Rider: Satan’s Fury MC-Memphis

by Wilder, L.

  When I turned and started back down the hall, I heard Blaze shout, “Hold up! Let’s hear her out.”

  “Darcy, wait.” When I turned back around, Blaze had come up next to Caleb and Gus, eagerly waiting as Caleb said, “Say what you came here to say.”

  “Okay.” I stepped back over to them and tried to keep myself calm. “If I’m right about KeShawn Lewis and his Disciples having something to do with whatever happened to Kenadee, I might be able to help.”

  “First...what makes you think that Lewis has anything to do with this?” Gus asked.

  “I overheard something one of the ol’ ladies said.” I shrugged. “That, and I saw his car this morning.”

  “When did you see his car?” Blaze asked.

  “When I went out with August to put my bag in my truck. We were on our way back inside when I spotted his black Mercedes following Gauge’s SUV.”

  Blaze snarled, “And you didn’t say anything.”

  “Why would I? I had no idea that he was causing problems for y’all!”

  Gus’s eyes narrowed as he asked, “How do you know he drives a black Mercedes?”

  “His grandmother and I live in the same trailer park, and he comes by from time to time to check on her.” Making sure he didn’t think I was trying to hide something, I looked him right in the eye as I continued, “The last time he was there, I noticed he was driving a black Mercedes with both a rear and roof spoiler and after-market rims.”

  “And you saw the same vehicle this morning?”

  “Yes, sir. I did.”

  There was no missing the look of concern on Gus’s face as he stood there going over what I’d just said. After several moments passed, he finally looked back to me and said, “So, how exactly is it that you think you can help us, Darcy?”

  “The last time KeShawn came to see his grandmother, he mentioned that he had a Suzuki GSX-R he wanted to have painted and asked if I would check it out.” I glanced over at Caleb. “I told him I’d need to see it first, so he gave me his number and address. He wanted me to come by his house to see what I thought.”

  “And how exactly does this help us with our situation?”

  “I could go over there and tell him that I’ve come to see about painting his bike,” I explained. “While I’m there, I can take a look around for any sign of Kenadee.”

  “No fucking way you’re going over to that house.” Caleb’s eyes lit up with rage as he stared down at me. “Not now. Not ever.”

  “So, you have a better idea in mind?” I asked sarcastically.

  “Doesn’t matter. It’s too fucking dangerous!”

  I placed my hands on my hips as I argued, “You aren’t even going to consider it as an option?”

  “Not a time for your stubborn bullshit, Darcy!”

  “We need to at least consider this,” Blaze told him.

  “I said no.” His tone changed when he turned to Gus. “We can’t send her over there, Prez. You said it yourself, this guy was a loose cannon, and we don’t know for certain that Kenadee is even there.”

  As soon as the words left his mouth, I pushed, “You would know if you just let me go check it out.”

  Caleb stared back at me with one of his warning looks, and I knew right then that my stubborn, snarky side was about to get me in trouble. I needed to rein it in before I said something I would regret, so I inhaled a deep breath and tried to collect myself as I waited for Gus’s response. I could see the wheels spinning in his head as he turned and looked at Riggs. He pondered a moment more, then brought his attention back to me. “Gonna need you to give us some time to talk this over.”

  Realizing that he was trying to get rid of me, I nodded. “Okay, I’ll be in Caleb’s room if you need me.”

  As I started down the hall, I thought Caleb might come after me; instead, I heard the large doors of the conference room close behind me. I was more than a little curious about what they might be saying, and I had to fight the urge to rush back over to the doors and eavesdrop. I knew it was a bad idea, so I decided against it and continued on to Caleb’s room. As soon as I walked in, I crawled into his bed and pulled the covers over me. I was immediately enveloped in his scent, and it wasn’t long before my mind drifted to the night before. With everything that had been going on, I hadn’t had a chance to really stop and think about it, much less make sense of it. I knew I was attracted to him. Hell, with his good looks, there wasn’t a woman in a fifty-mile radius who wouldn’t find him desirable, but there was so much more to my attraction towards him than just his looks. The way he spoke, the way he smelled, and the way he looked at me like I was the only woman in the world set off a spark inside of me, burning through me from the inside out. I didn’t know it was possible to feel the kind of passion I felt when I was in his arms, which only made me want him even more.

