Chapter 12
Vector
It’s bad enough that Grace was kidnapped, but how the hell do I comfort Sloane? I can’t look her in the eyes and tell her everything is going to be alright—because there are no fucking guarantees.
“There has to be something we can do,” Sloane sobs the moment she hops off my bike and lifts the facemask of her helmet.
I grip her arm as I lower the kickstand and hit the ignition.
“Look at me, love,” I keep my voice low as I swing my leg over and stand beside her. Without the hum of the engine, we’re in danger of attracting unwanted attention. “Crasher is keeping tabs on things while we’re on the road. If anything happens, I’ll get a call.”
“She has a son, Vector.” Sloane’s voice cracks and I remove her helmet, pressing my forehead to hers.
“There’s nothing you’re going to say that I haven’t thought of. I love that you want to do something, but it’s not our place,” I respond as I ever so slightly increase the pressure of my grip her shoulders. “You need to understand that when a man like Ford says she’s under his protection, he’s going to move heaven and hell to get her back safely. I wouldn’t have ridden away from there if I had any doubts.”
Hearing another bike approach, I turn my head to see Roman rolling up on us. He was ahead of me so must have circled back from the next exit when he noticed I wasn’t behind him anymore; I wave him past so Sloane won’t get flustered.
“I just feel like I should be doing something,” she mumbles, letting out a shuddering breath. “Back home, I could have called Chet to bring his coon dogs out to help tracking.”
Do not laugh. Comfort her, do not … I try repeating the words fast enough, but it’s no use, nor is there any covering the shaking with the laughter I’m holding in.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just.” My words cut off when I catch the flash of anger in her eyes as she pulls herself up to her full height. “That’s sweet.”
I barely get the last two words out, before the laughter I’m holding in gets the best of me and all I can do is hope she still talks to me when I can get myself under control long enough to point out that, unlike the backwoods swamp where she grew up, cameras are much more effective where we are.
She storms off in the direction of the bathrooms and I see Roman approaching me.
“Everything alright?” he asks, looking over his shoulder at the sound of a door slamming.
“It will be, as long as Ford rescues Grace,” I tell him, realizing that I needed that laugh as much as Sloane needed to cry.
“I checked in with Crasher. Tyrant shook some trees and got word that the Wretched asswipes might be involved,” he informs me, removing a pack of cigarettes from his cut. I shake my head before he has the chance to offer one, so he lights his own before continuing. “They passed the information to Ford’s guys already, but there’s no sign of them in our neck of the woods. At least since they hit our truck and went running for cover. You wanna tell me what was so funny?”
“Sloane wants to help,” I answer with a shrug, cutting off the rest of my comment when I see her approaching us.
“I wasn’t laughing at you, Sloane,” I say stepping past Roman to get back in her good graces.
“I know she can’t be tracked with dogs on highways, but I’ve seen them in action before and I just meant I wanted to help in some way,” she explains, thankfully not seeing the look on Roman’s face at the mention of dogs.
He has a scar from a gnarly bite when he was younger and still avoids them at all costs.
“With it being Grace, I can’t imagine that Ford’s going to want Vector anywhere near this,” Roman tells her, trying to be helpful.
The glare I shoot his ways has him throwing his hands up in frustration.
“This is a big pride thing, isn’t it?” Sloane asks as Roman heads to the john, leaving me to deal with Sloane. “Ford is head over heels for Grace and needs to be the one to save her.”
“Sloane, I’m here if they need me. In the meanwhile, Crasher is at the ready for anything Ford needs, but he’s got the Demon Chasers and will move heaven and earth to bring Grace home. Me inserting myself, will cause more problems without helping Grace.”
“Let’s get home,” she sighs, sounding exhausted.
*
Countless times over the next couple of days, Sloane looks at me, hope on her face as she silently wonders if I’ve heard anything. I’m certain Ford will get word to me once he rescues Grace, and I grin to myself at the thought of how that’s going to go.
Ford and I aren’t close, but I know him well enough to imagine him going scorched earth until he has her back by his side.
