Kray (Broken Deeds MC, #6)

by Esther E. Schmidt

  She steps toward me and places her hand on my leather cut. “I want this,” she croaks, her voice tainted with loads of emotion, “but like you said, it’s so damn hard to focus with everything going on but in the spare moments we’ve had with just the two of us...I know I want this.”

  “Then we’re getting inked,” I state.

  “What?” she squeaks. “We’re not getting inked, we’re going to be a couple...not follow your insane version of hop on a plane to Vegas. Even that shit is manageable by getting a divorce, now a tattoo on the other hand...”

  “I’m sure,” I simply state. “Come to think of it; I haven’t been so sure about anything in my life. A ten plus rarely.”

  Her finger is being pressed against my lips. “Shut the hell up with your ten plus. You and me? Fine, it’s gonna happen. But it will be on my damn terms and it will not entail getting inked today, tomorrow or next fucking week!”

  “Fine,” I growl. “But the deadline is two weeks.”

  Her eyes bulge and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to prevent from laughing because she looks so damn adorable but she would totally bite my damn head off if my mouth would so much as twitch.

  So, instead, I offer her an explanation. “When one of us states a claim, we have to get inked within two weeks. I will get one later today or tomorrow. You however can take the two weeks but I have to warn you...my brothers are allowed to test your loyalty in these two weeks. Loyalty to me, to the club, whatever. I have no clue or say in when or if they will test you; they have the right. Until you get your patch with my name inked on your body.”

  “And if I don’t?” she challenges.

  “You don’t want to know,” I mutter ‘cause with the way she’s reacting to all of this? I sure as shit won’t tell her what happens if the two weeks are up.

  I softly press my mouth against hers. Her eyes close and a little gasp allows me to swoop my tongue inside. A growl rips from my chest as I grab her ass and pull her tighter against me. I get lost in our kiss, my cock hardening and aching to have her.

  But I can’t. Not right here, not right now. There are way more pressing matters to deal with and even if our connection is strong and growing—our bodies melting together every chance we get—we need to focus and take things slow. Even if I’ve put us on a timer to get things set in stone.

  And I don’t regret it. Not one damn bit because in this fucked-up life you have to put your claws out when you see something special. You need to make it yours no matter how hard or how long it takes, ‘cause in the end...it will make the difference between taking a welcoming breath or a sigh of agony. And I’m all for taking a next breath, eye on the future shit so I’m damn well getting a patch with her name inked on my fucking body.

  Vienna places her cheek against my pecs and lets her fingers slide over the Broken Deeds MC patch. “Did you know Bald Eagles mate for life with their partner? They choose to be faithful until their last breath here on earth.”

  “Yeah,” I croak as the air around us crackles with emotion.

  The eagle in the Broken Deeds MC patch stands for a lot of things but in this moment it’s even more valuable due to the things we just discussed and what she’s implying. My fingers sink into her short hair and I can’t help myself when I crash our mouths together again. Our kiss is hot, raw, and cut short.

  “Come on, we’re gonna head out to our room and dive into this case some more to see if we can come up with another lead.” Vienna gives me a grateful smile and I grab our bags along with a pile of files Deeds left for us.

  I don’t care if we get stares from everyone in the main clubhouse when I say, “Lips, make some time for me tomorrow, okay?”

  The fading, “You’re on!” Lips shouts after me is enough as I guide Vienna to our room. The both of us settle in on top of the bed, a pile of files and my laptop in between us. The only connection to the outside world we have is the food we order and Xena, Lochlan’s Old Lady, who brings said food to our door.

  I’m forced to open my eyes when there’s loud knocking. Nash shouts from the hallway, “Wake up, Kray. Church. Now, goddamned, now.”

  I jump off the bed and grab my boots. We didn’t even bother with a shower or getting undressed. Both me and Vienna fell asleep while going over the case, still fucking dressed. In this situation it’s a good thing. Vienna is right behind me when I stalk into the main room of the clubhouse, heading for Church.

