18. Jameson
Iwas lying in bed with Sadie strewn naked along my side, and a coffee mug in my hand, when I heard the banging.
We both instantly shot up off the bed as another round of curses and shouts came from upstairs.
“What the hell is going on?!”
I tugged on my jeans, and with Sadie hot on my heels, we rushed up the stairs. We both stopped short when we saw Macabre, with a steel bat in his hands, about to swing it at a door.
“Come out right now, you fucking rat!” Another slam of his fist against the door and that”s when the culprit spoke up.
“You need to calm down, brother!” Powertrain’s voice sounded strained from the other side of the door.
“He”s not coming out, Ethan. So, fuck off!” Came his sister”s voice, and I turned to Sadie who hid her amusement against my shoulder.
“I”m gonna smash your fucking head in!” Macabre swung the bat back and before he could smash my doors in, I stepped up and gripped it. He tugged at it and then looked at me, fury in his eyes as he registered who I was.
“I suggest we stop acting like children,” I stated.
“He has my sister in there. That’s fucking disrespect, Prez!” He tried the bat yet again, but I kept a tight hold on it.
“Put it down, Macabre. That’s an order!” I shouted into his face, and reluctantly, he handed over the bat.
“I want everyone to be at Church in an hour! That means you too, Powertrain!” I called to him from the hallway.
I heard his muffled, yes Prez, through the door and I gave a nod of satisfaction. He was going to get his ass kicked, and I was going to let Macabre have his moment, but only on my terms.
“My sister…” Macabre started, and I held my hand up to stop him.
“Your sister has more issues than having Powertrain between her legs. They”ve been traveling together for two weeks, what did you expect?”
“She”s barely twenty-one! She was off limits.”
“Then you should have declared that. Rules are rules, Macabre. We respect each other”s property, but I feel that little girl does whatever the hell she wants.”
Macabre looked furiously at the door, chest heaving, fists ready to attack. I made myself clear to him that I, under no circumstances, was approving his actions.
“I want you down at Church within the hour, Macabre. What I have to say concerns her. Stop fucking around or I swear to Papa Legba, if you fuck up my house, I”m gonna fuck up your pretty boy face!”
I tossed the bat into a corner, the clang echoing through the room, and then grabbed Sadie”s hand, leading her back down to our bedroom. She giggled softly against my chest as we walked. When I closed the bedroom door behind us, still buzzing with adrenaline, I pressed her against it and had my way with her. She was more than willing to give me what I wanted, laughing as I grumbled how annoying this all was. Church would have to start a little later than what I’d ordered.
I adjustedmy vest as I entered the room. The members were all seated, a heavy silence fell over each of them and the tension in the room was stifling.
Macabre sat across from Powertrain, glaring at him, murmuring something about smashing his head in under his breath.
I looked at Colt who was standing in the corner watching the two idiots, and he just shook his head in exasperation. Apparently, he, like my Sadie, also found it amusing. Scorn, who sat next to Powertrain, looked annoyed.
“Would you stop glaring at him already? Your eyes are gonna pop out of your head.”
“Shut the fuck up, Scorn, this ain”t your business.”
“The hell it ain”t! It”s cutting the Prez”s time, and he has some important shit to say!”
I slowly sat down, grimacing at all of them. “Bandit is alive,” I started, and all their attention fell on me.
“He owes me a plane, but he”s a survivor. Colt, you”re bringing him back.”
“But…”
I stared down at him and I watched his jaw flex.” I’m sorry, do you have something more pressing to do than follow orders. My orders.”
Whatever he was hoping to say, he kept it to himself. As best he should. I then moved on to more important matters.
“Hoax, pull it up on the big screen.”
We waited a couple seconds until Hoax had brought up the information. I glanced over at Powertrain who looked every bit the scared man I didn’t think he’d be. He kept it hidden well, but I knew my men, and he was shitting bricks. At the same time, I could see the rage as his hands folded into fists in front of him. Powertrain wouldn”t go down without a fight, and he was itching for one.
