by A. M. Myers
“Hi, it’s nice to meet all of you,” I tell them as my belly flips and my heart jumps into my throat. God, why am I so nervous?
“Well, it’s real nice to meet you since Fuzz here didn't even tell anyone you existed until like a month ago,” Chance says and my head jerks back before I turn to look at Wyatt with a scowl.
“Fuzz?”
“Yeah, you know, ‘cause he was a cop for a hot minute,” Moose says and my eyes widen as I study Wyatt’s face but he just shrugs. Oh, that’s definitely something we will be talking about later. Actually, now that I think about it, I could see Wyatt as a cop but he would be one of those cops who straddles the line of right and wrong, the one that goes too far to find answers and put the truly bad guys away.
The doorbell rings again, pulling me out of my fantasy of Wyatt in a police uniform and he kisses my cheek as he releases my hand and walks over to the door.
“Where is my best friend?” Eden asks, her voice booming through the room and I shake my head as Wyatt stands back to let her in. She points a finger in his face. “You've been keeping her from me.”
“She’s my wife,” he growls and I sigh as everyone else looks on in amusement. I wouldn't say that Wyatt and Eden’s first meeting didn't go well but there is some definite tension between them and as hard as they are both trying to get along for me, they tend to butt heads. Eden dismisses his comment with a flippant hand wave as she turns to me and smiles.
“Pip-squeak!”
A few chuckles fill the room and I roll my eyes as she wraps me up in a hug. “Hey, Edie.”
“I love the place,” she says as she pulls away and glances at Wyatt as he walks up to us. “You did all right, I suppose.”
“Will you be nice?”
Her eyes widen and her mouth drops open, her face the picture of innocence as she turns back to me. “What? I'm not allowed to bust his balls a little bit?”
I roll my eyes again as Wyatt shakes his head and Eden turns to look at all the people staring at her.
“Uh, you gonna introduce me to everyone?”
The doorbell rings and as Wyatt goes to answer it, I introduce her to all of the guys and their wives before doing the same when Lillian walks in. By the time I'm finished, the last group is walking through the door.
“Everyone, this is my wife, Piper,” he says as he returns to my side and takes my hand. “Pip, this is Blaze, our president, Smith and his wife, Quinn, Henn and his wife, Kady, and this asshole is Streak.”
Streak flashes a grin at me. “Don't believe anything these fuckers say about me.”
“It’s all true,” Wyatt whispers in my ear and Streak pins him with a glare as he laughs. Everyone stares at Wyatt with confused looks on their faces.
“Jesus Christ, dude,” Smith says, shaking his head before he motions to me. “You’re like a whole new man with this one around.”
I arch a brow. “Oh?”
“Oh, yeah,” Streak says, nodding as he walks forward and throws his arm over my shoulders. “He was one moody son of a bitch without you.”
“Get your arm off of my wife,” Wyatt growls, venom in his tone and I turn to him with wide eyes as Streak pulls his arm off my shoulders and groans.
“Oh my God, I’m so fucking sick of all the couples. We need to get some fresh blood up in this club, people that aren’t already shacked up.”
Blaze scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yeah, we’ll put it to a vote the next time we have church.”
“Perfect. Now, let’s start grillin’. I’m fucking starving.”
“Actually,” Kodiak says and everyone turns to him. “We have somethin’ to tell y’all.”
They share that look again and this time, I smile with them since I’m lucky enough to be in on the secret. Tate turns to the guys, flashing them a wide smile.
“I’m pregnant!”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Streak groans before anyone can say anything else, scrubbing his hands down his face. “Why don’t we just start a goddamn daycare at this point?”
“Hey, that’s a good idea,” Storm says with a gleam in his eyes and Ali nods, grinning as Streak continues throwing his little temper tantrum. Blaze nods.
“We’ll vote on that at church, too.”
Streak groans loudly, rolling his eyes. “Is there any beer in this fucking place? I can’t take much more of this shit.”
