Hunted (Dauntless MC Book 1) (19 page)

“Motherfucker, you’re crazy!” Talon jumped back, barely avoiding the pack of firecrackers Tiny had lit and thrown at his feet, laughing.

“No, motherfucker, I’m drunk. There’s a big damn difference.”

“You’re both crazy and drunk,” Preacher piped in.

“You need a woman, Preach,” Tiny bellowed out.

“What the fuck for? Every night of the week I got a different club slut, sweet butt, or whatever else I need to get my nut.”

“Yeah, and now you’re a fucking rap star. Can I have your autograph, you ugly motherfucker?”

Preacher stuck his chest out. “It’ll it cost ya. I’m a star, don’t ya know?”

The guys all busted out laughing. It seemed they got crazier without the women around.

“No more club sluts for me,” Scooter grinned.

“Yeah, you better stay in line. That’s a badass bitch you got.”

“Yeah man, don’t think I haven’t thought about Red’s ability to kill a man but hey, guys, don’t say anything. Man, that shit’s really been bugging her. She’s having a hard time sleeping and shit.”

“Nothin’ to feel bad about man. She saved a life, probably her own too,” Talon said.

“I know, man. That’s what I keep telling her but it’s just bugging her so don’t tease her about it.”

“Yeah, I understand that,” Tiny said. Everybody knew he had killed a man in a rival club for selling meth in Dauntless territory. He had asked them nicely, trying to keep the peace and some sort of alliance, but the Hell’s Demons club didn’t want to listen. They had gotten mixed up with gangbangers and were cooking meth with their own kids in their club. They’d even gone so far as trying to sell it in the school district where the Dauntless MC kids went and that had been a line Tiny wasn’t going to let them cross. He wasn’t going to tolerate dope fiends selling meth around his club kids’ schools.

Tiny never would sell dope. Though the boys smoked weed, they didn’t tolerate drug addiction, domestic abuse, child abuse, or any other shit like that. Whatever kink the boys did with their old ladies in the bedroom was fine but it had to be consensual and children were to be protected at all costs. In Tiny’s mind, any kids that belonged to a club member were the same as being his and he would lay down his life for any one of them.

The argument with Hell’s Demons had come to a head in a bar one night and there had been a major fight in the back alley. When one of the Demons stabbed a member of the Dauntless MC club, Tiny had shot him. It had been nothing but pure luck that he had gotten away with the murder. There was still definitely bad blood between the two groups. Yes, Tiny knew all about nightmares and night terrors. No matter how much someone deserved to die, you never forgot the light leaving someone’s eyes when you were the one to extinguish it.

Tiny grabbed another pack of firecrackers and caught Preacher off guard when he tossed them at his feet.

“Damn it, Tiny,” he growled when the explosion caused him to jump and his beer sloshed from the bottle.

“Hey man, gotta light your fire some kind of way ‘cause you ain’t got no woman.”

“I told you, man. I like the club sluts. They don’t mind taking on two members at a time. Nothing like having a woman with the other bros and seeing every hole she’s got plugged.”

“You’re a kinky motherfucker,” Talon said.

“Like you got room to talk with all your control issues.”

“I know I’m kinky but I can tell you, with the right woman, you’ll never want another man touching her.”

Preacher shook his head disagreeing, “Nope, I’m a man whore.”

Tiny tossed another firecracker at his feet. “That you are.”

“Quit throwing those fucking firecrackers!”

“You big pussy, I’ll save the poppers for you.”

Once again, the group busted out laughing.

The boys would go long into the night, drinking and ragging each other until the girls got home. Then they would settle into bed with their old ladies.

Daisy waited until everyone was busy checking out for the night. Raven and Red had made their way out to the SUV earlier and had left the vehicle doors unlocked when they threw their bag of costumes in the back. It was now or never. She jumped in the back floorboard and hid under a blanket. Maybe she could make it into the compound without being seen.

It was the only place she would be safe. As dark as it was, she had a good chance of making it in without being detected. She couldn’t go back home. Billy had turned into a man she didn’t know anymore after he had gotten addicted to meth. If she went home, he’d kill her. He would never suspect her going to a rival MC club. She had a job now and they didn’t know who she was. Maybe with a little streak of luck, she could start over and have a normal life.

