by Jessie Cooke
Dax nodded at Handsome. “I’m ready.”
Dax started his bike and tucked the phone into his vest pocket. As he drove out, Handsome motioned to the other guys to start moving. Poor Handsome had taken on the job of VP, not road captain, but Dax had yet to decide who he wanted for that position. His last one had been killed in the shootout with police over the coins, and Dax had been finding that he was going to be hard to replace. He had someone in mind now, that he’d introduce to the club soon enough. He had a feeling none of them were going to be happy about it, but sometimes that was just business. He was confident that they’d go along with his decision without too much crap or drama—at least he hoped they would.
The ride ahead of them was going to take about ten hours. It was just after five a.m. when they left the clubhouse, so they should be at their destination by three that afternoon. Dax hoped that all of his men had followed his orders to not drink or smoke the night before and to go to bed early. That wasn’t exactly the life of a biker, but he needed them fresh. Liam was keeping the coins at a home they’d rented in West Virginia. He didn’t have them at the clubhouse because he’d known that was the first place Dax would come looking for them. Luckily, Dax had made a friend inside the club during Liam’s visits to the ranch. One of Liam’s guys named Bull, who had been passed over for executive positions time and again after ten years of service, was disgruntled with Liam and the Irish Mayhem. He hadn’t known what to do about it, until the home invasion. Afterwards he’d come to Dax and offered him information in exchange for a position on the executive board of the Skulls. Dax was torn. He didn’t like the idea of a brother turning on his own club. But he needed what the man was offering and he finally decided that it was for the betterment of them all, so he’d take the deal.
Bull had not only given Dax the location of the house, he’d installed bugs in every room of it and in the garage so that Dax could hear what was going on in real time. That’s how Dax found out when the Appraiser would be there and who else would be there at the same time. The Appraiser was one of the men that Liam and his club use to fence stolen goods. It was only three days after the guy got a look at what Liam wanted to fence when he was back with an offer from one of his clients. It was a good offer, over a million dollars in cash, bills that had been laundered so many times already they were untraceable. Liam jumped at the offer and they’d set the buy up for almost four weeks later. Today was the day and Dax not only intended to walk away with the cash…but he was going to try and take back the coins as well. That was the part of the plan he hadn’t shared with Angel, but the biker in him couldn’t resist.
They reached their destination just before three p.m. They met up with Bull at a house a few blocks away from the target. Some of Dax’s guys were suspicious of Bull, but the fact that the house they met him at wasn’t a setup, helped, some. Bull had floorplans of the house, and they laid them out on the table and Dax issued assignments to each one of the guys. Once everyone knew what role they’d play, the van was brought into Bull’s garage and the back of it was opened. Dax pulled up the carpeting and used a special key to open the compartment that contained their weapons. He had scored some smoke bombs from a guy that Hawk knew from his days with the Sinners. He handed those to Hawk, who would be in charge of tossing them in the front window at just the right time. He gave each one of the guys a handgun and a rifle, and when he got to Twister and Jimmy he said:
“Number one thing is you go home alive, got that?” The two young men nodded. It was Jimmy’s second ride involving firepower and if you didn’t count the home invasion, it was Twister’s first. “I don’t care if you have to put your guns down and take cover behind the van. I don’t want to carry any bodies home with me tonight.” The guys nodded again and Dax turned his attention to Bull. “I’m counting on you.”
Bull smiled. “I’m looking forward to the look on Liam’s face when he figures out that he’s not the fucking king of all bikers.” Bull had a thick Irish accent. Dax didn’t know a lot about him other than he was about thirty-two or three and he’d come over from Dublin with his father when he was twenty, to join up with Liam. His father was killed in a bar fight with another club when Bull was twenty-five. By that time Bull was a fully patched member of the Irish Mayhem, and the fact that Liam hadn’t gone in to avenge his father’s death was the first slight Bull felt against him. Judging by the way he spoke about Liam, he’d grown to hate the man over the years. It worked for Dax…at least he hoped.
