* * *
Hours passed, and Karly was sure Sami and Andy were frantic by now. One by one, the Hawks returned, stepping over to Daddy and whispering in his ear.
When Tyson finally returned and gave his report, he didn’t lean all the way down, and he didn’t whisper. “Nothing,” she heard him say. “It’s time to let this go, Daddy.”
Daddy scowled at him, his face transforming to rage and back in a single blink. Karly saw it, and fear flowed through her with the steady clip of horses hooves.
Daddy didn’t stand up but stayed in the huge chair on the platform, like a king sitting on his throne.
“Six months,” he said. “We need time to make our records clean. Six months should do it.”
“Six months?” she said. “That’s ridiculous. I can strike a match right now and burn your records to the ground.”
A couple of men inched forward from their positions, as if Karly had a lighter hidden in her bra. She ignored them, ready to play. “Three months,” she said. “You have a clubhouse full of minions. It can’t take you that long to scrub your books.” She stood up. “Three months, and you call your birds off my house. Off my car. Away from my family and my daughter. If I even see one of them out of the corner of my eye while I’m getting milk and bread, I’ll call every state and federal agency I know.”
“And tell them what?” he sneered. “My guys have just confirmed you have nothing. No evidence. I don’t know what your husband did with all that money we gave him. Maybe he had another family stashed away somewhere. I don’t know. But you don’t have it.”
No, she didn’t. Karly ignored the jab about her husband too. She lifted her chin, fire blazing in her veins. “I have the recording of you beating five men into unconsciousness outside the Tanner building. You get your books clean, and I’ll turn over the tape.”
Daddy exploded to his feet, but Karly continued, raising her voice as she spoke. “You get off my tail. I keep my nose clean. And when it’s all said and done, I do what I want. You don’t own me, and if I want to get ice cream at Ruby’s, it’s none of your business.”
“They have a tape?” Daddy yelled. His men shifted back into the shadows. “You said you took out their cameras!” He practically foamed at the mouth like a rabid dog, and Karly experienced true fear as it coursed through her.
“Three months,” she said again, drawing his attention back to her as he stormed down the steps from his throne. “We never see one another again.”
He marched toward her, and she thought he’d slap her senseless.
“Boss.” Tyson stepped in front of her before Daddy could reach her. “It’s a good deal. Let’s take it.” He put one hand on the man’s chest to stop him from coming any closer.
“They have a tape,” Daddy snarled. “You said they had nothing.”
“You never leave this place and have no idea what really goes on out there,” Tyson snapped back. “If you don’t take this deal, I’ll call a contest vote on your ability to lead the club. Take the deal.”
For two terrifying breaths, Karly thought Daddy would kill Tyson with his bare hands. And then her. She actually fell back a step, meeting another body there. She yelped and scuttled forward again, pressing right into Tyson’s back.
“Fine,” Daddy said through clenched teeth. “We have a deal, Miss Lydell.”
“Get her out of here,” Tyson said, but she didn’t want to leave without him. She didn’t trust anyone but him.
She pulled her arm away from the man who tried to get her to turn, still watching Tyson and Daddy face off. “Call the contest,” Daddy said. “You won’t win.”
“You’d be surprised,” Tyson said. “And you’d know that if you ever left this forsaken room.” He turned away from Daddy, and Karly wanted to call out a warning to him. But Daddy just stood there fuming, and Tyson glared her face off when he saw her there.
“I said, get her out of here.” He grabbed onto her arm and towed her roughly from the room. She shook him off too once they were in the hall, her legs running to keep up with Tyson’s long strides.
Outside, she bent over and sucked at the air. Tyson let her for a few seconds, and then he said, “Come on, sweetheart. We can’t linger here.” He blindfolded her again, his hands rough, put her on the back of his bike, and rode like the devil himself was trying to escape Hell.