  I shouldn’t have been surprised that our night together was so amazing. When we were kids, things always came so easy with Caleb and me. We could just be ourselves, never thinking about what we should or shouldn’t say or how we should act with one another. Back then, it seemed so simple. I’d even fantasized about Caleb and me falling in love. In some random moment, we’d suddenly realize that there was something more between us than just a friendship, and we’d become high school sweethearts. We’d go on dates, hold hands and make out, and even go to prom together. All those little fantasies died the day I decided to protect my heart and walk away from our friendship. I thought I’d lost my chance forever, but I was wrong. I felt that same connection I’d always felt for Caleb the moment I saw him standing in that garage, but I’d been too blind to see that he was feeling it too. There was no denying it now—not after the night we’d shared and his reaction to me going to KeShawn’s place. It was clear that he felt just as strongly about me as I did him.

  I was still going over it all in my head when my cellphone rang. It was rare for me to get calls, especially since I’d moved away from home, so I thought it might be Caleb trying to reach me. I quickly pulled it from my pocket, and dread washed over me when I saw it was my brother, Eddie. I never heard from my brothers unless they needed something, and I had a feeling that this time was no different. “Hey, Eddie.”

  “Hey, sis! How’s it going?” he asked in a chipper voice.

  “It’s going.” I tried to brace myself as I asked, “What do you need?”

  “Can’t I just call to check on my little sister?”

  “You could, but you never do.” Even though neither of them had ever given me any reason to, I loved both of my brothers. After my mother ran out on us, they were the only real family I had, so I always tried to do what I could to help them out when I could—even if it meant forking over all of my rent money to bail them out of jail or to square them up with their drug dealers. “So, what is it that you need, Eddie?”

  “Well, I ran into a little trouble last night and got myself locked up. I’m gonna need you to come down to the police station on Main and bail me out.”

  “Sorry, but I can’t today.” There was no way I could tell him the truth—not that he’d believe me if I did. “I’m kind of tied up right now.”

  “Get untied up, Darcy!” he fussed. “I ain’t got nobody else I can call to come get me out of this joint.”

  “You should’ve thought about that before you got yourself locked up.” I knew spouting off was only going to cause him to do the same, so I quickly rebounded by saying, “I’d help out if I could, but I just can’t do it today. Do you want me to try to get in touch with Danny and see if he can head over there?”

  “No point in that.”

  “Why not?”

  “He’s in the fucking cell next to me, so he won’t be much help,” he scoffed.

  “Damn.”

  I let out a deep breath as I tried to think of some other option. Before I could come up with something, Eddie said, “Look. Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure something out.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. Danny’s st
ill got a call. Maybe he can find someone who owes him a favor.”

  “Okay. I’m sorry I couldn’t help.”

  “Don’t sweat it. We’ll be fine,” he assured me.

  I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty after the call ended. It was the first time I hadn’t been there for them when they needed me, but there wasn’t anything I could do. There was no way I was going to walk away from Caleb and the rest of his brothers when there was a chance I could help them get Kenadee back. Besides, there was always the possibility that a couple of nights in jail might make them think before they did something stupid again. I tried to hold on to that hope as I put my phone back in my pocket and lay back down on the bed.

  Rider

  “Are we sure that we can even trust this girl?” Gus asked with concern. “Seems odd that she has this kind of connection to Lewis.”

  “When I did her background check, I found no ties to him or anyone else that seemed suspicious. Her brothers are both trouble, but with dumb shit like dope and fighting in bars. No gang association whatsoever.” Riggs turned to me as he said, “And Rider can vouch for her...They have history. Grew up in Oakland together.”

