Policy of Truth (Sacred Heart Continuum Series Book 1)

by Scarlett Holloway

  “And placing not only a sister, but the rest of us in danger, isn’t punishable? I want some of whatever it is you’re smoking, because you’re fucking delusional.”

  “But the heart patch?”

  “Think about it, Curby.” Lace sighed, turning back around in her seat, stretching out her legs. “Pulling her bottom rocker? Not going to prove a point. No biggie, six months, she gets it back. Having to work hard to earn it back says a shit-ton more. If you disagree, you can always take it up with Viper. Just let me know, so I can find a suitable resting place.”

  Curby sighed, followed by a laugh at Lace’s sarcasm. “No, no reason to take it up with Viper. I’m good.”

  “I figured you would be.” Lace motioned out the window. “Stay out front. I don’t want to go through the back, just in case we’re being watched.”

  Curby stopped right in front of the double door entrance to Domino.

  Strolling into the building, Lace whistled loudly. “Yo, Calvin Klein!”

  Xander jogged out from behind the bar with a white rag in his hand. “S’up?”

  Curby tossed him her keys. “Will you please grab out the boxes in the back of the Tahoe?”

  Catching them midair, Xander nodded, stuffing the rag into his back pocket. “Sure thing. Want them all behind the bar, or some in the storage area?”

  “The bar is fine. Thanks.” Lace nodded toward him, deciding to venture further in. “We should be able to get this mess cleaned up tonight. With the guys help, of course.”

  Curby followed her, perching on the edge of a stool. “Want me to order you guys pizza or something?”

  “Nah, I got Flames to get pizza and wings from the treasury.” Lace slid open one of the coolers, grabbing out a bottle of cranberry juice. “Want one?”

  “No thanks. I have to go get the kids from school when the boy toy is done.”

  Lace cracked open the bottle, leaning back against a cooler. “Speaking of which,” Lace looked around the bar, only seeing Fenix. “Where’s everyone?”

  Xander set a box down with a clank of bottles. “She’s in the kitchen with four others.”

  Ah, she was avoiding the kid.

  “Viper!”

  The kitchen door swung open, the fireball stuck her head out. “Yeah?”

  Lace glanced past her to see who was kind enough to join them—Gipsy, Nior, Flames, and Stiletto. Go figure. “Anyone planning on helping the Lone Ranger out here?”

  The dual colored eyes flicked over to Fenix sweeping, then back to Lace. “Whoops? We were discussing stuff. Didn’t realize she was out here.”

  Lace knew it was a lie, but wasn’t going to call her out in front of Xander. “Uhuh. So, get out here and help her. Save your discussion for later. Get Flames to head over to pick up the food. The guys will be showing up soon.”

  Xander’s second trip was his last since he toted two boxes at once. Tossing Curby her keys, he grinned. “It’s locked up. Mind if I get lost, Lace? I got a date tonight.”

  Viper snorted and rolled her eyes dramatically. “With what? Your pocket pussy?”

  “Damn, Viper. Ease up,” Lace said, disliking the way she treated the kid. He was a few crayons short of a rainbow, but he tried. “Yeah, have fun, Xander. See you tomorrow night.”

  “I’m out too. If I’m late picking the boys up, I’ll never hear the end of it.” Curby hopped off the stool, waving to the other girls.

  “Tell the boys hi for me,” Lace shouted as Curby ran out the door, nearly running over T-Rex in the process.

  “Damn, looks like I’m the first one here, huh?”

  Lace looked up at the Navajo male before she lifted on her toes to give him a friendly hug. “Hey Rex, how are ya?”

  Returning the hug, he stepped back, his mohawked head turning this way and that, as he scoped out the messy club. “I’m doin’. Lookin’ like you got your work cut out for you here, Lace.”

  She laughed, patting him on the back. “That’s what I have you men for. Free labor.”

  One by one, the Roja’s wandered in, along with several of the Angels. Lace couldn’t express her thanks enough to the crew, overwhelmed by the comradery. Hell, even the Revelations crew showed up behind Nytemare and Chaos.

