“Allis left,” Givon told him.
“Left? For where?”
“For Daniel Two Feathers.”
Charlie frowned and looked around. “She took the SUV?”
“Yeah.”
“It has a vehicle tracking system,” Charlie said.
Givon pulled out his cell phone and activated the GPS. “She’s headed toward Bull Lake.”
“Fuck!” North muttered. “Let’s go. Giv, take one of the cars around back.”
“You don’t think I let her go by herself, do you?” Pete demanded. Everyone halted in their tracks and North swung around to face him. “She has a plan and she is determined to protect this club. I agreed with it. She’s got guts, North.”
“Who went with her?” Givon asked.
“I kept her talking,” Pete said. “Long enough for Nimrod to sneak into the back of the SUV. He’ll watch out for her.”
North wanted to deck him again but didn’t want to waist the time or frankly, his knuckles.
“Give me your keys,” Givon demanded from Pete, holding out his hand.
“What?”
“I’m taking your bike,” Givon said.
“The hell you are—”
“Give them to him,” North ordered.
Pete glared at him.
“Next time you might want to wake up me up before you make executive decisions about my old lady,” North replied. “Give him your keys. You get to stay here and hope that Giv remembers how to ride a bike.”
Pete snarled as he dug in his pocket and pulled out his keys, flinging them toward Givon before stomping back into the garage. North didn’t bother giving him a second look as he and Givon headed over to the bikes.
“I’ll follow in a car,” Charlie called and ran to where the shared cars and trucks were located.
Seconds later, the roar of bikes cut through the morning air as North and Givon started the engines and peeled out of the compound followed by Charlie driving an old Buick.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Allis drove slowly around Bull Lake, knowing that Daniel had to have eyes watching her. She continued until she found a large field that faced the lake. There wouldn’t be a way for anyone to sneak up on her. So she pulled the SUV to the side of the road and turned it off, hoping that she could take care of this matter before Givon woke up and tracked her to where she’d driven.
She exited the vehicle, looking around. Dawn broke, and the first rays of the sun touched the calm surface of the lake. The sky turned from dark to blue and it would have been beautiful had it not been for the fact that she was setting herself up to face a madman.
Turning her back on the new day, she took the gun and made sure the safety was off before bending down and placing it behind the front tire. Then she hauled herself up on the hood and waited.
It didn’t take long.
Since the area was deserted and quiet, she heard the truck coming long before she saw it. She watched it for a while before getting off the hood and bracing her legs apart. Her heart thumped fearfully and her inner voice was screaming at her to run. But her newfound sense of pride kept her feet locked in place. Come hell or high water, she was seeing this through. She just had to keep to the plan.
Finally, the black truck came to a stop about fifty yards away and Daniel got out from the driver’s side. One of his goons exited the passenger side but didn’t approach with him.
“Well, well,” Daniel sneered. “All it took was me threatening a bunch of fucking bikers?”
“They’re better men than you are,” she said.
“No white man is better than the Shoshone,” he stated.
“I met a Shoshone,” she said. “I had dinner with him. He was raised with a white family. His wife is white. He’s better than you.”
“Then he’s a fucking traitor,” he said with a sneer as he walked closer to her.
He didn’t hold a gun, although she couldn’t be sure he didn’t have one tucked in his belt. He was a cop, so she was sure he was carrying some type of weapon. Daniel Two Feathers used his badge as an excuse to enact the laws he wanted, and because he was tribal, he pretty much had absolute autonomy. No one fucked with him or his Tribe. So she was sure he wasn’t expecting her to fight back.
And she wasn’t planning to.
At least, not for now.
“You cut me, bitch,” he snarled at her as he came within a foot.
“You killed my cat,” she said. “You bullied me. You harassed me. You had your goons over there destroy my property. So when you tried to rape me, yes, I hurt you. But it was an accident. I never meant to cut your face. Please, just accept my apology and leave me alone.”
“Leave you alone?” he asked incredulously. “You’ve got to be joking. You’re a dirty Crow whom I had graciously decided to take under my wing. But no. You felt you were too good for my benevolence.”
“You’re just a man, Daniel—a racist one at that.”
“Of course I’m racist!” he shouted. “The white men of this world have taken everything from us! It is up to me to protect the Shoshone, to protect our heritage and our lands. Or what’s left of them. And you could’ve been by my side, no longer a Crow outcast but a proud Shoshone bride.”
“I’d rather be eaten by bears,” she replied honestly.
His face turned an ugly mottled red as he backhanded her. Allis fell with a cry, landing hard on her back. As he advanced on her, she scooted backward as quickly as possible, crab-walking and half crying as he stalked her. She reached the SUV just as he brought his fist up to punch her. The left side of her face exploded in pain and for a second she swam dangerously close to unconsciousness.
She watched through a blurred gaze as he pulled a knife out of his boot and held it up in front of her. He waved it like a trophy, taunting her. She slowly realized it wasn’t a knife but a letter opener—the letter opener, the one she’d used on him—and now it had been sharpened to a very fine point. With each pass of the blade, he brought it closer to her face.
