“Thank God,” he says, swinging the door open. “You’re a jerk, you know that?”
Eyeing him, I push past him and enter his room.
“Who doesn’t bring toys for the kid?”
I look over at the bed and watch as Skylar tosses a deck of cards up in the air as if she’s throwing confetti.
“Dude, I’m not equipped for kids. It was either the deck of cards or a clip. Be fucking grateful I didn’t teach your kid to shoot.”
“She’s one.”
“Start her young,” he says as he shrugs his shoulders. “That way she’ll be a sure shot by puberty. Ain’t no one gonna fuck with her.”
“Ain’t no one gonna fuck with her no matter what,” I reply as I make my way toward her.
“Dada,” she cheers, holding out her arms.
“She stinks by the way. What the hell are you feeding her?”
“You didn’t change her?” I ask, lifting her off the bed. I cringe when I get a whiff of her diaper.
“You’re kidding me, right?” he admonishes, throwing the diaper bag onto the bed. “I cross the line at diapers, man.”
Nuzzling Skylar’s neck, I lay her down on the bed and grab the diaper bag. I pull out a diaper, wipes and some shit that Celeste always seems to put on her. The sad thing is, I have no fucking idea what to do and I sort of look at the diaper like it’s a foreign object.
“Dude, can you hurry up? I gotta sleep with these fumes,” he taunts.
“Fuck you, man, I’m trying here,” I growl.
“Trying? You mean you’ve never changed her diaper before?”
“Celeste is always around,” I admit through clenched teeth. Ignoring the laughter that bubbles from the asshole’s mouth, I take off Skylar’s pajamas and brace myself for the diaper. My first diaper change and it would be the mother lode of shit.
“Get over here and help me,” I tell him. The bastard is saved by the knock on the door and I pray it’s Riggs. I called him on the way over, knowing he’s the experienced brother in this department. I wasn’t sure what would go down and knew Deuce couldn’t watch Skylar for a long period of time.
Deuce pulls the door open and by some fucking miracle Riggs leans against the door jamb.
“Thank God,” Deuce exclaims. “You know what to do with one of these, right?” he questions, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. Still holding the clean diaper like a ticking bomb, I lift Skylar from the bed and turn to Riggs.
“Have no fear, Uncle Riggs is here,” Riggs announces with a smirk. Taking in the sorry sight I am he crosses his arms against his chest.
“You’re so ducked,” he cheers gleefully.
Bastard.
“But don’t worry I took pity on your sorry asses and brought a qualified professional with me.”
“Unless you brought Mary-Fucking-Poppins with you—”
“Who?” Riggs cuts Deuce off. Waving his hand dismissively. “That doesn’t matter. Oh Mama Leone,” he singsongs, stepping aside to hold the door open. A strange woman steps inside the motel and immediately begins to scrutinize the room. Apparently it doesn’t meet her standards because she curls her lip and smacks Riggs upside the back of his head.
“Ouch!”
“That’s not Mary Poppins,” Deuce comments.
“No, she most certainly isn’t,” Riggs replies, rubbing the back of his head. “Meet my mother-in-law.”
“Not your mother-in-law yet. You still haven’t made an honest woman out of my daughter,” she spits, before turning her gaze to me.
The scary as fuck woman softens when her eyes land on my daughter. She closes the distance between us and claps her hands before reaching for Skylar.
“You want to come to Maria? Yeah, you do. Let’s get you out of this stinky diaper.”
Skylar extends her little arms and Maria takes her from me. Lifting her eyes to me, she sizes me up.
“She yours?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you might want to learn how to change her diaper.”
“Don’t be offended, man, she hates everyone. She smacked me in the face with a frying pan the first night she met me.”
“You tied me up.”
“All in good fun,” Riggs teases before pointing between me and Deuce. The playfulness leaves his face as he tips his chin toward the door.
“She’ll be in good hands,” he assures when I glance back at Maria who already has the dirty diaper off. After another moment of hesitation passes, I follow Deuce and Riggs out of the motel room.
