Master (Chaos Bleeds Book 8) (17 page)

“But I’m much better at it,” she said.

He laughed. “That you are. I prefer being a goofball.”

She leaned back and stared up at him. “I missed you last night. You didn’t stay after you came for Spider.”

“Paris is in there. She’s hurt pretty bad. The doctors have her in a medically induced coma to help her deal with the pain.” Snake kissed her shoulder. “I miss home.”

“Yeah, Fort Wills is great, but most of the time we visit, we’re either in the hospital or in the clubhouse. It would be nice to actually see what the town has to offer.”

“It would.” He kissed her cheek, and she just knew he wanted to ask her something. “Jess, baby,” he said.

“What?”

“How are you holding up?”

“I’m pissed. Not only did the son of a bitch brand me, he’s now shooting at us. Then he has the fucking audacity to come to the hospital to try to hurt us?” Jessica shook her head. “I tell you, if I ever get my hands on him. He’s going to die a very slow, a very painful death, and while it’s happening, I’m going to laugh. We should probably film it as well so we get more pleasure out of it.”

“Bloodthirsty.”

“Too damn right, I am. Fucker deserves to pay for what he’s done. His death can’t come too soon as far as I’m concerned.”

Chapter Twelve

One week after the shooting

The funeral had been a sad affair. The Skulls’ Nomad Chapter had turned up in town, and now the clubhouse was so full people were camping on the back lawn. There were several who hadn’t been able to make it. Sasha and Pussy were still in the hospital, but the good news was the doctors believed Sasha could be released in a couple of weeks. Sally was being discharged in a couple of days. Her leg needed time to heal, but she didn’t want to stay in the hospital all day. The club would be taking turns to take her to the hospital for her appointments.

Sandy stood outside with the club, drinking some beer as she listened to tales that were told by the Nomads, Adam, and Twisted.

Happy had been well loved, and he’d be missed.

Stink walked up behind her, gripping her hip. “You okay, baby?”

“Yeah, I will be. I hope so. I don’t know. After a funeral, and with the guys here, it all makes it real. Any news from Whizz?” she asked.

“Andrew is keeping a low profile.”

“What about his little sidekick? Spider mentioned he had one, as did that girl. Russell, they said.”

“It’s hard to go on one name. Whizz has run his name through several databases. A lot of names have come up, but it’s about going through each profile to try to find the right person.”

“Sounds like a cop problem.”

“Lucky for us, we have Whizz and Lacey. She can’t cook, but she seems to be able to find people. Whizz has her reading through the profiles while he monitors security footage in a twenty-mile radius of the house that went bang.”

“Why doesn’t he do it on a twenty-mile radius of the clubhouse or the hospital?” she asked.

“Why would he do that?”

“He’s after the two clubs. It would make more sense of him being close to us.”

“Andrew also needs to be secluded. His face has been posted up.”

“So we find the sidekick, and we find Andrew.”

“Needle in a haystack.”

“Yeah, his sidekick could be anyone.” She took a sip of her beer, and when there was a cheer for their fallen, she raised her bottle.

Stink did the same.

After her first one, Sandy went to juice. It wasn’t the time nor was it the place to get drunk.

Music started to play, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Hello, husband.”

Stink wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her close. “Hello, wife.”

“This has been a rather interesting courtship, don’t you think? she asked.

“It has certainly been long for the two of us.” He took possession of her lips.

With Stink’s arms surrounding her, all of her worries fell away. “Thank you,” she said.

“What are you thanking me for?” he asked.

“For not giving up on me. I imagine it would have been really easy to do. You waited for me, and I think that has to be the nicest thing that anyone has ever done.” He leaned forward, taking possession of her lips.

“You can count on it always.”

“Now, I know we’re honoring the dead, but I knew Happy for a while, and I know he’d be upset if we didn’t raise our drinks in another kind of toast,” Lash said.

He stood up on the wall, staring down at them all. Stink pulled her into his arms, wrapping them around her, and holding her close.

“We have all come together for something bad. Andrew. He took Happy from us, and we will make him pay. First, I want to offer up a huge congratulations to Stink and Sandy. Guys, you’ve made us wait fucking years for this moment. You deserve each other. I don’t know what took you so long, but it’s a good job that you both finally found the will to actually be with each other. Love you both.”

