The post office, yeah, that was a good place. I didn’t know where it was, but the cabby I intended calling to come get me would. I hung up and quickly called information for a cab, finding out that there was only one small company in town. After being connected, I told the dispatcher that I’d meet the driver right outside the gate on the road. Then I grabbed a piece of paper from the pad on the desk top, and the pen lying next to it. It didn’t take me long to scribble down a note to Stone.
After stapling the note closed so that it would be read by no one but Stone, I went to the bar, finding Lulu, Darby, Sissy, Rhonda, and Trudy eating breakfast in silence. They looked absolutely disheveled and exhausted. Their hair stuck out all over, their makeup was smeared, the little bit of clothes that they wore were wrinkled and hanging half-off. I found myself smiling.
“Good morning, ladies, I thought last night was supposed to be a quiet night.”
Rhonda groaned. “It was, but not for the Dark Menace boys.”
I frowned, glancing at Trudy, and was greeted with a weak smile. “They always get rowdy before they deal in club shit, and we can expect the same when they get back.”
“Something about fighting and war gets their peckers up,” Lulu added. “Hell, Pit Bull and Bulldog fucked me for three steady hours before they left.”
“Do any of you know where I might find Stone?”
“Ah—”
It was then that I realized that Rita wasn’t there. Oh, fuck, had he spent the night with her? My face must have revealed my thoughts, because Trudy quickly said, “He’s not with Rita, honey. She’s been with Ripper all night.”
Well, that was interesting, considering what Ty had told me the day before about her not having to sleep with any of the other men. Instant relief was followed by questions--where had he spent the night? “Where are they, the boys, now?”
“Well, some of them are still sleeping,” Sissy responded around a mouthful of eggs. “Some of them are working at the garage or bike shop in town, some are off doing club business…” She left it hanging.
“We never know what that is, and when we do we keep it to ourselves.” Lulu finished her coffee and stood up. No one said anything about the fact that her left boob was hanging out. “I’m going back to bed to sleep this time,” she giggled.
“If you need Stone for something I think Max is around somewhere.” Darby reached for a sausage as she yawned behind her other hand. “As the VP he handles shit when Stone isn’t here.”
“No, I, ah, was just curious where Stone is, that’s all,” I stumbled, hoping that no one noticed that I was suddenly nervous. I caught the time on the clock and realized that I had wasted ten minutes talking with the girls. “If I leave a note for him, will one of you make sure he gets it?”
Trudy immediately glanced up from spreading butter on her toast, and I knew what she was thinking. Why would I need to leave Stone a note when I wasn’t supposed to leave the clubhouse? I prayed that she didn’t ask, because I didn’t want to lie to her. I only knew that the cab was going to be out front at any minute and I needed to be out there waiting for it.
“It’s just telling him that I need to talk to him as soon as he comes back.” The reason sounded lame even to me but I handed the stapled note out, hoping one of them would take it.
“I’ll give it to him.” Trudy reached for it. “Why don’t you have some breakfast with us?”
I returned her smile and reached down for a slice of bacon. “Not that hungry this morning.” I took a deep breath. “I think I’ll see if there’s anything light in the fridge and then wait for Stone in our room.”
I couldn’t just walk out the front door with them sitting there, remembering that Ty had told me that there was another way in through the kitchen. Once I pushed through the door I glanced around the kitchen until my gaze landed on the door. I rushed to it, opened it, and took a step outside. Instead of facing the street, as the front door did, I found myself facing the garage. The bay doors were open and I could hear a variety of tools running, but I didn’t see anyone.
I made my way toward the front of the lot and ran the rest of the way to the street when I saw the cab pull up. Once I was inside, I sat back and released a breath of relief.
“Please take me to the post office on River Road,” I said.
The glance that he gave me in his rearview mirror seemed off, but I didn’t question it. After a couple of seconds, when I didn’t say anything else, he shrugged and took off.
