Patience: Biker Romance (The Davis Chapter Book 1) (9 page)

Over coffee, Thunder and I discussed everything we knew.

“I don’t know how much help it will be, but maybe Trask knows why the Devil’s Branch is after me.” I was almost used to the confusion. It had been a little over a day since I woke up without a memory, and I didn’t have a single answer for one of the many questions that were piling up.

Thunder was deep in thought. His hands were around the mug of steaming coffee, and his tongue pressed against the inside of his cheek. There was something adorable about it. Adorable in a badass way, of course. I couldn’t help but watch him.

He nodded, “The Rising Sons are new in town, but a lot of the members are Davis lifers. I’m sure with a little bit of digging, we can find out what’s up. The thing that gets me is that those two assholes
knew
you were DEA. My guess is that their plan was to pose as your handlers and take you in. I don’t know where ’in’ is, exactly, but I doubt it would have been pleasant. Devil’s Branch knows more than you do. If they know you are DEA, I bet they know your real identity.”

I let the words sink in. Everyone associated with the Rising Sons only knew my alias. They only knew Patience, the local sweetbutt. Somehow a rival club knew who I worked for. It was hard to believe, but what else was new?

“We should’ve taken one of those guys last night,” I couldn’t believe those words came out of my mouth, but I knew it to be true. If we had been able to question one of them, our problems would’ve been solved.

Thunder shrugged, “Yeah, maybe. Or maybe taking one of their guys would have meant raining hell down on the Rising Sons. I’m a Son, and that means my actions are the actions of the club.” His words made sense, but I didn’t want to believe it. “And now you’re with me, so
your
actions are the actions of the club.”

I have to admit, Thunder caught me off guard with that remark. “Oh, I’m with you, now?”

“Oh, you’re not?” Thunder’s mocking tone didn’t help anything.

I shot a look back at him, “I’m not Patience, you know.”

“I know that. That’s why I said we’re
together
. This wasn’t just a one night stand.”

It wasn’t? Thunder wanted more? More questions without answers. “We’ll talk about that later. Why don’t we had to the bar so we can catch up with Trask. If he gives the okay, can we go after one of the Devil’s Branch members?”

I appreciated that Thunder did let the whole relationship thing go. He nodded, “If he gives the okay, we’ll get one of them. We will find out what they know and go from there.”

“What if it really is the DEA next time? If it comes down to it, are you going to kick their ass, too?” I really had no idea how far Thunder would go. He sounded like one of the most loyal men on the planet, but how far would loyalty push him?

“If they get in my way,” Thunder’s eyes were cold, “I won’t hesitate for a second.”

The ride back to the Watering Hole was just as good as it had been the night before. I was getting used to riding behind Thunder. I was actually starting to enjoy it. With my arms wrapped around the biker, I thought about the night before.

Beautiful fire. That’s what sex with Thunder was like. It swirled around me like flames licking every inch of my skin and bringing it all to life for the first time.  I wondered if sex with all the other bikers in the place had been like that. I’d like to think not. I’d like to think that the old me, Patience, wasn’t really present. She couldn’t truly experience and enjoy how amazing Thunder was in bed. Or in the shower, for that matter.

It killed me to think that circumstance was keeping us out of bed. If I hadn’t lost my memory, the two of us could be going at it like nobody’s business instead of going on some wild goose chase to track down a rival biker gang.

On the other hand, would it have been the same if I was still the DEA agent? Would the passion have been there? Would witnessing Thunder’s amazing strength have gotten me going nearly as much? I didn’t know which scenario was worse and which was better.
Just go with it,
I told myself.
You are who you are now, so just enjoy it.
I listened and just enjoyed the ride on the back of Thunder’s Harley.

Thunder pulled his Harley up and parked it right next to the only other one in the lot. I had to assume it was Trask’s. For the last ten minutes or so, I had close my eyes and enjoyed clinging onto Thunder. That, and the vibrations. I wasn’t happy about coming back to the real world, but we had business to attend to.

After Thunder gave a few hard pounds on the door, I heard a lock slide back, and the door opened. Trask nodded as we both passed him and entered the bar. “Wasn’t expecting you, T, but we can accommodate.”

 
With one exception, all the chairs were turned upside down and resting on table tops. In the center of the bar, two chairs were down, sitting around the table. My man pulled one down to set beside the others, and then Trask, Thunder, and I all sat down.

“Thank you for meeting me, Trask. I know this all sounds ridiculous, trust me. I’ve been living a little bit of a nightmare for the past day.”

He looked back and forth between me and Thunder. “Gotcha. Why don’t you start from the beginning?”

I smiled, “At least it’s a short story.”

Besides’s Thunder’s secret about the drugs, I didn’t leave a single thing out. From the memory loss to the guns to the meeting with Thunder to the attack by the Devil’s Branch. Based on his reactions, Trask learned a lot more than he twas expecting. He definitely had no idea that I was a DEA agent.

