Chapter 24
SUGAR
Ifollowed Kalani into the bathroom. “Are you gonna be okay while I get a jar?”
Her blood-spattered forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What?”
“A jar. For your … collection,” I said, gesturing to her bloody hands and arms.
Leaning forward, she gave me a soft kiss.
“Thank you for being thoughtful,” she whispered.
Then she stepped back and continued talking as if the moment didn’t happen.
“I don’t think one jar constitutes a collection.
Regardless, I didn’t kill Ashley. Unless …
do you think she’ll die from the injuries I inflicted? ” Her eyes widened with excitement.
“She could. You ripped her fucking arm off.”
“I did not,” she huffed. “I cut it first. It ripped at the end.”
“Semantics.”
“I guess I should keep some of her blood, just in case. I hadn’t thought about starting a collection until you mentioned it, but now I want to. Do you think I can get some directly from her?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I’m sure you can. Dare I ask why?”
“I double dog dare you.”
“Pass.”
“I’m telling you anyway. I saw a video of someone making cummy bears, and that—”
“A video of what?” I interrupted.
“If you’d have let me finish, you’d know. I was going to say it gave me an idea. I want to mix the blood with resin and make something with it. Maybe a skull? What do you think?”
“I think I understand what cummy bears are, and I feel the need to say that you do not have my consent.”
She laughed and stepped into the shower. “Good to know.”
A few moments later, she pulled the shower curtain back so she could look at me. “If you need to help them downstairs, I’m fine. I kinda feel bad about them cleaning up my mess.”
“If you’re sure you’re good.”
“I am. I’ll call for Birdie if something changes.”
I kissed her once more before I left and went back downstairs.
Ashley was still passed out on the floor by the back door with her arm elevated on a stack of pillows. Slit stepped in after the first and only turn of The Hokey Cokey and stopped Ashley from bleeding to death. She’d lost consciousness shortly after that.
I found Whisker and the rest of the guys in the living room. “What do you need me to do?”
“Nothing until Kalani’s out of the shower. Then we’ll load up and head back. You and Slit take Ashley; Hannah will ride with Coochie, Birdie, and Kalani.”
I didn’t like it, but the seating arrangements made sense. If Hannah woke up, she’d recognize Kalani. Kalani couldn’t be in the same vehicle as Ashley, and Slit couldn’t take care of Ashley’s arm and drive back by himself.
Thankfully, it was only an hour drive from Makani to the clubhouse.
“Are we taking her to your room or the cell?” I asked when we arrived at the clubhouse. Slit lived in the main house directly across from Beaver with the same set up—Beaver’s room connected to the IT room and Slit’s connected to the med room.
“I’ll bring my shit down to the cell. I don’t want her negative ass energy in my space.”
“Can you bring whatever you need to get a vial of blood from her? It’s for Kalani.”
“If she’s trying to clone her so she can kill her again, the answer is no.”
“She hasn’t killed her a first time yet,” I reminded him.
“I don’t want to participate in blood magic either.”
“She wants to mix it with resin and make a trinket.”
“A trinket? Do you hear yourself?”
“Yes, but which part bothers you—the bloody resin skull or the word trinket?”
“All of it,” he said. “But yeah, I’ll get some blood for you.”
“Thanks, man. All right, how are we doing this?”
“Taco should be coming out with a stretcher any second now. You go down to the cell with her while I get my shit from my room. I’ll meet you down there.”
Moments later, Taco appeared and helped us get Ashley loaded onto the stretcher.
“Hold on,” Slit called as he reached into the bed of the truck. He pulled out a package wrapped in black plastic and handed it to Taco. “Take this and make sure it stays with her.”
“Nope,” Taco gagged, tossing Ashley’s arm onto the stretcher. “Fuck no.”
“You would’ve never made it through Kalani’s performance,” I laughed.
“Her what?”
“She did The Hokey Cokey.”
“The what?” Taco covered his mouth with his hand and shook his head. “Never mind. I’m gonna puke if you don’t shut the fuck up.”
I clapped him on the shoulder. “Yeah, that’s how I felt watching it happen. You put you’re right arm in …” I sang.
It seemed like it happened in slow motion. Taco’s face turned green. Then he grabbed his stomach as his upper body rolled forward, and he vomited all over Ashley.
