KEYS
I FROWN as I press the keys of the computer sitting in front of me. Fish was a tricky motherfucker. The system appeared to be unlocked, and hold nothing of note. That wasn’t the case at all. In fact, it was only a front. It takes me a few hours of digging to crack the system, but I’m not finished yet, not by any means. This is an awesome breakthrough, though.
“Fuck,” I hiss.
I find a messaging system, a chatroom like the ones from the late-nineties. I smirk thinking about all the stupid shit I said in those. A message pops up and my entire body locks.
SKULL: Waiting on the go-ahead. Those fucks from Canada were here. They know something ain’t right.
My fingers hover over the keyboard. I should go get Snake, I should see what he wants me to say. If I don’t do anything right now though, that could alert Skull that something is wrong. My heart races and I decide to go for it. Hopefully my new pres will understand, if not? Then fuck him.
Still working shit out.
I lie. I wait for him to respond. Hoping that I didn’t set off any alarm bells. Skull isn’t the brightest tool in the shed, so I don’t think he will.
SKULL: Had a couple breeders with them. I want the blonde. When do we attack?
Picking up my phone, I send a text to Snake telling him to get up to my room. Attack? What the fuck. I knew he wanted to come after me, but that’s not what this is. Deciding I can’t wait for Snake’s response, I message Skull back.
Not yet. Give me more time. I will alert you.
SKULL: Yes, sir.
I don’t respond. I stare at the screen, reading the words over and over. Attack. This is what Fish meant when he said his shit was in order. It was a partial bluff. I wonder who the contact in Wyoming is and how to throw him off of the scent.
Minimizing the chat screen, I dig a little more. A little deeper and that’s when I find the strings of messages. There are dozens, if not hundreds. I see Skull’s name, but I also see mentions of Lucifer, of Samuel Jones and then I find the list.
Names.
Hundreds of names.
Females.
This is the manifest. There are descriptions next to all of them, along with which member of the Notorious Devils they had ties to, and what those ties were. Daughters, sisters, ex-Old Ladies, ex-wives, ex-girlfriends. You name it, they’re there. Any type of woman that could hold any type of relation to a Devil, they’re on this list and described in detail. Along with the reports of their ancestral backgrounds.
Fuck.
I notice some have an asterisk next to the name. Scrolling through to the end, I finally find a key:
* NOT PURE – GIVEN TO MONTANA CLUB FOR WHORING
** PURE UNBREEDABLE – SENT TO WORK ON STREETS FOR WHORING
*** DEAD
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
My stomach rolls just reading the key. Snake appears in my doorway a second later. I look over at him and he must sense my unease. “Tell me,” he demands.
Without hesitation, I tell him everything I know so far. “Fuck,” he hisses, and I nod, feeling the exact same way. “Keep digging. I want as much as I can get. I’ll call MadDog in Cali, let him know so he can send work to the men hunting down Skull.”
“Do you think we need to go on lockdown?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “Lockdown is a last resort. Ginger hates that shit, Hayden and Gracie ain’t too fond of it either. Get everything you can, every fucking thing. Then we’ll decide.”
I lift my chin and verbally confirm that I’m on the task at hand. Snake stands, grabbing ahold of my shoulder and gives it a squeeze. “Make sure you take a break. Eat. Go to your woman. See your kid,” he grunts.
Lifting my hand, I wave him off. I don’t agree or disagree. I don’t want to lie to him. I can’t go see Carson, not right now. I wouldn’t be any good to anyone. This is what I need to do. I’m of no use when I’m on a mission and this shit is more important than anything else right now.
Without finding everything I need to out about Fish, Montana, and Wyoming, my woman and my kid aren’t safe. Maybe it’s bullshit. Maybe I should be home with them, there to physically protect him. That’s not me though, at least not when I’m able to help like this.
If it were any other type of situation, one that wasn’t technical then I would be with them, gun ready to protect them. This is different. I need my brain for this, my total concentration, something I will not get with Carson’s sweet ass anywhere in view.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CARSON
THERE’S a knock on the door at nine the next morning. Me, Axe, and Roxanne are sitting around on the living room floor trying to make a list of the ridiculous amount of shit we need, and certainly do not have enough funds to buy.
