Chapter 8
Creed
Letting Nova hear what Cipher found out about Patch doesn’t seem like a good idea on the surface, but what she doesn’t know is Patch isn’t the only person I’ve had Cipher and the rest of the MC looking into.
I have a feeling Nova’ll be pissed if she knows the MC is looking into Layla, but I can’t ignore that Patch might not be the reason the two of them are missing.
If I’m going to have my guy investigated, I’m damn well going to do the same with a stranger.
Cipher’s handling the online stuff, of course, and the guys who are in town asking questions about Patch are also asking them about Layla.
I’ve got people checking out her friends, school, where she lives, where she works, all of it.
If she got into something dangerous, or something dangerous came for her, and Patch got caught up in it, we’ll know.
Based on the reports of inconsistencies, I’m starting to think Layla’s got her own set of problems. Hell, it’s possible the two of them aren’t together and just happened to disappear at the same time. Not likely, but possible.
Normal club business doesn’t take long this morning since we’re at a hold point in our new… ventures. But that’s not all we have to talk about today, not after what Cipher found and the new assignments I gave to him and Vandal.
“Patch report.” I look over at Cipher and nod.
“Yesterday, I found out Patch spent the last week before he disappeared going into Reapers’ territory.”
Curses explode in the room, but only last a couple of seconds so I don’t have to quiet everyone.
I get it. The Ash Reapers aren’t just the rival MC from the neighboring county.
They deal in small-scale drug trafficking, extortion, and some transportation shit that’s not entirely above board.
Not all of our shit is legal, but there are lines we don’t cross.
The Reapers don’t have lines. That’s more the reason for the rivalry than anything else.
Well, that, and the fact they’re all assholes.
“I spent the rest of the day getting into security systems at the locations his phone showed up,” Cipher continues. “One of the places he went was a warehouse connected to the Reapers. I went back further and it looks like he’s been going there for two weeks.”
Dammit. What the hell was that kid thinking?
“There are pictures in his cloud account, and based on the location tag, they’re of the warehouse, but I can’t figure out why he took them.
” Cipher leans back in his chair. “He was also driving around in their territory and taking pictures of road signs. I hacked into the traffic cameras and they show him alone, and in a car I’ve never seen him drive. ”
“I’ll bet those will match up with the footage I got from security cameras,” Stray speaks up. “He’s walking past stores, but never goes inside any of them. There’s one showing him walking out of a parking lot, so that might be where he put the car.”
“You got addresses for those cameras?” Crusher spreads a map out on the pool table. “Are they anywhere around here?”
Crusher traces a couple of routes through the mountains and Stray nods, then points. “These two.”
My sergeant-at-arms looks over at me. “Those are the transport routes the Reapers use, and these two are ours. That one belongs to the Iron Vipers.”
I can see the pieces starting to fit together, but there’s still a piece missing. Patch was clearly doing something with the Reapers, but I don’t know what.
“Stupid little bastard was spying on them,” Vandal speaks up from where he’s been sitting, listening.
“You learned something yesterday.” It seems my assignment to Vandal has paid off.
Vandal nods. “I talked to a couple of informants who hang out around the Reapers. Don’t really like those assholes, but they live in the territory, so they have to play nice.
” Everyone nods in understanding. “Anyway, I got one of them to talk to me. Said someone else from the Kings was asking around about Reapers’ business.
Trying to figure out something the MC is smuggling from there over to Vegas.
Rumor says it’s something bad, and that’s what Patch was asking about. ”
“You show ‘em a picture of the kid?” Ace asks.
Vandal nods. “Informant IDed him.”
“They say anything about Layla?” I ask.
“No mention of a girl,” Vandal says. “Doesn’t mean she didn’t go with him sometimes and just not when the informant was around.”
“I knew the kid wanted to prove himself, but this is a fucked-up way to do it,” I say. “That’s what it looks like to everyone else, right?”
I look around, genuinely wanting to know if I’m reading too much into it or if the others see what I see. The others voice their agreement, and I decide that’s what we’re going with unless proven otherwise.
“If he was caught spying, even if he’s not a patched member, the Reapers could think we sent a prospect, thinking they wouldn’t do anything,” Ace suggests. “Or they might not even think that deep about it. They’ll just see he’s with us and use it as an excuse.”
Unease ripples around the room. If Patch got himself in the middle of something with the Reapers, he could have accidentally triggered a turf war. Now, we don’t just need to look for our missing people. We need to keep our eyes open for Reapers. Shit just got a whole lot more complicated.
***
Everyone knows bikers play hard, and the Kings of Ruin are no different.
What we do is dangerous and we believe in living life to the fullest. With the extra stress of Patch being missing and now the possibility of the Reapers being involved, blowing off some steam is more important than ever.
It might look to people on the outside that we don’t care about Patch and Layla because we’re drinking and laughing and fucking, but anyone who lives like we do knows we need this so we can keep doing what’s necessary to handle our shit.
While everyone else heads over to the Roadhouse, I make my way to the guest room to pick up my old lady.
The words still feel strange, but this routine with Nova is starting to feel normal.
