Chapter 19
Colt
Of course, Dean would call church the second I pulled up into my fucking house. Of course, Dean would call church on the worst fucking morning alive. I wanted to go pile my ass back into my bed and sleep off the bullshit that had just occurred. One beautiful night with a very seductive woman, one revealing morning regarding her true fucking intentions with me as her bargaining chip for some dumbass case. How the hell had I gotten myself wrapped up in this situation? Oh, yeah. Because I couldn’t keep my dick in my pants. Because I couldn’t stick to my fucking guns and keep my mouth shut. I would have been better off rotting away in that holding cell than out here trying to figure shit out with the guys.
One mistake after another with me, it seemed.
I rushed inside and threw on some new clothes. Clothes that didn’t smell like her. I pulled some jeans up my legs and tossed on a black t-shirt and a black hoodie. I pulled my leather cut over my arms and zipped it up. I tossed on my sunglasses to shy away the morning fall sun, then I slipped my wallet into my pocket and headed out. The drive to the lodge was nice. Refreshing. I kept my eyes on my rearview mirrors, just in case Olivia had someone tailing me.
Or the cartel.
I used to feel safe in Redding. I felt like I owned the damn place. But now, it felt like I was driving around with a fucking target on my back. I’d never been this on edge before. Not since I had to convince my parents to let me do what was good for Eden all those years ago. Fucking hell. I still had so much work to do regarding my relationship with my sister. Regarding Duke. But, when this damn cartel situation was wrapped up and done with, I had every intention of us becoming a family. I had every intention of being in my niece’s life. I had every intention of spoiling that girl rotten and having Thanksgiving fucking dinners and Christmas fucking mornings with my family.
I just had to get them safe first.
I pulled up to the lodge and got off my bike. Apparently, I was the last one there. What the hell? Did the guys fucking sleep at the place? Granted, we could. If we wanted. We added the damn bedrooms for a reason. But still. That was a bit of paranoia going overboard if the guys were actually fucking doing it.
“Well, look who finally decided to show up,” Duke said, grinning.
“If it isn’t the jail rat,” Jagger said, chuckling.
“You look like shit,” Jace said.
“Asshole,” I murmured.
“He’s right. You look like you got hit by a bus,” Maverick said.
“Why do I hang out with you guys again?” I asked.
“We’re family,” Thor said from the corner.
“Morning to you, too, Hulk,” I said playfully.
Thor let out a very rare chuckle and it caused all of us to look back at him.
“All right, now that everyone’s here, I’ll keep this clean and simple. The Dead Souls dug up some more information on Diego,” Dean said.
“Wait. You mean they’re still helping us?” I asked.
“The fuck you sound so shocked for?” Jace asked.
“You mean other than the fact that we led them into a reckless shootout that got several of their members injured?” I asked.
“How is Knox doing anyway?” Duke asked.
“Last I heard, he’s already up and trying to walk. He’s good,” Dean said.
I bit down onto the inside of my cheek to keep myself from firing back at Dean. It was the last thing we needed after the muck-up I’d made of things last night.
“Okay, so what’s this information?” Jagger asked.
“Shit. If Jagger doesn’t know yet, then you’ve really kept it under wraps, Dean,” Maverick said.
“And for a good reason. Turns out, Diego’s meeting up with the head of a local gang to work out another supply chain in the area,” Dean said.
“What gang?” I asked.
“Small time. But, they run out of a neighborhood that’s notorious for funneling drugs in the area. I’ve kept my eye on them for years. Kept my nose to the ground when it came to them. Ever heard of the Blood Thugs?” Dean asked.
“The who?” Maverick asked.
“The Blood Thugs,” Dean said.
“Is that really their name?” I asked.
“I have,” Thor said.
All of us slowly turned our eyes back to him as he pushed off from the corner. He approached the circle and we parted for him as his massive body came lumbering into the group. He stared down at Dean as the old man arched his neck back. At six-eight, we all fucking looked up to Thor. The Hulk. The behemoth. The real muscle behind our movements most of the time.
“I know Dragon,” Thor said.
“You know the head of the Blood Thugs,” Dean said.
Thor nodded.
“Well, that’s good for us. Is there any way you can talk to this Dragon guy and convince him to get his gang to work with us instead of the cartel?” Dean asked.
“Yep,” Thor said.
“How do you know the head of this gang anyway?” Maverick asked.
Thor slowly peered his eyes over his shoulder. And even that movement sent a chill down my spine. If there was any man in this world I didn’t want to fuck with, it was Thor.
The man was a fucking beast.
“Childhood friend,” Thor said.
“Well, use that history and reach out to him. Set up a meeting. Or whatever you need to do to get their cooperation,” Dean said.
Thor nodded, then he made his way back over to his corner. Like a lumbering giant concealing himself in plain sight.
Fucking hell, the man was good at that.
“Okay, Colt. What’s going on with our new friend at the DEA?” Dean asked.
All eyes fell onto me and I almost cursed out loud.
“Things are going okay,” I said.
I felt Duke’s eyes on me. I knew he heard my tone of voice. And when he drew in a breath through his nose, I wanted to wrap my hand around his throat and tell him to shut the fuck up.
“Doesn’t sound like things are okay,” Duke said.
“Well, everything is,” I said.
“Lying to us? Since when did you do that shit?” Maverick asked.
“Since he fucked shit up, apparently,” Jace said.
“This is the last place where you need to be lying right now. You took this deal, so you update us on it. What the fuck’s happened?” Dean asked.
I glared at Duke and I could have sworn I saw a glimmer of happiness in his eyes. I wanted to pop them right out of his head with my fingers.
