Chapter Thirty-Four
Declan
Pulling up to the gate, Billy the prospect eyed me from his post. When I rolled my window down, he crossed his arms and leaned into the half door of the shack he stood guard in.
“What can I do for you, Sheriff?”
Speaking of secrets.
This kid had secrets. King had mentioned in passing that Billy didn’t want me getting ahold of his prints. That made me wonder what he was hiding. Especially with what I was coming to talk to King about.
“Need to speak to your president.”
He straightened up and shook his head. “See, that’s an issue. ’Cause he doesn’t want to talk to you. I was given specific instructions not to let you in without a warrant.”
“Jesus Christ, kid. Open the fucking gate.”
“Do you have a warrant?”
I glared at the prospect, pulling out my phone. Connecting the call, I put it to my ear.
“What do you need, Sheriff?”
“Tell your prospect to open the fucking gate.”
“King gave him an order.”
“You know I can just as easily call my daughter as you can, right?”
“Fuck. Give him the phone.”
That’s right, asshole.
I hit a button and held the phone out. “You’re on speaker.”
“Let him in, Billy,” Blade told him with a sigh.
Billy glared at me as he hit the button to open the gate. I rewarded him with a cocky smirk as I saluted and drove into the lot.
I sat in my car for a few minutes, just watching the clubhouse door. Half expecting King to come outside and tell me to get the fuck out. When more time passed and the door stayed closed, I pulled my head out of my ass and went inside.
“Hey, Sheriff.”
I turned at the voice and saw Amber behind the bar. She was a beautiful woman. Thirty years old with chestnut hair. Just like the woman we found yesterday.
“Hey, Amber. He here?”
“He’s in his office. I’ll get him.” She disappeared down the hallway, and I took a seat at the bar. It was quiet here this morning. I imagined most of the guys were working.
“Uncle Sheriff!”
I smiled when I heard Charlie call out to me. I spun on my seat and took in the little one’s outfit. Her sparkly tutu fanned out as the highlight. But her black T-shirt with the unicorn, and lime green tennis shoes stole the show.
“Good morning, Charlie. Good morning, Sam.”
“Morning, Sheriff.” She had a sympathetic smile on her face. That didn’t give me much hope that things would go well.
“I’m sorry, Sheriff. King said to tell you to leave.” I hadn’t seen Amber come back into the room. I dropped my chin to my chest and let out a heavy breath.
“That isn’t an option, Amber. Could you please tell him I am here on official business?”
Amber made her way down the hall again. I knew it was possible he still wouldn’t speak to me. That was fine. He didn’t need to talk, he just needed to listen.
“Everything ok, Sheriff?”
I turned to Sam. I didn’t want to worry her, but the men would need to talk to all the women so they would be aware of their surroundings.
“Just some business I need to discuss with King.”
I wasn’t sure how long I had been sitting there when Blade and my daughter walked in.
“Dad? What’s going on?”
Before I could answer, Jack entered, followed by Gunner, Colt, and Jingles. Nav came out of his office, and Cash and Ghost strolled in from the hallway.
I shook my head, letting go of a bitter laugh. He had called in reinforcements. My little brother finally made his way down the hallway from his office and walked into church without sparing me a glance.
“This should be fun,” Jack stated, walking toward church.
Following everyone into church, I stood at one end of the room. King sat in his chair at the head of the long table, at the other end.
Leaned back in his seat, he glared at me.
“Still mad?” The smirk on my face told him the question was rhetorical.
“Who’s on the gate?” King asked.
“Billy.” I knew he wasn’t asking me. But I could be just as petty as him.
“Fucking prospects don’t fucking listen.”
“I told him to let him in,” Blade confessed.
The glare King sent him would make most men cower in fear.
“What are you gonna do, cousin?” Blade grinned.
“Fuck you.”
Road Captain might not be as high up in the ranks as VP but once King found out he and Blade shared blood, I knew it would at least put him on equal footing with Cash as far as their personal relationship.
“What the fuck do you want?”
“We need to talk.”
“So talk. You said this was official business. I called in the officers.” He swung his hand around the room, showing me who was here, as if I couldn’t see for myself.
The corner of my mouth curved up as I shook my head. This wasn’t King’s first temper tantrum, and it wouldn’t be his last. I understood he had to work through it in his own time, but it had been a fucking week already.
“We found a body yesterday on the Powell Ranch.”
