Taser looks around as though expecting to see the culprit standing around waiting. But there’s no one here, of course. The perp who did this will be long gone. Suddenly his eyes narrow. “This got anything to do with you?”
Me? What the fuck? “What the fuck you talking about?”
“You.” He advances, his finger prodding at my chest. “We’ve never had trouble before. You arrive in town, and this shit happens. Unidentified fucker snooping around Tits Up and someone ending up dead.”
“I fuckin’ arrived yesterday,” I begin through gritted teeth. “Last night I was at the clubhouse. Ask the prospect on the gate if you want, I didn’t go off the compound. How the fuck would I have been able to kill the fucker, even if I’d had any inclination. And for your future information, I don’t kill people without good reason. Never. You’re looking in the wrong direction.”
I’m so angry. My cheeks are blazing. It doesn’t get any easier when Taser won’t give up. “You knew exactly where to look. First thing you headed for was the dumpster. Didn’t even wait to check anything else. And if not you personally, you could be in contact with someone. You’ve been using your phone a fucking lot. Maybe I’ll get Cad to look at it.”
Now it’s me, drawing myself up to my full height and pushing him back. Not an easy task when he must have fifty pounds plus on me, but my rage gives me strength. “Who I’m texting is none of your fuckin’ business. And I checked the dumpster first as I’ve got some fuckin’ brains in my head.”
“Hey! What the fuck’s going on?” Both of us so engrossed in our altercation, we hadn’t heard Hellfire arrive. He’s here now. One hand on my chest, one on Taser’s, and he’s forcing himself in the middle of us.
Taser tosses a glare to the prez. “He turns up and so does a dead body. He knew exactly where to look…”
“Paladin had nothing to do with it.” I’m pleased as Hellfire jumps to my defence.
“Hold up a minute, Prez. How can we say that? Taser’s got a point.” Thunder’s standing, his arms crossed over his chest. “Leastwise we can get some questions answered. What d’you mean he knew where to look, Tase?”
Hell. Things are going downhill pretty damn fast. I’m a Satan’s Devils member. I’m only too aware what form the club’s questioning might take. Carefully, with slow movements, I ease my phone out of my pocket and slap it in Hellfire’s hand. “Check the calls and texts. I’ve got nothing to fucking hide.”
Hellfire’s eyes are on mine. He doesn’t even look at my phone, simply passes it back. He lifts his chin slightly. “Paladin’s a Satan’s Devil. Might not be from here. Might still have to earn our trust. But he’s not responsible for this. Has no fuckin’ reason to bite the hand that’s going to feed him.” When he finishes, he looks first at Taser, then at Thunder, then finally, at me. “Get yourself back to the compound, Pal. We’ll discuss everything in church later.”
I’m dismissed. Probably to give Taser and I a chance to cool down. I don’t bother arguing, just take myself off, still angry. I kick up the stand and twist the throttle making my pipes roar as I depart, fast. It’s only a moment before I realise I’m going the wrong way up the strange road, heading away from the club, not back to it. As I do a U-turn, I start to wonder whether going in the wrong direction was an unconscious indication that coming here with Jayden had been a wrong move.
Drawing up to the clubhouse and walking inside, I have a strong feeling of being among strangers. When you’re a prospect, it’s par for the course not to be trusted, and you accept you’ve got an uphill struggle ahead. It’s the reason people aren’t immediately taken on as full members. A wave of homesickness washes over me. None of my brothers in Tucson would have questioned me, picked on me. Here I’m the outsider. Seems I’ve got to gain the confidence of the men around me all over again.
Is Jayden worth it?
Of course she is. I’ve already been waiting for her for over two-and-a-half years. But today’s shown me, stepping into this new life I’d had such hopes for, is going to be harder than I expected.
The atmosphere in the clubhouse is sombre. Someone’s been killed. It could be the dumpster was a convenient place to hide a body, but the ownership of Tits Up is no secret. Far more likely it’s a message for the club. But why, what for, by whom and what do they mean by it, no one knows. Mace and Buzzard are at the bar discussing it when I turn up.
“You found him?”
