“So she’s alone at the isolated cabin and then becomes the victim of a vicious murder.”
“You may have a point, Dart, but he carved WHORE into her chest. That smacks of something personal and someone who knows her.”
“She’s not a whore!” I shut that down fast. “She’s a dancer in a strip club.” My glare ensures no one contradicts me.
“Cops have enemies,” Snake rasps. “Thompson could be intending to pin this on someone he’s crossed.”
“You mean someone with good reason to hate him?” Grumbler growls. “Doubt he’d need to look far for that.”
“So why aren’t they searching the cabin?” Slick shakes his head.
I snarl, “Because she might not be fuckin’ dead yet. He’d want to give it some time.” Again, the horrific thought hits me of what would have happened if we’d arrived too late.
“They might be waiting on questioning him. Or fuck knows what merry dance he could be leading them on, sending them off in the wrong direction to gain a bit of time,” Tinder suggests while scratching his ear. He’s right. Time in which he’s thinking his wife is dying a long drawn out and painful death.
“Any chance you can get into the police reports, Mouse? See what they’re doing?”
Mouse opens his laptop, which unusually has been closed up until now. Token leans over, interested in what he’s doing. Suddenly Mouse’s tanned face pales. He sits back on his chair, and only one word escapes. “Fuck.”
This isn’t going to be good news, and it’s Token who enlightens us, telling us through gritted teeth, “There’s an APB out on Mouse.”
“What the fuck?”
“Why?”
“How?”
As we all throw around questions without thinking of answers, Snake bangs the gavel, getting our attention back on him. “You in the system, Mouse?”
Mouse shrugs. “Yeah, did some time in juvie.”
“You’re fuckin’ fingerprints were in Thompson’s house. All over the crap when you unplugged his computer.”
“So were ours, Prez.”
“Scribe, Brakes. You got records I don’t know about?”
“I’m clean.”
“They’ve got nothing on me.”
Poke puts up his hand. “I have. Anything out for me?”
“Nah, Brother. Just Mouse.”
“But why?” I wonder out loud.
“Could be just that he touched more stuff than the rest of us.” Poke’s nodding as though that makes sense. “Next, she has no connection to us San Diego boys. We’ve just put out word we’re going up against the mother chapter—that was to catch Slick’s guy, the Rock Demon.” Slick nods. “Most importantly, Stickler’s death is too fresh in all our minds. Doubt Thompson would dare cross us again, especially to set us up for something like this.” There’s obviously a reason why Snake was made president. He’s putting things together a lot quicker than the rest of us. “Thompson doesn’t want shit on his own doorstep. He knows she works at your strip club in Tucson. Could concoct a story that he brought her back as she was getting grief from one of the brothers.”
“Planned? Or was he thinking on his feet?” Lost asks.
“Couldn’t have been planned, or highly unlikely. We only decided on Sunday that Mouse was coming down with us.” Slick’s shaking his head.
“Must have thought fast when they ran the prints.”
Mouse is still frowning, though some colour has come back to his face. “When’s Alex going to be fit enough to get out and about?”
“I don’t know. What ya thinking, Mouse?”
Mouse looks more animated. “Can we get the cabin cleared, Snake? Mattress taken out, blood-spatter cleaned up?”
“Consider it done, Brother. You think they’ll go there next?”
“Yeah, and they’ll probably find my fingerprints there as well.”
“We’ll clean it up.”
“No, don’t do that. Let them find my prints, just try and get rid of the blood stains and anything that looks suspicious. I’ll just keep out of sight here for a couple of days. When Alex is fit, we’ll go to the cops. Thompson’s having it all his own way for now, reckon we can fabricate a story every bit as credible as his. Especially if he thinks she's dying or dead.”
I stare at my brother. Is he saying he’ll willingly put his head in the lion’s den? Not the normal way we do things.
As he correctly interprets my raised eyebrow, he gives me more. “The story will be something like this. We met up in Tucson, she became my girlfriend. We came back to San Diego to collect some of her stuff—”
“It was shredded, Mouse. The cops will already have found that.”
