Rise of the Phoenix: Phoenix Skulls Motorcycle Club: (Phoenix Skulls MC Romance Book 1)

by Cooke, Jessie

  “Who the fuck would do something like this? Do the cops have any ideas?”

  “Nope, at least none they’re sharing with me. Jace seems to think maybe it’s just someone local that doesn’t want an MC in their backyard.”

  “Maybe,” Streak said. “But the fact that human blood was used is what’s really freaking me out. How’s Jace holding up?”

  Jace had sent Finn a text earlier in the day that said, “Beck is going to be okay, but she lost the baby. We’ll be home in the morning.” That was it, so Finn honestly didn’t know how Jace was doing with it. They had both been so excited about the baby, and surprisingly, the more time Finn spent with Jace, the more he was coming to realize that the big, scary guy was about seventy-five percent heart. He was sure it was breaking right now.

  “I don’t know,” Finn said, finishing the last section of the wall. “That text I forwarded to you is the last I heard from him.”

  “Fuck. I hate this. They were so excited. You think this shit had something to do with her losing the baby?”

  “Stress, you mean?”

  “Yeah.”

  Finn shook his head. “I don’t know. I do know if I find this piece of shit before the cops do, I’m going to take a ‘just in case he is’ approach.”

  “You and me both,” Streak said.

  “Hey, how’s your mom?”

  “She’s doing good. She’s a tough old broad. You heading home now?”

  “I was thinking about heading down to that dive bar, the Highway something, and having a cold one first. You interested?”

  “Any other time, brother. I’m tired as hell, though. You be safe and don’t get into any trouble.”

  Finn laughed. “Me...trouble? It’ll never happen.”

  Streak laughed and shook his head. Once he headed home, Finn used Jace’s and Beck’s bathroom to clean up and he headed for the Highway Club. The last time he was there he’d met a cute little blonde who was visiting her family from out of town. He spent a wild night with her, and then she left the next day. It was perfect. Finn had his doubts that he’d ever get into a real relationship. Hell, he’d never even been on a real date. His social skills were stunted, first from the drug use and living on the streets, and then from so many years of hiding out. He wasn’t sure he could ever get past all of that and be “normal.” But he did have “normal” male urges and thankfully there were women around that didn’t mind satisfying them for a night.

  When he got to the bar, the parking lot was practically empty. It was a Monday night, so that wasn’t surprising. He went in anyway and stopped just inside the door to let his eyes adjust to the crappy lighting. There were two women at the bar and a couple swaying back and forth in front of the jukebox. He could see a few people through the open door of the back room where the pool tables were, probably locals and most likely men. He chose the bar, where the women were.

  Finn sat a few stools from the women where he’d have a chance to check them out. One was probably in her late thirties with short dark hair and dark eyes. She was a little chubby, but Finn didn’t mind that...something to hold on to. The other had dark blonde hair that came down to her shoulders. She was probably pushing fifty, but he didn’t care about that either. He hadn’t been with a woman that much older yet, but he’d heard it was something every guy should experience at least once. Besides, women that age weren’t usually looking for more than a hookup, and that would be a plus. The brunette caught him looking and smiled. He smiled back and was about to say hello, or something equally as lame, when he heard someone on the other side of him and behind the bar say, “What can I get you?” Finn looked up into the dark eyes of an angel. He’d never pictured angels as Native American, but throw a pair of wings on this one, and he was sure that’s what you’d get. She had shiny black hair that hung straight down to her waist, and the biggest, darkest, sexiest eyes he’d ever seen.

  “Hi,” he said with a smile. “I’ll have a beer, whatever you have on tap.”

  She grabbed a mug and he watched her pour the beer. When she set it down in front of him and picked up the twenty dollars he’d laid on the counter, he checked her left hand for a ring. When he didn’t see one he said, “Keep the change.”

