~ 15 ~
Nancy held on tightly to me as we took a sharp corner. I could feel her tits pressed into my back and her crotch pressed against me, and it took all my self-control not to pull over and bend her over my bike again. Not gonna lie: if it wasn’t for the text from Vin, I probably would have.
Skate had been found. That was the good news.
The bad news was that he was hurt.
I pulled up outside Nancy’s mom’s trailer. It was a piece of shit metal can that didn’t look like it had had anything done to it since the day it was dropped in that spot. I wanted her out of it as soon as possible.
Nancy climbed off the bike and I shoved a hand in her hair and dragged her mouth to mine, kissing her until I had to stop before my dick exploded out of my jeans.
A light was on in the trailer and she looked nervously toward it. “This isn’t going to be easy.”
I stared at her, not really giving a shit. She was mine and I wanted Tammy out of the trailer that night. It wasn’t debatable. I saw the curtains twitch and Nancy looked back toward me and let out a shaky breath.
“Nothin’ worth doing ever is.”
She gave me a sad smile.
“You good with this?” I asked. “I can tell her to fuck off for you if you want.”
“God, no!” she laughed, “You’re such an asshole! I’ll sort it out. Just go,” she laughed again.
“I’ll be back in the morning,” I said with a smirk. “Have your bags packed or I’ll pack em’ for you.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not moving in with you, Sketch. We barely know each other.”
I reached around and grabbed her ass. “I want this every mornin’ when I wake up, and every night before I go to sleep, maybe even once or twice in the middle of the night. If your mom doesn’t mind you screamin’ out my name, then I’m cool with you staying here. Other than that, you’re coming home with me.”
She handed me my helmet. “Don’t be like that.”
“Like what?”
“All caveman! ‘Me man, you woman,’ and then you drag me back to your cave. I want to take this slowly.” She bit her bottom lip, looking beautiful and vulnerable. “I’m my own woman Sketch and I don’t want a man, or woman, laying down rules for me. I decide what’s right for me.”
“I don’t do slow, babe. I do fast and hard, and I do it how I see it. And the way I see it, you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you.”
She bit down on her lower lip, fire and fury in her eyes.
“And you keep bitin’ your lip like that and I’m going to give Tammy and your mom a show right here right now that they won’t forget too easily,” I said, squeezing her ass and making her snort out a laugh.
“I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you tomorrow,” she said, taking a step back from me.
“You do that,” I said with a smirk. “I’ll be out here waiting for my mornin’ fuck. Tell your mom I like coffee and pancakes after I cum.” I winked and shoved on my helmet, loving the way she threw her head back and laughed.
I pulled away, noting the trailer door opening and Tammy standing there with her arms folded over her chest. Couldn’t help the smile from creeping up my face as she watched me leave. Yeah, fuck you, Tammy. Ain’t got no magical pussy after all.
I drove straight to the clubhouse, pulling into my spot and hanging my helmet quickly. I strode across the parking lot and pushed inside, saying hi to Mason and Semi as they sat at the bar. Semi stood up and walked toward me. We shook hands and he shook his head.
“It’s not good. Brother’s hurt real bad. Won’t tell us what happened though.” He scratched at his chin and then shoved his hands in his pockets.
I scowled. “He hidin’ something?”
“No doubt. And I don’t think it’s fucking candy, brother.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, real shit. Vin’s got him in the infirmary, told him I’d send you in when you got here.” He slapped me on the back and headed towards the bar.
I lit a cigarette as I walked to the infirmary, my thoughts on Skate and what the fuck had happened to him, what he could be hiding from us, and what the fuck would happen now. But even with all that rattling through my head, I was still thinking of Nancy.
The infirmary door was closed, and Jase and JP were standing outside talking. I shook hands with them, but they could only tell me what I already knew, so I put out my cigarette and knocked once before heading inside. I found Vin, Buddy, and Skull standing by Skate’s bed. Unlike the rooms downstairs, the infirmary was sterile, with white walls and even whiter bedsheets. Made no sense to keep Skate there if they thought he was a traitor, but as soon as I saw Skate I knew he wasn’t.
His face was a mess. A real fucking mess. Dried blood trailed from his nose and one eye was swollen closed, the other only letting in a slit of light. His face was bloody and bruised, his arms bandaged from wrist to elbow.
“Jesus,” I mumbled, getting closer. “This your work?” I asked Vin.
“No, brother. This was something much worse.” He gestured for me to sit.
“I’m fine standing,” I growled out, not liking the situation at all. “What’s going on?”
I looked at Skull, finally noticing the bruises and blood on his face too. His knuckles were red and bloody, scabs already forming on them.
“I was ambushed on the way back from the drop,” Skate said, his voice hoarse. “Managed to get away because the dumb fuck thought I was dead and now that dumb fuck’s dead and I’m not. Didn’t want to come back here in case I brought trouble with me, so I hid out at Skull’s. Knew he’d have my back no matter what.”
“Fuck yeah,” Skull mumbled.
“Who was it?” I asked. “Let’s go finish it.” I frowned, looking between Buddy and Vin and wondering why they hadn’t sent someone out to cut down whoever it was already.
“This shit stays with us for now,” Vin said, pacing. “We need to play this delicately or it’s going to blow up in all of our faces.”
I didn’t like the sound of that at all. This was a club, and anything that put the other members’ lives in danger shouldn’t be kept a secret, but Vin was president and what he said went, so I nodded, despite hating it. Couldn’t imagine not telling Crank, but decided I’d work on that later.
“Okay, so it stays between us five until we can do something about it,” I agreed.
Buddy sighed. He lit a cigarette and blew out a long plume of smoke. “I didn’t see a face, just a patch.”