“This is overwhelming,” I whisper as I stand, making my way over to the door.
Roxanne doesn’t say anything. I don’t expect her to. This is all a game for her. Sure she escaped something bigger than she’s admitting, but it’s still just an adventure. This is my new life, forever. I have a feeling there’s no running. I mean, maybe I could, but I wouldn’t. I would never leave Axe.
Looking through the peephole, I see a man with a leather vest, jeans, and a tight white t-shirt standing on the other side. He looks like one of the men from the club. Slowly, I open the door, just wide enough to poke my head out.
“Hey darlin’,” he murmurs, a twitch to his smile. “My woman and I are movin’ in together. She hates all my shit. Thought you girls could use it?”
My mouth drops open slightly as a woman walks up behind him. “I don’t hate it, Ice. It’s just not for me,” she explains. “I’m Traci,” she introduces, giving me a smile.
“Umm, come in?”
Traci smiles, stepping past the man and right into the house. She looks around, her eyes landing on Roxanne and Axe, then her gaze swings back to me as the man makes his way inside. “You girls could really use it, please take it all,” she pleads.
“I won’t turn anything down,” Roxanne says standing to her feet. “I’m Roxie, and that’s Carson. This little dude is Axe,” she introduces, and my cheeks feel hot with embarrassment for my extremely bad manners.
Traci smiles, giving us all a little wave. “I’m Traci, I manage the bar,” she offers, hooking her thumb behind her toward the bar. “This is Ice, my man,” she says, and I swear her cheeks tint pink. “Like he said, we’re moving in together, so we need to unload his bachelor stuff. It’s all black and plain, I’m more of a shabby chic kind of chick,” she rambles.
“That’s very kind of you, please let us pay for it,” I offer.
Although I don’t know how we’ll pay, but it doesn’t matter because Traci bursts out laughing and shakes her head. “Uh, no way sweet cheeks. We’re a family, plus it’s really helping us because now we don’t have to haul it down to the donation place,” she smiles.
I have a feeling she’s full of shit, but I don’t say anything. Roxanne does though, she bustles forward, a big wide smile on her face. “Thank you so much, let’s get it unloaded then.” She buzzes right past everyone and marches out to the pickup that’s parked behind my car.
Ice chuckles, before he turns and jogs behind her. “Ginger says you girls are going to start working at the bar soon. I’m glad, we need all the help we can get. We’ve had an influx of construction workers lately. They’re cleaning up some old asbestos buildings and those guys can drink,” she informs with a shake of her head.
“We are, both of us, hopefully. I know Roxanne wants to go to cosmetology school eventually, but I’m not going anywhere,” I explain.
Traci smiles and tilts her head to the side, her eyes finding Axe. “He’s Keys’?” she asks.
Turning my head, I look back to Axe who is playing with his cars on the floor. He’s such a good boy, always able to entertain himself, and has proven to be able to accept change without issue. “He is,” I admit with a nod, then turn back to face her.
“But he’s not yours,
” she whispers.
I don’t know who this woman is, other than my new boss and an Old Lady to this club. I don’t know if Ace wants anyone to know that Axe isn’t mine. It’s no big secret for me though. He’s not mine, he knows it, Ace knows it, his president knows it. Do I care if everyone else in the club knows it, too?
“He’s not. He was my sister’s,” I admit.
Traci’s eyes sparkle and her smile widens. “There’s a story, and I want it. I want all of it, but I won’t make you spill today,” she winks.
The door opens as Ice and Roxie walk through carrying boxes. “Called Keys, but he can’t be bothered to answer his damn phone. Houston is coming by to unload the couch, the table, chairs, and bed frame,” Ice grumbles.
I watch as Traci’s eyes widen, and then her mouth turns down slightly with Ice’s words. I pretend like I didn’t hear him, my own gaze traveling over to Axe, choosing to live in denial. I refuse to show what that does to me, the fact that Ace can’t be bothered. He hasn’t even checked in to make sure we’re doing okay, other than shoving cash at me before he had us leave the clubhouse.
