Brax (16 page)

“She was gone! You think I’d let them hurt her?”

Yeah. I absolutely thought he would. I kept my fists curled at
my sides but it took everything in me not to wrap my hands around his throat
and squeeze the life out of him. Before this was over, I knew I still might.

“They’re going to kill you, you know. You don’t think the
Brigands have figured out you’re a liability? You show up at that drop tomorrow
without their money, you’re a dead man. And you’re a probably a dead man either
way.”

He hung his head. “You promised my sister you’d help me. I
swear to God, if you do I’ll leave. I meant what I said. I’ll get gone. She’ll
never have to worry about me again.”

“Yeah. You bet your ass you will. Now here’s what’s going to happen.
For the next twenty-four hours, we own you. You got that? You don’t so much as
take a shit without Sam being two feet away. Tomorrow, you’re going to drive
your car and you’re going to make that drop. In the meantime, you don’t answer
your phone, you don’t talk to anyone without Sam’s say-so. You got that?”

I pulled a knife out of my pocket and leaned forward. Doug
flinched but all I did was slice through the zip ties binding his wrists.  I
would have let him go after that. I started to. But Doug’s hit made him cocky.
He rubbed his wrists and stood up.

“It’s not going to work, you know,” he said. “The Brigands
don’t think you’re shit. I’ve heard all about it. You’ve got everyone believing
you’re a good guy. But you’re still just a thug. And now you’ve made my sister
into your whore. They’re going to take this town away from you. I just hope you
have enough balls left to cut her loose before she gets hurt.”

Maybe I should have taken the high road. But fuck that. I
turned and landed a right hook to the bridge of his nose. I felt the bone crack
beneath my knuckles as Doug’s face exploded in a cloud of red. I gave a nod to
the kid and walked out of the hangar before I actually did do something I’d
regret.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Nicole

It was nearly dawn by the time the police finished taking my
statement and left. They offered to take me to a hotel for the night, but I
didn’t want to go. It was stubborn of me. I get that. But this building was
mine. I was too keyed up to sleep and I wanted to start the slow process of
clearing the wreckage they’d made of my apartment.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but when I finally
closed the door and leaned against it, the breath left my lungs in a whoosh. I
didn’t know where to start. There was one small mercy: whatever thugs did this,
they hadn’t destroyed my furniture like down in the restaurant. Up here, it was
just a mess.

The kitchen seemed as good a place as any to start. I loaded
the dishes into the washer and took a broom to the mounds of white rice spilled
all over the floor. Why had they done that? What purpose did it serve to
destroy dry goods in my kitchen? Unless they’d been looking for the bricks of
white powder that I now knew were hidden in my inventory. My fists clenched
around the broom handle and I tried to steady myself. I wasn’t sure I could
ever forgive Doug this time. Love him? Always. But forgive him or have him in
my life? Right now I just didn’t know.

It turns out sweeping bits of raw rice can have a cathartic effect
though. With each pile I scraped into the dust pan then into the trash, I felt
like I was taking just that much more control of my life. If I could clean this
up, I could clean the rest of it. It was going to be okay. Somehow.

My phone buzzed in my back pocket. I felt my first genuine
smile of the day when I saw the text.

Brax.

“You okay?”

“Better. Getting a head start on some cleaning. It’s making me
feel better.” I texted back.

“Good. But I can send a crew to do that later. Get some sleep.
Got some shit to take care of but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“If it seems like too much for me up here, I’ll take you up on
it. I’ll definitely need help downstairs. See you soon. Love you.”

The cursor blinked for a moment before he answered. “Baby, I
love you too. More than you know. Sleep tight.”

I clutched my phone to my chest. I’d give anything for him to
be here with me right now. I wanted to curl up into the safety of Brax’s arms
and forget about all the shit that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.
And fuck it. In spite of everything, I still wondered about Doug. Was he hurt?
Had he just run off? Would I ever hear from him again? Did I want to?

Of course
I did. I didn’t know if he could ever make
up for what happened today, but if he was in danger. If he was hurt. God, if he
was dead . . .

I tried to brush those thoughts out of my head as I brushed
the last of the rice into the dust bin. When I finished that, the day finally
caught up with me. I was exhausted and sweaty and sore.  I thanked God that
whoever did this to my place had left my bathroom more or less alone. I took a
shower and changed into a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. The only damage to
my bed was an overturned bookcase.  I righted it and stacked the books on the
floor then crawled under the covers to get some sleep.