  In this moment I hate the fact she’s not officially my Old Lady yet. If we both had the patch inked, she’d be entitled to more information if I wanted her to. For now, she has to stay put until I’m done with the meeting.

  A glance over my shoulder and the look on Vienna’s face tells me she’s not happy either. I stalk back to her, lean in close, right next to her ear, and tell her, “I’ll let you know the second I’m done.”

  She grabs my head and pulls me back to pin me with her gaze. “No half shit, you tell me everything and don’t hold back like last time because North isn’t here to smack you on the back of your head, but I damn well will if I so much as feel you’re not giving me all.”

  The corner of my mouth twitches, fucking spitfire that woman of mine. A smile of pride slides over my face. “Fully in, Pixie. I’m full-fucking-in when it comes to you.”

  Her shoulders relax and the words, “Good, because so am I,” fall from her mouth before it crashes against mine. The kiss is hard and over before it really started.

  “Inside, now,” Deeds grunts as he drags me away from Vienna and inside the four walls of Church.

  The door slams shut and I take a seat near an empty one. The rest of the chairs are all filled with my brothers; everyone is present. My gut burns with warning that something very bad is about to happen.

  Chopper hits the lights and plunges the room into darkness while Nash rattles his fingers over his keyboard. “I have a warning system set up for when there are any changes in North’s tag. A half hour ago the alarm went off.”

  The screen on the wall fills with a map and a clear white dot is pulsing bright.

  “He’s not underground anymore?” I question.

  Nash shakes his head. “This is not North’s tag. It’s Blancher’s.”

  Confusion hits me and I glance around the table, somewhat settling to see all my brother’s faces are filled with confusion. Except for my Prez’s, though.

  “Before North went in undercover he tracked down Blancher. He wanted to see if he could find him to use him someway and when he did find the fucker he came to Deeds with his plan and Deeds brought me in. When I offered North the suggestion to tag him with the new tracking system, he asked if there was a way to insert a tracker into Blancher too. It was easy enough to do seeing the tracker is like a pinprick. It can be shot into a person from a large distance and would feel like a mosquito bite. It’s fucking awesome and the range on this thing is amazing and I can also adjust it. I can do it all the way from across the world and it wouldn’t...”

  “Fucking focus, asshole. Back to the whole ‘why are we staring at a dot that’s Blancher and not North?” Ramrod growls.

  Nash shoots him a glare but continues. “North wanted to know for sure they’d pick him up and if they killed the fucker we could either intervene or find the body faster. Dead or alive wouldn’t make any difference seeing Blancher is a high player too with a rap sheet as long as my cock.”

  “Dude, your pecker is pinky size. Not fucking impressive. Now go on and stick to case details, fucking hell,” Depay grumbles and shakes his head.

  Nash is getting aggravated, his whole face radiates it and the snap in his voice is harsh enough. “You can see it’s still beating strong, meaning Blancher’s still very much alive.”

  His words ring hard inside my head as realization sets in. “You motherfucker,” I roar and dash up to place my hands on the table, ready to jump over it and punch this fucker’s face.

  “Sit. Down,” Deeds snaps. “It was my decision not to tell you straight up the tr
acker is linked with the host’s vitals, and clearly it wasn’t necessary at the time seeing it was a glitch Nash could tweak after we had help from you and your Old Lady. There was a chance he was dead but somehow my gut told me he wasn’t.”

  “Your fucking gut told you?” I roar again.

  Fucking hell, I was seething when I heard they lost track of North but now knowing that the tag he has inside him is also connected to his vitals makes me aware they might have suspected North was dead when I walked into the clubhouse yesterday.

  “Keep your mouth shut and listen, asshole. Then you can go jump into action because every second counts but we’re discussing this shit like bouncing kindergarten shit. All while two lives depend on debriefing before we can jump into action. Now can everyone shut the fuck up and Nash...for fuck’s sake speed this thing up.” Deeds’ harsh voice rings through the room and echoes inside my head as I plant my ass back into my seat.

