“Absolutely not,” he replied thickly. “You’re the first person I’ve ever told,” he admitted as my index finger drew patterns on his skin. “Everyone here just knew and after I left, I didn’t talk about it.”
“I’m glad you told me,” I whispered against his shoulder.
“You were right. I did abandon my family.”
“I –” A sigh escaped me. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“You did, and you would know what that felt like better than anyone.” He cleared his throat. “I knew they were here. That when I came back, they’d take me back, no questions asked.”
“It must be nice,” I murmured inaudibly, but he heard.
“I didn’t realize until tonight how,” he paused, searching for something. “How special that is,” he finally said. “How much I took it for granted.”
“You were going to get the tattoo,” I mentioned. “Does that mean?”
“Do I plan to stay?” He inhaled then with an exhale said, “Yeah.” He skimmed his hand over my back. “When we get Rob, what do you plan to do afterwards? You gonna work in the tattoo shop?”
“The one that burned to the ground?”
“It can be rebuilt. Trust me.”
I pressed my head into his shoulder, closing my eyes. “I don’t know what I’ll do. If I’ll even stay.” His hand stilled. “I don’t know.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Cord
“We’re meeting Ronnie at the shop in half an hour. If she gives us the location we’ll need to move quickly in case she decided to tell Rob,” I informed them, my gaze settling on Tori before quickly moving. I didn’t know what to make of our nighttime confessions or the fact that I’d decided to stay and she might leave.
“We’ll just keep someone with Ronnie, make sure she doesn’t alert Rob,” Creed suggested and Sloan raised her hand.
“You don’t have to raise your hand,” I muttered and she shrugged.
“Candy will keep an eye on Ronnie for us. She owes me,” Sloan volunteered and I nodded.
“Fine.”
“Are we really sure Ronnie’s going to give Rob up?” Tori questioned. “It doesn’t sound like she’s loyal to the club.”
“Ronnie will do the right thing,” Clutch answered, his voice sharp and Tori sat back. “She doesn’t know what he’s into. She’ll help us when we explain,” he continued, tempering his voice.
“The Aces agreed to help us,” Creed mentioned. “They’re waiting for a location. Johnny said they were impressed.”
“That’s all on Clutch,” I replied, giving him a nod. “He hung out with them for over eight hours. I hope you made us look good.”
He chuckled in reply. “They have considerable respect for our enforcers now.”
“Enforcers?” Tori questioned, glancing at him and then me. “You have more than one?”
“Well, yeah,” he answered, his lip curling up as he stared at her. “Our two enforcers made that run yesterday.”
“Me?” She scoffed. “Why would you tell them that?”
“Because rumors have been going around about an Amazon beating up drug dealers and when they saw you, they put two and two together.” Clutch leaned back against the counter. “I figured telling them you were one of our enforcers would help them respect us.” He glanced at me. “Was I wrong?”
“No,” I replied, shaking my head.
“Except, I’m not one of your crew,” Tori reminded us.
“To them, you are,” Clutch said simply. “Now, let’s go. I don’t want to be late since we’re walking.”
I grabbed the walking stick I’d gone to get this morning. It had been right where Tori said, laying against my daughter’s grave, and as the curved head had settled into my hand, everything had clicked into place. I knew what I wanted, now I just had to make sure it happened.
“Walking’s good for you,” Tori commented, patting Clutch’s stomach as she sauntered past him. “Keeps you from getting a beer gut.”
“I don’t have a beer gut,” Clutch protested, lifting his shirt to inspect his flat stomach. “I’m beefy.”
It wasn’t long before we were at the back door of the salon and I could see Tori scanning the area. Rob had disappeared after the Crazy Horse and at the moment, Ronnie was our best lead on where to find him.
“I should have let you kill him,” she muttered and when I touched her side, she started in surprise but didn’t move away from my touch.
“Then we wouldn’t be able to find the drugs and Monty would still sell them,” I reminded her. “Rob’s the weak link.”