“I’m finally going to do to you what you did to me, bitch,” he snarled.
She started laughing, and he paused, the hand holding the weapon only half an inch from her cheek.
“What’s so goddamn funny?” he asked harshly.
“I’m remembering two words Givon said yesterday,” she mumbled, the pain of talking almost overwhelming her but she focused on stretching out her hand and finding the gun.
“What’s that?”
“Self-defense,” she said and pulled the gun out. Being this close to him, she didn’t even have to aim. All she had to do was shoot.
So she did.
Daniel Two Feathers fell back, smoke rising from his chest. A second gunshot rang out and she flinched, waiting for more pain as a bullet tore through her. It took her a moment to realize that except for her split cheek, she wasn’t shot or bleeding. She sat up and saw Nimrod walking slowly toward the black truck, holding his gun out in front of him. Daniel’s goon lay on the ground.
How the hell had he gotten there?
Nimrod examined the truck to make sure no one else was lurking and, when he turned back to her, he stuffed his gun into the holster under his armpit.
“You okay?” he called.
“Yes,” she whispered then realized he probably hadn’t heard her. So she nodded, which caused pain to slice through her head.
Nimrod crouched and felt for Daniel’s pulse. “This fucker’s dead.”
She began to tremble as tears poured from her eyes. Even though this was what she’d planned on doing, knowing she’d taken someone’s life left her feeling shell-shocked and guilty as hell.
“Hey,” Nimrod said gently. He took the gun from her hand and stuffed it into the back of his jeans. “He would’ve killed you. I’ve seen enough assholes to know he wasn’t going to stop. Come on. Let’s go sit on the tailgate and wait for North to get here.”
He helped her stand and led her to the back of the SUV, keeping his body betw
een her and the horror of what she’d done.
“H-How did you get here?” she mumbled as he opened the back and helped her sit.
“I stowed away back here,” he said. “Pete saw me getting in.”
“I should’ve known.”
They heard bikes coming fast. Nimrod took out his gun once more and stood in front of her, waiting, his body tense. But a moment later, he relaxed as two motorcycles rounded the bend. He put his pistol away and waited.
“Allis!” North shouted and ran toward her.
The fear in his eyes turned to anger as he took in her beaten face and split cheek. He lightly touched the swelling. A second later, Givon reached her, followed by his deputy, Charlie Earenflight.
“Aw, babe,” North said. “I’m going to kill the fucker.”
“Too late,” she whispered. Her tears began again and he pulled her into his arms.
Givon eased her out of North’s arms and into his. As he rocked her, North began to drill Nimrod.
“What the hell happened?”
“She got him to admit to everything,” Nimrod said. “Pretty smart about it too. He went after her, hit her, took out this knife to cut her face when she fell down. Cried out self-defense as she brought out the gun then shot him. I killed the asshole over there because he was coming after her.”
“North,” Givon muttered, “it’s going to be her word over the Tribe’s—”
“No, it’s not,” Nimrod interrupted. He held up a cell phone. “The reason why I didn’t help her out right away was because I was filming what he was saying. The fucker was whacked, let me tell you.”
Givon smiled. “I don’t know why they call you Nimrod.”
“The idiot still put a muffler on backward,” North muttered. He held out his hand and smiled. “But I owe you, brother. Man, do I owe you.”
“Okay, I got this,” Charlie spoke up. “You guys take Allis to the hospital and get her fixed up. I’ll figure out this scene…somehow. Nimrod, I don’t suppose those guns are registered, are they?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
She only needed butterfly bandages on her cheek but the bruise managed to blacken the outside of her eye. The swelling limited her range of vision, so she held Givon’s hand through the hospital. The ER doctor wrote her a prescription for pain medicine and sent her home with an ice pack.
Only she had no home.
Where would they stay?
“Hey,” Givon murmured, kissing he hand. “You okay?”
“I think so,” she answered.
“Allis,” North said, halting them. “You did what you had to do.”
“I killed a man,” she whispered. “How do I live with that?”
He cupped her face. “Allis, Daniel Two Feathers was messed up. He was going to hurt you, probably kill you. He deserved what he got. The only thing I wish is that you had been spared the horror of that act. Just remember, you’re a good woman, Allison Evening. You’re our good woman.”
She sniffed and wiped her cheeks. “You’re using my words against me.”
“No, I’m reminding you that we protect one another. Givon protected me. You protected us. And I’ll protect both of you.”
“It’s going to take time, sweetheart,” Givon said as he pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I know guilt can feel overwhelming. How the remorse and self-condemnation plays over and over in your head like a broken record. I’m a cop. I’ve been in your shoes. So has North. We can help you through this. Okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Now, we’re going to be staying with the Wolves until I get an apartment set up,” Givon announced. “Which will be tomorrow. No offense, North. Your club is great, but those walls are thin. Do you know what I heard last night?”
* * * *
The sun sparkled on the water as Allis lay her head on Givon’s shoulder. He held fishing pole and watched the bobber float in the water. The bait seemed widely ignored by all the fish. The day was warm, but she knew that fall was coming fast and any day the colder air would take over, making any fishing get-aways almost impossible.
