Axel
I took one last drag from my cigarette and flicked the butt into the dirt. The cloud of smoke followed me into the strip club. A few guys glanced in my direction, but I wasn’t nearly as interesting as the stripper circling the pole with her top off.
But I wasn’t there for her. I walked through the blaring music, past the stage, and into a back room.
Breaker stood guard. I stopped in front of him and waited while he turned to get the okay to let me in.
I tried not to let my irritation show. It was about time. I’d waited long enough. I got it, Stryker was busy. And he’d been away when I’d first come back from Arizona. But my patience was wearing thin.
With a nod, Breaker stepped aside to let me through.
Stryker’s long mustache was mostly gray, and his forehead was deeply lined. His vest was worn with age—a mark of his seniority—and his jeans had holes in the knees. He leaned against the front of a desk with a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth.
His old lady, Roxi, sat on a battered couch, her blond hair teased like an eighties beauty queen. And while she wore only slightly more clothing than the stripper, her tight red dress leaving little to the imagination, I knew better than to look too closely.
A few other guys lounged around the room. One got up, and with a nod to Stryker, left through the door I’d come in.
“Axel,” Stryker said.
I cut to the chase. He wouldn’t want me to waste his time with details he didn’t care about. “I’m trying to get my son back. But his mother isn’t cooperating.”
Stryker’s eyes flicked to his old lady. She didn’t say anything.
“So?”
I hesitated, not prepared for that response. “She took off with him. I don’t know where they went.”
“She ran?”
“Looks like it. Skipped town. She left with some guy.”
He took a drag and pinched his cigarette between two fingers, drawing it out of his mouth to blow the smoke toward the ceiling. “What does that have to do with me?”
“I could use help tracking her down.”
He glanced at his old lady again. “You know where she is?”
Roxi shook her head. “No.”
Stryker’s eyes moved back to me and he shrugged.
“That’s it?” I asked.
He took another drag and blew the smoke upward. “That’s it.”
“There’s gotta be a way to find her.”
“You went to get your kid and couldn’t bring him back. What do you expect me to do about that?”
“But he’s her…” I gestured toward his old lady without quite looking at her.
“He’s nothing of mine,” Stryker said.
Anger seared through me, but I clenched my teeth to stay in control.
He crushed the butt in an ashtray. “I kept a couple dogs on her scent while you were away. You should appreciate that.”
“I do.”
“But now? You can’t control a woman, that’s your problem.”
I didn’t bother looking to Roxi to intervene. What an old lady’s man said was law. It didn’t matter that Summer was her daughter or Nate her grandson. She’d never oppose Stryker, especially in front of another member.
“Got it,” I said. “I’ll figure something out.”
He nodded, dismissing me.
Rage burned like a hot coal in my gut as I turned and walked out. I wanted to pick up a chair and smash it, but I resisted the urge to break shit.
Not in the mood to stare at some stripper’s tits, but definitely in the mood for a drink, I stalked outside and went to the bar next door.
It was ours, just like the strip club, and members clustered around the bar while others played pool.
A few had their old ladies with them, and other women hung around.
If a member wanted to get laid, there were always options.
I got a cheap whiskey from the bartender and slid onto a stool. Fucking Summer. She’d made me look like an idiot.
Hammer sat on the stool next to me. “I heard something.”
“What?”
“Sum Sum might be in Elko.”
Raising an eyebrow, I turned toward him. “Who said that?”
“Cutthroat. He was passing through and saw a waitress who’s a dead ringer. He knew we’d been out to check on her, so he was wondering what she was doing there.”
“You think it’s really her?”
He shrugged. “Could be. Waitress fits. That’s what she usually does.”
“What’s the diner called?”
“Sonny’s Café. You want me to ride with you?”
“No. I need to handle this myself.”
“All right.” He slid off the stool. “Ride hard, brother.”
“Ride hard.”
With a slow grin, I swallowed the last of my whiskey. I was going to find that bitch. I was going to get my kid back, and then I was going to make her pay.