“Ronald Hargrave is a psychopathic murderer. A few weeks ago, he killed a woman out near Lake Michigan. The killing was brutal.”
“What does that have to do with us?” Malice asked.
“Nothing and everything. One of our own has suffered at his hands already, and now he wants to take another innocent soul. One who is near and dear to all of us.”
“So, we play bodyguards now?” Macabre chuckled.
I turned to him, giving him a stern look. “If you want your sister to live, I suggest you take things more seriously.”
“What the hell does that mean?” He glanced from me to Powertrain, until Lee finally broke the silence.
“You don”t have to cover for me, Prez. They need to know the truth.”
I gave him the floor and he began to speak. He recounted the incident back at the college and how, right as we sent him out to pick up Whisper, Ronald Hargrave escaped from the mental ward. He”d entrusted Hoax to watch over Lucy Whitfield, the woman who had been killed. Powertrain”s voice cracked as he spoke of her and the family she left behind. You could clearly see that it wasn”t easy for him to recount the events, but he got through it.
Hoax then cut in. “He left a cryptic message in his 9-1-1 call.”
“He gave himself in?” Macabre asked.
Hoax shook his head. “Not necessarily, but he is a sick fuck.”
“I then received a phone call from the fucker, a couple days ago.” Powertrain continued.
“He threatened Whisper.” He said quietly, looking directly at Macabre.
“Now I”m definitely lookin’ to hurt you…” Macabre threatened.
He reached out to him, but Tick Tock did me the favor of slamming him back down into his seat. “Stop being such a fucking hot head, man. Powertrain brought her here to keep her safe. He did the right thing.”
“If she wasn”t with him in the first place…”
“Because that”s his fault?” Scorn cut in. “You better cool your shit, Macabre, cause now you”re getting on my nerves.”
I slammed my hand down on the table and they all stopped to look at me. “I realize we”re all on edge lately, but I need you to be on full alert until we find this asshole. Any problems we may have with each other, will wait.” I looked at Macabre and Powertrain, “Understood?”
“Yes, Prez,” they both nodded quietly.
I”ve got Smoke down in Tijuana monitoring who crosses that border, although I doubt that motherfucker”s going South. I”ve put out an alert and I talked to Maverick up in Atlanta. He”s ready to send some backup if we need it. And we”ve got a new Chapter in Canada…”
“Vicious is up there,” TikTok chimed in.
I nodded. “Yup. He”s the new VP up there. I did talk to their President, and he”ll be watching the roads up that way.”
“You think we”ll find him?” Scorn asked, sounding unsure.
“No one has ever escaped the Royal Bastards’. Not since I can remember.” I looked at Macabre. “We”ll keep her safe.”
“I”m gonna spill blood, Prez.” Macabre seethed.
“Just make sure it”s not your brother”s.”
I signaled to Powertrain. “Does she trust you?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Then you continue on detail.”
“The fuck, he will!” Macabre shot up out of his seat.
Having enough of it all, I shot up out of my seat and walked up to Macabre. He stumbled back into his seat as I hovered over him, pinning him into it.
“I know both of you and your sister’s dynamics. And you know damn well that she will run away from you so fast to go look for this idiot,” I pointed at Powertrain who now looked perplexed. “So don”t give me bullshit, Macabre. You want to babysit your sister”s pussy her whole life, go for it. But as of right now, Powertrain is on fucking detail.”
“Yes, Prez!” An echo of voices rang out and I grunted in aggravation.
I signaled to Powertrain. “You bring me what you”ve come up with by the end of the day. Church adjourned.”
I wandered outside to get some air and found Sadie standing with Whisper. The girl looked up and gave me a big smile, showing me that she was still a lot younger than everyone seemed to think of her. I almost felt like Macabre’s anger was justified.
“Jameson,” She gave me a quick hug and I grunted. I wasn’t much for affection unless it came from Sadie.
“Whisper,” I gave her a quick pat on the back.
