Down & Dirty: Linc (Dirty Angels MC Book 9)

by Jeanne St. James

  But her eyes were drooping, and the office was quiet since Kiki wasn’t around. When the club’s attorney was there, the office was like a whirlwind. She was so busy and had the energy of three people. It tired Jayde just to watch her. But Ashton had been colicky, and Hawk was at his wit’s end with worry, so Kiki went home early to deal with both her men.

  So the only thing keeping her company at that point was the large jug of water she had been chugging to prepare for the ultrasound. And to keep her mind off of how badly she needed to pee and how that was only going to get worse—especially riding on his bike—before it got better, she leaned her head back, closed her eyes and for the thousandth time thought about what Ryder had revealed to her over a month ago.

  She wanted to talk to Linc about it. But she also wanted him to come to her. She didn’t want to confront him with what she found out.

  So she waited. And waited. She figured he’d get really pissed at her for digging into his past, so she preferred he told her himself. Though he told her to never lie to him, she wasn’t technically lying. She was only omitting what she’d done. Besides, if they were going to make a family, this was important information she needed to know.

  Whether he agreed or not.

  Which he probably wouldn’t.

  But he’d have to get over it.

  She sighed. However, now she knew and was tired of sitting on that information. And it was almost impossible to not let that slip.

  That day, Ryder had told her to close the door, so they’d have a warning if D came in and caught them. Which sounded much naughtier than it should.

  The corners of her lips curved for a second at the thought of being naughty with one of D’s Shadows. She sighed and pushed the fantasy that would never happen out of her head. No one warned her that being pregnant would put her sexual libido into overdrive.

  She frowned when she thought about what Ryder showed her.

  He had brought up several newspaper articles on the computer. More than several. So many that it made her head spin. And then spin some more when he began to point them out and give her the gist of each of them so she wouldn’t have to read them all.

  He also pulled up pictures. Some were from Linc in high school. No tattoos. Smiling. Carefree. An athletic, muscular body even back then. Pictures included him in a football uniform sporting his school’s logo. Pictures of him wearing a singlet and posing in a wrestler’s stance. More of him holding trophies by himself. Standing in a group of other young wrestlers. Pictures of him on a mat actually wrestling at matches. Prom pictures. Old Facebook photos of him standing next to a new Mustang convertible. Pictures of him standing with an arm hanging around a pretty girl’s neck with a sly, relaxed smile on his face.

  Pictures of him camping with what seemed to be his family. His parents and a younger sister that had the same maple syrup hair color as Linc. And most likely the same moss green eyes.

  But it wasn’t all of those pictures that twisted her gut and made her heart seize. Or the articles claiming Andrew Lincoln, a 4.0 student, was a champion wrestler and was being scouted by some great colleges.

  No.

  Though, she had to admit, all of that had surprised her. But what broke her heart was the news articles, the police reports, the coroner’s reports that she had no idea how Ryder could have access to. Nor did she ask...

  Her eyes skimmed these things Ryder brought up on the oversized monitors as he talked. And talked. Giving her the lowdown on Linc’s past and family.

  Giving her the reason Linc most likely ended up somewhere other than where his family was from. Why he ended up one night at In the Shadows Ink. Why Crow had talked him into prospecting for the DAMC.

  Because the “boy” had been lost. At eighteen, he had nothing left. He walked away from his future because he could no longer see it clearly.

  He had not only lost his sight of that future, he thought he lost everything.

  And it took him years to find something similar to replace that loss.

  At almost twenty-four, the club had taken him in and then let him become “Abe” while he was a prospect. Then around twenty-five he became “Linc” as a fully-patched member.

  Slowly, he rediscovered himself. Discovered his future. Found his place in life again.

  Until Jayde had dropped the bomb on him about being pregnant.

  No wonder he’d suggested what he had.

  But after hearing all those words Ryder spilled, Jayde didn’t think Linc would ever be Andrew Lincoln again.

  Which was most likely why she’d thought Linc’s first name was Lincoln, not his last.

