Exquisite Karma (Iron Horse MC Book 4) (11 page)

“All the more reason for me to get out of here. I’m a target, and being around me is dangerous.”

Smoke sighed. “I can’t get through to Beach. He’s meeting with the Boldins right now.”

The mention of the Boldin
Bratva
made my stomach cramp, and I had to fight away a worry that I was once again hurting my baby with all the stress I was under. “It can’t wait. The more of a head start she has, the better chance she has of vanishing into thin air.”

Vance threw his hands up in the air. “I want no fuckin’ part of this train wreck.”

“That’s fine. Hustler, Smoke, you coming with me?”

Scarlet began to swear softly, but both men nodded.

Cracking his neck, Hustler took out his phone. “Quicker we get this done, better chance we have of Beach not realizin’ you’re gone.”

“Sarah, Beach is going to lose his mind,” Scarlet said in a tight voice.

“Then you need to convince him to chill out.” I closed my eyes, gathering myself, and when I opened them again, I knew the ruthless survivor my family had trained me to be had risen to the surface. “I have to do this.”

She took a step back, her face going pale as her eyes grew wide. “Okay.”

Grabbing my stuff, I tucked my hair behind my ear then nodded at Smoke. “Let’s go.”

Twenty minutes later, I stared at the destroyed apartment before me, my dim flashlight revealing the destruction. The place had been absolutely shredded, and I had to walk carefully through the debris of torn-up couch cushions, tattered books, emptied cupboards, and broken shit everywhere. When Smoke had said they’d already searched the place, I didn’t know they meant down to ripping open every pillow and smashing everything to splinters. Hell, there were even a couple holes in the drywall here and there where it looked like a gigantic fist had gone through it.

With my heart pounding in my throat, I took another step forward as broken pottery crunched beneath my boot.

“Sarah, you gotta hurry,” Smoke said while standing in the doorway, looking down the hall of my mother’s apartment complex, his large frame tight with tension.

“Right.”

For a moment I just stood there, looking at everything as I swept the beam of my light back and forth, not even knowing where to start. Another step into the living room and I scanned the refuse, waiting for something to jump out at me, but nothing did.

Moving into the bedroom, I found it in a similar state of chaos, clothing strewn everywhere, the mattress destroyed, the dresser drawers lying empty and broken around the room. The mirror had been ruined and the sharp slivers of glass still stuck in the edges of the frame gleamed in the low light of the small flashlight I held.

A tremor went through my body as doubt filled me that I could ever find anything in this mess, even if I had days to do it instead of minutes. Danger hung in the air like a thick smog, smothering me with the need to get the fuck out of here. The ride over had been tense as hell and Smoke had done some fancy driving to ditch a tail we’d picked up. They both kept in constant contact with the clubhouse, and the word pouring in was not good. Beach had bought us some time with the Russians, but the Israelis were super fucking pissed and threatening to wipe the club off the face of the earth.

With a harsh sigh, I glanced at her bathroom before Hustler gave a sharp whistle. “Time to go. Beach found out you’re gone and has lost his damn mind.”

I winced then hurried back to them, trying with all my might to keep myself from losing all hope. My flashlight reflected off the stainless steel fridge and I paused for a moment, a memory tickling my mind. Something my mother would do when she was getting ready to move, a habit that she was OCD about.

A compulsion that might help lead me to her.

On the side of the fridge, there were three magnets holding up what looked like a shopping list and other crap. One was for Las Vegas, one was for Austin, and one was for Colorado.

Past. Present. Future.

My heart thumped hard enough that the pound roared in my ears and I wondered if it could be that simple.

She always got a magnet for whatever place she planned on moving to next, something I finally figured out when I was a kid and noticed a new California magnet on our fridge a few weeks before she announced we were leaving. Too bad it was only a state, not a city, but it was better than nothing.

I needed one thing to start me on the path to her, one clue, and I was hoping this was it, because I had nothing else to go on.

“Sarah,” Smoke growled, “we gotta go, now.”

“Right.”

Once we were safely back in the SUV, Hustler turned around from the passenger seat to look at me, his lip ring winking in the amber glow from the streetlights we passed. “You find anything?”

I almost said yes, but held back at the last moment. The more I thought about the situation, the surer I was that it was some kind of inside job. It had to be, all the clues pointed that way and I knew Beach had been considering it, but he didn’t want to believe one of his close brothers would betray him like that.

I blinked and stared at Hustler for a moment, wondering if he was the one betraying us, before shaking my head. “No, I’m sorry.”

Smoke let out a tense breath. “It’s okay. We knew it was a long shot.”

“Thanks for letting me try.”

Turning back around, Hustler looked at his phone then said, “Thank fuck. Beach managed to get us some time with the Israelis. Now we just need to find their shit, return it to ’em intact, and we’ll all be golden.”

I rested my head against the cool glass of the window, my thoughts racing as I tried to figure a way out of this mess.

When we pulled up to the clubhouse, the lot was packed with cars and we had to park farther away than usual, on the grass. A new minivan was parked next to ours and I absently looked at the little stick-figure family on the back, my gaze going to the car seats inside. Shit, I’d need to get one of those in the near future for the little life inside of me.

In a surreal moment, I wondered if I’d have to trade in my new, super awesome Jaguar F-Type that Beach had bought me, with no backseat, for a mom-mobile that could fit the massive car seat for our baby. My reflection stared back at me in the tinted glass, illuminated by the rising sun. I looked as tired as I felt, with deep circles beneath my eyes, and I stared at my reflection as I braced myself for Beach throwing a fit. I knew I’d fucked up when I left without his knowing, but the information I had was worth whatever verbal lashing he was about to unleash on me.

Sure enough, Beach bellowed out behind me, “Sarah!”

