”
Fucking Trixie again. Why does her name keep coming up? Why are they listening to her?
“Get your ass back here, Freak. We’ll have church as soon as you arrive. And I’ve spoken to Bigfoot. He’s getting his guys organised. We will get Ace back, but without you going on a suicide mission and risking losing him forever. And, Freak?”
“What?” I snap, annoyed at Prez for not just giving me the coordinates so I can get to my son fast.
“Right now, Ace needs Freak the Delta operator more than he needs his dad.”
He ends the call.
Damn it. He’s got a point. If we show our hand but are unsuccessful, they could move Ace anywhere.
They don’t know we’ve got a tracker on him.
They think they’re safe, that we’ve no idea where they’ve taken him.
Right now, that’s our best card, and it’s better to keep it hidden.
Any rescue has to be perfectly planned and executed, and we must do nothing to start them looking for a tracker.
Prez is right. To have any chance of rescuing Ace, I’ve once again got to become Delta.
Slowly, I force myself to loosen the hold on the steering wheel and let ice take over the blood in my veins as I allow the persona of a man I’d thought long forgotten to take me over.
Uncle Sam created a monster. Now it’s time to retrieve that part of my soul and let it loose.
All my emotions have to be put on the back burner until I’ve rescued Ace.
The MDMC is going to learn they’ve fucked with the wrong man.