Stone: MC Biker Romance (Great Wolves Motorcycle Club Book 7)

by Jayne Blue

  “So, shouldn’t you be running away from here? Kevin called the cops I’m sure.”

  “Yeah, well, the authorities in Grand City aren’t investigating anymore. I’m free and clear.”

  “Oh, I see, I’m real uh…” And before I could get any apology or anything else out the biker with the mohawk slid up next to me.

  “Hello there. I’m Ryder.”

  “Hi. Kara Ross.”

  “Nice to meet you. Seeing as I’m much younger and better looking than Stone here I’d like to let you know that I’m much better suited to the pirate life. More buoyant and I am a better water skier.”

  “Stone can water ski?”

  “No, that’s what I’m saying, he sucks at it.”

  “Leave her alone.” And the mirth in Ryder’s eyes was met with a murderous look in Stone’s. I ignored the look and focused on Ryder.

  “So, you’re aware, everyone’s aware, this could be a day of digging that leads to absolutely nothing.”

  “Hey, the lady said there were free sandwiches and beer. I’m good. We all are.” Ryder removed his shirt to reveal a leaner set of muscles but an impressive torso none the less. I noticed a tat, identical to the one Stone had on his chest, on Ryder’s shoulder. I looked around, and all the Great Wolves had the tat somewhere.

  It was a fleet of mish-mashed vessels. There was Slim’s fishing boat, a Cobalt that was an older predecessor to the one Stone had lent me all these weeks. There was cigarette style boat, and I swear, a pontoon boat bringing up the rear. Thank God it was so calm on the water. Because on top of the water, we looked like a strange parade. I wondered. Did I have to worry about these people knowing my secret? I knew only a handful of them.

  And then I realized I’d rather every one of these strangers take a piece of the treasure of Henry Ross than Kevin Potter getting it. I knew he’d tear the island up to put his hotel in place and dammit that’s when he’d find it. Better scattered to the four winds in my opinion than in the hands of Kevin Potter.

  It was an intimidating looking group. If not an Army what I had here was a fleet of pirates ready to head back to Ross Island to claim what they’d left behind. They made quick work of changing out of leather and shirts and skins for lack of a better term. I had a squad of fantastically built tough guys ready to get sweaty. It was a dream come true if I wasn’t so focused on every other thing

  They docked or put down anchor in the lagoon that had once provided shelter for the boats of the pirate hideaway. The assembled on the beach with shovels, picks, metal detectors, and I watched half a dozen men lift a Bobcat out of one of the boats. There was a big shovel in the front. This was so far beyond what I’d hoped was even possible.

  I looked around and had a small spike of panic. What if it was a waste of time? Screw it. I had less than two days to figure this out if it was a bust I’d deal with the guilt and embarrassment along with my grief at losing the island.

  Stone came up to me as they finished unloading, “Well Pirate Queen, time to lead the marauding hoards. Give they orders. They’ll listen.” I wasn’t so sure. But I spoke as loud as I could, and they all strained to hear.

  “So were going up that hill, single file, we don’t want to disturb something we having found yet. The Bobcat can bring up the rear. Our footfalls should help clear a path for it. When we get up there, I’ll assign everyone a grid, and I’ll demonstrate how to dig without destroying anything. Estelle has refreshments and uh, thank you, I just can’t thank you enough.”

  Ryder spoke up, “Don’t thank us until we find something. Now lead the way, I’ll follow right behind you.”

  “I’ll follow right behind her,” Stone said, and I saw Stone punch Ryder in the shoulder.

  “Okay then.” I turned and made my way through the brush using the path I’d carved over the last few days. When we got to the clearing, if you could call it that, Stone looked at my handiwork.

  “You did all this?”

  “What?”

  “You’ve marked off a football field size here.” I had used twine, and posts, and had sectioned the entire area based on what I thought was the most likely place to dig. Then I ran the twine out in a grid, each grid had a number.