Sandy chuckled, accepting kisses from those closest to them.

“To Alex and Sunshine for their baby girl. We can see her right now.”

She looked behind her to see the happy couple together, with Sunshine holding the little bundle.

“Welcome to fatherhood, Alex. Trust me, you’re going to love it, and possibly hate it. I think we’re all looking forward to what the future can hold. Also, to my little baby girl, Chloe. She’s going to be spoiled rotten, I can feel it. Angel, you’re mine, and if I don’t get into heaven when I’m dead, it’s because I’m living it now.”

There was a round of applause at his speech.

“I also want to say a special call out to Sophia and Sasha. Both are strong women, and knowing we didn’t lose them, makes me a better person.”

Another round of cheers.

“I always want to thank Whizz. Where is he?”

“I’m here.”

Sandy saw he was standing by the door, and Lacey was holding his arm.

“Out of all of us here, you’ve done the best. The fight with Andrew is not a fight just with our fists. If it was, we’d have gotten him weeks ago. This fight needed you, and we’re a lucky bunch of men to have you with us.”

“Thank you.”

“To all of our clubs, whether it be Skulls, Nomad, or Chaos, we’re going to win this thing.”

Another round of cheers erupted.

The music was turned up, and Sandy turned around in Stink’s arms. “So, Stink, what do you say to carrying me over the threshold, taking me to your room, and having your wicked way with me? Do you think you can handle that?” she asked.

Stink bent down, picking her up in his arms, and holding her close.

“That’s one order I’m more than happy to oblige.”

There were catcalls and some dirty words spoken as Stink carried her toward the threshold of the clubhouse. He didn’t drop her, and he took her to their room, where he placed her on the bed. Stink left to go and shut the door, returning to her.

“I want you to make love to me, Stink.”

She never had to ask her man twice.

****

Spider rubbed his head as he stared into Paris’s sterile room. He couldn’t just walk in and see her. The doctors wore protective equipment, and they demanded he suit up before going inside. He was limited to how much time he could spend with her. It fucking sucked, and it pissed him off.

Pussy was walking down the long corridor returning to his woman. He held a cup of coffee in his hand, and he paused to take a seat.

“How are you holding in there, brother?”

“I’m sick and tired of the fucking crutches. I want to get out, and pummel the shit out of the fucker who thought they could put a hand on my woman. Look at her, Pussy. Look at how fucking weak she looks. He beat her, raped her, tortured her, and now I’ve got to find a way to make it all fucking better for her. How the fuck do I do that, huh? How do I make shit like that better?”

Pussy gripped his shoulder. “First, you start by realizing that you can do that.”

“What?”

“I’m not saying this shit will be easy. In fact, I bet with you and with Paris, shit is about to get really fucking complicated. She’s been hurt in ways that are going to require patience. You’ve never been known for your patience before.”

“I have to do this for her.”

“And you will. I have every faith in you. You’ve got to realize you can do it. Paris, she got that girl to send a message to you, didn’t she? She helped to fight this. Paris called out to you. On some level, you’ve got to see that it means something.” Pussy took a sip of his coffee, sitting back.

“Doesn’t Sasha want you?” Spider asked.

“Not right now. She’s sleeping.”

“I heard she can go home soon. That’s good.”

“Yeah, home. We’re living in Fort fucking Wills. With the Nomad Chapter turning up, people are sleeping on the fucking ground. You’ve got more chance of her resting here.” Pussy shook his head. “I just want this shit to be over. I want Andrew dead, and whoever he’s working with to be gone so we can head home. I’m missing Piston County.”

Spider chuckled. “I never thought I’d hear it or be feeling the loss of my own town. It’s not right, is it?”

“We’ll be there soon, and this will be a passing memory.”

Staring into Paris’s room, Spider wondered how she would feel waking up after everything that happened. Andrew was a sick fucker, and his poison was trying to spread to those that they loved. He was an animal.

“I need a smoke.” Spider got to his feet.

“I thought you were giving up smoking?”

“I will, when I’m no longer hanging out in a hospital. Until then, my only comfort is this.” Grabbing his crutches, he gave a nod at Pussy. “Chat soon.”

