by Hart, Eve R.
“I tried to tell you.”
But then again, I was sure he had ulterior motives for going over there last night. Maybe even some he wasn’t fully aware of at the time.
“We’re getting somewhere, I think,” I said not wanting to beat around the bush any longer.
“Thank fuck. Tell me what you got.”
So I started filling him in on the list and what Bocca found. I managed to find a few more big rollers in town that also had a large amount of money withdrawn from their accounts within the last few months. I was still working on it and the next thing I was going to look into were people they associated with. If Keften got one of them to buy a place to work out of through one of their companies, then maybe we could find it. So far, I hadn’t found anything. But hey, we’d only managed to find a handful of people. There had to be more.
And I kept thinking about overseas transactions. What if that was something he was doing? We really didn’t have a clue but I wasn’t going to rule it out.
Prez took it all in but didn’t say much. He knew he wasn’t much help with this part. But he for damn sure would be ready to go when the time came.
“What did you find out today with the Sketch situation?” he asked after I had finished.
My head dropped back and I blew out a long breath.
“I found her,” I stated in a tone that said I wasn’t comfortable with what I’d found. “Tracked her down to some house. The place is closed up tight but at one point we got a glimpse of her through a crack in the curtains.”
“Sure it’s her?” He raised a brow at me as he pinned me with a pointed look.
“Yeah.” And I was, because those eyes weren’t something I would ever mistake. Even though I was far away and looking through the lenses of binoculars, I felt it in my gut. “It was her.”
“So why you holding back?”
“Something didn’t feel right. Couldn’t tell you what, just a feeling I got.”
“You think you need to check it out more?” he asked and I could tell he was torn.
“I hate to say yes, but that’s how I feel. Might need to get her out. But again, have no clue why I feel that way.” I gave a half shrug.
“Did you talk to Sketch about any of this?”
“Not yet. Didn’t want him running in and getting into shit,” I answered truthfully.
“Keep it that way,” he agreed. “Send him and some of the prospects out to do drive-bys on some of those names you have and properties they own that might work for what Keften would need.”
“You got it.”
I made my way out of his office and headed down to the kitchen.
Then I made myself a sandwich and sat down with a few of my brothers.
“Where are your better halves?” I asked in a joking tone as I noticed that Lake, B-ry, and Brand were all sitting there alone.
I mean, it wasn’t unusual for them to be solo but since they all were at the same time, I assumed the girls had gone out together to do something. And since I didn’t see Dade’s sister floating around, I would have guessed she went along too. Good. Because that girl worked too damn much for us. I hoped she knew how much we appreciated it.
And it was obvious they didn’t invite Amber, who was there sitting next to Mouse.
I still wasn’t sure what to think about her. She’d checked out and so it really shouldn’t matter what I thought. Maybe it was just that she seemed kind of… there. I hadn’t seen much personality from her. But I had caught her and Mouse in the corner of the bar a few times looking like they were deep in conversation. So I guessed it was just that I didn’t really know her. If she was sticking around I figured I should make an effort to change that. I didn’t ever want to give that uncaring vibe to a brother’s… oh, hell, I didn’t know what she was at this point.
Most of the time it was easy to tell. Sure Lake and Bridget were kind of odd around each other at first. But it was clear there was something there by the way he looked at her and the way he sort of came out of his shell the moment she came into his life. And as for B-ry and Laurel, well they were both so headstrong and determined they knew what the other wanted.
“Chris took Laurel, Cami, and Abigail to a movie, ” B-ry answered.
I didn’t need to ask why they’d been left behind. With everything that was going on, I imagined that Cami, Laurel, and Abigail needed a break. Chris was kind of more adjusted to how it could get crazy around the club, even if he didn’t know exactly what was going on.
“Wait, so they didn’t take Bridget?” I asked, my eyes moving to look at Lake.
“She was gone by the time they started making plans,” Lake said with a shrug.
And I knew.
I fucking knew where she was.
Even as I opened my mouth to ask.
“Where is she, Lake?”
“She didn’t want to sit around and she knew I have to be on patrol in a bit. So she went back to sit on that house you guys were at earlier.”
He didn’t seem like it was a big deal that she went out there all on her own. To be fair, it shouldn’t have been. As far as he knew, this track-down-Claire thing was supposed to be easy and harmless. That was until I got that feeling in my gut this morning. The same eerie feeling that was washing over me right now.
“Cable?” Lake asked, his posture going stiff in a second flat. “The fuck, man? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost. It’s safe, right?”
“Yeah,” I snapped to say. I wasn’t exactly lying because I didn’t have a real reason why it wouldn’t have been. “Yeah. It’s safe. I’ll just ride out there and keep her company.”
“Do I need to go out there?” He didn’t look all that happy.
“No. With the shit going on you need to keep your patrol. Don’t want to give Iron anything else to stress about. I’m taking a bit of a break anyway. So, it’s all good.”