I scowled. “Who’s patch? Another club?”
Buddy’s expression hardened, his eyes darkening. “It was someone from the Highwaymen. Didn’t see their face though.”
I stood up automatically and scowled even harder. I shook my head but didn’t speak because I couldn’t figure out what to say. One of our brothers tipping off the cops made no fucking sense whatsoever. We all stood to make money if the drops went well. And if they didn’t… they all of our pockets were empty.
Buddy nodded in agreement like he’d read my thoughts. “Yeah, it’s fucked up. But it is what it is: someone from our own club sabotaged the drop. Tipped off ATF. Think they’ve been doing it for a while across other clubs too—too many shipments going missing, too many brothers dying because of this,” Buddy said around a mouthful of smoke. “This shit goes deep, brother. Too deep, and I don’t have proof to put forward on it.”
There was only one thing to come from what Hardy was doing, and my chest tightened with anger, thinking of all the men’s lives he was putting in danger. The people we’d lost, not just to prison, but to Hades. And that had all come from a brothers actions. But worse still was the utter betrayal of whoever it was. They’d turned on the club, their brothers, and our whole way of life.
“I’ll fuckin’ kill them,” I growled, cracking my knuckles. “I’ll gut the motherfucker like a fuckin’ pig and serve them up for breakfast.”
“Yeah, well you’ll have to wait in line for that,” Skull snarled out, sounding as furious as I was.
“You got any clue as to who it is?” I asked Skate through gritted teeth.
Buddy helped Skate to sit up and I noted the bandage wrapped tightly around his middle. “Nah, not a fuckin’ clue, but I was on my way back from a run when I passed Agent Lear talking to a brother at a truck stop. Didn’t stop because I had saddlebags full of cash, but I saw the patch on their cut.”
Skate took the cigar Buddy lit for him and puffed on it. His lips were cracked and bleeding, but he didn’t seem to care.
“Why didn’t you speak to anyone?” I said with a scowl. “Mention it to Vin or one of us.”
Skate looked away. “I asked Hardy about it when I got back, he said he’d look into it, but I never heard anything. If I’m honest I knew I’d fucked up the moment I asked him. Saw the fuckin’ devil in his eye.” Skate sneered, his one semi-good eye holding my gaze.
“You sayin’ Hardy’s in on this shit?” This story was getting worse by the second.
“I’m saying I told him what I saw but nothing ever came of it. Felt eyes on me from then on.”
“He kept that shit to himself in case he was wrong,” Vin said, clearly not happy about that fact. “Dumb fucker should have told me so I could have handled it.”
“Didn’t wanna put you or the club in that position, Prez—not until I had firm evidence.” Skate winced as pain from somewhere seared through him. He hissed through his teeth and clutched his left side.
“Doc’ll be here any minute, brother,” Skull said, coming closer. “Reel that shit in, you pussy.”
Skate coughed on a laugh. “Fuck off.”
Skull cracked a grin. “Certainly, motherfucker. Next time I’ll leave you to Agent Lear and his good buddies, okay?”
“I had that shit handled.”
Skull laughed loudly. “Yeah, it looked like it too.”
“So we’ve got the evidence now?” I asked.
“No, nothing to tie Hardy or any other brother to the run, but like Skull just said, we can place Agent Lear and his buddies there. Pretty sure we can get them to break down with a little persuasion,” Vin replied.
I nodded. “Let’s do it then.”
The door opened and the doctor walked in, bag in hand. I patted Skate on the shoulder and turned to leave, and Skull and Buddy followed me while Vin hung back to talk to the doc for a minute.
Outside, the club felt like a much darker place after all the white of the infirmary. Or maybe that was just the mood of the night. Everything had changed tonight—the club, the men, the rules, but mostly me.
Crank was sitting with Semi and Mason, and they all looked over as we came in the room.
“Well?” Semi asked, clearly ready to spill some blood.
“We’re waiting on Vin and then we’re going after that fucker. Bring in our good friend for questioning and get some answers,” Buddy replied. He grabbed one of the shot glasses of whiskey that Ann-Marie put down in front of us all. One by one we all took a glass, barring Crank, who raised his glass of Pepsi and ice.
“For Skate,” Buddy snarled.
“For Skate!” we all cheered, and then threw the whiskey to the backs of our throats and slammed the glasses down on the bar.
“Y’all toasting without me?” Vin grumbled as he came over.
Ann-Marie lined up another round of shots and we all toasted Skate again.
“I’m not dead yet, motherfuckers,” Skate snapped as he walked out to us, leaning heavily on the doctor.
Vin glared at the doctor, who helped Skate onto a stool. “He needs to stay in bed.”
“I’m not a sweetbutt, Prez. I prefer to be up on my feet,” Skate said between hissing in pain and leaning heavily on the bar. “Gimme one of those,” he said to Ann-Marie.
She glanced over at Vin, who nodded. “Just one.”
“He put a gun to my head,” the doctor said, sounding more tired than worried. “He does that again and I won’t be coming back.”
Vin nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out a wad of cash. He handed a couple of hundred over. “Your help’s appreciated.” He folded up some more bills and handed them to the doctor and gestured toward Skate. “For the threat from this dickwad.”
The doctor nodded and walked away, and Vin turned and glared at Skate. “Finish that up and let Mason and Jase get you back to bed. And don’t even consider arguing with me on this, because if you do I’ll fucking put you down myself.” He looked at the rest of us. “I got eyes and ears on Agent Lear, and I hear that motherfucker’s making a stop tomorrow.”
“Where’s he going?” I asked as we started toward the door.
“He’s making a deposit at the bank, would you fucking believe it?” Vin pursed his lips and I knew he was thinking the same as me: Agent Lear was depositing his blood money.