Ghost: The Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club, Book 8

by Blevins, Candace

  Chapter 9

  Ghost

  My talent is in keeping to the shadows, and I was tailing several people I was certain were up to no good. Abbott had said he’d handle any problems outside as long as we could take care of security inside. This meant getting our women to safety so we could see to the rest of his patrons.

  Brain was giving us a play-by-play through our comms of what was going on outside. He had to stop a few times because he was laughing too hard to continue, because Abbott had the members of the OKM running around with their pants off, all of them blowing each other and a few of them ass-fucking each other. Brain had identified five vampires outside, manipulating thirteen men.

  When the police arrived, they stood and watched a good thirty seconds before moving into action and arresting them. We all knew the charges wouldn’t keep them put away for long. Public indecency, lewd conduct — the men not on probation or parole would likely be out by morning.

  However, Brain had it all on video from a dozen angles, and he’d already begun uploading snippets here and there to various social networking sites, and tagging the right people so the videos went viral. He’d have to do some strategic blurring for Facebook, but he started on Tumblr since he could upload them without major edits.

  This likely wouldn’t be the end of our beef with the OKM, but it might make them step into the woodwork so everyone could get a breather, at least.

  Abbott motioned Duke and Bash into his office as he stepped through the crowd, and the rest of us kept to our stations.

  “Brain,” I said into my earpiece, “I’ve identified a pickpocket team. Check with Abbott to see how he wants it handled.”

  Two minutes later, Gavin was at my side, and without asking me who, he zeroed in on the man and woman. “Thanks. I’ll handle it from here. We’ll be releasing your women upstairs in a few moments. You can go down to them now if you’d like.”

  I nodded and made my way to the door. A vampire stood to the left, Viper to the right, and I grinned as they let me through. The walls closed in on me and I had to slow my descent to breathe and re-center partway down the stairs — my claustrophobia can pick the worst moments to rear its head. I powered past it, and nodded to Kendra as I reached the bottom. “I’d like a chance to speak with Abbott, you, or Gavin later in private, if one of you has a few moments.”

  Her voice came in my head. You can speak to me now.

  I nodded and used the telepathic link she’d initiated to ask, What’s the procedure for requesting a private audience with Bran Petrescu?

  For what purpose?

  I remembered what it’d sounded like when Hailey played the piano, then the guitar, and then I remembered the conversation where she told me about breaking her hand. When I was sure Kendra had the gist of it, I looked at her and thought, I need to see if he can fix it so long after the fact.

  I know you don’t want to get her hopes up, but it would be best if you took her with you when you ask him. Bran isn’t cheap, and with her history, he’ll probably ask up front for her services for a set amount of time. If you turn that down, he may ask for yours.

  The thought of, over my dead body, went through my head, and she grinned.

  I doubt you’ll need to do anything so drastic, but if those are off the table, you should consider what you can offer him. He has more money than he knows what to do with.

  Thank you. Please set something up, and I’ll come up with what I hope will be an acceptable offer.

  Dawg stepped in and stood on the top step. “It’s time to party again, ladies. The show starts in ten minutes, so ya’ll may want to get to your seats. Gavin will escort you upstairs so the group won’t draw so much attention.”

  I hugged Hailey and put my mouth to her ear. “My dad is here with the Drake contingent. He’s monitoring the front of the club, and I’m going to stick with him. Viper’s on you for the evening because we need to tell him about us later, when we can explain.”

  “I don’t want anything to do with him. I know he’s your dad, but he hurt my mom and me.”

  I sighed. “I know. We’ll figure it out.”

  * * *

  Unfortunately, I hadn’t counted on my dad seeing her and approaching her. I assumed he’d want to keep his distance after the way he walked out on Hailey and her mom, but he saw her as the group was leaving, and went to talk to her. When he leaned toward her to speak, I knew he’d smell me on her enough he’d know we’d recently had sex, and I knew I was in for a confrontation.

  He put her in the limo, turned, found me, and strode to me. Pissed.

  “We’re both here to do a job,” I told him. “We’ll have to handle personal matters later.”

