Chapter Twelve
Raider
Hermes, Remedy, and Pope are waiting by the door when we make it down the hall.
I unlock the door, leaving it wide open behind me as I make my way to my desk, throwing myself into my office chair.
Pope passes around beers not saying anything.
Hermes takes a seat on the coach at the back of the room with his laptop open, ready for whatever we might need him to do.
I drink half my beer before I’m ready to unpack what is banging around in my head.
“Prez, what’s going on? Silent and brooding isn’t your typical way of operating,” Pope speaks first.
“Shit, Remedy and Pope, do you remember the first time we came to a party here at the club? We were what, nineteen or twenty? Trying to decide if we wanted to be a part of the club.”
Remedy kicks his boots up on my desk, grinning. “Oh, I remember. That was the only time I’ve ever seen you truly let loose. It was crazy.”
Pope chuckles, shaking his head. “That is putting it lightly. You were always so serious growing up, but that night you had two drinks and you were off. Relic was so fucking pissed because the brothers gravitated toward you.”
“That’s just it. I have no memory of anything after that second fucking drink,” I whisper, a sick feeling settling in my gut.
“What do you mean you don’t remember?” Terro asks, head tilted. “I’ve seen you drink, brother, and two drinks are child’s play.”
“Shit, man, even back then that man could outdrink most people. I’m talking ten shots and still walking a straight line and shooting straighter than anyone I’ve ever met,” Pope states, a look of confusion on his face.
“Exactly, so why after two fucking drinks is there nothing?” I ask. “Do you remember Tasia’s sister Shea being there that night?”
Remedy and Pope look thoughtful, as if running through their memories from that night. Hermes types away on his laptop. Taking a long pull of my beer, I once again try to find my own memories of that night. Frustration builds with every fucking second that all I have is blackness.
“Now that you ask, when we got there, she was sitting on Relic’s lap laughing, and when we came around the corner, she bounced over, handing you a drink. Holy shit, she gave you both of your drinks.” Remedy’s dawning horror tells me everything I need to know.
“That’s what I thought because the next morning I woke up in bed with her completely naked,” I tell them.
Terro’s eyes go wide. “What the fuck? If she was willing to drug you and was snuggled up to Relic …”
I point at him. “There it is. You’re starting to see it too.”
“Now the question is what came first? The whore or the asshole,” Remedy jokes.
“Is that why Anastasia refused to talk to you after that fucking party?” Pope asks, falling onto the seat next to Hermes.
“I don’t fucking know,” I grind out. “What I do know is I went to a party here and everything went black. Two days later, my best friend and future refused to fucking talk to me. Then ten weeks later, she and Shea are fucking gone, and Auntie Lynn says she does not know where they are. Now fifteen years later, Relic is dead. Shea is shacked up with Jose and the Cartel. Tasia is back with a fucking kid, and now Auntie Lynn is dead.”
“Do you really believe it’s Jose and the Cartel doing the sex ring?” Terro wonders.
“It would make sense. They aren’t technically operating in our territory. Add in the fact we’re close enough for, say, a high-powered senator to order a woman from out of town and have her brought in.” Remedy drops his feet to the floor, his brain running.
“Raider, I know there is no love lost between you and Shea, but do you really think she could be fucking involved? I mean, we’re talking about a woman abusing other women,” Pope throws out.
“Did you see the look in her eyes the other day? I wouldn’t put it past her.” I tell them. “Hermes, I want …”
“Already on it. We’ll have everything on Shea Austin before the meeting ends.” His tone sounding bored.
“I also want you to go through all the footage from around the time Jenny went missing. You’re looking for Shea,” I tell him.
Remedy and Pope both look up at me wide-eyed.
“It’s a gut feeling. It’ll be what we need to confirm our suspicions,” I state just before there are three solid knocks on the door.
“Yeah,” I call at the same time Terro stands and pulls the door open.
Standing there with Blitz is a nervous-looking Rusher.
“Come on in, Rusher. We just need to talk over a few things,” Terro’s tone is light and easygoing.
“Yeah, okay,” he mumbles, coming in and taking a seat next to Remedy.
He’s eyes scan everyone, clocking all our locations and body language.
What have he and his momma been through for him to be that on guard?
Terro moves to stand behind me, leaning on the wall.
Blitz steps through the door, closing it and leaning back on it.
This is the first time I’ve gotten a moment to really study him sense he got here four days ago.
Pope finally breaks the silence. “Rusher, would like something to drink? A soda, maybe?”