  “After North replied to the ad placed on the black-market by Shade and the intel was given where Blancher could be found...it took a few minutes before Blancher’s dot started moving. At first, we thought it was a coincidence. Even if it was a weird timing, the fucker could have an appointment, right? Well, at first he went to this address.” Nash fills the screen with a picture of a local bar. “He stayed there for over three hours before the dot started moving to where it stayed and still is.”

  “You telling us this fucker walked straight to Shade after having a pit stop at a bar for a few hours?” Broke questions, igniting the same worry flowing through me.

  “Seems like it,” Deeds quips. “But there’s more.” His eyes slide to me. “Right before you walked into Church...North’s tag disappeared completely.”

  Static hits my brain and nothing else processes. Deeds’ mouth moves and I know my brothers are bellowing shit but there’s nothing entering my brain. Nothing. His tag disappearing means he’s not alive anymore, right? No bodily functions traceable. He’s...fuck.

  I swallow hard and swing my head toward Nash. “Can you show me what happened to his fucking dot before it shut down?”

  The room falls silent and Nash hits a few keys before the screen fills with a map showing two dots. One white one; Blancher. One green one; North. The green one is faint but it’s moving and suddenly pops up as an intense green.

  “He’s above ground here, right?” I snap. Nash gives me a quick nod in return as my eyes slide back to the screen.

  The dot slowly moves away from the white dot. I don’t care if minutes tick by as all of us watch the green dot slowly crawl over the screen until it’s suddenly cut off.

  I flash up, hit the lights so the screen behind me fades and direct my attention to Nash. “Can you still get some sort of reading off the tracker? It’s exact location?”

  “Yeah,” Nash says, hits his keyboard and points to the screen. “It’s still exactly where it was when the tracker died.”

  “I’m leaving. Right fucking now. North pulled it out, it’s possible, right? I mean, his vitals would be gone but he wouldn’t be dead.”

  Nash cringes.

  “What?” I snap, barely hanging on because I need for this to be fucking true. The other option—North being dead—isn’t becoming a fucking reality.

  “The tracker is tiny as shit, man. It’s not like a grain of rice you can find when you make a tiny cut and pull it out with your fingers.” Nash rubs a hand over his face.

  Anger instead of fear takes over. I won’t have any hope taken away from me. Not until I’m staring at North’s cold dead body will I fucking believe he’s gone.

  “But is it fucking possible, Nash?” I bellow, hoping to get my point across this time.

  “For Blancher? No fucking way. We shot the tracker into his shoulder from a distance so it would be deep in that guy. With North...maybe. I injected it underneath his skin near his ankle but to make sure he would have to slice off a good chunk of meat.” Nash cringes again.

  “Good enough. North is an arrogant asshole who’s gone through worse to keep under the radar.” I swing my gaze to Deeds. “I’m getting my weapons and my ass will be on my bike in five minutes to that exact fucking location.”

  “Nash, Depay, and I will come with. Broke, stay here with Chopper in close contact with Nash so we can jump into any action if shit changes, okay?” Deeds says and is already on his feet.

  I take a step closer to Deeds. “My Old Lady is coming with.”

  Deeds gives me a tight nod. “Understood, brother. But like I mentioned yesterday, she’s one hell of an agent, checks out all fucking clear, and I damn well welcome her with open arms. Even if you guys ain’t inked yet, we’ve already voted she won’t be tested. There’s too much shit going on right now we have to deal with to keep busy with minor matters at hand.”

  I don’t have words to give him due to the turmoil of all of it. I grab his shoulder and give him a squeeze. I’m out the door the next moment. Vienna dashes up from where she was sitting with the other Old Ladies and rushes toward me.

  Time to explain is lacking so I multitask by snatching her wrist to drag her along to our room. Once inside I grab my bag and start to throw some shit in I think I’m going to need along with weapons that don’t fit in the sheaths I have strapped on my body.

  “There was activity on North’s tracker, now it’s not showing anything.” I connect our gaze and see she’s strapping her backup gun to her leg. “They forgot to mention to us the tracker only works when the host’s vitals are still up and running.”

