CHAPTER 11

Zara

I gulped and stumbled over my feet.

“Satan’s Cowboys?”

Mac held me tighter against his side, not allowing me to fall as I got my feet under me again.

“Yeah. We’re hoping they’re going to help us with the Iron Hammers. The dead guy you ended up underneath was a Cowboy.”

I lifted my hand to chew on my thumbnail. More bikers? My stomach twisted and turned with nerves.

“I don’t like it, Mac. Someone is gonna want that money and turn me in. The more people we involve, the more likely that is.”

“Bunny, bikers have a code. You’re mine, and that makes you Charon MC property. Which means everyone in this club would put their life on the line for you. Satan’s Cowboys are the biggest MC in Texas. If they wanted, they could come in and shut down any club they wanted in the state.”

Ignoring the property comment, I thought over what else he said and frowned. “So why haven’t they? Surely they’re not okay with the Iron Hammers killing one of theirs?”

“That’s what we’re meeting with them about. It’s not as simple as you think, but it’s club business so I can’t tell you. Just know they won’t be turning you over to the Hammers and neither will anyone from the Charons. You’re family now.”

My eyes burned for a moment. After my parents were murdered, I didn’t think I’d ever have a family again, and I wasn’t quite sure I could trust that all these people were suddenly going to look after me because I’d started having sex with Mac. I wanted to believe, I really did. But my life so far hadn’t led me to a place where I could just take something this good at face value.

Thankfully, before Mac could say anything else, we made it to the kitchen, which was bustling with activity.

“Ladies, this is Zara. You may have seen her at Marie’s these past few weeks. She’s living here with me now and I’d appreciate it if you could all show her around and keep an eye on her. We’re gonna have church soon and I don’t want her left alone.”

A woman around my age with long blonde hair and tattoos covering her whole right arm came up and kissed Mac on the cheek.

“Quit barking orders, Mac. We ain’t the Marines.” She moved to me, pulling me in for a quick hug. “Hey doll, I’m Silk, Eagle’s old lady and Bulldog’s niece. Stick with me and I’ll make sure you’re suitably wrapped in cotton wool for Mac.” She gave me a wink that eased some of the tension in my stomach and left me smiling.

“Hi. I don’t think I’ve met Eagle, but I’ve seen Bulldog in Marie’s a time or two.”

Another woman came over and pulled first me into a fast hug before she wrapped an arm around Silk. “I’m Rose–this one’s aunt, and Bulldog’s old lady. The reason no one sees much of Eagle these days is because he knocked her up and she’s been sick as a dog.”

“It’s getting better. I’m here, aren’t I?”

“That you are, baby.”

From there I got introduced to several women, who gave me their names and told me who they were attached to. I instantly forgot most of them. There were just too many! I noticed one girl, maybe twenty years old, standing back. She didn’t even attempt to come say hi. I frowned as I watched her working silently in a corner. Something about the girl’s dark mood had my sixth sense twitching.

Silk moved to block my line of sight to the girl. “Don’t pay attention to Em. She’s going through her teenage “life sucks” phase. We’re all hoping she grows out of real soon.”

“She’s an old lady?”

“Nah, she’s a daughter of the club. That’s the title us kids get.” She pointed to a patch on her vest—a red heart with barbed wire wrapped around it. “Technically I’m a niece, not a daughter, but since I was raised in the club, I get the title too. It’s a patch and title to make it clear to others to not fuck with us even though we’re not old ladies. Although, I’m one of them now, too. It also meant Eagle couldn’t pursue me while he was a prospect.”

I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck. “So many rules.”

“Nah, there’s not so many. You’ll learn it all in no time. Just hang with us old ladies, and you’ll be fine.”

“Silk’s right. You’ll have it all nailed in no time. It didn’t take me long—”

The woman, who I’d already forgotten the name of, stopped speaking when a young guy poked his head in the room. “Mac? Church.”

Mac gave me a fast, hard kiss. “Stick with Silk, okay? I’ll be back as soon as I can. Need to show you the fire pit...test out that skirt some more.”

With a wink, he strolled from the room. I couldn’t help but chuckle, even as I felt the heat in my cheeks.

“And that’s how I got knocked up so damn fast. These men are sexy as fuck and completely overloaded on testosterone.”

