by Jayne Blue
Yeah. We were good. And it helped that he knew I was right. If we were headed for a club war with the Hawks, Colt could do the Wolves a lot of good at another charter. I had one in mind already.
“I think it’s time for me to go home,” Colt said, giving voice to my thoughts.
I raised a brow. “You sure you’re ready for that? You left a hell of a mess behind when you tore out for Green Bluff all those years ago.”
He nodded. “Yeah. It’s time. Like I said, this was just the kick in the ass I needed.”
I threw an arm around his arm as we turned and headed back down the hill. “Well, our loss is Ohio’s gain. You know you only have to call if you need anything.”
Colt nodded as we mounted our rides and revved our engines. The moon over Green Bluff rose high as I let out the throttle and headed back toward the Den. Colt rode at my side the whole way. I knew I’d have a different kind of reckoning when I got there.
***
Gunner sat on a bar stool with an ice pack on his head when we walked back into the bar. Mo stood next to him, rubbing his back.
I didn’t stop for questions. I went up the stairs and pushed open the door to the bedroom where I’d left Scarlett. I already knew what I would find when I got there, but I had to see it with my own eyes. The sheets were crumpled and the broken zip ties were scattered over the bed. But Scarlett was gone. I went back down to the bar.
“What the fuck happened up there?”
Gunner crashed his head to the table. Mo rubbed the back of his neck. “Don’t give him too hard a time,” she said. “That girl’s a hell of a lot stronger than she looks.”
“I just went in to check on her,” Gunner said. “I heard a crash and I went to go see if she was all right. She hit me with a lamp. I never even saw her coming. I don’t know how the hell she even got out of those ties. They’re fucking strong!”
I sank onto the bar stool next to him.
“I’m really sorry,” Gunner said again. “She dragged that Lewis off with her too. They could be anywhere by now. I tried to get word to you but everything went straight to voicemail.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I had three missed calls. Two from Gunner, the last one from Scarlett.
I pressed my thumb into my brow and pressed the playback button. Her breathy voice sent a shiver down my spine.
“Tell Gunner I’m sorry. Give him an ice pack and an aspirin. Mo’s hangover soup might not be a bad idea either. And Sly, Colt still isn’t safe. You need to get him away for a while. I’m sorry about everything else too. I wish it could have been different. Maybe it will be someday. I just have to find my own light.”
Then the message ended and Scarlett was truly gone.
I went back into the bar and nodded to Tiny. “Keep everyone on lockdown for the time being. I need you, Colt and Sawyer, everybody in the conference room now. Charlie, call Dex and see how fast he can get back here.”
I took my seat at the head of the table while the rest of my brothers seated themselves around me. This was a war counsel now. “I don’t know what the fallout is going to be, but you can believe it will be bad. We took care of it so no one will ever find Kagan and Jinx, but the Hawks will come for us. I’m sorry. I hoped we’d have peace for a little while longer.”
Colt sank into the chair at my left hand. “This doesn’t land on you as far as we’re concerned. Either Kagan and Jinx were going to die or we were tonight.” He reached out and closed his hand around my left arm. Telling the rest of the guys that he was leaving was going to be harder than I thought. But, Scarlett’s warning was one more reason why it was the right choice to get him out of town fast.
There was a soft knock at the door and Gunner stuck his head in.
“Get out,” Colt said it for me. “This meeting’s for full members only.”
Gunner coughed. “I’m sorry. It’s just, I think you’re going to want to hear this. The cops are out here. Feds. They want to talk to you.”
Colt rose with me. I gestured to the others to sit tight.
“What the fuck is going on?” Colt whispered as we walked back out into the bar together.
I shrugged. “I don’t have a clue.”
Three men in damn-near matching gray suits stood at the entrance way as if they were afraid they’d burst into flames if they came in any farther. The tallest man stepped forward and flashed a badge. I put up a hand. Though the man in front postured like he was in charge, I recognized one of the others from Blackie’s days. Back then, he was dirty. He gave a furtive glance around the bar and I suspected he still was. His name was Rice if my memory hadn’t failed.