  Between the pizza, wings, and beer, everyone was in good spirits. They joked, horse-played, and Lace swore Octane and Flames got into a water fight in the kitchen. It’d been months since any of the MCs’ let down their hair and had unadulterated fun.

  Tonight, was the night.

  Pausing to take a drink of the apple ale she loved, Lace couldn’t help but smile at the laughter coming from the group.

  “It’s nice, isn’t it?”

  Lace glanced over to Steel’s strong visage, then back to the throng of bodies. “Yeah, it is. I haven’t heard any of my girls laughing like this in a while.”

  “Let’s hope it stays like this.”

  Lace sighed in contentment, allowing herself to fall gently against Steel, resting her head on his shoulder. “I guess our kids have grown up.”

  His laughter bubbled from deep in his chest while he laid his arm over her shoulders. “I think so.”

  “Hey, Lace!” A straggler wandered in, carrying a box.

  “What’s up, Falcon?” Lace reluctantly pushed herself up from her comfortable position.

  “Sorry I’m late. This was in front of the doors. Has your name on it.” The Italian handed her the box.

  Lace took it and set it on the bar, not giving it much thought. “Thanks.” She pointed over to the food. “There’s food, if Octane or Talon haven’t eaten it all, and there’s beer behind the bar.”

  “Sweet. Midnight snack.”

  “Really?” Lace picked up her phone to check the time. “Holy shit. It’s after midnight. Where the fuck is Curby?”

  “Call her and see?” Steel quirked a brow, bumping her hip lightly.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Unlocking her phone, she found Curby’s number and swiped the screen to dial it.

  The box next to her vibrated, then hummed.

  Steel jerked away from the bar, looking at the box. “The box is talking.”

  Lace tilted her head, her brow drawing together as she ended the call.

  The box quieted.

  Dialing Curby’s number again, the box sang and vibrated again.

  Ending the call and tossing her phone to Steel, she grabbed the nearest knife and sliced through the tape that held the box closed. Ripping open the flaps, she dumped the box onto the bar top. A scarf and phone tumbled out, and a piece of paper floated to the floor.

  “That’s Curby’s scarf.” Lace snatched it up, looking at Steel as he bent over to pick up the paper. “What does it say?”

  Steel unfolded the note, clearing his throat before he read it out loud. “We have the bitch. Release Jenny and she’ll live.”

  “Mother fucker!” Lace said, causing everyone to go silent and look over toward her. She couldn’t stop the icy hand of fear gripping her heart.

  “Are you sure they have her, Tilly?”

  “Who has who?” Viper wandered up, followed by the rest of the crew.

  “The damn Warriors have Curby. And yes, they must have her. This was in her car this afternoon.” Lace motioned to the scarf. “And she’d never go anywhere without her phone. The boys have to be able to get in touch with her.”

  Steel took in a deep breath, rubbing his fingertips over his chin. “T-Rex, Talon, go to Curby’s apartment and check it out. See if anything happened there.”

  Viper snarled at Steel. “This isn’t a Roja matter, I’ll go.”

  Lace snapped at Viper, tired of her attitude, unsure of where it was coming from. “I don’t give a fuck if it’s a Roja matter or not. The guys will go with you. If this happened to Steel, we’d be right next to them, helping out.”

  Viper slouched and nodded.

  Lace couldn’t help it. She was going to snap soon, if the attacks kept u
p. Vader better resolve this matter, and if anything happened to Curby, no one was going to stop the murdering spree she was going to go on.

  The front doors swung open. “Sorry I’m late guys.” Curby, looking frazzled, stepping into the club. “Someone stole my damn phone, or I’d have called.”

  “Where the hell have you been?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “What the hell happened?”

  Questions were fired at Curby, forcing the woman to stop in her tracks, though almost being tackled by Viper and the other girls didn’t help.

  “I was at the championship game for my oldest. It was an out of town game. I told you guys on Monday about it.”

  Lace groaned, letting her head fall onto Steel’s chest, closing her eyes. She was going to have a Warrior’s head on her mantel, if it killed her.

  Ring! Ring!

  Wouldn’t you know it? A private number was calling Lace’s phone. Picking it up, she placed it on speaker. “Yes?”

