A biker for Christmas (Jokers' Wrath MC & MC Sinners)

by Bella Jewel

  “Wow, you’re just straight in there with the advice, aren’t you?” I laugh softly. “I should have asked you sooner.”

  She grins. “What can I say, I’ve picked up a few things over the years.”

  “Well, we aren’t spring chickens anymore, are we? I suppose it’s only natural for us to become old and worldly.”

  “Whoa,” she laughs. “That’s taking it a bit far. Why did you have to use the O word?”

  I giggle and Ash turns around, smiling back at us. “What are you two laughing about?”

  “Oh, nothing,” I say, still laughing. “Ciara is just throwing the old word around like we’re all about to bust a hip on this elevator.”

  Serenity snorts as we reach the elevator and clicks her fingers. “Hell no. These bitches aren’t going to know what hit them when we roll in for questioning.”

  We all burst out laughing and an older couple smiles at us as they step off and we step on. As soon as the doors close, I turn to them. “Did you see that? That old couple smiled at us because we’re in their league now. They were probably going to ask us for some tea.”

  Addison rolls her eyes with a grin. “I don’t even drink tea, they would have been disappointed.”

  We reach the floor we’re meant to be on, and I ask, “So, who are these two people we’re questioning?”

  “Their ladies,” Ash tells me. “Well, their ex ladies. Apparently, they broke up with them just before the cruise, and we’re going to find out exactly what went down.”

  “I can do one better,” I say, flicking my hair. “We’re going to be the ones they just fucked.”

  Ciara stops and her eyes widen. “You’re a genius!”

  “Oh, I know. Nothing gets women talking more than jealousy, believe me. Do you think they know they’re dead?”

  Santana shakes her head. “They don’t, nobody does. At least, I think that’s the case. I saw them serving breakfast this morning and they didn’t seem at all upset so my guess is no.”

  Perfect. I take a deep breath, shaky my boobies out and then we walk into the buffet dining area where most families come to eat. Rows and rows of food in glistening silver food carts line the floors. I must admit, this is my favorite place to eat, too. It’s like you can just stuff yourself until you can’t move anymore, then go in for dessert. You can go back as many times as your little heart desires.

  “That’s them,” Ciara says, pointing to a table where four girls are sitting, drinking coffee. My guess is they’re on a break. Ciara timed this well, didn’t she?

  Oh, this is going to be fun.

  I need a little fun.

  Bring it on.

  “SO, YOU KNEW ISAAC?” a pretty blond girl asks me, narrowing her eyes and taking me in, every inch.

  Oh, she’s not over our friend Isaac, that much is for certain. The way she’s taking me in is that of a woman who still thinks she has claim on the man in questioning. I actually pause, feeling incredibly sorry for her because soon she’s about to find out Isaac is dead and that’s not kind for anyone. I hesitate for a moment too long, and Ciara steps in and says, “We hung out with them at the pool a few nights ago, we were just looking for them.”

  The girl, whose name is Rebel, it says so right there on her name tag, looks at me for a second longer before glancing at Ciara. “You hung out with them? Who’s them?”

  “Isaac and his friend ... I honestly forgot his name we were so drunk and it was super late.” Ciara laughs, shrugging.

  Here’s hoping this story works and the two guys weren’t hanging with these ladies because if they were, we’re going to end up having to backtrack really fast.

  “Oscar,” Rebel says, rolling her eyes. “Those two are always out late after shift. Why exactly are you looking for them?”

  “I left, ah, something in his room,” I say, shrugging. “I need it back.”

  Rebel’s eyes slice through me, and she snaps, “You slept with him?”

  “I never said that,” I throw in there, quickly, too quickly which makes my act look a whole lot more believable. “I just said I left something behind. Do you know him or not because we’re in a hurry.”

  “Oh, I know him.” She crosses her arms. “We only broke up just before this cruise. I can’t believe he’s off running around with other women. He’s such a douche. You should be careful, whatever he told you it’s a lie. A big fat lie.”

