Point squeezed my knee. “We both need it.” He left his hand on my knee and kept driving. We passed a sign pointing to the highway, and Point took the turn. “This should take us back to Whitmore.”
It should. Seventy-three ran straight through Whitmore. Granted, I didn’t know how long it would take until it did. I didn’t look at the time, but we had to have driven for at least two hours with no direction in mind.
We roared onto the highway and lived in the fast lane, passing any and every car. We passed a sign touting it was over fifty miles to Whitmore.
“We’re that close to Whitmore?” I called. It was going to take less than an hour to get back home.
“Yeah,” Point called. “Though we took the long way to be this far away,” he laughed.
That was the truth.
By the time we pulled off the highway and back into Whitmore, I decided I liked country road driving more than the highway. We turned into the parking lot of the clubhouse and parked next to a few bikes.
“This okay?” he asked after he killed the engine.
I nodded and slid off the bike. “Yeah. I need to get back to living, right?”
Point grabbed my helmet and set it on the seat of the bike. “Only when you’re ready.” He reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear.
“I’m ready.” I sighed and leaned up to press a kiss to Point’s lips. “I didn’t know Joseph very well, but I know he wouldn’t want me moping around. The times I spent with him, I always marveled about how full of life he was. Even being homeless, he seemed happy. I want that. I want to be happy no matter what is going on.”
“There’s my Deedra. I was afraid I lost you for a second.”
I reached up and brushed my fingers over his cheek. “I’m your changed and improved, Deedra. Just like you’re my changed Point. As much as I love the memory of us falling in love the way we did, I like to think you and I are better versions of ourselves now.”
“We both needed to grow up, Dee.”
We did. It wasn’t like we had fallen in love when we were eighteen, but even in our late twenties, we still had growing to do. “As much as it hurt to leave you back then, I’m glad I did. It made me appreciate and love you even more. I left because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to live my dream with you. So, like a fool, I went and lived without you and realized living without you sucked even if I was following my dreams.”
Point chuckled. “So, it really was fate for you to wander into the clubhouse a week ago, huh?”
I smiled wide. “Fate always does seem to know when the time is right.”
“So, I get to be part of your dream now?”
I sighed and stepped into him. “Part of it?” I pressed a kiss to his lips. “You are my dream, Point. I had to grow up to realize that.”
I wanted to lose myself in Point. I wanted to be his and he mine.
“Does this mean we can figuratively rip up those divorce papers now?” he laughed.
I nodded and laid my head on his shoulder. “Ripped up and burned, Point. You’re not gonna be able to get rid of me now.”
A loud bike roared into the parking lot and parked next to us.
Point’s body went rigid, and he moved in front of me.
I peeked over his shoulder and watched the man turn off his bike. He unhooked his helmet, hung it on his handlebar, and unfolded from the bike to stand in front of Point.
I knew all of the guys from the club, and this guy wasn’t one of them.
“Can I help you?” Point asked.
The guy looked around and ran his fingers through his hair. “No one can help me anymore, but you can offer me a hot meal and a warm bed.” The guy held out his hand. “The name is Barracuda.”
*
Chapter Seventeen
Fucking crazy shit…
Point
“You’re a long way from home.”
Barracuda shrugged. “Not sure where home is anymore.” His voice was gruff and he looked like he hadn’t seen the inside of a shower in a week.
I tipped my head to the clubhouse. “Well, come on in. I’m sure Quinn will tell you you’re more than welcome.” And hopefully Quinn would find out just what the hell Barracuda was doing here. I knew this wasn’t a scheduled drop-in.
Barracuda grabbed a small bag from his saddlebag and slid his sunglasses on top of his head. He didn’t offer any more explanation of what was going on and just stared at me. I threaded my fingers through Deedra’s and led the way into the clubhouse.
Well, this was a fucking surprise. Quinn and the rest of the guys were going to be shocked as shit when they saw Barracuda—President of the Royal Bastards and the guy who had loaned us a shit-ton of money to help sort out our problems. Barracuda was the reason why we were opening Skinz.
