AF MC Ohio (Book Two)

by Esther E. Schmidt

  “Maybe through Ransom? Send him a text asking to have Ryke check his bike or something? Ryke is a mechanic, it wouldn’t raise any suspicions, and then we could meet after Ransom and Ryke go outside so he wouldn’t notice,” Curls brilliantly suggests.

  I lean in and brush my lips against hers. “Smart. Maybe it’s also a good idea to get the others in our room instead of church so others don’t see us go in there.”

  Grabbing my phone, I shoot off a couple of messages to make it happen and also let them know not to raise suspicion and get them here one by one instead of all coming over at the same time. Within a few minutes there’s a knock on the door. C.Rash stalks inside first and slowly the others start to come in as well.

  “Okay, you got us here. Casey, what’s up?” Calix asks.

  “Curls and I were talking about the case I was working on,” I start but Calix cuts me off.

  “You’re not on any fucking case, Casey. You’re dealing with club business,” he growls.

  “Be that as it may, you’ll thank me later so let me get it all out first.” I wait for his reluctant nod before I continue. “With us finding Ryke’s sister, Curls was wondering when she died because she’s suspicious.”

  All eyes land on Curls and it makes her hands fist as she places them on her hips. “It’s just weird, you know...why would Gael target Ryke’s sister? What would he gain by controlling Ryke?”

  “Fuck,” Thorn curses. “Me, this is about me, right? But we’ve cleared him, his fucking sister is dead, there is no way my brother would deceive me.”

  Curls throws her shoulders back and stands a little taller. “Let the facts speak. Let me investigate the body to determine the time of death.”

  “And that shit will tell us what exactly? We all know Kate killed her. Claudia’s house was a mess the day our father was murdered. If she was killed before that, during or whatever it doesn’t prove shit. Dead is dead and what’s done is done,” Thorn growls at his sister and I’m seconds away from punching the fucker.

  “I think Ryke is in on it. Those two women were never on good footing and both Kate and Claudia worked in the whore house until it was shut down. Claudia was the manager, those two weren’t seeing eye to eye, and you know it,” Curls states and it’s the first time I’m hearing this and I now even more stand behind the reasoning of my woman.

  Thorn steps closer to his sister and leans down into her face. “That’s club. Fucking. Business. And none of your fucking concern.”

  In one smooth move I’ve got her behind my back as I’m about to face off with Thorn but Calix’s growl rings through the room. “This true? About Claudia and Kate? If so, Ryke is going on the shit list whether you like it or not. And I now realize why Casey has full disclosure with his Old Lady and I’m fucking glad he didn’t request it first, though I might be pissed about it, he made the right choice.”

  “Agreed,” C.Rash says. “You’re too close to see it through reasonable eyes, Thorn. Fucking think. You’re the Prez now, they’re about to take a vote who the VP will be. Are you really going to vouch for someone you’re not a hundred percent sure of? Because I can fucking see it in your eyes you too are thinking of possibilities. This fucker is the only one who hasn’t left your side and is in on all fucking details. No wonder we can’t find Gael and if it wasn’t for Casey asking me and Prez to dive into Claudia’s missing person case without anyone overhearing...I damn well know they wouldn’t have a confrontation like they had with Gael, Kate, and those others. They would be long gone since Ryke would have tipped them off. Just fucking think.”

  “I can’t fucking think, okay?” Thorn bellows. “They killed my fucking father. The Prez! Including a few of my other brothers who were sitting at the table with him. They took my sister and we can’t even find the one responsible and now you guys...another fucking MC...is telling me what I need to fucking do? I’ve blindly trusted Ryke with my life more times than I can count. I’ve always thought he’d take a bullet for me. It’s always been like that between us, and now he wants said bullet between my fucking eyes? I might need more than a damn minute to think it through, for fuck’s sake.”

  “As long as you spend those damn minutes well enough to realize you have other brothers ready to step in front of a bullet for you. Ones you can fucking trust and are ready to fight this shit with you head on,” Calix tells him with a stern yet understanding tone.

