Chapter 4
WREN
I wasn’t shocked to hear that the Sovereign Sons’ clubhouse was being raided, but nothing could have prepared me for what I’d see when we walked inside.
Axel is kneeling on the floor with a gun pressed to his chest. I can’t hide the shock from my face as my eyes lock with his. His jaw is tight, his body rigid. He’s fighting his reaction so hard and I’m grateful, because it would surely get him shot.
Lenny walks straight toward them and barks out, “Why the fuck do you have my clients on the ground in their own clubhouse? And why are guns drawn?!”
“Calm down, Thompson,” Chief Benning grumbles as he walks into the room and towards us.
His pot belly hangs over his belt, and I can smell his body odor as he gets closer.
His eyes track over my workout clothes before meeting my sneer.
He clears his throat. “I assure you everything is above board here. We have a search warrant to look for drugs. I was given an anonymous tip that the clubhouse is a pickup location for drugs.”
He offers Lenny a copy of the warrant and Lenny reads over it before nodding. “This may be legal, but you know it’s bullshit, Benning. Either way, now that I’m here, I’ll be making sure that this is conducted by the book.”
Benning narrows his eyes. “Why are you here on a Sunday, anyways? Obviously, you weren’t planning on coming with how Wren is dressed.”
“We came by to see how successful the fundraiser was yesterday,” I offer stepping forward.
“As you know, the club runs all their fundraisers through their LLC. Lenny is their lawyer after all.” I brush past him and walk over to Axel, looking down at him while the officer holds the gun to his stomach.
He must be new because I don’t recognize him.
“My clothes don’t really matter because we’re not in court.
Is that gun really necessary?” I ask with a tilt of my head.
“You’re not a lawyer, Wren,” Benning growls from behind me and I watch as Axel gives him a deadly glare.
“No, she’s not,” Lenny says coming to stand between Benning and me. “But she knows as much as I do, if not more. Have your officer lower his weapon or we’ll file a suit against you for unnecessary force.”
“Lower the damn gun, Carter,” Benning snaps.
“We haven’t found anything,” Officer Rojas whispers to the chief and the disappointment is written all over Benning’s face.
“You heard him,” Axel mutters. “You didn’t find anything because there is nothing to find here. It’s kind of funny that you waited for Grayson to be gone before deciding to raid us, isn’t it?”
“What the fuck are you accusing me of?” Benning asks, his face turning beet red.
I shake my head and sigh, stepping between the two men. “He’s not accusing you of anything. He’s angry, and for damn good reason since your “tip” was wrong.”
“Listen here little girl,” Benning growls stepping even closer until his smell nearly chokes me. “You don’t speak unless you’re spoken to. You have no standing here.”
Axel climbs to his feet behind me, and I feel him tower over me without even having to look at him. “Don’t speak to her that way.”
“Did I say you could get up?!”
“I did,” Rojas mutters from beside me. “We have no reason to be here, you know that, Chief.”
“You need to learn your fucking place, too, Rojas,” Benning mutters before backing away. “Clear out!”
The other officers start to walk towards the exit, but Benning lingers, his eyes scanning over everyone. He finally turns and leaves, followed closely by Sergeant Rojas, who gives me a nod in goodbye.
“Thanks for coming, Lenny,” Axel murmurs when the door slams closed behind the officers. “Benning is a fucking coward. He took his chance as soon as he knew that Grayson wasn’t here. I bet there wasn’t even an anonymous tip.”
“No,” Lenny mutters. “I’m sure there wasn’t.” He swipes his hand over his face. “Just stay out of Benning’s way for a while, he’s got it out for you guys right now and I don’t know what lengths he’ll go to so he can take you guys down.”
“He’ll have to try harder than a drug bust,” Axel says as he steps around me and pats Lenny on the back.
“I have a feeling that he’s up to the challenge,” I mutter as I reach up to rub my temple. I notice an abnormality in my vision and know that I have a migraine coming on, probably from the stress of the day.
“We’ll get out of your hair,” Lenny says as Rowan walks over to join us. “Let me know if you guys need anything else.”
“Thanks, Lenny,” Rowan murmurs.
“It’s what y’all pay me to do,” Lenny chuckles before turning toward the door.
I watch on in a little bit of a haze as my migraine takes hold.
I’ve suffered from migraines with aura since I was in high school.
At first, I just got migraines, but one day, I thought I was going blind, only to find out it was a different type of migraine.
Most of the time, I see the aura before I even feel the migraine start.
I can’t tell what looks different at first, but then the aura appears.
Usually, I have about fifteen minutes before the pain hits.
The aura is kind of hard to explain, it sometimes is just a disturbance in my vision.
Sometimes, it looks like the static on an old television, or the spots that a camera flash causes.
I don’t even just get the aura and the migraine, though.
No, I get tingling in my hand, arm, and sometimes face.
The next day, I have brain fog and residual pain. Migraines are not for the weak.
I shake my head to clear my thoughts. Everyone has pretty much cleared out of the main room; Lenny has already made his way outside. I turn to walk that way but stop when I see a woman pulling Axel out of the room.
I don’t know who she is, which makes me frown.
Is she a new club slut? It doesn’t really matter.
What does matter is that she’s pulling Axel toward the hallway where the single bedrooms are, and he’s letting her.
My heart drops to my stomach at the sight.
She turns around with a smile pointed at Axel and then she catches sight of me watching.
She pulls herself closer to him as her face morphs into a smirk.
I narrow my eyes and then wince as pain wracks my skull. I sigh and walk out the door and over to Lenny’s SUV. I open the door and hop inside, buckling myself in while he waits.
“You okay, sweetheart?”
I give him a weak smile. “Yeah,” I lie. “I just have a migraine starting, can you take me home? I don’t think I should drive.”
“Of course,” he says as he pulls out of the clubhouse lot.