Iron & Bone (Lock & Key #3) (32 page)

“Yeah, he unlocked the doors and then locked them behind us. And we…you know.”

“Were you and Mindy both working him at the same time, or you took turns?”

“What? I mean, why do you—”

“Ticktock, ticktock,” said Nina.

Shelley Anne bit her lip. “Okay, at first, all three of us were going at it together on the table and stuff. You wanna know what exactly we were doing?”

I made a face as if a bad smell had seeped into the room. “Not really, but I need to, so yeah, keep going.”

“Then, Mindy decided I should get on all fours on the table, so Jump could fuck me from behind.”

“Mindy decided?” said Nina.

“Yeah, and she covered my eyes with a scarf she’d had on. Then she put the bandanna Jump had been wearing on his head, over his eyes. He got pissed at first, but then he liked it.” Shelley Anne shrugged her shoulders. “He laughed.”

“So, Jump was fucking you blind?”

“Yeah. You know, I read about that in a book once. It really enhances—”

“Right. So, what was Mindy doing when you were getting it up the ass?” asked Nina.

“Oh, no. Later, he did my ass. Then, he was—”

“Shelley Anne,” I said, letting out a sigh. “What was Mindy doing while you were getting it, doggy style?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” asked Nina.

“At first, she was playing with me—you know, with my tits, and—”

“And then she wasn’t?” I said.

“Yeah. I figured she was tea-bagging Jump or something.”

“Oh, the visuals,” murmured Nina.

“Anyway, she’d blindfolded me, so I’m not sure. I was coming so hard. Seriously, Jump’s awesome, you guys.”

Nina bit her lip, tamping down her laughter. I shot her a look and focused on Shelley Anne once more.

“When you were done and you took the scarf off, where was Mindy?” I asked.

“She was kissing Jump, and then they started doing stuff together.”

I toed one of my flip-flops. “By the way, did you guys have your handbags with you?”

“Not me. I hate taking a handbag to parties. I had my money and ID and my phone in my pockets. Mindy had my keys though. She always carries this big Coach bag.”

“Oh, I like Coach bags,” said Nina, grinning like an overzealous infomercial hostess.

Shelley Anne’s eyes lit up. “Me, too! I love them. They’re amazing, right?”

“Did Mindy have her Coach bag with her in the meeting room when you guys were in there with Jump?” I asked.

“Of course she did. You can’t go leaving your shit around at a biker party, right?”

“Oh, absolutely,” I replied.

“Truth,” murmured Nina.

Mindy, Mindy, Mindy.

“Okay, we’re done here. Remember, Shelley Anne, you don’t say a word about our conversation to anyone, especially not Mindy, or I promise you, you’ll be history. And we will find out if you’ve opened your trap. We always do.”

The color drained from Shelley Anne’s thin face. “No, I won’t. I promise. I swear.”

“For future reference,” I said, “Jump’s wife comes here to Danielle’s all the time, and she’s a very respected citizen of this small town of ours. Trust me when I say, you do not want her to find out about you and her old man.”

Nina shook her head. “Damn, if she found out…” The unmentionable hung in the air.

I glanced at Nina, exhaling heavily. “I know, right?”

Shelley Anne’s eyes widened, her mouth falling open, her face reddening.

Nina and I moved to leave the therapy room, but I had one more thing I needed to say to Miss Shelley Anne.

I turned and faced her once again. “Just so you know, your BFF, Mindy lied to you. You missed out big time.” I winked at her. “My old man is absolutely amazing in the sack. Fucking fantastic.”

NINA AND I HURTLED
toward the club in her RAV4, Sy zooming ahead of us.

“We’re going to find that bitch!”

I glanced at her. “
We
are?”

“Hell yes, we are! She stole that gun from the clubhouse!”

“And what the hell is she doing with it? Did she do it to get back at Boner? To sit back and have a laugh while the men scrambled to find it? That’s just nuts!”

“Obviously, she is fucking nuts,” replied Nina.

My head sank against the headrest. “Maybe...”

“Maybe I’ll start off small, just for kicks, so you get that I’m serious about this.”

I slid back up in my seat. “Holy shit.”

It was a perfect Catch move, wasn’t it? Audacious, unexpected, an unforgiving sharp cut deep to the bone.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I muttered under my breath.

It had to be some kind of setup. Catch was taunting me with his threat and fucking with the Jacks, all in one go.

Had his club sanctioned this?

Getting Mindy to do his dirty work was certainly a sparkly touch.

Was this a trap he was setting up for Boner? I mentally kicked my ass for not telling Boner about Catch’s threats to take Becca away from me and do him harm.

My jaw clenched. I had to
do
something.

During my first trimester of pregnancy with Becca, I’d found a club woman giving Catch a blow job in a bathroom at the Flames clubhouse. I’d sputtered and stumbled as I backed away. She was one of the older women they’d had around for many years. I’d seen her get into fights with other women at parties, and it was never pretty. She’d heard me come into the room and glared at me, his dick twisting in her mouth. In that moment, I’d been upset and revolted and utterly petrified.

