Among the Chaos: Book 2 of the Soldiers of Chaos MC Series

by A. A. Askevold

  “Right I’ve seen enough of this shit. Turn it off,” Trace told Tex.

  Nikki panicked and pocketed the little red and black thumb drive before the boys could notice.

  If it was what she thought it was then what had Roger pulled from the safe? If the ninja even was Roger. God, this just got more and more convoluted the further they dug.

  “So I guess that explains the link between Lenny and Black,” Tex said as he pulled a thumb drive from the computer and threw it back into the box.

  Nikki briefly wondered if they shouldn’t let Alex take a look at these files.

  “All those women,” Trace said as he looked at the small memory sticks as if they were poisoned.

  All those women. He was right, all of these women. Her blood boiled and her gut twisted up some more.

  "Maybe we should," Trace began.

  "Burn them," Nikki cut him off.

  What was the point if dragging the women in these videos back through the trauma inflicted upon them, if they were even alive. Even if both men weren't dead their victims would never see justice.

  "Nikki, don’t you think," he began again.

  "We burn them all," she stated firmly.

  It was too late for all these women. Too late for them and too late for her mother. Her rage was starting to build. Nikki's twisted logic started making the links for her and where they led her was straight to Bridges. The man was responsible for all this. He enabled these psychopaths to roam free. She would make him suffer for this, she would. Nikki felt the monster rattle its cage and she cursed at herself inwardly. She needed to take a deep breath and get her shit back under control. She was beginning to realise that it was one thing to cage an animal but it was another thing altogether to tame it.

  Chapter 9

  Nikki watched the street around her from the comfort of her mustang. Tex and Trace had given her this section of the shipment route. She was supposed to stay in her car and watch for any signs of activity. As she sat there she tried her hardest to avoid all thoughts of Cole and that little black and red memory stick. Instead she focused on the boys and their little interlude in the cupboard. That and the incident in the lounge room and that time in her bedroom at the clubhouse. As the car began to fog up with her breath Nikki decided maybe she shouldn’t think about that either.

  Her phone beeped breaking into her thoughts.

  *Anything up ur end?*

  It was Brodie. He was positioned up the other end of the street from her. They’d scouted this section between the two of them and figured out the best positions to be in. She’d been glad the boys had put her with Brodie. He was still a bit pissed at her for the handcuff stunt she’d pulled on him. Mostly it was because it hurt his pride. But he was dealing with it and even joking with her a little bit.

  She hadn’t spotted anything unusual. The only people out here were business people in suits moving from one office building to the next. That and a bunch of town cars and taxis.

  *Nothing*

  They didn’t have enough people to watch the whole route so they were operating in a leap frog style pattern. Each pair had their own section of the route. Once the truck was clear of your section you cut across in front of the other pairs to your next section. They were heading through the city which was not their usual MO either. The tails they were picking up had forced them to go non-traditional routes.

  Nikki hadn’t thought travelling right through Bridges playground was a good idea. But the thing that it did have going for it was that it was crowded. No one would be game enough to jump the shipment with this many witnesses around. It was also a pretty popular route for trucks supplying all the shops, restaurants, clubs and hotels in this area. Their truck just looked like one more truck among a bunch of trucks travelling this way. The danger was they were on the enemy’s doorstep. Although that wasn’t the only reason Nikki didn’t like it. They were also dangerously close to the Mint and that made her uneasy to say the least. Not that she was going to reveal that to the boys or anyone else for that matter.

  Nikki’s phone beeped again this time it was Trace.

  *How you doing Baby girl? We are just about to you.*

  Tex and Trace were taking point on this one.

  *All good. Nothin sus.*

  By the time she’d sent the reply she caught the first glimpse of the boy’s van moving into their section. The large white truck was a couple of cars behind it. She glanced between the street in front of her and the truck behind but nothing happened. The van and the truck rolled past her without incident. Nikki pulled out trailing a few cars behind them and followed them until Case picked them up after the turn.

  She texted Brodie to make a move to their next location and did a U-turn breaking away from the truck. She glanced up in the rear view to get one more look at the departing convoy. Her mirror quickly filled up with the traffic behind her. She took a quick left searching for Brodie in the cars ahead. She got a brief look at his silver sedan making a right two sets of lights up from her. She sped up to make it through the orange light.

  Another quick check of her rear view mirror sent Nikki into a tail spin. A familiar looking black Range Rover was filling up her vision. Jesus Christ. She could not panic, she had a job to do. She went through the next orange and hit the right hand turn just in time. The car behind her followed right on her ass. There was no doubting it now. He was tailing her. Shit. She did not have time for this bullshit. She’d have to try and lose him.

  Nikki focused on the traffic in front of her. She hit a set of lights and took a quick left. The car came with her. Nikki stuck her phone in the holder and opened up the GPS. She typed in the street Brodie and her were supposed to be covering next. Somehow she had to lose him and still make it to her spot. She weaved in and out of the traffic ducking into and out of any gap she could find to put some distance between them. But the Range Rover was no slouch she barely managed to put four cars between them.