  “Right,” I say, looking bored on purpose. “I just want my things back and I don’t even remember what room he was in, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to find him so I can do that.”

  “I can take you to his room, but he’s not on the ship anymore. Apparently, he got sick and they flew him out.”

  Oh, boy.

  “Oh,” I say, exhaling. “Seriously?”

  “Look, if I were you, I would make this the last time you talked to Isaac,” Rebel growls.

  “Are you threatening my friend?” Ciara says, her back going straight. “Because last time I checked you’re a worker here and we could get you into a lot of trouble for treating someone like that.”

  Rebel’s eyes flash, and she says quickly, “No, I wasn’t threatening her. All I meant to say is, Isaac is trouble. He was going to lose his job after this run anyway. He and Oscar hang around with bad people and they’re into bad things. We broke up because I didn’t’ trust him and I was afraid. I’m warning you, not threatening you. Isaac isn’t the kind of man you want to hang out with, trust me.”

  Ding ding ding.

  There she goes spilling the beans.

  “I wasn’t interested in spending more time with him, as I said, I just want my things back. My phone being one of them. Are you able to take me to his room?”

  Rebel stands, glancing down at her friends who are watching us. “Sure, I have an access key, I can get your phone for you.”

  “Thank you so much.”

  She turns and walks out, and we all follow her. She leads us to the staff quarters of the ship and when we arrive at a room she uses her card to unlock it. I wonder only as we go to enter if there is going to be crime scene tape in here? I mean, the actual scene wasn’t in here but they would have no doubt checked their rooms, right? That’s the first thing I would have done.

  Rebel doesn’t know they’re dead, and I don’t want her to find out in the hardest possible way.

  “Wait,” I say as she goes to open the door. “Are you sure this is okay?”

  She looks to me, confused. “Yes, why? If it wasn’t okay they would have changed the locks. Is there something going on?”

  “No, it’s just I don’t want you to get into trouble going into his room without permission. I’m sure your job means a lot to you. Maybe I should go in alone?”

  She narrows her eyes. “What’s going on between you two? You’re not telling me the truth. Are you seeing him? Just be honest.”

  “Yes,” I lie quickly. “Yes, I am seeing him. I have been for some time. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

  Ciara tips her head to the side, narrowing her eyes, no doubt wondering what the hell I’m doing, but she’ll clue in eventually. The other girls stand back, just watching, letting me take the lead thank god. I need them not to interfere right now. I don’t want us to get into any more trouble, we’re trying to get out of it. Not in it.

  “How long?” Rebel hisses, her face tight. “How long were you seeing him before this cruise?”

  “Three months,” I blurt. “Three months. I didn’t know about you, I swear. I only found out the other day and that’s why I left my phone in here. I ran out quickly because I was angry.”

  “He was a lying, cheating dick. I knew that. It’s why I broke up with him. I didn’t know he brought one of his floozies on board, though.”

  “Whoa,” I say, putting a hand up. “I’m not calling you names.”

  She rolls her eyes. “You didn’t think you were the only one, did you? God, you’re not. He’s done this before I just didn’t know about it until recently. He’s
a bad man, I’m sure you know that. It’s the best thing you could do, getting away from him.”

  “So, you know?” I whisper, my voice low.

  I have no idea what I’m asking, all I know is that she knows something about Isaac and I want to know what it is. So, making out like I’m in the know seems like the best option.

  “Yes, of course I know. I’ve known for a long time, but I pushed it aside thinking I was being a good girlfriend. He was going to get busted, no doubt about it. You can’t smuggle drugs onto a cruise ship and sell them and not get caught. He had some bad people after him, they both did. You’re best staying right away from it. It’s dangerous.”

  Oh.

  God.

  That explains a lot.

  I figured the two men got killed for good reason, I just didn’t know exactly what that reason was. I suspected drugs, it’s always drugs, but I had no idea they were bringing them onto the ship. That means whoever is on here, and killed them, is setting us up to cover their tracks. Clever, really.

