Angel (Great Wolves Motorcycle Club Book 12)

by Jayne Blue

  “Maura, it’s after four …”

  “Janine. I know. And I know this is unusual. I’m not asking for anything that’s not already public record. I already know an application was pulled. I’m looking at it right now. I just need to know if the license was actually issued. If so, can you tell me when?”

  I heard clicking noises as she typed in on her computer. It took a few seconds longer than usual since she’d probably already shut it down for the day.

  “Nope,” she said. “This morning. Judge Shrutte is actually presiding over in probate court today. If you want to call Karen, his judicial attorney, she can tell you if he’s married anybody this afternoon. I actually remember these two. They seemed kind of in a hurry.”

  “Thanks!” I said. I hung up on Janine and called Judge Shrutte’s office. I was too late though, his staff had left for the day.

  “I don’t know,” I said to my mom. “They’ve gotten a license. That doesn’t mean they’ve gotten married yet. God. What the hell is she thinking?” I crashed my head to the desk. “Look. I’ve got to go deal with this. Did you drive? Can you get yourself home?”

  “I’m going with you,” she said.

  “No. Just ... no. You did the right thing.”

  “There’s nothing to be done, Maura,” Mom said. “She’s over eighteen.”

  “Just ... I need to go see Angel. And I need to go alone.”

  My mother was crying. She blew her nose in a tissue. “I don’t know why she’d do this. I’m her mother. I wanted to help her pick out a dress. And flowers.”

  I shook my head. She was worried about being shafted on the wedding? Meanwhile, my nineteen-year-old sister was about to elope with a guy she barely knew. I went around the desk and hugged my mother. Then I walked her outside. Curtis was waiting there. I had my car keys in my hand.

  “Curtis, can you just make sure my mom gets home? She’s got her car. I’ve got mine. I’m going straight to the Den. Call Angel if you’d like. Tell him I’m on my way.”

  Curtis nodded. He put his arm around my mom and guided her to her car. “I’ll follow you, Mrs. Smith,” he said. I wondered if he knew what Judd had planned. He gave me a nod over my mother’s head. As she put her car in drive, he started his engine. As soon as the two of them pulled away, I slid behind my own wheel and headed for the club.

  I hadn’t had a chance to call or text Angel to tell him what was up. But I didn’t see Judd’s custom Harley parked on the side of the building. He wasn’t here. Anger welled up inside of me. I could murder him.

  I slammed the car in park and stormed toward the entrance to the Den. Angel stood there with Dex McLain and Switch by his side. They were deep in conversation, their faces grim.

  “Did Judd tell you?” I demanded. “Did you know about this? Why didn’t you try and stop him?”

  Angel’s face fell. “Maura, what do you know about it?” He hooked a hand beneath my elbow. He shot one of those knowing looks to Switch and Dex. Club business. My ass.

  “I’ll kill him!” I yelled. “I swear to God, Angel. Judd’s dead meat!”

  Angel looked horrified. No. He looked physically ill. The air seemed to change around him. It was as if the world had just shifted into slow motion. It took a moment for my brain to catch up. Angel’s lips were moving, but I couldn’t hear the words. Then they reached my ears, slamming into my soul.

  “My God. Maura. The cops just called and said they think Judd’s dead. We’re trying to figure out what happened. A drive-by shooting out on Clemente Rd. We’re heading out now. To identify him.”

  No. No. No. I wrenched away from him, my stomach churning. “Was he alone?”

  “What? I don’t know.”

  “Was he alone?” I screamed it.

  Angel’s mouth dropped open. He grabbed me before my knees gave out. “I really don’t know.”

  The air grew thick and still. My heart slowed. “Take me with you. I have to see for myself.”

  Angel straightened. He shot a look toward Dex. A black van pulled up alongside us. Angel slid an arm around my waist. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Angel

  On the outside, Maura seemed stoic, calm. But a tremor ran through her as she sat beside me. I’d taken one of the SUVs. When we pulled into the hospital parking lot, I gestured to Marcus and Josh. I didn’t want them taking their eyes off Maura.

