45. Chapter 45
Gritting my teeth, I ignore the throbbing of pain in my hands. Not to mention the throbbing that’s been getting worse from the rest of my wounds. Doc had given me some light painkillers after he was done stitching me up, but I might have to break out the heavy meds tonight, otherwise I know I won’t be able to sleep much.
Grabbing my phone, I’m about to drop it into the basket when someone gently clasps my shoulder. Looking over my shoulder, I notice Thor shaking his head.
“Keep it on you just in case she needs you or finds something we need to know.”
We both turn slightly and my chest tightens when I see her going through some documents, a frown marring her beautiful face and her brows drawn in the more she reads.
What will she find? Is it just Nikos’ will? Or is there more? Then I remember what she had said as I was opening the safe. Did Nikos think someone was after him and has proof of something his murderer did?
Shaking myself internally, I slip my phone back into my pocket and follow Thor into Church. The Junction Creek guys are all standing or leaning against the back wall. It’s then that I realize how crowded it is in here with both clubs in here. If the clubs get much bigger, we’re going to need a bigger meeting room. Once everyone else has taken their seat, Thor bangs his hammer.
“Just to recap, Drae called me shortly before we left Mary’s old house. Not too long after we’d left, a package arrived for Mary,” he gestures over at Ryder, who’s currently dusting for fingerprints on a small box. “He set it aside in the safe box, figuring he’d give it to Mary when she got back. Then there were two drive-bys and one of the men in the car matched the description Mary gave us when Stephan changed his appearance. After the second one, he called me, which prompted us to wrap things up quickly at Mary’s old house. We all know what happened once we got back to the clubhouse.”
He pauses again as he looks around the room at all of us. “But before that begins, I think we need to take care of some overdue business.”
Phoenix goes to get up and Thor turns his icy glare on him. “Sit the fuck back down, Phoenix. Doc had to dig two bullets out of you and a shitload of shrapnel. Dragon, go get Colt.”
Phoenix grumbles but sits back in his chair as Dragon does as he asks. After a few moments, Colt steps in and shuts the door behind him. He’s trying to hide his nerves, and it can’t be easy with this many men staring him down. And woman. Fuck, Levi would have my ass if she realized I’d accidentally left her off that list. Though to be fair, our Queen can be downright as terrifying as some of us men.
“You asked for me, Pres?”
“Yeah, strip out of your cut and hand it over.”
His face pales and his fingers shake slightly as he takes off his cut. As he does, he winces slightly and it’s only then that I realize he’s got a bandage peeking out from under the arm of his sleeve. Fuck, did he get that protecting my Siren? Or before?
I’m brought out of my thoughts as he hands his cut over to him. Thor takes it and stares at him. His icy glare is one that has made men piss themselves before, but Colt holds his ground under the weight of his stare, head up and shoulders back. He’s so focused on Thor that he doesn’t notice Tripp handing Dragon something, who is still standing behind Colt.
“Get out of here,” Thor says, his voice clipped.
Disbelief and shock crosses Colt’s face for a moment before he masks it. With a curt nod, he turns on his heel but stops when he sees Dragon standing in front of the door, his arms crossed, as he gives his own terrifying icy stare that rivals Thor’s.
After a few moments, Dragon smirks. “You know Prospects aren’t allowed in Church except for dire circumstances. Put this on and grab a seat, Cowboy.”
Dragon tosses him a cut, which Colt thankfully catches. He stares for a moment at Dragon before looking down at the cut in his hand. A grin spreads across his face before he slips on his new cut, his new road name, Cowboy, stitched across the front.
Colt, though his real name is Troy, earned his nickname in school because his family farms and raises horses. His family’s land actually butts up against ours. His dad and his uncle, who are brothers, run the farm together. Every now and then Colt helps them out with the horses, especially if they take in a horse that needs a lot of work. I’ve heard he’s a fucking horse whisperer, but his passion has always been art, and he has grown so much as a tattoo artist under Axe’s tutelage. Thankfully, his parents understood and didn’t force him into staying on the farm. So, yeah, we kept the horse theme with his road name since horses are still a love of his, just not his passion.
Cowboy takes a seat as those nearby him clasp him on his shoulder in congratulations.
Thor bangs his hammer and everyone settles down.
“Ryder, what’d you get?”
Ryder frowns as he stares at his computer. “The prints don’t match anyone in the system. Did it come snail mail or by courier?” It’s then that I see he’d already dusted the outside of the box, which I’m assuming, is the one that was sent to Mary that Drae mentioned.
“Courier.”
“Fuck, maybe something inside will give us a hint as to who sent it then. Last time, they weren’t so careful. Maybe this will be the same.”
Thor frowns and looks over at me, giving me a chin lift.
Standing, I grab some gloves out of my kit and dig my knife out of my pocket. While a part of me doesn’t want to be the one to open this box, the other part needs to know what the fuck they sent Mary.
Right as I’m about to start cutting, I pull back and look up at Ryder. “Did you take pictures of the outside?”
He gives me a chin lift. “I’ll also take pictures as you open it.”
Carefully, I start cutting, but as soon as I make the first cut, I know whatever is inside isn’t going to be good.
The stench is awful.
Glancing up, Thor’s and Ryder’s faces harden before my eyes, no doubt smelling the same thing I am since they are both standing right beside me.
Breathing through my mouth, I finish cutting open the box, and open the flaps to find a bloody note inside. Taking a deep breath, I read it aloud.
You took what’s mine. What belongs to me. Things do not go well for those who steal my belongings. I’m going to ruin you. Take everyone you love from you and enjoy watching them suffer before snuffing out their pathetic, worthless lives. Times a ticking. Can you save them all?