“What’s this about?”
“I’m Special Agent Adams,” the leader said, stepping forward. “We’re here for your protection. Some evidence has come to light that members of your club have been targeted in a contract killing.”
“Check this shit out!” Charlie stood behind the bar and turned the sound up on the closest flat screen. It showed a swarm of patrol cars with flashing red lights right outside the Devil’s Hawks M.C. clubhouse.
Adams coughed and turned to Colt. “It’s you, specifically, Mr. Reddick,” he said. “We have reason to believe the threat has been neutralized. Key members of the Devil’s Hawks club have been taken into custody.”
“You don’t say?” Colt shoved his hands into his jeans pocket and looked at me perplexed.
“You understand I can’t go into a lot of detail as it’s an ongoing investigation. But we have a credible witness who’s laid out a startling case against the Hawks.”
“You don’t say?” Colt said again, scratching his head.
“What witness?” I blew past Adams and went straight to Rice. I gave him a hard stare to let him know I remembered him.
Rice nodded. “You familiar with a Lewis Drake? He’s a bit of a head case, but he had a lot of disturbing details.”
A slow smile lifted the corner of my mouth as the puzzle pieces slammed into place.
“You might want to lay low for a little while,” Adams stepped forward and said. “In fact, I’d like to assign some protection to you for the next few days until we have a chance to find Bruce Kagan and make sure he doesn’t have any other accomplices involved.”
The agents spent the next few hours taking statements. When they finally left, I had a minute with Colt alone.
“A credible fucking witness?” he said.
I shrugged. “You don’t believe for a second this is going to get us clear of a club war though.”
Colt let out a hard breath. “No. But she bought us some damn time, that’s for sure. She’s our fucking guardian angel.”
I closed my eyes tight as I nodded my head and walked away. I took my phone out, replaying Scarlett’s message again. It was something I’d do many times in the days and weeks to come. I walked out the back door of the Den and pressed the play button yet again. When her message ended, I pressed the phone to my heart.
“Wherever you are, baby, I hope you find the light too.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Scarlett
Three Months Later
“You better put a sweater on, chica!” Mrs. Ortiz yelled from her balcony as I walked by. “And that pooch is gonna rip your arm out of your socket. I’m telling you. Watch that show with that guy. Do what he says!”
As much as I could wave with a bag of groceries in one hand and Mickey’s leash pulled taut in the other, I did. “You got it,” I called out. A smile lit up her round brown face as she pulled her house coat shut and blew me a kiss. “I’m canning the rest of that salsa tonight. I’ll bring over a few jars for you. I used the habaneros like you showed me.”
Mrs. Ortiz waved me off as she headed back through her sliding glass door. “That stuff gives me gas. I’ll make you some brownies instead.”
I smiled and shook my head. The leash went slack. “Oh shit, Mickey! We’re five feet away from our yard!” While I stopped to talk to the next door neighbor, Mickey had cir
cled and drawn his legs up. He was busy laying a steaming pile of his own brownies right in Mrs. Ortiz’s front yard. I put the bag of groceries down, took the plastic bag off the cucumbers at the top and scooped.
Mickey swiped me on the cheek with his long pink tongue. A two-month-old Husky, he still had a gangly gait and hadn’t grown into his long tail. He also still had delicious puppy breath and it was hard to stay mad at him for more than three seconds. I scooped him up and tucked him under my arm, balancing the grocery bag on my hip with the other.
As I kicked open my front door, a cool ocean breeze blew through the house, lifting Mickey’s ears. I set him and the groceries down and walked out to the deck. Mickey followed.
White caps crashed against the rocky outcropping to the south edge of my property. There had been a rip tide all afternoon.
“Hey, Miss Shaw!” Leon, one of the college kids who lived on the other side of Mrs. Ortiz shot me a wave. He worked as a lifeguard down at the public access beach. Even in the dead of winter, you could always expect a couple of lunatics trying to paddle board in this.