  As she approached the next set of lights she saw her opportunity. The light turned orange and she swung into the middle lane expecting the car in front of her to run it. At the last second it braked. Nikki had nowhere to go. The outside lane was blocked and it was too late to brake in time. She put her foot to the floor and lurched out onto the wrong side of the road barely missing the car that had been in front of her. As she hit the intersection she turned the wheel and braked hard sliding her mustang around the turn. The tires screeched in protest and smoke billowed out behind her.

  She stomped on the gas and straightened up flying down the road. She glanced in her mirror and saw nothing but the slow moving city traffic coming through the intersection behind her. She wasn’t taking any chances though. Nikki kept on the gas until she found a small lane way on her GPS. She turned into it and followed it across two streets before turning back out into the normal traffic. Luckily her detour had only taken two blocks from her original route and she quickly found the street they were supposed be watching.

  Brodie was taking the forward position on this one and he raised his eyebrows at Nikki as she drove passed. She just shrugged at him and moved down the other end of the road. She pulled into a free parking space on the road side just as the truck turned into the other end of the street. They were now really close to the middle of town. Cars and foot traffic were heavy in all directions making it difficult to pick out any one person or vehicle. This is why Nikki was on the opposite side of the road watching the truck and oncoming traffic.

  She watched as the truck crawled along in the packed traffic. It passed Brodie’s position but Nikki couldn’t tell if he managed to squeeze in behind it. Nikki continued to scan the street in front of her. Nothing stood out. Maybe the change of route to a more public location had been enough of a deterrent.

  A weird feeling spread over Nikki as the trucked neared and she peered at the crowded street more intently. Nothing. Her eyes flicked to her rear view mirror and it became immediately obvious what that feeling had been about. The Range Rover wa
s back. Why the hell couldn’t he leave her alone? Nikki's hackles rose as the door to the Range Rover opened. She did not want to see him, she couldn't. Her eyes flicked back towards the convoy. She could now see the van among the traffic. This was not good. Nikki slid her hand into her jacket retrieving her trusty Glock. She pressed the muzzle against the glass of her window. The knock on the glass came and she squeezed her eyes shut. She so didn't want to look but she had no choice.

  Nikki glanced out of the window to see Roger standing there rather grim faced. Nikki let out the breath she’d been holding and wound down the window a smidge.

  "What do you want Roger?" She demanded turning her attention back to the road in front of her.

  "That was one hell of a manoeuvre back there Miss Jones," Roger replied.

  "I’m sure you're not standing here to tell me how much you admire my driving skills. I thought I told you yesterday to stay away from me."

  She glanced in the mirror eyeing the Range Rover. She wondered if he was in there.

  "Technically Miss Jones you said I can’t come near the clubhouse.”

  “Semantics Roger. Now you have 30 seconds to tell me what you want?” she replied.

  “I wanted to know that you were ok. Mister Cole wanted to know that you were ok," he stated quietly.

  Hearing his name threw her emotions into a blender. She wondered which one would pop out today.

  "Well you can see now just as you saw yesterday I’m fine. Now leave," she told him.

  The van and the truck moved forward again crawling through an intersection. Another truck pulled alongside them blocking the van from Nikki’s view. If that truck moved the boys would have a clear look at Roger standing over her car and that would not end well for anyone.

  "He needs to see you Nikki. He's really distraught about what happened," Roger continued.

  "He's distraught?" she yelled at him drawing a few eyes their way.

  Ok so anger it was. Shit! She could not do this.

  She lowered her voice, "I do not want to make a scene Roger but if you don’t leave now I will not hesitate to create one."

  Nikki emphasised her words with a tap of her Glock on the glass. Roger's eyes dropped down to the source of the noise and he sighed.

  "Very well Miss Jones," he replied.

  Roger turned away from her and Nikki breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Miss Jones?” Roger’s voice broke through her calm, “He won’t give up.”

  She ignored his comment and wound up her window. She glanced up to see the small truck turning across traffic, revealing the van and the boys inside. She wouldn’t and couldn’t give up either.

  She watched as the boys rolled through the intersection. Their heads turned her way and she prayed they paid no notice to the vehicle parked behind her. She nodded at them and Tex returned his attention to the road in front of him. Trace’s gaze lingered on her and as he turned slowly she was sure he spent a few seconds studying the car behind her.

  She held her breath waiting for something dramatic to happen but nothing did. Trace’s gaze moved forward and the van and truck rolled past. She let go of the breath she was holding and took another look in the mirror. The car was still there but Roger was gone. Maybe he got into the car before Trace could get a look at him. As she pulled out of her parking bay and sped off down the road to their next spot Nikki couldn’t help but feel that this was just the beginning where Cole was concerned.

  

  Trace was distracted momentarily by the Range Rover parked behind Nikki’s Mustang. He didn’t get a look at the driver as he hopped into the large black luxury SUV but he had a strange feeling about that car. He studied it briefly thinking it was the car from the security footage outside the compound, the one that had whisked Nikki off to apparent safety. But the longer he’d looked the less sure he was. For starters the rims were different than the one he remembered. Also he was sure there was a lot more chrome on the one from the footage. This one was all black on black and pretty bad ass even if something about it was off.

