Chapter 15 #2
I run to my room to change into my jeans and a T-shirt and add my cut on top. Finishing up with my boots and jacket, I run toward the front. I’m still the first one at the gate. Yak and Caterpillar are talking.
“What’s going on?” Caterpillar asks.
“No idea,” I answer truthfully.
If I did know, I wouldn’t tell him shit. I have no proof he is sketchy, but I don’t like how he acts toward me or how he questioned Panther.
To me, that means he isn’t worthy of this club.
“Did you have a good night tonight?” Yak teases.
“Better than yours, I’m sure,” I answer.
“Better company too. I prefer blondes to bald heads.” Yak shoots a look at Caterpillar.
“Fuck you, man. I’m a fucking catch.” Caterpillar seems genuinely offended.
“Sorry, dude. There’s just nothing like riding a girl’s ass and pulling on that hair like a handlebar. Makes me think I’m riding my Ethel. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
I snort. “Only you would compare riding your bike to riding a chick and then say that it makes you think of your bike while you are fucking said chick. You are messed up in the head, bro.”
Yak looks at me, confused. “You still love me, though, right? Like, this friendship is no judgment.”
I don’t get a chance to answer him as Eagle, Talon, and Panther all ride up to meet us at the gate.
I put my helmet on as Yak looks at me, panicked.
“You still love me, right, bro?”
I laugh once more as I turn on my bike. As a joke, I blow him a little kiss and wink.
He looks relieved as he helps Caterpillar open the gate.
“Come home soon, honey,” he calls out to me, making me roll my eyes even though he can’t see them.
I take the rear of the pack as I follow the guys down the back roads. It is so dark that the only light comes from the moon and our headlights.
When we get about a mile out from the bar, Panther comes on the headset.
“I didn’t want to say anything at the clubhouse in case someone was listening. We got an alert at the bar. It could be nothing, but with Adlet still in the wind, we need to check it out.”
“Is Meek watching the cameras?” Eagle asks.
“He is, and all he said was that there was a glitch in the system that caused it to reboot for about five minutes,” Panther says.
His tone says what his words aren’t saying.
This is not a coincidence.
When we pull up, Talon is the one who speaks up. “Keep your eyes open and stay alert.”
We stop in the parking lot. There is nothing there.
I climb off, pulling my gun from the holster. The others do the same, also leaving their helmets on. At least with them on, they offer a little protection, and we are able to speak with one another.
“Talon and Asher, you take the right, and we will take the left,” Panther orders.
I don’t question it. I follow Talon, watching his back as I take in everything surrounding us.
It’s surreal that we are checking this place for threats when just days ago, I had Aspen pushed up against the very wall we are walking by.
I don’t like how that makes me feel. We need to find Adlet and soon.
I won’t be able to settle until he is wiped from this planet, even if I have to do so with my very own two hands.
“We are clear,” Panther says.
We round the last corner and find them standing at the back door.
“We are too,” Talon tells him.
Panther nods at the note stuck in the ground with a bloody knife.
I move closer, the floodlight from the bar making the words stand out.
You took from me, so I will take from you. You will get what you deserve.
My stomach drops.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Talon asks.
I look up and meet Panther’s eyes. He looks as worried as I feel.
It could mean Maggie. He was her first conquest that got away. He could want her back. He is psychotic enough to think that way. He always was unhinged.
Then again, he could mean Aspen. She was in his hands, and I took her from him. He could be talking to me. He most likely knows I am with them now, especially if he has been watching.
It makes me scared for Aspen. I don’t want her going anywhere alone anymore, but I also don’t want to tell her that and make her more scared than she already is.
It’s a catch-22. I have no idea how I am going to handle it.
“We have no idea what it means, but I can tell you what I’m going to do.
The club is in lockdown. All family will be escorted as a precaution.
No one is to be left alone for long periods of time.
If they are in public, someone needs to always have eyes on them.
That means the carnival too. Meek watches while one of us is with them.
If we need to handle anything, we always have someone within eyesight of them. Understood?” Panther says.
“Understood,” we all say.
He nods. “Let’s get this to Meek and see if he can tell us where the blood came from. If it’s a bird, it could be Maggie since I call her Magpie.”
I chime in. “Could be Aspen too. I call her my songbird.”
He curses.
“We will keep them both safe. He won’t get either of them.”
I nod, making the same promise in my head.
I will die before he hurts my girl again.