Bayou Devils MC: The Complete Series

by A. M. Myers

  “And then nothing again until Veronica went missing in early two thousand nineteen?” Blaze asks and I nod.

  “At least, nothing that we know about yet. Veronica did mention that Warren might have had a role to play or influenced shit with Ali back then,” I say, pointing to the date in two thousand seventeen. “But until it’s confirmed, I don’t want to put it up on the board.”

  Fuzz sighs. “Everything picked up this year.”

  “Yeah, I realized that, too,” I tell him, turning back to the board. For the first two years, there was only one death a year but this year, we’ve had a girl go missing, another die, Tawny trying to frame Moose for assault, the break-in at the clubhouse, and Veronica showing up on our doorstep. Sighing, I turn back to him. “It makes me think we’re nearing the end of his little game.”

  “I don’t like the fucking sound of that,” Storm growls, raking a hand through his hair and a ripple of unease works its way through the room. Blaze sighs and sits forward.

  “Okay, we need to look into the cabin… Fuzz and Storm, I want you to do that but be discreet. We can’t afford to piss this guy off anymore and I want to remind you all that we may be dealing with a lot but Fuzz and Piper’s vow renewal is coming up soon and we’re not going to let this asshole steal even a moment of their happiness. Is that clear?”

  I look at each of my brothers as they all nod in agreement and all the changes that have happened in the last two years. I’ve built a real family with all of the people in this room and I have to wonder if we’ll all be standing here when this thing is finally over or if we’ll be burying more people that we love. Or if we’ll even have a club to come home to.

  Chapter Nine

  Warren

  Big, fat rain droplets splatter against my windshield as I climb out of the car and I cast an annoyed glance at the dark gray sky hanging over me before grabbing the box of supplies I brought along out of the passenger seat and slam the door. I’ve got a long walk ahead of me since I like to park so far away to avoid detection from anyone who may be passing by and I would prefer to do it in dry conditions. Not to mention that this weather will only make it harder to do what I came here to do. I will have to be extra careful and it will take time, time I don’t have. Shoving my free hand in the pocket of my jeans, I start walking toward the cabin, eager to get there as soon as possible so I can finally put this place behind me and move on to the next stage of my plan. It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since this all started, since I managed to find this little cabin out in the woods and finally put all of this into motion. Especially since there were times when I wasn’t sure it would work, that I would actually make it here, but now that we’re nearing the end, I cannot wait to watch the destruction. After everything I’ve lost… everything they took from me… this is justice.

  The forest is quiet as I walk along with the box tucked securely under my arm and I spot a few landmarks that are familiar to me. Seeing them gives me this weird sense of peace and it’s hard to believe that this is the last time I’m going to be out here. Over the last year, I’ve spent so much time at this cabin that it started to feel a little like home. I scoff at the word. I don’t have a home, not really, and it would be monumentally stupid of me to forget that fact. This place is nothing to me and once it’s all over, I doubt I’ll ever think of it again. It was a tool and it’s been incredibly useful, in more ways than one, but it’s served its purpose and when I finally end this, I’ll be walking away from everything here in Baton Rouge. Not that there is much left for me here anyway. Memories of my life before it collided with the Devils floods my mind and I grit my teeth as the pain in my chest swells. I can’t ever forget what they took from me or why I’ve put in the insane amount of work it’s taken to make all of this come together.

  The cabin comes into view and I stop, moving behind a tree as I scan the area until I’m certain that no one else has been here since I left the last time. As I move closer to the little log structure, I smile. I know Streak went to go see Tawny this morning and hopefully the dumb bitch remembered just enough information to lead him here but first, I need to get the place ready. We can’t have company coming over before each room is looking its best. As I step up onto the back porch, I set the box down next to the stairs and shake off my boots as I grab the white crime scene booties from the box and slip them on. The hair net comes next and after I snap it over my head, I grab the latex gloves and pull them on. Once I’m all decked out in my gear, I grab the bottle of cleaner and sponge I brought along and step inside. The place is still pretty clean since I scrubbed it down right after I released Veronica but I need to go through it with a fine tooth comb and make sure there isn’t a single shred of evidence left for them to find.

  Except for the things I want them to find, that is.

  Laughing to myself, I get to work, starting in the tiny bathroom at the back of the cabin and scrubbing every surface once before I go back and do it again for good measure. When I’m finished, I go out to the main room and look around. It was supposed to be a living room slash bedroom when I bought the place but the only things I needed in here were the twin bed in the corner and the shackles in the middle of the floor where I kept Veronica secure for so many months. She is the one thing in all of this that I actually felt a little bit bad about. I mean, she didn’t really have anything to do with the club until I brought her into this whole mess and after talking to her, I realized that she was exactly the kind of girl I would have gone for before the Devils stole my life from me. But it doesn’t matter. I can never go back and now, neither can she. Shaking my head, I push away the memories of all our talks in this room and get back to work, scrubbing the shackles and the hook embedded in the floor before moving on to the windowsills and the walls. The mattress was replaced after Veronica was released so I don’t have to worry about them finding anything there either. Once I’m done in the main room, I duck into the small kitchen and scrub everything there before going back to my box on the back porch and grabbing the photos I brought along.