* * *
Karly’s hands and legs shook the entire way back to her sister’s penthouse. She’d called as soon as she’d been given her phone back, and she’d been blowing the heater full-force in the truck. But she couldn’t get warm. Couldn’t get Daddy’s cold, cold eyes out of her head.
Andy met her in the garage, anger and relief an odd mix on his face. “What were you thinking?” he demanded. “Sami’s been upstairs crying for two hours.” He swept her into his arms and held her tight. “We’ve been so worried.”
Karly wanted to apologize, but she couldn’t get the words out.
“Navy’s fine,” Andy said, calming down and releasing her. “Where did you go?” He bent and peered into her face. “Karly, did you do what we talked about?”
She nodded, so glad her tears hadn’t sprung up. She was not weak, and she had proof of that now. She’d just faced down an outlaw biker and won. “You didn’t tell Sami, did you?”
“Heavens, no,” Andy said. “I want to stay married, thank you very much.” He gave her a small smile. “How long do you have to wait?”
“Three months,” Karly said. “And we have to turn over the tape at that time.”
Andy nodded and turned her toward the elevator. “They went through your house,” he said. “When we got back and you weren’t here, I told Sami I’d go check your place. It was a huge mess. Stuff everywhere.”
Karly sagged into the wall of the elevator car as the doors slid closed. “Okay. I can go clean it up.”
“I called someone to do it,” he said. “Should be ready by morning.”
Gratitude filled her, but once again, no tears came. “Thank you, Andy.” She was so tired. So emotionally exhausted that she couldn’t even show her feelings anymore. “We’ll be out of your hair soon.”
“I don’t care if you stay forever,” he said. “We have nine bedrooms not being used. You think you’re in our way.” He laughed and slung his arm around her. “Seriously, Karly, it’s fine. Stay as long as you want.”
“I might take you up on that,” she said. There were a lot of woods surrounding the Addler homes out at the orchard, and she wanted to make sure Navy stayed safe until her time with the Hawks ended.
Sami’s cry filled the air when Karly walked in, but Navy played happily with a set of blocks her aunt had bought for her. “Where have you been?” Sami demanded, clutching Karly in a hug. She sniffed and pulled back as if she’d been shocked. “You went to the Hawks?” Her eyes searched Karly’s, and Karly couldn’t lie.
“Yes,” she said. “And I got what I wanted, so I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” She stepped away from her sister and got down on the floor with her daughter.
“Ma Ma Ma,” Navy babbled, bringing joy and light to Karly’s tired heart.
“Hey, Navy-bear,” she said. “Time for a bath, okay, Baby Bear?” She picked up the little girl, a note of sadness playing through her soul too. Sadness that Derrick had left her in this position. At the same time, that he had been working for the Hawks had cleared the guilt she’d been feeling about starting a relationship with Maverick.
Three months, she told herself as she stepped into the bathroom and turned on the hot water. Three months, and she’d go to Maverick and beg him to take her back.
Chapter Fourteen
Maverick lifted his left foot and then his right, making sure each was secure on the step before committing to moving again. A smile smoothed through his whole soul. He was going down the stairs one foot at a time instead of having to put both feet on the same step before moving down.
At the bottom, King whined, and Maverick knew how he felt. “Sorry
, bud,” he said to the dog as he opened the door. King jetted outside, desperate to take care of his business. Maverick followed him, the spring air still holding a chill that wouldn’t truly leave until June. Sometimes July, if Mother Nature wanted to play a trick on Forbidden Lake in March and April.
So far, April had been snow-free, and Maverick drew in a long, deep breath of air. He was starting to feel like himself again, after three long months of being drugged for the pain that still haunted his back from time to time, being pushed by physical therapists to do things that hurt, being badgered by counselors to talk about his feelings, and being mothered by his men around the clubhouse.
He thought of Karly, as he always did, the scent of her skin faded from his memory now. She’d made no attempt to contact him, and he’d followed her lead. He didn’t want to endanger her or his club, and while he still felt something for her, he wondered if it would wither and die eventually.