King sat up straight and looked at Ghost. “Find Winchester and tell him to get his ass in here.”
I held up my hand, indicating for Ghost to wait. “He doesn’t know anything about it. I told his brothers not to tell him anything until I talked to you.”
“What kind of body?” Gunner asked. He was the most somber of the group. He took his responsibilities seriously.
“Female. Looked to be mid-twenties. Brown hair, from what I could tell.”
“From what you could tell? What the hell does that mean?”
“It means, Colt, that a herd of cattle trampled her. Her face was unrecognizable, and the blood covering her masked her hair pretty well.”
“Why the fuck are you here, acting all secretive for a woman being in the wrong place at the wrong time?” King stood from his chair, ready to walk away.
“She was naked.”
King’s head snapped up and he finally looked me in the eye. He fell back into his chair, finally understanding how serious this was.
“What do you know?”
“Unfortunately, nothing. I had my deputies walking in every direction from the body, looking for something that would give us an indication as to what happened to her or where she came from.”
“Are the Powells suspects?” Cash asked, knowing this would affect Winchester.
“No.” Shaking my head, I told them what I told the mayor. “If they were involved, they would have just buried her. They have thousands of acres of land to choose from.”
“So, what do you need from us?”
“I told Allie I want this kept quiet. With nothing to go on, I don’t want the people in town to panic. Could be she was out there with her boyfriend, they had a fight, and she took off and ended up in the wrong pasture.”
“Or…?”
Looking at Blade, I needed him to understand why I came to them. Why I was giving them the information.
“Or there is someone who had that woman out there against her will. She got away from him and ended up in the wrong pasture.”
“How much can we share with the guys?”
“As little as possible. If this was foul play, it could be anyone. I don’t want him knowing what we know. Tell the women less, but make sure they are protected. No one goes out alone. It will be a few weeks until I get the autopsy back.”
Watching the faces of each man sitting around the table, I knew they were thinking the same thing I was.
Foul play was almost a given.
“Once we’ve had time to go through the evidence, we might have more.”
Cash stood, coming around the table to shake my hand. “Thanks for letting us know.” I knew what that was.
I had been dismissed.
“King, we need to talk.”
King glared at me. He didn’t move. He didn’t speak. Just sat in his chair, the scowl on his face telling me talking wasn’t an option.
“I let you have a week, but we need to deal with this shit.”
His officers didn’t move from their seats. I saw the question on each of their faces, they didn’t know if they should stay or go. Finally, King stood and walked toward me.
When it was clear he wouldn’t stop, I grabbed his elbow and turned him around.
“We need to—”
I didn’t get to finish my sentence before his fist connected with my mouth. Stumbling backward into the table, I caught myself before I hit the floor.
Straightening my spine, I walked over and stood in front of him.
“Do you feel better now?”
King reared back and hit me again. This time, I did hit the floor. I sat there on my ass, looking up at my little brother. Yes, he was technically my nephew, but he would always be my little brother.
“Get the fuck up!” he yelled.
“I won’t fight with you,” I told him, rubbing my finger over the split I now had on my lip.
“You’re a fucking pussy. Grow some goddamn balls and be a man.”
“Be a fucking man? That all you got?” I pushed myself off the floor and stalked toward him.
When he swung again, I was ready. I grabbed his fist and swung him around, pushing him against the wall. I held his arm behind his back until he stopped struggling.
Hearing the chairs scrape against the floor behind me, I snarled, “Sit the fuck down, all of you.” Watching as they all sat slowly, I turned back to my brother and whispered so only he could hear me, “You have no idea what it means to be a fucking man.”
With a small shove into the wall, I let him go. Fuck this bullshit. I was done. Everything I did for him. Everything I sacrificed, and he wanted to act like a fucking five-year-old. I shoved open the doors to church and froze.
Looking into the angry eyes of my daughter and my woman, I swallowed my curses and closed my eyes.
Beck walked forward into the room and looked around. “All of you, out.” When no one moved but Blade, she shouted, “NOW!”
That got them moving.
“Beck—” King started. But she held up her hand in front of his face. “Hush, Uncle.” She always called him Uncle when she wanted her way. Just like when she called me Daddy.
“Not your uncle,” he muttered.
I watched my daughter’s face fall. Her eyes watered and she sniffed. Holding her head high, she turned and walked out of the room without a word.
Now it was Maureen’s turn.
She marched up to King and slapped him right across the face.