I pushed opened the door to the clubhouse and motioned for Barracuda to go in. “After you, brother.”
Deedra was plastered to my side and watched Barracuda walk through the door. “Point,” she hissed. “Who is he?”
“President of another club,” I whispered. I couldn’t explain everything to her because I needed a solid fifteen minutes to do that.
“What is he doing here?” she asked.
I shrugged and motioned for her to follow him. “Not a fucking clue, Dee. You’ll probably find out when I do.”
I could see the wheels turning in her head. She was trying to figure out just what was going on. Her reporter mind was working overtime. Not like she would be able to actually figure it out. The way the Royal Bastards had come to be a key part of the Kings of Vengeance was an interesting and still evolving story.
Quinn slowly rose from the couch as I closed the door behind me.
“What’s this?” he asked. His face was guarded and his hand rested on the butt of his gun at his hip.
Barracuda's eyes moved around the clubhouse taking everything in. God knew what he saw when he looked around. I thought Dyno had done an amazing job at renovating the old factory into the clubhouse, but maybe to Barracuda it wasn’t great.
“Uh, this is Barracuda,” I replied simply. Might as well get straight to the point before tensions rose even more. Walking into the clubhouse with someone unannounced wasn’t really a smart thing to do.
Recognition shown in Quinn’s eyes. He knew exactly who Barracuda was, and he was just as confused as I was about why he was here. Maybe he had decided to come up to Whitmore to see our progress on the strip club?
Quinn moved to Barracuda and held out his hand. “Good to meet you, brother.”
Barracuda shook his hand. “I just need a place to stay for a bit.”
“Sure, sure,” Quinn muttered. He snapped his fingers at Dyno and Zephyr, who also had been sitting on the couch. “Make sure Brick’s room is ready.”
He held up his hand toward Dyno and Zephyr. “I don’t want to take anyone’s room,” Barracuda interrupted. “I’ll take an empty bed.”
“His bed is empty for now,” Quinn explained. “In about three weeks, it won’t be.” Quinn nodded to Dyno and Zephyr to get moving.
Dyno and Zephyr took off down the hallway to Brick’s room. Barracuda may have motioned for them to stop, but they both knew they needed to listen to Quinn.
“Uh, can we get you anything to eat?” Quinn asked.
I had never seen Quinn shocked and frankly at a loss for words or unsure what to do. Normally he was five steps ahead and knew exactly what to say or do.
Kimber and Fancy were seated at the table by the kitchen watching Barracuda. Their eyes were wide and they were hanging on every word coming from Barracuda.
He was a tall son of a bitch and intimidating as hell. Just his sheer presence was enough to make you pause. His deep, gravelly voice added another layer of just overall badassness.
The Royal Bastards were a large motorcycle club that had chapters all over the world. Barracuda was the prez of the Sacramento chapter though it seemed like he wasn’t too keen on explaining what he was doing here.
“
Food would be good. Whatever you got,” Barracuda grunted.
Kimber jumped up from the table. “I was just about to make dinner. How do pork chops and mashed potatoes sound?” she whipped open the fridge, and her face fell. “Uh, well, I forgot to pull out the pork chops, so how does something else sound?” She smiled wide. “Just make it something that isn’t frozen.”
Leave it to Kimber to be a goofball in front of Barracuda.
“Yeah, Kimber is really good at making something else,” Fancy snickered.
Barracuda looked from Kimber to Fancy. Something changed in his eyes. They softened for a second but then hardened back to stone.
Maybe the women weren’t as crazy down in Sacramento, and he wasn’t used to it. If he was going to hang out here for any matter of time, he was going to have to get used to it.
“Doesn’t matter what,” he grunted. He turned away from Kimber and Fancy and folded his arms over his chest.
“I’ll show you to your room while the girls work on something for dinner,” I volunteered. He didn’t say it, but I could tell he wanted to get the hell out of here.