In spite of all of it, Brax was on my mind. It had been so
long since I’d had someone to lean on. It scared me as much as it made things
easier. I was afraid to start needing him too much. It was dangerous. If he
left me, if someday he wasn’t there, I knew it would be so much harder to face
things alone again. And I didn’t want to. God, I didn’t want to. I wanted
someone I could share my life with. Good or bad. But was Brax the one I could
do that with? The truth was, I hoped so. He was strong and confident. Smart and
decent. He liked to think he wasn’t. He had dark secrets and I knew he’d done
things in his past he was afraid I’d judge him for. But I knew his heart.
Whether he liked it or not. I’d taken a risk today letting him in and leaning
on him. He knew it. I just hoped that someday he’d be strong enough to do the
same thing.

Hammering at my front door woke me some time later. I woke groggy
and disoriented, not knowing for sure if it was day or night. Stepping
carefully around the overturned furniture, I went to the door. On my tiptoes, I
looked through the keyhole hoping to see Brax’s towering frame. But a shiny
badge blocked my view. The police were back.

I swung the door open and smiled. I recognized the officer as
one of the ones who questioned me last night. Davis. Tim, I think.

“Did you forget something?”

Officer Davis didn’t smile. He held his hat in his hands and
looked down at the floor before answering me. Oh God, the last fifteen years
melted away. I knew that look. That was the bad-news look. That was the, “I’m
sorry but your life is never going to be the same” look.

“What is it?” I asked, blood rushing to my head. I felt faint.

“Miss Ridley.” He looked over my shoulder, to see if I was
alone.

“Please tell me. Is it my brother?”

He drew his mouth into a hard line and nodded. “I’m going to
need you to come with me. We can talk on the way.”

I moved in slow motion. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t swallow.
The lights in the apartment seemed brighter and bees seemed to buzz in my
brain. By some miracle, I found my Converse sneakers and grabbed a hoodie.
Officer Davis waited patiently by the door. He put a gentle hand at the small
of my back as he led me down the stairs. I didn’t even see the wreckage of the
ice cream shop as we left. Blood roared in my ears and I felt lost. It was
happening again. And I didn’t want it to end this way. I stupidly thought it
would be a relief. If Doug finally died one day, at least maybe it would be a
relief.

But it wasn’t. I just felt cold terror as Officer Davis held
the door for me and I slipped into the passenger seat of his unmarked patrol
car. I thought about calling Brax but that would have been the exact opposite
of keeping a low profile with the club. When I was finished with whatever I
needed to do with Davis, I’d call
The Den
and have one of Brax’s guys
pick me up.

I pressed my forehead against the window glass as Officer
Davis pulled away from the curb. Squeezing my eyes shut tight, I gripped the
door latch and tried to keep my nausea at bay. Davis took several hard turns
then sped up.

I don’t know how long we drove. The district station was only
five minutes from the ice cream parlor. All I could think about was Doug. Would
I have to identify a body? Finally, I couldn’t stand it another second.

“Can you at least prepare me for what’s going to happen? Has
Doug been arrested? Is he hurt or dead?”

Davis let out a sharp exhale as he took another curve and
pressed his foot on the gas. We were going incredibly fast. He had to be doing
close to seventy through the city streets, but he wasn’t using lights or
sirens. I sat up; dread skittered along my spine, feeling like spiders’ legs.
We were on Long Street, two blocks past the police station and the hospital was
in the exact opposite direction.

“Where are we going?

Davis kept his gaze straight ahead. “We’re almost there. Just
sit tight. I’ll explain everything.”

I didn’t like the clipped tone he used. Something wasn’t
right. He took another sharp turn and increased his speed. We were heading for
the on-ramp to U.S. 24. This wasn’t right. Icy fingers of panic bubbled beneath
my chest.

“I need to call someone,” I said. “Tell me where we’re going
so I can have a friend meet us there. I thought I could do this alone but I’d
really like someone with me.”

Davis pulled to the side of the road and left the car idling.
He turned around and reached into the back seat. We were in the middle of
nowhere with the freeway a quarter mile ahead. I don’t know why, but everything
in me told me to get out and run. This was wrong.