  “We can trust her,” I replied with confidence. “You have my word on that.”

  “Good.” Gus thought for a moment, then said, “Now, the only question is when we send her in.”

  “I don’t know, brother. I think we’ve gotta wait...at least for a little while,” Moose told Gus. “Darcy waltzes in there right now, not but a few hours after he’s taken Kenadee, and he’s gonna smell a rat.”

  “He’s right,” Riggs agreed. “He’s never gonna believe it’s a coincidence if she shows up there about that fucking bike.”

  “So, what do you suggest?”

  “We send her first thing in the morning,” Moose answered. “Give things a minute to settle down.”

  “And what about Kenadee?” Blaze barked. “We’re just supposed to sit back and wait on this motherfucker to kill her?”

  “If he was going to kill her, he would’ve already done it.” Shadow looked him directly in the eye, trying his best to assure his brother and best friend that his ol’ lady would be okay. “He could’ve killed her at the store, but he didn’t. There’s a reason for that.”

  “And what reason would that be?”

  “If he’s smart, he’ll plan on using her as bait to get to us. Plain and simple.” Shadow leaned forward as he continued, “There’s just one problem. He’s going to be dead long before that can ever happen.”

  “We’ve just got to be smart, brother,” Riggs added. “We need to get his numbers down. If the Red Knights have tied up with him, then I say we go after them first. Take them out before Lewis has any clue that we know they’re in cahoots.”

  “We just going to show up at their hangout and wipe them out?” T-Bone asked.

  “No. That would draw too much attention. We don’t want to tip Lewis off. I think going after them individually is our safest bet.” Riggs never ceased to amaze me. Not only was the guy brilliant when it came to computers, but he was also a master at thinking outside of the box. “We hit them at home, the streets, or at their fucking hangouts, and one by one we end these motherfuckers before they have a chance to team up with the Disciples.”

  “How are we going to find all these assholes?”

  “Shadow will take care of that,” Gus assured him. “He still has Bonds in one of his holding rooms, and with a little pressing, he’ll give us the names we need.”

  “And after we’ve dealt with the Red Knights, then we hit Lewis’s place?” Blaze pushed.

  “You got it.” Gus nodded. “We’ll take care of him and whatever crew he’s got holed up there as soon as Darcy gets those cameras planted and we can see what the hell is going on in there.”

  “So, Darcy goes to Lewis’s place first thing in the morning,” Blaze started. “She’ll use painting his bike or whatever as a way of getting her foot in the door. Then, when he isn’t looking, she’ll plant the cameras and mics throughout the house.”

  “That’s it.”

  It sounded like a solid plan, but none of them had mentioned the fact that we were putting Darcy’s life in danger. One wrong move, and I’d lose her. I couldn’t stand the thought, so after keeping my mouth shut as long as I could, I finally said, “So, we’re going to send Darcy into the lion’s den...alone—with no gun or way of protecting herself, and just keep our fingers crossed that she doesn’t end up with a fucking bullet in her head?”

  “Darcy’s a smart girl, Rider. She knows how to handle herself.”

  “And we’ll be using a radio transmitter so we can talk her through it,” Riggs explained. “From the minute she walks through that door, I’ll be right there with her, and if something goes wrong, we’ll be there waiting.”

  “What aren’t you getting? She’ll still be in that house alone with Lewis!”

  “Lewis has done his homework, and he knows who is and isn’t a brother of Satan’s Fury.” Riggs shook his head. “No way any of us can go in there with her without him knowing.”

  “What about Clay?” Moose suggested. “Why couldn’t he go with her? Pretend to be her boyfriend or something.”

  “Hadn’t considered that.” Gus thought for a moment. “Might be a chance for him to prove whether or not he’s got what it takes to prospect.”

