“I vote yes,” says Beef. “With everything going on with Lizard, they’ve been left on the back burner. They’ve both served their time.”
“Yeah, blame me, why don’t you?” I growl, but with a twinkle in my eye.
Beef clears his throat. “If you need me to make it formal, Prez, I’ll put it on the table. I propose we agree to bring Beaver and—”
“Muffin!” yells Pyro. “Beaver and Muff.”
All eyes go to Pyro. “Muffin?” I query aloud what everyone else is thinking; why poor Karl should end up with that moniker?
Pyro grins broadly. “Mel’s always complaining he steals them.”
“Weak, Brother.” Thunder shakes his head. “Fuckin’ weak logic there, but I like your thinking.”
Prez’s eyes roll to the ceiling and back down. “Anyone got any other suggestions?”
I notice Wills prods Judge. “I had a fuckin’ lucky escape,” he mumbles, but not quietly enough.
Beef’s eyes narrow as he points at him. “Never too late to get a road name.”
Wills holds up his hands. “I don’t even like fuckin’ muffins.”
“You gay?” I ask fast, my eyes creasing. As brothers crack up around me, I realise how lucky I am to be living this life. For a moment there, I’d thought it was the last thing I wanted. Now I’ve regained my wife, my son, and my club. Was there ever a luckier bastard?
A gavel bang later and it’s agreed Beaver and Muffin will be patched in.
“If there’s nothing else…?” Prez looks like he’s going to end the meeting.
Just as I’m thinking of dragging Vanna back to our bedroom, I notice Mace is fidgeting, and inwardly sigh when he raises his hand.
“Prez. You gave permission to Pyro, Prez. Skull’s not a threat now. That’s how we should be dealing with our enemies. In the same way Pyro needed closure, I can’t relax while Major’s still breathing. Even if he’s not coming after us, he deserves retribution for what he did to Shayla. What he’s still doing to other girls.”
Prez sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I hear you, Mace, and I appreciate how you’re feeling. I’ll get onto Red, see if he’s come up with anything. Must admit I had hoped he’d come up with something before now. Last update I had was that Major appears untouchable.”
“Not going to let this rest, Prez,” Mace snarls.
“I understand that, Mace. But I have to look out for the good of the club, and that includes Red and his boys in Vegas. Any move we make can’t bring heat down on the club, and he’s got powerful clients who might want revenge for the loss of what he provides. Don’t want to make more enemies unless there’s no other way out.”
“We’ve turned into a bunch of pussies,” Mace all but shouts. “Major hurt my woman, he deserves to go down.”
“Not saying he doesn’t.” Prez keeps his voice calm, the complete opposite to the enforcer.
“I had to wait over half a year,” Pyro reminds Mace. “I’ll tell you this, Brother,” his face contorts into an evil grin, “revenge loses none of its taste when it’s served cold.”
I can understand why Mace is impatient to see Major six feet under. I hate the man myself for the way he marked Shayla and Esme. I try to put myself in my brother’s shoes. How would I feel knowing Vanna had suffered like his woman? Every bit what he’s feeling now.
I decide to keep a close eye on my brother, knowing it’s only Shayla being at the club that’s keeping him here and not seeing him set out for Vegas to take Major down by himself.
I hope his desire to stay close to her will be enough. Any action we take must be properly planned out, just like the revenge Pyro had served up for Mel.
Chapter Forty-Four
Vanna
“That’s your next session booked in.” I smile at the customer as I hand him an appointment card showing the date and time of his next appointment.
Jonah comes over and turns the screen so he can see what he’s got listed. “Nothing more today?”
“There was a tentative enquiry about a consult,” I remind him, “but nothing concrete was booked.”
“Give me a shout if anyone comes in. I’m going out back to make a coffee. Want one?”
I shake my head. I’ve had all the caffeine I need today, drinking more often as it’s been fairly quiet.
Vi’s gone home already as she was feeling tired and didn’t have any clients. Weston’s here as well as Jonah, but the afternoon’s been slow up to now. Nothing to worry about, most walk-ins come toward the end of the week.
