Sabotage: A Vigilante Justice Novel

by Kristin Harte

  So gross. “I’m not hiring.”

  The bikers chuckled, three of them dismounting their rides as they did.

  “My loss,” the one said. “I’ll take you up on that tour, though, sir.”

  “Name’s Sam.” He turned my way, giving me a serious look that spoke volumes. “Why don’t you head on out of here? You’ve got things to do.”

  “You’re not staying, beautiful?” one of the bikers hollered.

  I shook my head, clutching my keys and looking from the biker to Sam and back. “I need to get some work done. You sure you’re okay, Sam?”

  He flinched, the only tell I could spot of his lie as he said, “I’ll be fine. Now, get.”

  He was not going to be fine. I knew that to the very depths of my soul. I hated leaving him, hated knowing that I was running from danger and forcing him to face it alone, but I had Beckett to worry about. I needed to get off that mountain. Needed to make it back to Justice to keep my boy safe.

  This was not the hill I was going to die on.

  “I’ll call you when I get back to the office,” I said, raising my voice enough so everyone could hear me. “Oh, and Alder had said something about coming up this way this afternoon, so I’d expect him within the hour.”

  Sam nodded, likely understanding the lie was more for the bikers than for him. Hopefully getting what I was trying to say—I’ll call for help. I’ll send backup. Just hang on.

  “Drive safe,” Sam said, and the realization that he hadn’t said my name the entire time the bikers were there slammed into me. Sam was protecting me the only way he could—getting me off the mountain and keeping my identity a secret. I owed that man hugely.

  No one stopped me from climbing into my truck. No one blocked my path as I headed down the driveway and back onto the mountain road. Not a single bike followed me down the mountain, and still, I couldn’t stop shaking. Couldn’t get my hands to hold still. Tremors racked my body, and my stomach twisted to the point that I felt I might be sick all over myself. Didn’t matter. No way was I stopping until I made it back to Justice. But the thought of Sam up there alone ate at me, and the knowledge that whoever I called would be going up against six bikers had me pulling a slip of paper from my bag. Had me typing in a number I had saved but assumed I’d never use.

  Had me sending a text to the one man who might just be more dangerous than the six on that hill.

  Chapter Five

  PARRIS

  RAVEL of the Black Angels might have been the most sadistic bastard I’d ever met, which was saying something, considering how long I’d been dealing with Edge.

  “She needs to be taught a lesson.”

  Yeah, Ravel was talking about Jinx. As he had been all fucking night and morning. I hadn’t slept yet, hadn’t even taken a break from the drug-fueled party Edge and Ravel were throwing. The women they’d brought—all ten of them—lay scattered throughout the trailer. Some piled on top of others, some camping out on the floor. All of them bloodied and bruised. And high. So very high.

  “She’s at that fucking motel in Justice,” Ravel said, snorting what had to be the tenth line of coke I’d seen him consume. “Just go get her.”

  Edge had become the voice of reason, definitely an odd turn of events. “I’m not going to do shit. She’ll come back. And when she does, I’ll make her pay for this shit.”

  I nodded, making a mental note to tell Deacon to keep a tighter rein on Jinx. Just in case. “You gotta make her want to come back. Otherwise, she’ll keep running.”

  The words were what I needed to say, what the guys needed to hear, but they still brought bile up the back of my throat. If they ever got their hands on Jinx again, they’d kill her. No doubt in my mind. Just as they’d killed her mom right under my nose. I couldn’t save Jinx without blowing my cover, and I couldn’t stop them from obsessing over her either. I’d tried with her mom, but I’d failed. Miserably.

  And that was something I refused to live through again.

  “Fucking Zed,” Edge said, reaching for one of the women passed out on the couch next to him and groping her ass. “He never should have played her in that game.”

  The card game where we’d lost ownership of Jinx to the Soul Suckers. The impetus that had led to us coming to Colorado to back up that crew on their ridiculous Justice mission.

  The thing that had brought me to Mercy and Beckett.

