Colt: Demons of Destruction

by Jacqueline M. Sinclair

  He ambled off without another word. Hank waved the paper at Skinner. “Appreciate it.”

  The kid seemed to fully understand the situation Cain put his club in, and the potential for more. “You got a week,” he warned. “Then it’s open season.”

  Colt stood, waiting for Hank, who tossed enough cash on the table to pay for the uneaten meals, then walked out, regrouping with their brothers in the parking lot.

  “We got seven days before that shithead, and the rest of those turds, go lookin’ our guy themselves.” Hank looked to the group. “Me, Tex, and Colt are going to push on to Georgia, see if we can put eyes on him. The rest of you go back to the clubhouse and wait.”

  There was a different reaction from each one of them, but none of them were happy about being kicked out of the party. “The more of us riding, the more attention we get,” Hank warned. “We’re under the radar on this, boys. In and out, and gone before they know we’re there. Just like when old Sam here is banging Jess.”

  A round of laughter went up, but it was forced, none of them willing to argue with Hank’s logic. Colt strolled to his machine, enjoying the last stretch his legs would have for a few hours.

  Hank sent Colt and Tex one last look. “Saddle up, boys.”

  All eyes turned to the door, an air of excitement sweeping through the clubhouse, but Maci’s happiness deflated when it shut, and there was no Colt. Vanessa, standing on one side of her, and Jess on the other, locked their arms around hers and led her back to the table.

  “It must have gone well,” Vanessa said, her eyes scanning the group of men coming in. Hank wasn’t with them, either, but she didn’t seem that surprised.

  “How do you figure?” Maci asked, taking her seat.

  “They’re back,” Vanessa explained, nodding toward the group gathering at the bar.

  Maci shook her head. The women had filled her in on club life while they sat and waited, and she had a new appreciation for them. They may be in the shadows of the club, but she had a pretty good idea they were extremely close to their men. “I don’t see how you all do it.”

  Vanessa sighed, dragging her beer closer. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. You get yourself a Demon and you won’t want anyone else.”

  I just want Colt. “Let’s just start planning, shall we?”

  The first lady, as Maci had dubbed Vanessa, pulled back, eyeing Maci. “You sure about this?”

  “The girl has made up her mind. Let’s do this,” Jess said, pulling out her phone. “We have to start with that hair.”

  Maci sunk into herself. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

  “Not a thing, sweetheart,” Vanessa said. “It’s just a little too perfect, too memorable. If you’re looking to bury your old life, it’s got to go.”

  At least Vanessa had some sympathy about it, unlike Jess. “Scroll through some of these and see what you like.” Jess passed her phone to Maci, but she didn’t miss the look Vanessa was giving Jess. Almost a warning. Maci was creating trouble among them and she didn’t like it.

  She turned to Julie. “You have a shop?”

  Julie nodded. “About ten minutes from here.”

  Maci slid Jess’ phone back to her. “Can I come in tomorrow? Maybe look through some magazines or something?”

  Julie seemed in tune with Vanessa, offering Maci a sad smile. “Any time after noon is fine.”

  “I’ll drive you,” Jess offered, earning another look from Vanessa. “Afterwards we can hit this little boutique I know off Seventh Street and do something about those clothes.”

  Not knowing what else to do, Maci smiled a polite thanks, and sunk into her chair. She was tired. Exhausted. Colt wasn’t coming back tonight, and judging from the whispered conversation around them, wouldn’t likely be back until it was over and done with.

  “Hank’s on the road, why don’t you crash at our house tonight?”

  Vanessa didn’t wait for an answer. She stood, taking Maci’s hand in hers, tossing her empty beer in a nearby trashcan. “You can pick her up at our place,” she told Jess, then turned, pulling Maci toward the bar.

  They stopped to tell Tucker the plan, waved goodnight to the rest of the guys, and walked out to Vanessa’s black Mustang.

  “Nice car,” Maci said, climbing in the passenger seat.

  “Thanks. One day I’m going to wake up and this baby is going to be a ’68, with tuck and roll seats, and a good old fashion cassette player in the dash.”