Jordan had told him that she’d witnessed the beating. He hadn’t been sure of why he’d needed to stand in front of the office building, but Vice had looked it up for him and said, “That’s her brother-in-law’s place. You told her to get somewhere safe, and that’s where she was.”
Maverick had read the article about the twenty-story building in the middle of Forbidden Lake, which as the article had said, “is probably safer than any other building in the country, with the only exception being the White House.”
Anderson Tanner could lock down the building in eight minutes, from floor to ceiling. All entrances. All exits. If someone breathed too hard on a window while the system was engaged, an alarm went off and authorities were automatically dispatched.
She’d watched him get beaten. Familiar despair pulled through him. He’d never wanted her to see that. To know what some biker gangs were capable of. He’d missed the Valentine’s Day ride, and in fact, he hadn’t been on a motorcycle since that night.
His core still wasn’t strong enough, though his blasted physical therapist made him sit on an uncomfortable replica of a motorcycle seat whenever he went to his appointments. “You want this, right, Mav?” Jennika asked him, two inches from his face. “Hold yourself up.”
He wanted to hold something up, but it wasn’t himself.
His muscles tensed as he thought about physical therapy, releasing as King came trotting over to him with something in his mouth. “Hey, what is that?” he asked, bending to grab the object as the German shepherd ducked his head so Maverick couldn’t get it.
“Drop it,” he said in his commanding pack-leader voice, and King obeyed.
It was a bird, and Maverick backed up. He glanced around, his pulse suddenly sprinting inside his chest. Not just any bird. A hawk.
A dead one.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the fields and woods surrounding the clubhouse. He hadn’t heard of nor seen a Hawk nearby in months. Since the beating. Since they’d shown Karly exactly what would happen if she so much as put a toe out of line—or came to the convenience store down the street from Ruby’s.
“Leave it,” he told the dog, walking back to the door now. “Let’s go. We have to get the ice cream in so it’s ready for the meeting tonight.” He didn’t move faster than normal, and he didn’t glance around again.
There were a lot of hawks in Michigan. One had died. It didn’t mean anything. But somehow, Maverick thought it did.
He pushed into Ruby’s and locked the door behind him and King. He should’ve brought the ice cream down with him when King started scratching at the door, but he hadn’t. So back up he went, wishing he could take the steps two at a time like he used to.
Soon, he told himself as he entered his loft. He’d hired a cleaning service to come in twice a month since his injuries prevented him from doing much. The place was too big, and he once again considered asking any single Sentinel who wanted to come live with him to do it. There were ten bedrooms up here, and he’d originally designed the place for exactly that.
Ruby had been against it, but a lot of what Ruby wanted she’d taken with her when she left town. Maverick hadn’t done it though, and he pulled the ice cream base out of the refrigerator with a groan.
A slice of pain ran from his right shoulder to his left hip, and he straightened, breathing through the hurt. It subsided quickly, but he decided to play things safe. He pulled out his phone and texted Davis to come help him with the heavy container.
While he waited, he got down some painkiller and swallowed four of them with his soda. He paused and looked out the window above the sink, thinking of Karly and how much she liked her coconut and raspberry diet cola from the convenience store down the street.
Connor said she hadn’t been in once. Not even one time in the past three months. When he’d first woken up, he’d thought he’d turn the club over to one of the other men and go to her. If he wasn’t a Sentinel, the Hawks shouldn’t have a problem with their relationship. But in his heart of hearts, he knew that wasn’t true, and he couldn’t put Karly or Navy in danger.
Not only that, his brothers were the only people there for him as he recovered. And he’d needed a lot of help. Jordan and Davis had spent the night more than once as Maverick had been through several rough patches on his road to recovery.
“Hey,” Davis said, coming in. King barked once and trotted over to greet him. “What’s the flavor today?” He picked up the huge container of milk, cream, sugar, and chocolate.
“Peanut butter, chocolate, and cherry,” Maverick said.
