Devil's Dilemma: Satan's Devils MC Colorado Chapter #4

by Manda Mellett

  “After… it… happened that night, he’d walked out. Took a phone, presumably to make a call. Stayed out until the morning. But that was two weeks ago. Since then we’ve been fine. I’m sure that’s got nothing to do with this.” Could he have left because he was scared I was pregnant? I really don’t believe so. Maybe if we knew for certain, but even then, the man I know and love would have stayed.

  “He took a phone.” Demon’s brow creases. “Right. I can get Cad to look at his phone records and see who he spoke to then. Might be a friend we don’t know about who he’s reconnected with.”

  “Someone he stayed with when he left for that month?” Pyro suggests.

  “Could be, Ro. Could be.”

  Their comments mystify me. I hadn’t known he’d left the club at all, must have been well before I met him. “Why are you talking about a call he may or may not have made two weeks ago? That’s got nothing to do with his disappearance now.”

  Demon stares at me for a second, then sighs. “Mel, look, we don’t know what’s relevant or what’s not. There’s a man who isn’t where he should be, so we’ve got to figure out where he may have gone. You might not have expected the man you know to walk out on you, pretty damn sure I speak for everyone here to say they’d feel the same. Sure, we may be grasping at straws, but let’s think this through. Maybe he went to stay with someone. Maybe he bumped into an old friend and has gone on a bender. You ever meet with or hear him mention being close to anyone outside the club?”

  Shaking my head, I tell him, “No. If I did, I’d be contacting them myself. He said he had no family at all.”

  There’s a knock at the door. Demon calls out, and Cad steps in. For a second, I wonder whether he’s summoned him by some kind of power of thought, but it seems Demon’s already got him on the case.

  “I’ve checked police reports and hospitals in the area. No mention of him or his bike. Not saying he didn’t have an accident, but if he did, it was out of town. I can widen the search but would be useful to know where I’m looking.”

  “Cad, Skull called someone. Early hours of the fourteenth. Can you check who? It’s possible it could be his go-to for advice.”

  “Will do, Prez.”

  Cad steps back out, closing the door behind him.

  “That’s the place to start,” Beef comments. “Friend you call in the dead of the night is probably someone you make a beeline for when you want to get your head on straight.”

  “Melissa, you’re looking concerned.”

  I am. Nothing makes sense. “I’d say you were right, Demon, if he’d been upset when he left. But he wasn’t. It was just like he was setting off for a normal day at work. There was nothing unusual in either what he did or said.”

  Pyro chuckles behind me. “Men are strange beasts, Mel. Sometimes we don’t let the wounds show in case they’re seen as a sign of weakness. We just retreat and lick ‘em in private.”

  Could it be as easy as that?

  The door opens again, and once more Cad pokes his head around it. “Skull made or received no calls at all between six pm on the thirteenth and noon on the fourteenth.”

  “Sorry,” I admit, having led them on a wild goose chase. The fact that he left with a phone didn’t mean he’d used it. Just took it in case.

  “Okay, Melissa,” starts Demon, “I’ve brought church forward by a few hours so I can get the boys together. We’ll thrash things out and take it from there. You’re welcome to stay here at the club or go home. If you want company, I’m sure Vi will be happy to stay with you until we’ve got word.”

  If something’s happened to Skull, something bad, the time I’ll need support is when we know. For now, I’d rather be at home where he’ll expect to find me if he comes back.

  “I’ll go to my place, Demon. I’ll be fine. I might have worried you for nothing, and he’ll turn up tonight.”

  “Tell him to get his ass here if he does,” Demon, no, the president, snarls. “No member walks off and disappears without explanation.”

  Oh no. Because I’ve opened my mouth, Skull could very well get into trouble. But what else could I do? My man’s missing and has been for four days.

  “Mel,” Pyro stops me as I’m about to walk out the door. “You take care of you. If you…” he doesn’t have to say it, a glance down at my stomach is enough. “Well, look after yourself.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Pyro

  “Hey, Ro. What’s all this about?”

  Ink heads straight for me as I’m at the bar getting a beer. “I had shit planned before church. Why call us in early?”