  “Thanks.” She walked over to the cash register and he was treated to the sight of her entire body from behind. She had a tiny waist and a nice round butt. She was wearing jeans and she had them tucked into her cowboy boots. She was hot, and Finn completely forgot about the other women. Once the bartender finished at the cash register she started wiping down the bar. Since there was no one else around besides the women, Finn felt comfortable starting a conversation with her. It was only in front of other people he felt insecure.

  “Quiet night, huh?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, typical Monday. Where are you from? I like your accent.”

  Finn did too, if for no other reason than women seemed to love a man with an accent. “Ireland,” he said.

  “Wow, I’d love to see Ireland one day. I’ve never been anywhere but here.”

  “It’s a beautiful place,” Finn said. He missed home sometimes, especially when he looked out at nothing but desert for days on end.

  “I’ll bet. So, what are you doing in Phoenix of all places?” Finn told her about coming out to California to see his dad. He was vague about that, but mentioned meeting Wolf, just in case she’d heard of the Westside Skulls. It didn’t seem like she had. He told her about coming to Arizona as a part of the new chapter and she seemed impressed by that, or at least he wanted to imagine she was. She was pouring his second beer when he decided to just go for it.

  “What time do you get off?”

  “None of your fucking business.” The words and the tone had already pissed him off before he turned to see the young Native American man standing about a foot from him.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Tommy, don’t,” the bartender said from behind Finn.

  “I said what she does is none of your fucking business, biker. This bar is for locals, you don’t even belong here.” Finn got to his feet and the bartender said:

  “Tommy! Stop it!” Tommy wasn’t all that bright. He stepped forward, glaring at Finn, and said:

  “We don’t want you here. Go the fuck away.” Finn heard “Go Away” and saw red. The rabbit, the picture on the wall...Beck losing her baby...it all flashed before his eyes. He threw the first punch and the fight was on. It was about twenty minutes later when the cuffs were on. At least on him. He had gotten the better of the little dickhead who was being loaded into an ambulance instead of a police car. Finn was kind of proud of himself...until it dawned on him that after what Jace and Beck had been through in the past twenty-four hours, they were probably going to kick his ass all the way back to Ireland when they found out.

  8

  The big man’s scary face loomed about a foot over Tommy’s when he opened his eyes. That thick, ugly scar around the man’s neck was almost more intimidating than the dark, empty eyes. It took him a second to remember what had happened. He’d gotten into a fight in the bar with one of those bikers, the Irish one. Shit. His nose felt like it was on fire. He knew who the big guy was. He’d been watching them for over a month. But they had never met. He tried to ask, “Who are you?” But it came out, “Oooo are oooo?” Damn it! One of his teeth was missing in front. That Irish motherfucker!

  “Did you have a nice nap?” Tommy didn’t even attempt to answer that one, so the big guy went on. “My name is Jace Bell. I’m the president of the Phoenix Skulls, but you know that already, don’t you?”

  Tommy whistled as he said, “Why should I know that?” He wasn’t even sure the big biker could understand him until he said:

  “Because you’ve been watching us. You’ve been on my property...and you’ve been vandalizing shit.” Tommy made a noise, trying to speak again, trying to deny it and Jace said, “Don’t bother denying it. I know it was you. I haven’t figured out where you got all of that blood yet...but I know
it was you.”

  “Bullshit,” Tommy said. “I didn’t do any of that, but I’ll tell you something you better take to heart, old man...”

  “Watch it, asshole. I’ll wipe what’s left of that nose off your fucking face.”

  “Whatever,” Tommy said, more bravely than he was feeling. “All those bad things happening to you, they’re thanks to your own ignorance and disregard for the sanctity of that land. It’s a sacred place and it has been for centuries. Why do you think no one has built anything there after all this time? I don’t need to terrorize you. You’re bringing the curse down on yourself.” Tommy didn’t know there was a curse per se. He did know, however, that more than one developer had looked at that property and none of them had broken the ground to put up a building. The house that sat on it, the one Jace and Beck lived in, had been originally erected for the caretaker of the property and he had left town, supposedly, out of the blue with no notice. After that, the government had the park service take care of it and the house had sat empty until the biker and his old lady moved in.