“Look forward to it.”

Spider went to the elevator. It was pointless taking the stairs. He couldn’t navigate stairs with his leg. Pressing the button, he leaned against the wall, rubbing at his eyes as he did. So much had happened in such a short period of time. Spider was tired, he was exhausted, and he wanted it to all be over. The doors opened, and he walked out, leaving the main entrance, and someone bumped into him. Spider paused, and stared up at the man.

“You’re right. I work for Master, and you can call me ‘Sir’.”

He had spent many days remembering this fucking man, hating him, loathing him. Even as his leg killed him, Spider gripped the bastard’s jacket.

“Hello, Russell. Do you remember me?”

Spider somehow managed to get them both out of sight. Slamming his fist against Russell’s face, he landed blow after blow. Seeing Paris’s wounds play in his mind, he gripped the back of Russell’s head, and slammed it against the brick wall. With all of Spider’s rage, Russell was no match for him. Like a spider, he had locked Russell close, and now there was no mercy. Over and over, he fought Russell, beating the shit out of him, until finally, Spider couldn’t do anything more. He sat on the floor with Russell’s still body beside him. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed Devil’s number. His hands were shaking.

“What’s going on?” Devil asked.

“I’ve just killed the man who put me in crutches. I’m outside of the hospital.”

“Fuck!”

The call was disconnected. Resting his head against the wall, Spider wasn’t surprised when he heard the hospital doors. Opening his eyes, he saw Pussy standing over him. “What the fuck? You went out for a smoke.”

“Yeah, and this fucker who took me down, fucking
Sir
, bumped into me. I tell you, it was the wrong fucking thing to do today. My head, it’s fucking ready for them, Pussy.” He put the smoke to his lips, and lit it. “This man was not innocent.”

His hands were shaking as he took a deep draw. He needed to calm himself. His heart was racing, and he was covered in blood.

“I’ve got to go and see Paris.”

“Dude, you’re covered in blood. The only place you’re going to is the clubhouse and getting cleaned up. Damn, is that brain on the wall?”

“Don’t know.”

Minutes later a large truck was pulling up outside of the hospital, carrying Devil, Lash, Tiny, Sinner, and Snake.

“What the fuck did you do?” Devil asked.

“Told you on the phone. I exacted a little payback from this son of a bitch.” Spider slapped Russell’s ass. “It’s about time really. I was owed some.” He started laughing.

“Has he gone crazy?” Tiny asked.

“Don’t know. Load him up in the truck. We’ve got to do this quickly.”

“Whizz already has access to the hospital footage. He’s going to erase all trace of Spider.”

Spider sat in the truck, smoking a cigarette as he listened to the guys clean away Russell.

I knew I was going to have you, you little punk ass prick.

He hummed to himself, giddy at what he’d achieved. Time passed, and finally, the guys were climbing back in the truck.

“Let’s get out of here.”

“Come on, you’re not mad at me, are you?” Spider asked. “I simply saw an opportunity and took it.”

“You took an opportunity. You fuck! Why didn’t you knock him out, huh?” Devil asked. “We’re still hunting for Andrew, and you’re killing off people who knew how to find him. Russell shot you. Andrew gave that order. What you did was kill a nobody with a shit ton of information,” Devil said, climbing behind the wheel.

The buzz Spider had been having started to die. The danger was still out there. Andrew was the danger.

Throwing his cigarette out of the window, Spider sat back. “Sorry.”

“Yeah, you should be fucking sorry. Your leg was hurt, but your girl back there, she’s been fucking tortured. She has a right to feel safe, and with Andrew still out there, we can’t give that to her. You’re the reason for that.”

Spider glanced in the back of the truck, and he saw the same look on everyone’s face, including Pussy’s.

“Shit, I’m sorry. We’re going to get Andrew.”

“You better hope so,” Lash said. “Andrew has proven himself to be an expert in
not
getting caught. You had a perfect opportunity here. A perfect one, and what did you do? You beat the shit out of him. Did you even ask him where Andrew was? Bargain?”

Spider stayed silent. He hadn’t thought. He had reacted.

“Sorry.”