“Hey, Leon!” I waved.
Leon tied his long blond hair into a knot and came up to the edge of the deck railing. He kept bacon bits in his pocket for Mickey. Mickey did his level best to fit his big head through the wooden slats to get at Leon.
“Hey, buddy,” Leon said, rewarding Mickey’s efforts. “See ya later this evening. I’ll bring the tennis balls.”
“He’s going to wear your arm down,” I said.
Leon kissed Mickey through the slats, getting a slobbery tongue straight up his nostrils for his trouble. I laughed and picked Mikey up. “Ease up, lover boy. You’re gonna drown the poor kid.”
Leon laughed and started to jog off. “Sweet ride, by the way, Miss Shaw.”
“Huh?”
Leon turned around and started running backward. “The tricked-out Harley,” he said. “The one that was parked in your driveway an hour ago. It’s not yours?”
My heart hammered behind my breast. I smiled and shrugged. “Maybe someone was lost.”
Leon shrugged back, turned and continued running down the beach. As if on cue, I heard an engine roar toward the front of the house. Mickey heard it too and ran through the house, skidding on the tile floor as he tried to stop himself before crashing into the front door. He failed.
I picked him up and kissed his nose where he bonked it. “You stay put. Try not to piddle on the floor in the next five minutes.” I set him down and opened the kitchen drawer, pulling out my Glock. I tucked it behind me, pulling my t-shirt down to cover it. Then I walked out the front door.
He had his back to me. His hair had grown a little longer, brushing just past his collar; the wind blew it straight back. Mrs. Ortiz stood in her housecoat on the sidewalk. She had a bright smile on her face as Sly flirted with her. She batted her eyelashes and touched his arm. She coifed her hair and jerked her chin in my direction.
“She’s here now,” I heard her say. “Don’t let her feed you that salsa. Those habaneros will make you fart.”
Then Sly turned. His face lit up with a slow, sultry smile, his dimple flashed. He was tall and strong. He brushed his hair out of his face and strode toward me. Mickey yapped behind me. He could see everything through the front window.
“Benny finally get his act together?” I said, crossing my arms in front of me. Sly parked a custom Harley in my driveway. Leon wasn’t kidding, the thing was sleek, black, with a menacing wolf’s head painted in silver on the front.
Sly shoved his hands into the back pocket of his jeans and looked backward. “Yeah. Just last week, if you can believe that.”
Mickey’s yelping had turned into outright squealing. Sly leaned down and squinted toward the window. “That’s either a small bear or a large raccoon. I’d need a closer look.”
“That’s Mickey,” I said.
Sly laughed. “Good choice.”
“Would you like to meet him?” I had to concentrate on keeping my breathing steady. Every part of me wanted to run into his arms and never let go. But so much had happened. I was unsure. Except . . . he was here.
“I’d love to,” Sly said.
I turned and walked toward the door. He fell in step behind me. His shadow darkened my path and he was close enough that I could feel the warmth of his body heat.
Mickey tumbled out the front door when I opened it. Sly laughed and scooped him up. He got slathered with indiscriminate puppy kisses.
“Hell of a guard dog you are,” I said.
Sly followed me inside. We stood in the kitchen, him with Mickey in his arms. Me trying to make my heartbeat slow to a normal pace. I took a breath.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
Sly rubbed Mickey behind the ears, not realizing he’d now made a friend for life.
“Sunny skies. Palm trees. Beach all the time.”
I smiled. “California’s got a pretty long coastline. You’ve been driving up and down it for three months hoping to get lucky?”
He set Mickey down. The dog promptly began chewing on the leather buckle of Sly’s boot.
“Wasn’t that hard, Scarlett. You opened an estate for Mickey after he died. This house was the only thing listed on the inventory. And you never sold it.”
I nodded. “How long have you known?”
He took a step toward me, putting himself close enough to touch. His eyes searched my face. “Maybe a week after you disappeared.”
“I didn’t disappear. I had to keep you safe. It looks like it worked. What about Colt? Is he okay?”