  She wondered how much Zak knew about Linc. She figured he knew some, but maybe not all.

  That didn’t matter. What mattered was that Linc and her needed to talk about it. They were now a couple, weren’t they? They lived together for over a month now, they were having a kid together. She assumed Linc would claim her at the table eventually. Make her his official ol’ lady.

  They should probably even get married, but she wanted to hold off on that until her parents could be there. So they could take part. Have her father give her away.

  Didn’t every little girl dream of her daddy giving her away?

  She huffed out a breath.

  Hell might freeze over before then.

  Maybe more realistically, they needed to wait until they loved each other. Because at this point, there was an attraction—always had been—but Jayde knew that was about all there was. She hoped love would eventually come, as well, for the sake of their child.

  Her hand slid over her belly. She was four and a half months along now. They’d find out the baby’s gender today and she wanted to get a better idea of her due date. She hoped today’s ultrasound would give her that.

  She also wanted Linc to be standing by her side.

  Still, he needed to show up soon, so they didn’t miss their appointment.

  She opened her eyes and grabbed her phone. She hated to text him since he was on his bike and couldn’t answer if he was on his way. She certainly didn’t want to distract him.

  But she was getting concerned when she looked at the time. It was now a quarter after four and time was going to be tight.

  She released a sigh of relief when the front door to the office opened.

  Finally.

  Chapter Eleven

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  He was fucking late. He always seemed to be late no matter how hard he tried not to be. Why the fuck couldn’t he not be late?

  Jayde was going to be fucking pissed if she missed her ultrasound appointment. Which would mean he probably would have to listen to a whole bunch of bitching. Luckily, while on the bike, he’d get a reprieve. At least temporarily.

  He pulled his sled into the parking lot of Kiki’s law firm and was surprised to not see the woman’s Vette there. He parked in front of the door, shut off the engine and kicked down the stand with his boot heel.

  He stared at the fancy freshly repainted sign on the side of the building as he yanked down the bandana covering his lower face. K. Clarke-Dougherty, Attorney-at-Law.

  Maybe eventually it would need to be repainted again to say Clarke-Dougherty & Lincoln, Attorneys-at-Law.

  His chest puffed out a little at that thought. No matter what happened, no matter how hard things got financially, he would make sure Jayde continued to work toward her law degree. This accident of theirs was not going to ruin her life or her dreams.

  He’d figure it out. Right now he just needed to get his woman to her appointment. The kid in her belly was part of their future. A future that was going to change drastically in a few short months.

  He dismounted and tried the door.

  Locked.

  He furrowed his brows and pounded on the door with the heel of his fist. “Jayde, let’s go. Gonna be late.”

  He received no answer. After pounding once more, he placed his ear to the door to see if he could hear her moving around inside, gathering all the shi
t women insisted they needed to carry with them.

  Nope. Nothing.

  Fuck.

  His eyes scanned the empty parking lot. Maybe Kiki took Jayde to the doctor since his ass was running late.

  That would make a hell of a lot of sense.

  But for fuck’s sake, he was looking forward to this appointment. He’d not only hear that heartbeat again, but they’d find out whether they were having a boy or a girl.

  He wanted to be a part of that. He needed to be a part of that. He had to show her that he was all in this one hundred fucking percent, so he wanted to be by her side at every appointment.

  He dug his phone out of his pocket. No texts or calls from Jayde. Not one. Not one telling him she got a ride. Not one bitching about him being late.

  Nothing.

  His heart thumped in his chest as he pulled up Hawk’s number and hit the green icon on his cell.

  “Yeah,” came the gruff answer.

  “Kiki take Jayde to her appointment? Got fuckin’ tied up and they ain’t here. Office is locked up. Not a damn vehicle in the lot.”

  Hawk’s gravelly voice sounded suspiciously cautious when he asked, “What time is her appointment?”

  His heart thumped a little faster. “Four thirty.”

  Silence. Way too long of a hesitation for Linc’s liking.

  The hair on the back of Linc’s neck stood up when Hawk answered, “Kiki’s here with me.”