  “Lace?”

  “Yup.” She wasn’t going to talk much, too pissed to form words.

  “See how easy it was to cause panic? Release Jenny or next time, someone dies.”

  The line went dead.

  Lace couldn’t hold it in.

  She screamed and threw her phone across the room.

  Chapter 23

  God’s Gonna Cut You Down

  Vader was in danger.

  Lace was in no mood for pleasantries. She was on a war path and anything in her way was doomed.

  Even the guy in the phone department had a death note on him, he just didn’t realize it.

  Steel tried his best to keep her calm last night, but there was only so much that could be done. She’d reached her limit on the bullshit meter. Someone was going to pay, and Vader was looking more delicious as her lunch time meal on the so-called date.

  It’d taken over two hours to get a new phone because Lace was making the salesman nervous. Viper was smart enough to hang back and keep her trap shut and let Lace rip the customer service guy a new asshole.

  By the time they walked out, Lace was holding a new phone—for free.

  Lace and Viper were to meet Steel, Butcher, and T-Rex at the local truck stop to ride to the meeting place. It was to be held on neutral ground—Stephens Cemetery. She couldn’t think of a better place. At least when she killed Vader, his body wouldn’t have to be dragged far. She could dump his ass in a freshly dug grave and walk away.

  Upon arrival, the girls parked their bikes next to the Roja’s. Lace motioned Viper to go inside since Steel was leaned against his own, arms crossed over his chest with a frown.

  Pulling off her abstract purple and red full face, Lace scrubbed her fingers through her short pink tresses. She knew one of Steel’s famous talks was coming by the way he looked her. His brows were drawn, lips turned down, and jaw was clenched.

  “Get it over with.” Lace sighed, not bothering to get off her motorcycle, preferring to cross her hands at her wrists and rest them on her helmet, which was setting on her gas tank.

  His brows shot up in surprise. Steel threw open his arms. “Is it that obvious?”

  “Duh,” Lace snorted. “You do this funny face scrunch thing. It tells me you’re either constipated or about to give me one of your famous speeches.”

  Steel’s right brow ticked as he narrowed the single eye at her. Stepping away from his bike, he made a sweeping gesture with his left arm. “Let me step on my soapbox then.”

  “Pffft, by all means.” Lace pretended to get comfortable for the ass chewing. She had every right to put Steel in his place before he even began by pulling rank. He was the president of a support club, she of a one percent. He had no business being up in her shit and she could call him on it. Most of the time, she wouldn’t do that. He was a fountain of great advice, and often had insight Lace might not see.

  “I know you’re pissed right now and flying off the handle. Kicking Vader’s ass, seems the right thing to do, but─”

  “You think?”

  “But, we need to find out what Jenny has on him.” Steel lifted a hand to silence Lace, before she could even think about cutting him off again. “I know you know. Given the situation, if the roles were reversed? You’d be reading me the riot act, Tilly. So, kiss my ass and humor me.

  “Last night was a prime example of the shit they’re going to keep pulling if we don’t find out what the girl knows and or how important it is to Vader. When you get like this, you don’t listen, you react. We can’t have that.”

  Nope, that was it. Lace had heard enough. She didn’t want to hear about all of her faults and how she couldn’t slit Vader’s throat. “You think I don’t know that, H? I’m not stupid.”

  “I rest my case.” Steel motioned toward her.

  He had a point.

  Damn it.

  She wasn’t even listening, she only heard what she wanted too. Sticking out her tongue, Lace looked the other way, her arms folding over her chest. Yup, she was going to pout, and he could take it or leave it.

  “We’ve got to get moving, how do you want to roll?”

  Lace sucked in her cheeks, causing her lips to fish pucker, cutting her gaze toward Steel.

  “Yeah, that’s a sexy look for you.” Steel’s mouth quirked in amusement.

  “Har-dee-har-har. I’m thinking we ride the usual. Viper, me, Butcher, you, and have T-Rex take up the rear.”

  “Do you have any other girls showing up, since Stellar can’t be here? Someone to stand for her?”