When Demon had first offered me the position, I’d thought it might have been a charitable gesture, something to make me feel useful. Since I’ve been here though, I’ve found I’m really answering a need. I can free Vi up to concentrate on tattooing or piercing, and at times we’re so busy, we have to turn people away. I’m doing a lot of the social media stuff too, and that’s something I enjoy. The books are looking good as well, and Buzzard is pleased when I update him each Wednesday.
I’ve just uploaded one of Weston’s tattoos onto our Instagram page when my phone vibrates. As there are no customers around, I don’t feel guilty answering the call. I check the display and a smile crosses my face.
“Hey, Lindy. How’s it going? Is Cas—”
The shrill tone of her voice immediately has my senses on high alert. “I told him to come straight home, Vanna. Every day for the past five weeks, he’s done exactly that. But he hasn’t turned up and he’s a couple of hours late now. I’ve tried his phone, but there’s no answer.”
“What?” I get to my feet. Oh Cas, why couldn’t you just do what you’re told? Why, when you’re so close to being able to leave Denver?
I try to keep my voice calm while inside I’m seething. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, Lindy. Maybe he got chatting and lost track of the time. I’ll ring around his friends and try and track him down.”
“He’s been so good, Vanna. That’s why I called, him not letting me know anything is out of the usual. Will you let me know immediately if you find anything out? Or whether I have to get bail money ready?”
She might laugh, but she’s a bit too close to what I’m worried about. Grrr. He was doing so well, he can’t fuck it up now. Not when Lizard and I are settling into a makeover of our marriage. It’s been working out great, Liz and I having time together, Cas visiting at weekends, father and son getting to know each other slowly. Cas seemed to be happy with Lindy and looking forward to moving to Pueblo. Why has he gone and fucked it up now? Damn him. My greatest fear is he’s done something stupid. If he has, the cops aren’t going to let him off a second time.
“I’ll call as soon as I have anything to tell you,” I tell her tightly, already thinking of Cas’s friends whose parents are in my contacts. Hopefully, I’ll quickly track him down and get him sent back to Lindy with his tail between his legs. “Let me know immediately if he turns up.”
With a promise she will, she ends the call.
Damn it, Cas, why now? I’d been looking forward to getting his room ready, having him move here and us becoming a proper family unit. Getting a new home, building a new life. Liz and I are making a real go of it and successfully too. Now my son’s put a spoke in my wheel of happiness. Huh. I suppose it throws Liz straight into the deep end of parenting a teenager.
I’m wasting no time, already scrolling through my contacts as I mentally berate Cas.
“Hi. It’s Cas’s mom, have you seen him? Is he with Jordan?”
The answer is no, and Jordan’s at home playing on his Xbox, he’s definitely not there. I get a negative response from Ryan’s mom and Davy’s. Scott’s a bust as well. I ask them to check with their sons whether they saw him go off with anyone, or whether he has recently made a new friend who I’m not aware of, or if he’s met a girl, he’s taking a liking to. The answers are all negative. Cas got on the school bus as normal, left at his stop, and that’s the last anyone saw of him.
I’d expected finding him would
be easy, having assumed one of his friends would know where he’d gone. I hadn’t expected all replies to be negative. What do I do now?
Has he run off? But why should he? Have I been reading him wrong, and he doesn’t want to leave Denver? When I spoke to him yesterday, he was still full of the weekend at the compound and telling me how much he was looking forward to moving here permanently. He’d given me no inkling he was thinking of running away.
I start to grow very worried. What could have happened to him?
Other moms might have immediately informed their husbands, in my case, Liz is the person I hesitate to call. Other moms don’t have men who are recovering from traumatic brain injuries, a tumour or recent surgery. Although his progress is coming along in leaps and bounds, I hate that I’m going to worry him now. My first thought was I could resolve it alone, as that’s what I’ve been doing for twelve years. But now I’ve exhausted all the possibilities I can think of, I know I must involve him.