My eyes drift two doors down to where Stryker is leaning against the door with Jack beside him. Reaching into his pocket, Deuce produces a pack of cigarettes and hands me one.
“How’s he holding up?” Riggs questions.
“Not good,” I reply, flicking the lighter.
“Man, she was in real bad shape,” Deuce adds. “Fucking disgusting what those animals did to that girl.”
“Jack’s not going to let that shit fly,” Riggs says.
“Jack’s making a lot of promises these days,” I comment.
“Don’t lose your faith in the Bulldog, Cobra, he’s not the guy you bet against,” Riggs says.
I’m not losing my faith but I’m having a hard time understanding how we’re going to pull everything off. I’m having a hard time understanding how Jack is going to keep everyone safe and still get his due vengeance.
The door opens to Stryker’s room and I watch Celeste talk to him and Jack. I can’t make out what they’re saying so I flick my cigarette into the street and start for her. Stryker steps around her and enters the room, leaving Celeste with Jack.
“Thank you for what you did,” he says with a curt nod. “Appreciate it.”
“For what I did,” she repeats.
Pulling the door closed behind her, she narrows her eyes and steps closer. Realizing she’s about to spew fire at my president, I step between them and force her to look at me.
“You okay?” I ask, knowing she’s not and that question will only make her angrier.
“Am I okay?” she asks incredulously, her eyes wide.
“You got fire, girl, you give it to me,” I tell her, pulling her gently away from the door. She snatches her arm away from me and pushes me back with all her might.
“You want my fire, Cobra? You sure about that? Because the way I’m feeling right now, I will burn the fuck out of you and everyone associated with you. Including your boss,” she says pointing a thumb to Jack before darting her eyes toward Rocco. “And you,” she adds, stepping closer to him. “You bastard,” she hisses.
Rocco pushes his hands into his pockets and stares back at her.
“Are you proud of who you are? Of your choices?” she hollers, balling her hands into fists. “You might as well have put a bullet in your sister’s head because that girl in there is dead and it’s all your fault. Your choices raped your sister and I’ll bet my life your mother is rolling in her grave right now, Rocco.”
His face remains stoic, his eyes red as he keeps them pinned to Celeste and takes her heat.
“Celeste,” I say, reaching for her. “Come on, baby—”
She turns to me and glares at me.
“Get away from me,” she sneers. “You blindsided me tonight. You made me think I was helping some stranger.”
“Gina needed you to be a nurse and not her cousin,” I argue. “You’re upset and you’re emotional, all of which you’re entitled to be, but once you calm down you’ll realize Gina needed you to be her nurse. You gave her something you couldn’t give Alexandria.”
Lifting the backs of her hands, she wipes the tears streaming down her cheeks.
“We don’t know what happened to her,” I rasp. “She could’ve been lying in an ally too. She could’ve been raped and left for dead. No one saved her. No one rescued her.”
I pause as she lifts her head and meets my gaze.
“It’s horrible what happened to your cousin and I swear on everything that matters to me
in this world, I will do my part to make sure whoever did this pays. You need to know you did a good thing tonight.”
“Stop,” she demands. “I don’t want you making promises of revenge to me. No one wins, not you and sure as hell not me. You want to talk about Alexandria? Make this about her? Okay, here’s a fact, Jagger. You spent a good portion of your life trying to make the bastard pay and when you finally give it up and start to live for yourself, you get sucked right back into that pit. You’ll never be free from it and it’s a shame because our daughter is going to feel all that. She’s going to feel it more than anyone.”
“Cel, you’re overreacting—”
“How dare you tell me I’m overreacting! Do you know what it’s like to lose you to a ghost time and time again? Do you know how fucking heartbreaking it is to never be enough for you?”
“Never enough? You’re fucking everything to me.”
She shakes her head sadly as my anger boils.
