by K. C. Stone
She grimaced. “That jackass prospect, Ernie.”
“Jackass?” I arched my brow. When had she been around any prospects, and what the hell had they done?
“Yeah. He was a real jerk the other night. I told him off. He must’ve thought I was a sweet butt, talking to me the way he did.” She made a face.
I shook my head and tugged her to me. Prospects were always showing their asses, trying to look tough. “Well, I’m glad you set him straight.” I laughed, trying to break the tension and calm her. I kissed her head and she squeezed me a little tighter. I knew she was scared to death with all this. I pulled her into a full embrace and whispered in her ear. “Don’t worry. I got you.”
We scarfed down the breakfast she’d brought up. Well, I did. She just picked at it. Then we dressed and I went downstairs to meet up with the rest of the guys, who I’d texted earlier, while she went to hang out with Leah and Faith.
I got them caught up to speed, and we tried to come up with a game plan that didn’t involve using someone as bait, which was hard. We were running out of ideas to catch this guy and it was the best plan we had. I didn’t really want to tell Jules about the bait plan, because I knew damn good and well she’d want to be the bait. I wasn’t sure I could let her do that.
I caught Tech, Ezra, Viper, and Mac outside as the others left. “We need to talk. Let’s take a walk.” I nodded toward the back. “What do you guys know about the prospect Ernie?”
Mac answered. “He’s a transfer from Jersey. Seems to be keeping under the radar. We’ve only had him for three months. Why?” He scratched his chin. “Wait, Jules had a run in with him a couple nights ago. He was an asshole to her.”
My heart sped up and my fists clenched as I got in Mac’s face. “And you didn’t think to tell me about it? I thought she was just staking her claim as an ol’ lady. From what Jules said, he just called her a sweet butt and tried to treat her like one.”
Mac held up his hands. “Hey, brother. I didn’t think it was a big deal. She handled it and he backed down.” He stared at me. “Why are you so worked up about him?”
I backed down. Mac wasn’t the one I was mad at. “He’s the one that gave her the letter this morning.” Mac’s eyes got wide. I nodded. “Yeah. So, I need him checked out.” I jerked my chin at Tech. “Tech, dig up as much dirt as you can on him. And hack in and pull his text records. Let’s see what he’s hiding. Viper, you keep a close eye on him. Find out what all he’s up to. Talk to his old club. Ezra, you find out all you can about him from anywhere else. Mac, keep a close eye on the other prospects, and talk to the brothers watching the gate. Somehow that bastard got a letter in here and fucked with my girl’s head again and I want to know how the hell he did it!”
They scattered to follow their orders and I headed back to Jules. I decided not to tell her about my suspicions about Ernie. It’d just scare her more. Plus, I was kind of worried she might pull some crazy shit, trying to help.
I found her in Leah’s room. I was about to motion for her to come into the hall when my phone rang. The caller ID said it was New Day. Figuring it was Duke, I answered. It was Storm.
She sounded a little shaky, but good. “Hey, Dom, Jules didn’t answer her phone. Do you know where she is?”
“Yeah, she’s right here.” I walked in the room and the girls looked up. “Leah and Faith are here too. If you want, I can put you on speaker phone.”
”No, just Jules for now. Thanks.”
I had an idea. “Hey, would you rather us come visit? I can bring Jules to see you today if you want.” Jules smiled at that.
“Could you really?” She sounded excited. “I would love to see her.”
“Sure, sweetheart. We can head up now.”
“Okay. Thanks, Dom. For everything.”
I hung up and Jules ran over to me, looking as excited as Storm had sounded. “Can we really go today? I’m dying to see Storm.”
I gripped her shoulder and rubbed down her arm. “Sure. I need to check on Duke anyway. We could take the cage and go for a drive.” She jumped up and down a little and I realized I should’ve gotten her out of here before now. I smiled and kissed her on the forehead. “We’ll leave as soon as you’re ready. Okay?”
Wearing a huge smile, she ran off to get dressed for the hour drive to New Day.
I had to admit, part of me was glad things happened this way. It meant I didn’t have to talk to her about our crazy plans for a little while longer.