  Thorn closes his eyes and lets his head fall back. Minutes tick by until he releases a deep sigh and connects his eyes with Calix. “When you called, I was back on my bike, making my own sister my priority instead of checking Claudia’s house. Ryke was there with me and he tried like hell to persuade me to get off my bike and check the house. At the moment I thought his concern was his sister. Now? Knowing Casey saw the tape where Gael ordered to call Ryke, it makes even more sense. I think he wanted me inside his sister’s house to kill me. He took a call and then was frustrated because I refused to go inside and stayed out in the open with people around us. Knowing Casey saw the tape where Gael ordered to call Ryke, could very well be the call for him to kill me. I asked what was up but he didn’t say shit. I had to drop the discussion ‘cause I got the call shit went down at the clubhouse. Fuck. I just can’t...”

  “Yeah, you can,” Calix states. “You’re already taking the first step. You’re sucking up information and throwing it around in your head to let it fall into place. It’s fucking hard but it has to be done. First things first, we need to keep this between us.”

  Sounds of agreement rip from all of us.

  “Sis, you gonna put Claudia on your table?” Thorn asks, quite the turnaround from when we started this discussion.

  “I will, if you guys let me or need me to. And...can we maybe tap into Ryke’s phone? Or would he use a burner if he’s on their side?” Curls questions.

  Smart, and I have the right equipment to do it too. “I can handle it if I have his phone, but how are we gonna get it?”

  “You guys have a bitch you can trust? Ryke likes to give his cock enough action, seeing he was always at the whore house before we closed it. The fucker has a revolving door when it comes to club pussy. Offer him something new and I’m sure he’ll bite. Might give us enough time to get a bug in,” Thorn suggests.

  “Dixey, for sure. As far as I’ve heard she’s been around for over two years, and from the time I’ve been here I’ve seen with my own eyes this chick follows orders like a pro. She can be trusted to do the job and when she’s finished, we can send her away for a few weeks’ vacation to make sure nothing blows back...just to be safe,” C.Rash says. “Normally I would trust her to stick around but this isn’t normal shit.”

  “Agreed,” Calix rumbles.

  A plan of action. Might not lead to anything but it’s damn better than how the day started out. Where we’re all hoping we’re wrong and Ryke is a good guy, but it sure as hell doesn’t seem this way. I’m damn proud of my woman’s involvement. But it ends here, there’s no way I will risk getting her pulled into shit that will put her life at risk again.

  Chapter Ten

  ***Wendy***

  How on earth can I be nervous about something I’m not even a part of? But my nerves are shot, I can’t help it. It took a day to get everything set but C.Rash arranged a woman, Dixey, who will...I have no clue if Dixey will handle Ryke’s phone or if she will give it to Casey so he can handle it and then give it back. Yes, maybe I’m nervous because I don’t know how and what but I know enough to put me on edge.

  There are only three Thorns ‘n’ Bones MC bikers here along with Thorn and Ryke. Calix made a big deal out of double checking every single biker Thorns ‘n’ Bones MC had left. Even if Thorn hated it, he appreciated it with the same ferocity. The music is booming while Tenley, Hedwig, and I are sitting in a booth in the far corner of the clubhouse just watching all the bikers relax with some booze and some girls who are hanging out. It’s all part of the scene Calix organized to set Ryke up with the woman.

&nbs
p; And it doesn’t take long for Ryke to take the bait. Dixey has been throwing ‘fuck me eyes’ at him for the last hour or so and has been rubbing her tits on his arm long enough it actually makes me wonder why his arm hasn’t caught fire yet.

  “Go on, take the last one or I’m going to shove it in my mouth and I feel like I ate the whole stash already,” Hedwig sighs.

  She’s sitting across from me and has her feet up and a pillow behind her. I scrunch up my nose and snatch away the red velvet cupcake before she can grab it. I start to nibble on it when my eye catches movement from where Ryke was sitting. Excitement courses through me when I see him drag off the woman in the direction of a room that’s available for those who need it.

  The nerves I had start to drain away. I guess I was afraid Ryke wouldn’t take Dixey up on her offer, but it’s good to see he’s still the old Ryke I knew when it comes to women; take whatever is offered and freely bounce them off his dick.