Once everyone had their weapons, Bull left to take his shift at the house. Liam and his executives were expected at four-thirty p.m. and the Appraiser at five. Bull would make sure that when the smoke bombs hit, he knew exactly where the coins and the money were so there was no confusion about finding them in the chaos that would follow. Dax had an earpiece; he’d be able to hear everything going on in the house so that he’d know when to signal Hawk to throw the bombs and his guys to move in. He was anxious, but it was a good kind of anxiety. He was confident they’d walk away victorious, and richer than they’d ever been before.
They took off their vests and anything that might identify them as Skulls and pulled black caps on to cover their hair. The caps would be used later to cover their faces, both to protect them from the toxic smoke and keep them from being recognizable. Dax made sure they were all wearing long-sleeved t-shirts and bandanas that covered their tattoos as well. They walked the two blocks to the house. Bull had mapped out a path for them to walk with alleyways and backyards they could use. They’d be hiding out for the most part at the house on the corner of the lot next to the one they were hitting. Liam had found a house in an old neighborhood that was surrounded mostly by vacant and condemned homes for their privacy…it worked for the Skulls as well. By four-fifteen they’d taken their places outside the house, out of view of anyone coming or going through the front door. The following forty-five minutes of waiting was the worst for Dax. He watched Liam and six of his guys arrive and go in through the front door. He listened to them bullshit and laugh and talk about partying the rest of the night after this deal was done. Dax wondered how many of them would still be alive when the smoke cleared. If he and his guys wanted to make it out alive, it would have to be very few.
At five o’clock on the dot a big black car pulled up and a chauffeur opened the back door. A man in an Italian suit, carrying a leather bag, stepped out. Behind him came two huge men, obviously bodyguards, dressed all in black. They stayed outside the front door while he went inside. The chauffeur parked the limousine a few doors down on the street. Dax looked at Handsome, who was in the bushes a few feet away from him. Handsome gave him a silent nod and motioned at Twister. He whispered instructions to the kid, and Twister gave him a nod before crouching low and heading for where the car was parked. Dax pressed the earpiece to his ear and listened to the conversation happening inside. The man in the suit didn’t seem interested in the small talk that Liam was trying to make with him. He suggested more than once that they just make the exchange so he could be on his way. For a few seconds Dax worried that Liam and his incessant talking would screw up the deal. The Appraiser finally said, “You’ve got five more minutes before I leave and this deal is off.” That was when Liam got down to business. The bag with the money was opened up, as was the bag of coins. It was then that Dax signaled to Hawk. With a smile on the old man’s face, he pulled the pin on the first smoke bomb, held it in his teeth, and with the precision of a major-league pitcher, threw it at the front window. The window shattered, Hawk threw another, smoke filtered out of the house, and the chaos took over.
The two big guys at the door were taken out with one shot each by Nolan. Handsome and Dax stepped over their bulk as they busted in the front door. Handsome caught one guy as he was trying to run down the hall. Dax saw him push him up against the wall and put a gun to his head just as he turned the corner into the smoky living room. Everyone was coughing and gasping, but no one was moving. That was thanks to the fact that the Sku
lls who weren’t waiting outside had come in the back and were now pointing automatic rifles at everyone in the room.
“What the fuck is this?” Liam asked. Dax didn’t say a word. He motioned at his guys to take the money and the coins. Pablo and Hawk stepped in and took care of that while Liam cursed and spewed threats. The Appraiser stood ramrod straight with a blank expression on his face. His eyes looked angry, but he didn’t appear anxious at all. This was definitely not the first time he’d been held at gunpoint.