Clutch opened the back door, walking inside as we followed him. “Hey,” Ronnie said, her smile fading when she saw there were three of us. “What are you doing here?” We didn’t answer and she glanced at each of us, lingering on Tori. “You’re not here for the loan payment,” she acknowledged, pressing her lips together. “Not with two enforcers.”
“Seriously, that rumor spread fast,” Tori murmured under her breath. I opened my mouth to speak but Clutch beat me to it.
“Where’s Rob?” He asked flatly and Ronnie shook her head, keeping her expression blank.
“I have no idea. I haven’t seen him in days.”
“I don’t believe you,” Clutch replied, leaning forward and resting his hands on the desk. “You know where he is, but what I don’t know is if you realize he’s been supplying drugs.”
She shook her head, “No, he doesn’t do that. Not since…”
“Not since, Ashley. Is that what you were going to say?” I asked, my voice cracking like a whip.
“He wouldn’t,” Ronnie pleaded. “You have to believe me. He’s changed.”
Clutch reached over and grabbed her arm, shoving the sleeve up to reveal yellow bruises. “Really? When are you going to wise up, Ronnie? When he does it to Kara?”
“He would never,” she shouted, twisting her arm out of Clutch’s hold. “You don’t understand.” She shot me a vicious glare. “Why don’t you ask the drug addict over there? I’m sure she can tell you where the drugs are or maybe she just wants to keep them for herself.”
Tori rolled up my sleeves, examining the little pockmarks. “I kicked my habit, Ronnie. Clearly, you haven’t.”
“I don’t have a habit,” she protested, shaking her head as she leaned back. “I don’t use drugs.”
“Then why are you still dating a low life like Rob?” Tori questioned and Ronnie flinched. “You have a nice place here. I’d hate to find out Rob burned it to the ground like the tattoo shop.” Ronnie shook her head, her eyes darting between us.
“I met your little girl. Kara, right?”
Ronnie nodded warily.
“You know Sloan checks her for bruises every morning,” I told Ronnie and she looked like I’d just punched her in the face. “You need to tell us where Rob is.”
“No,” she answered, then added. “I don’t know.”
“And we don’t believe you,” Tori retorted. “You know and you’ll tell us before he continues to sell drugs and ruin lives.” Tori’s eyes blazed as she tipped the crowbar higher. I rested my hand on her shoulder and she eased back a step.
“You love this salon. It was your dream,” Clutch mentioned and Ronnie nodded. “It’s how you provide for you and Kara.” She nodded again. “You know, you were the one who told me to check on Ashley that day. I spent years telling myself you were just being a good friend that you couldn’t have known.” Her eyes closed, a tear slipping down one cheek. “But you did, and you did nothing.”
“I called…I called you,” she defended herself, her eyes popping open. “I didn’t know. I just had a feeling.”
“How many feelings have you had?” Clutch muttered. “How many did you ignore?” His fists slammed on the desk, making her jump. “What about Kara? You want her growing up with a dad like Rob? You will tell us where he is or I’ll take the salon.”
“You can’t take it,” Ronnie protested. “The club lent me the money to o
pen it. It’s not yours.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Ronnie,” Clutch replied. “The club only fronted half. I put up the other half. Now, you’ll tell me where he is.” She stared at him in shock, tears streaking down her face as he stared at her coldly.
“Clutch…”
“Now, Ronnie,” he commanded, not budging under her broken expression as Tori and I exchanged a glance. “Where is he?”
“It’s a few miles out of town. A storage facility. One of those mini-storage places? He got a year or so ago. Put it in Kara’s name. Said it would be for her college. I didn’t know where he got the money,” she babbled and Clutch slapped a pen in front of her.
“Sure you didn’t,” he rumbled. “Write it down and if you call him, if you warn him, I’ll burn this Goddamn place down to the ground myself.”
She scribbled down an address, her hand shaking. “I’m sorry, Clutch.” She glanced at him, tears streaming down her face. “I’m so sorry.”