  Two people I definitely shouldn’t be thinking about right then.

  “I took care of it,” Ravel said before taking a long swig of some sort of dark whiskey.

  “Taking his colors was a good punishment,” I said. “Losing his brothers will stick with him.”

  Ravel slammed the bottle down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, giving me a look that spoke volumes. “Right. That.”

  And just like that, I knew he’d killed Zed. Something I hadn’t been aware of. Something the national president likely knew nothing about. Cartel might, though. The man had informants all over—probably more than one in our Vegas chapter. He might have been playing the game from different angles, looking for ways to gain information I couldn’t give him.

  And likely setting up for my disposal should things go south.

  Not that I blamed them for killing Zed. Hell, I would have done so once my mission for Cartel ended for sure. If my mission ended with me alive.

  One of the women reached up and grabbed my thigh, likely still high as fuck and looking for something I wasn’t willing to give. Not anymore. Past-me might have taken part—gotten my dick wet just to kill the time. Since meeting Mercy? No fucking way.

  I stood and walked toward the back of the trailer, trying hard not to show how much I didn’t want her touching me. Didn’t want to see all the naked flesh around me. All the human meat ready for slaughter. Edge had a decent hold on his obsession with blood, it seemed, but I had no idea how long he’d hang on to it. Eventually, these women would be replaced by new ones, never to be seen again. Some would leave, some would hook up with other bikers and work their way through the circuit. And some…well, some wouldn’t be breathing once Edge was done with them.

  A fact that needed to be dealt with once Cartel pulled his head out of his ass.

  “Leaving us?” Edge said, his voice rough. He had his hand between a chick’s thighs, drawing moans from her as she lay there with her eyes hazy and unfocused. Fuck, I wished I could have left.

  “Nah, just gotta piss.”

  I locked myself in the closet of a bathroom and took a deep breath, leaning over the tiny sink and avoiding looking in the mirror. Tired. I was bone-tired. Exhausted from lack of sleep but also drained. Two years of this shit—of being undercover for a club I’d never wanted to join in the first place—had left me feeling empty. Weak, almost. Not that I could be. I needed to keep my wits about me, keep my back protected, and power through this mission. Then and only then could I even begin thinking about getting back to what I truly wanted—hunting down the man they called Wolf and giving him the long, slow death he deserved. Avenging my sister once and for all. And if I ended up back in prison for it, I’d serve every fucking second with a smile on my face knowing I’d done what I needed to.

  A picture of Beckett—all big grin and missing tooth—flashed in my head just before another one of Mercy. A reminder of the tease I’d gotten last night. Of the life I could have had if I hadn’t gotten messed up in the Black Angels in the first place.

  Maybe. Just maybe. Someday. But certainly not today.

  I finally looked up. Hating the face in the mirror. The age and wrinkles showing there. The obvious exhaustion. I would have to be better if I wanted a shot at them. At that life.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket, drawing my attention from the old man staring back at me. I grabbed it and swiped the screen without thought, assuming the text was from one of the guys in my crew.

  I was so damn wrong.

  Bikers at a customer of mine’s place. I’m away, but I’m worried for him. Should I ca
ll the Kennards?

  The number didn’t come up as one in my contacts, but it didn’t have to. That could only be Mercy. And she was in trouble. I was running through the trailer before I even started to respond, ignoring Edge’s and Ravel’s yells without a second thought. Fuck them and fuck this club. My girl needed me.

  Where?

  Another ping came through as I reached my bike. She’d sent a pin for a spot close by, likely up in the hills overlooking the campground. Smart girl. I tapped to get directions then started the bike, turning on the Bluetooth in my helmet so I could hear the instructions the GPS would lay out for me. Taking the time to send her a response before rolling out.

  Give me fifteen minutes. You see one bike, you drive like hell for the store.

  But as I hit the road outside of the campground, I slowed to a stop and grabbed my phone again. Needing to send one more message. To Deacon Manns.

  Need backup—Mercy Bell in trouble.