  “Oh, this is delicious,” I groan and direct my attention to Hedwig. “Why did you eat all of them and leave me just this one?” I question, appalled she didn’t even share.

  “Don’t look at me, Tenley brought them. She’s got more and won’t give ‘em to me.” Hedwig pouts while Tenley laughs.

  “First of all, you told me to keep an eye on your food intake. Second, you damn well gave your last one to Curls because you would need to pop out the kid to create more space if you want to eat more,” Tenley tells her and I can see she’s having a hard time not to laugh out loud.

  Hedwig starts to sputter but loses any retort and falls into full blown laughter as we all do.

  Hours pass and the party slows down. Calix and Casey joined us when Ransom dragged Hedwig to their room. Ransom said they needed an early night and both could use the rest. Well, make that Ransom demanded Hedwig take an early night and it seems having her feet up and tucked in with a pillow at her back here in the clubhouse wasn’t rest enough.

  But it’s okay, though. My heart actually overflows with warmth when I see how those two are together and how Ransom treasures her. Hedwig deserves it and so does Ransom. Those two are a perfect match, that’s for sure.

  “He hasn’t left the room,” Casey grumbles. “We should have gotten some cameras in there so we could see what’s going on. Now we don’t even know if she got the job done or not and it’s obvious the fucker is going to be in there the whole damn night.”

  Ah, so the woman was the one who would make sure his phone could be bugged.

  One thing’s weird, though. “All the times I’ve been at the clubhouse Ryke has fucked and dropped. Hell, I did mention he used to be one of the brothers who frequently visited the whore house they owned, right? Not only to keep an eye out for security reasons, but also to test the merchandise. Or so I’ve heard.”

  Casey and Calix stare at each other and it takes a moment or two before Calix tells Casey, “Check with Thorn if he doesn’t fuck a bitch all night. If this is true, we’re checking the room. Now.”

  Casey pats my thigh and stalks off to find Thorn. The nervousness creeps right back in and my gut is telling me something bad is about to happen. Casey comes back into view with Thorn at his side, a concerned look on both their faces.

  “Curls is right, Ryke won’t ever share a bed with a bitch, he throws them out or he walks out,” Thorn tells Calix who stands up.

  “You two stay here,” Calix grumbles and leaves in the direction of the room Ryke and Dixey went, followed by both Thorn and Casey.

  Tenley mutters, “I don’t like the sounds of this.”

  “Tell me about it...my gut is firing up alarm bells, but I guess we’re about to find out, right?” I keep my eyes pinned on the hallway and a few breaths later, Casey comes rushing toward us.

  “Curls, you need to come with me...I...we need your expertise.” His head goes to Tenley. He leans in closer and I have to strain to hear the whisper of words. “Ryke is missing, Dixey’s dead. Stay here and keep an eye on the damn room if anyone acts suspiciously.”

  Tenley’s eyes dismiss Casey and scan the room immediately while Casey takes my hand and drags me off. When we get in front of the door of the room he leans in and whispers, “I know you see a lot in your line of work...so have I, but fuck...take a deep breath and brace yourself, darlin’, ‘cause this shit is as fucked up as it can be.”

  I do as he says and when we step inside and the door falls shut behind me, it’s then I understand the meaning of his words. Holy. Dang. Shit. This is as fucked up as it can be. The room is painted red. The directions of the blood stains on the walls indicate arterial spray. It’s everywhere. The pattern though? Severed carotid.

  Careful where I put my feet, I walk around the room and see an arm on the floor behind the bed. Stalking closer, I see Dixey’s slaughtered body. She’s sprawled out naked and at an odd angle, clearly thrown there by someone. She didn’t just have a severed carotid...she was butchered; knife wounds all over her body.

  Inching closer, I lean in and glance at the wounds. “Someone give me some gloves,” I mutter and it seems they were prepared for my question because gloves appear over my left shoulder.

  I put them on and my hands start to linger around the wounds on Dixey’s body. Clean cut wounds, both ends pointed, some are gaping...twisting cuts, irregular. Dammit, why don’t I have her on my table so I can measure the length of the wounds.

