Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
That Sweet, Delicious Smell
P riest clamped a monstrous hand down on Slade’s left shoulder.
“Better to lost and loved… or something, right?”
“No, Priest. No.”
“Hey, if you want to kill the prospects and enforcers, I’m up for it,” Priest offered. “But she got out of here clean. That’s impressive.”
“That’s the point, Priest. There’s something there. Something hidden.”
“She’s gotten to you, huh?”
“It’s not like that,” Slade said, telling the voice in his head that screamed LIAR to fuck off. “Whatever her and her sisters were up to, it landed here in our town.”
“Fair enough,” Priest said. “Use some logic though. The two sisters that were here are dead. If Nelle stays away and they go after her, not our issue. Right?”
Slade turned his head and looked at Priest. It was certainly sound logic.
“Doesn’t help the heat on the club,” Slade said.
“Fuck the heat,” Priest said. “We get heat all the time. Someone’s car can break down and they blame us for it. Also, look at it this way, this just proves they need us here in town. No more murders now, right? They don’t need to know what’s actually going on. I think we’re in the clear on this, Slade. Has nothing to do with the club.”
“How do you know?” Slade asked. “What if they were running the yellow bunny through town, huh?”
Priest’s eyes narrowed. “Then I’ll track that last sister down myself and handle business.”
“No, you fucking won’t,” Slade growled. “You stay the fuck away from Nelle. Got that?”
Slade realized the way it sounded but it was too late. The words were spoken. And standing up to Priest like this and talking to him like this… you don’t do that. Ever.
Priest half smirked and walked away.
Slade would have rather Priest punch him in the mouth.
“Van shipment is here,” Cyrus said. “Loaded. Ready to move up north. Packed with the extra.”
“Running it through town,” Linc said, shaking his head.
“Got an issue, VP ?” Cyrus growled.
“I got a big fucking issue with this,” Linc said. “All of it. What makes us any better than—”
“Get off your mountain, kid,” Custer barked. “Preach somewhere else.”
“Fuck you, old man,” Linc said.
“What’s done is done,” Monte said. “End of discussion.”
“Good time to move to the next point,” Cyrus said, pointing to Darrow.
“Yeah, sure,” Darrow said. “Got everything figured out with our runner.”
“Can we have some discretion for this?” Slade blurted out. “She’s not our enemy. She’s terrified and grieving.”
“I don’t think Slade fucked her,” Priest said to Cyrus. “She puked everywhere and fell asleep.”
“It’s not about that,” Slade said.
“Look, she’s feisty,” Fitz said. “She’s smarter than she leads on.”
“Tough, too,” Monte said. “I pressed at her hard and she didn’t cave.”
“Maybe we should offer protection to her then,” Deed said. “In exchange…”
“I’ll handle it,” Slade said. “She’s my issue. I just needed the tech side from Darrow. Links. Numbers. All that shit.”
“Got it for you, brother,” Darrow said. “Very easy to find though. I will say that.”
“I’ll take care of Chief Dick,” Cyrus said. “Let him know we’re working this from all angles. The department won’t find shit but we need to be careful nothing bigger comes to town. County is one thing. We can wait them out. Anything bigger…”
“Eyes and ears are open, Prez ,” Darrow said.
“You know, worst case, we can make up a story,” Priest said. “Been done before. If it cools the temp around town. The pizza girl? She dumped her boyfriend and met a guy online. Ex shows up and loses his mind. All we need then is some street scum as a body, you know?”
“And the other sister?” Slade asked.
“A concert with rock stars and drugs all around,” Priest said. “The band can handle that one. That’s on them.”
“Except they’re getting headline news right now,” Linc said. “Puts our town everywhere. I don’t like it. At all.”
“Okay,” Priest said. “Let’s keep things in order here. Darrow, you run the eyes and ears like you said. Anything pops up, you know what to do. Slade, you do whatever it is you want to do with this third sister…”
Priest quickly held up his hands. Making a circle with his right hand and then jamming two fingers with his left hand into the circle.
Slade curled his lip at Priest.
“As far as the van goes, it’s handled,” Cyrus said. “We’re a club. We make decisions. I make decisions. Just another run. That’s it. Just another fucking run.”
Cyrus smacked the gavel and everyone but him stood up.
All the guys walked to the door to exit with the exception of Linc and Slade.
“I hate these tactics,” Cyrus said. “ JC is rolling in his grave right now.”
“This is better,” Linc said. “Show tension at the table over this. See what happens.”