“There are two new prospects coming tonight,” Davis said. “I found ‘em at the skate park a couple of nights ago.”
“I remember,” Maverick said. “And how are you feeling about them?”
“They’re good kids, but….” He sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know. I think you might scare them with a single look.” He grinned at Maverick, who just stared back at him.
“Who? Me?” Maverick started toward the door. “That’s the goal, Davis. We have to be tough. Just because we’re not outlaws doesn’t mean we don’t ride a bit on the rough side of the line.”
He remembered Karly’s doe-eyes from the wedding all those months ago. It felt like it had happened in another lifetime.
“I know,” Davis said. “And I’m doing an explosives demo tonight. I just hope it doesn’t give them any ideas.” He started down the stairs first, moving so much faster than Maverick. “I used to blow up my English teacher’s mailbox on a monthly basis.” He chuckled about it, and Maverick did too.
He finally joined Davis in the biker bar, glad the other man hadn’t waited for him. Vice came in and hung the keys on the hook. “Dings-and-dents are out,” he said.
“You’re back early,” Maverick commented, waiting for Jordan to say something about Felicia. He knew they’d had a thing over the last several months, but Jordan had been coming back earlier and earlier from the delivery route.
“Felicia’s dating someone else,” Lucas said for him.
“Hey,” Vice said. “Snitch.”
Lucas rolled his eyes. “As if we’re blind, Jordan.”
“Still,” Vice said. “I haven’t been tattling on you, House.”
“Oh, is that the new name?” Maverick asked, lifting the bucket of ice cream mix to pour it into the machine. “House? Where’d you come up with that?”
“It’s better than Scars,” Lucas said, referencing Gerald.
Maverick chuckled. “I guess. But if that’s your system, I think you might want to retool it a little.”
“What about like Alligator or something?” Jordan suggested. “I mean, you have that sick seat cover.” He and Lucas went into the back room, still discussing Lucas’s name, and Maverick started getting out the leftover ice cream flavors from days past.
“What about you, Davis?” he asked. “You don’t have a biker name yet. You want one?”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it,” he said, setting the pot on the single burner for his caramel sauce. “I was thinking C
hef or Electron.”
Maverick let them both move through his mind. “Electron suits you for your chemistry knowledge. And it takes chemistry to do bombs and make ice cream, right?”
“Yeah.” He sprinkled sugar into the pot.
“Great,” Maverick said. “It’s Electron then. You can tell everyone tonight.”
Davis nodded, stepping back to get the cream out of the tiny fridge beneath the counter. “When do you think you’ll be able to ride? Me and some of the guys want to go on your inauguration ride with you.”
“I don’t know.” Maverick sighed. “My back still—” He paused as someone knocked on the front door of the shop. The sharp rapping of knuckles against glass echoed through the huge space, burrowing into Maverick’s pulse.
It wasn’t as dark as it had been a few months ago, but a strange sense of déjà vu ran through him. He looked at Davis, who was also staring at the door, his eyes squinted as if he could see through it.
“You expecting anyone?” Maverick asked, his mind stuck on that hawk from earlier.
“No,” Davis said.
This time, the person banged on the glass with their fist, and that got Maverick moving toward the door. He could see through the glass, and about halfway there, his heart dropped to his motorcycle boots.
“It’s Karly,” he said, his voice low in his throat. He simply stared at her through the glass, barely moving when Davis brushed by him.
“Boss, it’s cold out there.” He hurried the rest of the way to the door and unlocked it. And then Karly was inside the shop. She shook her hair out and smiled at Davis, who actually leaned forward and gave her a brief hug.
Then they both faced Maverick, who still hadn’t moved a muscle.
Chapter Fifteen
“He doesn’t know, does he?” Karly had perfected the art of speaking without moving her mouth over the last few months as she casually ran into Jordan while he picked up the dings-and-dents at Rosco’s. Or Lucas and Davis as they did the same at Market Fresh.
Making A Move (Rebels 0f Forbidden Lake Book 6) Page 10