“Okay.” One thing my brother’s good at is pulling information together and sifting through it, fast. Sometimes I think he’s a damn computer himself. “She got back, found the house trashed, someone must have broken in or something like that. We’ll have to firm up on that. Anyway, she took me to the cabin to have a few days break.”
“And disposed of the mattress?”
“Hell yeah! We had fun on that, made a few stains.” Mouse pauses to wait for the laughter and crude comments to die down before continuing. “Knew we needed to replace it, so threw the old one out. Since then, we’ve been staying in a motel in the city.” He looks around to make sure we’re all paying attention. We are. “Anyway, the point is, they’ll see her alive—her face is unmarked, we’ll just have to make sure she’s pumped up with sufficient painkillers that she can hide her other injuries. What the cops will see is an innocent woman in love with her man.” The fucker pauses to wink at me. “We’ll take Tyler with us, show he’s a happy kid. Any alternative story Thompson can come up with will be blown out of the water. There’ll be no suggestion of foul play.” He lifts his chin toward me. “Think she can pull it off, Brother?”
I don’t need to consider it long. She’s a strong woman. “She’ll need a couple of days, but yeah, she’ll do it. I don’t like the thought of you turning yourself in.” And it irks me he’ll be the one pretending to have a relationship with her, but fuck knows why. Otherwise it’s a good plan.
The corners of Mouse’s mouth drop down. “Don’t care for it much myself. But they won’t have anything to hold me on. Anyone got any better ideas? It’s me they’re after, my head on the fuckin’ block.”
Snake puts his head into his hands, and when he looks up, he appears to have come to a decision. “If she can pretend she’s not injured or being coerced, it could work, Brother. Get that fuckin’ APB out of the way. Ain’t no problem hiding you in the meantime. Reckon it might be for a few days though. He may want to leave it awhile before leading the cops to the cabin. VP, can you get those Arizona plates swapped on their bikes? Just in case the po-po come sniffing around.”
“Sure thing, Prez,” Lost replies.
“Okay. I suggest, Dart,” he defers to me due to my temporary officer status, “you get in contact with Drummer and update him as to what’s going on. He needs the heads-up if there’s a chance they’ll go looking for Mouse back in Tucson.”
I wave my hand to show he can consider it done.
“And the rest of you douchebags—if the cops come calling, we ain’t seen or spoken to anyone in the Tucson Chapter. Leave them in no doubt, we’re preparing for war. Any one of our desert dwelling brothers would get our fists in their faces if they decided to come to our compound.” At that there are a few laughs and mock punches thrown in our direction.
“What if they’ve run my prints?” Now it’s Poke’s turn to frown.
“Go with the flow, Brother. Make something up about you being best friends with Mouse, were visiting with him or something. As long as you say nothing to contradict Mouse’s story, it should work. Play it like you’re stupid or something.”
“Wouldn’t be hard for ya.”
“We’ll back ya up on that.”
Poke glares and throws an empty cigarette pack toward Snips and Tinder.
With that, Sna
ke wraps things up. Leaving church, I pop straight up to see Alex, but she seems to be sleeping peacefully and I don’t want to disturb her. Quietly leaving the room, I go back downstairs looking for Tyler. When I don’t see him in the clubroom, I get concerned, but one of the prospects points me in the direction of the garage. I choke back a laugh when I find him. Another prospect is working on a bike, and the boy’s kneeling on the ground beside him with a selection of tools. As I watch, he expertly hands his companion a wrench. It’s the wrong one. The prospect is patient and explains what he needs. Tyler sorts through and comes up with the correct implement.
“Everything alright here?”
The prospect glances up, a smile on his face. “Yeah, got a new trainee as you can see.”
As Tyler turns his face up to me, I can see he’s got oil smudges all over it. His hands are filthy too, but there’s a fucking big grin on his face. Wondering how the hell I’ll get him cleaned up, I park that problem for later. He seems more than happy helping out.
