X Marks the Spot (Executioners MC Book 1) (5 page)

I drew in a deep breath and offered an uneasy grin. “Creeping sounds like a solid plan.”

“Shut the fuck up and get your ass inside.” He gripped my hand and busted through the front door.

“Clint, that better fucking be you. We were about to eat without you.”

The sound of my father’s voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. My body tensed as Clint practically dragged me through the house toward the dining room.

“Hey, mother fuckers, the first one to touch my grub draws back a bloody nub,” he yelled as we turned the corner.

The playful banter quickly halted. All gazes immediately landed on me. Faces fell, chins dropped, and bloodshot eyes widened. I recognized most of the faces gathered around the massive picnic style table. Jessa smirked, amused by the excruciatingly uncomfortable situation.

I scanned the crowd, briefly landing on Ronin, who was leaning back in his chair giving me a hard stare. I glossed over everyone else until reaching the head of the table. My insides were like a pool of jelly.

Jesse Miller put his beer bottle down and pushed his chair back from the table. Clint had already occupied an empty spot on the bench, leaving me standing in the middle of the room by myself.

“Thought I’d take a chance and crash family supper.” My pulse raced as Pop crossed the room. I hadn’t seen him in nearly eight years. Seeing how much he had aged made my chest ache.

Time stood still as he positioned himself in front of me, leaving less than a foot of distance between us. I didn’t know if he was waiting on me to speak first, but my dry throat wasn’t going to cooperate.

My tank top bounced as my heart hammered, battering my insides.

Jesse opened his lean, ink-covered arms. “It’s not crashing when it’s your family and your home.”

Instant tears slipped down my red cheeks as my pop pulled me in for a long, overdue embrace. After we both silently agreed to part, I spotted Ruth across the table, sitting in the opposite head of the table seat, beaming.

Jessa had a scowl that only intensified when Jesse nudged Jimmy X down to make room for me to sit next to him. I offered a smile to the rest of the table, skipping over Ronin. Jackass. If he’d had his way, I never would have attempted to come back. He almost robbed me of this time with my father.

Whatever the hell had him so worked up wasn’t my fucking problem, not anymore. Ronin was a grown man. He has always been more than capable of taking care of himself.

I gazed at my father, my pop, and mentally traced the lines and creases of his haggard face. His blue eyes were tired and heavy. He reached out and cupped my hand with his, giving me chills.

Surreal.

“So, you were a little hungry for Ruth’s cooking, huh?”

I shot my gaze toward my sister. Jessa’s back snapped straight after hearing her father’s question. Ronin stifled a chuckle not so cleverly disguised as a cough before guzzling his beer.

With the exception of a quick glance toward Ruth, I turned my back to the rest of the crowd. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Well, I can’t blame ya there. She can crank out some damn good fajitas. Go ahead and make yourself a plate. Jessa, get your sister a cold Bud.”

“Humph. Thought she moved on to whiskey now?” Jessa chided.

Jesse shot his daughter a glare that had her jumping up out of her seat. She promptly brought the beer back, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to me.

“Your highness.”

The loud, booming echo of Jesse slamming his fist against the table brought a resounding silence from the room.

“You’re dismissed until you can remember where the fuck you are.”

“But …” Jessa protested.

Jesse jumped to his feet. “You. Are. Dismissed.”

There’s that damn word again, dismissed. It tugged on my heartstrings to see the twisted, pained expression on my sister’s face as she exited the room.

Once Jesse sat back down, the room went back to making small talk, leading me to believe the outburst was a probably a daily occurrence.

“Maybe I should go talk to her.”

Pop shook his head, long tufts of shaggy, gray hair curled around his tan neck. “No use when she’s like that. She’ll settle down and sneak back in.” He took a long pull off the new beer that one of the ‘bitches’ placed in front of him. “How long you in town for baby girl?”

I shrugged. “No plans, but I was thinking about heading back tonight.”

“Bullshit.”

Butterflies leapt around in my chest at the thought that my dad might actually want me around.

He clasped me on the shoulder. “It’s getting late. You’ll stay the night and let Ruth make you a proper breakfast before you get back on the road.”

The swelling in my chest gave way to an empty pit in my stomach. “Sure, Pop.”

He nodded. “Good. Don’t know if I’ll be around. Got some shit to take care of with the boys. You know how it goes.”

“Yeah, some things never change, I guess.” My blue eyes locked onto Ronin’s deep, intense stare. The way everyone hushed all at once didn’t go unnoticed. Others glanced at him, but only for a second, as if they were scared to get caught looking his way. The only person not looking at him was the redhead sitting at his side. She was too busy shooting death rays at me with her blazing, green eyes.

The expressions around the room were a combination of fear and pity. Whatever Ronin had gotten himself into must be some pretty fucked up shit.

Not my problem
.

“Yeah, that’s okay, Pop. Maybe I’ll come back more often. I’m sure Jessa would be thrilled,” I said with a sarcastic smirk.

Pop kissed the top of my head. The simple gesture caused hot tears to pool in the corners of my blurry eyes. “We’ll worry about poking that bear when the time comes.”

A hard knock on the door made everyone sit up a little straighter. Anyone associated with the Executioners knew to walk right in and announce yourself. A knock usually wasn’t a welcomed sign.

Jesse’s gaze darted to Ruth. Her natural warm smile faded and a seriousness fell across her face.

“I got it,” she said.

Jesse responded with a curt nod.

Most of the group sat in silence. Jesse uncrossed his legs, pushed his seat back, and planted both feet firmly on the floor. He clenched his jaw and waited. Ronin, Jimmy X, and Clint did the same.

