Chapter 15

Silk

Aside from my uncle glaring at Eagle the whole time, the meet-up in town was quick and uneventful. I wasn’t sure how Uncle Clint was going to react once Eagle was patched in and we became official. If that’s what happened. I was still holding back from telling myself it was a sure thing, just in case he didn’t have the balls to claim me as his in front of the club. Deep down I was fairly certain he would, but there was this niggling little doubt that wouldn’t allow me to truly believe it until it happened.

Now we were approaching the center of Galveston and I could feel the tension coming off the men. This was Iron Hammers territory and if they caught us in town, there would be trouble. Eagle pulled up between Mac and Taz, and I got the impression the three of them did it automatically, without thought. Keeping a woman protected was like second nature to them. I pulled my leg over the seat and handed my helmet to Eagle to store away. He rose from the seat, and once off the bike, I saw his hand begin to reach for mine, before he caught himself. I winced as I turned from him to walk into the bank. This hands-off in public thing was going to suck, and be fucking hard after having full access to each other at the cabin.

The five men all surrounded me as we walked, and had me feeling like some sort of pop star with bodyguards everywhere. The thought had me chuckling a little as we made our way into the building.

Just like in L.A., it didn’t take long to hand over the keys and my identification to get access to the boxes. Once again, there was another box for me, just one this time, but a note had been left connecting it to both the club boxes. Guess whichever box I found first would have given me the information I needed for both of them. The teller gave me the keys back after I signed the paperwork to release the contents.

“Would you like to open them in a private viewing room?”

“Yes, please. That would be great.”

The bank teller eyed my guards warily and I smiled at her. “Don’t mind them. They’re my family and a little over-protective.”

With a slight nod, she led us all back to a private room with two chairs and a large table, before leaving to get the boxes.

“Mac and Taz, I want you boys in the hallway keeping watch. Silk, we need to just empty those boxes into your bag and get the fuck out of here. Every minute we’re in town is another minute the Iron Hammers have time to find out we’re here. Until I get to examine what’s in their box, I don’t want them knowing about the damn thing.”

I smiled at Scout. “I understand. I had just about all the excitement I can handle back in L.A. I’m not looking for any more.”

He squeezed my shoulder briefly as his face tightened with a flash of pain before he moved away. The club really was my family, and like any over-protective uncle, Scout hated that I’d been taken and hurt.

It was only a few minutes before the teller returned with the boxes.

“When you’ve finished, just leave the boxes and keys here on the table and go. I’ll come back later and sort them out.”

Scout handed me the un-keyed one and tossed my uncle the key to the Iron Hammer’s box. Both men had brought a bag in with them, and they made quick work of unlocking the boxes. I shook myself back to attention and opened my box. No gun this time, but there was a wicked looking hunting knife. Thankfully, it was in a sheath so I wouldn’t cut myself on the thing by accident. I put it in my bag, along with another thick envelope. This one just had a note on the front, saying to be careful and to read it when I was alone. My eyes stung as I thought about what bullshit excuses he’d have written in this letter. I wasn’t sure I wanted to read the damn thing at all, but I knew I would. Ultimately, I missed my dad and wouldn’t be able to resist.

The rest of the box contained more rolls of money. Only three this time. Assuming they were the same as the last ones, and they looked the same size, that was another thirty thousand dollars. Fuck, that was over a hundred grand total from just two boxes. How much more would we find in the others?

Eagle snatched the cash and tossed it in my bag as I stood there in a trance. I snapped to attention with a muttered apology and the look in Eagle’s eyes nearly had me going to him for comfort. Until my uncle cleared his throat.

“Right, let’s get moving.”

I glanced over at Scout and my uncle, and they were both zipping their bags closed. I had no idea what they’d found, but both their faces looked strained.

“Where are we going after here?”

“If we can get clear of town without catching the attention of any of the Iron Hammers, we have three choices. One is we go back to the clubhouse, second is we go to Silk’s secret hideout, and the third option is the old quarry about half an hour out of Bridgewater. What’s it going to be Silk? Make it fast.”

My whole body tightened. “Fuck me. I don’t like any of those options! I guess the clubhouse, but I don’t want to be seen. I don’t want, or need, any fucking pity from the club.”

“Right. Done. Let’s go. And Silk, in the middle of the day on a Tuesday, there aren’t going to be many at the club house, so you got nothing to worry about. You can go back to your hideout as soon as we’ve gone over the boxes and we know they don’t contain anything that will bring you harm in the immediate future.”

With a nod and stinging eyes, I marched from the room. I hated being emotional and was grateful I managed to hold the tears back from spilling over. I rarely cried, and since those mob assholes had grabbed me, I’d found myself on the verge of tears way too many times for my liking. I was not that wussy, girly-girl that cried over every fucking thing. I was a tough chick who rarely shed a tear for anything.

It just appeared my tear ducts had forgotten that fact recently. Stupid, fucking things.