Chapter 17
STONE
Fuck, I was tired. I couldn’t wait to get back to the club, take a shower, and get a few hours of sleep before I had to deal with club shit again. I’d never meant to go out the night before, but trouble at one of Covacks’ tittie bars had needed handling, and seemed beyond the capabilities of the two prospects providing muscle for the night. At least they knew when they were in over their heads. I didn’t expect the prospects to deal with every fucking situation that came their way, but I did expect them to show me that they had the brains to know the difference.
The next club business would be dealing with Wildman. Max had called earlier. Shooter and Animal had returned with information on where to find the fucker. The Red Devils were apparently setting up their new clubhouse in an old grain factory not far from where the Predators clubhouse had been located. Sources had also confirmed that Rachel’s sister was being held there. I couldn’t wait to take care of this fucking shit and get back to normal.
Yeah, like club life was ever normal.
Proof of that would come soon enough.
I knew as soon as Reggie and I rode through the gates to the clubhouse that something wasn’t right. A couple of prospects were outside arguing and pointing wildly while my VP stood there listening, his expression grim. We pulled up next to them and cut our engines.
“What the fuck is up?”
Max turned away from them with a gruff order. “Get back to work.” My gut told me that I wasn’t going to like what he was about to say. “Got a problem, Prez. Your old lady took off again.”
Fuck me, I didn’t need this now!
“She snuck out the side door and by the time the prospects saw her she was getting into a fuckin’ cab.” He held out a piece of paper. “You’re not gonna like what this says.”
I snatched the paper from his hand and shook it opened. It was obvious that it had been stapled once, but Max had opened it. As my VP he had that right. My gaze scanned over the contents, and the more I read the more my jaw tightened and my anger grew. I couldn’t fucking believe that Rachel had gone against my orders. It didn’t matter one fucking bit that she thought she was doing what was right. It didn’t matter that she was trying to avoid a bloody war between Dark Menace and the Red Devils. It wasn’t her business to worry about club shit.
I was the fucking club president.
I made every decision about club business, and every decision was followed, always.
And she’d just fucked up royally.
“Fuck!” I swore viciously, crumbling her note in my hand. “Get as many brothers together as you can,” I snarled at Max. “We’re riding out.” He took off, and I turned my attention to Reggie. “You stay here, brother.”
“Fuck that, I’m going,” he barked.
I didn’t argue with him. I was seething inside, with too many fucking emotions running around in my head—anger, frustration, concern, and fear. Fear for Rachel, fear that we wouldn’t get to her in time, fear that we might lose both women. Most of all I feared what my reaction would be when I finally had my hands on her again. If she’d been a brother or a prospect who’d ignored my decision, the consequence would have been swift, without feeling, and would have included a secret burial in the mountains somewhere.
Fuck me, I knew that whatever the outcome was, it was going to fucking hurt.
Bulldog, Ripper, Shooter, and Animal came rushing through the front door with Max. I was relieved to see Animal—if we had to go to the Red Devils’ clubhouse he would know
the location. They wordlessly went to their bikes, mounted, and then they were following me through the gate onto the road.
The old post office on River Road had been shut down years ago, after the new, bigger one had been built in the middle of town. There’d been talk for a while that it was going to be turned into a recreation club for kids, but the plans had never taken root. Now it was just an abandoned building with busted out windows, where junkies did their business and some of the prostitutes took their johns.
As we raced full throttle down the service road that led to it, I dreaded finding out what we were riding in to. There would be no way to sneak up on Wildman, and the confrontation was bound to turn bloody. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
I wanted to get my hands around Rachel’s throat just as much as I wanted to fuck her.
****
RACHEL
As the cab came to a stop I glanced around at my surroundings. This couldn’t be right. The place was abandoned, rundown, and looked like it might be being used for illegal activities. The windows were broken out in the small, concrete structure, the door looked like it had been busted open and hung crooked on its hinges. Then I noticed the faded writing above the door-- ‘United States Post Office’.
Ohmygod, I’d been set up!