  I caught his fist just before it hit my face, and pushed him back. “Not now, Dad.”

  A police car pulled into the parking lot, illuminating us with its lights, and I held his fist as I repeated, “We have a job to do, Dad. Now isn’t the time.”

  * * *

  Hailey

  All the women saw Darnell take a swing at Dare, and I had to tell them it was his father.

  Gen and Bethany were sitting across from me, and Gen leaned forward and touched my knee. “I have no idea what led to the two of you getting here, but I’m sure there’s a lot of history. I was a bitch, and I’m sorry.”

  She was so drunk, her words were slurred, but I had a feeling she was still in control enough that she wouldn’t have said it if she didn’t mean it.

  “Thanks. You’re Dare’s new family, and it’s important to him I’m comfortable here.”

  We watched as Aaron Drake walked to the father and son staring each other down, and Darnell walked away with Aaron. Dare looked at the limo and shrugged, and I wished I could hug him.

  I didn’t see him when we got out at the MC’s bar, but noted Viper was once again close. Harmony pulled me to a table with her as she noted, “You haven’t had iced tea with me yet.”

  After two Long Island Iced Teas, they finally managed to drag me onto the dance floor. Music is my life, and my body knows how to move to it. I danced with Bethany a while, Pebbles a while, and even Tara, though I hadn’t spent much time with her earlier so I didn’t really know her like everyone else.

  I remember being happy when Dare met me on the dance floor, and I remember Tara telling me I had some ‘fine dark meat,’ but everything’s kind of a blur. I know we had sex in the office, with my back against the wall and legs wrapped around Dare’s waist. I also remember him fucking me through the mattress when he carried me across the street later.

  After that night, I was one of the ol’ladies. It was expected I’d sit with them, gossip with them, and just generally hang out. We all texted each other so everyone knew who was at the clubhouse and what was going on. We called each other, we made plans with each other.

  I woke up with a hellacious hangover the next morning, but thankfully just the headache kind and not the puking kind. Dare brought me food down from the kitchen, as well as coffee and aspirin, and then he rubbed my shoulders until I fell back to sleep.

  He was in the shower when someone knocked on the door to tell us Darnell was across the street wanting to see him. I knew he’d heard, but I wanted to talk to his dad before the two of them went at it.

  I stepped into a clean pair of jeans, pulled on an exercise bra and a t-shirt, and went out barefoot.

  Knife walked me upstairs, and I stepped out of the clubhouse to watch Nix walk Darnell across the road and to me through the parking lot. The sun was just coming up and it was nice out, but my stomach was in knots.

  Before Darnell could say anything, I told him, “You crushed us when you left. I’ll never forgive you. We were fine before you came along, and then you just… left.”

  He wrinkled his brow at me, as if he didn’t understand my anger. “I gave your mom the house and twenty thousand dollars when I left. She knew the deal when we married — I needed someone to play mom to my son until he could legally live on his own. She knew she’d get the h
ouse and a huge check if she followed my rules until Darius graduated. I took care of both of you as best I could, but when it was over, it was over.”

  I staggered back. It felt as if I’d been punched in the gut. Surely my mom would’ve told me, if that’d been the case?

  I shook my head and Darnell tilted his as he must’ve realized I hadn’t known. “We agreed not to tell you kids up front, but I figured she’d tell you after I left. I’m sorry, little-bit.”

  Tears filled my eyes at his pet name for me. “We were never your family? We were just the hired help?”

  “You meant more to me than any hired help, Hailey. Your mom and I were friends from the beginning. We liked each other and it seemed a good solution for both of us. I hadn’t realized she thought it’d grown into more until it was time for us to leave. I had no idea she thought things had changed, but she was caught off guard when I packed up to leave.”

  As soon as he said it, I realized what’d happened. My mom had fallen in love with him, thought he was in love with her and he was going to stay with her, and then was shocked when he left. She’d talked herself into believing the fairy tale. Fuck.

  “Did Dare know?”

