by Jodi Linton
Em blinked.
Roland rubbed his fingers together. “Payoffs.” He dragged his mouth against her ear. “And your need to set the club on the straight and narrow royally fucked things up.”
Spinning. The entire field was spinning. All the oxygen in her lungs rushed in and out as she frantically willed herself to keep standing. No. Wes was a good man. He’d loved her. He’d protected her, unlike Cade who betrayed her trust and love. She and Wes were going to leave their past behind and start over fresh. Wes hated the drug-dealing clubs and promised to help her take them out, the Vipers included. A tear rolled down Em’s cheek as she held on to the memory of a man she realized only existed in her heart.
Brought back by a nasty laugh, she stared at the police chief in front of her.
“Why so sick, Connors? You didn’t know you’d agreed to marry a criminal?”
She narrowed her eyes, trying to resemble some part of her old self, the bad-ass biker most men feared. “If Wes was in your pocket, then why kill him? Why put the man who was helping you move drugs in the grave?” She shook her head. “Doesn’t make sense. You sure you aren’t going senile in your old age?”
The smack across her jaw came out of left field. Dizzy and slightly off balance, she watched Roland swing his gun into view. Long, drawn-out silence ensued as they stared each other down. He grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her against his chest, rancid breath coasting down the back of her neck and making her stomach turn. “Can’t have your sweet ass fucking up my plans again,” he snipped, his hold tightening into a viselike grip. His other hand curled beneath the waistband of her pants, twisting it in his fist and yanking the fabric uncomfortably into a makeshift noose between her trembling thighs. “Because, darling, you have a knack for making my men turn on me. Just look at what happened to Wes. I’ll give Cade another chance. But you…” He chuckled. “Let’s just say you’ll be sleeping with the fishes.”
She struggled in his arms. “Goddamn pig.”
“I suggest you watch that mouth of yours around me.”
And then her body smacked the ground and everything went black.
Through the blood blurring her vision, Em watched Roland press his gun at her forehead. Secretly, she wished he would just pull the trigger. She had this coming. Wes was killed because of her. Making a deal with the DEA didn’t cleanse her of all the bad things she’d commissioned as MC president. How could she have been so pathetic as to think Cade had seen something more in her? Decency didn’t run in her blood.
When a knee ground into her hips, firmly pinning her down in a helpless position, Em tried to find purchase by clawing at the dirt. Her assailant grabbed her wrists and twisted them, securing all she had left to fight with in a piece of rope. She could only pray she’d be dead before Cade stepped out of his trailer. He didn’t need to witness her demise. She understood all too well what type of torment such a horrific event could have on a person.
“It’s truly a pity, really.” The police chief’s monotone voice droned at her ears. “Cade was one of the good guys. He’ll be heartbroken when word gets around about your death.” His mustache twitched. “But I bet a few nights in bed with another woman will give him a change of heart.”
She couldn’t breathe, let alone talk.
Lying perfectly still, she thought about Cade’s arms holding her tight. She thought about his sensual mouth kissing her body and his comforting words that made her crave to be a better woman—although she’d fucked that shit up by pulling a gun on him and branding him a liar. The two of them would never have a chance to right old wrongs. Make past regrets irrelevant. Her death would be a fitting tribute to all the lies that plagued her life. She’d used up her welcome.
“Get up on your knees, since I’ve heard how much you enjoy it.”
Em used the balls of her feet to roll over on her stomach. Seedy, oh so wet breath pelted her flushed flesh and a little piece of her died when his hands pulled her pants midthigh and yanked her upright onto her knees. For a moment with Cade, she assumed life had given her a second chance, forgiven her transgressions, or some bullshit notion that allowed a person to move on and claim normalcy. Fate could be cruel. But hadn’t she brought this moment on herself? Instead of listening to Cade, she’d walked straight toward her death. It was pointless dwelling on how easily she could’ve given up the idea of revenge and let the DEA do her job. She might’ve just done that once at the drug buy, but that was never going to happen now. Goddamn it. Do something besides kneel in front of the shit bag like some damn rag doll, hands tied, dangling down in front of you. But all her willpower to live died the moment she told Cade she’d rather rot inside a cell than see him again.