“Listen, your father may not be around at the moment but I am. I need you to do me a favor.”
“Sure,” she said eagerly.
“Stay close to Powertrain for now.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Nothing you should concern yourself about, I just need you to stay close. Can you do that for me?”
“What about Macabre? You know my brother won’t stay quiet; he’ll eventually kill him.”
I looked closely at her, I spent years trying to figure her out, but the attempt was futile. She did what she wanted with no concern for anyone but herself, seeing this side of her protective nature, was surprising.
“You know I could kill him too, right? For touching you.”
I watched her swallow nervously and then glance down at the ground; a pink blush crawled up her cheeks. “Please don”t punish him,” she whispered quietly.
Sadie tilted her head, giving me a look that meant I needed to handle this gently. I grunted and reached out to the young girl, tipping her chin up so she”d look at me.
“I”m gonna give you some brotherly advice, sweetheart. This life ain”t easy.”
“I know. I”ve lived it,” she muttered under her breath.
“Shhh,” I quieted her. “If you want to be an Ol’ Lady you need to learn how to listen and how to respect. You may not want to hear this, but what I’m telling you is for your own good.”
She closed her eyes briefly and then slowly nodded. “Yes, Sir.”
“You respect your man, he respects you. Real simple.”
“Yes, Sir,” she lowered her voice even more.
“Do you love him?” I wondered.
She shrugged. “I don”t want to.”
Sadie smiled and hugged her around the shoulders. “That”s always the case. You never really want to, but they sort of grow on you, don”t they?” She gave me a wink and as always, I felt like she was looking into my damn soul.
“Powertrain is hard to love, Whisper. Hell, I don’t even think he remembers what that feels like.”
“He remembers more than you think,” she snapped, instantly on defense mode. Her response nearly made me smile and I don’t ever smile.
I nodded, scratching my chin as I thought on what to say next. “You’re both alike in a lot of ways, you know. Both stubborn, you don’t listen, you both have these free gypsy souls that get you in constant trouble. He’s a predator and you’re a bird.”
“I think they”ll do each other some good,” Sadie interjected, raising a brow at me.
I furrowed my brow at her, silently telling her to stay out of it, but she simply shrugged and ignored me.
“You need to know all this before you get into it with him, Whisper, because he’s prone to hurting people in order to steer them away from him.”
“Yes, Sir,” her eyes lowered, and a small child-like pout formed on her lips.
“All in all, he’s willing to take care of you. That’s saying a lot. Make sure you do as he asks, don’t give him too much of a hard time. Because I swear to God, if something happens to you under his watch…
“Nothing will happen to me. I’ll behave,” she stated quickly.
I nodded. “Be careful. When this breaks,” I poked her in the chest, “there’s no coming back from that, little raven.”
“He won’t hurt me, Jameson. I know he won’t,” she grabbed my hand. “I’m trouble. You know this. I don’t hide it. But whatever’s going on is worrying me.”
I squeezed her hand. “Just do what we tell you and we’ll keep you safe. You deviate from this in any way…”
“I won’t. I swear.”
I shook my head, accepting her promise. “Okay, then. Your brother wants to kill both him and me, but I’m putting Powertrain on your detail.” Her eyes looked up at me, shining brightly as if own father had given her his blessing.
“Thank you,” she whispered, leaning in and giving me a soft kiss on the cheek.
I shook my head, quickly shaking off all the lovey dovey crap. “Anyway, I”m going into town,” leaning Sadie, I kissed her goodbye. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Let Madame Laveaux know I owe her a visit,” Sadie smiled.
I nodded and waved, needing some serious wind therapy after all the shit that was going on around us. If it wasn”t one thing. It was another. And now Whisper. Madame Laveaux wasn’t the only one on my list to visit. The other would probably have my head, if I didn”t give notice of his daughter.
My Harley roared out of the lot as I sped down the road. All I knew was that someone was going to have a field day with Powertrain, and I truly felt for the guy.