Once the money and the coins were out of the house and Dax knew they were on their way to the van he and the rest of his crew began tying up the men left in the house. Liam was screaming “Fucking Skulls” and “I know it’s you, you fucking pussy!” Dax still didn’t say a word but when no one in the room seemed able to handle the sound of Liam’s voice any longer, Dax used the butt of his rifle to knock him and a couple of his teeth out. They finished tying everyone up, even Bull, since that was part of the plan. He’d come over to the Skulls later on, so as not to make it obvious he was involved in the heist. When Dax and the rest of the Skulls left, the only injuries were to the bodyguards and Liam, and none were fatal. Twister had knocked out and tied up the limo driver, and everyone left in the house was tied up and probably on the verge of passing out from the smoke bombs…but alive and well. By the time the men got back to their bikes, the van was gone, on its way back to Massachusetts with the money and coins aboard. Dax and the guys got out of town as quickly as they could too and once they crossed the state line out of West Virginia, Twister was designated to make the call to the police.
“Hello? I have an emergency!” The kid was good. He sounded like he was pressured and on the verge of tears. “I live on Bridgeford Drive in Aldrich. I think something bad just happened at the house behind me. I heard gunshots, I think, and squealing tires. Please help us!”
“Sir, what’s your name?” Twister hung up. It wouldn’t be long before the police found the house with the broken front window. They might not find anything in the house to hold the Irish Mayhem or the Appraiser on…but it would take them a while to sort it out. By that time, the Skulls would be back in Massachusetts with no witnesses to their trip out of town. Dax smiled as the night wind hit his face. He was hungry and he needed a beer and a joint…and Angel. Other than that, life was good.
37
Cody couldn’t sleep. He had gone up to his room after midnight, but it was almost two now and he couldn’t stop checking every noise he heard outside, wondering when Dax and the guys would be back. He wasn’t going to be able to lie down and close his eyes until he counted the bikes that rolled in and the guys that stepped out of the van. He didn’t know how Angel did it. She had to be a mess worrying about Dax every time he rolled out. Maybe it helped that she came from a cop family. She was probably used to worrying about the people she loved.
He made himself get away from the window and lie down on the bed. He closed his eyes just as there was a light tap on his door. “Cody? You up?” He smiled when he heard Harley’s voice. He had been tempted to text her earlier after Kyle finally left, but he didn’t know what she was dealing with and he didn’t want to make things worse for her. He pulled open the door and she grabbed him around the waist and almost knocked him back as she hugged him.
“Hey, good to see you too, beautiful. What’s up?”
She lifted her head and looked at him. “I was just with Angel. She said Kyle was here last night. I’m sorry!”
“It’s okay. Nobody got hurt and Dax set him straight.”
“Angel said the guys in the great room wanted to kick his ass but you kept them from doing that. Why?”
He laughed and led her over to the bed where they both sat down. “Did you want him to get his ass kicked?”
“No, of course not. I’m just impressed…or proud, I guess…that you didn’t throw any punches. I know how Kyle can get when he’s pissed, and last night he was really pissed.”
“Did you tell him about us?”
“No. I didn’t, Cody, honest. He followed me. I don’t know how much he saw, but as soon as I left the ranch he pulled me over. He was livid. We got in an argument and I went home to my parents’ house. I thought he went home too. I didn’t know he was coming here to confront you or I would have warned you. I’m so sorry.”
“It really wasn’t a big deal. He was pissed, understandably. Hopefully he heard Dax when he told him he wasn’t having any of it in his house.”
“I’m proud of you for not getting in a fight with him.” She hugged him again. Cody grinned and said:
“I’m maturing.”
He felt her body shake as she laughed against him. After a few seconds, she looked up at him and said, “Don’t get too mature, okay? I kind of like the big kid in you.”
“I’ll try and find a happy medium,” he said with a laugh. He lowered his mouth down to her and kissed her. The kiss was just getting hot when Cody heard the sound of the shop door rolling open. He startled Harley by getting up suddenly and running to the window. It was the van—they were back! “I’m sorry, baby. I have to go out to the shop.” He was pulling his jeans on as he talked. "The guys are back—some of them, anyways.”
“They’re okay, Cody, all of them.”
He stopped what he was doing. “How do you know?”
“I was with Angel when Dax texted her that they were on their way back. He told her everyone was okay. I don’t know any more than that, but she was awfully relieved.”