Meanwhile Sloane’s words from the other morning stay with me - be worthy of Grace’s forgiveness - and give me new purpose. There is one person in particular who has never doubted me or let me down, and I promise myself that once Bridget’s back from Arizona, I’ll tell her about my leg.
Although, I suspect my sister knows more than she’s ever let on.
Roman and a couple of my other brothers are also on that short list of people I’d trust with the knowledge, but there would be hell to pay if I didn’t come clean to Bridget first.
“Prez,” Tyrant calls out and I realize I’ve been staring at the dead air in front of me. Looking over my shoulder, I see him and Crasher standing just behind me. “We may have a lead on the Rebels.”
With a tilt of my head, I invite them to follow me back to my office.
“What’d you find?” I ask, circling behind my desk to see I’d left my phone there and I had a few missed calls.
“Oak was running some errands and he saw Rouge loading up a cart like she was shopping for the end of the world. He figured since Risky takes care of stocking our kitchen, and Rouge kept looking behind her, he’d follow her,” Tyrant informs me, as I check to make sure that I haven’t missed a call from Sloane or Ford. But it looks like Oak had been trying to reach me himself.
“She and Any were always close, so who’s Any shacking up with?” I instantly connect the dots, seeing where this is going.
“I looked up the property,” Crasher says, picking up the story. “From the last name, I’m assuming it belongs to Any’s grandparents. Oak said that Any met Rouge at the head of the driveway. He was far enough back that he didn’t think they noticed him when they were shifting the supplies between vehicles. He waited until they parted, then got closer—lots of motorcycle tracks on the dirt road, but he didn’t want to take the chance of being seen so he didn’t try to approach the house.”
“Is he heading back?” I ask, getting a nod in reply. “Good …”
Movement on one of the security screens catches my attention and I grin when I recognize the old Civic, looking between the men in front of me while I make my decision.
“Tyrant, why don’t you go have a conversation with Rouge. Keep it light at first, but she’s not going anywhere until this is resolved.”
“And once it is?” he asks, and I wonder if he’s actually caught feelings for her.
“Then, depending on how deep she’s in this, she can go anywhere that’s not here.”
With that he leaves my office, while I continue watch Rouge pull around to the side of the building and head inside, like it’s any other day.
“I’ll dump her cell, see what numbers I can pull,” Crasher says, standing to leave, but he hesitates as he chooses his words. “I know you didn’t ask, but I looked into Sloane. Besides a ticket or two, she’s clean. I’d imagine you know she lost a brother.”
“I do,” I reply, giving him a nod of thanks. While I like to think I can read people, it’s Crasher’s job to keep the MC safe even from people I take at face value.
“Her older brother, and a couple of her cousins have been picked up a time or two,” he says as an afterthought and I remember her comment from our time at the river. “They always get a slap on the wrist and some community service. Things get expunged down there pretty easily it seems.”
“How many?”
“Arrests, I’d say about …”
“No, cousins.”
“There’s thirteen, plus her two living brothers. She’s the only girl in the bunch—which explains how she took down Any the other day without having to think about it. That family of hers doesn’t seem like the type to mess around.” The grin on his face shows his appreciation of Sloane’s ability. “Sloane didn’t exactly learn to cat-fight, did she?”
I nod, my smile even wider than his. Once he closes the door, I sit back in my chair and look up the town she mentioned.
It’s not a short trip, but there are some interesting places to stop along the way. A big family like that won’t accept hearing secondhand things about their daughter’s man; I have no doubt Paul’s already gotten word back to them about me.
Once we take care of business up here, I’ll be taking her home. She’ll need some time with them to work through her pain, that’ll give them the opportunity to understand I’m not going anywhere.
*
“Hey, babe,” I quickly spit out when Sloane picks up the phone. “I got tied up with something, so Swann and Evon are going to pick you up.”
“I can just head to Pops if you’re to…”
“I want you here, Sloane,” I tell her, my tone leaving no room for argument. “Evon might fall even more in love with you if you suggest going to Sweet Temptations to get me some peppermint fudge.”
My second statement draws a laugh from her, easing any tension from my demand.
“I’ll think about it,” she responds. “Love ya.”
I grunt, not wanting to say anything in front of my audience. Their eyes are on me when I turn back around, the terror in Rouge’s are in stark contrast to the bored expression in Tyrant’s.