  “Well I was trying to do it the right way, so if I dug in one place, I would know I’d covered it, or if I found something in one area I’d know what to go back to.”

  “Jesus Christ Kara it’s incredible. I’m just amazed at the amount of work this had to have taken. By yourself.”

  “Yeah.” Stone and I hadn’t said anything to each other, but the necessities and now wasn’t the time, but I was dying to know what had happened in the last few days. How he was? If he missed me? And if he could forgive me for not listening to his side of the story?

  I hoped that he wanted to have that conversation, but I couldn’t be sure.

  We caught each other’s eye for a moment, and I felt a jolt like the first time I saw him. Was it mutual?

  It was a question I didn’t have time to ask. The Pirate Army had arrived, and I had to lead them.

  “So we have to be careful. This is a place of historical significance. SO we can’t just dig. I have spent hours removing the ground cover so we can get to the good stuff today. I’ve got six sifters, I wish I had more, but I didn’t expect so much help.”

  “Shit with free beer and those shorts you could have had a thousand helpers.” Ryder again, he was the opposite of Stone, and I started to think they might also be best friends.

  “Okay, well, thanks? You get a shovel full, put it in the sifter, and shake the dirt through. Like this.” I showed them how to dig and be sure they didn’t miss anything or do damage to something of historical significance.

  “So let’s go.”

  “Do you think it would help if my guys made a few more of your sifters? So you have more workstations?” Stone asked.

  “That would be great. The materials are in the shack.”

  “Walker can you send someone down to that shack on the beach. We can make more sifters?” He asked the man who I’d met on the night Jason punched Kevin.

  “Yep.”

  “So where do you want the Bobcat,” Stone asked me.

  “I have a spot that I think could be the biggest haul. I really do I’m so excited. I think they all had a cut of the loot, but I think Caroline had the lion’s share, the more I looked at family letters, what was known about her life, I think she hid it. And I believe she came back to it again and again.”

  “Show me where to and I’ll drive the Bobcat,” Stone said.

  “Stone, I don’t know what to say, this is incredible.”

  “Oh, it’s more than the white shorts Kara Ross,” he said.

  I blushed.

  “It’s that tank top too. I don’t even need the free beer.” I couldn’t help talking. A tumble of words came out of my mouth.

  “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have flown off the handle and jumped to conclusions.”

  “You were right to get rid of me. You don’t need the life I live.”

  “But I want it.” I reached out a hand and put it on his muscled forearm. I knew we had a million pieces of sand to sift through, but I needed to touch him. In an instant, Stone had his arms around me and his lips on mine.

  He kissed me deeply, and I opened up to him. For a split second, I forgot there were dozens of people working their asses off for me. I wanted the kiss to go on.

  We pulled apart, and he put his hand up to the side of my head. His hands were so big it cupped my face from chin to temple.

  “We’re going to finish this later.” He said in a husky whisper that stirred my blood and called up every touch we’d shared.

  “No, it will be just the beginning. After we find my gold.” Stone leaned and softly trapped my lip in his teeth.

  This day was either going to be the best one of my life or the biggest disappointment, but I felt stronger knowing that this night I’d be with Stone. We hadn’t broken our relationship so badly t
hat it couldn’t be salvaged.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Stone

  Having her near, watching her work, and knowing she forgave me, or at least wasn’t done with me were all big loads off my mind. I went from being on the run and on the outs to almost having the woman I needed. Almost, because I knew there was a conversation we still needed to have.

  I did kill Stabler. She thought I was innocent. If a woman was going to be with me, she had to know I may not be guilty, but I was far from innocent. But that would be later. Now I was here to see if we could find her gold. The guys were working their asses off, not complaining, and getting the job done. When Slim came in and the Great Wolves realized Slim was in need and so was a woman I loved. They moved fast.

  The woman I loved. That was it. I loved Kara. I hadn’t said those words to her because before I did I needed her to know that truth. After the last few days, I knew secrets between us would kill us. So she needed to know I was a killer.