  Vanessa shot Maci a wink and backed out of the clubhouse parking lot. The radio was off, and as much as she liked Vanessa, there was something lingering between them.

  “Something you want to say?” Maci asked. It wasn’t an attack, more permission for Vanessa to spit it on out.

  She smacked her lips. “OK. I’m standing on a fine line here, Toots. I don’t think there’s ever been another chick around that knows more than I do, about what’s going on with our men.”

  Vanessa cut Maci a pointed look, but takes the conversation in a completely different direction. “If leaving here isn’t what you want to do, don’t do it. We’ll figure out how to make it work. Sometimes the best place to hide is right up under their noses,” she said with a shrug.

  Maci turned to her new friend. “What makes you think I want to stay?”

  Vanessa huffed. “I’m old, not blind, Toots. The whole damn clubhouse saw your face fall when Colt took off this afternoon. Don’t let Jess run you away. She belongs to everybody, but nobody, and hasn’t got a say in nothing that goes on here.”

  A jolt of surprise cleared the picture. Maci hadn’t seen Jess’ enthusiasm to help as anything but that, help. She wants Colt. Maybe Colt wants her. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t said goodbye to her. But he didn’t say bye to her, either.

  Maci thought it over, with no solution in sight. It didn’t make sense. He’d tucked away his anger, and thirst for revenge, for the week they’d stayed at the cabin, but something pulled him away from her the moment Hank told him about that meeting.

  Had there been more he hadn’t made her privy to? Regardless, it didn’t seem the best way to handle things if Colt wanted to be with her. It wasn’t her idea of a relationship, and it wasn’t something she could make sense of.

  She gave in. “No, I need to go. Soon.”

  Ignoring the motherly look Vanessa sent her way, Maci used the rest of the ride to make concrete plans. If Kelly could come through on a new ID, she’d hop a bus somewhere. Maybe out west. Arizona looked beautiful in pictures. Maybe she’d get back in school, but the idea of starting classes all over seemed daunting. She wouldn’t be able to claim or transfer the credits she’d already taken. All that time, wasted.

  By the time they pulled up at Vanessa and Hank’s cute little ranch house, Maci was starting to feel a little overwhelmed by her choice. She knew herself well enough to know that, now that the decision was made, the best thing to do was push forward and do it. Don’t think on it, don’t dwell on it. Just move her feet.

  Following Vanessa inside, Maci surveyed the clean, quaint surroundings, the lived in atmosphere and homey décor. She wondered if she’d ever have something like this, a home, and a man who’d come home to her every night.

  “You could wait on him, you know.”

  Vanessa leaned against the door jam, watching Maci take in the small, neat guest room. “Look, I’m not telling you it’s an easy life. In some ways, we have it harder than the guys. We’re outta the loop and in the dark a whole lot of the time, but if Colt is what you want, wait and see what happens.”

  As much as Maci wanted to believe in those words, trust at the hint of promise in Vanessa’s voice, one thought kept her from holding on to it with both hands. “I’m the reason his father’s dead. He hates me.”

  Locking eyes with her new friend, Maci tossed her book bag on the bed, all that was left of her possessions. Her car had been towed to the storage yard. Not that she could reclaim it. She was a fugitive from justice. No reason to make it easy for t
he cops to find her.

  “That’s a shame,” Vanessa sighed. “You’re exactly what he needs.”

  Colt felt the phone vibrate in his pocket, tossed his half-full cup of coffee in the trash and went outside. The house they’d identified as Cain’s sisters was a ramshackle rental tucked on a corner of a thriving business district.

  The three of them had been taking turns in the various shops lining the street, keeping an eye on the house, looking for any sign of Cain. So far, all they’d caught sight of was two little girls getting on and off the school bus, and a woman they assumed was his sister, leaving for work dressed in scrubs.

  Seeing Hank walking toward him, Colt picked a sidewalk table that a local pub had set up, and slid onto a stool facing the house. Hank was ending his watch, but took a seat opposite him. “Join me for a beer?” Colt asked.