  It’s been so goddamn easy to mess with these guys and this is just going to be another level on top of all of that. They have no fucking idea how deep this goes and how many situations I’ve had my fingers in, influencing others when I needed to and keeping the Devils distracted with dumb bullshit when I was making big moves. It’s actually comical how clueless they are.

  Or maybe I’m just that good.

  Back in the main room, I tape the photos to the wall and hang the white mask I always wore around Veronica on a nail before taking a step back and looking at it with a smile. The best part of all this is that while they may have suspicions about my involvement in things, they’ll never find any concrete proof and that will drive them crazy - Streak especially. My mind drifts to the night I snuck up to the clubhouse and my smile grows when I think about Rowan. I’ve learned quite a lot about her since that night and the more I learn, the more intrigued I am. I’ve honestly been toying with the idea of adding her to the plan but things have been working so well that I don’t want to mess anything up.

  God, I want her, though.

  The sound of gravel crunching grabs my attention and I walk over to the window, pulling the curtain back just enough to peek outside. A smile stretches across my face as Storm’s truck rolls up the narrow driveway to the front door. “Perfect.”

  I watch them park and climb out of the cab before I slip out onto the back porch and quietly close the door behind me with my heart hammering in my chest and adrenaline pumping through my veins. Fuck, this is everything. One of my favorite things about this whole chase has been that they have no clue who they are looking for and it’s been so easy for me to blend into a crowd and watch them. But this, this fear and excitement about the small possibility that I could get caught is even sweeter than I imagined.

  “Let’s check out inside,” Storm says and I nod eagerly. A part of me can’t wait for them to find the present I left inside but there is another part
of me that wishes I could take them out, here and now. Storm is one of the names on my list and I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve laid awake, imagining wrapping my hands around his throat and watching the life drain from his eyes but deep down, I know it’s not enough. He needs to bleed, metaphorically and physically, before I take his life. But how convenient would it be if they were to find me out here and I had no other choice but to kill them? Then again, it wouldn’t be too hard to attach another set of shackles to the hook in the floor and take my time exacting my revenge on them.

  “We should do a perimeter check.”

  “No,” I hiss, shaking my head at Fuzz’s suggestion as I turn to look at the forest around me. There really is nowhere for me to hide right now and this can’t end yet. It’s too fucking soon and they haven’t hurt enough yet.

  “Dude, look around,” Storm shoots back with a sigh. “No one is here and we haven’t even seen another car for the last twenty minutes. This place is fucking remote.”

  “And what if he’s here?”

  He is, I think to myself, smiling.

  God, they don’t have a fucking clue.

  “This place is abandoned. He’s gotten all he can from it so let’s stop wasting our time and just see if there is anything inside.”

  “Fine, whatever,” Fuzz growls and I turn, peeking in the window as they open the front door and step inside. Their gazes are immediately drawn to the artwork on the wall and I feel damn near giddy as I watch their matching scowls.

  “What the fuck is this?” Storm murmurs, walking up to the photo of Clay, Smith’s brother… or should I say, late brother. He rips it off the wall and stares at the image, a range of emotions flicking across his face, before he passes it to Fuzz. “What the fuck is this supposed to mean?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” Fuzz answers, his eyes snapping up to the other photos on the wall. There is a photo from each of their relationships on the wall, something that they each went through with their old ladies like the charity ball Carly attended with Chance where her mother sold her to Damian Griggs or the day Biche shot up Henn and Kady’s wedding. The fun part will be watching them try to figure out which events I had a part in and which ones I didn’t. Or maybe they’ll just assume I was involved in all of them and go crazy trying to protect the ones they love from the big bad wolf. Either way works for me. I glance down at the photo in my hand, the only one I saved from the wall and smile at the sight of Rowan propped up on Streak’s desk with her head thrown back and her eyes closed.

  This one is just for me.

  “It’s the mask Veronica talked about,” Storm says, drawing my attention back to them as he flicks the mask with his fingers in irritation. I can’t stop smiling as I move away from the window and quietly slip off of the porch. They don’t have much more to look through and I want to be well hidden by the time they come back out so I grab my box and jog into the trees. There is a particularly thick section of brush far enough away from the back door to avoid detection and I slip behind it. It’s quiet for a few moments and I grit my teeth, wondering what the hell they’re doing in there and wishing I had stayed on the back porch when Storm yanks open the back door. My breath catches in my throat as I watch him scan the forest around me and my heart hammers in my chest. Finally, he shakes his head.

  “There is nothing here,” he calls to Fuzz before shutting the door and I laugh to myself quietly. Stupid. Just fucking stupid. Although watching him struggle to figure this out makes me realize I’m glad I didn’t act impulsively and just murder both of them right here because seeing their frustration is so much more fun for me. And shouldn’t I have a little fun with this? Besides, they deserve any and all pain I can dish out to them.

  I wait a few more minutes before I hear the truck doors slam and I watch them drive away from the cabin, thinking of the next step in the plan. The action is about to ramp up and I am so going to enjoy ripping apart everything they hold dear.

