Angel Unseen: An Unseen MC Novel

by J Bree

  "What's up?" she answers on the first ring.

  "You okay? Where are you?"

  She hums under her breath. “I’ve just gone on my break at work. Are you okay?"

  "Yeah, just stay safe. Something is happening."

  She hums again. "The curse singing to you? I'll keep an eye out, baby."

  I hang up and immediately call Hawk’s number.

  Voicemail.

  Fuck everything.

  I turn to find Rue talking to Poe, mumbling a few threats about keeping her ass at home and I get back to calling down the list.

  Trink is in a bitch of a mood but fine.

  Speck doesn't pick up.

  Hellion doesn't either.

  I grab my keys and start out of The Boulevard, yelling over my shoulder at Axe to keep the place locked down. He frowns at me but nods, solid in the orders. I don’t want to leave Angel but Axe isn’t on my fucking watch list and there’s something happening.

  I try Hawk again and this time he answers. "Where the hell are you?"

  I get my ass on my bike, leaving the helmet tucked in the bag, and jerk my head at Rue. "Something's going on, Speck and Hell aren't picking up. Mom's fine, and Trink and Poe. Have you got eyes on King?"

  He grunts, "Yeah, and Lyn but Law was helping Speck with the bar today. He wanted extra green for the hog he's trying to buy. King can feel it too, get your asses over to the bar. We’re on our way too.”

  Jesus fucking Christ. I'm on the road without thought, the motorbike flying underneath me and Rue coming in hot behind me. It's a fifteen minute trip between the clubhouse and the bar, we make it in eight.

  "What's the plan here?" Rue says, and I shrug.

  "Shoot first, ask questions later."

  My phone buzzes in my pocket and I check it as I swing off of the hog.

  Angel just got off the stage. I’ll keep her in your office until her next dance. I’ll keep her safe, brother.

  Fuck.

  I didn’t realize Axe had noticed my fucking obsession but I guess I’m not as slick as I thought. I have to just fucking pray he isn’t one of the rats and I haven’t just left her to fucking die.

  My heart is fucking screaming in my chest.

  I'll need to come to terms with the fact that she was my first fucking thought when the feeling hit my gut, that I only called Keely first because of habit.

  I wanted to call Angel.

  Fuck.

  The bar is closed for the fix up so the parking lot is empty, except for Hell’s hog and Speck’s old truck. He must have given Law a ride over here.

  Something tightens in my chest but I try to talk myself down. They're here. They're probably just busy, there's a lot going on here and if they're cleaning the place out after the shooting then of course they're not going to pick up on the first call.

  I glance at Rue but he's still just as fucking worried, shifting straight into the future Prez the club needs. "We go in slow. Just in case. The worst that happens is we're both fucking laughing about this tonight over beers."

  True.

  I give him a nod and draw my gun.

  The club has owned the bar longer than I’ve been alive, I was a fucking toddler the first time I came here. I know every inch of the entire property, I know which of the wooden floorboards will squeak, I know how to open the back door without a sound.

  I go first because it’s protocol.

  We walk through the back rooms and there’s nothing. It’s not until I creep around the corner that I thank God for this fucking curse. Whatever it is, however I got it, I'll take the fucking pain of being cuntstruck every day of the damn week because I’m here at exactly the right fucking time.

  Speck has a fucking gun to his head.

  There's group of fucking Demons standing there laughing as they're about to fucking execute my cousin, kneeling there with Hellion and Law, beat to hell like they’ve been fucking tortured.

  I take the guy holding the gun out with a headshot.

  His friend sees us and pulls a gun but Rue gets him first.

  Law dives onto the ground as bullets start flying everywhere and then I see him tug Speck down with him. Hell kneels there like he's fucking hoping a bullet takes him and Rue starts cursing the asshole out.

  "Get your fucking head outta the way, you dumbass!"

  Finally he slumps down onto the ground and grabs a stray gun, killing the one of the guys from where he's ducked behind a turned over table.