“How much longer are we going to ride this thing out?” Em lifted her chin and glared at the chief. “Because you’re starting to bore me.”
“I thought I’d give you a moment to catch your breath.”
She schooled her features. “Well, how heroic of you.”
Strong fingers cut into her flesh as he squeezed her face. “I do believe he was becoming quite fond of you.”
That pushed her over the edge. She brought her hands up and twisted his balls and rolled, dodging the weight of his body. The sound of his chest meeting hard earth ratcheted up her need to flee. Air rushing in and out past her lips, Em scrambled to her feet, and with her pants midthigh, she tried to place as much distance as possible between her and Roland. Her chest burned, and when she lifted her head, stars danced in the back of her eyes. Please, stay away, Cade. Please don’t step outside of your trailer and come looking for me. She’d been so stupid not to give him a chance to explain the text. A bead of sweat slid down her nose and landed on her upper lip, all salty and warm.
“You, bitch!” the dirty cop hissed. “No more fucking around. I’m going to kill you nice and slow.” She could hear palms and boots smack loudly on the ground. Blood pounded in her ears, and immediately the back of her throat went dry when a hand curled around her ankles and yanked her body down onto a pile of branches and leaves. “Remember poor Wes begging to save your sorry excuse for a life?” Her kicking and screaming was no match against his anger-fueled strength. On a pull, he flipped her over, and she found herself toe-to-toe with death. “They’re all the same. Aren’t they? Is that why it’s so easy for you to make my cops turn on me? You find their soft spot for a sexy chick who’ll fuck their brains out?”
“Get off me,” she spat, gaze moving toward the gun lying near his knee. “Your connection with the drugs will come out. Killing me won’t bury the deceit.”
A sinister smile ghosted across his mouth. “You must be one hell of a lay given how quickly my men roll over for you.” His hand circled beneath her thigh, making a nasty shiver tear through her system. “I think I need a taste. Before you go. Let’s see exactly how sweet you are.”
No, no, no. She shook beneath him. Panic swept through her as she tried to roll him off her body.
Cold metal slipped down her nose. “Oh, look. The biker whore is scared.” He pressed the revolver into her sweaty flesh. “Would you like me to reassure you that it won’t be a painful death? Hate to say it, but I’m not much of the comforting type.”
A sweat broke across her brow as the police chief crouched on top of her. “I’ll take my chances with the bullet.”
His cold laughter washed over her. “Gotta love a feisty woman.” Foul breath drifted up her nose. “Makes the fuck so much more fun.”
The police chief’s comment brought her back to that fateful night she should’ve rolled out in a body bag just like Wes. Pulling her I-feel-no-pain mask on, Em channeled the hard upbringing that’d shaped her into the woman fixing to take a bullet in the head. “You plan on shooting me? You want to get rid of the missing link to a cop murder? Then why wait ten months to make your move?”
He grunted against her ear. “You want to hear the real reason I let your sexy ass walk around town without placing a hit on it?”
Tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood
high when his lips brushed her flesh. Death she’d welcome. But rape? She’d rather stick the gun in her mouth herself before allowing this man to finish what he started ten months ago. Her legs shook as his weight pressed down on her thighs. “Y-yes…I can tell you’re just dying to spill your guts.”
“It was a bad move screaming the night of Wes’s murder that you knew the Vipers were behind it, but good for me. See, lately, Cyrus has gotten too big for his own good, too demanding, and I thought why not stand by and see if Axle’s daughter attempted to rid me of my problem. You’d off Benedict for killing Wes, and with the way some of your men have been talking, one of them would off you…so the Sinners could own the drug scene again and shed that pansy-ass image you gave them by taking up fixing bikes.”
“And Cade?” she said, slightly out of breath. “How did he fit into this whole brilliant plan of yours?”
The chief stroked her hair. “You took too long, sweetheart. Not only didn’t you kill Benedict, but your club didn’t get rid of you. Not even when we made sure they knew you had been fucking a cop.”
A cold chill ran up the length of her spine, and Em felt her throat clog up as she let his words sink in. “Fuck you.”