  Chapter Ten

  Rowan

  My phone buzzes in my pocket and I sigh as I set the knife down on the counter and pull it out as I glance at the chaos around me. Shaking my head, I turn back to my phone and roll my eyes when I see Ash’s name on the screen along with his dumb smiling face. Silencing it, I shove it back in my pocket as I try to brush off my irritation but I’m not very successful. This is the third time he has called me today, which is less than the five times he called yesterday, but it’s still three times too many. I haven’t answered a single call since I spoke to him in Texas but he just keeps trying, leaving me increasingly agitated and rude messages. They started out innocent enough, with him saying that he hoped I was ready to talk and that he missed me but the last couple have been endless rants about me leaving him and what a cold-hearted bitch I am for leaving him and throwing us away.

  Whatever.

  You wanna know what I don’t give a single fuck about? Ash’s opinion of me. Besides, he doesn’t have a single goddamn leg to stand on after I found him, dick deep, in Holly, the skank.

  “Who was that?” Tate asks, nudging me with her shoulder and I sigh as I glance over at her, rolling my eyes to emphasis my annoyance.

  “Ash, douchebag ex-boyfriend extraordinaire.”

  She makes a face as she looks up from her cutting board. “Are you still speaking to him? After what he did to you?”

  “Absolutely not. The last time I talked to him was when I was in Texas and that was just to tell him that we were done and he needed to move on with his life but he’s not getting the hint.”

  “How many times has he called?”

  I arch a brow. “Today? Three times.”

  “Do we need to be worried about him?” she asks and warmth spreads through my chest. When she says “we”, she’s not just talking about her and Lincoln. She’s talking about this club as a whole and every single one of its members. I haven’t been here all that long but that doesn’t seem to matter because as soon as I walked through the front door, I found myself a new little family. It doesn’t diminish the pain of the ones I’ve lost but it is nice to feel like I belong somewhere and that I’ve got people who have my back. After feeling so alone in Alaska, it’s absolutely incredible and this place already feels like home.

  “No, Ash isn’t like that, at all. It’s just annoying that he can’t get a fucking clue. Besides, you would think Holly would be keeping him so busy that he wouldn’t even have time to worry about little old me.”

  “Is that the girl he cheated on you with?” she asks and I nod. She makes a stabbing motion with her knife and I can’t help but laugh. “Were you direct with him?”

  “Like a fucking lightning bolt.”

  “Well,” she muses as she starts chopping again. “You could always just hand the phone to your brother and let him deal with this loser.”

  “Ah, yes, but then I would have to tell him what this loser did and I thought we were trying to keep him from jumping on a plane.”

  She purses her lips before her smile turns devious. “You’re right… but I could always have a little chat with him.”

  “Are you even scary over the phone? Without your gun or taser?”

  “Oh, don’t you dare underestimate me,” she warns with a heated look and I hold my hands up in surrender. Truthfully, I’m just giving her a hard time. I have no doubt that Tate could make Ash piss himself with her words alone and if it comes to it, I’m not above letting her do just that. I want to be done with the whole damn thing.

  “Okay, I won’t and if he doesn’t leave me alone, I promise to let you loose on him.”

  She grins and does a little shimmy next to me. “Christmas has come early this year.”

  “Speaking of, is anyone planning on doing anything for Christmas? I mean, I realize everyone is feeling the stress of this threat against the club right now but we should at least put up a tree, right?”

  “Maybe we’ll bring it up at dinner,” she says, motioning to the chaos around us. I look around the room
and sigh. All of the girls have been running around this kitchen for the last two and a half hours, working their asses off to make some big family dinner for all of us and I know the guys have been super stressed the past few days but I don’t know that this will help. Actually, I’m not even sure exactly what happened but I did hear something about a cabin, some photos, and the threat to the club. The whole thing has every single member on edge and their paranoia has been getting to all of us. The tension has been almost unbearable and on top of all that, Travis has been locked in his room almost twenty-four-seven since yesterday morning and I haven’t gotten a chance to be alone with him since our little rendezvous in his car two days ago. My cheeks heat as I think about that morning. Honestly, I don’t know what came over me but I couldn’t stop myself.

  Neither one of us could.

  “You know what I really need?” I ask and she arches a brow as she glances over at me. “Everyone to take a damn chill pill. I mean, have they ever considered that they all are playing right into his hand?”

  “Just give it a rest, girl. I tried the same speech with Lincoln and he damn near tore my head off. They’re all worried and us being so flippant about it isn’t helping.”

  I sigh. “I’m not being flippant but there is no way that any of them are thinking clearly right now and it just seems like they are letting this guy get the best of them.”

  “Has anyone explained the whole situation to you?”

  “Yeah,” I whisper, my mind drifting back to the diner with Travis two days ago. “Streak did.”

  “Then you know how serious it is.”

  I nod. “I do. But I also think they need to be smart about how they handle all of this. Whoever this guy is keeps winning because they are all wound so damn tight and scared of the next thing that is going to happen.”

  “You’re preaching to the choir, girl, but all we can do is try to help them chill out and think clearly. Which is why this dinner is so important… well, and we have an ulterior motive…”