Just as I was about to order the cab driver to leave, several bikers appeared in front of us, blocking our way.
“Shit,” I heard him mutter in a low tone, and then he frightened me by reaching for something beneath his seat.
My heart nearly jumped from my chest when I saw his gun. “Can we back up?” I questioned in a frightened tone. He shook his head, and I glanced behind us to see that there were also a couple of bikers there.
Oh, God. I felt sick, and then I saw Maddie. She was sitting behind a biker. I didn’t even realize that it was Wildman until he dismounted, dragging my sister with him by a chain around her neck. God, the years hadn’t been good to him. His hair was gray now, and pulled back into a man bun. He had more tattoos than I’d remembered him having, black lines and evil looking images. He also had small gauges in his ears, and piercings in his eye brow and lip. His skin was dark and weathered and his face was covered with wrinkles. Ten years had aged him twenty.
I could see his eyes and expression clearly, and fear chilled my blood at the way he was staring at me. This man scared the shit out of me, and he knew it. It occurred to me that since he’d brought Maddie that maybe he was going to let her go after all. I knew that was wishful thinking, because the Wildman I remembered never did what you thought he was going to do. He liked to dangle the carrot. He was evil through and through, and I knew what the smile on his face meant. He’d won.
Maddie stood beside him, looking dazed and frightened. Her clothes were dirty and torn, her hair a mess. She’d been roughed up, but it didn’t appear as if they’d done any physical damage to her. That was surprising in itself. I saw her start to sway before Wildman gave a violent yank on the chain, straightening her roughly. I watched her hands fly up to her throat as if to adjust the chain.
“Get out of the car,” he ordered in his raspy voice. I reluctantly opened the door but stood next to it. I could feel his gaze running over me, raping me with his eyes. “My girl, all grown up,” he sneered.
I knew I wasn’t in any position to question him, but part of me still wanted to believe that he intended to release Maddie and take me in her place. “Are you going to keep your word and release my sister?”
His laughter produced chuckles amongst his men, and there were low murmurs that I couldn’t make out. “You don’t trust me? We don’t need another skank,” he said cruelly, releasing Maddie with a rough push in my direction. “Especially one with no fucking meat on her bones.”
I couldn’t believe he’d released her. As Maddie wobbled toward me our eyes met and clung, and it was then that I realized that she was high. She wasn’t really looking at me, but through me. I glared at Wildman. “You bastard, you’ve drugged her!” I grabbed her when she was close enough, and she tumbled against me, moaning like a zombie.
He laughed without humor. “You might say there were some things she was opposed to. Didn’t want her to hurt herself, so we gave her a little blow.” That comment brought more laughter from his men, and made me wonder if Maddie had lied to me about being raped.
I was seething inside, trembling with emotion. “You’re a sick, evil . . .” I couldn’t think of a nasty enough word that described how I felt.
“Careful, darlin’.” His expression had turned serious now. “That’s not the way to be talkin’ to your old man in front of his brothers.”
The threat was there. And for a panicked moment I thought about pushing Maddie into the taxi, climbing in behind her, and ordering the cab driver to mow the bikers down and get us the hell out of there. Until now he’d remained motionless behind the wheel, just watching what was going down. The gun was still in his hand, and I wondered if I managed to get it, would I be able to fire it at someone? I’d never shot a gun before, but how hard could it be?
“Come here, little girl. I kept my end of the deal, now come to daddy.”
My insides twisted at the way that he said ‘daddy’. I turned to assist Maddie into the cab when a shot rang out. At first I wasn’t sure what I was hearing until I glanced up to see the cab driver’s head hanging back off his shoulders, blood and brain matter splattered everywhere. I screamed and stood up, leaving Maddie slumped in the back seat. My gaze flew to Wildman, and I knew then that he had no intention of letting either one of us leave. We were both his captives now.
Oh, God, I’d fucked up so bad. I wanted to throw up. How could I have ever thought that I’d be able to deal with a monster like him? Maddie and I were probably both dead now. At least it was something to hope for.