  “You can save your ‘curse’ bullshit for someone with less of a fucking brain than I have. I don’t buy into that crap. Evil exists, but only in humans...like you.”

  “No, Jace!” Tommy wasn’t sure if the sound of his mother’s voice was a blessing or a curse at the moment. “Tommy’s not evil. He’s not perfect, but he doesn’t have that kind of evil inside of him. He didn’t do those horrible things.”

  Jace looked back at Ajei and his tone of voice changed entirely as he said, “I’m sorry, Ajei, but I’m not the only one who thinks Tommy might be responsible for this. You saw the note on the post the other night, and the one on my house said the same thing, go away. Those are the words Tommy said to Finn last night in the bar. It’s what made Finn snap and hit him. He should have handled it better, and he’ll be reprimanded for that...but I can’t say as I wouldn’t have done the same. Beck lost our baby yesterday.”

  “Oh no!” Ajei put her hand up to her mouth. “I’m so sorry, Jace. My heart breaks for you and Beck both.” She had tears in her eyes. That was one thing about his mother, she did genuinely feel deeply for other people. “But Jace, I’m telling you that I know my son, and he didn’t do this. I’m not the kind of mother that can’t see her own child’s shortcomings. I know Tommy has faults, but he’s not evil and whoever mutilated that rabbit...and used human blood to paint on your house...that’s evil.”

  Jace turned and looked back at Tommy. He didn’t look convinced, but to Ajei he said, “I’ll leave you to visit your son.” Again, he looked over his shoulder at Tommy. The look in his dark eyes told Tommy that Ajei hadn’t convinced him of anything, except that maybe he was a mama’s boy. Tommy didn’t usually fear anyone – that was maybe another of his shortcomings, considering he was lying in the hospital with a broken nose. But Jace he did fear. The big guy seemed like a ticking bomb to Tommy, just waiting to explode and destroy everything in his path.

  As Jace walked past Tommy’s mother she said, “Thank you.” Jace nodded at her and Tommy felt angry all over again. This man was there to accuse him of things he didn’t do...and his own mother was apologizing to him. When Jace was gone, Ajei came over to the side of Tommy’s bed and asked, “How are you feeling?”

  “Physically...like shit. Is my nose broken?”

  “They packed it to get it to stop bleeding, but the doctor said the swelling should go down soon. They’re just watching to make sure you don’t have a concussion. You should be discharged this afternoon if all goes well.”

  Tommy put his tongue through the hole in the front of his mouth and said, “My front tooth is missing.” He was lisping and whistling as he talked. It made him want to go find the Irishman and finish the fight...the biker got lucky.

  “We’ll get you in to the dentist right away...”

  “Or I can have a false tooth made in jail when they figure out a way to pin this all on me.”

  “You’re not going to jail, Tommy. We’ll find a way to prove that you’re innocent.”

  “Do you believe that I am, Mom?”

  “Of course I do. You live in my heart and my soul, Tommy. I’ve always been able to feel when you were sick or hurt, or in trouble. I know you’re telling us the truth.”

  “Mom, there’s something I have to tell you, but you have to promise me you won’t tell Dad, or anyone else...especially the cops or those bikers.”

  Ajei frowned and sat down next to her son’s bed. Tommy knew that she didn’t like the sound of something she was supposed to keep from her husband. She and Rock shared everything, they always had, and sometimes it was a point of contention for Tommy because he felt shut out. “Okay,” she said, after contemplating it for a few seconds. “I promise.”

  “I can’t find the clothes I was wearing when I went to the bar.”

  “You can’t find them?” She looked confused, like she didn’t realize what that might mean at first and then suddenly he saw her brown eyes widen and he said:

  “Yeah, Mom, it’s bad. That morning when Dad woke me up, banging on the door...I lied.”

  Ajei put her hands on her stomach and in a cautious voice she asked, “You lied about what, Tommy?”

  “Well, maybe it wasn’t a lie. The thing is, I don’t know. I have no memories of getting home from the bar that night. I just remember seeing Jessie to her truck...and then nothing until Dad woke me up. But the strangest part is that all of my clothes and my boots, from the night before, are missing. I’ve looked everywhere. They’re not in my room, they’re just gone.”