  I knew better than to question Gus, but sending Clay in with Darcy didn’t make me feel any better about things. He was good guy, tried hard, but the kid was green. Since I’d never seen him in a situation like this, I was concern that he wouldn’t know how to handle himself with men like Lewis. Hell, if he hadn’t been around gangs before, they’d scare the shit out of him, but then again, that might play out to be an advantage. If he looked freaked out, then maybe, just maybe, Lewis would actually believe that he was simply Darcy’s boyfriend and nothing more. We talked a few more minutes, then Gus sent Shadow to start working on Bonds while Riggs went to his office to see what he could find out. While they were both busy working to find all the members of the Disciples, he and I went to talk to Darcy. When we walked into my room, she was curled up in the covers on my bed like a cocoon, and for a moment, I thought she might be asleep. “Darcy?”

  She pulled the covers down to look at me, and her eyes widened with surprise when she saw that Gus was standing there next to me. “Oh, hey!”

  As she unwound the covers and sat up in the bed, I told her, “We need to talk.”

  “Okay.” She quickly stood as she asked, “What about?”

  Gus stepped forward as he looked down at her and said, “About going over to KeShawn Lewis’s place. We think you might be able to help us after all.”

  “Okay, great. What do you need me to do?”

  Her eyes narrowed as Gus told her, “First, I want to make sure you know that you don’t have to do this. It’ll be dangerous going over there. On a good day, Lewis isn’t a man I’d ever trust. He’s short fused and acts before he thinks, so there’s no way for any of us to know how he’ll react to you showing up over there.”

  “I know, but I think I’ll be okay,” she assured him. “Just let me know what you need me to do.”

  Gus took a few minutes to explain everything to her. She seemed fine with Riggs fitting her with a radio transmitter and that Clay would be tagging along, but I didn’t miss the flash of unease that crossed her face when he brought up the cameras and microphones. Darcy was a smart woman. She knew it wouldn’t be easy to get into Lewis’s house, much less planting the cameras without being caught by one of his crew. It was a big risk, one that I didn’t want her to take, but it was the only way. Once he was done going through everything, Gus asked, “Do you think you can handle all that?”

  “Yes, sir.” She hesitated for just a half-second, then continued, “I can do it. No problem.”

  “Good. I’ll let the others know.” As Gus started for the door, he glanced back and said, “Be ready to head out first thing in the mornin
g.”

  “I’ll be ready.”

  As soon as he walked out of the room, I stepped over to her and asked, “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

  “I’ll admit I have my concerns, but they aren’t enough to stop me from doing it.” Her eyes met mine. “Besides, if the roles were reversed, Kenadee would do the same for me.”

  Before I even realized what I was doing, I’d reached for her, pulling her towards me as I wrapped my arms around her. As I stood there holding her, I couldn’t stop thinking about her being in harm’s way. I wanted to protect her, keep her safe, yet I was allowing her to be put in danger. The thought ate at me, making me wonder if I was making a huge mistake by letting her go through with this thing. “I’m going to need you to be careful, very careful.”

  “I will be.” She nestled her head against my shoulder as she hugged me back. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll be fine.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that, ’cause I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

  Darcy looked at me for a brief moment, studying me with a soul-searching stare, then lifted up on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth to mine. Damn. She felt so fucking good in my arms, better than I could’ve ever imagined. Needing more, my hand slipped to the nape of her neck and tugged at her hair, guiding her mouth towards mine. A light moan escaped from her throat as I delved deeper, my tongue tangling with hers. It wasn’t long before we were both lost in the kiss. Without thinking, my hands dropped to the hem of her t-shirt, and I’d just pulled it over her head when there was a knock at my door. There was no missing the frustration in my voice as I called, “Yeah!”

  “Need you back in the conference room.”

  “I’m on my way.” I lowered my mouth to Darcy’s ear, softly trailing kisses below her ear before I whispered, “We’ll have to finish this later.”

  “Okay.” When I released her and started for the door, she asked, “How long do you think you’ll be?”

  “Can’t say for sure. Just make yourself comfortable, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”