We haven’t even been here twenty-four hours and he’s already ditched us. I don’t care about me as much as I care about how it makes Axe feel. Maybe that’s a white-lie, I do care about me, I care about the fact that he fucked me and left me just like I knew he would. How he didn’t stand up for me, and allowed his president to blatantly call me a druggie. I care that I knew it was going to happen, I told myself that I was prepared for it, and yet I’m absolutely fucking not.
Less than five minutes later, Houston walks through the door and both of the men disappear. Traci and Roxanne busy themselves with unloading the boxes that Traci brought over. There are dishes, and silverware, even some glasses. I’m flabbergasted, shocked silent, by how much they’re giving us.
The door swings open and I hear grunting. I hurry over to collect Axe and all of his cars from the floor as Houston and Ice bring in a sofa. I can tell before they even set it down that the dark brown leather is worn, but it’s nicer than what I had back in Texas.
“Fuck,” Houston cries out as he falls to the floor. “Goddammit,” he growls as his knee slams onto the floor.
I open my mouth to ask him if he’s okay, but I’m not quick enough. Roxanne has already abandoned her space and is crouching down in front of him. They whisper back and forth and I watch, totally surprised by the move, especially since they’ve seemed very stand-offish for so many days.
“CarCar, I go outside and play?” Axe asks a few minutes later.
I can hear Houston mumbling about a fuckin’ car, and I grimace. We must have missed one of Axe’s cars when we picked up. “Umm, okay sure we’ll go outside.”
Traci doesn’t make a move to follow, and I’m grateful. I need a little space, a few minutes to just breathe. Axe runs out the back door and I follow behind him. He pretends his car can fly and I watch him zoom it around the yard. Then, he starts making ninja kick moves and I know he’s lost in his own dream world of wonder.
He is why I’m here. He is what I live for. He’s not mine, but I believe in my heart of hearts that he was always meant to be. I was always meant to be his mom, even if my sister is his birth mother, I was put on this earth to be Axe’s mom.
I sniffle a little thinking about my sister, about my personal situation, and everything that’s happened. It doesn’t matter, none of it does, because in the end he’s all that matters.
KEYS
MY PHONE RINGS A-FUCKING-GAIN. Glancing down, I notice that it’s Ice, for the fifth time. Deciding to answer it, I swipe my thumb across the screen. “What the fuck do you want?” I shout.
Ice doesn’t yell back, he never does, he’s cool as... well… as fucking ice. “Wanted to let you know I got a sofa, a bedframe, some dishes and silverware to your woman and kid. They had nothin’, man,” he growls.
My heart pounds against my chest thinking about them, about Carson and Axe, about them having nothing. “I gave her some money to set up, they just got there yesterday, I’m sure she was going to go shopping,” I mumble.
Ice snorts, and it pisses me off, but I don’t say anything.
“You’re fucking delusional. I showed up, they were sitting on the floor making a list, but brother, they had fucking nothing. Houston’s with them now, so you don’t have to worry, he’ll take care of them.” Ice ends the call and I grip my phone tightly in my hand.
I’m fucking working. I don’t need this shit, not from Ice, or Houston, or fucking anybody. What I need to do is break into this phone. I need to figure out Fish’s plan and hack into these compounds in Montana and Wyoming. Carson and Axe will have to wait, and they will.
Powering down my cell, I get back to work. I don’t want any more distractions. I need to completely focus because I’m close, I’m dangerously close to figuring all of this shit out.
DAYS GO BY. I don’t eat, I don’t sleep, I don’t even fuck. I focus. It hits me, like a goddamn freight train.
February first. 2-1 and flipped around 12. The first letter in the alphabet A, Aryan. The second letter B, Brotherhood. They’re going to strike February first, but the year is unknown. We have six months to stop whatever it is.
I look through the emails between Skull and Fish. They all mention the number twelve, every single one of them. I didn’t know what it meant. Didn’t even think about it. Not until this last message he sent to Skull. It was just a few days before he was killed.