  I might lose my mind a little but I walk out into the bar as if I’m fucking bulletproof, ignoring Rue’s cussing as he follows me out. We’re assholes but we’ll die together if we have to, just to have each other’s backs.

  Three more down and Rue takes the last guy down with two shots to the back when he tries to run.

  I feel relief for about a half a second.

  "Tomi! Tomi, Speck's shot."

  My brain just fucking short circuits. Just shuts down but I'm moving on instinct. I've learned a lot from my mom over the years listening to her stories and little things she'll say to me about packing wounds.

  When I look at my cousin’s chest I'm fairly fucking sure there's no saving him.

  I try anyway.

  I know Rue will be calling 911 for him and there'll be a helluva lot of paperwork to do about this shootout but I couldn't fucking care less. I'll do time if I have to, I just need Speck to fucking live.

  The blood just pours outta him, no matter how hard I pack it, and by the time the EMTs arrive I'm covered in blood. Beyond covered, it's dripping from every inch of my skin and Speck's face is the color of a corpse.

  I'm fucking sure he's dead.

  I don't even notice my surroundings until they have him loaded up and out of the building, working so goddamn fast but he's dead. There's no fucking way he's coming back from that. No way.

  I stand up and find Rue staring at me with blank eyes. The type you get when you see your brother, your blood, bleeding out on the dirty fucking floor of a bar.

  Law is shaking like a fucking leaf while he's talking to Thorn, standing there in full uniform and taking notes. His face is fucking grim, the frown etched so deep into his skin I don't think he'll ever look happy again.

  Hell is behind the bar chugging a bottle of whiskey like it has all of the answers, one of the other officers trying to stop him or talk him down but that's not going to work out for him at all.

  The Demons are still all lying around wherever they fell and all at once I'm taken over with a calm sort of rage. I'm not ready to ride off into the sunset and find me some Demons to gun down. Nope, I'm feeling a fucking evangelical need to find and destroy whoever helped these fucking rat cunts into my town and my fucking bar to kill my fucking blood.

  I turn on my heel to leave and Thorn calls out. "I need your statement. There are men dead here, Tomi, you gotta come in."

  I scoff at him. "No, I for fucking sure do not need to come in. I need to go call my mom and tell her Speck's coming in. I need to clean up and head to the hospital myself. I need to go sit and wait to hear if they can save him. That’s what I need to fucking do."

  Rue slaps me on the back and nods. "I did the shooting. Tomi did all the saving, you can get his statement later."

  I meet his eye and he gives me a nod. I'm the one who can find this cunt so he'll man the fuck up and take the fall. That’s what this club fucking does, that's what being a brother means.

  I leave without another word, riding like a bat outta hell back to the clubhouse and stalking straight into the shower without stopping. King calls out to me but I ignore him, something I would normally get my ass reamed for but today is not that day.

  When I'm clean enough to handle the computer I stalk back out in a pair of jeans to find Hawk and King waiting in my room.

  "What exactly is the plan here? We can't just ride off to Texas, as much as I fucking want to right now. Tell me where your head is right now, Tomi." King says, his hands on his hips as he takes some deep fucking breaths.<
br />
  I get it.

  I do.

  He did hard time for the good of this club and came home to the problem being even fucking worse than when he left. But the thing is, shit has changed around here.

  "I'm going to fucking find them. I'm going to find out whoever let those cunts into my fucking town and into that bar because they didn't roll up there without information."

  Hawk lights up a cigarette and perches his ass on my bed. "And how exactly are you going to do that? Is that fucking computer of yours a crystal ball?"

  He's pissed off, I always know just how irritated he is by how much he rags on me for knowing how to use this shit. It's fine.

  "No, it's not but the security cams I've installed fucking everywhere around our properties might just help out with the problem."

  King frowns and uses his foot to clear my couch. The entire room looks like a frat house but I don't give a fuck. "What are cameras going to pick up? I mean, we know they got in there because the door was fucking open thanks to the cleaning."

  "There's three different leads right now and I'm following all of them until I find out who the fuck did it."

