14. Delaney
CHAPTER 14
DELANEY
“Who’s this?”
I don’t know what the hell I was thinking following a strange man, who’s in a motorcycle gang, back to his hotel room. My only consolation is knowing I can defend myself; however, I’m starting to really question my decision. As soon as the door closes behind me, I survey the room and realize the odds are no longer in my favor. Several large men vacate their seats and stand next to each other with their arms crossed and matching scowls on their faces. It’s creepy how in sync they are.
“Club, not a gang.”
I whirl around to see a beautiful redhead carrying a babbling baby in her arms. Annoyance at myself creeps in because I’m normally more in tune with my surroundings, but this whole night has my equilibrium off.
“Um… what?”
“They’re a club, not a gang,” she explains before she smirks. “I’m guessing you didn’t realize you were thinking out loud. So, who are you?”
“Delaney.” I hold out my hand.
She shifts the baby to her other hip and shakes my hand. “I’m Cece. This little mini-me is Harper.”
“Aren’t you just a little cutie,” I coo at Harper. She hides her face under her mom’s hair but peeks out at me with a smile on her cute chubby face. “She’s absolutely adorable.”
I love kids. Always have. But chasing down a serial killer doesn’t exactly give me many opportunities to be around children.
“Thanks.”
Thorn ruffles Harper's hair, and for a single endearing moment, it throws my ovaries into a tailspin. I just met this man… under less-than-optimal circumstances, I might add. He’s causing my emotions to get sidetracked. My sole focus needs to be on finding the Phantom and ending his sorry existence, not jumping the bones of a hot-as-sin biker, no matter how much my libido wants me to.
Doesn’t hurt to look though.
“What’re you doing up, Ce?” Thorn asks as Harper reaches for him.
He takes her willingly and blows raspberries into her neck. Her giggles fill the air, and the tension in the room drops slightly.
“I think Harper is getting another tooth.” Cece sighs. “Grim’s the only one who can calm her down when she’s acting like this.”
Grim? What the hell kind of a name is that?
The door flies open, and more men come stomping in. The man leading the charge stops when he sees me standing close to Cece, and it’s like a domino effect. The first one halts, and the others slam into each other’s back.
“What the fuck, Soul?” one of them hollers.
The leader, who I assume is Soul since he caused the traffic jam, raises his finger in my direction. “Who the fuck are you?” he demands. “And why are you standing close to my ‘ol lady and baby girl?”
So, Thorn isn’t Harper’s daddy. Good to know.
I stare at Soul for a moment, taking him in. The patch on his vest says President, so he’s definitely the club’s leader. He’s also good-looking and obviously devoted to his ol’ lady, as he put it. He might have been talking to me, but his eyes haven’t left Cece and Harper.
Cece rushes forward and smacks Soul’s chest. “Don’t be a caveman,” she admonishes. “This is Delaney, and before you rudely interrupted, we were getting to know each other.”
Soul lifts Cece into his arms effortlessly, and her legs wrap around his waist. He pulls her head down until their lips connect in a toe-curling kiss. Once they come up for air, Cece rests her forehead on Soul’s.
“Woman, I’ll question any stranger in our hotel room,” Soul grumbles.
Cece gives him another quick peck on the lips. “Fine, but don’t be such a dick about it. It’s not like you didn’t see Thorn standing right there.”
Everyone in the room watches Soul and Cece, and no one is paying attention to Harper. But the child clearly doesn’t like that because she promptly lets out an ear-piercing scream.
Soul gently places Cece back on her feet and stomps toward Thorn. “Give me my daughter, asshole.”
Thorn hands her over, but she wiggles and squirms uncomfortably. I must be overwhelmed with everything that’s happening because, once again, I’m unaware of my surroundings. A behemoth of a man marches forward, closing in on me. I step back and awkwardly place myself halfway behind Thorn.
Behemoth’s patch says Grim. I can see how he got his name… He’s huge, and the permanent scowl on his face would have Death himself turning tail and running.
When Grim steps forward, Soul twists out of his reach and shakes his head. Grim chuckles as Harper reaches for him.
“You can’t keep taking my daughter, fucker,” Soul says with a scowl.
Grim’s hands move with fluidity, and Thorn translates. “She obviously wants me more. Hand her over.” Thorn glances over his shoulder at me. “Grim’s deaf.”
I know a little ASL but not enough to have a full-blown conversation with someone.
Cece saunters between the both of them. “Babe, I think you have other things to deal with right now.” She nods in my direction.
While Soul is distracted, Grim uses the opportunity to snatch Harper from his arms. She immediately settles which pisses Soul off even more.
“Go find Violet and make your own fucking kid,” he scoffs.
Grim laughs, carries Harper over to the couch, and sits down. Everyone watches with fascination as she falls asleep within minutes.