“This,” she waves her hands around the parking lot. “This is everything to you. You can pretend all you want but I saw your face tonight when you got that phone call. Do you know what I was about to tell you? Can you even remember what we were talking about before you left?”
Frustrated, I run my fingers through my hair and try to recall the events from earlier. Jack walks over to me and lays a hand on my shoulder.
“Maybe you two should call it a night. Take her home, get your shit together and we’ll talk tomorrow,” he says.
“Yeah, Cobra, your boss is giving you an order, better not disobey,” she sneers.
“Stop,” I warn her.
“Or what?” she hisses.
Turning toward Deuce, I reach into my pocket and pull out the keys to her car.
“Take her and Skylar home,” I say, throwing the keys in the air. He lifts his hand to catch them and I turn back to Celeste.
“Old habits die hard, huh Cobra?” she cries.
“Think you need time to process things,” I say evenly, biting the inside of my cheek as I step closer to her. She takes a retreating step back but I quickly reach for her hips and pull her back. My hands cup her face and I force her to look at me.
“You’re more than enough.”
“I wish I believed you.”
One sentence.
A lifetime of regret.
Another win for Yankovich.
Chapter Thirty-three
Three days.
Giving her time to cool off and process yet another nightmare, I stay away from Celeste for three days. I send Deuce by to make sure they’re okay and stop into the day care center for an hour a day to spend time with my little girl. Having had enough of this shit, I decide after church I’m going to her apartment. I’ve given her more than enough time to blow fire. It’s time to sort this shit out.
Standing in the parking lot of Pipe’s garage, I watch Rick pull his mustang into a spot and kill the engine. It’s the first time he’s sitting down with the club. It’s also the first time Rocco will be sitting at our table and the first congregation Wolf will be a part of since being released from the hospital.
Rick pushes his sunglasses on top of his head as he walks toward me.
“Thanks for coming, man,” I greet, noticing the large legal envelope tucked under his arm. “What’s that?”
He glances at the garage and then back at me.
“You sure you trust these guys?”
“Are you telling me there’s a reason I shouldn’t?”
“There might be,” he admits, turning his back to the garage. “I got a hit on Yankovich and someone’s going to have to explain the politics of this club bullshit.”
“Talk to me,” I insist, narrowing my eyes curiously.
“Motherfucker has been playing nice with the Albany chapter.”
Not giving his words a chance to sink in, I push past him and charge toward the garage.
“Jagger, hold on,” he calls behind me, but I don’t stop. I storm into the garage, head straight for Jack and slam my fist on the table in front of him.
“Are you fucking crazy?” Blackie sneers, jumping out of his seat. Ignoring him, I point a finger at Jack and glare at him.
“You know something I don’t about Yankovich?”
Crossing his arms, he leans against his chair and studies me. His eyes slice to Rick and then back to me.
“Cobra, I’m going to give you ten seconds to get out of his face before I remove you myself,” Blackie hisses.
“Leave him, Black,” Jack orders. “You got something you want to say, boy?” he asks me.
“Rick got a hit on Yankovich,” I shout.
Rick pulls me back and steps in front of me. Holding out his hand to Jack, I watch as he introduces himself.
“Rick Grayson,” he offers.
“Jack Parrish,” Jack replies, sliding his hand into Rick’s. “You want to explain what’s got him all riled the fuck up?”
Rick tosses the envelope in front of Jack. Lifting the envelope, Jack motions to the empty seats.
“Sit,” he orders before turning his eyes to me. “You too.”
Then he slams the meat mallet on the table and Blackie introduces the club to Rick. At the end of the table Rocco sits with two men I’ve never seen before. I learn one is Joaquin, his bodyguard, and the second is Nico, his underboss. After the introductions I look back at Jack and watch him stuff the papers back inside the envelope and look at Rick.
“How accurate is this?”
“As accurate as knowing we’re all going to die one day.”
“You going to shed some light on what’s in that envelope to the rest of us?” Wolf grunts beside me.
Jack tips his head toward Rick, giving him the floor.