Whipping around, I winced as Beach came thundering past the parked cars to get to me, the fury on his face making me take a step back. Unwelcome memories of men stalking towards me with similar looks of rage when I was a child triggered my fight-or-flight response, and as usual, my default setting was fight. So instead of deescalating the situation and talking to my man, I snarled at him.

“I’m right here.”

His lip curled up in response, and if I’d been a rational person in any way, shape, or form, I would have recognized it for the bad sign it was. “You manage to destroy any evidence your mom left behind?”

His harsh words hit me like a blow and I took a step back, shocked out of my anger. “What?”

Vance followed close behind, a slight smirk tilting his lips before he smoothed his expression.

Beach ran both of his hands through his dark blond hair, the veins on his forearms standing out. “Were you workin’ with her, Sarah? Tell me right fuckin’ now.”

“Of course not!” I screamed, loud enough to draw the attention of everyone who had backed away from us while we were arguing, everyone except Vance. “I can’t believe you would think that I’d do something like that.”

“I can’t believe you lied to me about that bitch! You never fuckin’ told me about all the scams she pulled. I had to hear it from Vance about all the people she’s ruined. Bitch is slick, I’ll give her that, but she made a mistake leavin’ you behind. Tell me where she is!”

I had to wrap my arms around myself to keep from hitting him, his betrayal striking through me. “You think I’m in on this. After all our time together—”

“It hasn’t been that fuckin’ long,” Beach spat out. “And obviously I didn’t know shit about you. I was also clued in on all the scams you helped her run. Shit, you’ve been connin’ people since before you could even read.”

My heart ached and I swallowed hard, but my voice still came out pinched. “I see. Your mind is made up.”

He paused, squinting as he stared at me. “Did you help her?”

“Does it matter? You’ve already decided.” My world started to crash down around me, but I was a survivor and I managed to build a bubble of indifference surrounding my heart, trying to force him out. “If you’re done accusing me of being a traitor, I’d like to leave.”

“Get her out of my sight,” he snarled. 

I held his gaze for a moment, willing him to see the truth in my words. “I never betrayed you, or the club, but you just betrayed me.”

Smoke took my arm and urged me with him. Without another look, I turned my back on Beach, and it hurt, but I forced myself to do it. Every step felt like a blow and I ignored the looks thrown my way, some sympathetic, some pissed, others sad. By the time we made it to the building, I was holding on to my pride by a thread, refusing to cry as I was marched up the stairs to Beach’s room ,where I assumed I’d be locked in.

Not that it mattered, I already had an escape plan that I’d formulated the first time I spent the night here.

So I didn’t protest when Smoke sighed then said, “Give him time to cool down, Sarah. I’ll go talk some sense into him.”

I shrugged and made my way over to the window, looking out at the ground three stories below. “Whatever.”

“Sweetheart—”

“Just go, Smoke. I’m tired and not feeling well.”

I didn’t watch him leave, but let out a soft breath as he shut the door tightly behind him. I
was
tired, but I didn’t have the luxury of indulging in a nap. The sooner I left, the better. At the moment, most of the guys were probably still on the other side of the building with Beach in the parking lot. That meant I had to go, now.

With my heart beginning to race, I grabbed my backpack and gun bag, glad I’d kept up with my workouts as I settled the heavy gear next to me on the floor.

Next, I jumped up onto a chair and pushed up a ceiling tile above me. I pulled down the coiled rope ladder I’d stored and secured it to the sturdy handle of the steel-reinforced door leading out of Beach’s room.

The climb out the window was surprisingly easy and I jumped the last few feet, landing in a crouch and trying not to grunt as my gear shifted.

“What the fuck? Sarah?” came a man’s voice to my right, and a burly nomad that I kind of knew stared at me as he started to draw his gun.

With a small internal wince of regret, I took a step forward then swiftly kicked him on the side of the head, hard enough to knock him out.

As he fell, I waited for someone to sound the alarm, but we were situated at the corner of the building, where the shadows were thick. I dragged him against the side of the clubhouse, scanning the yard before I made my next move. Uncertainty nipped at me and I held my breath as men’s voices began to draw closer, talking about someone named Chief.

Knowing I faced greater odds of getting away from two men than just one, at least without anyone getting seriously hurt, I made the decision to move. I had to admit, it had been over a year since I’d last done any running with a full pack, but my muscles warmed as I sprinted across the yard in the pre-dawn light, my lungs expanding as I still waited for someone to raise the alarm behind me. Hopefully I’d moved the guy I’d knocked out enough that they wouldn’t fall on top of him.

I had to do this quick, had to get to my secret storage unit I’d rented under a false name and get the paperwork for my new identities. I had four deep-cover ones that I would use over the coming days to set myself up with a home base. Part of me wanted to go to Colorado right now, but I couldn’t just drive around the state, hoping to run into her.

No, there had to be something or someone here who could help me narrow it down. For a moment, I considered going to my dad and Mimi, but my mind shut that shit down almost instantly. First, my dad would go ballistic and lots of people would get dead. Second, Mimi would go ballistic and lots of people would get dead. Like enough to start a war. She’d go after the Russian and Israeli mafias on her own if she felt it was needed to keep me and Swan safe. If she knew about the shit storm raining down on us right now, she’d lose her mind.

So going to them for
help
was out of the question, but maybe not for a visit if I couldn’t find anything down here in Austin. I had friends with some impressive resources on the compound, and one brilliant man who saw me as an enemy but could help me, only as a last resort. The taint of my mother seemed to spread to anyone who had contact with her, and I didn’t want anyone hurt for helping me out.

No, I’d try to do it on my own first. I could only hope that Beach didn’t tell Mimi and my dad what was going on. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that they’d torture then kill my mother for this on principal alone. Even as much as I hated her, I couldn’t knowingly sign her death warrant.