“And this is why we call him the Baby Whisperer” , Cece whispers to me as she walks over to Grim and signs something to him.
He nods and follows her and Soul to one of the bedrooms. Both men return a few minutes later.
Thorn takes my elbow and gently leads me to the sofa. “Sit before you fall over,” he commands.
I hate taking orders from people, but in this instance, I do what I’m told because my adrenaline is crashing. One of the prospects hands me a can of Coke which I open and take a big gulp. I need the caffeine to get me through whatever the hell this is. My brain isn’t firing on all cylinders, and hopefully, this will help.
“Thorn, start talking,” Soul demands.
“This is Delaney,” Thorn starts and then explains what happened in the parking lot. Soul listens carefully, never interrupting. His forehead creases, and I can see the tension in his face.
Grim smirks as he signs, but it’s Soul who speaks. “Fifty bucks, asshole.”
What the hell? Fifty bucks for what? For me? Oh, hell no!
“What the fuck?”
“What the fuck?”
Thorn and I both yell simultaneously.
“If you wake up Harper, I’ll gut you both,” Soul whisper yells as he looks toward the closed bedroom door.
“I’m not a fucking whore or for sale,” I grit through my teeth and hop to my feet. Grim’s smirk falls, and he jerks back as if I slapped him across the face. Thorn grabs my arm, but I yank out of his hold. “Don’t touch me, or I’ll scream this place down after I kick your sorry ass.”
“Whoa.” Thorn holds his hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry. That’s not what fifty bucks meant, sweetheart.”
“I’m not your sweetheart.”
Grim approaches slowly and hands me a cell phone. I glance at the screen and read the words he typed.
Sorry. It’s a club thing. Thorn owes the club fifty bucks because he wasn’t signing.
Everyone knows the rule. Didn’t mean to offend you.
I hang my head and take a deep breath before lifting it. “Can you read lips?” Grim nods so I continue. “No, I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions.”
I hand him back his phone and take my seat on the couch. “I apologize for my outburst. It’s been a long night.”
Soul grabs a bottle of Jack and begins handing out glasses. When he gets to me, I shake my head. “No offense, but I don’t drink with men I don’t know.”
“Smart,” he replies. “So, you say the guy in the parking lot was the Phantom Strangler. How do you know that?”
“He told me he’s been waiting for me.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Seeing how my twin sister was one of his victims, I’d say it means a lot.” I take another swig of my Coke.
A collective gasp fills the room, but it’s Thorn who speaks. “What did you say?”
“I can’t say it any clearer,” I huff. “Five years ago, when we were out celebrating our twenty-first birthday, he killed my twin. And tonight, he said he’s been waiting on me. I would’ve had him, too, if you hadn’t spooked him.”
“I was saving your ass,” Thorn argues.
“I had it handled.” I rub my temples in frustration. “How do you know about the Phantom?”
Thorn hesitates and glances over at Soul who nods slightly. “My girlfriend was his first victim when I was a senior in high school.”
My jaw drops. “His f-f-first victim was your high school girlfriend?” I stutter.
Thorn nods. “Tamara had a party at her house while her parents were out of town. I bailed on her when she asked me to stay and help her clean up. I had to work later that day and needed to crash and sleep off some of the alcohol,” he explains. “Her parents came back, and Tamara was gone so her parents reported her missing. They found her naked and strangled to death in a creek behind my house.”
“How long ago was that?” I ask.
Thorn doesn’t answer. He just hangs his head and begins pacing back and forth.
Soul pours another round for everyone, and this time, I take the glass when he offers.
“Twenty-fourteen,” Soul replies for Thorn.
“Holy shit,” I mumble. “That’s five years before he killed Daphne. How many women has this asshole murdered? I’ve only been searching for four years.”
Thorn stops and whips around to face me. “You’ve been actively searching for him? Alone?”
“Of course, he killed my sister.”
“That’s the dum?—”
“I know you don’t know us,” Soul interrupts. “Would you be willing to come with us to our clubhouse? Maybe we can work together to finally bring this psycho down.”
“Where’s your clubhouse?”
“Boulder City, Nevada,” Thorn grits through his teeth.
“Will I be safe from all of you?”
All the men nod, but it’s Soul who responds. “You have my word that no one in our club will harm you.”
“And I can leave whenever I want?”
Soul raises a brow at Thorn before answering, and Thorn nods.
“Yes, you can leave whenever you want.”
I stare into the tumbler of brown liquid and weigh my options. These men could be delusional killers themselves; however, Thorn could’ve easily tried to drag me into an alley to murder me, and he didn’t. It’d be nice to finally have help finding the Phantom. I’ve been chasing this guy for four years, and it’s time to put his ass in the ground.
“Fuck it, I’m in. When do we leave?”
Hopefully, I won’t live to regret this decision.