“The department wanted an arrest for Wes’s death, and they pressured me to send in someone to get details from the only witness to Wes’s murder they had. Cade just happened to be the best choice. I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. My detective would bring you in for questioning, and while in holding you’d experience a nasty encounter with another inmate’s knife.” He dug his hip bone into hers. “And yet Jackson turned out to be even more of a disappointment than Wes.”
Slowly, ever so slowly, her will to live chased through her entire body and set a fire in her gut. She was better than some quick kill. Cade had the right to know his boss was dirty before that bullet lodged into her head. He had a right to be warned so he wouldn’t be the next in line to take a bullet from Roland’s gun.
Using what the good Lord gave her, Em rolled her hips and arched into Roland’s small excuse of an erection. He released a pitiful moan when she rubbed against his zipper fly. “Are you sure you don’t want to finish what we started last time?”
He dipped his gun behind her ear. “How many times did you spread your legs for Jackson? Moan his name?” His hand traveled along her inner thigh, and she squirmed in disgust. “Enjoy his mouth on you?”
She thrashed, nipples brutally rubbing raw against his chest. “Why do you even care? This ends with a bullet in my head no matter what.”
He cupped her and roughly squeezed, causing the bile in her throat to wash into the front of her mouth. “I knew your daddy, Em. He’d be so disappointed that his only child turned out to be whore. That she got off sucking cop dick.”
“My dad killed men like you.” She inhaled a panicky breath. “He would have never let you live to see another day.”
“Wrong.” The gun slid down her neck, resting in the hollow of her throat. She drew a harsh swallow. “He was a snitch for the department. How do you think I became such good friends with the local motorcycle gangs? Your dad gave me so much to blackmail them with, it was easy getting them to work for me. It beat jail time for him.” His hand worked around her waist, and she could feel his fingers dipping past her belly button. “Now stay still. I promise to make this fun. Maybe painful, but fun.”
Chapter Eighteen
Why didn’t I just talk to her? Make her listen? That’s right, I’m a dumbass.
Cade lit another cigarette and stared at his bedroom door. Personally, he wasn’t entirely sure why he’d allowed Em to walk out on him. Why he’d just thrown his hands up when she pulled her gun. Earlier, when her sexy mouth had touched every inch of him, he believed they’d moved beyond old grudges and could map out their future. When he’d mentioned the idea about calling in backup, he only wanted to keep her safe. No way was he going to allow her to stroll onto Vipers’ premises alone…without him. Shit. He couldn’t think straight knowing she was about to ride off into danger and their last good-bye had to be a rough, dirty power play.
Being the shit bag he’d grown to hate so much over the years, Cade had allowed his hotheadedness to push her away. The first good thing to happen to him since graduating from the academy, and he freely let her walk. He was a fucking idiot. Her association with his old partner had never been the problem. No. It’d always been him. His unwillingness to accept he wasn’t a bad man for wanting the love of a woman he’d been sent in to investigate. Em deserved to hear him say, I love you. She made him want a better life. And hell, he’d stood back like some prick and practically told her he was done.
Goddamn his pride.
He had to make things right. It was time to explain himself and let Em know he would never rat her out. Hot and sinful Em Connors had managed to place a stranglehold on his heart, and hell, the way they’d left things wasn’t settling well. Swallowing his damn pride was not something he enjoyed. But for Em, he’d do it.
Supposedly, she’d called Logan to get a ride. Yet never once had he heard the familiar sound of a Harley circling outside his trailer. If he knew Em the way he thought he did, her stubborn nature had probably caused her to make some rash decision like hitchhiking back to the clubhouse. Something he’d learned about her in their short time together. And something he loved about her. God, he had grown to love the sexy, black-leather-wearing biker chick. The very idea that her killer legs may be wrapped around another man as they rode the motorcycle together, wind swirling about their faces, made him fucking jealous with rage, but a Harley never pulled into the trailer park. He would have heard it. Cade knew it in his gut, just as he knew he’d fallen in love with Em. He freaking loved her.
And that’s why he couldn’t shake the wary feeling occupying his thoughts. Something didn’t feel right.