  When his response came in, the robotic voice of my phone read it to me.

  Out of town with Alder. I can send Gage—where?

  Fuck. I pulled over again, heart racing and irritation high. Definitely needed to buy a cage. Texting and driving might have been dangerous, but less so than trying to steer a bike and send a message.

  Tell him to start here and keep an eye out for her truck.

  I forwarded him the pin and tucked my phone away, roaring toward the destination once more. I was about halfway there when an SUV came barreling down the highway toward me. The face staring back at me through the windshield was my beauty, and she looked scared as fuck. I raised my hand, hoping she’d understand it was me, and did a one-eighty right there on the highway to follow her. She pulled over, hopping out of the vehicle and walking toward me with her arms crossed. Looking scared and small.

  I’d never dismounted my bike and run so fast in my life.

  “Are you okay?” I asked before I even reached her.

  “Yeah, Sam might not be, though. I felt bad leaving him, but—”

  “Don’t.” I grabbed her, unable not to. Needing to hug her and stop the trembles I could see shaking her body. Needing to know she was safe. “Never feel bad for putting yourself and your son first. Never.”

  Her broken sob gutted me, and the way she clung to my shoulders only made the guilt worse. This girl had exploded into my life, taking up space in my heart I hadn’t even known existed. I was the most dangerous thing to her, but I was also the only one who’d give his life for her.

  And right then, I needed her to be okay.

  “Go on home,” I said, even though the words tasted like a lie. I didn’t want her to leave my side, didn’t want to let her out of my sight. But the safest place for her—other than right the fuck next to me—was in Justice. She needed to get home, and I apparently needed to lay down some fucking rules for whoever had scared her. “I’ll head up there and check things out.”

  “What if they follow me?”

  I’d kill every last one of them. “Gage’s already on his way. He’ll follow you home.”

  “Will you be okay?”

  Oh, that voice. That concern. It made my balls hang heavy and my cock hard as stone. Mercy Bell was worried about me—I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had given a single fuck on my behalf.

  “I’ll be fine,” I said, tucking her hair behind her ear and wishing like hell that I could taste those plump lips just once. Knowing now was the worst possible time to even think such a thing.

  Deal with bikers first. Kiss the fuck out of her later.

  “Go,” I said, directing her toward her truck. “It’s birthday dinner night.”

  She nodded, her arms dropping to hold herself together. Turning her back on me as she walked away. Before she reached her truck, though, she stopped. “Birthday dinner will be at The Baker’s Cottage at six. If you happen to be free.”

  Well, fuck me. I hadn’t been expecting that. And even though the invite was likely under duress—some sort of misguided appreciation for me jumping in to help her friend—I wasn’t too noble to take advantage. “I told Beckett I’ll be there, so I will.”

  She nodded, looking almost lost. “Okay. See you later, then.”

  I sure as hell hoped so.

  I watched as she pulled out onto the road, not turning for my bike until she’d passed over the next hill and disappeared from sight. Gage had better be on the road to meet her. If she got hurt along the way, if she ran into more bikers…

  If she ran into guys like me, she’d be in trouble.

  But I had to trust in Gage—had to put faith in my teammate. I might not have known him for long, but the guy was solid. A true soldier. He’d protect Mercy until I could get back to her.

  Not really good enough, but it would have to do.

  I rode up the rest of the way to the little cabin in the woods that overlooked the campground. No wonder the guys had come up here—anyone who might see their antics would be considered a threat. I could understand the logic, but I certainly wouldn’t let them screw with the guy. He was Mercy’s friend, and that meant he deserved my protection.

  But as I came to a stop in the driveway and six bikers walked out of the barn with an older man behind them, the error of my thinking became clear. They weren’t Black Angels—they were Soul Suckers. All of them. And at least one I’d already had a run-in with the night Jinx had stupidly decided to go to the truck stop for ice cream with Finn Kennard.

  Motherfucker.

  “What’s going on, boys?”