“Yankovich met with the president of the Satan’s Knights Albany chapter last week. Any of you familiar with him?”
“Rush,” Wolf says, before pointing toward the empty seat across the table. It belongs to Stryker but since Gina’s attack he has not left her side. “He’s been the president for years. That’s also Stryker’s old stomping ground before he went nomad. If anyone knows Rush, it’s him.”
“Well, Stryker’s not an option right now. He needs to take care of his woman and trust we’re going to do our part.”
“Hold it,” Rocco says from across the table. “Your part? Understand this, Parrish. I came to you several times. You didn’t want to listen. Now you think you’re going to take the reins on this one…you’re wrong. It might be Stryker who is taking care of her, but it’ll be me who takes care of the men responsible for what happened to my sister.”
“Not going to happen, Spinelli,” Jack spits. “I made a promise to my brother, told him I’d deliver those men to him and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. You can take part in that, but they will go by his hand not yours otherwise you and I won’t work together at all.”
“Can we get back to the Albany shit because if we don’t find the bastard no one is doing anything,” I point out.
“Yankovich transferred funds into Rush’s account. It’s a personal account that has nothing to do with his club. What those funds are for I don’t know. I also don’t know if his club knows he’s dealing with Yankovich. It might be something just between the two of them. I traced Rush as far back as I can go and there was another transfer made about ten years ago, but after that nothing.”
“Ten years ago, half of us weren’t even sitting around this table.”
“Cain was the president back then,” he says turning to Wolf. “I don’t even remember if we had many dealings with Rush then, do you?”
Wolf shrugs his shoulders.
“Not many that I can recall,” he offers, turning to Riggs. “Can you find out the club’s holdings? What could Rush offer a man like Yankovich that would require a payout?”
“I’ll tell you what he’s getting in exchange,” Rick says, pointing to Rocco.
“Triton containers. Rush is the middle man in that deal. Originally, Yanko
vich was leasing the containers and used the Corrupt Bastards’ address. In exchange he funded the rebirth of the club before you people wiped them off the grid. Now with them out of the picture Yankovich needs a new front man. It also helps that Albany isn’t that far from Canada. What he can’t transport through the harbor he’ll move over the border.”
“Are you sure about that?” Rocco asks. “I have very good intel that says the shipment he’s planning through the harbor is a go.”
“Of course you do,” Rick replies. “And I’ll bet my life those containers will be empty. All you’ll find there are the men who raped your sister. That’s how Yankovich works. He’s feeding your enemies to you. Those men who fucked with your sister don’t know their days are numbered, but you better believe Yankovich knows you guys are hunting him. He distracts you, gives you what you want and then when no one is watching he moves what he really wants.”
“Which is?”
“Women,” Rick answers, turning to me.
“He uses women or sometimes young girls to transport his product to other countries. They swallow balloons full of drugs, shove them in places where no one will be looking and gives them a fake identity to get them over the border. Then after the shit is delivered, he kills them or sometimes he sells them,” I inform them all.
My tone lacks any emotion, and for the first time I don’t get angry when I speak the truth. I accept it for what it is and look around at the table of men who swear to end the cycle. My brothers vow to bring this bastard down as I watch them all digest the facts.
“Jesus, fuck,” Deuce says, breaking the silence. “So what the fuck does all this mean?”
“It means we need more information,” Rick answers. “Jagger and I have been chasing this cocksucker for years and right about now is where it always becomes a dead end. I can guarantee you I’m not going to get any more information on this guy.”
“Are you saying the shipment I was planning to intercept is in fact a decoy? Do we move ahead and plan to intercept anyway knowing we’ll at least get the men who harmed Gina?”
“I would think so,” Rick says. “I mean that’s between the two of you,” he says as he points from one end of the table to the other. The mob boss and the president stare off as Rick continues. “You want to avenge that girl’s attack, you start there.”
Wanderer (The Nomad Series Book 2) Page 23