Cody let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding and sat back down on the bed. “I’ll bet she was,” he said.
“Looks like you are too. I’m glad it all went well.”
“Me too. I guess I won’t run out there, since I know they’re okay. They’re likely to make me wash the van or some shit at two a.m.”
She laughed. “How long does the prospect thing usually last?”
He shrugged. “Depends on the prospect, and Dax. Most of them go about a year if they last. Sometimes Dax gets rid of them after a few months, or they decide this isn’t for them and they leave.”
“So a year of cleaning up after them and serving their beer and whatever else they want? Are you up for that?”
He nodded. “As long as I keep the big picture in mind, I’ll be okay. I can’t wait to get that patch, but I’ve figured out I am going to have to earn it like everyone else.”
Harley snuggled back into his side and said, “I’m proud of you and your newfound maturity. Maybe you can use it like I’ve learned to use mine, only in public.”
He laughed. “So in private we can act like horny teenagers?”
She looked up at him with those innocent-looking green eyes that weren’t really innocent at all and said, “Yes, please.”
Cody had an idea, something he’d seen in a video that he wanted to try. He loved that he didn’t have to worry about Harley thinking his fantasies were strange. He’d left her on the bed and told her to get undressed while he went into the bathroom. She was naked and lying in the center of it when he came back. He stopped at the dresser and pulled out two belts and two bandanas. She raised a pretty eyebrow, but didn’t say a word when he came over to the bed carrying them. He took one of her arms and stretched it up to the headboard. Using one of the long bandanas, he wrapped it around her slim wrist and tied it to the bed in a heavy knot. Then he moved down to her foot on that side and did the same with the belt around her ankle. She still didn’t say a word. She watched him in fascination as he moved from one side to the other and restrained her limbs. She could move them slightly, but she’d have to struggle hard if she wanted to escape. She didn’t look like she did.
Cody left her there again and went over to pull the blackout curtains all the way shut, before turning off all the lights and immersing the room in darkness. Then he sat down in the chair near the foot of the bed and waited…or made her wait, to be more accurate. For a while she lay there without moving. He couldn’t really see her, but he could hear her
easy, even breathing. After a while he heard her begin to stir. She pulled slightly at the belts that held her ankles tightly to the footboard. Another five minutes or so passed before she called out to him softly:
“Cody? Are you still here?” He smiled but he didn’t say anything. He made her wait another five minutes. That time when she said his name it was with a desperation in her voice. “Cody? I’m a patient woman, but you’re trying it right now.”
He got up quietly and went over next to the bed. He slid open the bedside table and pulled out the blackout blindfold that someone who used this room before had left. He could make out her eyes shining up at him as he slipped the blindfold over her head and pulled it down over her eyes. Then he walked over and turned on the light. He wanted to see what he was doing to her. He went back over and sat down on the bed. Reaching his hand across her he took hold of one of her nipples and tweaked it.
“Mm…” she moaned and flexed her hips. Cody leaned down and put his mouth over the other nipple and began to flick it with his tongue and nip at it with his teeth. She was whimpering and moaning loudly. He looked up to make sure her restraints were holding as she began pulling at them. She wanted to touch him. She liked to hold his mouth to her chest. He smiled and moved over to the other breast, torturing that nipple in the same way. She was doing her best to bring her hips up off the bed. She wanted him to touch her pussy, but he was going to make her wait. Instead he brought his mouth up to her and kissed her. She kissed him back, hungrily, sucking at his lips as he bit softly at hers. He let his mouth run down her chin to her neck and began to bite and suck on the tender flesh there, causing her to moan louder. He waited until she was so worked up that she was begging him to touch her pussy before he gave in and let his hand drift down her stomach and dip in between her legs. She was soaking wet and he kissed her again while he played in her moist, soft tunnel. He dipped his fingers in and out and ran them up and down her slit, teasing her clit with every stroke. She was going wild, moaning and making hot, sexy noises that he was capturing with his mouth.