Smothering a smile at the hatchet job Tyrant did on the woman’s hair, I lock eyes with him before I continue. “Anything useful?”
“She’s lying to me, thinking I’ll go easy on her,” his low voice echoes ominously around the room as he yanks the rag out of her mouth.
“Please, it was just for her family party,” Rouge says, long streaks of eye makeup streak down her cheeks as she tries to convince me.
“Yeah? Do her grandparents ride hogs?” Holding up my phone up, I make a show of scrolling through it, before aiming the screen in her direction. “The cops have been out there for noise complaints in the past week. And it’s the first time you’ve helped her.”
I’m taking the chance that her tears are blurring her vision and she doesn’t actually see that I simply showed her a community report from the local sheriff's office. Tyrant knows me well enough that when I nod my head, he shifts the blade he’s resting on her shoulder to lightly slide it against the side of her neck.
Another sob escapes her, and she starts talking. “Please! I’m sorry. My brother owes them money and they started threatening me …”
“Who?” Tyrant asks, cutting her off.
“Tyre and the others,” she quickly replies, fingering the Wretched Rebels. “Any has been hooking up with him and Able since they prospected here. She had me bring her some of her things that she left behind when y’all kicked her out and a few of them were there waiting for me. I didn’t tell them anything, even though they kept asking me to snoop around, so I had to run errands for them. They have me paying for all their food and stuff.”
“Do they have any other women out there?” I ask her, trying not to look too interested. “Or just the guys, Any, and her grandparents.”
“Her grandparents went out west in their RV. I’ve seen a couple of skanks, no one I know. No one else from here, I mean.”
“How about a woman, around thirty or so, dark red hair?”
Rouge looks confused before shaking her head. “No, the girls are probably my age or younger.”
“Anything else we should know?” Tyrant asks her.
“She said Tyre was flipping out because Able and Zero are missing,” Rouge replies, her eyes widening as she hopes this is important enough to save her life. “They freelance for some other groups, I’ve heard that before, but this time they were bragging about the money they were offered. Tyre needs them for something he has planned, but they haven’t been back, and he’s worried they’re out burning through the money somewhere.”
“Talkative little bitch, now aren’t ya?” Tyrant growls, twisting the blade so it rubs against her earlobe without cutting her.
“Two options right now.” I raise my voice over her whimpers. “Rag or no rag. If I hear a peep coming from this room, there’ll be hell to pay.”
“No rag,” she pleads. “But what are you going to do with me? It wasn’t my fault –”
“Walking into a trap was one thing, not telling us about it was your fault. Help us and you can pack your shit and move far enough away so that we never see you again. Don’t and you ain’t walking out of here.”
I turn on my heel and leave the room. That may be harsh but until I know that Grace is safe, Rouge has to decide if she wants to be collateral damage or turn her life around.
Sloane
Leaving work, I smile at the sight of Evon pretending the cement edge of the garden boxes are a tightrope that she’s walking, her father is a step behind her with his hand up to catch her if she slips.
“Miss Sloane!” she yells when she sees me, jumping down and running up to me. “We’re your damn taxi today!”
I can’t help the laugh that bursts from me as she undoubtedly repeats her dad’s opinion of his assignment.
“I really appreciate it,” I reply, as much for Swann as Evon. “But I have a stop I need to make on the way home.”
“What?” The look on her face is more inviting than Swann’s, so I focus on her.
“Well, Vector was telling me about this fudge that he really likes, and I wanted to get him some, but I can’t remember the name of the store,” I answer her, and the clap of her hands is countered by Swann’s frown. Right up until she turns to smile at him.
“Daddy knows where to go! Don’t you, Daddy?” she replies before launching herself into his arms.
He swings her up and around before settling her on her hip. “I’ve been betrayed,” he mutters, softening his words with a teasing bop to her nose. “You can have one thing, but it’s for after dinner.”
When Evon looks at me, I wink, and she quickly agrees to her father’s term.
This kid’s going to give Bridget a run for her money when she gets older.