Because I still wasn’t sure I could put any of the girls in danger as bait, especially Jules.
24
Jules
Dom opened the door of the car for me as I stood there, still feeling like bouncing. I was excited to see Storm. I hoped she was coping well and that New Day was a good place for her.
“While you visit with Storm, I’ll check in on Duke. Okay?” Dom climbed in the car with me. “I won’t be far away, so you’ll be just fine.”
I nodded. I hadn’t thought about being out in the open or John or anything else since Dom told me we were seeing Storm. I shoved down the fear that rose up and decided to just enjoy the trip and the visit with my friend.
The drive was peaceful, and it felt great to get out of the compound. We even stopped for a bite to eat. Dom took me to this hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant.
“This place has the best pasta ever,” Dom said on a smile, looking like a kid in a candy store instead of a grown man in a restaurant.
Looking at the menu, everything looked so good, I couldn’t decide what I wanted. “What should I get?”
Dom grinned. “I’m going with classic spaghetti and meat sauce.”
“Mmm,” I said. That sounded good. I grinned at him. “Hey, maybe we can just get one and we can lady and the tramp it.” I laughed.
He shook his head. “Sorry, baby, but I don’t share pasta with anybody.” He winked, and those dimples I loved appeared.
We talked for a bit and then our food arrived. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal, then got back on the road to New Day. It was a nice break, a bit of normal we hadn’t gotten much of lately.
Arriving at New Day, the excitement of seeing Storm had me on edge. I couldn’t keep myself from thinking that I hoped we hadn’t been followed, and that John had no idea where Storm was. I couldn’t let him torture her again.
After Dom went to find his friend, I was escorted to a room where I waited for Storm to come in. When she arrived I jumped up to hug her. The ache in my chest eased a little when I felt her squeeze me tight. Pulling back, I smiled at her. The smile she gave me back didn’t quite reach her eyes. Still, she looked a lot better.
I pointed to the chairs and we sat down. “How are you doing?”
“Better.” She twisted her hands in her lap. “I still have my moments, but the therapy is helping. The real issues come when I get released.” She looked up at me.
“Do you know when that will be?” I prayed that we’d have time to capture John before they released her.
“The doctor said that I have a couple more weeks.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Surely, he’d be caught by then.
We talked about how she was doing and discussed the other girls. She seemed excited to see everyone. When we talked about what she wanted to do when she got out, I noticed her staring over by the corner. I looked back to see what or who she was watching, and saw Dom talking to a man. They looked deep in conversation.
I turned back to Storm. “Do you know him?”
She nodded. “He’s in a different area than I am, but we have group together. I don’t know his name, and he keeps quiet. Does Dom know him?”
“I guess so.” I wondered if this was the guy he’d said he’d have watching out for Storm, or if it was Duke.
After talking for a while longer, she stood up and hugged me. “I know I’ve said it a million times, but thanks for everything.”
As she left the room, I walked up to Dom, wrapping my arms around his waist. I placed my chin
on his shoulder and kissed him there.
He pulled me around to his side, and we faced the gentleman he’d been talking to. “Jules, this is my very good friend Duke. Duke, this is my Jules.”
I examined the mysterious Duke. He was a tall, handsome, muscular man, with a five o’clock shadow on his jaw that gave him a rough look. He had some of the most haunted eyes I’d ever seen on a person. I could tell that he’d had a difficult past. I fished through my memories, trying to remember what Dom had told me about Duke.
“Honey.” Dom’s voice snapped me out of my internal rolodex of memories. “Duke is the one that helped find you.” He kissed my temple. I knew the memory still haunted him.
I pulled away from Dom and wrapped my arms around Duke’s neck. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I can’t thank you enough. You don’t know how much we appreciate all you’ve done.” I pulled away, wiping the tears from my eyes.
“My pleasure, ma’am,” Duke said. “Dom has told me a lot about you. I’m glad that you’re okay and everything worked out.” He turned to Dom. “I have a therapy session that I have to get ready for. Dom, I’ll call you later.” I hugged him one last time and so did Dom before we walked away.