I turned to smile at Silk, who was rubbing a palm over her small baby bump.

“I hear you on that one. So, can I help with anything?”

Determined to keep myself distracted from what was happening nearby, I threw myself into helping prepare salads and other stuff for the barbecue. The old ladies were a great bunch. Most had wicked senses of humor and they teased each other constantly. For the most part I was left in peace. I guessed they were taking it easy on the new girl, or they were too happy to have the help to risk distracting me. The fact I stayed out of the way as much as I could might have had something to do with it too. I’d always preferred the shadows until I knew those around me well enough to play a little. And that damn bounty on head was really messing with me. I didn’t know who I could risk trusting. Ten grand was a lot of money. More than enough to make turning me in worth it to many, I was sure. My eyes burned again as I sent up a silent prayer that somehow the Charons could find a solution that didn’t involve me ending up in the Iron Hammers’ hands.

“Zara? Can you come with me? I need to check the tables are all set up outside ready to go. The moment church is over, all those men will want food ready to go.”

“Sure, Silk.”

I followed her out and into the backyard. The fire pit was burning bright, a couple of prospects standing near it chucking on logs to build it up higher. I noticed the various benches to sit on around it, many back in the shadows.

“You can count on Mac getting you back there later. These damn men and their love of short skirts.”

Silk’s laughter was infectious and I found myself laughing along with her as we adjusted the tables so they were ready for all the food platters we had prepared in the kitchen.

“Oh, shit.”

I rushed to Silk as her face paled. “You okay?”

She shook her head. “This morning sickness is gonna kill me.”

With that, she clamped a hand over her mouth and bolted inside. My stomach turned. Would I ever get to experience that? Mac seemed all serious and thinking long term now, but what about in a few weeks’ time, when I wasn’t the shiny new toy?

I slowly made my way back inside, intending on heading back to the kitchen.

“Hey, Zara, is it?”

I looked up to find Em in front of me. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“I need to grab some stuff from my mom’s car, can you come give me a hand?”

A niggle at the back of my mind told me not to go with her, but I pushed it down. The front yard was guarded by prospects and this girl was part of the club. Mac had told me I’d be safe here. I needed to show the man a little trust. He’d done nothing but help me so far.

“Sure, but before we go I want to check in on Silk. She had to bolt for the bathroom just now so I want to make sure she’s okay.”

With a shrug, Em turned and I followed her down the hall. When we got the bathroom Em stayed outside while I went in.

“Silk? You doing okay? Want me to get you anything?”

She was in a stall with the door closed. “Nah, I’ll be right. Just morning sickness, not much anyone can do. You can head back to the kitchen if you want.”

“Em’s just asked me to help her get something from her Mom’s car so I’ll do that, then meet you back there.”

I left with a wince as Silk started throwing up some more. The joys of pregnancy.

“Okay, Em. Let’s go get this stuff.”

With a silent nod, she led me out the front door. It wasn’t until I stepped off the steps and away from the building that I realized there’d been no prospects guarding the door.

“Em? You know where the prospects are?”

“Probably making the most of church and enjoying the whores while they can. Prospects don’t get much time to play while the patched in boys are around.”

That didn’t sound right to me. Well, the prospects not getting much fun sounded about right from what I’d heard so far... but I’d also heard the prospects took their jobs seriously. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t get patched in.

“Hey, Em? I’m just gonna run inside and grab one of the–”

“Now, there’s no need to go do that.”

A meaty hand wrapped around my bicep as I tried to flee. I opened my mouth to scream for help but Em slapped her palm over my mouth.

“Don’t even think about it, bitch.”

Oh, fuck. I was seriously screwed. I felt a pin-prick in my neck just as my limbs went limp with an attack. Fucking hell. They’d drugged me. Add that to my illnesses and I was going to be lucky to wake up at all. Bastards.

Mac

“Where the fuck is she?”

My voice echoed through the clubhouse. Zara was fucking gone. She’d run. She’d promised she wouldn’t, but she was gone. The Satan Cowboy’s VP, Maverick, had wanted Zara to be brought in to get her side of what happened. And to make sure she had no intention of going to the cops again about what she’d heard in that cafe. I’d come out to get her but she wasn’t fucking here.

“What are you roaring about?”

Bulldog, our VP, came charging at me from the meeting room.