“We may have gotten into an argument,” I said.
“Wonderful. Colt’s already fighting with the lady friend,” Maverick said, grinning.
“What kind of fight?” Jagger asked.
“I overheard a conversation she was having with her boss and I heard her talking about how if she got close to me, she could get closer to you guys. That wasn’t part of our deal, and it sparked a fight,” I said.
“That’s always part of the fucking deal,” Dean said.
I felt my face fall as Duke snickered.
“Did you really think she wasn’t going to try that? She works for the fucking DEA,” Jace said.
“So, I’m supposed to go along with a plan some woman set out in front of me while I know she’s not holding up her end of the bargain? She wants me to trust her with sensitive information while I know upfront that she’s trying to pull the fucking wool over my eyes?” I asked.
“Damn. You’ve really never done this, have you?” Maverick asked.
“What!? Partnered up with a damn DEA agent?” I asked.
“Or any law enforcement officer, for that matter,” Dean said.
“She’s trying to use me to get to you guys. I told her if she couldn’t hold up her end of the bargain, then I wouldn’t fucking hold up mine,” I said.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Jagger said.
“You’re about to bring the fucking authorities down on our asses with that shit,” Duke said.
“If that woman’s upset and she reports back to her boss, then the only thing they’re going to do is focus on us more. And throw your happy ass back into jail,” Maverick said. I stared at everyone dumbfounded.
“Wait a second. At first, you guys couldn’t stand this idea. You couldn’t stand this arrangement. Now I come back and tell you that you guys were fucking right? That I couldn’t trust the woman as far as I could spit her? And now, you want me to fix shit with her!?” I asked.
“You’re the one who took the deal. You’re the one who has to deal with the consequences. Right now, you’re the only barrier standing between the entire DEA and us. Now that you know her play, you have the knowledge you need to block her moves,” Dean said.
“So, so… what are you saying?” I asked.
Dean’s eyes locked with mine, and I regretted ever having asked the question.
“Fix shit with the DEA agent. Patch it up. Stick to the plan we laid out in the last meeting. Feed her only what is necessary to keep your wrists out of handcuffs, and keep her away from us,” Dean said.
I heard Duke chuckling next to me and I could have thrown my fist through his face.
“Anything else we need to address before we break?” Dean asked.
Yeah. How about the fact that you’ve gone psycho?
“Then, with the silence of the group, I release you,” Dean said.
I stormed out of the lodge, even though Duke called after me. I didn’t want to talk to any of them right now. I didn’t want to address a damn thing other than what was necessary. Fucking Maverick. Laughing at me like I didn’t save his ass at that shootout. Damn Duke, laughing at me like he didn’t fail in bailing me out of that fucking holding cell in the first damn place. If the club had stepped up and done their fucking jobs, I wouldn’t have needed a deal from some seductive DEA agent in the first fucking place! Sure, it would have cost us money, but I would have been a free fucking man instead of a man tethered to a club headed by a spiraling man and a federal agency hellbent on trying to get to my guys.
I threw my leg around my bike as Duke trotted up to me.
“Hey, you got a second?” he asked.
“Nope,” I said as I struck up my bike.
“I was hoping we could talk about thing Dean issue,” he said.
I slowly turned my head to him as my heel kicked my stand up.
“Why don’t we get ourselves out of one issue before we go creating another,” I said.
“I wanted to let you know that I talked to Thor about it, and he’s noticed it, too.”
“Well, good. I’m glad you’re talking about how our President is losing his shit with other members I don’t trust.”
“You don’t trust Thor?”
“Right now, I don’t trust any of you,” I said.
“Wait. What?” Duke asked.
I bit down onto the inside of my cheek and drew in a deep breath.
“Why didn’t you come through with the bail money?” I asked.
“That’s what this is about?” Duke asked.
“Answer the fucking question.”
“There was no bail! You were in a damn holding cell, Colt! You hadn’t been booked and processed yet!”
“Then why the fuck was an emotionally-attached attorney sent my way? Why the hell didn’t someone get me a legitimate attorney rather than some woman who simply wanted answers regarding why her damn husband was shot in the leg?” I asked.
“Monroe was supposed to help you. We’ve already told her we won’t be needing her services with this unless absolutely necessary.”
“No! No! We won’t be needing her services at all! I don’t know who the fuck dragged their feet on getting me out of there, but you had days, Duke. This group had days to get me out of there. And yes, part of me was perfectly content with taking the fall for all this shit and spending my days in prison. That’s what we do for those we ride with. But when you told me you were getting my ass out of there—.”
“And I was in the process of doing that,” he said.
“Well the process didn’t go fast enough!” I roared.
The rest of the club stood on the porch watching Duke and I go at it.
“It wasn’t good enough, Duke! So, when an opportunity was presented to me to get the fuck out of there and figure out what the hell was going on with my guys, I took it. And now, I’m the bad guy for fucking things up? Where the hell is your accountability, Duke?”
I watched his nostrils flare and I finally dropped the pieces into place.
“You were punishing me,” I said.
“You’re out of your mind, Colt. Just like Dean,” Duke said.
“You were punishing me for what I did to Eden,” I said.
And when Duke fell silent, I could have run him over with my fucking bike. I pushed my bike away from the parking space as Duke stared off, gnawing on his lower lip. That was what this was about. Punishing me for sending Eden away. I couldn’t stay there another second. I’d beat him to a bloody pulp if I did. I pushed against my bike and got myself onto the road, then kicked up dust speeding away.
I needed a ride to clear my head.
However long that ride might take.