  “Wait here,” I said. There was a little waiting room on the third floor just before the hallway split. You could go one of two ways, to the chapel or to the morgue.

  “I’m not waiting anywhere,” Maura said. “I’m going with you.”

  Sly and Dex stepped off the elevator behind us. They had just beat us here. A quick jerk of his chin from Sly told me he didn’t know anything new.

  “Maura,” I said. “Let me deal with this.”

  “Angel, if you tell me this is club business, I’m going to scream. My sister was with Judd earlier this afternoon. I need to know if …”

  Her eyes flickered and it was the first outward sign she might fall apart. She didn’t though. She took a steadying breath and straightened her back. She turned to Sly.

  “She’s my sister,” she said. “Do you understand that? If she’s mixed up in whatever …”

  A doctor and a deputy came toward us. “Sly?” the deputy asked. He was relatively new to the sheriff’s department. His name was Andy Pressman. Good kid. Young.

  “Tell it straight,” Sly said. He locked eyes with Maura. He was letting her stay, at least for this part.

  Deputy Pressman looked at her, then back to Sly. “Does the kid have any next of kin?”

  “No family,” Sly answered.

  “Me,” I said. “He’s got me listed on his paperwork.”

  “You’re Avery Bishop?” the doctor asked, pulling up records on his tablet.

  “Yeah,” I answered.

  “No,” Maura spoke up. “If this is Judd we’re talking about, he was about to marry my sister. I mean ... I think he might have. I need to know. Was she with him? Was anyone with him? What happened? If somebody doesn’t tell me …”

  I put an arm around Maura and nodded at Pressman. “I’ll do the identification. But first, answer her question. Was the kid by himself?”

  “Yes,” Pressman answered. Maura exhaled. I kept a firm arm around her waist. “We have an eyewitness that saw Mr. … uh ... the victim … at Clemente and Vine. At a stop light on his motorcycle. A blue van pulled up behind him and opened fire with a semi-automatic. It was quick, probably instant. He was hit in the back.”

  “Let’s get this over with,” I said. “Maura, just wait here with Dex for a few minutes. Then we’ll figure out where Bailey is.”

  I gave her a quick squeeze then walked with Sly and the doctor down the hall to the morgue. It was quick. We stood in front of a large, square window. The shade was drawn on it. The doctor stepped inside. He asked us if we were ready over an intercom. We said yes, but you’re never really ready for this kind of shit.

  He lifted the shade.

  It was Judd all right. He died with his eyes open. Lying on that slab on his back, he looked waxen, but clean. All of his injuries were to his back. His killer had been the worst kind of coward and Judd had clearly never seen it coming. There could be no mistake what this meant, but I knew Sly would want one more bit of confirmation.

  “That’s Judd,” I said. The doctor nodded and pulled a sheet over Judd’s face.

  “Where are his personal effects. His clothes?” Sly asked. The doctor moved over to another table. He knew exactly what Sly was after. With a gloved hand and Deputy Pressman standing right beside him, he pulled out Judd’s cut. The back of it was riddled with bullet holes and stained with blood. They pierced straight through the wolf’s head symbol on the back.

  “Son of a bitch,” Sly muttered. It was stark, unmistakable. This had been an act of war. He punched his fist against the wall. I gave a nod to the doctor and Pressman, th
en Sly and I walked back to the waiting room.

  “No!” The scream came from the left. I acted on instinct, moving toward Maura. Dex had gotten her to sit down, at least. Her face went white and she started to rise. I put myself in front of her as the second scream came.

  “No!” It was Bailey, her little sister. She ran down the hall, hair flying behind her. She dropped to her knees when she saw us. Maura moved around me and went to her. Running a little behind her, Maura’s mother appeared, followed by Curtis.

  Maura leaned over her sister, getting her arms beneath her elbows. Curtis acted quickly, helping to move Bailey to a chair. The girl was gone. She crumpled, sobbing against Maura’s shoulder.

  “No. No. No. No! Oh Judd. Oh God!”

