Ghost (2 page)

Crimson took another gulp of whiskey. “I don’t give a fuck if she walked home barefoot and naked across broken glass.”

“What the hell is your problem? What? She didn’t suck your cock well enough?”

“Bitch tried to steal from me. I told her, if I caught her stealing from anyone around here again, I’d turn her ass over to Preacher. You know he’d crack down on that shit and she’d be lucky if he only tossed her out on her ass.”

“You threatened her? What the fuck is your problem? Did you forget that we protect women, not harm them?”

“She’s not a woman. She’s a whore.”

Ghost’s hands clenched on the table. He wanted to smash his fist into Crimson’s face, but he refrained. Barely. He rose from the table so suddenly that his chair kicked over backwards and clattered to the ground. Without bothering to pick it up, he stormed out of the clubhouse and got on his bike. No one else might be worried about Shelly, but he was, and he wouldn’t rest tonight until he knew she was all right. Revving the engine, he peeled out of the parking lot and headed toward her house.

When he stopped out front, he wondered what he was going to say to her. He approached the door and rang the bell, hoping he wasn’t disturbing her. Ghost had an easy smile on his face when the door opened, and it quickly disappeared.

“Who the fuck are you?” Ghost asked, his eyebrows slanted over his eyes.

“Depends on who is asking. Something I can do for you?”

“I’m here for Shelly.”

“Ah. I don’t usually let the girls entertain in their rooms, but by all means come on in. I take it
you got a taste of Shelly at the clubhouse and wanted some more? I have to tell you, since your President isn’t paying for her services tonight, I’m going to have to charge you.”

Charge him? What the hell was this guy talking about? The Pres had bought Shelly? His stomach turned sour at the thought of their club harming women in any way. If Preacher had started trafficking in women, he’d have to be stopped, at whatever cost. He followed the man further into the home, a home that looked like any other.

“So shall we settle on a price? And then I can send you up to her. She’s all alone up there and I’ll stay out of your way for the next hour.” He smirked. “Assuming you want her that long.”

Buy her time for an hour? A feeling a dread settled over Ghost. Crimson had told him she was a whore, but had his brother been right? And if so, just how much did Crimson know? If Preacher had bought Shelly’s time for the club, what about the other girls? Did he buy the ones she arrived with every night? This was some seriously fucked up shit. He’d been tasked with saving women, not furthering their destruction.

Ghost pulled out his wallet, grabbed a handful of bills and threw them at the man. “That’s all I’ve got on me.”

Her pimp—God, the thought sickened him—counted out the money, then nodded and motioned for Ghost to head upstairs. Part of him want to race to her side to check on her, and the other part was dreading what he might find. He took the stairs calmly, not wanting to seem too eager, and peered into each room until he found Shelly.

“Shelly?” he called out softly.

She rolled to face him and his gut twisted. Her beautiful face had been ravaged, and with the way she was wrapping her arms around herself, he’d be willing to bet the damage went further down her body. Had the sick fuck downstairs done this to her? And if so, why?

She visibly swallowed, then pushed the covers off her body. She was naked under the blankets and he could see the purple bruising on her ribs and stomach. Bile rose in his throat as he thought about someone harming her on purpose. He eased his way across the small room and sank to his knees beside the bed. With gentle hands, he reached out and cupped her face.

“Who did this to you?” he asked.

“Richard.”

“The man downstairs?”

She nodded. “Don’t worry. I can still please you. I know that’s why you’re here, that you paid him for my time. I’m afraid my bed isn’t very big.”

His heart kicked in his chest. “Doll, I didn’t come here for that. I came here to check on you because you didn’t show up at the clubhouse tonight.”

“He wouldn’t let me go. Said I had to stay here and take care of whatever customers called for service since the rest of the girls were at the clubhouse.”

He didn’t want to ask, but he needed to know. “Has anyone called?”

“Not yet. Richard told me to get ready in case someone did.”

Thank fuck she hadn’t been touched tonight! “I’m going to get you out of here. Can you trust me to do that?”

“It won’t do any good. He’ll just come after me. He owns me, just like he owns the others. We’re his property and we have to do what he says. And if we don’t….”

