Chapter 2
My eyes never left the screen. My fingers kept tapping away. I was following an almost invisible trail. This kind of work was what I lived for. The usual check someone out and be done wasn’t a challenge. However, this was.
A few days ago, one of my flags was tripped.
I had them on anything related to my club, my brothers, and me.
I’d placed them after the whole deal with Braelyn and the discovery that Mayhem’s old lady, Astrid, was undercover with the FBI.
Luckily, she wasn’t one to throw everyone in prison.
She shared our perspective on certain people and the need for vigilante justice.
However, it had made me more cautious, so I’d talked to Smoke, and he’d told me how to do it.
Things had been normal, with no triggers, until a few days ago.
When I went in to see who it was and what they were nosing around in, I had to hunt to find the barest hint of a trail.
They made me work for it. That was how I found the alarm had been tripped in my file.
That information increased my curiosity.
Who would be checking into me versus the club?
It drove me crazy. I’d find the tiniest glimpse, and that was how I’d hop from site to site after my prey.
Whoever it was, they were delving into some very shady areas of the web, including the dark web.
I knew they were investigating someone other than me.
A man named Aarón Mora was their target.
From what I saw, that man needed to be either put away for life or eliminated, if there was proof of the deeds he was rumored to have done or been a part of.
Why was the sleuth so interested in him?
What were they hoping to do or gain with the information? And how did I fit in their searches?
For someone like me, it was both intriguing and frustrating.
I was becoming somewhat obsessed with it.
I spent every extra moment on it when I wasn’t working at the scrapyard, doing other work for the club, or spending time with my brothers.
I spent hours online searching for signs of my prey.
I’d been surviving on three hours of sleep a night.
I knew I should walk away, but I couldn’t.
The file they accessed about me wouldn’t tell them much.
They hadn’t tripped any other flags. They hadn’t returned to it.
I should let it go. It could’ve been by accident.
Last night, I stumbled upon my prey on more sites.
I found them because I knew how their minds worked and guessed where they might go next.
I lucked out on the fourth spot I investigated.
I’d been happily following behind when suddenly the trail stopped.
It made me wonder if whoever I was shadowing knew I was there.
If so, what gave me away? I was meticulous to hide my identity.
Even if my URL or username were found, they wouldn’t be able to trace it back to me, or they shouldn’t be able to.
I bounced things all over servers in different countries.
Damn, my interest shot even higher. Who were they that they could ferret out that?
A chime sounded, telling me someone had entered my house.
I wasn’t alarmed like I would be if I lived outside the walls of our compound.
Inside, we rarely locked our homes, and all of us pretty much entered each other’s places freely or after a cursory knock.
Where my office was, if whoever it was knocked, I wouldn’t hear it.
Getting to my feet to see who it was, I took one step before I heard a shout.
“Hey, Shadow, it’s me. Are you alive?” Nomad yelled. I heard amusement in his tone.
Walking out of my office toward the entry, I hollered back, “No, I’m dead. Go away. I’m his ghost.”
He chuckled. Moments later, we came face-to-face. He’d made it to my living room. Smiling at me, Nomad held out his fist. I bumped his with mine.
“What brings you to my humble abode on a Sunday morning? Shouldn’t you be passed out, either drunk or fucked stupid from last night?” I joked.
“I didn’t get drunk, and while I did get laid, it wasn’t good enough to do that to me. She was done and on to someone else. No one is sleeping in my bed, not even to repeat the sex.”
“Make yourself at home. If you want something to drink, it’s in the fridge. You know the deal,” I reminded him.
In my home, I wanted my brothers and their families to feel like it was theirs. That meant if they were thirsty or hungry, they knew to see what I had and take whatever they fancied. Nodding, Nomad went to the fridge and opened it. After a cursory look inside, he grabbed something.
“Do you want anything while I’m in here?” he asked.
“Hmm, how about a Coke?” I seated myself at the island.
He came toward me with two Cokes. After handing me mine, he sat next to me. I waited for him to speak. There had to be a reason he was here. Not to say Nomad or the others never stopped by just to visit, but I sensed it wasn’t that. He took a big swallow of his soda before he started.