  “Skull’s missing.”

  “What?”

  I nod. “Melissa called it in. Well, brought it. Got worried when he hadn’t come home.”

  Ink shrugs, unconcerned. “Well it’s their business. Bet he’ll be in later for church.”

  “Pal’s not seen him, and he’s not been at the shop.” I focus my eyes on him. “He’s not been near the club. No one’s set sight on him since he left his ol’ lady on Sunday morning. I say we’re right to be concerned and hash it out sooner rather than later.”

  He looks around. “Christ.” He sweeps his hands through his hair. “And she’s only started worrying now?”

  I raise my brow. “He told her he was off on club business.” I need say nothing more.

  “Melissa still here?”

  “Nah. Gone home in case he turns up. Way Prez is feeling now though, he’d do better to keep clear.”

  “Demon won’t be happy that a brother’s done a disappearing trick,” Hellfire, having overheard, confirms. “If it was personal shit he could have had time off, but to go without telling anyone? Kid’s gonna have to have a fuckin’ good excuse.”

  We tend to refer to Skull as a kid as he barely looks old enough to shave. He’s supposed to be in his mid-twenties though he doesn’t look it.

  A loud whistle gets our attention. Keeping hold of my bottle of beer, I turn and make my way into the meeting room and take my seat at church. As people are getting themselves settled, I take the opportunity to look around. It’s good to see Thunder back in his rightful place. As sergeant-at-arms he’s seated to Demon’s right and appears more relaxed than I’ve seen him in months. Beef already looks comfortable to Demon’s left. It’s my estimation that the man didn’t know his own strengths until the rest of us pointed them out. Whatever he thought, he is VP material, and a man we all respect.

  The gavel comes down.

  Conversations cease. We don’t often have an emergency church so everyone’s taking this seriously. Some brothers know why they’ve been called in, others who have yet to hear are wearing expressions which combine mystification and concern.

  After only taking a second to confirm he’s got all our attention, Demon wastes no time summing up. “Skull’s disappeared. May or may not have to do with a disagreement between him and his old lady. Fact is, there was one, but in her view, they made up before he left. So that could be a red herring.”

  Hell clears his throat. “Let’s say Skull headed out after an argument with his ol’ lady. Heard he hasn’t turned up for work, which is a fuckin’ disrespect on the club, but we can address that. Fact is, it’s Wednesday. In a couple of hours he may well turn up for church, and all this worry will be for nothing.”

  Demon gives a slow nod. “While I hear what you say, Hell, fact is, neither his ol’ lady nor any of us can contact him. I, for one, hope bringing church forward was unnecessary, and Skull will walk in, hopefully with an explanation. If he is indeed missing, I don’t want to waste a moment when we could be searching. First off, if anyone around this table knows anything about why Skull left or where, speak the fuck up now.”

  Brothers look at each other, brows are raised questioningly, heads are shaken, but no one says a word.

  The VP raises his hand slightly. “Could he have been lured off? Someone getting back at the club? What about the mafia family, the Silvestri, that you were up against a few months
back?”

  “No,” Demon says firmly. “I doubt it. It’s not their style. If they’ve got Skull, we’d have heard about it before now.”

  “Surely that would be the case with anyone else? They take one of ours, they’d want us to know they’ve got him, and tell us what they want in return,” Hellfire observes.

  “Not if they came across him and killed him. We might never find the body.” Lizard sounds and looks sombre.

  It’s not as if that possibility hadn’t crossed my mind as well. My concern is how Mel would be able to cope if that was the case.

  Demon taps the table. “Melissa says he was going off for a couple of days. His going was planned, as presumably was his coming back.”

  “He in touch with anyone?” asks Pal. “Could he have thought he was doing something for the club? What exactly did he tell his old lady?”

  Beef responds, his voice dry, “Only that it was club business.”

  Pal nods. “So maybe it was. Or, he thought it was.”

  Or, I think to myself, it was a sure-fire way to stop her from asking questions.

  “What else we got, Brothers?”