There is a way to prevent all of this pain and suffering. Return what’s rightfully mine and drop all the charges.
My hand shakes with anger as I re-read the note. Ryder sets down his phone and I pass him the note.
“Don’t test it just yet. I have a feeling this is going to be bigger than us.”
He frowns but nods as he puts the note into a plastic baggie to protect it.
Looking back down in the box, I move the newspaper out of the way and my stomach rolls when I see a dead mama robin and three little babies.
“What the fuck?” Thor growls.
“What is it?” Reaper all but demands as he pushes off slightly from the wall.
“A dead mama robin and three dead little babies.”
Everyone curses and I can almost taste the anger in the room.
“I hate to ask this, but is there anything else in there besides them?” Ryder asks and I frown.
“Can someone grab a couple of tongue depressors out of my kit?”
A moment later, someone hands me the depressors, and I do my best to not disturb the birds as much as possible.
I shake my head. “I don’t think so. But this fucker just threatened everyone I know. I need to warn them. Shit, Mandy’s at college. It’d be so easy to get to her.” Not everyone knows I have a sister, and quite frankly, I was hoping to keep her away from this life as much as possible. It’s not that I don’t trust my brothers with her, it’s that she’s too sweet, too pure. I don’t want to taint her with our darkness.
“Where’s she going?” Timber asks.
“She’s at the Wisconsin UNI branch on the outskirts of town.”
“Depending on her classes, I can help keep an eye on her. Sunshine’s starting next semester and I can help out for the rest of this semester too. If I can’t make it, I’ll send Ethan in my place.”
I give him a nod of thanks before looking back at the note on the table.
“To properly warn your family, and Mary’s, we need to call this into Sam. Not sure if he can keep this on the down low, but we’ll see,” Thor says as he tilts his chin in my direction. “Call him, Patch.”
Ripping off my gloves, I pull out my phone and dial Uncle Sam, putting him on speakerphone.
“Patch, everything okay?”
“Not really. A package was delivered to Mary earlier today, but we forgot about it with all the commotion. Any chance you and Brady can head back this way?”
He grunts over the line. “He’s here at the house, so we’ll be there in a few. See you in a bit, nephew.”
I smile as I end the call and look up at Thor. “They’re on their way, and they’re coming as family, not the law.”
Thor frowns. “What makes you so sure?”
“He used a familial term. It’s their code, so to speak, to let whoever called them know that they’re showing up as family rather than as the law. We haven’t had to use it very many times in the past, but it’s useful for when we do need it.”
“Who’s on gate duty right now?” Ryder asks.
“Drae’s still out there,” Cowboy answers.
He grabs his phone and taps out a text. After a moment he nods.
“Drae knows to let them in and to let us know when they get here.”
“Alright, you guys take your seat for now.” He pauses as we throw our gloves away but instead of taking my seat right away, I walk back to my stash. Grabbing some more tools, as well as a box of gloves, I cross the room again and set them down on the table by Thor before retaking my seat.
“Smoke, I want you to reach out to Antonio and set up a time as soon as possible so that we can talk on a secure line. See if you can loop Haris in on it as well. In the meantime, is there anything we need to discuss business-wise?” Thor asks, but I can’t focus on what they’re discussing.
My mind whirls as the scope of who all is affected by this threat sinks in. There’re so many people on both sides of Mary’s families. My own is fairly small, but nonetheless, they are just as important to me as Mary’s family is. Then there’s my brothers and sisters in the club. I hope like fuck they don’t try to do anything to Mae and Levi. If either of them, or their babies, are hurt, it would kill their men. Hell, it would kill all of us. I’ve seen, along with the rest of my brothers, how the lives of those three men have changed, and how they themselves have changed. We all would lay down our lives for Mae, Levi, and the babies, but especially their men. I sure as fuck hope it never comes to that, because I think that in turn would destroy Mae and Levi. Sure, they’d keep going for their kids, but they’d never be the same.
I’m brought out of my thoughts by someone pounding on the door. Looking down at my watch, I’m surprised ten minutes have already passed. Fuck, I hope I didn’t miss anything important.
Timber gets up and lets Uncle Sam and Brady in, and their faces instantly scrunch up at the smell.
“Well, fuck, this isn’t a good sign,” Brady mutters as he walks straight to the table and puts on a pair of gloves.
“I found a couple of prints on the outside of the box, but they don’t match anyone in the system. We haven’t dusted the note, but you can see partials in the blood,” Ryder tells them.
“Fuck,” Uncle Sam hisses out as he reads the note as he puts on his own gloves.
He peels back the newspaper, and they both curse. Uncle Sam looks over at Ryder. “Get me your kit.”
Ryder grabs his kit and together, they dust the note and do whatever the fuck it is to get copies of the fingerprints left on the card. Whoever this is, even though I’m fairly certain it’s Stephan, is stupid as fuck to be leaving evidence for us. Either that or he doesn’t think he’ll be caught.
Another knock on the door has all of us looking up as Timber goes to find out who it is. My stomach drops as I hear Sasha’s voice mentioning that something happened with Mary.
“Just a second, let me tell Thor,” Timber says before shutting the door and partially turning around. “Mary’s pretty shaken up about a voicemail and some stuff she just read. Sasha thinks it might be related to everything else.”
I freeze at that and then I’m on my feet, stalking toward the door. Opening it, I take Mary from Ethan, holding her tight in my arms. She’s shaking like a leaf. What the fuck is going on now? Don’t we have enough to worry about?