  “Yeah, Flames should be here any minute. She text Viper and told her she was running a few minutes late; her bike wouldn’t start.” Lace was pretty sure the stator was going out on Flames’ bike and needed to be replaced soon.

  “I hear a bike. I’ll go get the others.” Steel stepped past Lace. He paused long enough to tap her cheek, and then head into the building.

  He was right, Flames came roaring into the parking lot, pulling up on the other side of Lace. She turned off the bike and flipped up her visor. “Ohwee! This bitch needs to be spanked.”

  “It’s your stator, Flames. I’ve told you I can change it out in a couple of hours. Just leave it at the house with the part.” Lace sighed, lifting her helmet to slip it on. “You’ll be riding next to Viper. Hey H,” Lace called as he exited the truck stop. “It’ll be Viper and Flames, then you and I, T-Rex and Butcher, okay?”

  Better to have the presidents protected, though she debated rolling with Viper and herself, then T-Rex and Steel, then Flames and Butcher. It’d keep all officers protected. And just as she suspected, Steel suggested that lineup instead.

  The ride was quick and uneventful to the graveyard. The six bikes weaved through the plots to get to the center of the cemetery, where a large Ash tree was with benches. It was quiet, but in view of all the side roads leading into the area. Safety was the key here.

  Dismounting the bikes, Lace unsnapped her cut, reaching into her breast pocket to take out her phone and silence it, handing it off to Viper. Flames, Steel, and Butcher copied suit, handing it off to their respected Sergeant-at-Arms.

  Lace’s anger flared at the sight of Vader rolling up ten deep. Her hands curled into fists, jaw ground as she snarled at the trio standing beside her. “Really? Fucking pussy.”

  Steel’s movement was quick when he reached out and grabbed Lace’s chin, forcing her to meet his hard, flinty green-blue eyes. His voice lowered with a warning. “This is a meeting, Chantilly. Nothing more. You keep your shit together, like I know you can.”

  Lace took a deep breath through her nose, avoiding Steel’s gaze. “Right.”

  They should’ve brought more. Like Steel said, this was just a meeting; but it also showed Vader was scared. That was a good thing. He needed to feel that way. It gave the Angel’s the upper hand.

  Lace and the other three stuck close by their Sergeants since they acted as bodyguards. It was better to be safe tha
n sorry, and by the look on Vader’s face, she could only assume he had an itchy trigger finger like herself. His was based on fear, which could be dangerous and unpredictable.

  “Vader.” She inclined her head in a gesture of greeting. Her eyes flicked over his Vice President, Ranger, then over to Cobra who sneered at the small group. It was Chico that interested her though. Why would Vader bring a brother who had a hit on him and was essentially the cause of all the drama?

  The uneasy shift of the men next to her told her she wasn’t the only one to see the target.

  “Lace. Mind if we get to this? I have other fish to fry.”

  Lace swallowed down her pride and anger as she stared at the focus of all her irrational emotions. He was average height, five-ten, long black hair with tanned skin, large brown eyes, and tell-tale Native American cheekbones. He wasn’t built, but he wasn’t fat. He led his group by using fear as intimidation, not respect.

  “Yeah, let’s do this.”

  “Why bring all the back up?” Vader looked directly at Steel.

  “You involved the Roja’s when your idiots started shit at the Battleground,” Steel said.

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Lace was just as confused as Vader, turning her head to look at Steel in question.

  Steel rolled his shoulders back, motioning to the men behind Vader. “When you attack a Roja, you involve a Roja.”

  Vader spun around to face his crew, who were all looking at one another like they had no idea what Steel was talking about.

  It didn’t take a genius to figure it out.

  “The fuck?” Lace hissed out, her hands on her hips, glaring at Steel. He’d planted men as bouncers! She was glad Flames kept quiet, feeling the tension rolling off her sister. Lace knew if Flames said anything, her will to behave would’ve flown out the window.

  Vader faced the group once more, lifting his hands with the shrug of his shoulders. “Don’t know what to say, Steel. They weren’t in cuts. Can’t hold that against my guys.”

  “Maybe not, but your men attacked two clubs, with hundreds of eye witnesses. Chew on that, Vader.”