Krystal, another Flames old lady, had found me in the hallway. Her eyes had flared at me as she grabbed a beer bottle and clocked the woman on my behalf. A bleary-eyed drunk Catch had stood there, his wet cock hanging out of his pants, while all my chained fury and emotion had vibrated in my veins. I had stood there shaking, unable to speak.

“
That’s the way to do it, honey. You got it in you, or don’t you?”

Krystal had tossed what was left of the bottle on the floor, shaken her head at me, and stridden back to the party, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Her obvious disappointment had burned through me. I had been unworthy of the Old Lady title.

I’d envied Krystal’s instinct for wild action without a second thought, that instinct to stand up and fight for herself, her sisters, and what she believed was right. Obviously, I’d had the instinct for flight.

Unworthy is right. Not this time.

You got it in you, or don’t you?

I got out my phone and dialed up Penny. “Pen? Hi, I have a couple of more errands I need to run with Nina.” I raised my heels as the lie escaped my lips, Nina glancing over at me. “Could you keep Rae and Becca until tonight? I’m sorry this is last minute.”

“Sure, Jill. Roy and the boys went to a softball game, so it’s just us girls. We were going to call you to have dinner with us.”

“I wish I could. Becca okay? Did she eat enough?” Becca had started going through a picky eater phase. At least, I hoped it was only a temporary phase.

“She did fine. She ate every pea in her bowl, one at a time and by hand, but she ate every last one. I think it’s because she loves the taste of melted butter so much.”

“That’s so exciting! Oh my gosh. Thanks, honey.”

“Sure. I took pictures, I’ll show you later.”

“Okay. Bye.” I clicked off the call.

I turned to Nina. “Let’s do this.”

She whooped loudly, smacking her hands on the wheel of her Toyota.

A few minutes later, we pulled into the club. Alicia’s blue Cherokee was parked in her usual spot.

“Oh shitters!” Nina pulled in alongside it. “Alicia’s back from Texas?”

“Perfect timing,” I said.

“She’s going to blow a gasket.”

“Not just a gasket. This is good. We’ll take care of Mindy and get the men the info they need.”

We hustled from the car and charged into the clubhouse.

Nina stopped Dawes, who was hauling a box of files from Jump’s office into the meeting room. “Have you heard from Butler? He’s not answering his cell.”

“Nope. He and Boner haven’t come back yet. Anything up?”

“Jill and I have a lead on how the Python disappeared. We wanted to let the guys know.”

“They had an idea, too, and headed south to go deal with it.” Dawes cast a pointed glance at me.

Catch, of course.

Alicia strode into the room. “Hey, girls.”

I grinned. “Hey, Alicia. Welcome home. Could we talk to you for a minute?”

Nina raised her chin at Dawes. “Get my old man on the phone, would you? It’s a nine-one-one.”

He stared at us.

Nina waved a hand in his face. “Old Lady powwow.”

He rolled his eyes and ambled off.

Alicia raised an already arched eyebrow at us. “What the hell’s going on?”

The three of us headed for the Tingle in Nina’s car. Alicia had called Cassandra, the manager of the nightclub and confirmed that Mindy was there rehearsing. On the drive over, I explained my Catch suspicions to Nina and Alicia.

“You see, Mindy did all this to get back at Boner for being with me.”

“Using my old man to do it,” Alicia said. “And colluding with another club to steal from us at the same time. That goes above and beyond.”

“Above and so fucking beyond,” I agreed. “And so very fucking low.”

“And Catch is not taking Becca away from you, Jill. You told Boner about him threatening you, right?” Alicia asked.

“No, I haven’t told him yet.”

“Why the hell not?” Her throaty voice got louder.

I bit my lip. “I didn’t want to make things worse between the clubs. And now this happened.”

“Things are already worse, and he needs to know, Jill. You don’t keep secrets like that from your old man. That’s not protecting anybody. You’re not in this alone anymore, hon.”

“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

“It’s the truth,” Alicia replied.

We swerved into the Tingle parking lot.

Alicia turned to me. “You stay back. You and the baby are more important than this bullshit.”

“Yeah, but this bullshit has to be dealt with,” I replied.

“Damn straight,” she replied. “And it will be.”

Suddenly, the back door of the night club swung open, and a movement blurred before us.

“That’s her. Somebody tipped her off!” shouted Alicia.

She and Nina ran toward Mindy, who was opening the door of her car.

I charged after them. Nina got Mindy facedown against her car, her arms twisted behind her.

“Get the fuck off me!” Mindy yelled.

“Shelley Anne told us all about it,” Alicia said.

“All about me fucking your old man?” Mindy wrestled with Nina’s steady grip. “He was as horny as a teenager. You don’t feed the beast, do you? He even found me again later on, hungry for more, and I fed him good and plenty. Don’t you worry.”

Alicia viciously dug her hands into Mindy’s long brown hair, yanking it to the side. Mindy screeched.

“Boner didn’t want you for his old lady? Tough fucking shit, little girl,” Alicia said.

Mindy glared at me, her breath ragged.

“Anyone force you to do this?” I asked.

“No!” Mindy struggled for air, her neck craning.

“I think you’d better apologize to our president’s old lady,” I said.

“Fuck you! I will not—”