“He beats the hell out of you.”

She nodded.

“Why did he beat you, Shelly?”

“I came home empty-handed. Preacher pays for us to come to the clubhouse, but that isn’t enough for Richard. We’re supposed to pick the pockets of the bikers while we’re there, bring home some extra cash to him, and the bikers generally don’t say anything because they don’t want anyone to know they were taken by a woman.”

“Aw hell, honey. How did you get mixed up in all this?”

“It’s a long story.”

Ghost nodded. “Let’s get you dressed and then we’ll get you out of here.”

He helped Shelly off the bed, then rummaged in the dresser drawers until he found a tank and some shorts. He tossed a few more things onto the bed then went to the closet and dug around until he found a backpack. Stuffing the clothes inside, he helped her put on a pair of tennis shoes.

Shelly rose unsteadily to her feet and he wrapped an arm around her waist. She stared up at him with uncertainty and a bit of hope. “Why are you helping me?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do. You don’t belong to this way of life, not if you didn’t choose it.”

“You’re never going to get past Richard. He won’t let me walk out of here.”

Ghost pulled a Glock from his holster. “I don’t recall saying I was going to give him a choice.”

She stared at the gun then nodded.

Ghost took her by the hand, gave her the backpack, which she slung over her shoulder, and then he guided her down the stairs. Richard was standing at the foot, smirking, until he saw Shelly.

“You can’t take her with you. She has other customers to take care of.”

Ghost cocked his weapon and pointed it at Richard’s head. “Are you sure about that? Because my hour isn’t up yet and I’ll take her wherever I damn well please. And if you disagree? Well…” Ghost gave him a sinister smile. “Your brains won’t be the first I’ve splattered. Pimps are somewhere below cockroaches, so if you think I’d lose sleep over it, you’d be wrong.”

Anger simmered in Richard’s eyes, but Ghost could tell the man knew he’d been bested. He gave a curt nod and stepped out of their way. Ghost kept him in his line of sight until Shelly was safely on the back of the bike, her arms wrapped around him. He holstered his weapon and they took off, not even pausing to look back. Ghost had no doubt that he’d be hearing from Richard sooner or later, but for now, Shelly was safe.

At the clubhouse, she hesitated at the foot of the stairs, looking frightened as she stared at the double doors with the club’s logo burned into the wood. The fear and indecision in her eyes infuriated him. This was the one place a woman should feel safe. Ghost was part of Axel’s crew, a group of five who rescued abused women. Crimson was part of that group, but obviously, he was fucked in the head at the moment. Or he hadn’t realized what was really going on. For the moment, Ghost would give him the benefit of the doubt, but if he said one wrong word to Shelly, Ghost was going to knock his teeth down his throat.

“Come on, doll. No one inside is going to hurt you.”

“Crimson said he would turn me over to Preacher. If Preacher gets mad, he’ll tell Richard, and then…”

Ghost shushed her the only way he knew how. He gently placed his lips over hers, silencing her protests with a gentle kiss. When he pulled back, she fingered her lips and stared up at him with a bewildered expression. You’d think she’d never been kissed before. And for all Ghost knew, she hadn’t. Kissing wasn’t exactly a requirement for fucking. How many times had he taken a woman without kissing her first? Suddenly, he didn’t feel so great about his many one-night stands, or quick fucks against the wall.

Ghost took her hand and led her through the doors. He knew what he was about to do was dangerous, but it was time the club knew what their illustrious leader had been up to. He knew several would be just as angry as he was over the use of prostitutes in the clubhouse. They rescued these women! They didn’t exploit them. What the fuck had Preacher been thinking when he’d set up this deal?

Ghost stopped in front of Preacher, ignoring the curious looks from Reaper and Scorch.

“This is what your money has paid for. You’ve exploited the very women we’ve sworn to protect; and when they don’t do exactly as their pimp says, they get the holy hell beat out of them and then they’re forced to service customers while they have busted ribs and bruised faces.”

Preacher scanned Shelly from head to toe before his cold eyes settled on Ghost again. “Are you saying I’m responsible for this girl’s bruises?”