  I waggle my hand causing Demon to focus his eyes on me. “The night of your patch over party, Beef, Mel thought he’d placed a call. Turns out he hadn’t, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t got someone he could hole up with. He may simply have gone to get a break from his ol’ lady, get his head on straight without her nagging in his ear.” I frown. Can’t see Mel’s a nagger, but hey, what do I know what she’s like at home? "What about whoever he ran to when he spent that month away from the club? He ever tell anyone where he went?”

  All I get back are shakes of heads.

  “Don’t know and never asked.” Mace sums up our response.

  “He might not have made a call that night. Did he make one later?”

  Cad nods at Ink. “Like all of us, he made a few. I’m going through his phone record checking for any out of state numbers, or ones I don’t recognise. Haven’t found anything suspicious as yet.” He breaks off, and glances at the head of the table. Leaning forward, he clasps his hands and informs us in an even voice, “Before you ask, first thing I did was check. Skull has made or received no calls from his club phone since the morning he parted company with his old lady. Well, since the night before to be precise. The last one was to you, Pal, Saturday evening.”

  Pal’s brow creases. “He asked me if I needed him Monday, and I said we,” he nods at Cad, “had it sorted.”

  I widen my eyes. “Sound like he thought he’d be back by the next day if that was all he mentioned.”

  “Can you trace his phone?” Thunder asks, his jaw tight.

  Cad throws him a look that screams what the fuck do you think I’ve been doing? but his reply is polite. “Nah. Not in itself a worry. Could be it’s run out of battery, or he’s turned the phone or just the Wi-Fi off, or hell, the sim card might have gotten damaged.”

  Beef and Demon exchange glances.

  “He had words with Melissa, you say?” Bomber asks. When Demon nods, he continues, “Then I say that it’s likely he wanted a break. Sometimes it’s best to just head out on a long run, we all know that. Could have turned off his phone as he didn’t want to hear from her.”

  Buzzard, our treasurer, who’s married to Sindy, nods in agreement. “Saying ‘club business’ means nothing if he wanted to clear his head. This argument his ol’ lady dismissed as nothing and resolved, might be anything but to Skull. That he headed off and wanted no distractions could make sense. The fact that he hasn’t come back could mean he’s met an accident and can’t.”

  I wonder whether Buzz has a point. Demon’s quite rightly kept Mel and Skull’s personal details private, but I know the truth. It’s possible Skull could have made a baby. That’s sufficient to make some men run, or at least, take a moment to get his head on straight and decide how he feels about it. As the treasurer said, their argument, as Demon had put it, is far from reaching a conclusion. Not until Mel takes that test. I begin leaning toward the explanation that Skull’s not returned through no fault of his own.

  “Okay,” starts Demon, “we’re coming up with options. One, he wanted space from his old lady. He’s either taking longer about it than he first thought, or has had an accident and can’t get back, or maybe he’s been arrested. The other, he’s been lured away and is being held, or has been killed, by unknown enemies of the club.”

  “There’s a third option, Prez.” Beef’s eyes meet Demon’s. They seem to have a silent conversation.

  Demon growls. “Don’t want to go there, Brother. Man’s proved himself.”

  “Or,” contradicts his VP, “he was just waiting. Biding his time, getting something set up.”

  “You’re talking about him betraying the club because of how we treated him?” Mace’s eyes open wide. “Hell of an accusation there, VP.”

  Beef shrugs. “Wasn’t here then, only heard what happened. He went through hell and back.”

  “And was patched in for it,” Hellfire reminds him. Well, being prez at the time, it had been down to him.

  Beef’s not going to give up, and in my view, he’s right. It’s an explanation which needs some exploring and not dismissed out of hand. “He might have needed time to set something up. Then he fucked off when he knew it was going to go down.”

  “He’s been gone four days,” Hellfire states. “You weren’t here, Beef. I was. I concurred that Skull bore us no ill will for what we had done. Yeah, sure I may have been mistaken, but it’s the least likely explanation that I’ve heard.”

  “We’ll probably find he fucked off, then found someone to shack up with instead of his ol’ lady,” Lizard grumbles. “All this fuckin’ worry for nothing.”