“Shadow, you’ve been preoccupied for days.
And I know right now, there are no issues that the club has you investigating.
To be sure, I asked the officers. You have barely been seen by anyone.
You didn’t come to the clubhouse on Friday night or last night.
During the workweek, you conducted two brief walk-throughs to say hello, then disappeared to your house.
You’re isolating yourself. That’s not good.
You know that. Talk to me. Whatever you say will stay between us. ”
I considered what he said. My first reaction was to deny that anything was on my mind, then engage in small talk until he left. But this was Nomad. He wouldn’t easily be fooled, and he was my best friend. I heard the genuine worry in his voice.
“Okay, you’re right, I have been preoccupied. However, I assure you, it’s nothing terrible. I don’t think so. I came across someone online who piqued my curiosity, and I’m trying to find out who they are.”
“How did they intrigue you? It has to be something unique to have caught your attention,” he replied.
Deciding to tell him what I knew, I ran him through the whole story up until the abrupt departure last night. When I was done, he was shaking his head, frowning.
“Brother, I don’t know what to think. Why were they snooping into you?
That’s the big thing that bothers me. The rest with this Mora fella could be anything.
Maybe he wronged them or something. It might be a feud building between the person online and Mora.
Do you think you can figure out who they are? ”
“I do. It might take me longer than I’d like, but I’m confident I can. And you know me, Nomad, I love a challenge. I haven’t been hanging out because this mystery person has me wound up. You know how I have to solve mysteries.”
Nomad chuckled as he nodded. After another drink, he replied, “Oh, I do. It’s like a drug for an addict. But you have to get some distance and a break from it. Did you ask Smoke and Everly about it? They might be able to help.”
“No, I don’t want them to solve it for me. I need to do it. I’m not sure why I feel so certain that it has to be me. So, did you come here just to read me the riot act, or was there more to it? Did you miss my pretty face?” I teased.
He put his hand on my upper arm and shoved me. I laughed as I caught myself from falling off the stool.
“Pretty face, my ass. My hairy ass looks prettier than your mug. I did come for another reason, though. I wondered if you’d be open to taking a ride. It’s a beautiful, sunny, and warm day out. We should take advantage of it while we can. Fall won’t last forever.”
He was right about the fall, and I hadn’t had a long ride in a while. I was overdue.
“Hell yeah, I’ll ride with you. Will anyone else be going along? Did you ask?”
“I’m ahead of you. I sent out a text and told them to meet at the clubhouse at eleven. I knew you’d ignore a text when you’re on your computer, so I came in person. You’ve got twenty minutes to get yourself ready and over to the clubhouse. While you do, I’ll sit here and finish my Coke.”
I know he stayed to make sure I didn’t back out, but I didn’t mind. I left him at the island as I went to my room to change into clothing appropriate for riding. The flimsy lounge pants I wore weren’t the thing.
By the time we arrived at the clubhouse, there was a crowd gathered out front.
It looked like the bulk of the club was going.
I even saw Wrath there. He was standing with Jalisa, who was dressed to ride.
Scanning the group, I searched for Betty and Rage but didn’t find either.
That answered who was watching Pandora. Rage was almost as obsessed with his granddaughter as his son was.
And Betty adored playing grandma to the infant.
Seeing Wrath and Rage not only holding and feeding a baby, but also changing a diaper without hesitation, blew my mind. Two of the toughest, most dangerous men I knew were pros at it.
When Wrath saw Nomad and me, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Alright, our last two are here. Nomad, you suggested this ride. Do you have it mapped out, or are we just winging it?”
Nomad, as road captain, often laid out our trips, designated stops, and so on. It was his responsibility to get his brothers back home in one piece.
“I did. Here it comes,” Nomad said, then tapped away on his cell phone.
A minute later, the chimes went off on our phones. I checked mine to find he’d sent the route information to each of us. That way, if someone got caught behind or something, they’d know exactly where the rest were headed, if we didn’t stop to wait on them, which was what typically happened.
“Okay, get your asses on your bikes. Let’s go!” Wrath shouted.