  I assess her face, hands, and her feet. “Her face muscles are starting to change, rigor mortis is starting to set in. She’s still warm but not stiff...she was still alive around three hours ago.”

  I’m still glancing over the body when I hear Casey say, “That’s a huge fucking window for someone to disappear, but Calix, see what I’m seeing?”

  “Two...fuck, three sets of footprints?” Calix grunts. “The blood near and on the window with the bloody handprints might be hers or hell, Ryke’s or someone else’s. Two other people thrown in the mix?”

  “Do you have any security set on the outside of the building?” Thorn asks.

  Standing up, I glance at the both of them while Calix answers, “Not really. I only put in new security in my office. Big fucking mistake not doing every other fucking room in the clubhouse inside and fucking out too. There’s one or two outside of the building but the system is old. Didn’t think it was needed and I put priority on other things that needed to be replaced. Fuck.”

  “What about the one I saw locked on the garage? Might give us enough of an angle to see who came and went through this window. It’s worth a try, don’t you think?” Casey suggests.

  “Nothing much I can do here unless I have her on the table along with my instruments,” I tell them, making them aware I’m still in the room.

  “Get back to my Old Lady, spill what happened without anyone hearing shit, and stay put,” Calix says and directs his attention at Casey. “I’m gonna text C.Rash to get his ass in here so I can tell him what went down and have him lock down the clubhouse and get everyone in the main room. Have Ransom stay with the Old Ladies. We’re gonna check the outside perimeter and the security feed. Then we’ll reevaluate.”

  I’m about to step out of the room and look down at my shoes. Shit. There’s bound to be blood underneath and...

  “Just wipe your feet on the carpet, we ain’t gonna get the cops here for a damn crime scene investigation, we’re gonna handle it,” Calix grunts behind me and I internally cringe, knowing Dixey won’t end up on my table and they just wanted my opinion to hear how long Ryke would have had to get away judging from how long Dixey was dead.

  I do as Calix says and head for Tenley. Her eyes land on mine when she sees me but they quickly slide back to observing the room. Instead of sitting across from her, I chose to slide in next to her and lean in.

  “The room turned red, she was stabbed so many times...as you know Ryke’s missing but they saw multiple different sets of footprints...two, maybe three people? They’re going to check the outside and the feed from the garage security camera,�
�� I tell her and she reaches over to take my hand and give it a gentle squeeze.

  “No one acted suspiciously. No one. And to be honest? The last few hours didn’t raise anything out of the ordinary. Hell, I didn’t even hear anything coming from the direction of the room and it’s not like the music is blaring too fucking loud. It’s a party, yes, but not the kind where we need to shout to hear what you’re saying when you’re standing right next to me. It’s fucking weird,” Tenley muses.

  Calix, along with Thorn and Casey stalk through the room and head out the front door. Ransom strolls over to us but doesn’t sit down, instead he observes.

  C. Rash comes into the room and kills the music. “Brothers. Church. Now. Stray pussy, sit your ass down and you only move to be able to breathe. You don’t even lift your damn ass to take a piss, you stay in your fucking seat,” he bellows.

  C.Rash doesn’t turn the music back on but heads into church along with every other biker in the room.

  Tenley looks at me. “Guess I only have to keep watch over eight women.”

  A bike roars outside along with gunshots. I’m out of my seat before I think things through and rush out the door. I watch how a bike comes racing from the left side of the building. Casey runs toward it and he jumps through the air, grabbing hold of the biker as they crash to the ground on the other side.

  My heart is in my throat but I’m being pulled back into the clubhouse by a strong arm while another arm is shutting the door. Turning around I see Ransom glaring at me and pointing toward the table where Tenley is stalking toward, pretty sure she was right behind me when I flew outside.

  “I don’t even know what the fuck is going on but I do know you should know to stay put when shit goes down,” Ransom growls into my face. “My brother would spank your ass red if he knew you’d put your life at risk running straight for the sound of fucking gunshots. Not to mention he’d kick my ass for not protecting you enough, even from your damn self. What the hell are you thinking, Curls?”