  He shook his head. “One of your mom’s stipulations from the beginning was that we didn’t explain the arrangement to you kids, and I went along with it. Usually, I tell Darius everything, but I didn’t. I planned to, once we were away, but then…” He shrugged. “It didn’t work out. There was too much other stuff to deal with. It felt like I was better off just closing the door and not looking back.”

  Tears came to my eyes as I told him, “I thought you used us.”

  He stepped to me and hugged me, and I let him. “I’m so sorry, little-bit.”

  “Dare was my brother. One day he was there, and the next he was just… gone. I loved him. I needed him. I depended on him. He was a huge pain in my ass, but he told me what to do and I thought he loved me and then he just fucking walked away like we were nothing!!!”

  I pushed him away while I talked, and he let me. The door had opened behind us but I didn’t turn to see who it was, but now I could tell by the look in Darnell’s eyes, it had to be Dare.

  “Don’t you dare try to punch him in the face again,” I told Darnell.

  Darnell looked down, then back up, his gaze over my head, looking at his son. “You told me nothing happened between the two of you.”

  “Nothing ever did. We’re adults now. Things are different.”

  Tears were still flowing down my cheeks, but I wasn’t sobbing or crying. Dare pulled me to him, his arms wrapped around me, and then the sobs started and I couldn’t stop them.

  “I think you’ve done enough damage for one day. You need to leave,” Dare told his father.

  “We need to talk, son.”

  “Yeah, but not right now. I need to take care of Hailey. She’s my priority.”

  I heard Viper say, “Your invitation onto RTMC property is rescinded. I suggest you leave.”

  The door opened and several more bikers walked out and stood looking at Darnell without saying anything, and his shoulders dropped.

  “I’m sorry, to both of you. We’ll talk later.”

  Dare lifted me in his arms and carried me back inside, and I remember someone telling him to use Duke’s office. He sat with me in his arms and let me cry for a while, but finally said, “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

  I sighed, sat up, and met his gaze. “Is there anything we need to say? We didn’t know, now we do. Does it change anything?”

  He shook his head. “Not a fucking thing. I’ve loved you forever. I couldn’t act on it then so I stayed in the big brother role, but now I can.” He pulled me back to him. “Now I am.”

  Now that the adrenaline was burning off, I was hungry and weak. As always, he knew how I was feeling.

  “Let’s get you some breakfast. You want Waffle House or Golden Corral?”

  “I know you want Golden Corral. Give me ten minutes to brush my teeth and hair. God, I’m glad you made me wash my face before I fell into bed last night. Otherwise I’d have walked out looking like something out of a horror movie.”

  He chuckled. “You’re always beautiful, but I know you wash your face before bed when you’re sober, so figured I should remind you when you were drunk.”

  I chuckled. “Drunk sex with you is awesome.” I remembered asking him to fuck my ass and him not doing it, but I wasn’t sure how to ask why he hadn’t.

  He sighed. “What’s wrong?”

  “Damned werewolf senses. Can we talk about it later?”

  “Nope.”

  I glared at him, refusing to be embarrassed. “I wanted you in my ass.”

  He grinned. “And I want your ass, but you’ll be sober the first time we do it.”

  Chapter 10

  Ghost

  At this alert level we have to be three strong when away from the compound, so Viper and Dawg went to breakfast with us. This early in the morning — and with most of the OKM still in lockup after their arrests the night before — we felt it was safe, but we went in a cage instead of on our bikes.

  Hailey wanted to go home after breakfast, but I told her she’d need to go back to the clubhouse with me. I could tell it bothered her, but it couldn’t be helped.

  “I’m sorry you can’t hang out in my room without me yet. You should be okay in the main room until we’re finished. You and the women got along okay last night, right?”

  She nodded, and I hugged her.

  The first order of business at church was for Duke to tell us Abbott didn’t get anything out of the OKM’s heads that led him to believe Jiminy had instigated this latest turf war. The OKM were frustrated at not being able to gain territory, had lashed out without much of a plan, and things had snowballed on them.

