Love Ties (27 page)

“No, you’re dying for this crime you’ve committed against our prez. You killed his son. Your death sentence has been signed. Now you can answer my questions and have a quick kill, or I can shoot you little bits at a time. First the toes then the ankles. Knees. Those will hurt like a motherfucker. But the balls—”

“All right! Guy by the name of Blacky. A Dark Raider.”

Jamison shifted his weight, but he didn’t let that pimpled spot between Middleton’s eyes out of his sights. “Where do you meet him?”

“By the bridge. In an alley. Please, man, don’t kill me,” he sputtered.

Jamison sighed. Something had to be done, but putting a bullet into the man’s skull didn’t set well with him.

“When’s the next meeting?” he asked.

“Two days. He distributes to me and to some whore. Far as I know, she isn’t getting any money from it, though.”

Sarah or Cassidy.

“You ever see this whore?”

O’Dovey growled, but Jamison ignored him.

“I’ve never seen her face, only from behind,” Middleton said.

“What color hair?” O’Dovey asked.

“Brown. Long brown. Sort of pulled back.”

“Sarah,” Ace and O’Dovey said together.

Jamison looked into Middleton’s eyes. “You know you can’t live. Where do you want your shot? Head or heart?”

“I-I don’t know, man! Don’t do it. I’ll skip town. Never come back. Hell, I’ll leave the state!”

Jamison hesitated. If the prez knew he’d let Middleton walk, he’d be in deep shit. Jamison had vowed to protect his own, and that included the family of his brothers. If someone hurt them, Jamison was going to retaliate.

O’Dovey leaned over Middleton. He waved his knife in Middleton’s face. “Know anything else about this ‘whore’?”

In a flash the knife was in Middleton’s hand. He reared up and stabbed O’Dovey in the shin.

Jamison fired at the same time Ace did.

It was ended.

•●•

Ever leaned over and retched a stream of bile onto the floor. Her stomach ached from the Raiders’ blows. Strother had dropped her off a block away before the sun rose, but the guards had spotted her at the gate, and remembering her presence in the club during the Hell’s Sons raid, had kicked her several times.

Crash had put a stop to it and tossed her over his shoulder. She’d puked down his spine, but he hadn’t said a word as he carried her into the MC.

She flopped onto her back and slung her arm across her eyes. Her skin was clammy, but the coolness felt good. She hadn’t been hit that hard since…well, ever.

“Stone’s coming,” someone said.

She cracked her eyes to peer under her arm at the men surrounding her. They looked as though they’d gladly kill her. Hopefully Stone wouldn’t be onboard with that. Otherwise, she wouldn’t help the Hell’s Sons or get that info on her mom.

A warm hand settled on her stomach, right over the place she’d been kicked. She recognized that touch, and her body reacted, her mind instantly back in Stone’s arms. How many times had he comforted her, saved her?

“What are you doing here?”

With a little struggle, she sat up. His eyes were filled with all the love she didn’t want to see. She had to use that to her advantage.

“I had to be with you.”

A smile ghosted across his handsome, horrible face, and then he waved at his men. “Who kicked her?”

“It was…”

“I did.” A guy she didn’t know came forward.

“I did too.”

Stone stood, seeming to tower over everyone in the room. She huddled behind him, glad for his protection once more. “If any of you touch her again, I’ll kill you myself. Understood?”

“Crystal clear, brother.”

Stone helped her to her feet, tucking her close to his chest. He smelled good—like clean laundry and spicy soap. Like home.

No, she wasn’t eighteen years old anymore. She was a grown-ass woman, and she hated this man. He’d hurt her countless times, but her brain was misfiring, falling into the old traps.

She wrapped an arm around her middle and let him lead her into the kitchen. Here he sat her at the table and got her a drink of cold water. She gulped it, welcoming the cool in the burning pit of her stomach.

Stone’s gaze traveled over her as if he were looking at something very precious. Yeah, something so precious he’d punched her and tried to choke the life from her.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” he asked at last.

She set the glass carefully on the table, keeping it within fingers’ reach in case she had to smash it over his head. “What boyfriend?”

“The one who stormed into my club and was responsible for killing two of my guys, then fought for you.”

She blinked at his hard tone and tried to give him a soft-eyed look to calm him down. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“No? He acted like it.” After a moment, he said, “What are you doing, Ever?”

“I’m…” She twisted her fingers together, maybe to counteract all the lies she was going to tell. “I missed you, Stone. I belong here. These are my people.”

People who held the secrets she needed.

His dark gaze turned into melted chocolate as he looked at her. He placed his hand over hers. It took everything in her to keep from yanking it free. Her skin crawled.

“Okay, you can stay. But remember, you belong to me. I’ll keep the guys away from you, but you can’t compromise us again.”

She shook her head hard. No one knew she was here besides Strother and Ace. If Jamison figured it out, she prayed those two would be able to hold him back and keep him away.

“Thank you, Stone.”

He smiled. Raising a hand, he brushed his fingers over the cut he’d put there. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up. I’ll find a girl who is the same size as you. Get you some clean clothes.”

“Okay.” She felt locked by some unseen force to the chair. Moving freely through the club would take a lot of bravery. If these guys caught wind of her real purpose, she was as good as dead. She’d never seen Jamison again.

She’d probably never see him, anyway. After she got out of here, if she ever did, she’d run. She had a new identity, and all she had to do was set up that new life.

Her heart ached.