“He okay with you here?”
“Yeah, man. I don’t mind watching him awhile for ya.”
Giving a thumbs up to show my thanks, I head back inside, relieved Tyler’s fine and occupied for now, as I could do with a beer and a moment to myself. I’m wound up, hating Thompson for what he’s done. Unable to understand how a man can be so cruel, and longing to have the man under my hands, I plan on how much I can make him hurt.
A man comes alongside me. “Hey, you tapping that black bitch?”
I grit my teeth. “No, Poke, I’m not.”
“Don’t blame ya. You forget to wrap it up, you’ll have a half-breed on your hands.” As he laughs at what he thinks is a joke, my face tightens with rage.
Oh fuck. He didn’t go there, did he?
Before I can get out a response, an angry voice snarls out, “And what’s fuckin’ wrong with that?” Mouse was standing close enough to have overheard. His hands are fisting at his sides, his nostrils flaring.
Poke takes one look at him and holds both palms toward him. “Didn’t mean no offence, Brother.” He looks around quickly, as though seeking an escape route, then settles rather lamely for, “Well, I’ll leave you to it. Things to do, ya know?” Then he walks off sharply with Mouse still glaring at his retreating back.
I take a swig of my beer. “Stupid fucker, that one.”
“Yeah.” Mouse sounds like he’s still fuming, but as Poke disappears, starts to relax, and instead focuses on me. “Is he on the right track, Dart?”
“What?”
Mouse signals to the prospect, and once he’s made his request known and has a drink in his hands, leans his back against the bar, resting his elbows on the wood. “Alex. What’s holding you back? Is it the colour of her skin?”
I’m amazed he could ask that. The answer’s simple. “Ain’t gonna go there because she works for us.”
“Not anymore,” Mouse replies, almost under his breath, but I hear him loud and clear.
I told her she still had a job, but the more I think on it, I realise she was right, no one would want to watch a scarred dancer. However much I’d prefer to be able to think otherwise, there’s no way she could strip for us. I’m gutted on her behalf and enraged about Thompson all over again.
As Mouse stands quiet beside me, probably considering his own problems, I think about what he just said. Yeah, I fancy her, so what’s holding me back? Is it that her heritage is different to mine? Am I so brainwashed to think white only goes with white? I’ve never considered myself racist, but perhaps somewhere deep down inside I am?
Nah, that’s not it. I don’t give a damn about the colour of her skin, barely register it anymore. She’s Alex, that she’s black just makes her uniquely her. The problem is, she’d want more than I could offer. A future and security for her and her son, not just a romp where we both got our rocks off and then move on.
She’s a special woman, I knew that from the moment I met her, her personality drawing me in. She’s got backbone, an inner strength shown by the way she cares for her son. I reckon she’d be loyal to a fault for anyone she loved.
But she’s not for me. I don’t go for her sort. I like my women tall and slender, long legs that can wrap around me as I pound into them. Blond hair’s always been my preference, long and smooth that I can wrap around my hands.
As I try to summon up an image of the type that does attract me, memories crash into my head of the first time I’d seen Alex dancing in the club—her suppleness and erotic moves, and immediately my cock starts to throb. Now he doesn’t seem to mind she’s short, plump, and soft with a great ass and tits…
She needs a man who’s in it for the long haul, and I don’t come close to that. If I started anything, I’d only be leading her on. Sure, I wouldn’t turn down the chance to fuck her, just to see what it’s like, but that’s out of the question because she’s an employee.
Not now she’s not.
“You like her,” Mouse observes.
“Of course I like her. She’s a lovely person, good-natured.”
“And with a fuckin’ good body. The money coming into the club can testify to that.”
Not any longer. I frown. “Dollar’s not gonna be pleased.”
“Fuck Dollar,” Mouse growls. “You didn’t come across two states just to look after our investment.”
Even I can’t adequately explain why my first impulse was to jump on my bike to take on her ex on her behalf. I just thought it was unfair on her, that’s all. But would I have done that for any other bitch?
