Chapter 17 Notch
SEVENTEEN
NOTCH
I wanted to stay with Maya. I wanted to hold her.
Comfort her. Kiss her until her tears, fears, and sorrows dissipated.
But I had too many things I was juggling, and the most important one was keeping everyone safe.
I hoped Maya stayed true to her word. That she stayed away from her fucking brother, of all people.
I really needed her to keep that promise.
I really needed her to be a woman of her word.
But deep down? I knew she’d try something.
If she was willing to do such stupid shit to put herself at risk just to find me, I knew she’d try the same bullshit to try and protect me.
“A fighter, but an idiot,” I murmured.
I slipped my helmet on and dialed Stone.
I heard the ringing loud and clear in my ear as I saddled up to get back to the safe house.
I knew he wouldn’t be happy with all this shit.
Especially once I told him what I’d found out.
Stone was never happy nowadays, despite being an engaged man.
My guess was it was because he couldn’t actually focus on being engaged to the woman he loved.
He had to try and preserve her father’s life while digging us out of this trench that grew deeper as the days passed by.
But I knew the truth.
Eventually, that man would have to die.
“Go back for another tattoo?” Stone asked, picking up the phone.
I revved my engine, blazing through a yellow light as I weaved in and out of traffic.
“You need to call church,” I said.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because I have some serious intel that’s going to help us and also justify all my trips to this tattoo shop.”
“Wait, what the fuck does that mean?”
“Stone, I need you to stop being helplessly angry for a few minutes and just do as I ask. Okay?”
He paused, and I knew he was debating whether or not to put a damn bullet in the middle of my eyes.
“Just sent a text out to the guys. We’ll all be around when you get here, since you’re the only one hell-bent on disobeying orders and leaving whenever the fuck you want,” Stone said.
“Trust me, after what I’ve finally pieced together, it’s going to be worth it,” I said.
“And why is that?”
I sighed. “Because I found us a family member to connect us to Harry and Yung.”
I hung up the phone call before Stone could say anything more.
Hearing that man talk made me angry nowadays.
I knew I shouldn’t be so heated about things, but this was too close to home for me at this point.
I’d put up with stupid people as an EMT who underestimated me, and I wasn’t going to deal with it regarding my own damn crew.
The people I called family. I raced through town, taking all sorts of backroads and checking to make sure I hadn’t been followed.
Because that was a great possibility at this point, once I filled them in on the stupid shit Maya tried to pull.
Fucking hell, Stone was going to pop a damn lid.
I pulled up to the safe house, and I saw everyone inside through the window.
And even from my damn bike, I saw how heated Stone’s face was.
He saw me outside and came charging out the front door, bounding down the steps to meet me.
I turned my bike off and slid my helmet off.
I didn’t even get my damn leg over the bike before he was at my side.
“Don’t you ever hang up that phone on me again, you got it?” he glowered.
I looked him straight into his eyes after tucking my helmet away in its compartment.
“You’re not in a position to be giving orders. Especially since you aren’t willing to do what it takes to make sure everyone’s safe the most efficient way possible,” I spat.
I shoved past our president and made my way for the safe house.
I didn’t care if Stone killed me. Because deep down, I was tired in the marrow of my bones.
Tired of running. Tired of hiding. Tired of this crew making bullshit moves for a few bucks to try and snag a job.
We should have left that damn job behind.
If we needed last-minute gear, we needed to put the damn job off until we could secure the weapons legally.
Trying to work on the client’s schedule put us in the claws of The Elusive in the first damn place. And now, look at where we were!
All because of some stupid decision that was made. All because of some bullshit prospect that tried to infiltrate our ranks.
It was time for us to stop spiraling.
“What the hell’s going on?” Texas asked.
“Notch, Stone said you found us a personal way in?” Bronx asked.
“I’m all ears whenever you’re ready to talk,” Asher said.
“Flap those lips of yours. Now,” Stone said.
I glared at the man as everyone gathered around me and boxed me in like a caged fucking animal.
It took a few deep breaths to settle my heart rate.
To convince myself I wasn’t about to be attacked.
That I didn’t have to fight for my life right now.
But the look in Stone’s eyes told a different story.
They told me that I’d better have information that justified my life.
That justified all the times I’d put this crew in danger by leaving and coming back.
“Want the punchline first?” I asked.
“Just spit it out,” Stone growled.
I sighed. “My tattoo artist? The one that has done both of my sleeves, essentially? She’s Harry Cheng’s sister.”
Everyone fell silent, and even Stone’s face dropped.
“What?” Texas asked.
“You wanna run that by me again?” Bronx asked.
“Are you serious?” Asher asked.
“The fuck!?” Stone exclaimed.
“Stone, you need to take some breaths and point your anger elsewhere right now,” Texas said.
“Or stop being so angry,” I murmured.
“What the fuck did you just say to me?” Stone asked.
“I said, my tattoo artist’s name is Maya Cheng. And she is Harry Cheng’s sister. She’s dug herself a serious hole trying to come up with answers on her own, and she needs our help,” I said.
“What hole are you talking about?” Asher asked.
I drew in a deep breath and launched into the story.
How we met. The things that didn’t add up.
I even told them about our sexual encounters.
Which did nothing more than make Stone and Texas roll their eyes in an “I told you so” sort of moment.
I told them about what I overheard today.