“Whoa. Trouble?” Jonah walks back carrying a cup of coffee, stopping dead when he sees the worry lines on my face.
“Could be,” I agree, my teeth worrying my lip. “I’ll go into the office and make a call.”
“Anything I can do,” he calls after me, “just let me know.”
I close the door behind me, then take a deep breath and dial Lizard’s number.
“Hey, babe. You okay?”
“No Liz, I’m not.” I think some of my anger must go down the phone line, as I hear an intake of breath as though he’s readying himself. “Cas is missing.”
At his sharp intake of breath and demand to know what’s happened, I run through what I already know. Yes, I’ve called his friends, no, nothing seemed odd. He’s just disappeared into thin air.
“Come back to the compound.”
“I was going to go straight to Denver.” I need to be where Cas is to search myself.
“Babe, you’ve got me now, and the brothers. By the time you get here, I’ll have briefed everyone. If we need to go to Denver, then we’ll both go. Together.” There’s a pause, then he sighs and adds, “Teenagers are thoughtless assholes, Van. He probably got distracted and forgot the time. Could have seen a bit of tail and started chasing it.”
I’m not alone anymore, I’ve got people who can help me. That’s hard to get used to. Liz must be right. There has to be a simple explanation and Cas has neither been in an accident nor up to something he shouldn’t. Moms always think the worst first, we’re programmed to worry.
Outside, I’m not surprised to see Dirt’s waiting by his bike and I give him a wave. It must be as boring as anything, but for the last few weeks all the old ladies have had escorts wherever we go. I’m unaware there’s any threat to the club but seeing how they go out of their way to protect us women, even if there is, I feel no sense of danger, just amazed at the level of precaution they take.
Liz is waiting for me when I park the car. “Any news?”
“Lindy’s not called, so he’s not gone home. She’d not leave me hanging.”
“Come inside.” He stands back to let me precede him and I hear the confident click of his stick as he follows behind, easily keeping up with me. He waves me on through the kitchen and into the main room.
Mace stands as I approach, Pyro’s with him as well as Ink and Judge. They’ve pulled a couple of tables together. Cad’s there as well with a laptop in front of him.
The computer guy doesn’t even let me sit down before he starts with his questions. “What’s your friend’s address? You say he was seen getting off the bus, but didn’t arrive at her house?”
When I rattle off where Lindy lives, he quickly calls up a map. “Give me the location of where the bus would have dropped him.”
I tell him. It stops near Davy’s house and he just has to walk a block to Lindy’s. While I’m still anxious, that I’m no longer dealing with this alone and not just Lizard, but his brothers are there for me gives me confidence we will find him, and there’ll be a simple explanation for him disappearing. At least they have more ideas where to start than me.
Intrigued, I watch as Cad’s fingers fly across the screen, but then he shakes his head. “No fuckin’ CCTV cameras in the area. It’s all residential.”
“Any private feeds you can hack into?” Mace quickly asks.
“Not easily. Not without researching who’s got them and who lives where.”
“Just as fuckin’ fast to go ask them,” Pyro remarks.
“Should I call the police?” I ask.
“Won’t do anything, sweetheart. A teenager’s not where he’s supposed to be? They won’t put out an alert on him until he’s been gone a few more hours. Waste of manpower if he simply turns up home.”
“Home!” I scramble for my phone. “Lindy, my house… Oh. Okay. Thanks.”
At Liz’s quizzical gaze I enlighten him. “Lindy had the same thought as me, that he might have gone back to our home to get something. But she’s got my neighbour looking out for him, and there’s no sign, nor has been any of him.”
“What’s up?”
I glance up at the deep voice to see Beef.
“My son’s disappeared,” Liz tells him, his lips firming. “Fuckin’ kid may have gotten himself into trouble again.”
Beef looks at me carefully. “Is that what you think, Vanna?”
“I don’t know,” I wail. “He’s not answering his phone. I’ve rung all his friends that I’ve got numbers for. He never said who was with him when he took that car as he didn’t want to drop anyone in it, so he could have arranged to meet someone I’ve not met.”