She couldn’t help but remember the last time she was in this clearing and thanked the heavens every day that her men had been in the right place at the right time. It had been a testament to her taking control of her life by even coming here and facing the nightmare that had haunted her. Now, she was free. Free from Daniel Two Feathers and the place that had almost been her burial site.
A beer can popped and she looked behind her to see North walking up to them. He wore his cut over his T-shirt and his trademark headband and wallet chain completed his bad-ass biker look. Only she knew how much of a softie he was under his leathers. He sat next to her and handed an unopened beer can to her and Givon while he took a deep drink of his own. Then he leaned over and kissed her soundly on the mouth.
“You doing okay?”
She nodded. “I needed this.”
“We all needed this,” Givon replied as he popped the tab on his beer with one hand. He took a long drink of the cold beverage before setting it down.
It had been almost a month since everything had happened near Bull Lake, and Allis was finally starting to believe she could have a normal life.
“Let’s make sure we come here every year for our anniversary,” she said, looking between both men.
“Anniversary, eh?” North asked teasingly. “Years and years with that asshole?”
He thumb-pointed at Givon. Givon waggled his eyebrows.
“Still can’t have me, dude.”
“You wish,” North taunted back.
Allis laughed. “You guys love each other and you know it.”
“Well, you realize to have an anniversary there should technically be a marriage,” North said.
Allis blinked. “I could never marry one of you and not the other.”
North held her gaze. “I realize you’ve not had a very positive experience with Tribal Law, but we can get married on the reservation.”
Givon picked up her hand and held it. Her head whipped back and forth. She tried to say something but no words came forth.
“The Federal Government won’t prosecute and polygamy was widely practiced among Native Americans,” he said.
“I see someone’s been reading Wikipedia,” she murmured, smiling. “But is that something you both want?”
“I love you, Allis,” Givon murmured, kissing her temple.
“And I love you, Allis,” North seconded.
She smiled tenderly at them. Both men were so alike and yet their differences were subtle enough to complete her heart.
“I love you both,” she answered softly. “So, so much. Okay. I will.”
Epilogue
Draven blinked and groggily lifted his head. The first question he thought was what the hell had he drunk last night to get him so wasted? He hadn’t gone on a bender for years, not since the day his cousin Tom had died, then he’d lost a whole week due to living at the bottom of a bottle. When he’d finally emerged from his drunken haze, he vowed never to touch a drop again, which he’d broken only a couple of weeks later since he spent so much time at the Wolves’ clubhouse and those fellows certainly never heard the word sobriety.
He went to wipe his eyes and that’s when he realized his wrists were handcuffed.
“What the fuck?” he muttered, finally looking around. He sat in a chair in a dark room, confined to the metal armrests.
“What the fuck!” he yelled, hoping to get someone’s attention. “Someone better get in here and free me! Or I’m going to tear your fucking head off!”
He struggled, pulling and twisting. The chair was bolted to the floor so he couldn’t even get to his feet. Pissed off, he grew angrier with every second. Then the door opened and his hatred exploded when a man stepped into the room. Not just any man.
The fed who had killed his cousin.
“You!” Draven shouted, straining to get his hands around the man’s neck. “Fucking FBI! I’m go
ing to kill you.”
“Calm down,” the man ordered. He sat in the chair he’d brought with him and turned it around so he could straddle it and rest his arms along the back. He was a big guy who made the chair look like doll furniture. “My name is—”
“I don’t need to know your fucking name,” Draven spat. “I know your face. And as soon as my hands are free, I’m going to wrap them around your neck.”
“As I was saying,” he continued unruffled. “My name is Agent Cadence Vanaker. I know you hate me, John, but you’re going to have to put that aside if you want to save your club.”
Draven narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“We know about the drug run you just did,” Cade said. “And we know about the money laundering at the tattoo parlor.”
Fear shot through Draven—not for him, but for the club and for his brothers. A federal conviction meant years in prison and some of the older dudes, like Nick, didn’t have it in them for the harsh conditions. He tried to calm himself so he could pay attention, although his whole body remained tense.
“How the hell do you know that?” he asked.
“That’s not important,” Cade said dismissively. “When I found out you were taking this run to Vegas, I put some plans in motion. Ones you’re going to help me with.”
“What do you want?”
“I don’t care about your club’s recent activities, especially since it all just started,” Cade replied, maintaining eye contact with Draven. “The FBI recently discovered a human trafficking ring operating in Destiny, Wyoming.”
“The hell you say!” Draven growled. “The Wolves would know if something like that was going on in our territory.”
“Unfortunately, it’s true,” Cade insisted. “I’ve been brought in to discover who’s running it and to take it down. And I’m going to need your help.”
Draven snorted “What makes you think I would help you or the fucking feds?”
“Because I can take away all the club’s felony charges,” Cade replied firmly. From the inside of his jacket, he produced a stack of neatly folded papers and held them up. “I can keep the DEA off your backs, if you agree to help me. But if you say no, your club has about forty-eight hours until the federal agents descend. And this deal also includes not killing me.”
True North Page 17