Driving home, I asked Dom to remind me about Duke. When he told me that Duke was a homeless vet that had helped him out from time to time, in addition to helping find us girls, it finally registered.
“Duke is the one you have on the inside watching Storm, isn’t he?” Dom nodded. “What were you guys talking about?”
Dom sighed. “He said she’s doing well. At least he thinks so. She doesn’t share in the group sessions, but he can tell that she’s slowly healing. He’s planning on introducing himself to her soon, that way she has someone on the inside that she knows who can help if she needs it.”
Seeing the way Duke and Storm had looked at each other, I knew Duke’s reason for introducing himself was more than just to help Storm. I smiled. Good. He seemed like a good man. Maybe he’d be just what Storm needed.
25
Dom
After we got back from the visit to the clinic, Jules went to find the girls and I called the guys together to see what they’d found out about Ernie.
Viper started out. “So, he was raised by his mom. His dad took off when he was a baby. Pretty much a loner through school. Started hanging out with the Jersey Charter after high school. After about a year, he patched in. The other members say he never really fit in, so he stayed for another year or so and then transferred here.”
He hadn’t even clicked with his own club? That wasn’t good. I shook my head and moved on. “Ezra, what do you have?”
He settled in his chair, looking uncomfortable. “From what I heard, Ernie is a creeper. I spoke to some of the sweet butts from Jersey, and they say he was a watcher, and that he’d take pictures of them and shit.” He held up some papers. “Tech was busy, but he sent these. Tech found some texts and stuff to an unknown number.” Ezra shot a worried glance at me. “Brother, I hate to say it, but he may be tied to John in some way.”
The fucker was using my own brothers against my woman and the other girls. Oh, he’d pay for that. I didn’t give Mac a chance to speak. We had to move now. “Where is he now?”
Viper flicked his chin. “He’s in his room, last I knew. He took some chick with him.”
I stood up, trying hard to keep from throwing my chair. “Well, let’s go get the fucker. It’s a bonus we get to cock block him. We need answers and something tells me that shit stain has them. Let’s grab the prick and have some fun.”
We marched up the stairs and knocked on his door. There was a moan and a thud.
“Let’s go, asshole!” I threw the door open and it slammed against the wall. I walked into the room and Ernie stood there butt ass naked. The chick was huddled in the corner crying, topless. What caught my attention was the big ass red handprint on her face and the fingerprints around her neck. “What the fuck?” I boomed.
“Dude, get out!” Ernie yelled.
“Not going to happen, Ernie. We need to talk. Now.”
Mac walked in and he and Viper grabbed Ernie and dragged him toward the door.
I pointed to the chick. “Ezra, get her cleaned up, then take her to Axel and let him know what’s going on. Then find the Prez and ask him to call me. Tell him it’s important.” I glanced around the nasty ass room. “I need to have a look around.”
Ernie struggled, trying to break free from Mac and Viper. “Fuck you!” The boys held him tight. “Is this about that little bitch from the other night? She got mouthy with me first! I don’t give a fuck who she thinks she is, ain’t no bitch gonna talk to me like that!”
I reared back and punched him hard in the mouth. “Shut the fuck up about my girl, you piece of shit!” I pushed him out the door. “Boys, escort him to the shed.” I’d kill him if I had to keep looking at him.
As everyone followed orders, I got to work trying to find dirt on the fucker. I just knew I’d find something to confirm our theory that he was working with John. But searching through his shit, I didn’t find anything interesting. That was until I started looking through the closet.
In the corner, on the top left side, was a beat-up shoebox. Pulling it down, I opened it, getting more pissed as I looked at the stuff inside. My gut rumbled as I realized this shit was all planned well in advance. Unfolding papers, I found what looked to be printed emails from John to Ernie, talking about how Ernie should transfer out here because John had this great big plan that would make them lots of money.
I shoved them toward Mac, who was behind me after having helped secure Ernie in the shed. “How the hell did we miss this connection? What’s the link between those two?”
Mac just shook his head.