  Linc heard Hawk’s woman in the background. “What’s going on?”

  “Linc’s at the office to pick up Jayde for the ultrasound an’ she ain’t there.”

  After another long hesitation which didn’t make him any calmer, he heard Kiki suggest, “Maybe one of the other girls gave her a ride.”

  “Hear that?” Hawk said into the phone.

  “Yeah. Heard it. Keeks know the address of her doctor?”

  Hawk blew out a loud breath. “Yeah. She should. Same one she goes to.” His voice became a little more distant. “Babe, need the address for your doc. An’ then call ‘em an’ make sure Jayde arrived for her appointment. Got me?”

  “Let me call them first,” Linc heard Kiki tell Hawk.

  “No,” Linc said into the phone. “Wanna start heading over there. Don’t wanna miss it.”

  “Don’t fuckin’ blame you. Every time you hear that heartbeat, shit gets real. Then when you find out whether you’re havin’ a son or baby girl... Fuck...”

  “Right,” Linc breathed. “So, the address...”

  “Brother, she’s already on the phone with ‘em.”

  Linc could now hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears as he waited to find out if Jayde had caught a ride with someone else. Probably to spite him since he’d been late.

  Hawk ground out a curse before saying directly into Linc’s ear, “No, ain’t there. You go inside?”

  “No. Door’s locked.” Linc could only hope that Jayde rescheduled the appointment and got a ride back to their apartment instead.

  “She try textin’ or callin’ you?”

  “No.”

  Hawk’s voice was tinged with impatience when he asked, “You try textin’ or callin’ her?”

  “Will do that next.”

  “Gonna head over there with the key. Be there in ten. Try callin’ her soon as we hang up. Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Call me if you find her. Otherwise, stay put ‘til I get there.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Gettin’ Keeks to call all the women. See who she’s with. Have her call Bella to ask Axel to contact her parents since Z can’t call ‘em. Maybe she just went home.”

  There was no way she went home to her parents. No matter how pissed she had become. “Hawk, she had an appointment. An important one.”

  “Yeah. But she’s a woman. Sometimes shit don’t make sense with ‘em.”

  “Hawk!” Linc heard Kiki yell.

  “What?” Hawk grunted.

  “Good Lord, that was rude.”

  “Babe, call the women. Start a fuckin’ phone tree. Somethin’.” He sighed into the phone. “Hangin’ up. Sit tight. Got me?”

  “Yeah.”

  Their call disconnected and Linc stared at his phone. He scrolled to his recent calls, found Jayde’s number and put the phone back to his ear.

  When he got her voicemail, he left a message, then texted her.

  And for the next ten or so minutes he kept doing it over and over, hoping she’d pick up during one of those calls or at least text him back.

  She didn’t.

  He should’ve felt better when he heard Hawk’s sled roaring into the parking lot.

  He didn’t.

  And what they found out between Kiki’s phone tree and what was inside the office made everything so much fucking worse.

  Axel screamed at Diesel as he strode across the room, “Get your men on this now! Right now!” He looked at Hawk. “Get the Dark Knights on this, too. Right away. I don’t care what they fucking have to do to find her and get her back. Just fucking have them do it.”

  D’s brown eyes narrowed on the off-duty cop as he approached.

  The women, none of whom had seen Jayde or even talked to her, had been instructed to head out to Ace’s farm where Slade, Ace, and the prospects were on guard to keep them and the kids safe.

  Until they knew what the fuck happened to Jayde, everything was on lock-down. Everyone was on high-alert.

  “Sure she’s not just pissed at somethin’ Linc did? Women get fuckin’ crazy when their hormones are fucked up,” Jag suggested.

  He should know, Ivy was almost ready to pop out their first kid.

  Jag continued, “Sometimes they’re like Sybil.”

  “Who?” Dex asked, confusion pinning his eyebrows low.

  “That chick with a million an’ one personalities,” Jag explained. “Jayde could just be fuckin’ with Linc since he was late. Just a fuckin’ minute late an’ they go off the fuckin’ deep end.”