  Her head flashes up to me. “Fuck.”

  “Nash showed the last activity of North’s tracker and I think he escaped the bunker.”

  “He could still be alive, right? He could have gotten rid of the tracker to stay safe, right? Oh, fuck, he needs to be.” Vienna looks at me, her eyes pleading.

  I close my eyes for a brief moment before I tell her, “When I asked Nash, he told me there could be a slight chance but to be sure he would have to cut out a large chunk of flesh.”

  Vienna places her foot on the floor and off the chair where she placed it on to double check her backup gun. “He would have, Kray. You know he would to stay completely under the radar if things went bad enough. I’m ready, let’s go. We’re heading for the last location of the tracker I assume?”

  I give her a grateful smile. Deeds’ words slide through my head; she’s one hell of an agent. No further words to debrief are necessary and even if she’s known North for a brief moment, it’s enough to be aware what kind of man he is; one who never gives up easily.

  If there was any doubt this woman wasn’t meant to be mine, it would evaporate completely. Because this woman? She was mine the second she walked into my life. And as soon as I know North is okay, I’m going to fully claim her by getting the both of us inked.

  Chapter Twelve

  ***Vienna***

  My heart is pumping, the adrenaline spike is flowing through my body at full speed. Exactly the way Kray is guiding his bike over the road. We’re behind Deeds, Depay is next to him while Nash is behind us. We’ve been riding for quite a while now.

  I feel Kray lessen speed and move with him when he takes a hard right turn. We’re exactly in the middle of nowhere and the only thing my eyes spot is a little house up ahead. When we arrive it’s clear the house hasn’t been maintained for a while. Paint was bitten off by the sun and in some places the wood has been rotted through.

  All of us get off our bikes. Nash reaches for his saddlebag and grabs a tiny screen. “Yeah, this is the exact same spot. Gotta be around here somewhere.”

  He glances around the property, as do all of us. There’s a tiny garage on the left of the house.

  “Look,” I snap, excitement filling my voice. “Tire tracks.”

  One set. One damn car drove off and seeing it rained yesterday it’s safe to say these tracks are fresh.

  “Either he’s still here, or he got here a different way, or from a different side and hotwired a car from the garage,�
� Deeds says. “Depay, you and Nash...”

  Kray ignores Deeds and starts to jog into the direction of the garage. I palm my gun and follow after him. I hear Deeds mutter, “At least someone is using their brain.”

  It’s exactly why I went after Kray. He’s not thinking clear because we don’t know what we’re walking into. Kray didn’t reach for his weapon but is already opening the door of the garage without checking.

  “Dammit, Kray,” I growl as I raise my gun and brush past him.

  I can hear his curses flow after me. One swoop and it’s clear the garage is empty. I lower my gun and glance behind me to see Kray is palming his gun. His chest is heaving but I don’t have the time to say anything. The room might be clear of threats, but we’re losing time because we all know North was here some time ago and we haven’t found a trace of him yet.

  There’s no car here either. Another good thing because if there isn’t, it could mean North used it as a getaway car. But it still doesn’t explain the tracker falling out. My eye catches a piece of paper in the middle of the garage.

  Kray and I both reach it at the same time. I squat down and read what’s scribbled on it but it doesn’t make any sense. Kray grabs it and when he does, I can now see a chunk of meat was hidden underneath it.

  “Oh, yuck,” I groan.

  Kray chuckles and bellows, “Fuck, yeah.”

  Deeds, Depay, and Nash jog inside. “House is clear, so are the surroundings. Did you find anything?”

  I stand up straight and point at the piece of flesh. “We found the tracker and a note but it doesn’t make sense.”

  “It does. And I know where North is...well, I know where he’s going,” Kray says.

  My head whips to him. He’s standing there, a huge damn grin on his face.

  “You do? What does it say?” My heart seems to slow down almost to a standstill as Kray just gazes at me without saying anything. He steps closer to me and holds up the note.

  C3-12

  10+

  My eyes glance over the single letter and the numbers. It doesn’t make sense. Well, only the...oh.