She didn’t know anything but life in an MC club. She had been with Billy since she had run away from home at the age of fourteen. He had taken her in and from the moment they laid eyes on each other, they were inseparable. At least, they were until Billy became a meth addict. The man who was beating the shit out of her was not the same man who had rescued her from her stepdad’s nightly molestation visits. Though there had been no penetration, the trauma and shame still held a tight grip on her. It didn’t help when her mother betrayed her by taking her stepfather’s side.

She had loved Billy, but any love that she once had for him had now turned to fear. This wasn’t what she had signed up for. She didn’t agree with what the Hell’s Demons MC club was doing. The last straw had been the domestic abuse she suffered and the drugs they were selling to kids. She wanted no part of it and if this was her only way out, then so be it.

Red waited until they were settled in the cage to head home before she addressed Raven.

“Raven, I hope you know you can trust me. Anything we discuss is kept in confidentiality. This issue of you being sent black roses scares me. I don’t know if you know this, but there is a serial killer who goes by the name of
Black Rose
. He has a whole website set up and the guy has millions of fans and followers.”

“Why would anyone follow a serial killer online?” Raven asked as she made her way out of the parking lot. She turned onto River Road, the road that would take them back to the compound.

“He’s a vigilante of sorts, a fucking rock star. He has been able to avert the FBI and they can’t even get an IP address on the guy. He is so smart that it has caused a lot of speculation that he must be a billionaire or a fucking genius hacker. I think he’s both.”

“What are you doing, following him?”

“I’ve tossed around the idea of writing a crime novel. I’ve always been intrigued with criminal psychology. I wish I’d have had more time to get inside my abductor’s head. I think he was obsessed with Justine and I had planned on gaining fodder for my prospective book but that just wasn’t how things worked out.”

Raven noted the melancholy expression on Red’s face and decided that if talking about her stalker would cheer her up, then she would do it.

“Can you take me to that website when we get home?”

Red immediately cheered up at the prospect of leading her friend through the dark corridors of a killer’s mind.

“You really do like this criminal psychology shit, don’t you?”

“I love it and wait until you see his site. This guy is so fucking cool.”

“Whatever you say,” Raven stated, shaking her head in disbelief. “Oh, one more thing, don’t breathe a word of this to Tiny. He will go crazy and we don’t know if there’s a reason to react, or overreact, as of yet and that’s exactly what he’ll do if he finds out—overreact.”

“Well, like I said, you can trust me to keep a secret.”

The girls pulled up to the compound and viewed the two burly prospects standing outside the gate with their arms folded across their muscular chests. They immediately rushed to get the gate open for their president’s old lady. How they treated her would be part of what determined if they were taken on as members. It would also save them an ass kicking from their crazy MC president who watched over her with diligence. Everyone knew Tiny was head over heels in love with Raven and, consequently, everyone knew not to get on her bad side because of it.

“Why’s it so quiet around here?” Raven asked, leaning out the window and addressing one of the prospects.

“The boys had a party and the last I heard, they were throwing firecrackers at one another.”

“Gotcha,” was all she said, pulling into the compound. She, of all people, knew how crazy the guys could get.

“Let’s sneak over to my room. Scooter set up a writing room for me across from our bedroom.”

“Pretty cool that he believes in your dream,” Raven answered.

“Our guys are good guys.”

“That they are.”

Raven looked around the room as Red turned on the light. There was a small desk with a picture above it that said,
Dream until your dreams come true.
A top of the line computer sat on the desk along with a large desk calendar and a container that held pens, pencils, paper clips, and various office items. A small daybed sat in a coved part of the room by the window.

The whole room was decorated in animal print and done tastefully.

“I need to have a getaway room,” Raven noted. “The problem is that Tiny won’t let me get away.”

“Scooter has a fit when I fall asleep over here.” Red booted up the computer and sat down in the black leather office chair. She maneuvered her way around, signing in and going straight to the site.

The first thing Raven saw was a picture with a poem:

Though a single black rose tis his kiss of death, for her it holds no power…

For when she doth receive, tis not a mere black rose, but a bouquet thereof.

Even though a chill went through her when she read the poem, Raven reacted the same way most people did when viewing the site for the first time; she was intrigued.
Great, a romantic serial killer
, she thought
.

“Honestly, I can’t see this guy hitting on you, Raven. I’ve studied his profile and he is head over heels in love with a woman he rescued. He devoted a whole blog to how he rescued her, when they met, and how much he loves her. He went so far as to log his stalking of her online and she never even knew it because she wasn’t familiar with him. I’ve studied his site for research and it isn’t his MO. You must be dealing with a copycat.”