Rusher looks back at him, shaking his head. “We start training next week, so I won’t drink anything like that until the season is done. Do you have water?”
“What’re you training for?” Pope asks him, grabbing a water bottle from the mini fridge.
“Baseball,” he says, smiling with genuine excitement shining in his eyes.
“Nice,” Remedy states. “Pope, Raider, and I took the local high school to nationals our senior years when we played.”
Rusher’s head snaps in my direction with his eyes wide. “You played baseball? What positions did you all play? Wait, no, let me guess.”
I lean back in my chair. “Go ahead. Most people get us all wrong.”
“Okay, before I guess, let me make sure I know who is who,” he looks at all of us. He points at Remedy. “Your Remedy, since you’re a medic,” he points at me, “Your Raider, the president of the club,” he turns, pointing at Pope, “You’re Pope. Did I get everyone right?”
Remedy’s smile is bright and wide. “You've got it, so let’s have it. Most people only get one of us right.”
Rusher looks back and forth between us for a long moment. “Pope was a shortstop who would also play third. Raider was a catcher or first baseman. And Remedy, you were pitcher and first base because of your height and accuracy.”
“No fucking way. No one’s ever done that before. How the fuck did you figure it out?” Remedy’s excitement puts Rusher at ease.
“For real, everyone always guesses Raider for pitcher,” Pope chimes in.
Rusher leans back in his chair. “Remedy, you’re tall but not as broad as the other guys.
You also joke and mess around but watch everyone to make sure they’re in the right spots.
Pope is the quiet, but deadly one. He is always there to back up whoever needs it with an arm to do what needs to be done.
Raider stays to himself. Just watching, taking in everything.
He is always two steps ahead of everyone and is always anticipating everyone’s next move. ”
Terro watches thoughtfully. “You picked all that up in four days at the club?”
Rusher shrugs. “I’ve always been one to sit back and watch others. Add in that everyone has been on high alert trying to find my Ma, it’s easy to fly under the radar.”
“I wouldn’t know a motherfucker like that at all,” Blitz grumbles.
All the men in the room shoot him a glare.
“You’re not wrong. We’re working overtime to find her. When we’re done here, we’ll be going into another meeting with someone who might just have the information that we need to find her,” Remedy tells him, patting him on the shoulder.
“Before this meeting, we have some questions.” I lean forward, placing my forearms on my desk. “Can you answer some of them for us?”
The open and honest look on Rusher’s face falls, and he’s back to being guarded. “I’ll answer what I can. To be honest, I don’t know a lot.”
“That’s absolutely fine. Just tell us what you can,” Pope encourages him.
“Ma told me before she left that the only reason she trusted you all is because Auntie Lynn said it was okay but that we should be very careful. She also said that no matter what, if anything happened, I could trust Watson, Colton, and Clark, but I don’t have a clue who those people are, and neither do Ainsley or Charlie.
So, I don’t know why she would tell me that. ” Rusher shrugs.
Hermes bursts out laughing, followed by the rest of us. Rusher is looking at all of us like we’ve lost our minds.
“Sorry, sorry. We’re only laughing because we forget that the rest of the world doesn’t use our road names. Add in the fact your momma has been gone for fifteen years, and well, we’re assholes,” I finally admit.
Rusher sits up, taking a closer look at all of us. “So that means you know them?”
“Colton,” Remedy lifts a hand,
“Clark,” Pope raises his.
“That would make me, Watson,” I raise my hand.
Rusher pushes to his feet. “Are you all serious right now? What the fuck, Ma?”
“Does that help you trust us just a little more?” Terro asks.
“Yeah, I mean, believe me, if Ma didn’t think I was safe here, we wouldn’t have come,” he says, still standing. “If I answer your questions, will you answer some of mine?”
“We will do our best to answer what we can. I will say that I’ve not seen either your momma or Shea in fifteen years,” I tell him.
“Ma,” he states.
“Ma?” I parrot back at him.
“You keep calling her my momma. She is my Ma. It’s short for My Anatasia,” he says looking sad. “She never would accept that she was my mother in every way that mattered.”
“What does that mean? Because if we’re all being completely honest, there are some things that just don’t add up.” I decide that honesty to a point is the best way to handle this.
“Ma is going to be so damn mad at me,” he whispers, eyes on his hands in his lap.
“She can’t be mad at you if what you tell us helps to not only keep you safe but bring her back to you,” Pope reassures Rusher.