Satan’s Devils MC -Colorado Box Set: Books 4-6

by Mellett, Manda

  “Anything?” His voice sounds sharper. “Do you really mean that Beth? Will you help?” If he was going to add more, it’s swallowed up by a fit of coughing interspersed with stifled moans of pain.

  “It sounds like you need a doctor.” My heart’s beating so fast, my hand goes up as if to hold it inside my chest.

  “When I can, I think I do, yes. But I can’t now, I’m being held.”

  “Held?” I squeak. “Who by and where?”

  “The first doesn’t matter, the second, I don’t know. I was unconscious when they brought me here. They let me have my phone, so I can arrange what I need to do to get me released.”

  “Which is what, Con? What do you need from me? Shall I try to find you? Maybe I can locate you using the phone.” Maybe Ink’s friend Cad can do it. Or, “Have you an iPhone? I could use Find a Friend. I can come get you—”

  “Beth, no. And I don’t have a fuckin’ fancy phone. No, the only way to get me out is to help me. That’s if you care about seeing me again.”

  He’s an asshole, but he shares my blood. Of course I don’t want him hurt or worse, dead. “Anything, I’ve already told you. I’ll do anything to help.” My hand holding the phone is shaking.

  “And you won’t tell anyone?”

  It goes against the grain, but I can’t make his situation worse. “You promise, if I do whatever you ask me to, you’ll be safe?”

  “Released straightaway. Beth, I hate to ask you, I should do this myself, but I can’t.”

  “Just tell me, Con. The sooner I do it, the sooner you’ll be safe.” And then I’ll have to find a way to get him out of the life he’s living, get him away from the clutches of our father. He’s behind this, I’m certain. “What is it you need? Is it money?” I don’t have a lot, but it’s his if he needs it to save his life.

  “Beth? You listening, Bethie?”

  “I’m listening.”

  “I don’t need money. That won’t help. I do need you to make a delivery for me. If you go into my old room, I left some packages at the back of the closet, under a pile of old clothes.”

  Left some… “What the hell, Con? You said you were picking up your stuff…”

  “No time to argue, Beth. I needed somewhere to store something. Now I need some of it taken somewhere else.”

  “Is whatever it is stolen?” If so, perhaps the person who it was taken from wants it back.

  “What? No. But someone wants it in trade for my life. I need you to make the exchange.”

  “Connor. Are you lying to me? Are you just trying to get me to do your dirty work for you?”

  “Bethie.” His childhood nickname for me drops again from his lips. “Bethie, I promise. This is the truth. I won’t get out of this unless you help. Please Beth, I’m begging you. They’ll kill me.”

  His tone has the ring of truth to it. Can I afford to doubt him? My eyes are leaking as I realise, I have no choice. “Okay, I’ll go to your room. What do you want me to take?”

  “Thank fuck. Thank you, Beth. Take two packages. Take them to this address.” He rattles off a location. “Hand them over. Once that’s done, I’ll be released. Beth, I’m relying on you. I need you to do this.”

  “Who do I give them to? What if… What if they take me too?”

  “Beth, this will be simple. You don’t need to know who he is, he’ll be the only one waiting for you. And no, you won’t be hurt or taken. I promise you that. It’s not a difficult task. I wouldn’t put my sister in danger.”

  He sounds certain I’ll be safe. But even if there’s a chance I won’t, what choice have I got? Find out the details and ask Ink’s advice. Yes. That’s what I’ll do. Now I’ve a hastily thought up plan, feeling easier I ask, “When?”

  “Now. The rendezvous time is 1 am.”

  I glance at the clock. Shit! “You’ve not given me much time.” I’ll be pushed to make it by then, let alone waste precious minutes discussing what I’ve been asked to do with anyone else.

  “And what time you’ve got you’re wasting. Are you going to do this, Beth? Or do we say a final goodbye?” He sounds desperate, and his new bout of coughing reminds me he’s hurt, or at least says he is.