  “He was in some trouble this time around, I think that’s why he really got flown off,” I say, low. “I think the police may have caught him. Or that other guy.”

  There I go again, throwing shit around that I have no idea about, but Rebel seems to like spilling so I’m going to take my chances.

  “It would have been the other guy,” she says, glancing at the other girls before leaning in closer and whispering, “He’s a bad man. When Isaac found out he was coming onto the ship, he freaked out. He knew he wouldn’t be able to escape him. He trapped him right where he knew he couldn’t get away. Now Isaac is gone, but he’s still on here and I’m worried he might come after me.”

  “Do you know his name? Isaac never told me his name. I only discovered him by accident.”

  “Vincent, I don’t know what his last name is. Isaac started working for him a few years ago, selling drugs, and then he fucked up and Vincent has been after him since. He thought he got away with it because he paid his debt, and the idiot kept selling drugs on the ships, making money, and Vincent didn’t appreciate him using their suppliers to source his own drugs and do things so carelessly, so he came after him.”

  Oh.

  Boy.

  This is good. So damned good.

  All we have to do is find this Vincent fellow, and be done with him. Then maybe, just maybe, we can go back to enjoying our cruise.

  “Does Vincent know about you, Rebel?”

  She shrugs. “I’m not sure. That’s why I’m freaking out. Mostly, Isaac kept me away from this stuff, but he’s a clever man and I’m sure he could find me if need be. I don’t feel safe.”

  “You’ll be okay, I promise,” I say to her, because I know Vincent has already sought his revenge, making sure Isaac and Oscar were taken care of, and making it look like we had something to do with it.

  That douche.

  He’s smart, that’s for sure. She’s right about that.

  “I’m not so sure,” she says, shrugging her shoulders.

  Her strong demeanor changes, and I can see she’s scared. I make note to get the guys to keep an eye on her, make sure nothing happens to her. Even though the two men are dead, she obviously knows a lot about this Vincent fellow, and he may very well think she’s a threat and find a way to take her out before she talks.

  “What about Oscar, how is he involved in this?”

  She frowns, and then shrugs. “He’s Isaac’s best friend, I figure he just got involved for some extra cash.”

  Poor guy.

  He probably had no idea what was coming for him.

  “Look, Rebel, we don’t need to go into this room. I really don’t want you getting into trouble. It’s totally fine, I don’t need my phone anyway. If I do, I’ll get a manager to get it. I’m not risking you any further, you’ve already been through so much.”

  She studies me for a moment, then says low, “I can see why he liked you. You’re a good person. It was the best thing you did, getting away from him. I wish I had done it earlier.”

  I reach over and squeeze her shoulder. “You’ve done it now. That’s all that matters.”

  She gives me a small smile, and then I nod to Ciara and we all leave, not wanting to put anything more on that poor girl.

  Besides, she already gave us what we needed.

  I glance at Ciara when we’re out of sight, and she says to me, “Wow, you’re good.”

  “I’m in the mood for a fight,” I say, rubbing my hands together. “Let’s take this Vincent down.”

  Ciara grins. “Yes. Let’s.”

  Bring it on.

  7

  CIARA

  “DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD tell the guys and just let them deal with it, now we have a name?” Addison asks as we all find a quiet booth at the dining hall to discuss what we just found out.

  “No,” I say, shaking my head. “Not until we can locate him. Then we can have them finish it up, so we can walk away clear.”

  “He sounds like a pretty bad guy.” Santana frowns. “I mean, he killed two young men on a cruise ship, made it look like a murder suicide, but set us up to look guilty. He thought it through. Do you suppose he knows who the clubs are? Maybe they’ve dealt with him before and that’s how he knew to use them?”

  “Makes sense.” Jaylah nods. “We did wonder how he’d figured out not just one, but two clubs were on board, and then knew their names.”

  “Yep, whoever he is, he’s thought about all of this,” I murmur. “Anyway, I’m sure we can track him down easily enough.”

  “Do we want to ask questions, though?” Ash asks. “I mean, going around throwing his name about could wind us up in even more trouble.”