Shuffling through the box, I found a single photo of a man and a little boy. Flipping it over, the caption read “John and Ernest, one year old.”
“What the fuck?” I yelled and chucked the box across the room. It hit the wall, scattering papers everywhere. Making my way out toward the shed, I answered my phone when I saw it was Locke.
“Speak,” was all he said.
I breathed deep, trying to calm down enough to talk. “John and Ernie are related somehow. I found a photo of John with Ernie when he was a kid. This is a setup, Prez. That fucker has been keeping an eye on her the whole time. The bastard is part of the game that John is playing. That’s how the letter got in the club, because that bastard wrote it!” My chest got tighter as I walked out the back door. Oh, Ernie and John were in for a world of hurt.
“Shit, are you serious?” Locke says. “Where’s the little shit now?”
“I had Viper and Mac take him to the shed. They’re probably working him over now. I’m heading out there.” Another deep breath. “This shit has to end.”
Locke sighed. “Yeah, brother, I agree. I’ll meet you out there.” He hung up the phone.
I entered the shed, which was actually a two-story barn with a secure basement, in case we had to attend to noisy business.
I had no plan, nothing other than anger fueling my actions and a desperate need for vengeance. I headed down the steps of the basement to see they had strung Ernie up from the rafters. I had the sudden thought I wished the rope was around his neck instead of his wrists. But I couldn’t kill him yet. I needed answers and I needed them now.
I spoke to Viper while I stared at an already bloody Ernie. “Has he started talking yet?”
Viper shook his head as Tech, who had joined Viper after the commotion, landed another punch to Ernie’s gut. “Nope. He just keeps saying that we’re fucking dead.”
I nodded. “Okay. Well, let me take a crack at him.”
Tech stepped back with a sadistic grin. “He’s all yours, brother.”
I walked up to him, deciding what I wanted to do. “Help me get him down, Viper. Tech, would you grab the chair? I think our brother here and I need to chat, and he might be a little more comfortable in a chair.” The words sounded pol
ite, but there was venom in my tone.
Tech went after the chair while Viper and I hoisted Ernie down. We strapped him to the chair, roping his arms, legs, and torso.
Clearing my throat, I looked at the pathetic shit. “So, Ernie. I think you and I have a problem. Actually, we have a bunch of problems.” I sneered. “First, you seem to think it’s okay to be hateful to women. I don’t. You think that beating them and terrifying them is cool and it just isn’t. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
Viper and Tech grunted, backing me up. Ernie’s only response was to spit on the ground next to my shoe.
I arched a brow. “Now, now, what would dear old John say to you spitting on me?” I said mockingly, knowing it would piss him off. His eyes widened when it registered that I knew without a doubt there was a connection. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he struggled, becoming very agitated. “Oh yeah. I found the shoe box. The photo of you and John. My guess is he’s your dad. I mean, you two look a lot alike. Too bad that he’s going to die.” Ernie’s eyes looked panicked.
“There it is,” Viper laughed. “His eyes say John is definitely dear old Dad.”
Ernie glared at Viper, then stared me down. He didn’t look as cocky as he had.
I shook my head. “Do you want to explain why you decided to jump on the fucked-up nut bag band wagon like your old man? Or were you always on it? Do you have any idea what kind of fucked up shit your dad is involved in?”
Tech moved in. “Oh, I think he does, and I think he’s all for it.”
Since I didn’t get a response, I picked up a crowbar. “Don’t worry, this won’t hurt. Okay, maybe it will.” I slammed the crowbar into his shin. “That, motherfucker, is for the girl you just slapped the shit out of in your room.” Thwack. “That’s for messing with my girl.” I blasted the crowbar into his other shin twice, shattering the bone. His scream was music to my ears. “Are you ready to answer my questions? No? Good, ‘cause we’re going to play a game. It’s called hit and tell. The rules are simple. If I ask you a question and you don’t give me an answer, then I beat you until I get the answer. It’s that simple.” His face was twisted in pain, but he had the nerve to glare at me. “Okay, let’s start with an easy one. Why are you coming after Jules? Is it because your dad wants her?”