  I pull the phone away from my ear and stare at it for a second, wondering whether he’s being over dramatic. Worried about what low-life I’ll be handing whatever it is over to. But what if it’s all the truth? What if I say no and never see my brother in this life again?

  There’s only one answer I can give. “I’ll do it.”

  “Beth. You’re going to save my life. If there was any other way, I wouldn’t ask you, but there’s not. I love you, Sis.”

  Then he’s gone.

  Love you, Sis.

  When was the last time Connor expressed such emotion for me? It must be years. What if that was his final message? What if, even if I try to help him, he ends up dead?

  I stand, putting back on my warm sweater, wondering whether whoever it is will stop hurting him now he’s enlisted my help. Or will they kill him anyway?

  No. I can’t think that.

  I slip my phone into my pocket, then immediately pull it back out. Despite what Connor said this is too big. I need help. I’ll go to the police… I don’t place a call. What the hell do I know about this sort of situation? Connor might be right, and I’ll only be making things worse, or my little brother might be rescued but immediately arrested. I’m convinced he’s caught up in something illegal.

  Prison might be better than being dead.

  But people are killed in prison, aren’t they? And if he’s not quite irredeemable yet, he probably would be after being locked up with criminals. Connor would never forgive me.

  Ink. Ink’s club might be able to help him. But what am I to Ink? Have I got the type of relationship where I could presume on his help? He offered to help if Connor came around, but could I really involve him in this?

  Why should he lift a finger to help him, or draw his club into a fight which isn’t theirs? What if the club agreed to help find Connor and rescue him? What if Pyro stepped up and he was hurt or killed? While everyone says it wasn’t down to me that Mel lost her baby, if I hadn’t told her Skull was alive, would that have prevented events turning out as they had? Even if she had found out later, just a few more months and she’d have been holding a living, healthy baby.

  I owe it to her not to involve them in my brother’s shady business. I’ll do nothing to hurt her again.

  I can’t find my car key. I start emptying my purse, my hands shaking as I look for it again, my mind racing.

  No cops, I can’t risk it. I can’t risk involving Ink’s club. I can’t tell Mom, she’d not want me putting myself in danger. I’m sure she’d choose me over her errant son. I pull back my shoulders. What choice have I got?

  What if Connor’s lying to get me to do something?

  It hadn’t occurred to me while I’d been speaking to him, but now he’s no longer on the line, doubts are entering my head.

  Would Connor put me in that position? He coughed, yes. He sounded hoarse and husky. Could be he’s just got a cold and is going to pass an unpleasant task off onto his sister. He’d pressed enough of my buttons to do whatever he wants.

  Damn this niggling voice inside that says, I can’t trust him.

  One thing I know, I can’t be responsible for the death of my brother. I’ll do what he wants, then somehow I’ll find him, get him to a hospital if he needs one. If he doesn’t, he just might by the time I’ve finished with him.

  Got my key. I listen carefully, there’s no movement from Mom’s room, but it is past midnight, she’ll be asleep. As I tiptoe to my brother’s old room, my mind is still whirring as again and again I run over my brother’s words. I’d taken everything at face value. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s fed me a line which I’ve swallowed.

  Say you broke it, Beth. Mom will go easy on you. She hadn’t. I’d been grounded for a weekend that had turned into a week when I tried to shift the blame ont
o my brother and he hadn’t backed me up. Just say I’m already in bed, I’ll be back soon. He hadn’t been, he’d stayed at a friend’s all night and I was in the wrong because being older, I should have known better.

  He’s also no stranger to embellishing the truth when it got him the result he’d wanted. An I’ve been sick, Mom accompanied by my stomach hurts so bad had gotten him off school coincidentally, when he hadn’t done the assigned homework.

  Christ, I hate this. Hate being sucked down into the world of secrets. This is completely outside of everything I’ve ever known.

  Take two packages and deliver them at one am in the morning. What could go wrong?

  Chapter Sixteen

  Ink

  “Change of plan,”

  I’ve barely stomped in and had my chance to take my seat before Demon starts speaking. Not entirely unexpectedly, Prez has gathered all those who are going to stake up Tits Up tonight, together.