  One of the Soul Suckers—a guy with the road name Goose on his cut—lifted his chin at me. “Got a problem?”

  I shrugged and held out my hands, still straddling my bike. “Not at all, just wondering what a group of Soul Suckers was doing up on this hill. You do realize that’s a Black Angels camp down there, don’t you?”

  “That’s why we came up this way. Tiny mentioned seeing the lights, and since we owed him a favor, we figured we’d take a ride up here and make sure there was nothing to worry about. There’s nothing to worry about, right, Sam?”

  The older man nodded, not looking at me. Sporting one heck of a red mark on his cheek that would likely become a bruise in a few hours. “Nothing to worry about at all.”

  The bullshit was thick with these guys. “Good, then. No sense in bothering this man anymore if there’s not a problem.”

  Goose stared my way, locking eyes with me and not letting go. I could stare down the best, though. Had learned in the military to keep my cool and control the situation with very little action.

  It worked, too. Goose broke first. “I’ll tell Tiny you’re keeping an eye on things.”

  Tiny again—the enforcer of the Vegas Black Angels crew. What he was doing dealing with the Soul Suckers, I wasn’t sure, but they were making sure I knew where their orders had come from. Which was fine. I could play the name-drop game, too.

  “You do that. I’ll mention it to him, too. He’s been a little on edge lately—your friend Coyote must have done some serious shit to stir up the hornet’s nest in Justice.”

  Goose’s smile faltered, his stare hardening. “Don’t know much about that. Heard there was a fire. Maybe even a dead girl, though I don’t know what such a tragic accident would have to do with Coyote.”

  As if I didn’t already know it was some Soul Sucker named Coyote who’d killed a woman named Leah in Justice. As if Alder Kennard hadn’t already told me about the other fire the Soul Suckers had set, the one that had burned his fiancée’s trailer. I knew, all right, and I wasn’t about to let them off the hook. “Really? I heard different.”

  One of the other bikers chuckled. “Tell the asshole not to tag his work next time.”

  His work. Like killing a woman was just a normal day at the office. Which, for guys like these, it might have been. A thought that made my blood run cold—they’d kill Mercy without a second thought. Especially if it worked in their favor.

  “Well,” said Goose, shoving the
older gentleman backward. “I believe our work here is done anyway. Right, Sam?”

  The guy nodded, looking beaten-down and defeated. “Absolutely. All done.”

  Goose laughed before heading my way, passing by far too close on his way to his bike. Purposefully looking at the name on my coat before smiling my way.

  “Hope to see you again, Parris.”

  I nodded, keeping my eyes on all of them. Not relaxing my stance until every last one had driven up the driveway and turned onto the road leading down the mountain.

  Leaving me alone with Sam.

  “You okay, old man?”

  Sam huffed. “Why would you care?”

  I wouldn’t, except for one reason. “I’m a friend of Mercy’s. She called me to step in.” But that really wasn’t it, and watching that man—likely twenty years my senior—pull himself together to glare my way struck me with a truth hammer I couldn’t avoid. “Besides, I’m not like them.”

  Sam looked me up and down, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth and not giving me an inch. “Could have fooled me.”

  Because I looked like them. Because I’d been them, just not as bad. Maybe. Fuck, I wasn’t even sure anymore. I’d done bad things thinking I was right because there were reasons backing me up. Reasons that made me feel less like a murderer and more like an avenging angel.

  And it was all such bullshit.

  I reached inside my jacket, pulling out the same pen and notepad I’d used last night. The one I’d written the same numbers down on for Mercy. Hoping Sam would eventually trust me enough to use them just as she had. “Look, you run into those guys again, let me know.”

  He took the paper, though I had a feeling it would likely end up in the trash. “We don’t need more bikers around here.”

  They definitely didn’t. They needed me, though. “I’m not just a biker.”

  But I was. At least on the outside. And by the distrust in Sam’s eyes and the way he turned and headed for his house without waiting for me to leave was just the way the people of Justice should have been treating me. It was what I deserved.