Herc stood to the left of the dining room door. The way his eyes glazed over indicated that his ‘enforcer’ switch had just been flipped.

“Well, lookie here. It’s the boys in blue coming by to say hello. What can I do for ya, Gale?”

Her loud declaration sent the boys into a huddle. Everyone unloaded their weapons, with the exception of Hercules. Jessa had slipped back in and was now helping to round up all of the guns and contraband, loading them into a laundry basket and slipping back down the hall through a side door off the kitchen.

I heard the voices coming from the front door, but could only make out Ruth’s.

“Sure, come on in. Grab a plate.”

I noticed the way Pop’s eyes changed from blue to slate gray and were now narrowed at Ronin. I surveyed the man I used to know better than I knew myself. The rapid rise and fall of his chest was visible through his tight t-shirt. He balled his fists up at his sides.

The redhead moved closer to him, rubbing her slutty hand up and down his bicep. Shocked by the pang of jealousy invading my gut, I turned my head to look away. It was his fucking life. If he wanted his dick to rot off, that was fine by me.

The voices drew closer.

“Ruth, you know we’re not here for a social call.”

With a loud, mocking gasp, Ruth’s warm eyes grew cold as she came around the corner, followed by two uniformed officers.

“Just two of ya? Thinking mighty high of yourself today, Gale.”

“That’s Lt. Davis, Jesse. And Officer Roberts and I have plenty of backup outside just in case you boys decide to cut loose.”

The snickering and chuckles coming from around the table caused my tummy to tighten. Every possible scenario was fighting to scramble through my already jumbled brain. I did not come back home, after all this time, to end up in a biker brawl with the damn cops. I had seen it all play out before, remembering the pain of being dragged through the decimating aftermath.

“Alright, Gale. I mean, Lt. Davis,” Jesse responded, jeering the officer. “What can we do for you on this fine Sunday evening? Here to share the good word from the great Rev. Collins with all of us broken, hell bound sinners?”

“Don’t be smartass, Miller.”

As soon as the words left Officer Roberts’ mouth, my throat constricted, blocking my airway. Tension blasted through the room as Hercules stepped out from the shadows. He straddled his legs open wide and flexed his fists, tightening up his massive forearms.

The officers responded by snapping in his direction, both palming their sidearm.

Lt. Davis locked his gaze on the enforcer, but addressed Jesse. “Tell your man here to stand down, Miller. Trust me, this is not how you want this to go down.”

All of the air was sucked out of the room. My pulse hammered in my temples as I searched faces. Ruth stood at one end of the room, folding her arms across her breasts. Her gaze bounced between the cops and her husband. Jesse had one arm folded, tucked under the other while he casually scratched his scruff.

Looking at Ronin, the nape of my neck tingled as I witnessed the hard expression on his face, the same face that I saw that night eight long years ago. His full lips were hard and twisted. His jaw clenched, causing the thick veins in his bulging neck to pop. He flared his nostrils, his chest heaving with every breath.

He appeared to be oblivious to the pathetic, skanky redhead hanging off his side. Instead, his raging eyes were scorching a hole right through me. My legs turned to rubber at the intense fire in his pools of chocolate. He stared at me as if we were the only two people in the world.

Jesse cleared his throat and snickered. “Come on, Herc. These fine gentlemen are just doing their job.”

Hercules took a tiny step backwards, but was clearly ready for battle.

“Now fellas, why don’t you get down to business before the big guy gets bored,” Jesse said as he sat down and took a bite of his fajita.

Lt. Davis stepped closer to the table. “I’m sure you already know why we’re here.” His gaze moved from Jesse to Ronin. “We have to take you in, son.”

A shudder rippled through my body. I gripped the table to steady my legs.

“That’s bullshit!”

“Jessa, sit your ass down.”

My sister’s chin dropped and she stared at her father for a few seconds before falling backwards onto the bench.

I fought back the urge to ask what the hell was going on, but this wasn’t my fight. This wasn’t my life. Never again.

“Son, you knew it was coming. Cuff him, Roberts. Ronin Steele, you’re under arrest for the murder of Alex Hector Numar. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can, and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?”

Ronin nodded.

I choked back a heavy sob. The air was snuffed out of my lungs like a crushing blow, leaving me winded. Alex Numar. I hadn’t heard that name in years. Over eight years to be exact.

“Don’t worry about this bullshit. We’ll get Sanders on the phone and have him downtown in no time. Don’t let ‘em get in your head. We’ve got it covered. In the meantime, don’t say a fucking word.”

“Sir.” Ronin said through a stone expression.

Officer Roberts escorted Ronin out of the room and ushered him out the front door. Lt. Davis wrinkled his nose. “That halfwit ambulance chaser? This is some serious shit, Miller. You might want to dig a little deeper if you care about your boy at all.”

For the first time since the police had arrived, Jesse Miller snapped at the officer. “Mind your own fucking business. This is my family.”

“I’ll meet him down at the station.” The shaky words somehow managed to escape through the invisible chokehold on my throat.

“Like hell you will,” Jesse responded. His teeth clenched tight. The vein running vertically down the right side of his forehead throbbed with each heartbeat.

It never really had been in my rebellious nature to take orders.

“And you are?” Lt. Davis asked.

“Jolene Miller, I’ll be representing Mr. Steele.”

“Don’t you fucking do it, girl.”

I shoved Pop’s voice out of my head. “I’m assuming we can’t get in to see a judge until tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I’ll be down to meet with my client, in let’s say, two hours for booking?”

Davis nodded. “We can do that.”

We followed the officer as he walked out the front door. Ronin was already in the back of one of the five squad cars outside.

“I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into, little girl.”

“Yeah, Pop. Looks like I’m getting back into the family business.”