  Sounded quite simple to me. Allocate each of us to watching certain areas, and we were done. I’m still seething that I won’t be able to see Beth tonight, and for once not because I’ll miss wetting my dick. The more I’ve been thinking about her, the more I want to get her view of where she could see us going. No point in me making plans in my head if she’s only going to be turning me down. I’m also angry at myself. This isn’t me. I’d give my life for my brothers, and today all that’s being asked is to give them some time. Not the first occasion my own plans have had to be put on the back burner for the club, but it’s the first time I’ve been rankled because of a bitch. I make a concerted effort to calm myself down.

  I see Mace looking at me warily. I throw a chin lift back and a shrug. He narrows his eyes, then turns his attention to the VP who’s just cleared his throat to speak.

  “I was picked up by the cops earlier today.”

  Murmurs of surprise go around.

  “What d’you do, Beef? Push that Fat Bob too hard?”

  Beef glares at Lizard, who makes as if he’s sinking down on his chair, then continues, “Someone’s ratted out the club, or rather put in a report that there’s dealing around our businesses.” He waits for our exclamations to die down, then lifts his chin. “I suppose it was only a matter of time. Needles in bathrooms, shady people around. Anyway, I was interrogated. I had to decide fast what to tell them and decided ‘no comment’ was unlikely to help. I settled back, drank my water, and reminded them of the meeting I’d had with their chief a few months back. Told them again how they already knew we do our part to keep drugs away from our part of town.”

  “They happy with that?” Thunder enquires.

  Beef shakes his head. “Nah. Suspicious fuckers said things might have changed. I pointed to that report they had in front of them and asked how the hell they thought that fitted with what we were trying to do, that is, trying to make an honest living. As we have done for years.” He pauses for a moment. “They still weren’t convinced, so I shared our thinking of who was behind it, or rather, what little we surmised. That someone is coming in from out of area and using our businesses either as everyone local knows to stay clear, or because they saw a vacuum and filled it.”

  “We’ve no rep for dealing or using,” Hellfire says, sounding annoyed.

  “I told them we’d be fuckin’ stupid to shit on our own doorstep,” the VP responds. “Seems that got through their heads. I reminded them no member has been picked up with more than marijuana for a number of years now.”

  “Ever since we became Satan’s Devils,” Hellfire states.

  Beef raises his chin in acknowledgement. “I may also have given the impression we were fuckin’ angry about the situation, and they told us firmly not to address it ourselves.”

  “General warning?”

  “Nah. They’re planning something.” The VP grins widely. “When they’d finished questioning me, they went out in the corridor, but hadn’t closed the door properly. Maybe Steph’s rubbing off on me, but I’ve got excellent hearing. I heard a few words, didn’t have to hear it all. Tonight, Tits Up and SWAT. That was enough for me to put together there’s a bust planned for today. Look,” Beef leans forward, “the last thing I want is for us to be caught up with a trigger-happy SWAT team.”

  “So our stakeout is off?” Sparky catches my eye and grins. Guess he might also have plans for later.

  Demon looks at Beef. “I’m not happy. I want to know who’s fuckin’ with us. Cops have Tits Up in their sights, and may well have gotten info we haven’t dug up yet.”

  Mace completes Demon’s thoughts. “They may only end up with a dealer. A bit player who’s too scared to talk to them. Someone will be behind this, I’m fuckin’ certain, and it’s more than just one or two fuckers outside our club.”

  “They catch someone, he might make a plea bargain,” Hellfire challenges.

  Beef gives a slow nod. “That depends on who he can give up. Snitches don’t last long inside.”

  “But you are saying we should stay clear tonight?” I ask, my brow creasing. It doesn’t settle easy with me to sit back and let others do what I see is my job. Protecting my club. Like my brothers, I hate drugs and the problems they cause, but it’s understandable the cops want to be involved and catch the dealers. Getting whatever’s being sold off the streets would look well on their record. Conversely, there’s a very good personal reason why I’d be happy to not be out with my brothers tonight.