  Hawk tips his head back and blows a stream of smoke out at the ceiling. "Who shot up the bar last night, that's a lead. Did they do it trying to hit someone or just trying to fucking get some of us alone."

  King nods. "Was it a random choice or did they want Hellion and Speck there?"

  I start going through the files. "Or Law. Is this about Coldstone or is it about Mounts Bay and Harbin?"

  King scratches his chin. "Third option?"

  I don't want to vocalize it, not at all, but I do. "Hell was supposed to be there by himself. Speck and Law went because Law wanted to earn some green."

  I don't have to say another word.

  Because we're all too busy trying not to think about the fucking worst option.

  Is Harbin's son a rat?

  Chapter Twenty One

  Angel

  I wake up to Poe’s face about an inch away from mine.

  “What in God’s name do you think you’re doing sleeping on the goddamn street instead of calling me? We’re supposed to be friends, Angel. Friends call when they need a fucking couch for the night.”

  I blink at her but she just hovers over me like I’ve kicked her goddamn puppy. “I’m sorry. I… I actually couldn’t call you. I lost my phone and I haven’t exactly memorized your number. Look, I just— I had a bad night.”

  She frowns a little harder and then sits down on the couch next to my legs so I’m pinned in. “What happened? You went home with Tomi right? What the hell is going on with him?”

  I groan and fling an arm over my eyes. I didn’t even get the chance for a shower last night when we got back here, Poe just led me upstairs and into her room, throwing a pile of blankets on the couch when I told her I couldn’t share the bed with her.

  She was nice enough not to question me about it.

  “Did he… hurt you? It’s— I mean, I love that asshole like a brother but if he hurt you I’ll castrate him. I know how, my sister taught me. She says all girls should learn how to.”

  My arm slowly slides away from my face and I give her a look. I’m both shocked and impressed.

  I can’t imagine this grinning, sunbeam of a girl hurting anyone but… yeah, that’s a fucking deadly serious look on her face.

  Huh.

  So Rue needs to watch out for his dick then.

  Noted.

  “He didn’t hurt me. Not... not like that. I don’t talk about this shit, Poe, not with anyone.”

  She shrugs. “I’m pretty damn good at keeping secrets. I swear, I’m a vault.”

  She’s so damn sincere. I take a deep breath. There’s truths I can give her without giving her everything. Maybe just enough that she understands me. “I don’t like… touch easy. I don’t like the feel of people touching me at all. It takes me a long time to get over that.”

  She nods. “I noticed. Speck told me not to ever touch you, he knows I’m a hugger.”

  I give her a wry grin. “Yeah, I noticed. So I’ve gotten better about it since I moved here. I can hug you sometimes. I’ve hugged Speck too.”

  She nods and stands up, stalking over to the window and opening the curtains to peer down at the Callaghan house. It’s like she’s giving me a little space to get my shit together and I appreciate the hell outta her for doing it.

  “I had sex with Tomi last night.”

  She makes a little squeaking noise which ends in a gag. “Ew! Gross! He’s like my brother, that’s disgusting. Wait, you let him touch you? Thomas freaking Callaghan, the boy who got so fucking wasted at his sixteenth birthday he puked in the fucking pool… that I was swimming in? That Tomi? Christ, I just fucking can’t. I can’t. I thought you guys hated each other? I thought he scared you or something?”

  Goddamn my freaking body, I blush like an idiot. “Yeah. That one.”

  She gags again but at least I’m not feeling awkward about it anymore, just embarrassed. “Right. Okay, so you fucked Tomi. Why does that make it a bad night? Oh fuck, please don’t describe anything to me!”

  I snort at her dramatics and then groan. “It wasn’t the sex. It was after that. He kicked me out… said girls aren’t allowed to sleep in his bed. There was a party going on and I didn’t really want to have to face Speck or Rue during my walk of shame so I just… walked over to the garage. I’m staying at a hotel for a few days while I wait for my house to be ready. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be there and then Pops walked out and scared the fucking shit outta me.”