  Sly got to her first. “I’m sorry, honey,” he said. “We’re gonna do everything we can.”

  Bailey looked up at him, her eyes still filled with tears. “You can’t do anything. It’s t-too late. It’s my fault.”

  Sly shot me a look. Maura kissed her sister’s head. Her mother sat beside them, her face buried in her hands. “Just like Gator,” she kept whispering. “This is just like Gator.”

  Sly stood; he gestured to Curtis. Curtis took a position behind Maura and her mother and sister. The message was clear. Curtis wasn’t to leave their side until Sly said otherwise. Then he came to me. He, Dex, and I went a little further down the hallway, out of earshot.

  “I want everyone back at the Den,” he said, grim-faced. “Full lockdown. Dex, they got him in the back. Bullets sprayed in a circle through the back of his cut.”

  Dex gave him a solemn nod. “You wanna clue me in?” I asked.

  “Hellz Rebels,” Dex answered. “That bullet spray pattern is one of their calling cards. It’s been a while since we’ve seen something like this though. Bunch of cowards. Picking Judd off alone.”

  “We’re on lockdown,” Sly said. “Full stop. I want everyone back at the Den within the hour. Big John and Tiny are on a run to Sacramento. Get ’em back here. I’ll call Scarlett. I want wives and families too.”

  “What about them?” Dex asked, gesturing with his chin toward Maura and her family. My spine turned to ice.

  “I can put somebody on Maura’s mom’s place,” Sly said. “No cuts though. Off book. The more attention we draw, the bigger the target.”

  “Jesus,” I said. “The whole fucking town knows Maura’s with me.”

  “Then you get her to the club,” Sly said. “You tell her it’s for her own good. And you tell her it’s non-negotiable. You know the drill, Angel. You serious about her?”

  I swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

  “You tell her what that means?” Dex asked.

  I dropped my head. We all knew what it meant. Anyone we chose to get close to had to know the rules. They had to accept the risk. Because there might come a day like today when shit went down. I’d talked to Maura, but I’d never said those words. Now I had to get her to believe it. I had to figure out a way to tear her from her mom and kid sister and get to the Den.

  “I’ll handle it,” I said. Sly’s face fell.

  “Jesus, Angel. Tell me she already understands?”

  “I’ll handle it,” I said. “You have my word. You’ve always had it.”

  “It’s not you I’m worried about,” Sly said. “I’m not here to give you relationship advice, man. And this isn’t just about keeping her safe. Like you just said, the whole town knows she’s your woman. Christ, you might as well have taken out a billboard. We’ve had patched members watching that clinic for weeks. She’s more than just a target if you can’t bring her in line. She’s a liability.”

  “It’s handled,” I said, more forcefully. Sly brought his chin up, but let the conversation end.

  “Good,” he said. “Then we all know what we need to do.” He walked further down the hall and pulled out his cell, probably to call Scarlett just like he described.

  I turned and headed for Maura. She was on her own cell. Her kid sister had more or less pulled herself together, but her mother held her against her chest, rocking back and forth.

  Maura clicked off her call as she saw me approach. She cast a nervous glance at her mother, then stepped away.

  “She gonna be okay?” I asked.

  Maura shrugged. “She’ll have to be. God, Angel. What if she’d been with him? She said they had a pretty bad fight. Judd broke it off. For good, she thinks. I don’t know all the details. Bailey’s pretty shaken up.”

  “Look,” I said. “I know the timing on this is lousy. I know you want to be with your family. But things are going to start happening pretty fast. I can’t explain it all. Not now. Probably not ever. But ... Maura ... I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”

  Her color drained. Her eyes flicked to her mom and sister. But she gave me a slow nod. We stepped even further away from the waiting room.

  “She’s safe,” I said. “Your sister and your mom are safe. What happened today had nothing to do with her. You’re wrong about one thing. I’m pretty sure if Bailey had been with him, he’d still be alive.”

  “Are you blaming her?” Maura’s eyes went wide.