“They think there’s a van full of coke getting moved,” Slade said. “Plus guns. It’s a smart play. A bit of a quiet play too.”
“It’ll also help to get some heat off our backs,” Linc said.
“I get how it fucking works,” Cyrus growled. “I don’t like this. We’re outlaws, not cerebral… whatever .”
“Times change,” Linc said.
“Yes, they do,” Cyrus said as his touched his chin.
Slade glanced to his left.
Darrow left behind a piece of paper with information written down on it. Meant for Slade. Information about Nelle. Where she lived. Her phone number. The link to her social media accounts where she posted the videos of antiques. As Darrow had said, Nelle didn’t exactly keep herself hidden when it came to an online presence.
The woman was fast but a beautiful mystery. Something Slade did not need in his life right now. Yet he still reached for the piece of paper.
“What’s your gut telling you about this woman?” Cyrus asked. “All bullshit aside. She’s fucking gorgeous and her two sisters were killed.”
“My gut tells me there’s a story there,” Slade said. “Whether it’s worth chasing or not, I’m not sure.”
“But damn do you want a taste of that though, huh?” Linc asked with a grin.
Slade smiled back. “Fuck you, VP .”
That made all of them chuckle.
Slade sat on the edge of his bed and watched what was now the third video in a row of Nelle talking about antiques. She had a rhythm to it. Her voice so soft, calm, soothing.
In this current video Nelle held some small doll wearing a black suit with a red flower as a bowtie. Its face looked to maybe have been bright white, like a clown or something.
The words meant nothing to Slade. The sound of her voice though… The sight of her hands though… It was like being teased. Seeing her hands and hearing her voice but never getting the opportunity to see her face. These videos had been made faceless on purpose.
Again, that just added to the mystery of this beautiful woman. Living somewhat secluded, looking after an antique store. Making videos to post online about the antiques.
Just doesn’t make sense at all, Slade thought.
Nelle pointed out the eyes on the little doll and when she did, a little glimpse of her hair came into view. Slade’s mind went right back to last night.
Her shirt sliding up and over her head. Her bra falling to the floor.
Jeans… panties…
Slade gritted his teeth and walked to the bathroom to find Nelle’s panties still on the floor.
“Fuck,” he growled, already knowing temptation had won the battle.
He grabbed her panties off the floor. His phone in one hand, Nelle’s panties in another. A certain sweet and seductive smell waiting if he just lifted the panties to his outlaw nose…
He gritted his teeth. He listened to Nelle’s voice on the video.
“Fuck,” he whispered.
Next thing he knew, Slade tossed his phone down to the bed and used that hand to open his jeans. He stuffed his hand down, grabbing for his thick, hardening, tortured cock.
Am I doing this…? Slade thought.
“Fuck yeah, I am,” he said out loud.
He curled his lip and wrapped his hand around his cock and pulled. He brought Nelle’s panties up to his nose. It felt like the only logical option here. He needed to clear his head. He needed to think and focus and the sound of Nelle’s voice had gotten to him. Each time he shut his eyes he pictured her naked in the tub. The sight of her tits.
Tits as beautiful as she is. Full, tender, those rose-pink nipples just begging for attention.
“… and as you can see here on the bottom, there is a collectors date and code…”
Nelle’s voice poured from the phone screen. Slade started to pull on his cock. His bedroom door opened.
“Hey, brother…”
Darrow stood there, eyes frozen wide. Slade stood there, caught red handed. Hand wrapped around his cock. Nelle’s panties pressed against his nose. Nelle’s video still playing.
In one motion, Slade turned, threw the panties across the room, and wrestled his cock back into his jeans.
“You don’t fucking knock, you stupid prick?” Slade roared.
“Are you jerking off to an antique video?” Darrow asked. He was now in the bedroom. “Does she at least put that doll up her pussy or something?”
Slade zipped his jeans and spun around, then grabbed his phone off the bed and paused the video.
“Hey, I’ll give you all the time you need here,” Darrow said. “Need some kind of stuffed animal to hump while you’re at it?”
“I will slit your fucking throat if you say one word…”
Too late, Slade thought to himself. Darrow smiled and walked backward out of the bedroom and pulled the door shut. He hadn’t even said what he wanted from Slade.
“Fuck,” Slade growled even louder.
He sat down on the corner of his bed. His phone jumped and landed on the bed, playing Nelle’s video again. Slade swiped his hand, throwing his phone across the room.
One thing he knew for sure…
… this woman was starting to become a big problem for him.