Everyone laughs as he trudges into the kitchen to search for liquor and I look around at the rest of the group, an unfamiliar feeling settling into my chest as they all turn to congratulate Kodiak and Tate. I know I just met most of them but as I look at their faces, I can’t help but think that for the first time in a long time, I truly have a home and a family.
Chapter Twenty-One
Wyatt
I gaze out at the booths around me, full of stuffed animals and other various toys for kids to win as lights flash and sirens go off in a chaotic symphony that brings a smile to my face and reminds me of my childhood. The smell of popcorn and cotton candy drifts through the air and kids race past my booth, headed for the rides at the other end of the park. Storm and Ali are working the booth directly across from me and next to them is Smith and Quinn. On one side of my booth is Moose and Juliette and Chance and Carly are running the booth on the other side. Henn volunteered to run one of the rides and Kady is somewhere serving food with Blaze. The only ones missing are Kodiak and Tate but only because she had a doctor’s appointment to make sure everything was okay with the baby - something Kodiak insisted on after she felt a little bit of pain at our housewarming barbecue last night. I glance over at Streak on the other side of the booth and frown. Piper couldn’t get out of work or she would have been here with me, running the ring toss game instead of this grumpy fucker and I can’t believe how much I fucking miss her.
About a month ago, the club was contacted by a few people to help work this carnival to raise money for a group of kids in a really bad bus crash. Most of them made it out okay with minor injuries but three of them are still stuck in the ICU and the community has been doing everything they can for them as well as the driver’s wife after he died in the crash. Some of the guys, namely Streak, weren’t too big on the idea but honestly, I loved it as soon as Blaze brought it up. It means that our neighbors are finally starting to see us as more than just a bunch of rowdy bikers and we’re finally shedding more of our past reputation. Plus, this is our mission now - to help people - and that comes in many forms despite what Streak thinks.
“Thank God, this is almost over,” Streak bitches, leaning back in his metal folding chair and crossing his arms over his chest. I glance back at him and shake my head.
“If you’re going to be such a whiney little bitch then why did you even come?”
He scoffs. “Because Blaze made me. Said I needed some goddamn perspective.”
“He’s right. What the fuck is your problem lately?” I ask and he shakes his head, refusing to look in my direction.
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
“Mama, I wanna win this one,” a little voice says and I turn back to the front of the booth, smiling as I crouch down in front of a little boy with a mop of brown hair and bright blue eyes. He points to the giant penguin above my head, jumping up and down in excitement as his mom eyes us warily, Streak more than me. I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I have spent the whole day listening to his grumpy ass and picking up his slack so I’m done. He can just fucking leave for all I care. I point to the penguin.
“You want this guy?”
The little boy nods. “Yes, sir!”
“Well, you know what you got to do, right?” I ask. He can’t be more than four or five and he’s fucking adorable as he scowls up at me before his gaze flicks over to the game. Finally, he looks back at me and shakes his head.
“No, I dunno.”
I stand up and grab four rings off of the table before showing them to him. “Don’t worry, it’s easy. All you gotta do is take these rin
gs and toss them. If they land on a bottle, you win.”
I’m not supposed to give a prize that big out unless they land all four rings but we’re almost done for the day and I can’t say no to this kid. His eyes light up as a grin stretches across his face and he nods, holding his hands out to me.
“I can do that.”
“All right, bud. Let’s see it,” I say as I hand him the rings and his mom flashes me a more reassured smile as she steps up behind him and tries to help him toss his first ring. He shakes her off with a scowl.
“I got this, Mama.”
Backing away from him, she holds her hands up in surrender. “Okay, baby.”
He narrows his eyes as he focuses on the group of bottles and his little tongue pokes out of the side of his mouth. All I can think about is doing something like this with my own kid someday and I’m so lost in the fantasy, I almost miss his first toss. The ring hits the top of one bottle before sliding between another two and he sighs.