Quinn nodded. “If you’re feeling up to it, maybe we can meet for church.”
Yeah, that would be great. I know we all wanted answers as to why Barracuda was here.
Barracuda nodded. “Yeah. Give me fifteen minutes.”
He followed me down the hallway and to his temporary room.
“All good,” Dyno called as we walked in.
Zephyr tossed a blanket over the bed, and Dyno walked out, wiping his hands on his jeans. “Toilet is clean and we found a blanket and pillow in the closet. It’s not much, but it should do.”
“Thanks,” Barracuda grunted. His tone didn’t leave room for conversation.
We ducked from the bedroom and closed the door behind us.
“What in the fuck is going on?” Zephyr asked quietly. He glanced back at the closed door. “Why in the fuck is the prez of the Royal Bastards here?”
I glanced at the closed door. “No fucking clue, but I know Quinn is going to get to the bottom of it. Church in fifteen minutes.”
Dyno moved down the hallway. “I’m assuming our surprise guest will be there.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Quinn seemed pretty eager when he asked Barracuda if he was up for a meeting.”
Zephyr ran his fingers through his hair. “I can bet you a thousand bucks no one thought this shit was going to happen today. Barracuda knocking on our door like it’s fucking normal?”
This was the craziness of the Kings of Vengeance.
One day, we didn’t have a care in the world, and the next, there’s a dead body at my feet and unexpected prez knocking on our door.
Fucking crazy, man.
Fucking crazy.
*
Deedra
“Who is that?” Kimber hissed.
I shrugged and grabbed the loaf of bread from the counter. “I have no idea. Point and I were basically spilling our hearts to each other, then he rolled up.” I looked around for the large, serrated knife.
“Aw,” Petra called. “You guys made up?”
“Focus,” Fancy called. “We all knew they were going to make up. The thing we need to worry about is the mountain of a man who waltzed in here. You could feel how uneasy everyone was.”
“Did he say anything outside?” Queenie asked me.
I grabbed the bread knife out of the knife block and cut thick slices of bread. In about ten seconds, Kimber had figured to make spaghetti and garlic bread after realizing her plan of pork chops and potatoes was out the window. Partly because the only thing that was defrosted was a large pile of hamburger meat.
Now we were all working on getting it cooked and on the table in record time. None of us knew what was going on, but we knew whatever it was, was serious. Church may take minutes, but it could also take a long time.
“Uh, Point first asked if he could help him, and Barracuda said no one could help him anymore.” I pushed the sliced pieces to the side of the cutting board.
Queenie grabbed the bread and slathered it with butter.
“That doesn’t sound very good,” Fancy muttered.
“He just asked for a hot meal and a warm bed.” I finished slicing the bread and reached for another loaf. Cooking for an MC was way different than anything I had ever done before. However much I thought was enough, Kimber told me to double. Two loaves of garlic bread it was.
“I don’t know what is going on, girls, but I don’t have a very good feeling,” Kimber muttered. She stirred the large pot of browning meat and sighed. “I think this might be a good time to start drinking.”
That sounded like a brilliant idea.
“Though let’s not get to dad-jokes drunk, yeah?” Petra laughed. “I’m not too sure Barracuda would appreciate that like our guys do.”
Fancy grabbed five glasses from the cupboard and set them on the table. “I agree, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a glass to help ease our nerves, right?”
“Fill ‘em up, Fancy. I have a feeling we’re all going to need a drink by the time this night is over.” Kimber handed me an onion. “Chop that up and then do another when you finish cutting the bread.”
I nodded and grabbed the onion. I finished slicing the bread and Queenie worked on buttering and then sprinkling garlic power over them.
I glanced down the hallway, where the guys had all filed. “How long do you think they’ll be?”
I peeled the paper skin from the onion and dropped it into the garbage next to the counter.
“However long it takes,” Fancy muttered. She grabbed a bottle of wine and filled each glass to the brim. “Just one glass,” she laughed.
