22. Screamer
SCREAMER
Wrong.
“Our guy couldn’t find him.”
Drumming my fingers on the table, I can’t stop thinking about the woman still in my bed.
I kept my promise and was there when she woke up…
the first time. After we fucked again, she fell back to sleep, and I came to church.
Shuffle and a few of his brothers are present, and it’s disconcerting to know his sister is naked under the same roof.
“Addison and her detectives haven’t either,” Crow states.
“What about you?” I ask, turning my attention to Tracer. “Find anything?”
He stares at me for a long moment, and I give him an almost imperceptible nod.
He approached me before church was called to order and asked if I was okay with him sharing the fact that I asked him to dig into Roxie.
I told him to go ahead, that I have nothing to hide anymore because Roxie’s safety takes priority over my secrets.
“Well, per your request,” he begins. “I dug into Roxie, which led me to Jace.”
“You were snooping on my sister?” Shuffle snarls.
“Don’t,” Crow barks. “I get that you’re pissed about her being with Screamer, but it is what it is. Let it go.”
Shuffle settles into his chair. “Fine. But know that I’m only giving in because this is your house, not mine.”
“Understood.” Crow looks to Tracer. “Continue.”
“Honestly, there wasn’t much to find on Roxie. No criminal record, no dirty laundry, so to speak.”
“You thought you’d find otherwise?” Shuffle asks.
“No,” Tracer admits. “But I did come across her social media accounts, and that’s where things get juicy.”
“How so?” I demand.
“Well, her relationship is documented in her posts and pictures. Seems they were happy together. Now, we all know that was a front, at least toward the end. But you’d never guess it.”
“Okay, but do you have anything we don’t know?” Journey asks.
“I’m getting to that. So, Roxie used to post every day, some days more than once. Then her posts just stopped. I’m assuming that’s when she left Jace and came here.”
“Makes sense,” Python says. “She was running from him, and social media makes it too easy to be tracked.”
“Right. I thought the same thing,” Tracer explains. “The weird thing is, Jace never commented on anything until after she left. And the comments were weird. He’d go from gushing over how pretty she looks in a picture to calling her a whore for wishing a male friend ‘happy birthday’.”
“So, he’s crazy,” Jackyl, our club doc, states.
“Pretty much,” Tracer confirms. “The only social media activity he has is those comments on Roxie’s profile. He also doesn’t have a criminal record. On paper, he’s a stand-up guy.”
“Tell that to Rae,” Shuffle bites out.
Tracer raises his hands. “Just giving facts, man.”
“I’m not buying that he’s squeaky clean,” Poker chimes in. “There’s no way that beating Roxie is the first wrong thing he’s ever done.”
“Agreed,” I add. “He’s just managed to not get caught.”
“Which makes this even harder because it means he’s smart,” Crow says.
“I have an idea,” Bear says from where he’s standing against the wall, and all eyes turn to him.
“What’s that?” Crow and Shuffle ask simultaneously.
“Rather than waste another minute on this prick, we should vote on what essentially would amount to a bounty on his head.”
“Explain,” Shuffle demands.
“I mean, if this guy is so hard to track down, then we have to assume that’s not going to change.
I propose that Roxie be put under twenty-four-seven guard, and the rest of us keep our eyes and ears open.
If we come across the bastard, take him out.
It’s clean and simple. And it doesn’t alert him in any way if he’s watching us. ”
“Roxie will never go for being under guard,” I say, knowing it’ll piss her the fuck off.
Shuffle smirks. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”
“You want me to lie to her?” I counter. “After everything she’s been through, that’s not happening.”
Her brother sighs. “Fine. Tell her, but explain that it’s temporary. Shit, it can be you who’s with her at all times. At this point, I don’t give a damn as long as she’s safe.”
“You’re trusting me with her?”
“You claimed her, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“Then, yeah, I’m trusting you. If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that when a biker claims a woman, they will do whatever the fuck it takes to protect her.”
“Damn straight,” I agree.
“All in favor of Bear’s plan, thump twice,” Crow orders.
Every man in the room pounds the table or wall two times.
“Good. Now, Addison is going to continue to investigate Saint’s death. She knows how the club works, so when Jace turns up dead, there’ll be no heat from police.”
“You sure about that?” Creep asks, speaking for the first time since church started.
“I’d stake my life on it.”
Creep nods.
“In the meantime,” Journey begins. “Is there anything we can do to help with Saint’s funeral?”
“At the moment, no,” Shuffle responds. “If that changes, I’ll let you know.”
“Please do,” Crow says.
Church is called to an end, and each man funnels out of the room. Each man but Shuffle and me.
“She slept in your bed last night, didn’t she?” he asks me, his eyes narrow.
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
He hesitates for a brief moment before shaking his head. “No. Know this, Screamer. I meant what I said about gutting you if you hurt her.”
“I know.”
“Then I wish you luck.”
“What?”
He chuckles darkly. “You’re the one who’s going to tell her about her new situation with having a guard. She’s not going to like that.”
He walks away from me, and I swear I hear him whistling gleefully as he does. I inhale deeply and mentally prepare myself for the conversation I have to have. She might be mad at first, but she’ll understand.
Right?
Wrong.
Roxie was definitely angry and did not understand.