  Ajei looked like her head was spinning and Tommy was beginning to regret telling her. He was just at a loss for what to do, and his mother was a fixer. He hated to admit it, but he wanted her to fix this. “I don’t understand. Did someone bring you home?” He shook his head.

  “I don’t know. I honestly have no memories.”

  “You were in bed. The door was locked and your bike was outside. The store was locked up tight. Someone else had to be there because how could you do all of that and not remember a thing?”

  “I don’t know, Mom. I don’t know, and it’s scaring me to death. What if someone is setting me up? What if that’s why they took my clothes?”

  Ajei shook her head, slowly. “We should talk to your father, Tommy. He’ll know what to do...”

  “No! You promised. I’m already nothing but a disappointment to him.”

  “Tommy, that’s just not true. Your father loves you...”

  “I’m not saying he doesn’t love me, Mom. I’m saying that he’s disappointed in me. Please keep your promise...please just this once, put me first.” Tommy knew he was playing dirty. He could tell that his words were like a knife through her heart. He used her guilt for all the years he was left behind, even when he knew they thought they were doing what was best for him, leaving him to be raised by extended family and not dragged from place to place. But he wasn’t above using the guilt to get what he wanted. Maybe that’s why his father had no respect for him.

  “I’m sorry you feel like you haven’t been put first,” she said. The tears that filled her eyes caused a trickle of guilt to seep through his veins and land in his heart. “I’ll do what I can to help you. I know you didn’t do this. But you have to do something for me in return.”

  “What’s that?”

  “No more fights. No more saying things to people like ‘Go away.’ Things like that are what made people believe you had something to do with all of this. We need to concentrate on finding out who might be doing this, who caused that beautiful girl to lose her precious child.”

  While he was telling himself to keep his mouth shut, he heard himself say, “We don’t know why she lost that baby.”

  Ajei’s eyes narrowed on her son’s face and Tommy realized his obstinacy was likely to drive away the only parent he had willing to help him. He started to apologize but Ajei interrupted him, “We know that two of the biggest do-nots when a baby is coming is to not l
ook at dead animals or deceased people!” Tommy knew he’d gone too far.

  “I’m sorry she lost her baby, Mother. I’m not a monster. I won’t welcome them here...but for you, I won’t harass them either.”

  “Good,” she said. “For now. There’s one more thing.” Tommy resisted rolling his eyes and just waited. “I want to call the police before I leave here and have you ask them to not press charges against that boy.”

  Tommy snorted. “The ‘boy’ who broke my nose and knocked my teeth out?”

  “The boy who you antagonized when he was already upset over his friend losing her child.”

  He sighed. “Fine. I’m not sure they’ll care what I have to say, but for you, I’ll tell them it was all my fault and beg them not to put the ‘poor boy’ in jail.”

  Ajei ignored the sarcasm. She smiled, stood up, and then leaned down and kissed Tommy’s cheek and said, “Thank you, Yazhi. Everything will be okay if we love and care for our neighbors the way we do our families.”

  * * *

  Ajei left the hospital and headed home. She wanted to see Beck and express her condolences, but she didn’t want to go empty-handed or unexpected. She told herself that she would plan a visit for the next day or two, but as she was driving by the property she saw Jace sitting on the front porch of the house. She was a mile away on the road, but she had an overwhelming sense of sadness and she was sure it was coming from him, or at least from the house. Instead of staying on the straightaway toward the store where Rock was working, she found herself turning left and taking the driveway up toward the house.

  Ajei parked her Harley along the side of the house and as she stepped off the bike, her eyes went to the wall in front of her and her stomach turned again. It had been painted white, but there were places in the fresh paint where something red tried to bleed through – literally, she thought with a shudder. She couldn’t help but visualize what Beck must have seen the night her baby died. Ajei wondered what kind of evil lived inside of someone that could calmly paint a picture with someone else’s blood.