  We’d all watched the videos of them doing each other in the parking lot while we’d still been upstairs, and I couldn’t remember when I’d laughed so hard. Now, though, we were serious as we discussed our next steps.

  We decided to go down a level on alert, meaning those who lived in the circle could go home, but we’d have patrols in the neighborhood.

  When Duke asked if there was any other business, Viper surprised the fuck out of me by asking the club to vote on allowing Hailey privileges in the back of the clubhouse. The rest of the men surprised me by unanimously voting to allow it. Usually, an ol’lady has to be around for weeks or even months, and I looked around, stunned.

  “You’ve known her forever,” Brain told me. “This isn’t a fly-by-night thing. If you trust her, we trust her.”

  “Besides,” Duke added, “she won over the rest of the ol’ladies last night. They’ve taken her in. She’s one of us.”

  I was more emotional than I should’ve been as I said, “Thanks, brothers. She’s important to me and this means a lot.”

  “She’s good for you,” said Viper. “Don’t fuck this up.”

  * * *

  We now needed at least two of us traveling together, instead of three, but a group of us went home after church so the trip was easy. Constance and Gen were itching to get back home — one pregnant and the other a new mom.

  Gonzo’s twins had spent the night with Aaron Drake’s triplets the night before, and their nanny had taken care of little Max, too. I once again played through all the supernatural factions in our little town, and the ways we work together.

  We’d be forging a treaty with the Pack soon, and it sounded like we’d need to renegotiate with Jiminy. Of course, neither Jiminy nor any of his people are supernaturals, and as far as we knew, he wasn’t aware we were wolves.

  My wolf kept track of Aaron’s vehicles as he dropped Declan and Chloe off at Gonzo’s and returned little Max to his parents, which meant I heard him pull into our driveway instead of leaving. Viper had come home with us, and I gave him a look I hoped told him to cover Hailey. Trusting him to keep her safe, I stepped onto the porch, wondering what was up. My wolf went on an even higher alert
when someone I didn’t recognize got out of the back of Aaron’s vehicle. His bodyguards were in another SUV, as was a woman I was assuming was the nanny.

  “Ghost, this is Bran Petrescu,” Aaron told me as they approached. “Kendra gave Abbott your request. It’s an overcast day so Bran’s fine outside for a little while, but inviting him in would be good. Have you talked to Hailey about your inquiry yet?”

  I stepped to the side and motioned them in as I said, “I can’t. She knows about me, Gabby, and Tippy so far, but that’s it.”

  I closed the door, pulled the curtains closed, and said, “Please, have a seat. Can I get either of you some water?”

  It seemed a bad idea to ask a vampire if I could get him something to drink without specifying water. I was still considering the ramifications of a vampire who can walk during the day when it’s overcast. The Strigorii vampires — like Abbott — die at dawn and usually awaken at sunset. The strongest of them awaken early, but don’t go above ground until the sun’s down. I knew the Lugat vampires prefer to sleep during the day but can alter their schedules if they wish, but had no idea they could go outside when the sun was up.

  “Hailey’s in the bathtub,” I told them when they said they didn’t need anything to drink. “I’m assuming there’s a possibility this will work, since you’re here?”

  Bran nodded. “We may or may not need to re-break it, and you both need to be aware — if she dies in the three days after ingesting my blood, she’ll likely be a vampire. The chances go down after three days, but people have been turned as long as eight days later. She won’t smell right to you for that time period either.”

  “I can handle her smelling off for a week if this’ll fix her hand.”

  “Let me be clear,” Bran said, leaning forward. “If we reach an agreement then I’ll give her enough blood to turn her. If her hand isn’t healed, I’ll do it again tomorrow. If it still isn’t healed, then on the third day I’ll give her more blood and we’ll destroy her wrist. It will then grow back healed, but it’ll hurt like hell for a few days, and she’ll need my blood every day until it’s restored. If she dies with enough blood still in her system, she’ll be a vampire. You won’t have the option of biting her and making her a wolf. She’ll live for centuries — or longer — and you’ll only live another hundred or so years.”