  “We leave it to them?” Rusty is obviously reading the VP’s words the same way as I am.

  Sparky’s eyes roll. “They couldn’t find their assholes with a flashlight and a map,” he states. “Leave it to them and whoever it is might get away.”

  “They’ll know we won’t let others handle it for us,” a voice interjects. “If they expect us to sit on our hands, they don’t know who they’re dealing with.”

  Beef grins and nods at Pal. “I didn’t let on I’d overheard, obviously. But I told them we were doing what we can to stop this shit going on. In legal ways, of course, protecting our premises and businesses. That we’re beefing up security at the strip club. They sort of huffed and exchanged glances at that. They weren’t going to admit to getting a SWAT team ready, but hopefully they’ll have their eyes out for Devils and we won’t be caught in their crosshairs.”

  “Or we’ll be rounded up if they catch no one else.” Like any one-percenter, I know the risks of getting too close to the cops. I start to be certain we’ll be stood down tonight and that evening with Beth could be back on the cards.

  The VP gives another grin. It’s not a very warming one. “Oh, we’ll be there. Just not where they expect us. My fear is this is organised crime, and we’re not faced with someone who’s stupid. I’m certain the dealer will have an escape route ready. My proposal is we go along and block any way out. Hopefully we can nab him ourselves and bring him back here. Our methods of persuasion,” he takes a moment to jerk his head toward Mace, “are probably more effective than those of the cops.”

  Mace’s answering expression is even more chilling than Beef’s smirk. I happen to think that’s a much better suggestion, even if it means I’ve again lost my chance to be deep in Beth’s cunt tonight.

  “So no one’s being stood down,” Beef surmises, and then looks around, but as could have been predicted, there’s nothing but nods and murmurs of agreement.

  “I want the fucker here,” says Mace, cracking his knuckles. “I want to give him payback for fuckin’ with the club.”

  “Twenty years would do that if he lasts that long inside,” Demon observes, then pinches the bridge of his nose. “Look, I hear you, but I just want him and his crew off the streets. If that means letting the law deal with him, well, that’s one less body we’ve got to bury.”

  “When you put it like that,” Thunder grins, “it almost sounds better. Hate digging fuckin’ graves.” He murmurs the last almost to himself.

  “You’re suggesting if we get him, we pass him over to the cops?” The road captain’s face
is creased in confusion.

  “No, Sparky. But what I don’t want is us to be caught spiriting him away. It can’t look like we’re protecting him.” Demon frowns. “That’s my only objection. If it comes to that and we’re seen moving him, I’d prefer to hand him over. I don’t want anyone risking this club just to get up close and personal with our revenge.”

  “I don’t like it.” Pal grimaces. “We’ll get a reputation for helping the cops.”

  Beef hits the table with his fist. “Don’t fuckin’ care. As you well know, Pal, Tucson has helped the authorities out a time or two. We don’t want a gun battle behind Tits Up. So what we’re doing is staying out of sight to intervene if necessary. They’ll be going in loaded and armed. Just stay out of the line of fire and make damn sure nothing comes back on us.”

  “What about the bowling alley and the tattoo parlour?”

  Demon glances at his VP. “Beef and I talked this through. The cops’ focus is Tits Up, which makes us suspect they’ve had a tip off. Somehow, I think the SWAT team expects the strip club to be where the head honcho will turn up tonight. They must have something to convince them it’s worth their time.”

  The VP takes over again. “Tits Up is where they’ve got their eyes tonight, so we’ll have ours there too. We’ll keep a presence at the other locations, but the aim is to be visible and make it too hot for anyone to make a buy. Their customers won’t want to face a Devil, so hopefully they’ll move on.”

  “So at Tits Up,” I just want to make it clear, “we block the escape routes. If SWAT loses him, we pick him up.”

  “Or them. We may be wrong assuming it’s just one man. He may have protection with him,” Beef confirms, “but that’s the essence of it. Pick him or them up, or herd him or them into the loving arms of the cops.”

  There are a rumble of chuckles at his description. Yup. I expect the cops will get very up close and personal with whoever they catch.