Sly nodded. “He ended up agreeing with your advice. He’s taking some time away from Green Bluff. At least until the heat dies down and we know the contract on him is canceled or that the conspiracy charge against the Hawks is going to stick.”
“I’m glad. I’m sorry and I’m glad.”
He took another step forward and reached out, brushing my upper arm with his fingers. Gooseflesh raised on my skin and my breath hitched.
“Lewis was a nice touch,” he said. “How’d you get him to agree to rat out Kagan?”
I took a step back and pushed myself up on the kitchen counter, letting my feet dangle. “His options were limited. Wolf’s wrath, Hawk’s wrath, or witness protection. Turns out crossing state lines to solicit a hit is a federal crime.”
“Tough break.”
I laughed. “You’re getting cynical in your old age.”
“Forty’s not old. I’m just getting well-seasoned.”
A silence fell between us. Sly took another step forward. Then another. He stood before me, his hands planted on either side of my thighs resting on the kitchen counter.
“Scarlett . . .”
I put up a hand. “You said you knew where to find me a week after I left.”
He nodded, his eyes hooded with lust and another emotion that splintered my heart. Something broke inside of me. Something I’d held onto so tightly for so long, I knew I’d have to work every day to lay it down. There was light in Sly Cullinan’s eyes. And I knew it reflected back in mine. I put a hand on each of his cheeks, tilting his face up to mine.
“What took you so long?”
Then I leaned down to kiss him. His lips moved over me slow and perfect. He drew his arms around my waist and lifted me. I wrapped my legs around him and let him carry me into the living room.
His hands, his lips were everywhere. He slipped his arms out of his cut and pulled his shirt over his head. I reached up and laid my fingers across the rippled muscles of his chest, traced the curve of his shoulders, down the bulge of his biceps as he hovered over me.
I sucked my breath in as he worked the button on my jeans. I arched my back and reached behind me, sliding my gun out from underneath me. He froze for an instant, then that slow, sultry smile lit up his face as I set my weapon on the floor away from us. I peeled off my shirt and lay naked before him. He stroked his long, thick length and my eyes widened with lust as he slid himself de
ep into me.
There was nothing else between us now. I’d shed my clothes as I’d shed my secrets. I lay naked and exposed beneath him, spreading my legs wide as he began a slow, perfect rhythm. And he bared himself to me too. No secrets. No lies. I traced the curving lines of the ink on his arms, ran my fingers across the head of the wolf etched into his chest.
He was mine. I was his. And I never wanted anything between us again.
Sly made love to me slowly. We took our time getting to know each other’s bodies again after so many weeks apart. He was warm and strong in my arms after we’d spent ourselves more than once. With our kisses, our bodies, our rising desire and delicious release, we forgave each other everything and sealed a new promise between us.
Hours later, the sun began to set. I threw on an oversized sweater and Sly slipped back into his jeans. He left his fly open and the waistband of his boxers peaked out. We walked out to the deck to watch the sun make its slow descent into the ocean. I leaned against him as he wrapped his arms around me.
“How does this work now?” I asked.
He kissed the top of my head. “Damned if I know.”
“I thought I loved it here.”
He stiffened against me. “How could you not?”
I brought my hand up against his cheek and leaned back so I could see his face. His blue eyes blazed bright with the rising moon reflected in them.
“I do. I just didn’t realize how much better it could be if you were here with me to share it.”
He kissed my forehead. “I love you, Scarlett. It’s crazy. I never expected it. I’m sure I’m going to catch hell for it back at the Den. But I won’t walk away. Not from you and not from the club.”
I nodded and turned back toward the water. The temperature had dropped to near forty and I shivered everywhere Sly wasn’t touching me. “Well, Green Bluff is only a two-hour drive. And you like the open road so I’m thinking we can work out the logistics. So would that make me the First Lady of the Great Wolves?”
His low laughter sent a tingle up my spine. “You think you can handle that?”
“You think you can?” He laughed again, warming my blood.