  “Fuck, it’s early. I could use nine or ten.”

  Colt caught the attention of a waitress, ordered two, and turned back to Hank. “See anything?”

  He shook his head. “It’s our first day, though. I just hope those pussies can be trusted. I’ll be a mad fucker to bounce in there and find out he’s waiting for us.”

  Hank kept his voice low and his attention directed at Colt. “We didn’t dig up a single shred of anything to make me think any of our guys have ties to the Rebels. Not a single brother I wouldn’t trust with my ride or my woman, but I can’t say the same for those bastards.”

  “You think somebody is going to tip him off?” Colt asked.

  “I think Skinner has shit for brains, fried by whatever the fuck he smokes, and couldn’t lead his boys down a country mile, let alone a club.”

  Colt considered it, agreeing with Hank. “He’d be an idiot to put his sister and her kids in the middle of it.”

  “He don’t fucking care,” Hank hissed. “If he had standards, he wouldn’t have tried to rape your girl at the store.”

  His girl. Colt didn’t know how he felt about the sound of that. He’d known she was involved, but fuck if he’d ever considered she was the reason.

  “You going to keep her around?”

  Colt shifted his gaze back to Hank, his eyebrow quirked. “Hadn’t thought about it.”

  Hank groaned, shaking his head. “Liar. You stiff dick boys will never learn. Quality son, not quantity.” He smacked his lips. “I don’t make our brother’s business my business, but I’ve watched you grow from pissing in diapers to pissing off half the teams in the NFL when you walked away. I feel a little entitled to butt in.”

  The waitress brought their beers, and Hank drank down a long swallow while Colt tried to put his thoughts into words. “Every time I think about her, it ends with a little voice in my head saying, it’s all her fault.”

  “Fuck no,” Hank spat. “It’s that fucker, Cain’s, fault. You think she wanted to be beat up and raped?”

  Colt felt the same blinding rage coming over him that’d consumed him at the clubhouse. “She was raped?”

  Hank shook his head, his bottle suspended mid-air. “Not for lack of trying. I can’t imagine what she went through, and she hadn’t told a soul before she came to the clubhouse.”

  His words put a chink in the blame Colt felt for Maci. He couldn’t imagine her suffering through that, alone, and still being half the person he’d come to know.

  “She ain’t the waitin’ kind, Colt. She’s the kind of girl that takes life and runs with it.”

  Feeling like Hank’s words opened a pit in his stomach that sucked his heart right into it, Colt nodded. “I get that impression, too.”

  “Then let’s get this shit done and get back home. I don’t plan on cuddling with you boys more than a night or two. The sooner this shit is shut down, the better.”

  Bringing the conversation back on track, Colt said, “We need to be careful about those kids and his sister.”

  Hank’s eyes scanned the sidewalk. “The house backs up to an alley, and the backside of the next block. I’m not aiming on leaving a mess for them to find. Get Tucker on the way with the truck. I’ll have Tex scout a place we can finish this shit.”

  Downing the rest of his beer, Hank stood. “There’s a boarding house two blocks east. Tex ought to have us a room squared away by now. I’ll be back in a few hours so he can get looking.”

  Colt dipped his head, acknowledging Hank’s instructions. The boarding house would be safer than a hotel, where there might be cameras, and there’d be no front desk staff to watch their comings and goings.

  “You told your mama?”

  A little surprised, Colt stuttered over his, “No.”

  “You need to tell her. Not about our trip, but she needs to know Pops died standing up for Maci, and not for nothing.”

  Pulling a ten from his pocket, Hank tucked it under the bottle, and strolled down the street. Colt watched him go, finishing his beer and leaving to find a seat on a nearby brick wall where he could still see the front door of the little house. He pulled the untraceable phone he still carried from his pocket and dialed Tucker’s cell number.

  “Yeah.”

  “Hank wants you on the way. Bring the truck.” The Demons owned a tow company, and except for the use of the pick-up truck in covert missions, it was legit, and operated under a dummy corporation. The truck was used for minor roadside assistance calls, and the magnetized signs could be pulled off. There’d be plenty of vehicles on the storage lot to pull a fake tag from. Risky, yes, but they could always claim the vehicle was towed without them, if questioned.