  I worked the Bobcat, and she directed the guys and me. She had me moving a boulder and then digging down. After I was down, she told me to stop.

  “Okay, this is it. I need to climb in that hole and get my hands dirty.”

  “Your hands are bleeding. I will climb in. Just hand me the shovel and tell me what I’m looking for.”

  “Stone. I think this is the big find. If Caroline buried the bulk of the treasure, it was by this double palm. And next to this boulder. The only distinct marking on the island is here. I think she helped map this whole area and then made sure someone would find this mother lode. That I would find it. I need to see it to the end.”

  “Okay babe, I’ll be here to take the shovel if you get tired.”

  “Thanks.” And she lowered herself into the hole we’d dug and used the shovel to go further. Behind me I could hear hoots and hollers, another to the side of me, I turned around and saw Jason Ross high-fiving one of the guys. In another area, Frank and Slim were inspecting something with a big smile on their faces. They were finding treasure, I didn’t know how much, but something.

  “Stone!” And my head jerked back to Kara and the little crater she was in.

  “You okay?”

  “I have something. Oh my God, I have something.” She swept sand away and there it was, if that wasn’t the top of an antique chest, I don’t know what was. It was dark and stained, but there was something there.

  “I can’t get it, dammit, we’re going to need to lift it with the Bobcat.”

  “Can you get it open?”

  “No, it needs to come out of here.”

  “I’m going to throw a strap down to you, you put it on one of those metal hooks, and I’ll drag it out.”

  We secured the chest, and between the two of us, we slowly maneuvered the Bobcat backward and the chest out of the hole.

  “It’s moving, it’s moving!” I watched the chest emerge from the sand and Kara, who was covered in sand from head to toe crawl out after it. I noticed too her hands were caked. She was one tough woman and determined. I respected that she wasn’t going to let anyone else haul this piece of her family’s history from the past into the present.

  “Okay, it’s out.” She said. And I stopped. I climbed down.

  “This is it. This is it.”

  I wondered for a moment how she was going to get the chest open. It had a rusted padlock in the center. Kara didn’t hesitate. She went for her pile of tools and emerged with a bolt cutter. I made a mental note not to mess with a woman who so easily wielded the bolt cutter and crowbar that was in her other hand.

  She pried at it first, and it was quickly obvious she wouldn’t have to cut a thing. The hinges separated from the chest almost like the chest was made from paper.

  The lid was free. Kara stopped for a moment. Kneeled down next to the chest and slid the top off.

  Her eyes sparkled and her mouth curled into a big smile.

  She looked up to the sky and said, “You were right Daddy, it’s all here. I found it.” And I saw tears streaming down her face. She put her hand in the chest and out it came with a handful of gold. Mother fucking gold.

  It wasn’t reflecting in the sunshine gold, it was tarnished, old, dented, but it was gold as sure as I was a Great Wolf and Kara had found it. She looked at me and smiled. She jumped up and down. She’d found it. In a long line of Ross pirates, she was the one who found the gold.

  “I always knew. I mean I thought I might not find it. But I believed Daddy when no one else did. They all thought we were crazy together.”

  “Crazy smart.”

  Kara stood up and put her hands around my neck and kissed me.

  “Oh my GOD!!!” She was beside herself. Her joy was beautiful.

  “Jason! Get over here!” He looked up from whatever he’d found.

  “I can’t I’m too busy counting coins!” Kara laughed.

  “So, are you a billionaire now?”

  “No, no, there are millions of hurdles before anyone can actually claim this. This is enough. Knowing we have it, got it out. Oh shit getting it out, how are we going to safely transport this?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, Butchie and Kevin, what if they try to take it before I even get a chance to claim it.”

  “Let me and the Wolves handle it.” I had a plan that could cause enough confusion to get Kara’s gold secured.

  She nodded and turned back to the chest she’d found. It was really overwhelming.

  Kara had found an inheritance over 200 years denied. I didn’t know what the rules were, but it was her island. I sure hoped that meant it was her gold. But she was right. The idea that we would march down Main Street with this much loot suddenly made me very nervous. It was time to get covert.