With effort, she stood. She dropped a kiss to Stone’s cheek, hating the smoothness under her lips. Then she went down the hall to his room. She should be digging for information, but she didn’t have the energy right now. Five kicks to the stomach with steel-toed boots stripped the energy from a woman, even if those guys had held back.

Stone’s bedding held the same fresh scent as his clothes. Ever laid down and curled into a ball around her pain and fear. Every cell in her body cried out for Jamison’s touch.

Had he realized she was nowhere to be found yet?

What did she look like on a tracking screen?

The choppy music of an organ grinder rang over the fairgrounds. The Heller’s Gap fair was one of the only events that brought everyone in town together. White, black, Hispanic, Hell’s Sons, or good guys—they all congregated on the acres behind the courthouse for rides and fun.

Jamison had grown up looking forward to this fair. He and his friends had run like wild Indians through the crowds, picking up dropped change and buying whatever food they could with it.

Later in his teens he’d found more than one hot girl. Spinning in the Ferris Wheel with a girl named Jenny, his hand on her warm thigh, and his adolescent dick so hard he couldn’t think straight. Jenny had let him kiss her behind the sideshow tent, and he’d even gotten a feel of her tiny, young tits.

Now he hoped to find Ever here, and he wouldn’t stop at feeling her up.

The sun beat down on his neck and shoulders. He’d shed his cut because it seemed the fairground was ten degrees hotter than the rest of Heller’s Gap. His black T-shirt clung to his chest, and his jeans hung a little too low on his hips as he meandered through the throng of people.

Franklin passed him, a sweet morsel of a girl on his arm. He smiled and raised his chin at Jamison, but strain lived between his brows. Jamison couldn’t help but wonder if it had to do with Sissy.

Swinging his gaze right and left, Jamison searched for Ever. What would she be wearing? In this heat, tiny cutoffs, her golden legs a mile long. A tank top in blood orange with midriff bared.

Suddenly the fairground felt hotter yet.

Carol Ann was hanging out with Breezy and Ellie. They were drinking fresh-squeezed lemonade and eating corndogs while a few brothers stood feet away, keeping an eye on them.

Jamison passed through the crowd to reach them. They smiled in welcome.

“Wanna ride on the Ferris Wheel with me, Jamison?” Ellie asked, pushing her raven hair over her shoulder so it hung like a sheet of satin down her back.

“No thanks. I’m looking for Ever. Have you seen her?”

All three women said no. He thanked them with a smile, but the churning in his gut started. He hadn’t seen her since last night when she’d curled into his chest and fallen asleep.

At least he’d fallen asleep. He had no idea what time she’d left.

After checking her usual haunts—house, The Gearhead, and Tomfoolery, he’d come up empty-handed.

Tommy scrubbed his knuckles over his scarred face as Jamison approached. He claimed the X marks itched like hell, even years after healing. Rocket and Harris stood with him, smoking cigarettes.

“Hey, have you guys seen Ever?”

“Here?” Tommy raised his brows. “Nah. Didn’t know she was coming.”

“I haven’t seen her today, but we talked about coming to the fair tonight, so I thought she might have tried to find me here.”

Rocket shook his head. “I’ll keep an eye out for a sexy redhead.”

“Hey,” Jamison barked, and then smiled. “If you see her, tell her to text me.”

“Why don’t you text her now?” Harris asked.

“I have. All day. She isn’t responding.” Yeah, he didn’t like that, and saying it aloud made it feel a hundred times worse. “Maybe her phone’s dead.”

Harris didn’t look convinced, but he nodded. “We’ll let her know if we see her.”

“Thanks.” As Jamison dived back into the stream of people coming out of the tractor pull arena, fear clutched his heart. He needed Ace. Now.

In hot weather the water games were the most popular, with kids and parents laughing and calling to each other. He veered away from those and continued across the fairground to the barns.

Animals were brought in from all over for judging. In another lifetime Jamison had longed for a horse to show, the blue ribbon tantalizing. But in this heat, the livestock area wasn’t very popular. Flies and the smell of shit baking in the sun kept most people away.

The hot breeze carried the ripe scent to him, and he wrinkled his nose but continued on. He needed to have this conversation out of earshot.

He dug out his cell phone and stabbed Ace’s speed-dial. As he brought it to his ear, he peered into the open window of the pig barn. Who knew a pink animal with black speckles could look so cute and smell so fucking rank?

“Ace.” He twisted away and stared at the dry dust between buildings. “Where’s Ever?”

“I don’t know. Where are you?”

“At the fair. She’s supposed to be here with me. You haven’t seen her?”

“Not since last night.”

Something was wrong. Ace’s voice sounded hollow, not at all his.

Jamison tried to draw a deep breath and was assaulted by the astringent burn of animal urine and shit. He coughed. “Where the fuck is she, Ace? You know, don’t you?”

“There’s something you need to see, boss. What’s your location? I’ll come to you.”

Oh Jesus. What the hell was going on?

Jamison pushed his fingers through his hair and then looked at his damp fingertips. That helpless feeling had crashed over him again—the same way he’d felt when Ever was in the Raiders’ MC.

“You fucking tell me right now, Ace, or so help me—” He glared at the eight-hundred-pound sow, and it glared back, its red piggy eyes glowing in the dimness.

“Jamison, calm down. I’ll come to you. Give me fifteen minutes.”

He pressed his lips together, holding back the roar of rage. When he got his hands on Ace, he was going to throw him face-first into the nearest pile of pig shit. More than anything, he wanted Blake. His best buddy wouldn’t withhold information, even if saying it over the phone wasn’t the best idea.