“Yeah,” I tell the enforcer, knowing there’s only one thing he can be alluding to. “Didn’t expect to. Thought to check in the dumpster, and there he was.”
“How did he die?” Buzzard asks.
I shrug. I’m no medical examiner. “From the way he was lying I couldn’t tell.” As I speak, I shudder. Those dead, wide-open eyes I’ll dream of for a long time.
“Get the brother a drink,” Mace yells to Dan, who’s behind the bar. “Looks like he could do with one.”
“Prez wants church brought forward. Asked me to get everyone in.” I’m not in the loop yet. Fuck, I don’t even have everyone’s numbers programmed as yet.
The enforcer nods. “Prospect, get on that, will you?”
Dan pours my shot of Jack, then takes out his phone. Leaving Mace and Buzzard to it, I take myself off and sit down, and start a text of my own.
Pal: Sorry, Jay. Something’s come up. Won’t be able to see you until later this evening. Okay if I come about 9?
I stare at the screen, but there are no dots showing she’s writing a reply. Shit, this day’s gone to fuck already. I’d promised I wouldn’t leave her alone, that I’d go see her as soon as I could. But the mystery of the dead man comes first. Problem is, it’s club business, and that I can’t share.
Club business. The words old ladies understand. But Jay’s still a kid. Her lack of response is telling.
Brothers start coming in. I’m slowly sipping my second shot when Hellfire returns with Thunder and Taser, the latter throwing me a dirty look. Prez wastes no time heading into church, and I follow as the rest of them walk in. I’m pointed to a chair at the end of the table.
Hellfire bangs the gavel once we’re all seated. He looks around, his face grim. “Had to call it in. Man had no connection with the club, but the location of the body is going to raise questions.”
Ink looks upset. “Cops trying to pin it on us?”
Hellfire swipes his bushy hair back from his face. “They’ll try. But we’ve got nothing to do with it. This is one time we can tell the truth.”
“I’ll pass them a copy of the footage from the security camera,” Cad suggests.
Prez nods, then looks at me. “Cops want to speak to you, Paladin. Need your fingerprints as you went into the dumpster.”
I hadn’t thought of that. “They want me to go to the station?”
“Yeah. In the morning will do. Ask for Sergeant Moss.”
All I need. Walking into a police station. But I just raise my chin in acknowledgement.
“What I want to know is why Pal here, immediately knew where to look.” Taser gives an emphasis on my shortened handle which suggests I’m no friend of his.
Before anyone else can comment, I set him right. “It was obvious. You pointed out the camera. I know the type. It can’t rotate all the way around; the dumpster was in its blind spot. It seemed the obvious place to look. If someone was doing something they shouldn’t, it wouldn’t have picked them up. Seemed the right place to start.” I don’t explain I’ve had experience searching for likely places to plant explosives. Seems they don’t have that kind of trouble in Pueblo.
Cad’s watching me. He gives me a sharp nod. No one questions my explanation. I notice Demon staring pointedly at Taser. I glance at him too, just in time to see him give a resigned shrug. Not totally convinced. Of course, he wouldn’t like it. He hadn’t picked that up.
“Right. What do we know?”
Cad shakes his head at the prez. “Not a lot, I’m afraid. Clearest pics you already have. Bastards are playing us. Anyt
hing at the bowling alley or tattoo shop?”
That makes me sit up. I hadn’t heard about anything happening anywhere else. I look around with interest, hoping no more bodies had been found.
Both Lizard and Rusty are shaking their heads. “A few footprints, cigarette butts. Someone was there, but no dead bodies thank fuck.” Lizard, who runs the tattoo parlour answers. He raises his chin toward me. “Found what we did out of range of the cameras. They knew what they were doing.”
“Same at the bowling alley,” Rusty confirms. “Could be the same man, maybe not.”
“From the timing, unlikely,” Cad replies. “I did get a glimpse of movement at your place, Rusty, once I went back and had a better look. Unless one man can be in more than one place at the same time. The intruders hit Tits Up and the bowling alley simultaneously.”
Pyro raises his chin. “Found how they got into the auto-shop. Similar problem as Pal just described. Camera’s in the wrong fuckin’ position, nothing showed on the recordings. Got in through the bathroom window, then closed it after they went out the same way. Didn’t pick it up until we looked more carefully and found the broken lock.”