“Fuck yes!” I shouted. “Good shot, man!”
“Fuck off.”
The rumble of motorcycles in the distance kicked my ass into gear. Kalani’s truck left ten minutes after we did. The rest of the guys left ten minutes after them. If I could hear the bikes, Kalani was going to arrive with Hannah any second.
I pushed Ashley through the common room, ignoring the sirens as they gasped.
Zoe hurried to walk beside me. “What’s going on?”
“Club business,” I grunted and picked up my pace.
“I know, but can’t you tell me a little something?” she pouted.
“Not now.”
She winked. “I’ll find you later, sugar daddy.”
I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at her. “No, you won’t,” I said calmly. “And if you ever call me that again—”
“I will dissect you like a high school frog,” Kalani finished.
“You’ll have to save her for later.”
“Not if she calls you sugar daddy again.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me.
“One murder at a time,” I reminded her. “Do you remember agreeing to that?” She nodded. “Good. Because you’ve got this one, and potentially two more.”
Zoe’s eyes widened in horror. “Fuck all that. You can have him.”
“He’s not a thing to give,” Kalani breathed.
“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I’m sorry. I just meant … I don’t want to die,” she cried. “Please don’t kill me. Please.”
Kalani took several steps back and raised her hands in front of her. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Zoe!” Whisker boomed. “Get your ass back to the barn and stay there until I say otherwise.”
Zoe covered her face with her hands and made a show of crying as she left the room with Clover running after her.
Kalani shook her head. “Look what your dick did.”
Whisker laughed first, breaking the tension around us. “Fucking hell. All right, let’s go. We’ve got shit to do.”
Taco and I carried the stretcher down the stairs and wheeled her into the cell. Slit was the next one to come down the stairs, followed by Whisker, Biscuit, and Kalani.
Kalani.
“You can’t be down here,” I told her.
Whisker whirled around and reached for his gun but stopped when he realized who I was talking to.
“One murder at a time, right? Well, if I had stayed upstairs, I might’ve murdered that Zoe girl.”
“Nice try. She was sent to her room.”
“Okay, I’ll go back upstairs—knowing where her room is—with no one to supervise me.”
“Holy fuck!” Whisker shouted. “Kalani, sit down and do not get up until I tell you.”
Kalani moved to the closest chair and sat. “I’ve been on my best behavior, and I’m still getting treated like an errant child. But that’s cool. I’ll sit, and I’ll use my time to cast a spell on you.”
Whisker looked at me. “You wanna rein in your Old Lady.”
“His what?” Kalani shouted.
Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply through my nose. “I hadn’t told her yet.”
Whisker clapped my shoulder. “Under different circumstances, I might’ve said sorry, but your woman is stacking bodies in our lava tubes as we speak. We don’t have time for extra bullshit.”
He was right. We didn’t. I met Kalani’s angry eyes. “I claimed you as my Old Lady.”
“When?”
“When you weren’t answering your fucking texts!”
“You were worried about me,” she cooed.
“Kalani,” I warned and cut my eyes to Whisker.
“Right.” She crossed her legs at the ankles and clasped her hands in her lap. “Play time is over for now.”
Once Ashley was situated, Whisker had Snatch come in to stay with Ashley while the rest of us went upstairs for church.
“Where’s Birdie?” I asked.
“She’s upstairs with Hannah in the med room,” Whisker said.
“You want to stay with her while we’re in church?” I asked Kalani.
“No, I want to go to church.”
“You can’t. Birdie or back downstairs. Which is it?”
“I can tell by your tone that this wouldn’t be a good time to make a joke about Ashley being downstairs, so I’ll skip it and go upstairs with Birdie.”
“Thank you.”
Whisker called the meeting to order as soon as I sat down since I was the last one to arrive.
“We don’t have time for suggestions and discussions.
We’ve got a woman in the basement with an injury that will soon be lethal without surgical intervention, and we’ve got a medicated child upstairs who will be waking up any time now.
We need to get them the fuck out of here as soon as possible.
Which means we need to contact Brock Mitchell and get him here.
Beaver’s going to text Brock from Ashley’s phone.
She’s in Kahakai with Hannah and her car won’t start.
She needs him to come get them. We’ll give him directions to Charli’s Place and pick him up at the gate.