“Why don’t you just admit it and go for it, Brother? I’ve seen the way you look at her.”
Narrowing my eyes, I stare at him. “And what fuckin’ way would that be?”
Mouse smirks and points toward Slick, who’s currently deep in discussion with Poke, and by the tension in my brother’s body, he’s not enjoying the conversation at all. Wondering what they could be talking about almost makes me miss the implication of Mouse’s next words. “Like the way Slick looks at Ella. Or Wraith looks at Sophie. Or hell, the way Drum is with Sam.”
No I don’t. There’s no similarity at all. “I’m not fuckin’ her, Mouse. Told you that already.”
He rolls his eyes. “You don’t have to fuck her to have feelings for her. Back in church, when I say I was going to play boyfriend with her, you clenched your fists.”
Did I? I hadn’t been aware of it. “Maybe I was just stretching my hands.”
Again, his eyes rise to the ceiling then back down. “Just fuckin’ listen to yourself. You’re making every fuckin’ excuse you can to deny what’s plain as the fuckin’ nose on your face. The real reason why you won’t go there? You’re scared you get one taste of that pussy and you won’t want any other. And you’re frightened of making that commitment.”
Commitment and me don’t go together. Yeah, I’d fuck her, but she’d be nothing more than any of the rest. Once I’ve gone there, I’ll have had enough and probably shattered the friendship between us. “I don’t go back for seconds, Brother.”
He smirks. “I’d put good money on it you would this time.”
He’s wrong. Completely wrong. But fuck it, my head’s screwed up in knots. I eye Eva coming into the room, scantily clothed and swaying seductively, obviously advertising she’s available for a quick fuck. There you go fella, what about that instead? Shit, now I’m having a conversation with my cock! But he twitches, which I interpret as he’s telling me it’s a fuckin’ good idea, a way to get rid of my tension and those strange, inappropriate thoughts about the woman lying injured upstairs. And that’s what I want to hear, not the rubbish my brother’s been spouting.
I nudge Mouse and point toward the sweet butt. He gives me a strange look and a quick disappointed shake of his head. but I’m already moving, throwing a quick, “Keep your eye on Tyler for me, will ya?” over my shoulder. I hear him huff as I move off.
“Hey, Eva. Up for some fun?”
Her instant smile and nod gi
ves me the answer I want. She takes hold of my hand and leads me out of the room. I try to focus on the sway of her ass, but can’t help but mentally compare it to another, the one I can’t seem to get out of my mind. She pauses at a doorway and pushes open the door. I follow her inside.
“I’ve been looking forward to this, Dart.” As she licks her lips, she leaves me in no doubt what she’s talking about.
I simply jerk my chin. I’m not being modest, no woman I’ve had has ever left with complaints. Reaching out, I cover her tits with my hands, already having seen she’s braless beneath her tight top. Under my touch, her nipples peak, pushing at the thin material. My cock seems to have lost interest. Maybe I need to see flesh.
“Take this off,” I instruct her, using the commanding tone women seem to like.
Hurriedly she complies, tearing it off over her head. Yeah, her breasts are pretty enough, tanned and tipped with rosy-red nipples. Lowering my mouth and putting a hand around her back, I pull her to me and close my lips around one of the hard peaks. She gasps loudly, an exaggerated and practiced sound. I give a little nip of my teeth, and she pushes against me. My cock twitches.
After treating the other nipple the same way, I take a step back and wave my hand. “Naked, now.”
With a gleam in her eyes, she undoes the buttons on her shorts, hooks her thumbs into the waistband, and slowly pushes them over her hips. As she kicks them off, freeing her feet, she’s wearing nothing but high-heeled shoes. No superfluous clothing here.
I’ve got a naked and very attractive woman standing in front of me. As I examine her, she flicks just the kind of long blonde hair I like over her shoulders. She puts a hand on her hip and a finger to her mouth and sucks it inside. Having lubricated it, she trails it down her stomach, and circles her clit. Another twitch, and my cock’s almost at half-mast.
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