A break-in at the auto-shop as well? Looking around, it seems only I was out of the loop. But I’m still a stranger. No one’s yet sharing shit.
“Sounds like your security could do with a onceover.” I can’t help putting in. Sitting here listening there are a ton of things I can see wrong. We’d all have been dead if we’d been this lax in Arizona.
Cad looks at me sharply, his eyes first blazing, then it’s as though the wheels start turning in his head, and he lets out a long sigh. “New brother has got it in one. We’ve become complacent. Haven’t had problems before. Relied more on our rep to keep fuckers away. That’s certainly one of our next steps.”
“I’ll take that on,” Demon’s hand waves. Then, as he’s got the floor, continues with a frown. “All our businesses targeted? Sounds like we’re up against a gang.”
“Still say the timing’s a coincidence,” Taser snarls, sending me a dirty look. “Got a new member arrive who seems to have acquainted himself fuckin’ fast with our lack of security. Now he’s here, we have more trouble than we’ve had for a very long time.”
I raise my hands but have no chance to speak as Hellfire jumps in, snarling, “Only fuckin’ coincidence is that Paladin may have brought Tucson’s bad luck in his luggage. Drummer vouches for him. Might be new to us, but not to the prez of the motherfuckin’ mother chapter. I, for one, believe I can fuckin’ rely on his word.”
After a moment of silence following Hellfire’s vehement and welcome comments in defence of me, Sparky wonders aloud, “We tellin’ the cops about the other businesses?”
“Nah,” Hellfire tells him. “Couldn’t keep a citizen’s murder from them, but if someone’s coming for us, I want to handle it ourselves. I want us to find out who’s fuckin’ with the club. Once we know we’ll send a message that teaches people not to mess with us.”
They start having a discussion about who it could be. All I can do is listen and learn. It’s like being a new patch all over again, but at least in Tucson, even as a prospect I’d had some notion of who the local players were, long before I’d been invited to sit at the table. Here I’ve no idea, and don’t want to keep asking for explanations of names they’re throwing around.
As I keep my mouth closed and my ears open, I notice Taser’s not the only one who’s been giving me looks of suspicion. Maybe, as Hellfire suggested, they just think I’m a bad omen, bringing bad luck along with me.
It comes as no surprise they’re going to have more eyes on all the businesses. When tasks are assigned, I put up my hand to volunteer, but it’s telling when I have nothing given to me.
They don’t trust me.
Part of me wants to give up and go back to the brothers I know and love. Another part wants to earn the trust of these men, to show who I am and what I can do. Not that I’m free to leave in any event. I’m bound by my promise to Jayden.
I’m not in the best of moods when church comes to an end. An even worse one when I collect my phone to find a reply to my text.
Jay: Don’t bother. I’ve got a headache.
Fuck this shit. I’m stuck here with men who don’t trust me. The reason why, Jayden, is giving me the run around. Fine and headache are female speak for being pissed off. It’s not my fault, I’d have moved heaven and earth to see her, but I can’t put her in front of my club. Angry, I decide to have a drink and drown my sorrows now I’ve no reason to stay sober.
I’ve seen the way the club girls look at me. I’m fresh meat to them, the unknown. I’m not surprised when I walk into the clubroom that one of the scantily clad women comes over. Breezy, I think her name is.
“Hey, want to have some fun?” Her hand lands on my back, slides down to my ass, and moves blatantly around to my cock.
I snatch her hand away. “Nah,” I tell her. As her face falls, I soften my response. “Not tonight, babe.”
She huffs, but soon finds another victim. Or lucky guy, I suppose. As I watch what I’ve just turned down, Lizard now getting an enthusiastic blow job on one of the couches, part of me wonders why I had.
Chapter Eighteen
Jayden
A tearful goodbye shared with Ella, while the prospect and Slick waited impatiently. I wasn’t even going to the airport to see them off. Instead I was staying home with Moira, a woman I haven’t got the measure of yet.