I got to my feet, ignoring the irritated energy that was rolling off of him. I heard him on the phone as I made my way out of the kitchen. If I knew Bridget, she’d probably tell him she was fine and that she wasn’t going to leave even if he asked her to.
I tore across town on my bike, weaving in and out of traffic like a madman. After I made it to the street the house was on, I parked up the block because I didn’t want my bike to be heard. I didn’t imagine many— or any— of the people that lived around here rode a motorcycle and I was worried the sound might set off alarm bells for people.
As fast as I could without looking shady, I made my way to the SUV Bridget was in and after a light tap on the window, she unlocked the doors.
“What the hell, woman?” I said, pinning her with a hard stare. Yeah, I was a little pissed. She should have at least let me know that she was coming out here.
“What? I know that you guys have shit going on and I wanted to help out. And I didn’t want to sit around all night knowing that I could watch this house for you.” Her brows pinched together like she couldn’t understand why I was so mad.
“Anything happens to you, it’s on me. You got that. I won’t be okay and Lake sure as fuck wouldn’t be either. Got me?” Yeah, I was pulling the asshole tone on her but as her face softened, I knew she got where I was coming from.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Now, tell me what’s been going on here.” I dropped it. She understood and there was no need to make her feel any worse about the whole thing.
“Nothing. It’s been silent.”
The place was still shut up tight. The front porch light was on, but so were practically all the other ones on the street. The curtains were still closed and around the edges, I could see that a few of the rooms were lit up.
What the hell was this place?
From the outside, it seemed like a normal house where normal people lived and probably did normal things every day. But something told me that there was more going on here. I just wanted to make sure this Claire girl was okay so I could tell Sketch and move on.
I figured I’
d sit here with Bridget for a little while longer and then tell her to get her ass back to the compound. I still had work to do, after all.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Cable
“Movement,” Bridget said but I’d already seen the car coming down the narrow path between the houses.
Black.
Sleek.
It had me sitting up straight and my hands fisting in a second.
It stopped halfway down the driveway, right next to the flat, concrete path that led to the front door.
Moments later, the door opened and I’d be damned if Claire didn’t come stumbling out. She righted herself and I took in everything about her.
She was almost unrecognizable from the picture I’d seen.
Short, silver dress that looked like something an upscale hooker would wear. Heels that matched and by the way her legs were shaking, I could tell she wasn’t used to being in something so delicate and high. Her hair looked washed but it was slicked back away from her face. And that face. Her lips no longer a natural pink. Instead, they now held a deep red stain like a beacon in the middle of her pale face. Her doe eyes were now inked with black shadows.
“Fuck,” I breathed out and was thankful when Bridget didn’t say anything in return.
Claire took a step and stumbled again. Then something caused her to jump and I watched as her body went stiff as a board.
Something strange came over me and I was jumping out of my skin to get to her. To help keep her upright.
“She’s on something,” Bridget said in a dead tone that threw me for a moment. I could only guess that she was super focused.
“How can you tell?”
I had my thoughts on it. Yeah, I would have said she was fucked up at first glance. Then I wondered if the display that we’d seen earlier was because she was high or coming down.
Before she could answer, a large figure moved out of the front door. He stomped his way over to her and even from this far away, I could tell he was pissed.
When he grabbed her arm and yanked her to the waiting car, I had to anchor myself to the seat. And when he pushed her into the open door, it was all I could do not to pull my gun out and make myself known.
He’d moved too quickly for me to get a good look at his face. The only thing I knew was that it wasn’t the Andrew guy that we followed over here earlier. This guy was bigger, much bigger.
My body remained stiff. The only thing that moved were my eyes as they tracked the car pulling out of the driveway.
There was a pause.
The world stopped around me for a fraction of a second.
The windows were tinted but not dark enough that I couldn’t see through them.
His lips tipped up in a knowing smirk as he stared through the windshield of the SUV looking right at me.
In a blink, I was out of the SUV. My feet pounded the pavement as I reached into my cut and pulled my gun.
The driver hit the gas and the car fishtailed as it took off.
I hesitated.
I shouldn’t have.
I shouldn’t have thought about the surrounding people that thought they were safely tucked away in their homes. I shouldn’t have thought about the random person that might have been taking their dog out for a late night stroll. I shouldn’t have thought about Claire sitting right next to him.
But I did.
And maybe that was what made me different from him, but it didn’t feel like it was enough.
I should have taken the fucking shot.
That was when the air oddly crackled around me making my skin hum and buzz with an odd kind of electricity.
The crunch sound of metal on metal stole my attention, my head whipping in the direction of the SUV seconds too late. This was no accident. And as the Land Rover reversed and then the driver hit the gas while heading straight for me, I knew I was supposed to be next.
My body hit the ground and I rolled to the side just as the Land Rover sped past me.
Thank fuck!
Holy shit…
“Bridget!” I yelled as I got to my feet and took off for the mangled SUV. That was when my phone started going off but I was more concerned about Bridget right now.
How the hell hadn’t I heard the Rover barreling down the street?
How had I missed this?
I couldn’t believe I’d been so focused on getting to him.
