Secret Mayhem (20 page)

“
I
fucking told you!
”
Miller
yelled as he crouched next to his motorcycle.

“
You
did that,
”
Jimmie said.
“
You set us up. You
’
ll burn for this, Miller. Your
club will be mine.
”

The bullets continued to fly.

Shay looked when he could and took
shots just to say he did. He struck one of Eight Under's men in the leg. The
guy fell to one knee and someone was right there to grab him and pull him away.

Jimmie had retreated behind his men
as they climbed on their bikes. They knew they were no match for Back Down
Devil, at least not without Caius. It was admirable to see how their club
protected their president, but if Shay and his crew wanted Jimmie dead, they
would have killed him already.

Eight Under took off, and Back Down
Devil and the Lost Men stood in the kicked up dust until it settled. When it
finally did, they looked around at the damage that had been done.  Three men
lay motionless on the ground. One Eight Under member and two Lost Men.

“
Fuck,
”
Miller said. He kicked the
ground and then lifted his gun and shot in the direction Eight Under had been
going.
“
Fuck!
”

He emptied his clip and then threw
his gun to the ground.

“
I
’
m sorry, Trev,
”
he said.

“
We're
here to do what's needed,
”
Trev said.

“
And
what is needed?
”
Blaine
asked, sounding surprisingly sane.

All at once, everyone turned and
stared at Shay. They were expecting answers.

“
He
’
s going to keep setting us up,
”
Shay said.
“
That
’
s what he does. He's never been man enough to fight
face to face, because he would lose. But as long as he has the surprise
element, he is going to keep winning this war."

“
And
those assholes are going to run right back to him. They
’
re going to fall for everything he has to say and
offer.
”
Miller growled and
climbed on his bike.

Trev pointed to the bodies on the
ground.
“
Go bury them. No
markers.
”

The rest of Back Down Devil got on
their bikes too, except Shay. He still didn't feel right riding Jon's bike, and
he needed to talk to Miller. The Lost Men would hang back with Trev.

Shay approached Miller's motorcycle
and grabbed Miller
’
s
shoulder.

“
We
have to engage him,
”
Shay
said.
“
Play his game.
”

Miller
’
s lip curled.
“
I
’
m done with attacks. And I
’
m done with you holding shit
back from the club.
”

“
I
only
…”

“
I
know, Shay. I know.
”
Miller's phone vibrated. He put it to his ear and yelled,
“
Hello
…”

Miller hung his head, and when he
looked up at Shay his eyes were wide and he swallowed hard.

“
What
’
s wrong?
”
Shay asked.

“
That
was one of the prospects,
”
Miller said.
“
We got
another delivery.
”

“
Fuck.
Another finger?
”

“
No.
This time
…
it
’
s Jonesy himself.
”

twenty.

They took off as fast as they
could.

Jonesy was at the clubhouse. Alive
or dead, Shay didn
’
t know.

Shay's stomach was sick. They had
hired him to track down the person responsible for Erik's explosion, and he got
kidnapped and tortured for it. By Caius.

Back Down Devil arrived at the
compound. Miller led the way and once they were all parked, Miller shouted to
two prospects to watch the gates because the Lost Men were coming back once
they buried their dead.

The entire crew ran to the
clubhouse and burst inside.

Shay looked around on the ground
and on the table tops, expecting to see a mutilated, dead body.

Instead, Jonesy was sitting at the
bar.

“
Holy
fucking hell,
”
Blaine said.
“
He
’
s alive.
”

“
Jonesy,
”
Miller said.

“
You
made it, man,
”
Shay said.

Jonesy looked tired and beaten up.
He was obviously scared half to death. He lifted a hand and waved. His hand was
puffy and infected where his two fingers were missing.

Landon groaned and turned his head.
“
Motherfucker.
”

“
I
am going to puke,
”
Blaine
said.
“
I swear on it.
”

One of the guys behind the bar put
a shot glass in front of Jonesy. He grabbed it with his good hand and threw it
back. The whiskey barely went into his mouth. It spilled all down his cheeks
and onto his clothing.

“
What
the hell is wrong, Jonesy?
”
Miller asked.

Jonesy opened and closed his mouth,
over and over, the liquid splashing and dripping everywhere.

It was like he couldn
’
t swallow.

Shay went to the bar and sat down.
“
Christ, man, talk to us. Talk to
me. What happened? What
…”

Jonesy opened his mouth.

There was teeth
…
and nothing else. His tongue
was missing. It took Shay a few seconds to realize what he saw. His fingers
curled on the bar, as he tried not to get sick.

Jonesy knocked at the bar and
pointed to the empty shot glass. Another shot was poured and Jonesy grabbed the
drink. He threw it back and just like before, most of the shot leaked from his
mouth as he tried to swallow it.

“
Christ,
”
Shay said. He looked back and
saw the blank look on Miller
’
s
face.
“
We have to move this
into the meeting room, Miller.
”

Miller nodded. He shook everything
away and started to shout orders. Shay and Jace helped Jonesy stand up.

“
Let
’
s go into the meeting room. So
we can
…”

Shay almost said
talk,
but Jonesy
wouldn't be doing any talking. Shay looked at Jace. His face was white. This
was what Caius wanted. Fear. Pain. Worry. It
’
s
all that mattered to Caius.

Jonesy reached for a bag on the bar
and the sudden move made Shay jump back. For all he knew, it could be a set up.

“
Jonesy,
did Caius give you that?
”
Shay asked.

Jonesy nodded.