I can’t wait to see Paladin. We’ve never been apart so long before. I’d see him everyday in the clubhouse. I can’t remember a time we’ve gone twenty-four hours without seeing each other. He’s bound to be missing me too, I’m certain. Perhaps he’ll take me to explore this new place on the back of his bike. I’ve never ridden with him before, Slick and Ella wouldn’t allow me. I wasn’t stupid, I knew a woman riding up behind a man meant something in the biker world, but if I was going to end up with Paladin, what was there to stop me now?
I’m sad to see my sister leave, but there’s also a kernel of excitement bubbling inside, vying to push my sorrow away. I’ve got so much freedom now. There’s nobody coming after me, no threat of kidnap around every corner. For the first time in three years I feel safe, ready to take the next step into my life.
I lost my innocence a long time ago. I grew to be a woman much too early. Ella had done everything she could to give me my childhood back, and although I was grateful, I had felt restricted by the rules that had been imposed. Now Pal and I have the freedom to really explore what we mean to each other. I can’t wait to see him.
So I watch the car leave wiping tears from my eyes, but looking forward to exerting my new independence. As the taillights fade into the distance, my phone buzzes in my pocket.
Pal: Got shit to do. Will try and see you later.
What? How dare he? He promised he wouldn’t leave me alone. I’m in a strange town, in a strange house with strangers. And he’s blowing me off? My first instinct is to run after Ella and Slick, try to stop them, make them take me home. My second, once I realise that’s futile, is to be so annoyed I could throw my phone. I don’t, messaging him back simply,
Jay: Fine
“You okay?” Moira’s looking at me cautiously, and I realise she’s reading every nuance of the expressions crossing my face. Sadness, pleasure, annoyance. I wonder how much I’m inadvertently giving away.
My impulse is to stamp my foot and scream. But I’m more mature than that. While she’s a stranger to me, I’m no more than that to her. She’s been kind enough to give me a place to stay, I ought to at least not be difficult.
“Yeah. I’m fine.” She cocks her head and gives a half-smile, managing to convey she doesn’t believe it. So I give her more. “I thought Pal was coming over, but he’s got things to do.”
“Your young man.” Her lips purse slightly. “I expect Hell’s keeping him busy. He transferred as a member of the club.”
Letting out a deep sigh, I re
luctantly agree, “You’re probably right. It’s just that, in Tucson, he was my shadow. There wasn’t a day I didn’t see him. Even before we had to move back to the compound, we went there every day. I’d look after the children, and he’d always be around. I miss him, you know?”
“Coffee?”
What? It takes a second to process her question, then I nod, and follow her into the kitchen. I take the stool she indicates while she busies herself making us drinks.
As she does, she says conversationally over her shoulder. “Might do you good to have some time apart.”
She doesn’t understand our relationship. “We came here to be together,” I tell her. “Pal’s been my friend since…” My voice trails off. I’ve talked about it with my therapist, but still don’t like other people knowing what happened to me.
Moira’s quiet for a moment, and then a cup of coffee appears before me, and she sits on the opposite side of the counter. “You’re living in my house now, Jayden, and I hope we’re going to be friends. I know some of what happened to you, not everything, but enough. I know you’re going to miss your sister, but please understand that you can talk to me. Confide in me.”
As an opening gambit, it pulls me up. I’m immediately concerned she knows any of the details about my past, then realise, Ella would have had to have explained something about why the Herreras were a threat to me.
My silence encourages her to continue. “I got married when I wasn’t much older than you.” She blows on her drink to cool it. “I was only seventeen. We’ve been married thirty-six years now.”
Is she telling me a relationship can work even if you step into it early? My brow creases. If Moira is someone I can talk to about how I’m feeling, it could be useful to have a woman I could bounce my thoughts off. I couldn’t, with Ella. Any reference to that time and what happened a taboo topic between us. All Ella wanted to know was that I was moving past it. I hadn’t wanted to trouble her with how much it still preyed on my mind.
Moira seems to be waiting for me to continue the conversation. “So you were little more than my age when you married Hellfire?” I sip my own coffee even though it’s too hot.
Satan's Devils MC Colorado Boxset 1 Books 1 - 3 Page 16