“He’s been behaving himself though, hasn’t he?”
I nod at the VP. “He has.” I turn to Liz and pick up my purse which I’d laid down when I arrived. “I need to get to Denver, see what’s happening.”
“Yeah, we’ll get ready to roll.” Mace nods.
My eyes widen. I expected Lizard to come with me, but it seems like others are coming as well.
“Lizard! Mace! Beef! Cad! My office now.”
“Prez, we were just…”
“You need to hear this, Lizard.” Demon’s standing in the hallway, his face set and grim. “Before you go anywhere.”
“My son…”
“My office now.” It’s not a request, it’s a demand.
“Wait for me,” Liz pleads. “I won’t be long. Just got to sort out some club business.”
“I’ve got to go find him, Lizard. Before he gets into trouble again.” Nothing takes precedence over this. I’m angry at any delay. I start to stand, pulling my purse and car keys to me.
“Vanna. Wait for Lizard before you go. Dirt. Don’t let her leave.” My anger rises at Demon’s abrupt instructions, but he’s gone before I can protest.
Liz holds up one hand. “Give me five, please, Vanna. He’s my son, too.”
He, Beef and Mace disappear in the direction of Demon’s office.
I’m torn, half just wanting to run out of there, half believing it’s best to wait for Lizard to come with me. A mother’s instinct tells me there’s something wrong, that if I’m too late, Cas will have done something stupid, maybe put himself into the sights of the law. Or maybe he’s been in an accident and is lying unconscious in the hospital… I take a step toward Dirt, preparing to push him out of the way.
“Vanna, wait for Lizard,” Pyro calls out. “You go down there, what are you going to do? Where will you start?”
His direct question pulls me up. Go to Denver, and…? “I don’t know,” I wail. “I just need to be close by in case he needs me.” My hand covers my mouth. “Anything could have happened to him.”
“Cad’s already run traces in the local hospitals’ databases, no one of his name has been brought in. And so far, no one called Castiel James has been charged with anything.”
I don’t ask how Cad can work such magic, just hope that he’s right.
“He’ll be fine,” Pyro tries to reassure me. “Christ, when I think back to how
I was at that age, it’s likely he’s gone somewhere on a whim without giving one thought to people worrying about him.”
“You’ll have one of your own soon enough,” Judge points out.
Pyro grins. “Yeah, but I’ll be able to enjoy them being a baby first. Got years until it gets to the teenager phase.”
It was easier when Cas was a babe in arms. I didn’t have to worry about him disappearing then.
As conversation falters, I tap my fingers impatiently against the side of my chair I’ve dropped down into again, anxious to get where I want to go, but what I’ll do once I get there, Pyro’s right. I really don’t know. At least these men seem to know what they’re doing, whereas I don’t have a clue.
Cas, where are you? What have you gone and done now?
Chapter Forty-Five
Lizard
“Prez, Vanna and I need to go to Denver…”
“Because Cas is missing.” The tirade I had planned dies on my lips and my eyes widen as Demon fiddles with his phone, then holds it up so the screen is facing my way.
Squinting, I lean forward, forgetting to breathe when I see it’s a picture of my son. It looks like he’s handcuffed and tied to a chair. What the fuck? I hastily revise my initial thoughts that old as he is, I was planning on tanning my son’s backside for worrying his parents. Seems it’s not his fault now.
“Any message?” I snap, unable to believe what I’m seeing.
Demon swipes the screen and hands the phone over.
Unknown number: You missing something? Well so am I. I’ll send you instructions on where and when we’ll make the exchange. Major.
The sound of blood roars through my head as I fill with rage. My hands clench.
Mace makes a grab for the phone. “Fuckin’ hell!” he shouts. “No fuckin’ way is he getting his hands on Shayla.” He slams the phone down on the desk and turns to the wall, his hands raking through his hair.
Satan’s Devils MC -Colorado Box Set: Books 4-6 Page 117