In retrospect, I will admit to buying too much at Sweet Temptations. We quickly fell into a pattern of anything that Evon looked at too long, I added to my basket. After the sixth item, prior to the fudge counter, Swann’s growl let me know he was on to me, and I stopped doing it.
Getting Evon back into his truck, I look to him for permission to give her a small ring-pop and am pleased when he gives me a nod.
The large, gruff man doesn’t speak much and would be intimidating if I didn’t witness how he lights up when dealing with his daughter. It would be easy to say that she has him wrapped around her finger, if not for the fact that he’s the only one who seems to say no to her. When he does, she accepts it as the final answer without any more pleading.
“I think I’m going to save this for later,” Evon announces as she puts the ring pop in the cupholder of her car seat. “I could really use a power nap right now.”
“Why don’t you drive and I take the power nap?” Swann teases her as he snaps the final strap into place.
“Why doesn’t Miss Sloane drive and we both take power naps?” she counters, looking pleased with her solution.
“Because Miss Sloane isn’t a certified driver,” he responds still using the tone of voice that he reserves for his daughter.
“I have my license!” I interject myself into their conversation at what I felt was a slight.
Swann looks at me as he gets into the driver’s seat and starts his truck up before answering.
“Besides myself, Bridget and Tyrant are the only ones who can drive Evon anywhere,” he tells me, keeping his voice low. “Roman in a pinch. I work with them on defensive driving.”
“Not Vector?” I ask, genuinely curious.
“He never showed any interest.” His statement holds no animosity, and I almost feel silly for asking. Surely the president of their club has better things to do than run a kid anywhere.
Evon is sacked out by the time we get to the clubhouse, so Swann carries her off while I enter through the front door to find Vector.
The hum of conversations in the front room momentarily pauses as the men look to see who has entered. I smile, happy to see Vector at his usual seat near the back, but I hesitate by my third step. The tension in the room is pretty intense and before Vector waves me forward, I consider turning to follow Swann to the back entrance.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him, dreading the answer. The past hour might have been fun, but I’ve been constantly worried about Grace.
“No word yet, calm down,” he tells me, reaching out to where I’m wringing my hands together. “I feel the same way, so I have a call into Ford.”
“Full house in here today,” I comment, surprised that there are so many members around on an odd night.
“We’re going to go for a ride, but I’ll be back in a few hours,” he responds, wrapping his arm around my shoulder to guide me further into the clubhouse. “Come on, let me see what there is for dinner and we can eat before I leave.”
“I’m not terribly hungry,” I say, giving him a little grin. “How much time do you have?”
Even as he shifts our path toward his room, Vector makes a show of lifting his arm up to look at his dad’s old watch. “Just enough for a wham-bam-thank-ya-ma’am.”
Laughing, I use my new fob to open the door to his room. Vector quickly kicks it shut behind us as I pull my shirt up over my head before reaching for his belt.
Catching my wrists, he holds them behind my back before leaning in for a kiss. As the soft but insistent flick of his tongue, I open my mouth to his and melt against Vector as he uses precious moments to show me that I matter to him.
The instant he releases my wrists, I sink to my knees and smile up at him while attempting to get his belt to loosen up. “Christ, that’s like a chastity belt!”
With a grunt, he quickly releases the buckle, giving me the space to unfasten his pants. That grunt is followed by a gasp when I take his semi-hard cock into my mouth.
“You’re letting me off easy tonight, huh,” he murmurs, running one of his large hands through my hair.
While keeping his hand in place, Vector’s fingers gently rub the side of my head without trying to hurry me along. Rotating my hand as I continually stroke his thick cock into my mouth, I flick the underside with my tongue as I massage his balls with my other hand.
His sudden intake of breath is the only warning I get before the first spurt of his load hits my tongue. Vector’s next cry is a mix of pleasure and pain as I continue to work his cock, sucking down the reward for my efforts.
Just as I’m leaning back to sit on my heels, his phone beeps and he looks down at me in apology.
“I’ll be here when you get back,” I assure him.
“I’ll drive you to work in the morning,” he replies, refastening his jeans.
“Nope,” I pop the ‘p’ when I reply. “We start on this property tomorrow. I told the guys I’d meet them here.”