“Where’s Candy?” She pointed to a door and I went to it. “Candy?” A perky woman came over, her hair twisted into an elaborate crown on her head. “Keep an eye on her. No texts or calls.” She nodded, glancing at where Ronnie sobbed.
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t contact that SOB,” she assured us. She walked over to Ronnie. “Come on. Let’s change your hair color now that the douche bag can’t say anything.” She hauled her out of the room, her petite frame stronger than it appeared.
“She has enormous boobs,” Tori commented and I glanced at her.
“I hadn’t noticed,” I replied, jerking my head. “We need to go.” I sent a text to Creed with the address. “It shouldn’t take long to get there, but we’ll need to drive,” I mentioned, slowing when I saw Tori pull out her phone. “What are you doing?”
“Calling Noah,” she answered. “He needs to know.”
“This isn’t his business,” I replied sharply. “The club will take care of it.”
“He did ask to arrest Rob,” Clutch intervened. “A drug bust would take the heat off of our little warrior vigilante.”
“Little is not how I would describe myself,” Tori told him and he shrugged.
“You’re small to me.”
She conceded that point since Clutch was at least three times as wide as her even if he only had a couple of inches in height on her.
“I don’t want Noah involved. It could be risky,” I interjected, trying to get us back on topic.
“He’s a cop. His job is risky.”
“He’s a cop that feeds information to the club. He’s valuable.”
“And he needs to be valuable to the Chief,” Tori argued. “A drug bust and arrest would do that.”
“How about a drug bust and a dead body?” I offered and she frowned. I sighed. “Tori, we don’t know how this will go down.”
“Noah’s a good cop. He asked to arrest Rob. We should let him,” Tori insisted and when I glanced at Clutch, he was staring up at the air, whistling to himself.
“Fine, make the call, but he can’t interfere until I’ve had a chance to question Rob.” She nodded, lifting the phone again.
We made it to the Blazer and I propped the walking stick on the bench seat as Tori reluctantly slide in on the other side. Clutch revved his bike, leaving us behind as he went up to meet with the Aces. I cranked the engine and Tori gripped the door. “Is it easier in the daylight?”
She shrugged. “I guess. I really don’t like being in a car at all.”
“It started after the accident?”
She glanced down, her fingers going to the walking stick as she traced the patterns on it. “No. It, uh, started after I came home from rehab.”
“When you found out your family had declared you dead,” I stated bluntly and she lifted her chin, nodding. “It must have seemed like that one accident cost you everything.”
“It wasn’t the accident,” she replied swiftly. “It was me. I know that. We have to accept responsibility for our actions.”
“And make amends?” I questioned, as we drove through the quiet streets. “Is that what this is?”
“They tell you to make amends with the ones you hurt, but,” she exhaled. “They were gone, so yeah, this is my way of making amends. Stopping the drugs so someone else doesn’t make my mistakes.”
“How do you know Noah?”
“You are full of questions today,” Tori replied, her fingers curling around the seatbelt.
“I’ve discovered that’s the best way to get you talking.”
“What difference does it make?”
“He’s the only person I’ve seen you willingly talk to other than Jean and Jacob.”
“I talk to you.”
“Yeah, but you consider him a friend.”
“Not a friend,” she denied instantly. “Just a good cop.”
“He told me he’d picked you up a few times for minor stuff.”
“You want me to list my record?” She joked. “We’ll be here awhile.”
“No, just why you trust him.”
“He was the first one on the scene of my accident. He stayed with us. He told me Vivian was still alive.” She chewed on her lip. “He found me in the cemetery that day. I don’t know how. I guess that woman called the cops after some strange girl ran from her house. He gave me his number, told me to call if I needed anything.” She shook her head, glancing at me through lowered eyelashes. “He didn’t have to do that.”
“No, he didn’t,” I replied, feeling an unexpected stab of gratitude toward Noah. “So, you decided to tell him what you found while you hunted drug dealers at night.”