To motherfucking Keften.
I still couldn’t believe he’d been right there in front of my eyes.
Holy fuck!
“I’m okay,” she said as she came stumbling around the front of the SUV.
Blood trickled from the left side of her head and my stomach dropped to the ground.
“Shit,” I said as I ran over and reached out to help steady her. “Need to get you to a hospital.”
My phone rang again.
I couldn’t ignore it.
But I couldn’t answer it right now, either.
“I’m fine.” She waved me off and wiped the blood from her head. “Bad guy?” she asked like she already knew the answer.
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do now. “Real fuckin’ bad.”
“Club shit?”
“Yeah.”
“Then we need to go after him.”
I looked at her like she was insane.
“Are you out of your damn mind?! Did you not just hear me say that he’s real fuckin’ bad? And you don’t do club shit, right?” I pinned her with a hard stare.
“I don’t want to know about it but I’m not blind. Something has been going on probably since I got here. And I’m not dumb. I’m not saying I want you to tell me anything but we need to go after him.”
But it was too late. He had too much of a head start.
I shook my head and looked at the ground between my feet as a heavy sigh worked its way out of my lungs.
“At least answer your phone then,” she said.
“Shit,” I mumbled as I reached for the damn thing in my pocket and automatically answered it. “Yeah?”
“You need to get back here,” Mouse said and I could hear the panic in his voice. “Someone lit a car on fire and rigged it to crash into the clubhouse.”
“Fuck!” I roared.
He knew.
He fucking knew we were there watching him earlier. He’d caught onto us somehow and now everyone was paying the price.
“We caught it coming down the path. Colby jumped in and was able to get it turned away and stopped before it hit the building,” Mouse said and I relaxed just a tiny bit. “He’s okay, just to let you know.”
“Sorry,” I said shaking my head even though I knew he couldn’t see it. “We got some shit here too. SUV is fucked and…”
“And what?” he asked and I wasn’t sure I should tell him, or anyone, before I talked to Iron. “Hold on.”
I could hear talking in the background but wasn’t able to make out the words.
“Hey,” Iron said and I’d guessed that he’d taken the phone from Mouse. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Bridget?”
“A little banged up but says she’s fine,” I replied feeling like total shit that I’d let this happen.
“Gilded Rose just got hit, too. What is it we’re missing?”
“Keften,” I said in a dead tone. “I found him. And fucking lost him.”
“Connected to Claire?” he asked like he just fucking knew that was the kind of luck we’d find.
“Yeah. I couldn’t…” How the hell was I supposed to tell him that I had Keften in my sights and I’d let him go? “I didn’t take the shot.”
“You got a ride?” I couldn’t tell anything by his tone.
“Yeah, bike is still standing.” Thank fuck for small miracles.
“Call Lake then meet me at Petra’s. Bring Bridget, Charming will be there and he can look at her.”
Then he was gone.
This was one call I didn’t want t
o make.
“Cable?” Bridget said and I realized I had been standing there a good long minute staring at my dark phone screen.
“Can you ride?” I asked as I pulled up Lake’s number.
“Ehhh. Sure.” I didn’t have to look at her to know that her shoulder rose and fell with a quick shrug.
“Let’s go,” I nicely barked as I looked left then right to make sure the street was clear.
Lake answered on the third ring and I didn’t even try to beat around the bush.
“Some shit happened. Your woman is fine. Heading over to the Gilded Rose to meet Prez now. Think you should head that way.”
“What the fuck, man?” He sounded pissed and worried. Not that I could blame him. I hadn’t exactly explained anything. “If anything happened to her…”
“I know, brother. It’s on me. Just get your ass over there. Wastin’ time.”
It was the asshole thing to do but I still dropped the call then mounted my bike. Bridget was there a second later.
This time, being on my bike couldn’t even give me a sense of calm.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Claire
Sometimes I’d come back and there would be new faces. It wasn’t a surprise, living on the streets, you tended to shift around a lot. People would come and go. Like me. There were a few that I knew I could always count on to be here when I returned.
Our little tribe had grown over the last year. Monty seemed to stick around more often than not and I wasn’t sure why. He was a dick and didn’t get along with anyone here. He was just an angry kid, I think. Hate-the-world chip on his shoulder and whatnot. I didn’t know his story, just that he’d already been living out here for a few years.
“He’s glad you’re back,” Vass said, talking about Sketch as she took a seat beside me in the corner of the room.
I’d been back two days now. I hadn’t been gone but six weeks but it felt entirely too long, for some reason.
Vass was new, coming into the fold about five months ago. But there was something about her that was warm and a little soft. Monty often watched over her a little too closely. As far as I could tell, she hadn’t taken that step that most of us here had. She was still pure even in her filth. I envied that a little. Then again, at this point, I was so far tainted that it almost didn’t matter anymore. I had a feeling that she wasn’t even aware of the things we did in the night. That she’d somehow lucked out and been able to survive without stooping that low. It didn’t help that Sketch and Monty seemed to take extra care of her.