“
Jace,
check it,
”
Shay said.

Jace hurried and grabbed the bag
from Jonesy. Jonesy managed to growl as he obviously wanted to protest this.
When Jace dug opened the bag, he pulled out only one item of interest. A
whiteboard with a magnetic marker stuck to it.

“
What
the hell is this for?
”
Jace
asked.

Jonesy grabbed the bag from Jace
’
s hand. He then grabbed the
board and opened the marker. He started to write with a shaking fury.

“
It
’
s how he talks now,
”
Shay whispered. His stomach
felt even sicker.

Jonesy held up the board.
This
is my voice, asshole

Jonesy dropped the board and then
socked Jace in the mouth. He stumbled back, holding his jaw.

“
Don
’
t do anything,
”
Shay ordered Jace.
“
Meeting room. Now.
”

The three entered the meeting room
and Miller stood while everyone sat. Jace took his seat between Erik and
Blaine, rubbing his jaw.

“
What
happened to you?
”
Blaine
asked.

“
Jonesy
punched me,
”
Jace said.

“
At
least he can still hit. Sucks about the no tongue thing.
”

“
Blaine,
shut up,
”
Miller said.

Shay pointed to his seat for
Jonesy. Jonesy sat and put his whiteboard on the table.

“
That
’
s how he talks now,
”
Shay said. He looked at Miller.
The guilt soared through Shay's body. This was his fault too.

“
This
is bad,
”
Gaige said.

“
At
least he
’
s alive,
”
Griffin said.
“
Jonesy, you
’
re alive, brother.
”

Jonesy hurried to write. He pointed
to the board when he was done.

Shay read it out loud,
“
I
’
m barely alive. He made
sure to keep me on a thread. Don
’
t
get cozy.
”

“
Jonesy,
”
Miller said.
“
Tell me everything you can.
”

Jonesy nodded. He wiped the board
and started to write again. Shay spoke when Jonesy pointed to the board.

“
I
was followed by two black cars,
”
Shay said.
“
They
boxed me in and when I tried to escape, one of the cars blew up. I blacked out.
When I woke up, I was in a room, in a chair.
”

Jonesy erased the board and wrote
again.

“
Christ,
”
Gaige said.
“
Caius knew we were following him
before we knew what we were looking for.
”

“
Smart
man,
”
Miller said.
“
Maybe it
’
s time we call Strokner again. Put him in the fire
and see what shakes out.
”

“
Hold
on,
”
Shay said. He nodded
to the board.
“
The
man wanted to know if I was patched in. I gave him nothing so he took two
fingers. Told me he was going to send gifts to the MC.
”

Jonesy looked up and around the
table. Everyone slowly nodded. Shay touched Jonesy
’
s shoulder.
“
We
got the gifts. We were worried you were dead.
”

“
Jonesy,
”
Miller said.
“
The club and myself cannot thank
you enough
…
or say sorry
enough
…
we didn
’
t realize who this enemy was
…”

Jonesy made a growl noise and
hurried to erase and write. He then made a fist and slammed it down on the
table.

Shay sighed and read it out loud.
“
He
’
s going to take your club
down. He told me that because I didn't want to talk that I didn't need a tongue
anymore. So he took it. He made me drink a lot of whiskey so I would pass out.
Then he took my tongue.
”

Blaine pushed his chair back and
stood up. He walked to Jonesy and put a hand to his shoulder. One by one, they
all stood around Jonesy as sign of respect for what he sacrificed to protect
the MC.

“
Let
me make this clear,
”
Miller
said.
“
We will seek out the
necessary revenge. And that won
’
t
just be Erik getting his kill shot. Or Shay getting his. It will also be me
cutting out his fucking tongue. For Jonesy.
”
Miller looked down at Jonesy.
“
And
I promise, I will make some calls and find out what we can do for you,
medically. Okay?
”

Jonesy wiped the board and wrote.
Shay read it.
“
You
want to help? Get me a woman for five minutes. Not one of those whores you have
out there. A real woman. Like the one I saw at the bar. Blue eyes. Tight body.
”

“
He
means Ava,
”
Blaine said.

Shay tensed.
“
Fuck. Jonesy
…
she
’
s with me
…”

Jonesy erased and wrote again.

This time, Blaine leaned over and
read the whiteboard.
“
I
’
m a married man, Shay.
But I can
’
t
go home to my wife right now like this. I just want the feeling one more time.
Just give me her hand. I want to feel
…”

Blaine, Miller, and the rest of the
table looked at Shay.

This was absolutely his fault. At
least Shay believed that. But the important thing was that Jonesy was alive. He
was here. Caius had let him live for some reason. And soon it would be the MC
’
s turn to get their hands on
Caius.

“
Listen,
if Ava doesn
’
t do it, I
will,
”
Blaine said.
“
I
’
ll
jerk him off. Guy
’
s been
through enough.
”

Jonesy wrote on the board. Blaine
read it.
“
That
grease fuck tries to touch me, put a bullet in my head.
”

The entire room burst into
laughter. But all eyes were still on Shay. He took his hand from Jonesy and
left the meeting room. This was insane, but this was the life. If Shay needed
to swallow his pride and do this, then so be it. Jonesy risked his body and
life for them. This was the least he could do.

Ava was sitting at the bar, waiting
for him. Her beauty filled the clubhouse and filled his heart. Her blue eyes
were piercing.

Shay took Ava by the hand and
pulled.
“
Come with me,
love. I need you to do something for the club.
”