“Something like that,” she murmured and my fingers tightened on the wheel as I asked the next question.
“You ever hook up…with him?” I could barely say it without snarling and her gaze jerked to me.
“What? No.” She shook her head. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
“What about Jacob? You were with him for a long time.”
“Seriously? Where are these questions coming from?”
“Jacob mentioned to me that he was the one that got you hooked.” I shook my head. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t still in love with him before I kill him.”
“You can’t kill him,” she shrieked. “He’s Jean’s grandson!”
“I can. She won’t miss him. He deserves it.”
“No, he doesn’t,” she replied softly. “He’s not responsible.” She glanced at me. “The whole accountability thing? I made the choice to take the drugs and to continue taking them. That’s not on Jacob.”
“He introduced you to them,” I snapped, not ready to let it go. “Just like Rob introduced them to Ashely.”
“I’m not Ashley,” she said sharply.
“No, you survived, but that doesn’t mean someone shouldn’t pay.”
“You still want to blame someone else for her choices,” Tori claimed. “You have to accept that she did it to herself. That I did it to myself.”
I didn’t answer, not liking the ring of truth I heard in her words. I came to the meeting point and parked. “We’re here.”
“We’re not done. Jacob isn’t the reason, neither is Rob.”
“You still in love with him?” I waited for her answer, the silence heavy.
“No,” she finally answered, glancing at me though hooded eyes. “Loving people is a risk I’m not willing to take.” There was no mistaking the warning in her words as she hopped out and I exhaled, whispering, “Too late.”
I strode over to the gathered group, taking a rifle Micha handed to me. “We want Rob alive,” Johnny declared. “We need to find out how he’s involved with Monty.”
“Noah will arrest him after we’ve had a chance to question him,” I added, feeling Tori come up next to me, forgoing a gun in favor of her crowbar. Johnny nodded his approval.
“We want to make a very clear and public display that the Rebels don’t tolerate drugs in Friendly,” Johnny continued to
several shouts of agreement. “The Aces are here to assist us, strengthening the ties between our two clubs.” His gaze swept over us. “Monty’s been planning this a very long time. We can’t underestimate him.” He lifted the gun in his hand. “Now, move out.”
We moved, spreading out to surround the storage facility. Behind the building was Rob’s crotch rocket, telling us he was definitely there. “Do you see him?” I murmured and Tori shook her head. “There should be more people.”
“Maybe he was tipped off?”
“Let’s hope not,” I muttered, keeping the rifle by my side as I used the walking stick. Our guys entered each building systematically, clearing them and moving on. The Aces took the back and suddenly there were shouts and Rob came running out of the building, headed straight for the woods.
“I got him,” Tori called, her expression grim as she raced after him, and I could see why she’d had a track scholarship.
“Fall back,” someone shouted, running away from the building. “It’s gonna blow.”
Several followed, running back towards us as we heard the first explosion, flames erupting in the air. “Meth lab,” I heard someone gasp, as acrid smoke filled the air. “They were using one of the storage units as a meth lab.”
“Did we get anything?” I heard Creed aske, and one of the guys, an Ace, nodded.
“The end unit was full of coke,” he said. “We also caught a few of them running out the back.”
I listened with one ear, my focus on Tori as she tackled Rob to the ground. He rolled her, punching her in the face and I lifted the rifle, spotting him through the scope as my finger went to the trigger. A crowbar came up and Rob went down, and I lifted my finger from the trigger as Tori got to her feet.
I lowered the rifle as she waved at me. “I’m not hauling his heavy ass,” she shouted and I heard Johnny snort.
“Lock that one down, boy,” he muttered, punching me in the shoulder as he walked past. I gave him a surprised glance and he smiled, dipping his head.
“I guess I’ll go rescue the princess,” Clutch sighed and I laughed.
Outcast (Southern Rebels MC Book 2) Page 19
