21. Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-One
Torrent drove the truck with Bravo and Gunner riding their bikes behind him.
They’d dropped off the guns in Bliss, Iowa.
He and the guys had thought about going around Demise since the Police Chief had arrived back in town yesterday, but if someone was going to end up on his radar, Torrent was fine with it being him.
Jonah and Abby had been hired on at the police department. They’d moved in last week. They’d received information from the Honey Creek Badgers MC that Useless wanted to step up the search for his missing brother. He had informed them he didn’t believe his brother had left town.
Torrent slowed down as they took the turn into town. It had only been four weeks now since he and the guys had rescued Cecilia and Calliope from the cabin.
Torrent kept his speed within the limit, though the only thing they were hauling was some wood back to build more caskets. Their caskets would stay with the Bliss sister chapter, and they’d used them for their own deliveries.
He paused at Demise’s one stoplight, waiting until it turned green to drive another couple blocks down the highway that ran through town before turning toward Hazard. As he made the turn, flashing lights appeared in his side mirror. Time to face the music and see what old Useless was going to do.
Jonah, in uniform, came to his door while Useless stopped by the bikes.
“License and registration, please,” Jonah demanded.
“Sure, Officer. Can you let me know what I was stopped for?” Torrent asked in his most polite voice.
“I believe you have a broken taillight,” Jonah said. As Torrent stepped down out of the truck, he heard a crash at the back of the truck. Useless had kicked the taillight out. So it was going to be that kind of stop.
“Face the truck, hands on your head,” Jonah directed.
Torrent glanced back at Useless having his brothers do the same. Jonah kicked his feet a little farther apart.
“Anything that will stick or poke me in your pockets?” Jonah asked.
“No,” Torrent answered. He and the guys had specifically emptied everything from their pockets besides their driver’s licenses for this purpose.
“Woah there, Officer. You need to buy me dinner if you want to feel me up,” Gunner joked.
“Shut up. You bikers think you’re in charge of this area, but you’re going to learn that you’ve messed with the wrong man. Where is my brother?” Useless yelled, spittle flying out his mouth to hit the back of Bravo.
“Why the heck would I know? We were on a delivery and haven’t seen him,” Bravo said.
“Hands behind your back. I’m taking you in,” Useless commanded.
“What for?” Bravo asked.
“Disorderly conduct,” Useless replied.
“How are you going to prove that?” Gunner pressed.
“You stay out of it, or you will too,” Useless threatened.
“I think you should probably just let us go. I called the clubhouse when you pulled us over, and they have video of you breaking our taillight and threatening disorderly conduct without anything to back it up,” Gunner reasoned.
“You dirty fucking biker. I know you had something to do with my brother’s disappearance,” Useless snapped, motioning to Jonah to let them go.
“You’re free to go,” Jonah informed them.
Torrent nodded and waited until the guys were on their bikes before getting in the truck. He started up the truck, hitting the speaker on his phone before dialing Dragon.
“You need bail money?” Dragon anticipated.
“No, but if Gunner hadn’t been recording and threatened him with it, I think we would have. He’s not going to let this go. Girls okay?” Torrent asked.
“Yes, but we’ve had a little excitement too. Judith contacted the school trying to get them to say Calliope was truant,” Dragon said.
“Fuck,” Torrent breathed out.
“Get here safe and we’ll discuss. I’m not sure ‘wait and see’ will be in our best interest,” Dragon concluded.
Cecilia paced, trying to control the anger flowing through her.
She’d contacted the school last week to let them know Calliope would be transferring as soon as she was well.
She’d told the school Calliope had chicken pox, which bought them a couple more weeks.
Sally had contacted a doctor who was a friend of the club, and he’d written an excuse for Calliope for school.
But today, she’d received a call from the school because Judith had made a complaint at the school office, stating that she believed Calliope was in danger and wasn’t attending school.
The only reason Cecilia knew it had happened and could prepare was because one of the ladies in the school office had been a friend of her mom.
Monster was keying in on her emotions because he’d gotten up from sleeping by the couch and was keeping pace with her as she walked the room.
Since Torrent was on a run, she’d notified Sally and Dragon immediately.
Dragon said to relax and they’d handle it, but this was one time when Cecilia couldn’t stop the spiral of thoughts.
What if Useless used this to get Calliope away from her?