And then I remembered the gun.
Wildman began to walk toward me, and I knew that I couldn’t let him touch me. I leaned back into the car with the thought of reaching over the seat for the gun when all hell broke loose. Suddenly there was a rumbling sound of other motorcycles riding in, and gun-fire erupted all around us. I saw enough to know that it was Stone and his men before one of the cab windows was shot out. Screaming again, I pulled the door closed behind me and pulled Maddie down onto the floor with me.
For the first time I was thankful that Maddie had been drugged. She had no idea what was going on around us, and lay still on the floor, just whimpering. I, on the other hand, jumped and cringed every time the car was jostled. It sounded like there was a war going on outside, as if everyone was shooting at the same time. I could hear loud hollering and shouting, but couldn’t tell which side they were coming from. Chaos seemed to be everywhere. I could also hear the sound of motorcycles revving up and retreating.
The entire thing only lasted about five minutes, but it was the longest, loudest five minutes of my life. Gradually the chaos died down, the shooting stopped, and I could hear the murmur of voices coming close to the car. I was too afraid to move, could barely breathe, and suddenly the loudness in my ears was the sound of my own heart. The door was abruptly opened. I held my breath and reluctantly turned to see who was standing there.
Stone!
Thank, God! I jumped up from my position on top of Maddie, overwhelmed by the relief I felt at seeing him. Tears sprang to my eyes as I hugged him to me tightly. “God, Stone, I’m so glad to see you. Thank you for coming.”
I knew immediately that something was wrong. His arms just hung at his sides, not returning my embrace, and then his hands curled around my upper arms and he pulled me away from his taut body. I slowly raised my watery gaze to his, afraid of what I was going to see. Of course he was angry, I should have expected that after sneaking away from the clubhouse again, and disobeying his explicit orders not to get involved. But what I hadn’t expected to see was the cold, angry indifference on his chiseled face, as if he felt absolutely nothing.
He doesn’t care.
“Did you doubt that I wouldn’t come for
you?” His voice was just as bitter, matching the blankness in his dark eyes. “Forget I asked. It’s clear that you don’t trust me.”
I stepped back, stunned, unable to comprehend what was happening. I knew that I’d caused his reaction, but he was wrong. So wrong! I did trust him. “Stone, I’m sor—” my voice trailed off. I stopped when his gaze drifted to something behind me. He did a chin lift.
“Animal didn’t make it.”
I recognized Reggie’s voice, and I swung around with a gasp. Our eyes met briefly before he returned his gaze to Stone’s. Beyond Reggie lay Animal’s lifeless body, the bullet hole clearly visible in his chest right over his heart. The tears in my eyes spilled over for the senseless loss. He was young, around my age. By the time I turned back to Stone the tears were falling down my cheek.
“That’s on you,” he said coldly. Before I could make sense of what he was saying, he added in the same dead tone, “Take her and Maddie back to the clubhouse on the bikes. Bulldog and Ripper, you take care of clean-up.”
As I stood there in speechless disbelief, Stone walked to his bike and mounted. For the first time it hit me that I wasn’t going with him. He started his bike and roared away without a backward glance. I met Reggie’s gaze, seeing the censure in his eyes.
“I screwed up,” I said quietly. The enormity of what I’d done finally hitting me. My intentions had been good, but the outcome had been the same thing I’d been trying to prevent.
Max came over and joined us. “Yeah, you did, babe,” he replied, hearing my comment.
“Okay, let’s get your sister out of the cab and onto a brother’s bike.” Reggie reached in for Maddie. I was going to help him but he had her in his arms and out of the car before I knew it.
“I’ll take her on my bike,” he said, “You go with Max.”
As I followed Max to his bike I scanned the bodies littering the ground. None of them were Wildman. His bike must have been one of the ones I’d heard leaving during the shooting.
Dark Menace MC: Stone Page 14