  A few grumbles of agreement filled the room.

  “An’, for fuck’s sake, let one rip in bed durin’ the fuckin’ night an’ you might wake up with a fuckin’ knife in your back,” Dex added.

  Axel threw his hands up. “Really? My fucking sister’s missing.” His eyes slid to Linc. “My pregnant sister.”

  “We all fuckin’ know what the fuckin’ issue is, pig,” Diesel barked. “Already dealin’ with it, so keep your fuckin’ panties on.”

  Axel’s jaw got tight and he turned his attention to Z. “What do you have so far?”

  “Not much,” the DAMC president told his brother. “Linc went to pick ‘er up for her ultrasound an’ she was gone. Office was locked. He an’ Hawk went in an’ found the office chair turned over, the papers from the desk all over the floor. Both her an’ Keeks’ computers were missin’. Kiki had a small safe that’s gone, too.”

  “Fuck,” Axel said, scraping one hand over his head while the other was planted on his hip. He blew out a breath. “Dad’s got the PD on it. Going to get a detective over to the office to check for prints and any clues. Who’s over there waiting to meet them?”

  D grunted, “Got Steel waitin’.”

  “Probably fucking up the scene,” Axel grumbled.

  “Does a better job than you fuck faces!” D exploded. “Couldn’t even figure out that Z had been set-up, you fuckin’ stupid motherfuckers!”

  Axel’s head jerked back at D’s outburst. Jayde’s brother’s face got dark and his blue eyes narrowed, but he was smart enough not to go toe to toe with D. Especially since the club’s enforcer could knock Axel out with one punch. He had not only done so in the past, but might not hesitate to do it again in the future.

  Crow came up behind Linc and gave his shoulder a firm squeeze. “You holdin’ up?”

  Linc shook his head and stared at his boots. “All my fault. Fucked up. Being fuckin’ late. Again. Mighta stopped whatever happened if I’d been there on time.”

  “Don’t know that.”<
br />
  “Right,” Linc grunted.

  “Don’t even know what the fuck happened.”

  Truth was, everyone knew something bad happened. If it wasn’t for the safe and the computers missing, her disappearance could’ve been chocked up to her being angry with him. But there was no way Jayde was staging her own struggle and then hauling a safe, which weighed too much for her, out the door. Even her pregnancy hormones wouldn’t make her that whacked to stage something like that.

  “Was supposed to be finding out today what she’s having, not looking for my woman, wondering if she’s okay. Hoping—” He stopped since his voice was getting thick and was about to crack.

  He needed to keep his shit together. For Jayde. For his unborn son or daughter.

  “Hear ya, brother. We’ll find ‘er,” Crow said softly. “D’s crew’s good at findin’ people. Know that the Knights are already on the lookout an’ have their ears to the ground. An’ we’re all headin’ out shortly.”

  Linc let his gaze slice through the room. His gaze bounced off all his brothers who’d gathered to help find his woman. “We assume it was the Warriors but could be random.”

  “Could be,” Crow agreed. “Don’t matter who it is. Gonna pay either way.”

  Linc nodded.

  “Nobody fucks with DAMC property,” Dawg growled, joining them. “Nobody fucks with our women. I’m headin’ out now. Gonna do some scoutin’. You comin’?” he asked Crow. “D wants us out in pairs.”

  Crow nodded. “Yeah.” He slapped Linc on the back. “Gonna find ‘er, brother. Promise.”

  “Yeah,” Linc muttered. He only hoped when they did, she was safe and unharmed.

  One thing that bothered him was the last time the Angels had a run-in with the Warriors, when Pierce had sicced them on Dex and Brooke back in Harrisburg, something had been said by the Warrior’s president—may that fucker burn in hell. But what he said now stuck in Linc’s mind... They were planning on taking over Shadow Valley, taking out all of the DAMC kids and planting their own babies in the DAMC women’s bellies.

  While it was only a crazy-assed threat that could never happen, that didn’t mean some of those unstable fuckers wouldn’t try.