Sometimes, being with her is so natural I almost forget this is just business.
Then I’m reminded of how fucking sexy she is and knowing that I can’t touch her brings me right back to reality.
I knock on her door and brace myself. When she opens the door, I’m glad I’m prepared, otherwise, I might’ve betrayed the sudden bolt of lust that hits me the second I see her.
Nova wears a tight little black dress that’s a combination of leather and lace showcasing her curves and revealing just enough skin to drive any man crazy without being tasteless. And that ‘any’ includes me. My cock hasn’t gotten hard this fast in years.
“Creed?”
She sounds nervous and I suddenly realize I’m staring. I clear my throat. “You really wanna wear that on the back of my bike?”
Grinning, she reaches under her dress, and for one heart-stopping moment, I think she’s taking off her panties right there. Instead, she tugs down… legs.
“Biker shorts underneath,” she explains proudly. “I’ll take them off at the Roadhouse and ask Laney to hold them for me until it’s time to go.”
It’s actually pretty smart, but I feel like complimenting her on them will lead to her wanting to have a conversation that’s going to expose me to more of what sort of woman she is, and I don’t want that. I have other things to focus on. Important things.
Permanent things.
“We’re gonna be late.”
I turn around and start down the hallway, knowing she’ll follow me. Sure enough, she falls in step and doesn’t say a word the whole way to the bar. The moment she gets off my bike, though, everything shifts because now we have roles to play.
My arm goes around her waist, my hand resting on her hip.
I notice that my fingers have found one of the cutout pieces of lace, meaning I’m feeling the heat of her skin through the sheer fabric, but I don’t acknowledge it.
Instead, I lead her into the bar, greeting my men as we go.
Once we’re inside, we go right to the bar like always, but there’s one thing different tonight.
We’re not the only MC in the building.
While other people are allowed at the Roadhouse, most MCs steer clear because this is Kings of Ruin turf. Tonight, the Iron Vipers are here at my invitation. We’re not friends, but we’re allies, and with the new shit we’ve learned about the Reapers, our allies need to know what’s going on.
Plus, I need to give them a head’s up that I might need a favor from them in the near future.
After Nova and I get our drinks, a huge, bearded guy approaches. The Prez of the other MC is a few years older than me, but we took leadership within months of each other, and it just made sense to be able to tell our clubs that we had another club to watch our backs if we needed them.
“Creed.”
“Stone.” I take a long drink and then lift my chin toward the bar. “I’m paying for the first round.”
Stone gives Laney his drink order and then gives Nova an appraising look. Even though I know Stone is happily married, I reach for Nova, curving my hand around the back of her neck.
“That’s new,” Stone says, his tone casual.
“Stone, meet my old lady, Nova Reed.” I give her neck a squeeze and she makes a sound that makes my jeans tight like I’m a fucking teenager again. “Nova, this is Stone, Prez of the Iron Vipers.”
“Nice to meet you,” Nova says. “You guys control the highway into Nevada, right?”
Stone’s eyebrows go up and I can’t say I’m not surprised, too. I didn’t realize she knew anything about any of the other MCs, especially something like that. Makes me wonder if she’s overhearing other things. Maybe things she doesn’t need to know.
“We do,” Stone says. “Gotta say, never thought I’d see the day when Creed would have time for anything other than the MC.”
“We’re not here to talk about my personal life, Stone,” I growl.
He holds up his hands. “All right, Creed. Say what you gotta say.”
Nova starts to move away, but I tighten my grip on the back of her neck, and she makes that sound again. Fuck. I need to think of something other than wondering if she’d make that same noise when I sunk my cock into her tight, hot–
“Reapers.” I practically blurt the word. “There’s some shit going down. I’m not sure what, but I don’t want you getting caught by surprise if those assholes start something.”
“Appreciate the warning,” Stone says. “That all?”
“We may need to change a few things up for a while,” I say. “Maybe go in a new direction. That something you can help us with?”
Stone scratches his chin, giving me a searching look. “What kinda help are you looking for?”
“Safe passage on a delivery run,” I say. “No help moving product. Just permission to get from point A to point B without making any stops to talk.”
“What’s it worth to you?” Stone asks. “I’m eyeing that top shelf Scotch.”
“It’s yours,” I say. “Laney, put that on my tab.” I point and then add, “Whatever he orders, too.”
Stone nods at me and turns his attention to his drink. I turn my attention back to Nova. She’s taken three steps toward the dance floor when I pull her back.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I ask.
“Nowhere,” she says, “apparently.”
“You’re mine, Nova,” I remind her. “My old lady dances with me, and only me.”
“You dance?” she teases.
I’m about to answer her when the radio at my waist comes to life.
“Prez.” Stray’s voice comes through the speaker. “That pick-up’s back. It’s definitely watching us.”
Shit. I sigh and release Nova to grab the radio.
It’s for the best, I tell myself. Dancing with Nova is a line I’m not going to cross.
None of this is real and dancing isn’t necessary to keeping up the charade.
Better to focus on dealing with business.
The sooner we can find Patch and Layla, the sooner all of this can be over, and we can all go back to our regular lives.
That’s what we all want.