  I let out a breath and tried again. “No. God. No. I’m just trying to tell you this wasn’t about her. Now, she and your mother need to get back home and stay there. They’re safe. I swear to you. But I’ll put men on her place anyway. But you ... baby ... I need you to come with me.”

  “Come with you where? Angel ... my family is falling apart.”

  “Your family is safe. Now I need to make sure mine is. I need you back at the Den.”

  She shook her head and took a step back. “Angel ... I don’t …”

  “I asked you to trust me. I can’t tell you everything. You know that.”

  “Right,” she sighed. “Club business. But this is personal now. That kid. Judd ... what I said. I didn’t mean it. I was angry …”

  Tears welled in her eyes. I touched her cheek. “Shh. Don’t do that to yourself. Judd was a good kid. He was also a fuck-up and you were right about everything as far as him and your sister. They weren’t right for each other. It doesn’t matter now.”

  “You want me at the Den. For how long?” She searched my face.

  “I’m not sure,” I said. “A few days, maybe.”

  “I have clients. I have a job!”

  “And you also have time off. Take it.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “You’re not asking me, are you?”

  I didn’t want to do it like this. I never wanted it to be like this. But I was who I was and the club was the club.

  “Know one thing,” I said, knowing my timing was for shit. But it had to be said. She had to understand. “Maura, I love you. I’ve told you before I would never let anything happen to you. I mean it. But you have to do this. You have to go to the Den.”

  Footsteps fell behind us. I looked over my shoulder. Maura’s mother had walked up. I don’t know how much she’d heard, but it was enough.

  She clenched her jaw and looked from me to Maura. “Maura?” she said.

  “Mom, not now. I’ll be there in a sec.”

  “Collette …” I turned to her. She put a hand up.

  “No,” she said. “Maura ... do what he says.”

  “What?” Maura and I said it together.

  “Do what he says. You’re in this now, whether you planned to be or not. It’s a lockdown?” she asked.

  “Yes,” I said, plainly.

  Collette nodded. “Baby, I’ve got Bailey. She’s going to be okay. I know what to do. But I need you to promise me you’ll do everything Angel asks of you. If I’d have done that twenty years ago when Gator asked ... honey ... please just go.”

  Maura hadn’t yet closed her mouth. She tore a hand through her hair. “You can’t be serious. You both can’t be serious!”

  “Maura,” Collette said. “For once in your life you’re going to have to let somebody else be in charge. Your guy just said he loved you. Angel? Do you mean th
at?”

  I turned to her. “Yes.” My pulse quickened.

  Maura had a hand on top of her head like she was afraid it might pop off.

  “Good,” Collette said. “So I’m going to trust you to keep my girl safe. And if you don’t, I’ll kill you myself.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I said. Collette turned and went back to her younger daughter. Curtis said something to her I couldn’t hear. Collette gave him a nod and grabbed her purse from the chair. Bailey rose, in a daze. Then the three of them headed toward the elevator.

  “You ready?” I said to Maura after they were out of sight.

  She was still stunned. I wasn’t sure if it was because of what I’d said or what I’d asked her to do. Probably both. But whatever it was, she put her hand in mine.

  “No,” she said. “But I suppose we should go anyway.”

  I gave a signal to Sly, and walked with Maura toward the stairs.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Maura

  Angel flew. I could see him chafe behind the steering wheel, wanting the freedom of the back of his Harley. He’d told me we’d stay at the Den for just a few days, but told me to pack for longer. He stood sentry in my doorway as I tried to keep my head. I threw casual clothes into a suitcase. He picked up my messenger bag with my laptop and power cord in it.

  “Can we stop at the clinic?” I asked. “Most of my files are digitized, but I’ve got some discovery materials I’d like to have. I’ve got a custody trial in three weeks.” There was a hidden question in that statement. Would whatever this was be over by then?

  He stood with his arms crossed, his expression stern. He was like a leather-clad mountain. His eyes flashed dark. “Yeah,” he finally said. “We can do that.”

  “Good. And I need to call Beverly, tell her not to come in this week. And the college. I need to get in touch with the executive director and tell him where I’ll be.”