“Relax,” Davis said as he turned and grabbed my arm; his
fingers dug into my flesh. Then he pulled me into his lap and shoved something
wet and putrid over my face. I was drowning. I kicked out but just hit the side
of the car door. I tried to hold my breath. Then I tried to scream, but he held
that filthy rag over my face and finally I couldn’t help it. I breathed in the
pungent chemicals.

Then everything went black.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Brax

Twelve hours with Doug Ridley was about all I could fucking stand.
Against my better judgment, Sam talked me into keeping him leveled out as best
we could. His habit was worse than I thought but he was no good to me dope
sick.

At ten thirty, we rode out. Sam, Joker, and I rode in Doug’s
car. He drove. They made themselves as flat as they could in the back seat
while I ducked down in the passenger seat. When Doug got twitchy, I showed him
my holstered Nine. I didn’t think I’d actually kill him, but it didn’t mean I
wouldn’t use it on him if he did anything that would put me or my crew in
danger.

Colt and the others rode a safe distance behind us as we hit U.S.
24 and headed west. We had friends with the Wild Bunch M.C. out of Fort Wayne
and they kept their ears to the ground. More recon would have made me feel a
lot better, but we risked spooking the Brigands if they saw us coming. This
should be quick and clean if Doug didn’t blow it.

The plan was simple: show up with enough force to make the
Brigands understand we weren’t fucking around. Doug would pay the debt he owed,
plus an extra twenty grand for their trouble. A peace offering. They didn’t
want a full-on club war. Though our numbers in Lincolnshire weren’t up to what
we wanted, we had strength in Grand City, Michigan, Chicago, Green Bluff,
California, and about six other points in between. They either backed their
shit out of Lincolnshire, or we’d burn them to the ground.

“You cool?” I said to Doug as he made the turn toward the
abandoned refinery. The place was burned out except for a single standing
warehouse. There were no other cars or bikes around and I wasn’t sure that was
a good sign. I sure as shit didn’t want to get here first.

“Y-yeah,” Doug said; his hands were shaking on the wheel. I
crouched down lower.

“Doug, pull your shit together. Nothing’s going to happen.
You’re going to pay your debt. Then I’m going to have a little chat with Hodges
and whoever else shows up. You get back to the car when I tell you to and keep
your mouth shut and your hands on the wheel. That’s all you gotta do.”

He nodded and pulled the car in front of the warehouse doors.
He slammed the gear in park and went for the keys. I pressed my fist into his
thigh as I rose slowly in my seat. “Keep it running. Now what happens next?”

“They should already be here. They usually have me pull into
the warehouse. Someone opens the door.”

“Not this time,” I said. The last fucking thing I needed was
to get surrounded. No, we were staying outside. A text came through. Colt and
the others were in place just around the corner and out of sight.

Doug started to sweat. “I don’t like this. They never make me
wait out here.”

“Calm. The fuck. Down.”

Easy to say, but I was jumpy as fuck too. I was having one of
those “this seemed like a good idea at the time” feelings.

But then the warehouse doors slid open. Doug put his hand on
the gear.

“Leave it! You’re going to get out of the car slowly. We are
not driving into that building. Got it?”

Doug nodded and lifted his hands off the wheel. He opened the
door and shot me a look. Jesus, could he be more obvious that he wasn’t alone?

Hodges came out of the warehouse; the sun was in his eyes so
he put his hand up. My own hand twitched near my weapon. But I needed to take
the advice I’d just given Doug. Be cool.

I sunk low while Doug approached Hodges. Way too quickly, he
stuffed his hand in his jacket pocket. He had the envelope stuffed with money
I’d given him. But Hodges didn’t know that.

“Stupid fuck,” I muttered as Hodges lunged at him and shoved
him to the ground.

“Easy, easy!” Doug screamed. “I’ve got the take. That’s all,
man. Just reaching into my pocket to get it.”

Hodges had a gun to Doug’s head. I moved. Joker shot a hand
out and shoved me back down.

“Not yet,” Joker whispered. “Give the idiot a chance.”

But I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Hodges had Doug on
his knees. Then two other men came out of the warehouse. Had there been any
doubt about who was running this show, it vanished. Ethan Corey and Rance
Hawthorne walked over to Hodges. Rance was the Red Brigands’ Sergeant at Arms,
Ethan their V.P.

“Motherfucker, they
are
gonna kill him,” Joker said,
recognizing the pair.

They absolutely fucking were. I recognized Rance’s posture as
he looked straight at our car. Doug was a liability they couldn’t afford
anymore. Chances were, they’d already lined someone else up in Lincolnshire to
take over from him. Except we weren’t going to give them the chance.