  Kara

  “You did it. I’m so proud of you. And light headed, but you did it!” Stone organized the men and starting to transport it back to the boats while I had a moment with Frank, Estelle, and Jason.

  “Estelle, you need to drink more water,” Frank said.

  “Oh, it’s not the heat it’s the men, oh and the gold!” Estelle smiled at me, and it really was true. What had happened today was enough to make anyone light headed.

  “We owe you an apology. I thought you were losing it like Dad. Or you would.”

  “Well, he may have been crazy and an alcoholic but he was on to it. He just didn’t have the tools to finish it. The logic or in the end, a friggin army of bikers.” I ran my hands through my hair. My ponytail is long was gone. My eyes were stinging with tears, sand, and the wind. It was such a potent mix of dreams turning into crazy real life. That I had to force myself to focus.

  “So what are the rules? Do you own this gold? You own the island still right?” Estelle asked me.

  “Yes, technically if you find it, and there’s no other prior legitimate claim it’s yours. But not right away.”

  “What has to happen?” Jason chimed in.

  “The government of course. But I’m not worried about that yet Jason, I’m worried about Butchie and Kevin.”

  “Right. Who knows what they’re up to.” Estelle said.

  Stone walked back to our little circle.

  “Okay, we’re all set. The Wolves and I have worked out a plan to get the gold from the boats into the safe.”

  I’d been optimistic and stupidly hoped I would find gold. I hadn’t worked out where I would store gold until I could safely get all the million details ironed out. Luckily Frank was on top of it.

  We were headed to the walk-in freezer of Pontiac’s. He had two. And they both could be chained shut. The gold would be there until I had it sorted out.

  We boarded the boats and head back just before sunset. I looked back on the island. There were still mysteries to be found there. There was history. There was a pirate colony, and I wanted to explore it.

  I very much knew that I had found something amazing. But I couldn’t write a check on it. My island was still in jeopardy from Kevin Potter. And so was the gold. I
f there was something Kevin wanted he’d get it. He didn’t care about the law and in our town, he was the law. As we boated from Ross Island to the Pontiac Pier, my apprehension grew.

  We had the treasure chest, which still sounded weird to me, and three storage bins of other trinkets and metals. I had no idea what it all meant, but we’d have time to count it later. First, we needed it secure.

  “Wow, Pontiac’s is hopping tonight,” Jason said, and I saw Stone and Frank exchange a look. There were partying bikers everywhere. It was like bike month invasion was centralized on Pontiac’s tonight. The revelers obscured my view of the other guys getting off the boats. I tried to keep track and asked Stone.

  “They know where we’re headed with the find right?” Before Stone could answer there was a familiar voice.

  “What the fuck were you all doing out there? Kara Ross. This is my island now. There’s no payment. What the hell are you up to having a fucking party with your loser friends on my island.”

  “Um, title switches tomorrow Kevin.”

  “What’s he got, wait, what’s he got.” And Kevin watched as the various bikers got off the boats and moved toward Pontiacs.

  “Who?” Stone asked.

  “That biker.” Kevin pointed to one boat, and there were a few Great Wolves whooping it up with a few Rolling Sunset Old timers.

  “Uh, they’ve got a cooler of beer?” Stone raised an eyebrow at Kevin.

  “Fuck you. Something is going on. Did you find something out there?” Kevin stepped closer to me and was now yelling in my face.

  “Step back Potter.” Stone put himself between Kevin Potter and me.

  “You touch her again you’ll lose an arm?” Kevin fumed, and his eyes darted around.

  “Wait, there it is there it is.” And he ran to another cluster of bikers, leather clad, road worn, and holding an antique chest. He knocked to the deck and flipped it open.

  “Hey dude, chill man. You need one?” And the bikers, who I’d never seen before, and were of the decidedly weekend vacation biker types, offered Kevin one of their frozen Daiquiris in a bag.