“Wow. That was so close, dude,” I say, flashing him a thumbs up. “Try again. I bet you’ll get it this time.”
His gaze falls back to the bottles, his concentration straining his face as he lifts the next ring and it sails through the air. It’s not a very graceful throw but I’m impressed for his age and when it lands on one of the bottle in the middle, his eyes pop open and he jumps up.
“I got it!”
I clap my hands and crouch down again, holding my hand up for a high-five. He slaps his little hand against mine before spinning in a circle, doing a little happy dance. Laughing, I stand up and grab the giant penguin off of the hook. The goddamn thing is almost as big as me and I have no idea how he is going to carry it.
“You want to try throwing the other two or do you just want your prize?”
He immediately drops the rings back on the counter and reaches for the penguin in my arms, his hands opening and closing in a “gimme” gesture. I chuckle as I pass the toy over to him and he almost falls back as he struggles to wrap his arms around its belly.
“Here, why don’t you let Mama carry that for you?” his mom asks, trying to take it from him but he rips it out of her grasp and wobbles on his feet before righting himself.
“No. I got this.”
His little voice is muffled by the toy and I laugh as she flashes me a look.
“Thank you.”
“No problem,” I reply, nodding. She turns and takes off after the kid as he struggles to carry his new friend, his steps faltering as the penguin’s weight throws him off balance. Chuckling, I shake my head and turn back to Streak. The smile falls from my face when he glares at me and I grit my teeth. I’m done with this fucker.
“Hey, our shift’s up,” Storm calls out to all of us and Streak jumps up so fast he almost knocks the chair over.
“Thank fucking God.” He stomps out of the booth and I roll my eyes as I follow behind him. Blaze walks up to us as we all meet between the rows of booths and the next shift files into the spaces we just abandoned.
“I got something I want to run by you so head to the clubhouse before y’all go home,” he instructs and I nod, irritated that I’m not going to be able to get to Piper sooner but I do need to grab the folders out of my room. Since getting back together with Piper, she’s stolen a lot of my attention and the cases got put on the back burner but I need to start digging into them again. Especially now that I have more to lose.
I follow the rest of the group back out to the parking lot where our bikes are parked and the roar of our engines flood the air around us as we pull out onto the street in a single file line. My mind drifts to the cases again as we drive back to the clubhouse and I hope that the time I’ve spent away from them will help me see things in a new light. Maybe I’ll have a new perspective. Smith was right last night when he said I was a brand new man with Piper. Hell, I can’t even remember that guy and I can’t help but think that maybe that was the reason I couldn’t come up with a lead. Maybe now, with more to fight for, I’ll finally be able to see things clearly. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t get my hopes up. I still can’t convince anymore of my brothers that there is something going on and now that Piper is back in my life, I’m terrified of actually being right. What the fuck would I do if something happens to her? How would I survive?
Shaking my head, I push the thoughts from my mind as we pull into the clubhouse parking lot. They are too damn painful and I can’t think like that or I’ll go crazy. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to protect her, though. She is my whole goddamn world and I’ve already lived enough of my life without her. After parking in our usual spots, we all climb off our bikes and everyone jokes around as we make our way to the door. I step out ahead of everyone else, eager to get the files and get back to Piper and when I pull the door open and step into the bar, all my thoughts screech to a halt.
What. The. Fuck?
Autopsy photos of Dina, Laney, and Sammy are plastered all over the walls over and over again, so close together that you can’t even see the blue paint that Ali, Carly, and Tate put on the walls a few months back. Some are in color and others are in black and white but they all stare back at me, taunting me with my inability to figure this shit out. My mind is blank, struggling to take it all in at once and process it as my heart thunders in my chest, wild and chaotic.
“Holy fuck,” someone whispers behind me and I glance over my shoulder as Storm stares at the photos with wide eyes and pulls Ali closer. She gasps and a tear slips down her cheek as she looks around at all the women we lost and my stomach sinks like a stone. Not a single wall in the place isn’t covered in their faces but right in the middle, written in red above the war room door is a message that confirms all my worst fears.