  He glanced in the side mirror and watched as Nikki tore off down the road. The Range Rover didn’t make a move and while logically that made it less suspect, Trace couldn’t help the way he felt about that car.

  “You right Brother?” Tex asked.

  “Yeah fine. Just keeping an eye on Nikki. She’s gonna get a ticket the way she tore out of there,” he answered.

  Tex laughed, “I’m sure she’ll find a way to get out of it.”

  Nikki certainly had a way with law enforcement.

  “Speaking of which have you got that info from Alex yet?” Tex asked

  “Nah. Rock’s gonna get it from Rachael tonight,” he replied.

  “Those two are playing with fire,” Tex commented.

  Trace knew he was right. Rock was definitely asking for trouble with that bird. Trace didn’t trust her and he didn’t trust her interest in Rock either.

  “Let’s just hope our boy isn’t the one who gets burnt,” he responded.

  He checked the mirror as they entered the next section of the route. Brodie peeled off the back of their convoy as Rock picked them up. This was the last segment through the entertainment district. After that it was Crows territory and that leg was the most unpredictable. Bull had assured them safe passage but that didn’t mean that things were gonna go off without a hitch. Bull was having major issues both internal and external. The guy needed to take serious control of his club and his streets and he needed to do it soon. Trace was in no position to tell the man that though and they just had to take him at his word.

  King and Reaper were working with Bull on the drugs that were suddenly flooding out onto the streets in their areas. That shit had always stayed in the entertainment districts or to the north side of the city. They did not dabble in drugs. It had been an unwritten rule in their club. Although a slightly hypocritical one as the guns they shipped were often sold to those in the drug trade waging war on each other and the police.

  They’d kept this route as public as possible, broad daylight and busy streets, in order to reduce the chances of a strike on the convoy. Working in separated teams in the leap frog pattern they’d decided on gave them a few advantages over the enemy as well. If someone picked up a tail between spots they had time to lose it or to investigate it. It would also appear to outsiders that they were working with a small team and this might encourage the enemy to severely underestimate them. They could scout ahead and be given the opportunity to change the route if they needed to. For his first job as Road Captain he thought it was a pretty good plan even if he did say so himself.

  He kept flicking his eyes back and forth between his map and the surroundings as they moved through the streets. The buildings had gotten decidedly smaller as they neared the end of Case and Rock’s section. The last few bars and restaurants disappeared and were replaced by cafés, corner stores and residential buildings. The next huge bend in the road would take them straight from upper class suburbia into the working class neighbourhood that the Crows called home.

  Trace’s phone beeped alerting him to a text message. It was Rat.

  *Truck accident blocking access to James St. Might have to change route?*

  Shit. Even the best laid plans as they say. Trace knew the area well enough to re-route them but he still double checked the map on his phone.

  *We’ll turn after that down Main St. Adjust your position. I’ll get Nikki to pick us up from there.*

  Rat texted back in the affirmative.

  “We’re gonna have to change our route slightly. Rat says there’s a truck accident blocking access to James Street going into the industrial,” He explained to Tex.

  “Shit. Just what we need. Well Road Captain you’re in charge, which way do we go instead?” Tex asked.

  “We’ll have to go down Main Street. Not ideal but it’ll only put us out a couple of blocks and it leads straight to the road out,” he stated.

  “Yea
h but it’ll put us right in the thick of Bull’s problems,” Tex complained.

  “It’s a risk we’ll just have to take brother,” he responded.

  Trace shot off a text to Nikki and Brodie explaining the situation and giving them their new positions. The reply he got from Nikki was along the same lines as Tex’s comments but what could he do?

  

  Nikki quickly took a left as she dialled Brodie’s number.

  “Hey. You get that text?”

  “Yeah, Main street right?” he confirmed.

  “Yeah listen wait a couple of blocks from the end near the old bike shop ok? And be careful a lot of Bull’s problems seem to be culminating around Main,” she warned him.

  “Got it,” he replied before hanging up.

  This was so not good. Nikki’s internal warning bells were firing off big time.

  Main Street was several blocks over from their original path and it bypassed the busy areas of the industrial section. It would take them right through the heart of the decaying drug filled quarter of the Crow’s territory. Nikki slowed as she turned into the lower end of Main street. She spotted Brodie and gave him a wave then proceeded down the street scouting their new section. She didn’t know how any of the businesses around here still survived anyway.

  There were very few people out. A scattering workers from the warehouses mingling in their yards for their break but that was it. It was too early in the day for majority of the drug fiends and their dealers to be out. She knew the houses they hid in though. You could tell them from a mile away. The windows were all boarded up and the gardens wild and overgrown. Parts of the building were sagging or just plain falling off and the stench of despair rolled off them in waves. This was what drugs did to a neighbourhood. They ate away at it piece by piece until there was nothing left but an empty shell, buildings and humans alike.