  Poe’s eyes narrow and she sits down on her bed with a huff. Hell, she looks pretty fierce like that, without the big grins and bubbly personality she’s fucking… intense.

  “I will have Tomi’s fucking balls for this. I will cut them the fuck off.”

  I scoff at her. “Why, because he fucked a stripper? Poe, he’s well known for that shit. He didn’t force me into anything, I should have known that he was just hoping to get laid. I was the fucking whore that spread her legs for a biker and then cried when he kicked me out. I’m the dumbass!”

  She stands up and props her fists on her hips, staring down at me like I’m a disobedient asshole. “If I catch you talking shit about yourself like that again, we’re fighting and I’m warning you now, I can kill a man with my bare fucking hands. I’ll kick your ass six ways to Sunday.”

  I groan and sit up. “I’m not trying to sound all fucking sorry for myself but like… what exactly was I expecting? I am a stripper, Poe. That’s exactly what I am.”

  She throws her hands up into the air. “So fucking what? Hell, I’d totally be one if I could! I’ve seen how much money you make, fuck, I’d suck a dick for that kind of green!”

  The door opens and I just about die when Thorn’s frowning face pops into the room. “Take that shit back right now Poe before I lock your ass up for the night.”

  She scoffs and throws herself backwards on the bed. “It’ll be the only way I get some damn action in this dumbass town!”

  I feel so freaking awkward sitting here with the two of them arguing like this, my skin begins to itch.

  I try not to think about him being a cop.

  I sit up on the couch and scoot my ass to the edge. “I’ll just grab a cab back to the hotel now I can. I’m really sorry again for disturbing your night.”

  Thorn shrugs and steps into the bedroom properly. Poe glares at him from where she’s lying but he ignores her completely. “It was no trouble. I can drive you on my way to my shift this afternoon. Unless you have work? It’s no trouble at all.”

  Poe sits up sharply. “She’ll need a lift to The Boulevard tonight and I’ll get Speck to give her a ride back here when she’s done. She’s crashing on my couch for the rest of the week.”

  I shoot her a look but she only gives me sass back.

  Thorn doesn’t even question it, just shrugs and says, “You better be at school every day, Poe. If you start
slacking off I’ll put you under house arrest.”

  I open my mouth to argue, I’ve paid for the hotel already so I don’t need to crash anyway, and Thorn shoots me a look. “Girls like you shouldn’t be sleeping at a hotel by yourself like that. We can swing by and grab anything you left there before your shift. I’ll talk to the reception to get your money back.”

  I have no choice but to nod. I don’t really want to talk to him while he’s standing there in uniform.

  I can’t.

  Poe cackles like a freaking witch and dances around as she teases him. “Stop looking at him like you think he’s about to fucking arrest you. Thorn’s not like a regular cop, he’s a cool cop.”

  He huffs at her and clicks the door shut after himself.

  I give her a look but she’s too busy being an idiot to take notice of me. “If you wanna get back at Tomi for being a shithead, please don’t fuck Thorn. I just— I can’t deal with that at all. Nope. Gross.”

  I collapse back on the couch and pull the blanket back over my head, cussing her out when she only laughs harder at me.

  It almost freaking kills me, but I let Thorn drive me to The Boulevard in his police cruiser. My hands shake the whole time but he’s nice enough not to comment about it.

  When the car stops in the parking lot, he smiles at me and it strikes me how different he looks to Poe. Their coloring is completely different and his smile is nice enough but it’s not the same bright one she has.

  “I’ll grab you around four, is that okay? If not, I’m sure Speck can drop you off.”

  I nod and get out, clutching my bag to my chest a little. As an afterthought, I remember my goddamn manners and lean down to say, “Thanks again for the ride and for grabbing me last night. I really can’t thank you enough.”

  His phone starts ringing and I get my ass moving, my first dance starts in less than a half hour.

  I get let into the back door by a biker, one I don't know, and he checks my ID carefully before he lets me pass.

  "What time is your shift?"

  I startle, fumbling over my words. "My first dance is at midnight and then I'm on again at two. Is... is everything okay?"