We’ll find out what he knows and go from there. Objections?”
“Uh, yeah,” Bunch said. “Did I miss something? Why the fuck are we doing this for the bitch who stabbed Sugar?”
“That bitch is my Old Lady now,” I announced proudly.
The room fell silent for several beats before the brothers erupted in cheers, followed by several odd but appropriate congratulations.
“Better you than me.”
“You must like living on the edge.”
But my personal favorites were, “What did sleep ever do to you?” and “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Whisker banged the torque wrench to bring the meeting back to order. “Let me try this again. Objections?”
Not one.
“All right. Beaver, do your thing. Everyone else, stay at the clubhouse. We’ll reconvene when Brock gets here.”
Brock arrived a few hours later, thinking he was going to find his wife and child waiting for him in the lobby of Charli’s Place. So he was completely caught off guard when he found himself surrounded by five bikers and complied easily.
Once we were all seated around the table, Brock spoke first. “I don’t know what my cunt of a wife has done, but I’ll do whatever you want. Just please don’t hurt my daughter. I have money. Do you want money?”
“I guess that answers that,” I mumbled.
“How much?” he asked, looking at me. “Give me a number.”
I pointed to Whisker. “He’s the president. Talk to him.”
“But what did you say? Was it about Hannah? Please! Where is she? Can I see her?”
“Take a breath, man,” Cookie said. “Your kid’s fine, and she’ll stay that way while we’re talking.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Does the name Trenton Pritchard mean anything to you?” Whisker asked.
Brock stiffened in his seat. “Yes. Why?”
“How do you know Trenton?”
“He’s a silent investor in my company. Again, why?”
Whisker ignored him and continued with his questions. “Who is Matthew Heinz to you?”
Disgust washed over Brock’s face. “He’s my soon-to-be ex-wife’s brother.”
“You’re getting divorced?”
Brock shifted in his seat. “She doesn’t know. The papers are supposed to be served next week.”
“Who gets custody of Hannah?”
“Me,” Brock said as if it were obvious. “Hannah is my daughter. Ashley is her stepmother.”
Whisker leaned back in his chair and watched Brock carefully. “One last question. Were you aware that Matthew and Ashley were trying to sell your daughter to Trenton?”
The explosive outburst I expected from Brock didn’t come. Instead, he sat completely still and stared at Whisker. “What did you say?” he asked quietly, calmly.
Whisker pushed the envelope we found in Matthew’s room across the table to Brock. “I asked if you knew about that.”
Brock opened the envelope and haphazardly emptied the contents. A few photos scattered from the stack and landed face up on the table. Brock glanced down and promptly lost his shit. It took four of us to contain him until he calmed down enough to continue.
“What I said earlier was, ‘That answers that,’” I told Brock. “We wanted to know if you knew, and clearly you didn’t.”
Brock wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth. “What if I did know?”
“We were gonna kill you.”
“Is that what you did with Matthew and Ashley?”
Whisker grinned. “We can’t tell you that.”
Brock bristled. “I need to know if they’re still out there trying to sell my child!”
“That isn’t a concern you should trouble yourself with going forward. That’s all you get.”
“I’ll take it. Where’s Hannah?”
“Not so fast. We can’t let you leave without some assurance that we can trust you with the information you learned today.”
“What kind of assurance?”
Whisker leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. He nodded toward the pictures. “Those aren’t all of them. Bring us Trenton, and you can have the others back or watch me destroy them. Fuck us over and you’ll receive the same treatment your wife did.”
Right on cue, Beaver turned his laptop around and played the camera footage of Taco puking on Ashley after Slit handed him her arm.
Brock covered his mouth with his hand. I couldn’t tell if he felt sick or if he was trying not to laugh. Dropping his hand, he exhaled slowly. “I’ll call Trenton and tell him I need to meet with him as soon as possible. It might be tomorrow evening or the next day. Will that work?”
“Yes,” Whisker said. “You and your daughter will stay here until we have Trenton. Leave your phone with Beaver. We’ll come get you when we want to contact Trenton tomorrow.
Sugar will take you up to see Hannah. That’s all for now.
” Whisker banged the torque wrench and stood.
“I’m fucking beat. I’m going to bed. Call me if something happens. ”