I got my hand on the door handle.

“I’ll get the rest,” Doug pleaded. “I swear to God.”

“The rest? Son of a bitch, he’s light.”

Fucking idiot. Doug lied about the money. Or they’d just
tacked on more interest. Whatever was going on, the Brigands weren’t happy.

“Time to shut this down before he gets his head blown off,” I
said. I’d just about opened the door when another Brigand stepped into view.
This one wasn’t alone.

Bloody Christ! Nicole.

He shoved Nicole ahead of him, keeping one hand on her arm and
twisting it hard and backward. His other hand closed around the trigger of the
gun he held to her head. The guy was big. But calm, methodical. He was here to
do a job. It all fell into place. She was an insurance policy in case Doug
didn’t come through. But she knew too much. She’d seen their faces. And Hodges
knew she was with me. They had no plans to let either one of them out of here
alive.

I saw through a cloud of red. Nicole’s hair as it fell over
her face when she stumbled. She righted herself. Took another step. He grabbed
her, pulling until her back arched and her chin jutted forward.

She didn’t see me. No one did. Joker yelled something behind
me but I couldn’t hear him. I couldn’t hear anything. The car door, my trigger,
and space. Those were the only things between Nicole and me. They might say
later that I could have made a different choice, but I knew better. I saw the
look in the eyes of the man holding a gun to her head. I knew that look. Because
he was just like me. Hard. An enforcer. And Nicole’s life was a message for
Doug’s choices.

I never gave him the chance to send it.

Take a step. Exhale. Squeeze.

The shot hit him dead center in the forehead.

Then nothing else mattered.

Others saw chaos. I saw clarity. Nicole safe. Get her behind
me. Throw Doug to the ground. Joker and Sam burst from the car and drew down.
Colt and the rest of the club roared around the corner.

They were stupid, the Brigands. Oh, they’d brought guns to a
gun fight. But just the three of them . . . well, two now . . . and they
weren’t expecting us.

The world buzzed around me. Shots still rang in my ears.
Everyone moved in slow motion. Nicole went to her knees. Then she went to her
brother. She hugged him, then slapped him hard across the face. Tate pulled her
off him and then she turned toward me.

She was calling my name. I could read her lips but no sound
reached my ears but buzzing and the echoing ring of the shot I’d taken. But I
felt her. Strong and solid as she wrapped her arms around me and tried to kiss
me back to reality.

The buzzing gave way to the steady pulse roaring in my ears. I
looked down at her. She was safe. Whole. Pure. Good. And she was surrounded by a
world of hurt and evil. My world. It touched her. Soiled her. Had almost taken
her away from me.

I kissed her forehead as Joker got to me. I pulled Nicole off me
and shot a look toward him.

“Get her safe,” I said. Nicole reached for me as Joker pulled
her gently away.

We let Corey and Hawthorne live. Now
they
were the
message. And we burned their warehouse and their inventory to the fucking
ground. I dug another grave that day. With every shovelful, I saw Nicole’s face.
Lifeless. When Sam kicked the Brigands’ body into the hole, I saw
her
with a bullet in her forehead. God. It had been a hairsbreadth of going down
just like that.

“You okay, man?” Sam said. The others stayed back. I had Colt
and Kellan drive Nicole to a diner just outside of town. They’d wait there for
me.

I turned to look at him. Sam was shaken a little. Sweat
dripped from his nose. “I’m fine,” I said, my voice coming out cold and hard.

“You had no choice. I get that.
You
get that, right?”

I threw the last shovelful of dirt over the grave and turned
to him. “There’s always a choice. And it’s always mine. This is going to have
consequences. You think you’re ready for them? You’ve picked a hell of a time
to ride with us.”

“Yeah,” he said, puffing his chest out. “Fuck, yeah.”

I nodded. He was young, eager. He still had fire in his eyes.
I did too, but of a different sort. “They’re going to hit back harder next
time. It might be the Brigands or the Hawks or someone else, but we’ll never
get to stop fighting. Our income is legit, but nothing else. That might not be
what you signed up for.”

Sam put a hand on my shoulder. “I know what I signed up for.
And you saved that girl’s life today. That was the coolest fucking thing I’ve
ever seen.”

I swallowed hard. The sun was starting to set and it was time
to get back.