Skull:
It is time. February has come. We have prepared for this, brother.
The message was sent just a couple weeks ago, at the end of July. I didn’t understand what it meant, not until I pulled up some Aryan information online. Fucking Google for the goddamn win. I could still be wrong. I doubt it, but I could. Doesn’t matter, we won’t let them live until February.
Turning my cell back on, I send Snake a text with the latest information I’ve found. He thanks me, but my job is not complete. I know he’s keeping MadDog and the Henderson club informed on what I’ve found. I know that they will proceed with caution. Hopefully they’ll be able to save more women and children than I was able to in Texas.
Picking up the manifest of women’s names, I scroll through looking for Whitley, Hayden, and Ginger. They aren’t on here. None of them. I’m missing something. I have a feeling it’s something pretty fucking big, too. I just can’t put my finger on it.
My phone rings and I look down, not recognizing the number. I swipe my finger across the screen and place it to my ear.
“Did you think you’d figure it all out that easily?” a voice rasps, sending a chill down my phone.
“Skull,” I growl.
He chuckles. “Yeah, Keys it’s me. I know Fish is gone. I know your club got to him. What I want to know is how you think you could pass yourself off as him to me?”
I don’t answer him. He’s trying to bait me and it isn’t going to work. I want information and he’s a cocky fuck which means he likes to think he’s smarter than everyone else, and he’ll give me what I need, eventually—they always do.
“The little blonde is hot. Give her to me and I’ll fade away. Don’t and your club will be in jeopardy. She’ll be mine either way, don’t think she won’t.”
Fighting the urge to growl, I press my lips together and take in a deep breath before I let it out slowly, attempting to stay cool and calm. “What do you want? You know I won’t give my woman up, none of us will.”
He hums. “You say that now. You’re like me, Keys. I did a little research, myself, on you after you left. Seems like this whole commitment thing is new to you. What do you care if she’s warming your bed or not? Last I heard, you didn’t fuck a woman more than twice anyway.”
I chuckle. Apparently my reputation precedes me. He’s not wrong. After Sadie fucked me over, I went a little wild for the last five years. It’s been a good run, I’ve had fun. Honestly, the fun probably isn’t really over. But Carson is mine, and I’ll
have her waiting for me when I want a taste. What she will not be is with this motherfucker.
“This is a lot of shit talk, and honestly a fuck ton of bullshit over some bitch. Why don’t you tell me the fucking truth of it?” I growl.
Skull waits for a beat, and I think he’s going to hang up, but he doesn’t. The fucker likes the sound of his voice too much to end this tete-a-tete. “We want to sink you, all of you. We want to rise up as a new Notorious Devils,” he admits.
It can’t be that simple. I wonder. Then I decide it probably can, these guys really aren’t all that fucking smart. “And once you take over?” I chance asking.
“Then we’re the ones with everything, Keys.” The line goes dead.
Shaking my head, I decide to find Snake and talk to him one-on-one. I think this can be stopped, at least the root of the problem, the only problem that the Devils will have are the limbs. We don’t know how many Skull and Fish’s there are scattered around these clubhouses. Weeding them out is going to be a fucking bitch.
I can only do so much background on these guys. We’re not saints, none of us, and the ones that are connected to the Aryans like Fish, seem to have fake backgrounds, but they’re full of shit that nobody would even glance twice at. Whoever forged it all, is a damn good hacker. I want to meet him.
Leaving my bedroom, I head toward Snake’s office. I glance around the bar and notice that it’s pretty busy. I frown, wondering how long I was locked away. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I glance at the date.
Fuck.
It’s been a week.
Carson is going to be fucking pissed at me.
CHAPTER TWENTY
CARSON
I SUCK in a deep breath and head toward the bar. Axe is with Roxanne today, but next week he’ll start going to Gracie’s daycare. She’s fantastic and I immediately knew that she would be not only someone that I could see myself becoming friends with, but also someone who I could trust with Axe. Sometimes you just have a feeling about someone, and it was that way with her for me. Her daughter Lea is really great too.
Blended with Pain: Notorious Devils (Cash Bar Book 4) Page 14