How I confronted Maya and all the things I found out about her.
About Harry killing their parents. About her leave to the States.
About how I thought she was a spy, but it turns out she’s nothing but a victim of misinformation with a fire underneath her ass to find out the truth.
“She’s a liability,” Stone said.
“Yeah, well. So is your fiancée’s father. But we haven’t done anything about that,” I said.
“Let’s tuck in the fighting for another time, yeah?” Texas asked.
“Can we use her against the Chinese?” Bronx asked.
“Finally, some questions. No. We can’t,” I spat.
“Well, look who’s unwilling to do what it takes now,” Stone said teasingly.
“Women’ll do that to you. I can’t fault him for that,” Asher said.
“I refuse to put her in more danger than she’s already in.
She’s head-deep in a war she doesn’t understand.
I tried explaining a little bit of it to her, but it’s not nearly the fight she thinks it is.
In her defense, she was trying to track me down and, at the very least, get information out of her brother she could use to track me down so she could help.
It was a misguided attempt at protecting us, but that was her plan nonetheless. We can’t overlook that,” I said.
“No, it was her misguided plan to protect you,” Stone said.
“And why the fuck is that any different?” I asked hotly.
“Guys!” Texas asked.
“Do you believe her?” Bronx asked.
I slowly turned to the only man I really trusted nowadays and nodded my head.
“Yes. I do. I trust what she’s saying. I trust the fact that she isn’t a spy.
I trust the fact that she’s a wounded woman who’s trying to figure out why her parents died and why her brother is running with the gang who killed them.
She’s scared, and she sought comfort in my arms. I get it.
That’s my fault. But I’m not fucking sorry for it.
She’s a good girl. A beautiful girl. A talented girl.
And she’s in danger, in pain, and screaming out for help that won’t come,” I said.
Bronx’s face softened to me as Texas sighed.
“She could be playing you,” Asher said.
I whipped around and looked at the towering man with a stern glare.
“If that’s the case, I’ll handle it. Personally.
But my gut has never been wrong. Stone can vouch for that, no matter how much he wants to kill me right now.
My character assessments have been spot-on, always.
There’s a reason why I’m the one people come to when they can’t figure something out about a person.
I read them. Well. She’s not against us.
If anything, she’s trying to be for us because she wants to get out from underneath her brother’s surveillance,” I said.
“Wait, she’s being surveilled!?” Stone exclaimed.
“He followed her to San Diego right around time we started running guns for them after that bullshit job we took at the last second,” I said.
I glared at our president as recognition flooded his face.
“Fuck,” he said flatly.
“Yes. Harry and Yung have been playing us to their advantage from the beginning. Maya is a victim. And Harry will kill her just like he did their parents if he needs to dig himself out of a hole. As a means of trust. You know how shit like that works,” I said.
“That’s not good,” Bronx said.
“It’s not. And by the tone of Harry’s voice when they were coming out of her shop? Things are getting really hairy on their end, all puns intended,” I said.
Asher chuckled, and it alleviated the tension for a second.
“So, let me get this straight. Your theory is that Harry needed a reason to base himself in San Diego to keep himself close to his sister in case he needed to kill her as a show of trust to his boss for any reason, and came up with a reason by finding us to run guns. Is that what I’m getting? ” Texas asked.
I nodded slowly as my eyes flickered over to him.
“Yes. That’s my theory. The Chinese are meticulous in what they do. Everyone operates with an ulterior motive. You know this,” I said.
“She could still be a useful asset. She’s the damn sister of the man hunting us down,” Stone said.
“Yeah, well. Your fiancée is the daughter of someone else who’s successfully infiltrated our ranks, but you don’t wanna use her as an asset,” I said flatly.
And before I knew it, Stone’s fist connected with my face.
“Finally,” I growled.
I tackled the man to the ground as everyone else around us started yelling.
Asher fielded the girls back into their rooms at the back of the safe house as I straddled Stone.
I brought my fight down into his face, making his nose bloody with one strike.
He rolled me over and continued pounding his fists into me as I used my forearms as protection for my own face plate.
“Hey! You two! Knock it the fuck off!” Bronx roared.
Texas wrapped his arms around Stone and pulled him off me.
But not before I landed one last punch against Stone’s eye.
Bronx heaved me off the floor and wrapped his arm around my neck, settling me down by constricting the oxygen flow to my brain.
I raked my nails against the leather of his jacket.
Asher stepped between the two of us, holding out his hands.
I stopped struggling against Bronx, knowing damn good and well he’d let my ass pass out if that’s what it took.
And when I was back on my feet, my eyes pierced Stone with a look I hadn’t had on my face in years.
A look that made even Asher take a few steps back.
“I’ll handle this situation on my own,” I growled.
“The hell you will,” Stone said.
“You don’t have a say in it anymore.”
Then, as I slipped my leather jacket off my shoulders, I heard Bronx trying to talk me down.
Texas yelled at me as I tossed my leather cut at Stone’s feet.
I shrugged Bronx off, making my way for the door as my jaw ached and my fists clamped down so hard into my palms my nails left bloodied crescents behind.
I got back onto my bike and drove off down the dusty road, making my way back into San Diego.
If those men didn’t want to do what it took to save the asses of those they loved, that was their prerogative.
But I was going to do whatever it took to save the ass of the woman I loved.
Fuck.