I AM WINNING
“Girls…” Blaze says, his voice haunted as his eyes travel around the room and I realize that everyone is standing behind me now, staring in horror at our home. “Go outside and wait for us.”
“No,” Chance snaps, shaking his head, his body tensing as he wraps a protective arm around Carly. “Not outside. Not out in the open.”
Blaze nods and blows out a breath, almost like he’s collecting himself. “Right. Upstairs, then.”
Chance nods in agreement as Smith and Moose do the same before kissing their girls. The girls huddle together and file toward the stairs, whispering to each other in frantic, scared voices as they climb up and after they disappear down the hallway, I release a breath but we all are silent as we try to sort through our thoughts and this new reality we’ve found ourselves in.
I’ve never wanted to be wrong more in my goddamn life than I do right now.
Running my hand through my hair, I try to think about what this means for all of us but there is so much we need to do, so much to plan and prepare for that I don’t even know where to start. I wish this was a dream or just the worst case scenario playing in my head.
I wish that I had investigated harder… been more insistent that something was going on when Kodiak challenged me.
I wish I would have been on Rodriguez’s case more.
I wish I would have found anything to help us solve this.
“Streak,” Blaze calls, snapping me out of my thoughts. His voice is authoritative and I think it puts us all just a little more at ease to know he’s got a plan. Ot, at least, I hope he does. Streak walks up to his side and they lock eyes. “Go check the security footage.”
“On it.” He nods and takes off up the stairs, disappearing down the hallway to his room as I turn to look at the rest of the guys as I try to force my mind to work. What the hell do we do? Where do we go from here? Storm turns and claps his hand on my shoulder as he shakes his head.
“Man… I’m sorry we didn’t listen to you.”
I shake my head and blow out a breath. “It doesn’t matter now.”
Hell, it’s not their fault and I don’t blame them one bit. Even I was starting to believe that it was all in my head but as I turn back around and stare up at the walls an
d the message left for us, my stomach twists and my heart climb up into my throat. If I close my eyes, I can see a photo of any of our girls up there with the other three and I clench my fists. He’s been ahead of us at every turn, so far ahead that we didn’t even realize we should be watching out for him and we’re so far behind this guy, so lost that I don’t even know how we’re going to stop him. An image of another photo pops into my head, this time of Piper next to Dina, Laney, and Sammy and my stomach rolls again.
Fuck.
I’m going to throw up.
“What do we do?” Smith asks, echoing my thoughts and as I open my eyes and turn back to look at them, they all shake their heads.
I know what I want to do. I want to take my wife and disappear until this is all over but I can’t do that. These men are my brothers and I won’t abandon them.
Not now.
Not ever.
“Goddamn it!” Streak bellows from upstairs and we all turn as he comes barreling down the steps with a laptop in both hands and rage painted across his face. “I’ve got nothing!”
He throws one of the laptops against the wall and it smashes into several pieces as a few photos float to the floor. It’s so quiet that the sound bounces off the walls, taunting us from all angles as he marches over to us. Tossing the other laptop onto the table, he spins it to face us as a video begins playing. The front door to the clubhouse opens and a man dressed in all black with a hood pulled up over his head steps inside, tucking something into his pocket.
“Who forgot to lock the fucking door?” Blaze asks and I glance over my shoulder as everyone shakes their head.
“It was locked, Blaze,” Henn assures him. “Checked it myself.”
We turn back to the video as the man sets a thick stack of the photos down on one of the tables and pulls out a can of something.
“Is that glue?” I hiss, my eyes widening as he pops the top open and paints the substance inside on the back of the first photo before slapping it on the wall. We all watch in horror as he continues down the line, blanketing our clubhouse in the photos and I clench my fists as fury twists through my body. The guy is completely average, just like every other descriptions we have for him and I shake my head as I clench my teeth so hard my jaw aches.