  “If that’s the case,” Demon’s eyes gleam with that unnatural flare that led to him getting his handle, “he’s due a beatdown worse than he had before.”

  Murmurs of agreement go around. I nod my head. I’d make my punch count just for the worry he’s causing his old lady.

  Demon’s pinching the bridge of his nose, a sign he’s thinking. I’d hate to sit in his chair. Something blows up? Everyone looks to the prez for an answer. I think everyone’s conscious of the weight on his shoulders and gives him the space to come up with his views. Or we’re silent because, none of the rest of us have any ideas.

  Cad’s staring at his tablet in front of him. “Six pm,” he suddenly announces.

  Time church is scheduled. We all look at the door expectantly, but it doesn’t open. I glance at Ink and raise my eyebrow. He shakes his head back. Other brothers around the table are making similar gestures.

  “Fuck,” breathes out Hell.

  “Okay,” Demon says after one more moment. “That’s our confirmation. Cad, widen your search, perhaps get Mouse, Token and Keys on it to help.” He lists the computer experts in the other chapters. “What are we thinking, a two-hundred-mile radius?”

  “Make it three,” suggests Beef. “Does he have any contact with the other chapters?”

  “Not that I know,” Pal states. “We did talk about him going to Vegas to look at the way they run their security business, but he hasn’t been yet.”

  “Okay. We’ll focus on the hospitals and police reports looking for accidents or arrests. Three hundred miles in any direction.” He waits for Cad’s nod. “Next, though I think it unlikely, I’ll talk to the Silvestris. Beef, this would be a good chance for you to meet them. We’ll also talk to RIP, see if he knows anyone who’s gunning for us.”

  Again, I raise and dip my chin along with my brothers. Yeah, the prez of the local Wretched Soulz might have heard something.

  Demon hasn’t finished. “Lastly, we go on lockdown.”

  “What?”

  “The fuck? Prez?”

  “Hell no.”

  Demon’s hand slams down on the table. “Hear me out.” He waits for silence. “We’ve got a brother missing. Could be nothing at all, in which case I’ll tear him apart m
yself as soon as he shows his face. Could be accidentally dead or injured. Could be deliberate. Could have been captured or lured away. Not risking anyone else and not risking any of our women or my kid being taken. Until we know what’s happened to Skull, I want everyone, and I mean everyone, Hellfire, here.” He has an extra glare for his father. Moira, his mother, hates being at the compound.

  As I’ve had the thought which no one else seems to have, I suppose it’s down to me to suggest it. “I know this is unthinkable, Prez, but your reaction, quite sensibly, is a lockdown. No,” I say hurriedly holding up my hand, “not protesting or saying that’s wrong, but it’s the predictable response. Skull’s been missing four days, so why hasn’t something hit us sooner?”

  “Because they were waiting for everyone to be called in,” breathes Beef catching onto my meaning fast, “and then launch an attack.”

  “Yes,” but I haven’t finished, “or something’s already here on the compound.”

  “Explosives?” Lizard suggests.

  I nod at him. “It’s the way I’d do it, yes.”

  Demon doesn’t waste a second. “First off, we search the fuckin’ clubhouse. Top to fuckin’ bottom. Ro, need your expertise. If you were Skull, if you knew every inch of the compound, where would you hide that shit?”

  I rapidly work to get my mind in gear. “Fuck, Prez. Depends if we’re looking at a man who hid something in a hurry, or whether this has been planned for some time.” My hands massage my forehead. “He’s been gone a few days, if it was the former, what was hidden could already have been found. I’d go for long-term planning, so could be fuckin’ anywhere we wouldn’t normally stumble across. Loose floorboard? We’d better check under it. Backs of cupboards, anywhere he could have hidden shit.”

  Demon stares, then nods. “You heard Pyro. We fuckin’ tear everywhere apart. Then, when we know it’s clear, or,” a glance of pain goes over his eyes as he knows, in that case he’d have to admit we’d all been betrayed, “we’ve cleared it, we go on lockdown.”

  Serious looking men start getting to their feet. When Liz and Ink hang back, the others take their cue from them, and suddenly, everyone’s looking at me.