Eagle

By the time we pulled into the Charon’s clubhouse I was more than ready to be done with this mission. Tension radiated from Silk as she clung to me while we rode. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and take all her worries away. If I could get even half an hour alone with her, I could give her what she needed to clear her mind. But that wouldn’t be happening until much later.

I knew it would only be a matter of weeks before I got patched in–but it was going to feel like a fucking year now that I’d had her, and would have to stand clear until I got my top rocker.

I stayed a step behind Silk as we followed the others inside the clubhouse. The place was the quietest I’d heard it in a long while. There were two of the new prospects cleaning the bar area, but there appeared to be no one else around. I was so fucking glad I didn’t have to do cleaning duties anymore. Thankfully, there were enough newer prospects to do the truly shitty jobs. I guess Scout could see early on that Taz, Mac and I had skills better used elsewhere. From almost day one, we’d been put on security and watch jobs. Boring as hell, but at least I hadn’t been cleaning up blood and cum from the fights and orgies that seemed to take place nightly at the clubhouse. That shit made one hell of a fucking mess.

Before entering, we all put our phones in the small open lockers that lined the wall outside the doorway to the meeting room. Scout closed and locked the door after we were all inside. Silk’s steps faltered as she entered and I wondered if she’d ever been in here before. Women weren’t typically allowed in church, so she probably hadn’t. Scout marched straight up to the table at the head of the room and dropped his bag. Bulldog followed suit, then Silk placed hers next to them both.

“Right. Let’s see what John left us all, shall we?”

With that, Scout unzipped, then unloaded his bag on the table. I locked my jaw to stop it from dropping. Silk’s father was either extremely clever, or a complete fucking moron who’d gotten lucky too many times. Scout had emptied the Charon’s box. It had contained a stack of old VHS tapes labeled with locations around Bridgewater and the surrounding area together with dates. Fuck. I could imagine what they would have on them. There was a large envelope, that when Scout opened, revealed a stack of grainy photos. I’d need a closer look, but like the videos, it didn’t take much to imagine what they were. He also pulled out one single roll of hundred dollar bills that looked the same size as the ones we’d counted out back at the cabin.

“Silk had rolls like that in her box from L.A. They counted out to ten grand each.”

Scout looked up to me frowning. “How many? And don’t glare at me like that. I have no fucking intention of taking it off her, I just want to know how much John fucking stole so I can work out if the mob is going to keep coming for her.”

My shoulders relaxed. I hadn’t realized I’d tensed up at his words.

“You know, I am right here? In the room with you? There was eighty thousand in the box from L.A., then three rolls in the one I just got. So a hundred and ten grand to me so far. Assuming all the rolls are the same.”

She reached into her bag and took out the cash, along with the knife and envelope.

“He left you a weapon?”

Silk shrugged. “There was a handgun in the L.A. box.”

“Motherfucker.” Bulldog’s voice was rough with anger. “What? He thought if you got caught in his mess, you could fucking shoot your way out? Or take on an entire MC with a fucking hunting knife? You know, if the bastard wasn’t already dead, I’d be tempted to kill him myself for the shit he’s dragged you into, Silk. This whole thing is fucked up.”

Silk’s body went ramrod straight and my fingers itched with the need to take her into my arms. She was hurting and I wanted to comfort her. I kind of wanted to fucking throw a punch at Bulldog too. Sure, if John was still alive I’d have some choice words to say to the bastard too–but I wasn’t going to say that in front of his still grieving daughter. The man was still her father.

“Fuck, Silk. I’m sorry, sweetheart. You know I loved your father. Hell, even with all the shit he pulled, he was my brother and I would never have truly hurt him. It just guts me that he’s left so much shit for you to deal with.”

She nodded, and her shoulders lowered a little. That seemed to be enough for her uncle, who then started unloading his bag. This was the Iron Hammer’s box. Considering John had been a prospect, I had no idea what kind of dirt he could have collected on them. Turned out to be only two VHS videos, but three envelopes.

Bulldog ripped them open and photos spilled out onto the table. Women. Fuck that, they weren’t women, they were girls. Teenagers, too young to be doing the shit they were. I couldn’t help myself, I whipped out my hand and snagged Silk’s wrist, yanking her to me where I buried her face against my chest to block her eyes.

“Don’t look at that shit, sweetheart. It’s nothing you need see.”

Her body shuddered against me and I knew I hadn’t been quick enough, that she’d seen at least some of those depraved photos.

Scout cursed and gathered up the photos. “I’ll have to find someone with a machine that can play these tapes, but I can take a guess that the Iron Hammer ones are going to be more of shit like in these photos. Charons have never done that shit, so the tapes on us won’t be anything like that. At a guess they’re beat downs, shit like that. This is fucked up. Especially, if he’s got copies stashed anywhere else. Fuck!”

Silk nuzzled me a moment before she took a deep breath and moved away. I forced myself to stay still, to not keep her against me. Thankfully, neither Bulldog or Scout looked like they were going to make a deal out of me grabbing her, but I didn’t want to risk bringing their wrath down on me. Especially when they were riled up from those photos.