“No one’s seen Zara in a while. She was last with Silk, who is in the bathroom wrapped around the toilet bowl again.”

Bulldog turned and ran to the bathroom. Silk was his niece so naturally he’d be concerned over her being sick, even if we all knew it was just morning sickness. Slowly, my anger began to dissipate and my brain started working and got me wondering if maybe Zara hadn’t simply taken off. I needed to talk to Silk. I took long strides toward the bathroom but the time I got there Bulldog had already quizzed his niece and was coming back out.

“Em took her outside to get some shit from her mom’s car, Silk guesses it was around five to ten minutes ago.”

Brushing off the shock that Bulldog had run for my girl’s sake, not his niece, I turned and bolted for the front door. “Go get the others. I’ve got a bad feeling.”

By the time I busted through the front door, I had Eagle by my side. He’d always known when shit was going to hit the fan before it hit.

“You’re running late, brother.”

He winced. “Sorry, Mac. I figured my intuition was flaring were because of Silk being sick again.”

I shook my head as we hit the parking lot. “Nah, it’s not your fault, man. I’m just on edge. We need to spread out and look for her. Em brought her out here and no one’s seen her since.”

Frowning, I scanned the yard. “Where the fuck are the prospects? No one’s watching our bikes.”

“I was just thinking the same thing. Cowboy’s left two of theirs out here to keep guard too. Where the fuck are they?”

I turned to face Scout as he’d spoken. This shit wasn’t good. Someone, or several someones had fucking grabbed my girl.

“Over here!”

I jogged over to where Eagle was standing up from kneeling. “Fucking empty syringe here and there’s footprints heading that way.”

Taz joined us and the three of us each drew a gun as we scanned the area. The rest of the club stayed back, allowing us to do our thing. The whole club knew we’d worked together for over a decade in the Marines and they all knew better than to fuck with a system that worked. When we got close to the shed at the edge of the lot I saw the drag marks in the dirt. Fuck. I had a bad feeling we were about to find the prospects. With my gun up, I slipped around the side of the old building and sure enough, came face to face with three bodies. I didn’t bother checking for a pulse. Eagle or Taz would do that, my priority was my woman.

I continued to work my way around to the rear of the shed, where a number of the timber slats had been removed, kicked out by the looks of what was left. Glancing over my shoulder to make sure I still had back up, I nodded to Taz before I stepped through the fence.

“Fuck me.”

I flicked the safety back on my gun and holstered it. We were too fucking late. With my hands on my hips, I stared at the twin tire marks that had been left in the dirt that led to the road.

“Oh, are you fucking shitting me?”

I turned my head to watch Taz kneel down to Em. The girl was dead. No one’s head naturally sat at that angle. A buzzing in my head got louder and louder until I couldn’t contain it. I scrubbed my palms over my face before I looked to the sky and let loose a roar loud enough birds left the surrounding trees.

“What the fuck—”

Scout’s words cut off as he came through the fence.

“Taz, go get Keys and Donna in my office. This is gonna fucking gut them. All the Charons and Cowboys, including prospects and old ladies in the meeting room. I want all the club whores locked down in the back room. I want to know if anyone saw anything. I’ll put Tiny and Arrow on the doors while we sort this shit out. What a fucking cluster fuck.”

I couldn’t move. I’d promised Zara she’d be safe here and instead she’d been led directly to her enemy. One of our own had sold my fucking woman out. I glared down at Em’s lifeless body. Clearly she’d paid a heavy price already, but it didn’t stop my rage. Suddenly Eagle was up in my grill.

“Deep breath, Mac. You can do this. Lose your shit, Scout’ll lock you down. You want to go get your woman? You gotta keep your shit together. Em’s paid for her mistake. Let that part of this go. One of those dead prospects was a Cowboy. That’s two of them the Iron Hammers have taken now, and this boy didn’t do shit to deserve it. We will get your girl back. With the Cowboys backing us up, we’re gonna wipe the fuckers out for this.”

I looked my friend and brother directly in the eye before I spoke. “But will we be in time to save her?”

Eagle’s wince wasn’t encouraging, but at least he was honest. I forced my legs to move, to take me back inside the clubhouse where I knew plans would already be in the process of being made.

Hold on bunny, I’m coming for you. Just fucking hold on.