With a flick of his wrist, the cigarette went tumbling into the kitchen sink. After slinging on his cut, he cocked his gun and swung the trailer door open. His gaze darted past his Harley parked under the carport and then back at the small footprints leading toward the field behind his trailer. Alarm bells rang. Chilled him to the bone. He took off through the tall grass and kept his gun drawn. Em was a tough woman, but why would she wander into an empty field all by herself? The highway that led into town cut through the other side of the trailer park. If their fight had made her so upset she’d put herself in danger, Cade wouldn’t be able to live with himself. Find Em. Nothing else matters, Jackson.
Then he heard Em scream, and it was as if everything slowed.
BAM! A gun fired. His blood ran ice cold, and his pace quickened. Somewhere in the distance, Em shrilled, and the cop within who carried a badge to protect and serve kicked into high gear. As he got closer, he heard the words.
“Get off me, Roland!” Em’s voice whistled in the wind.
Fuck. If he laid a hand on Em, he’d kill Roland himself.
Cade ran toward Em’s voice, struggling not to let his blind rage overshadow the fact that he still was a cop. He needed to first find out why Em and Roland were fighting. But if Roland didn’t have a good excuse, or if he found Em roughed up, well, the police chief would be staring down the barrel of his gun.
“Roland,” Cade shouted as he edged out of the brush. “If I were you I wouldn’t move one fucking muscle unless you want my bullet lodged in your head.” He stepped closer and found Em with her pants around her ankles. Cade’s blood ran cold at the sight of Roland straddling her body and his pecker dangling near her bare stomach. He leveled his gun at the police chief’s head.
“Em, why don’t you come over here and give Chief Roland some time to zip up his jeans,” he said, cocking his head in a plea for her to join his side. “The chief and I have some unfinished business to attend to. Isn’t that right, Roland?”
Roland went completely still above the woman Cade loved. “You should’ve seen Wes’s face when I held a gun pointed to her head, Jackson.” The police chief’s hand smoothed E
m’s hair back, jolting a wave of displeasure inside him. “He looked like you right about now. She must be a really good piece of tail. What was it you called her? Oh, yeah. A damn biker whore.”
Em squirmed beneath Roland, her terrified gaze a silent plea.
“Don’t touch her, Roland,” he threatened, jaw clenched and gun drawn. “You know I’ll pull the trigger.”
Roland pressed his gun into the forehead of the woman he loved. “Beg for your life, bitch,” Roland said, his gaze pinned on Cade. “Or do you want to hear Jackson beg for it?”
“Shut the fuck up, Roland,” Cade thundered. “Em, baby, listen to me, okay? I want you to very slowly scoot away from the chief.”
Roland gave him a dead smile. “And to think I actually liked you, Jackson.” Cade heard a gun cock. “Say bye-bye to your lover boy.”
“No, goddamn it!”
Cade’s voice tore at his throat like gravel as he aimed at Roland’s chest and squeezed the trigger. His ears rang, and the deafening sound echoed in the field. The police chief’s body reared back, blood pooling beneath his shirt as the man Cade once considered a good cop garbled his words as he tried to catch a breath. As Roland turned, arm drooped and gun aimed south, Cade shot off another round, awarding the chief his deathblow. The red ball cap fluttered to the ground, and the chief’s body flung backward, landing belly up near a tree.
Cade let his gun fall, thudding onto the ground as he rushed to Em’s side. He dropped to his knees next to the now deceased Houston Chief of Police and pulled her into his lap, cradling her head in his hands.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Em. Believe me. I should’ve never let you walk out without explaining myself first.”
Blue eyes stared painfully up at him. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you, Cade.” She puffed out a breath. “Please, can you forgive me for pulling my gun on you?”
“Shush, babe. No more fucking apologizes. No more regrets.”
Somewhere in the distance, sirens wailed. It made sense that by now one of the trailer park’s residents would have called the police, alerting them to gunfire. Cade couldn’t let her go. She was a fighter. She was tough. They’d both make it through this ordeal. Tightening his hold on Em, he yelled out for help and watched police come through the high grass. Their gaze lowered on him clutching Em before locking in on the dead body of their police chief.