  “I’ll leave in an hour.”

  Colt hesitated, not wanting to pull Tucker into the middle of his personal shit, but he didn’t have any other way of contacting her. “Maci around?”

  “What?” Tucker was distracted and Colt knew he was already on the move.

  “Where’s Maci?”

  “Off shopping with Jess or some shit. She stayed at Hank’s last night.”

  Great. The last thing he needed was Jess making nice with Maci. He regretted the day he took that bitch into his bed. She’d dug in, and hadn’t let go, and the only reason she’d be helping Maci would be to situate herself between the two of them, not out of the goodness of her heart.

  “Call when you’re close.” Colt stabbed the screen, ending the call, his frustration rising. He didn’t need to be dealing with this shit right now, but he couldn’t keep visions of Maci out of his mind. The sting of sweat running down the scratches that crisscrossed his back didn’t help get his mind off her, either.

  Risking a quick adjustment, Colt stood, making his way down the street, pretending to glance in the shop windows as he walked. All three of them had abandoned their cut for the sake of discretion, but his sheer size, and presence, drew unwanted attention as he made his way down. He crossed the street. He needed to blend in, do something that wouldn’t make him seem suspicious.

  Without much thought, he found a patch of grass and leaned his back against one of the few trees scattered around the parking lot that cornered the house. He pulled out his personal phone, scrolled to his mom’s number, and called her.

  “Hey, baby.”

  Julie and Maci exchanged a look bordering on disbelief at the sudden, sultry tone Jess had taken.

  Watching her from Julie’s chair, Maci couldn’t help but be suspicious of who was on the phone, especially when Jess stood and walked to the door, as if she wanted privacy, but talked just as loud.

  “I was going to. I miss you.”

  Maci could feel her cheeks starting to burn. Jess was practically drooling into the phone. Was it him? Why would Colt be calling her when he hadn’t even said kiss my ass to her when he left?

  “How do you like this?” Julie asked, pulling her attention away from what should have been a private conversation.

  Running Maci’s new, caramel colored locks through her fingers, Julie let the layers’ cascade free. “This would be beautiful with some colorful highlights.”

  “What do you mean?” Maci studied her re
flection. The last week at the lake had replaced the washed-out appearance she’d had from lack of sun and she actually looked healthy.

  “Trust me?”

  Maci studied the woman’s friendly face, her pale green eyes so trusting and sincere. To her left, Jess had eased out the door, finally carrying her conversation outside. Maci frowned, not liking the growing jealousy she was feeling.

  She let out a small sigh, resigning herself to her fate. Colt had let his indecision make his decision. She forced a smile at Julie, who was waiting patiently. “Do your worst.”

  A girly squeal erupted from her. “You’re going to love it. I promise. If not, I’ll keep doing it until you do.”

  “Don’t you have other customers coming?”

  “Not on Wednesdays. I’m usually closed because I’m open all day on Saturdays.”

  “I’m sure it’s nice having a day off during the week, but you don’t want to spend your day off here playing with me.”

  “Are you kidding? I love this stuff. I’ve only been in business about a year, so it still doesn’t feel like a job, yet.”

  The door chimed open and Jess stepped back in, peeking into the bowl of raspberry color Julie was mixing. “That’s going to look amazing.”

  Julie did nothing more than mumble thanks. Maci didn’t say a word. Unperturbed, Jess took a seat in the styling chair next to them, and continued to play on her phone. Hardly a word was spoken over the next two hours as Julie fussed and foiled strategically placed lowlights in her hair. The result was nothing short of stunning.

  Grinning from ear-to-ear, Julie told Jess, “Take a picture and send it to Kelly for her ID.”

  Looking none too happy about it, Jess waited for Julie to spin the chair around so that the neutral tan wall was behind her, then snapped the picture. “Now let’s do something about those clothes.”

  She gave Maci a distasteful once over and started toward the door. Maci shot Julie a surprised look, but the two quickly burst into laughter.