At the end of it all, Trask had a wide-eyed look on his face, “Fuck me. You’ve been a busy girl.” It was clear the Trask was still processing everything. “Uh, alright. I guess the first thing we’ll do is try and find out if anybody knows your real name. My old man had a run-in with an undercover cop in the ‘80s or ‘90s, so I’ll get on the phone with him and see how that all went down. They don’t talk about it much in Bakersfield these days. That being said, I have a serious question for you.”

Trask waited for me to answer, probably to add weight to what he was going to ask, “I’m all ears,” I said. After all, what choice did I have but to listen?

“Just whose side are you on? If you find out your real name, or if the DEA gets a hold of you, what then? Sure, you could pull yourself off the assignment, but they’d just send somebody else. You could also do nothing and wait until they disavow you. As long as they don’t arrest you for treason or some shit, you get to start fresh.”

As if I didn’t have enough to worry about, Trask was asking the toughest questions yet. Where did my loyalties lie?

I put my hands up, shaking my head, “Look Trask, this is also new to me. I really don’t know—“

“There’s a
third
option, too.” Trask went on talking like I hadn’t said a word. “The third option goes something like this. We
do
find out your real identity. You
do
get in contact with your handlers, again. In this scenario, though, your loyalty stays with us.” Trask watched me for a reaction.

For a long time, I didn’t react. It was a lot to take in, and I wasn’t going to jump into anything. He was asking me to become a double agent. He wanted me to feed the DEA whatever information the Rising Sons wanted. It was dangerous for all parties involved, and he knew it. That one word came to mind:
treason
.

“Exactly why do the Rising Sons need a double agent? Was the DEA actually onto something? If you need someone to spread false information, the real information must be pretty bad.”This time, I was trying to read Trask. One thing was for sure; he had one hell of a poker face.

Thunder didn’t say anything. I had to respect that about him. He knew when to not get involved in something. He was a new member, and he was already walking a tight rope when it came to drugs.

A smile came onto Trask’s face, “Well, obviously if there was anything illegal going on—” Trask leaned in and shifted his eyes like a silent film villain, “Which there isn’t—”

He was smart, I had to give them that. The more time I spend with Trask, the more I understood why he was the president. A lesser man could’ve walked into a trap like that far too easy.

“I surely wouldn’t tell you about it until I knew where your loyalties lie. Even if there isn’t anything illegal going on, we obviously have eyes on us. I don’t know when Uncle Sam turned into a peeping Tom, but it doesn’t sit well with me. If the club can feed the right information to the right people, maybe feuds with rival bike clubs could end with a lot less bloodshed. Maybe illegal activities begat illegal activities. By the same token, maybe illegal activities begat legal activities.” Trask turned his hands up and laid them on the table as if to say
That’s all I have to offer.

I was absentmindedly biting at the inside of my mouth. It was another tick and characteristic I was learning about myself. It must have been something I did when I was deep in thought. It must have been something I did when I faced a life-changing decision.

The silence one on for a little bit before I finally broke it, “I’ll make a decision after I learn what the Devil’s Branch knows.”

Trask nodded. My respect for him was growing by the second. By all accounts, bikers were brash, id-driven, man childs. Trask was none of those things. He was thoughtful and intelligent, and something that really stuck out to me: respectful. It felt like as soon as he knew I was no longer Patience, all of those misconceptions he had fell away. He was willing to listen and reason with me.

Between the president and Thunder, I had a lot to think about. Trask presented me with three paths. Maybe the
only
three paths. No matter which one I chose, I was betraying somebody or something. My suppose it allegiance to the government didn’t survive the memory wipe, but the fear of arrest was still there.

Yes, I wanted to know what the Devil’s Branch knew about me, but I also desperately wanted to buy time.

Thunder jumped in, “I don’t know how, but they knew she was an agent. Somebody there knows more than we do. I’m asking for permission to do a little reconnaissance.”

The smile on Trask’s face couldn’t looked more pleased, “What kind of reconnaissance are you talking, Thunder?”

“The kind where skulls get busted and questions get answered. I’m bein’ respectful and asking for your blessing out of respect, but if you say no, you have to understand that I can’t just let this go.”

Instead of answering Thunder, Trask turned back to me. “Since your basically tabula rasa, I’m going to fill you in on a thing or two. Not too long ago, some bad shit went down. I buried friends; I almost buried blood family. The absolute last thing I want is a war with the Devil’s Branch. If I had to choose one more thing I don’t want, I would choose the might of the American government breaking up this little party I’ve put together.” Trask looked back and forth between me and Thunder. “Right now, this club is soaked in gasoline, and the two of you are trying to decide whether to use a lighter or match. Am I understood?”

 
My eyes locked on with Thunder’s. Trask made it very clear that we were walking into dangerous territory. We didn’t need to speak to know we were on the same page. That was powerful. That was
meaningful.
It was something I was almost positive Patience had never experienced.