“You know damn well what I’m accusing you of. You’ve been purchasing girls for the club, exploiting the women we’re supposed to save. Did you think it could go on forever? That no one would figure it out? What? We’re such a sad lot we can’t get pussy on our own?”

Preacher shrugged. “We needed easy pussy around the club and I knew these girls would put out without question. Do anything the boys wanted them to. It was a business deal, nothing more.”

Reaper looked at Shelly a little closer.

Ghost lifted her shirt to show off the bruising on her body. “Can you sleep at night knowing that you funded this kind of abuse? That you let it go on under your very nose and did nothing to stop it?”

Reaper rose from the table. “Church. Now. Bring the girl.” His voice carried across the room.

Silence rang out in the clubhouse as the brothers marched to the boardroom and took their seats. The women were relegated to the main room while business was conducted, except for Shelly, who gripped Ghost’s hand like she was afraid he was going to run out on her, throw her to the wolves.

As the doors clicked shut, the brothers looked around at one another uncomfortably. Preacher took his seat, but Reaper snatched the gavel out of his hand. The VP studied the men around the table before his gaze settled on Shelly again. He motioned for her to come forward and she gave Ghost a beseeching look. Her grip on his hand was making his fingers numb, but he walked with her to the head of the table, where Reaper waited.

“A serious charge has been issued,” Reaper said. “Ghost has charged our Pres with funding a prostitution ring. And with my own ears, I heard Preacher admit that he had purchased the girls in the club for our use. As you’re well aware, Ghost is part of a crew that we send out to rescue abused women. He has every right to be angered over this atrocity.”

Reaper motioned for Shelly to come closer. He lifted her shirt to expose the marks on her skin. “This is what has happened to this poor girl because of our President’s misdeeds. He should have shut down the pimp the moment he heard whispers about the operation, but instead he chose to purchase her services for the club.”

Ghost looked around the room, watching as it slowly sank into each of the men at the table that the only reason Shelly had been willing to sleep with them, the only reason she’d gone without complaint and done whatever they asked, was because she’d been forced into it. She hadn’t been a willing participant like they’d thought and several looked sickened by the idea.

“When we pay for prostitutes to service our needs, we become no better than the 1% clubs we’ve taken down over the past year. We become no better than the pimps who steal these women off the streets and force them to do their bidding. We become no better than slavers. Is that what we want for our club?” Reaper asked.

There was some murmuring around the table.

“I vote that we remove Preacher as President,” Ghost said, his voice carrying across the room. “I don’t know about you, but I didn’t sign up for this shit. If I wanted to pay a woman for sex, I’d look for a prostitute. But the pussy in this clubhouse is supposed to free and willing. Not bought and paid for.”

“I second the motion,” Bone said.

“I third,” said Viper.

The vote went around the table, a unanimous decision, until it reached Reaper. The VP looked at the President with a hint of disappointment and more than a little distaste. “The motion passes. Preacher, remove your President patch and remove yourself from the head of the table.”

Preacher stood, but instead of ripping off his patch, he removed his cut and tossed it onto the table. “I’m out.”

“And we should just let you walk away after what you did?” Switch asked.

Reaper’s gaze swept the table. “He’ll be punished. Axel and I will take care of it. In the meantime, is there anyone here you’d like to nominate for President?”

Curious glances went around the table, but finally Crimson lifted a hand. “I’d like to nominate Ghost. He knew something was up even when the rest of us didn’t. He’s always observing everything around him and making cold, calculated decisions. I’d trust him not to fuck us over.”

“Anyone else?” Reaper asked.

After another round of voting, Reaper looked at Ghost with a hint of a smile on his face. “Give your cut to Hound’s old lady and she’ll make sure the Pres patch is in place before morning.”

Ghost wasn’t sure how to feel about the change in position. He’d been a leader before, in Afghanistan, leading his men on missions that would make most people piss their pants. A position of authority wasn’t new to him, but this was different. These people had chosen him to be their leader and it humbled him. Although he wasn’t too sure about that cold, calculated decision bit. Not where Shelly was concerned. He definitely ran hot when it came to her.

Reaper slammed the gavel on the table. “Church is dismissed.”