  “Ash is right,” Serenity agrees. “We can’t just throw his name around. Surely there’s another way we can find out where he is, or who he’s staying with.”

  “We could always chance asking a staff member, acting like we’re looking for him. It’s worth a shot?” I throw out there. “They might say no, but they might also let us do it.”

  “I have a better idea.” Addison grins. “What about we go to the main desk and ask them to call him up for us? We can make up some story when he gets there to make it look genuine.”

  “What if he recognizes us?” I frown. “He might get even more suspicious.”

  “I think,” Jaylah says, “what we do is go and ask them to tell us where he’s staying, if that doesn’t work we’ll use calling him up to reception as a second option but only if we have to because Ciara is right, he might recognize us and that would ruin everything.”

  “We only need to get a look at him to see who he is so we can see what he’s up to. That’s it,” Addison says, “we call him up, and then when he arrives, we’re out of sight. Tell the receptionist you’ll wait near the toilets or something for him, so long as we’re not in her line of sight, we can catch a glimpse of him and get the hell out of there.”

  “It could work,” I say, nodding. “It’s worth a shot. Let’s go and see what we can do. We’re running out of time. Tonight is our last night.”

  “Did you hear they’re hosting a massive Christmas party tonight?” Serenity asks. “No doubt he’ll be there.”

  “Oh,” Jaylah laughs. “He’ll be there, and so will we.”

  Indeed, we will.

  “I’m actually looking forward to dressing up and enjoying the festive season before we have to cut our vacay short tomorrow.” I exhale as we reach the elevator that’ll take us to the front reception on the ship.

  “Me, too,” Jaylah says. “It would be even nicer if my man would play along with me.”

  “Have you spoken to him yet?” Ash asks.

  Jaylah shakes her head. “I haven’t really had a great deal of time, and he’s been going out of his way to avoid me. I’ve about had enough, if I’m being honest. This trip was meant to be a reprieve for us, some quality time together and yet he’s barely said two words to me.”

  “Honey,” I tell her,
“you need to just rip his damned clothes off and have your way with him. Take control. Put on a sexy little Santa outfit and blow his mind.”

  Jaylah laughs. “I’m far more likely to do something stupid than blow his mind, but you’re right, maybe I do need to just take control.”

  “Oh.” Santana wiggles her brows. “You do.”

  We arrive at the reception desk and walk straight over to the older woman sitting behind it, typing on her computer. I don’t know how she does it. Sits here when all the fun is being had everywhere else. She’s working, but she’s most likely daydreaming about those chaise lounges. Does she get time off, even though it’s her job to be on here working while the ship is sailing? I don’t know.

  “Can I help you?” she asks as when we all stop at the front counter.

  “Yes, actually. I know you can’t give out room numbers, but I met a guy last night and I left my phone and everything with him ... you know ... I was wondering if you could call him to reception so I might ask him to return my things? We didn’t exchange numbers.”

  Not at all bothered by my story, which tells me she hears this one a lot, she nods and asks me, “What’s his name?”

  “Vincent. I don’t know his last name, sorry, but surely there are only so many Vincent’s on board, right?”

  I give her a sheepish smile, which she completely ignores as she taps into her computer for a few moments, then tells me, “Yes, there is only one on board. I’ll call his room first, see if he’s there, if he isn’t, I’ll call him over the speaker. Your name is?”

  “Oh,” I say, swallowing, “I didn’t tell him my name, so he’s not going to know who you’re talking about. We were, ah, drunk.”

  She narrows her eyes at me, like she’s a little disgusted by my story. Oh well, she doesn’t need to know it’s not actually a real story, and that I’m making the whole thing up. If she wants to judge me, she can.

  “Give me a moment.”

  I hold my breath as she calls his room, because I’m freaked out he’ll actually be there and he’ll tell her he has no idea what she’s talking about. Thankfully, a moment later she hangs the phone up and tells me, “He’s not in his room. I’ll make an announcement.”