What would happen to her? Would she need to run with Calliope to keep her out of their hands?
What if Useless brought others with him?
The clubhouse could be overrun, and then what would happen?
Cecilia had never considered herself a violent person, but she didn’t slice the throat of Horse’s Ass to have her sister still end up taken.
Sally had taken Calliope to her suite to do a craft.
A Prospect was guarding the door even though Sally said they were safe in the clubhouse, but Cecilia didn’t feel safe.
The walls were closing in. She was having a hard time breathing.
Every time she tried to take a deeper breath, the fear spiked.
Maybe she should head to the common room. At least she could chat with someone.
She left the room, letting Monster join her in the hall before locking the door. She hoped someone she liked was in the common room because honestly, she was so sick of Jasmine glaring at her that she just might say something out of character for her.
She walked into the common room, cataloging who was in the room and where they were.
Sometimes she wished she could go back to being the woman who hadn’t been assaulted, but there was no use wishing for things she couldn’t change.
Mammoth was hanging out at one of the tables with a cup of coffee and a laptop.
She’d been working on getting to know everyone better.
Mammoth was the Treasurer and said he got tired of working in his office.
Fury, the Enforcer, was sitting at the bar drinking a beer and chatting with the Prospect behind the bar.
Ashe, Chey, and Maverick were at a booth eating breakfast.
Cecilia breathed a sigh of relief that Jasmine wasn’t in the room. Usually, Cecilia could get along with everyone, but Jasmine rubbed her the wrong way.
Chey motioned her over to sit with them. Cecilia made her way over.
“Can I grab you anything to eat or drink, Cecilia?” Chey offered.
“No, thank you. I don’t think I could eat anything right now,” Cecilia said, sitting down by Chey.
“I know it’s probably scary, but we’re not going to let anyone hurt you or Calliope,” Maverick insisted.
She stared at Maverick. In his eyes, his club was invincible, but Cecilia didn’t have that kind of faith in them. Any club could be overpowered if the opposing force had a large enough army of people. How many did Useless have he could call on?
“I appreciate that, Maverick, but I’m still worried and mad. Very mad,” Cecilia muttered.
“Mad about what?” Fury asked.
“Why Judith stuck her nose into my and my sister’s business. Who does she think she is? I told her that we were fine, but no, she has to do something that could hurt Calliope. I don’t understand what it matters to her,” Cecilia vented.
“I don’t know everything that is going on—just what Maverick has shared to make sure I keep an eye on things—but it strikes me as strange,” Chey mused.
“Strange how, Chey?” Maverick prompted.
“Well, everyone does things because of a motivation. What is her motivation for getting you in trouble with truancy? What is the payoff for her? I mean, she called the school. If she was really concerned with truancy or was worried about Calliope’s health, then wouldn’t she have called the police or child protective services?
Instead, she called the school, which, granted, is a nuisance, but the school doesn’t have the power to do anything without using another organization.
So it’s back to, what payoff was she wanting?
A phone call with you? Calliope and her daughter playing together?
Nothing about her calling the school makes sense to me,” Chey analyzed.
“We need to dive deeper. I know Gunner did some investigating, but he didn’t get far. We have to be missing something,” Maverick concluded.
“Uh-oh, drama incoming,” Chey whispered.
Cecilia turned to look over her shoulder where Chey was looking. Oh great, it was her least favorite aspect of being at the clubhouse. Chey was so sweet. Cecilia didn’t dislike the Whispers. She greatly disliked one Whisper.
Jasmine stood by the table and adjusted her boobs in her tight bikini top.
“I heard the guys were on the way back and wanted to make sure I was ready for Torrent. He gets so horny on a run, and we know that little miss Cecilia isn’t giving it up to him,” Jasmine taunted.
Cecilia had tried nice. She’d tried ignoring Jasmine, and she knew that others had warned Jasmine to leave Torrent alone. Torrent had also said he’d told her to get gone.
“You know, it’s amazing to me how some things can be so clear, yet it doesn’t sink in that last quarter inch into some people’s heads,” Cecilia said.
“Are you talking about me? Oooo, the little mouse speaks,” Jasmine mocked.
Monster had been lying quietly at her feet, but when Jasmine shifted toward her, he growled low and long.
“Good thing you have the dog to fight your battles,” Jasmine scoffed.