“Oh my,” Petra laughed. “Though I guess Rhino can’t get mad at me when I tell him I only have one glass.”
Even in the midst of a possible crisis, these women were crazy and having a good time.
Fancy handed me a glass and clinked hers against mine. “Bottoms up, girly. You’re getting thrown into the ol’ lady life headfirst.”
I took a huge gulp and sighed.
At least life wouldn’t be dull being an ol’ lady. The girls would make damn sure of that.
*
Chapter Eighteen
Our town…
Point
Silence rocked the room.
“What the fuck,” Zephyr breathed out.
While the Royal Bastards had helped us get out from under the Devil’s Rebels, they seemed to have gotten on their bad side. Or so it seemed.
Barracuda’s woman was dead, and all signs pointed to the Devil’s Rebels. Except Barracuda didn’t stick around to do anything about it. He just left.
While his words were harsh and decisive, you could tell he was just hurting. I couldn’t imagine anything hurting Deedra, let alone having her die in my arms. The pain he was feeling was something you didn’t understand unless it happened to you.
“What do you need from us?” Quinn asked. “Anything, and it’s yours.”
Barracuda shrugged and sat back. “I’m not sticking around for long. A couple of nights and I’ll be gone. Just the bed and some food will be all I need.”
While I struggled to understand the hurt Barracuda was going through, I didn’t understand why he just up and left his club.
“Your club know you are here?” Dyno asked.
Barracuda shook his head. “I haven’t talked to any of them in a couple of weeks. You can tell them I’m here. Don’t give a fuck.” What kind of a prez didn’t tell his club where they were?
“Well, you’re welcome to stay here for however long you want. There’s no reason for us to let the Bastards know where you are.” Quinn cleared his throat. “We, unfortunately, have some other shit going on with one of the ol’ ladies.”
Barracuda laughed. His tone changed and we saw a glimpse of the man we had talked to on the phone numerous times before. “I heard that. I always said if it’s got tits or tires, it’s gonna give ya problems.”
“But the perks always outweigh the bad shit, right?” Dyno laughed.
“For the most part, brother.” His eyes dropped to the table and the old Barracuda faded away. He stood and grabbed a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. “Gonna grab a smoke and see if dinner is ready.” He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Sledge was the first one to talk. “Holy fuck, man. Holy. Fuck.”
Quinn shook his head. “I don’t even know what to say right now. I’d be losing my shit if anything like that happened to Kimber.”
“Fuck, man. You lost your shit when she was kidnapped.” Dyno tapped his fist on the table. “Lucky as fuck nothing like that happened to her.”
“I’d burn the whole fucking world to the ground if Queenie was ever murdered,” Sledge growled.
We all felt that way.
I was silent, thinking about the fact I had almost lost Deedra three nights ago. A shower of bullets had rained down on us just like it had on Barracuda’s ol’ lady.
She wasn’t as lucky as we had been.
Quinn sighed. “The past few days just goes to show we need to be vigilant even when we don’t know if there is trouble out there. Thankfully nothing bad happened to any of us.”
“Problem is now we need to stick our necks out there again to figure out why the kid was killed.” Core tapped his fingers on the table. “I can talk to a couple of guys I know on the streets who might have known the kid.”
Quinn nodded. “Take Zephyr with you. No one goes out alone anymore. Always have another brother with you even if you’re just running to the fucking gas station. I have a feeling shit is going to get even more crazy before we figure out who is behind killing the kid.”
“It’s gotta be whoever is moving in on the meth ring around here. It’s too big of a coincidence with the Clarks getting busted, and now there is a huge hole in the supply chain.” I shook my head. “Deedra mentioned after she talked to the kid about the new people moving in, he became real quiet and didn’t want to talk.” It had to be the new people dealing. My gut was telling me the kid had ran to Deedra for help. He had somehow fucked with some bad people and then they fucked him right back.
Thrill Seeker (Kings of Vengeance MC Book 5) Page 11
