Chapter 3
Eagle
By the time Silk had settled in to work on her first tattoo of the day I was about ready to explode. I’d only managed to get a couple of hours sleep the night before on the floor outside her room. Sure, I’d slept in worse places and at least no bastards were shooting at me at the clubhouse, but still. In the time I’d been back stateside, I’d kind of gotten used to sleeping lying down on a fucking bed.
At least when she’d come out and seen me sitting there she didn’t sass me. In fact, I’m sure I’d seen her face soften a moment before she put her pissed off mask back on and stomped downstairs to the kitchen. Scout was eating breakfast when she stormed in, and she’d done her best to smooth talk the club president. Pity for her, Scout knew her too well to fall for it. Instead, he’d demanded her bike keys and told her she’d be traveling with me until further notice. She could choose the back of my bike or a cage, but those were her only two options if she wanted to leave the compound. To say she was unhappy was an understatement. I could understand her anger. She knew as much as me about why she was being locked down. I’d be furious in her place.
Even with her hissing and spitting like an alley cat, I couldn’t help but grin as I rode over with her earlier. Having Silk on the back of my bike, with her arms wrapped around me, was a dream come true. As lame as that sounded, I’d had many dreams about it. Of course, my dreams never ended with me horny as fuck while she stormed off in a fury.
I pulled my phone out and shot a text off to Scout to let him know I could talk, like he’d asked me to do earlier. Minutes later, I watched the president walk up the path toward me. Clearly he’d been waiting on my text.
I nodded in greeting. “Pres.”
He glanced in the shop before he stood to the side, where, if Silk looked out the front window, she wouldn’t see him.
“Eagle. Thanks for staying tight with her. I know she’s a handful.”
“Wouldn’t mind knowing what I’m protecting her from. Make it easier to notice it coming our way.”
The older man sighed and stroked his beard. Scout was the stereotypical biker, complete with a scruffy beard, that was more gray than not.
“We’re not a hundred-percent on what’s coming. But we’ve heard whispers that something is. Fucking 9/11 bullshit. It never ends.”
That caught my attention. This year was the fifteenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks that brought down the twin towers in New York and tried to take out the Pentagon in Washington. Thousands died so it didn’t surprise me in the least that every year the anniversary was marked with celebrations and memorials for those lost. It was the 9/11 attacks that had a lot of people enlisting to go fight, myself included. I was seventeen when those planes hit the towers, but in early 2002, I turned eighteen and signed up to go get those bastards before they could strike us on US soil again.
“What does 9/11 have to do with Silk?”
Scout jerked back a little. “Fuck. You don’t know? Shit, I assumed you’d heard. Guess it’s been so long now we don’t talk about it these days.”
I scanned the street again before I focused back on Scout.
“No one’s told me a damn thing. It’s driving me fucking nuts, to tell you the truth.”
I figured the man knew how I felt about Silk, so being honest with the guy wasn’t going to hurt my chances of getting info. In fact, I hoped it would get me a little extra.
“Silk came to live with Bulldog and his old lady not long after 9/11. Before that, she lived up in Boston. She didn’t have siblings, it was just her and her folks. Then the evening of the tenth of September 2001, John and Claire dropped their daughter off with a friend–told her they’d be back before the weekend, then left. Her parents were on the flight that hit the south tower.”
“Fuck. Well, no wonder she takes off every year.”
The media talked about nothing but 9/11 for weeks around the anniversary, and this being the fifteenth was going to be bigger than usual.
“That’s why we’ve locked her down so hard. She’s planning on slipping her leash to run off to wherever the fuck she goes every year.”
“I still don’t get why she’s locked down. I’ve heard she does this every year, but I’ve never heard of anyone trying to stop her before.”
“We’ve had a reporter sniffing around. Doing some fucking story on the orphans of 9/11, or some shit. Silk’s parents were up to something. We’re still working out what, but their last minute trip to LA wasn’t just for fun. Someone was chasing them. And you know how quick shit spreads on the internet these days? All it takes is that reporter to mention Silk’s name once on some fucking bullshit online gossip site and boom–her location is up in fucking lights for anyone to find with a click of a button. Then, whoever was after them will come for her in no time. Bulldog’s been keeping an ear to the ground in LA all these years and the word from one of his mob contacts is there is a bounty out for John’s daughter. Again, no fucking idea why. All we know is they want her alive.”
I took a deep breath as rage flowed through my system. I scanned the street again, this time taking in every building, vehicle and person carefully.
“No way of keeping that reporter quiet?”
“Nah, bitch is from LA and we’ve sent her on her way, but not before she worked out Silk is Claudine. I don’t doubt the mob knows exactly where she is by now.”
“What’s the plan then? I’m good, but up against the mob? This shit could get heavy fast.”
The older man nodded. “That’s why I’m here telling you shit no prospect should know. Listen, I’ve seen how you watch our girl. We all have. Bulldog might not like it, but fuck. We knew she’d end up with a brother. That girl is way too tough for some civilian to handle. This isn’t me giving you permission to fuck with her. It’s me letting you know I see what you’re feeling for her. It’s why you were put on her ass. I knew you wouldn’t slack off and chase some whore’s tail instead of guarding hers. I heard what you did last night. You did good, getting her out of that fucking room and up to hers. You didn’t have sleep in the damn hallway, but I appreciate the lengths you’re willing to go to, to keep our girl safe.”
“I’ve slept in worse places, and I had a feeling she would have snuck out if I didn’t.”
Scout snorted. “She sure as fuck would have. I had Mac on the main door and her bike stashed in the back of the garage. She wouldn’t have gotten far.” He paused to clear his throat. “We need to work out what the mob wants from Silk. She was only twelve when it all went down so I doubt it’s something she knows. Probably something John left behind. Bulldog told me he had all their stuff packed up and moved down to a unit in our storage yard here. He gave Silk the key and hasn’t bothered her about it since.”
“You want me to get into that unit?”
He shook his head. “It’s in our fucking yard, man. We can get into it. And we have. But none of us could find a damn thing that the mob could possibly want. It’s got to be something Silk took from there. We need you to talk to her, get her to tell you about anything she might have with her from her folks.”
“Can I tell her why? She’s hating this lockdown, but if I can explain why she might be more helpful.”
That, and I had no idea how I was going to be able to go through all her stuff without her catching me.
Scout reached up and adjusted the bandanna he had wrapped around his head.
“Bulldog don’t want her knowing, but you’re going to have to tell her. She thinks her daddy moved away and cut his brother out of their lives because he didn’t like the fact he was a fucking biker. That ain’t the truth, but Bulldog wants her to keep believing the best about her folks.”
I shrugged. “Can’t blame the man for that. He wants Silk to have a good life, with her belief in her parents intact, I get that. I want that for her too. But she won’t have that if this shit catches up with her. Is she still on lockdown at the clubhouse when she’s not here?”
“Nah, that was me getting her separated from her wheels. Take her home to her place tonight. I’ll have Mac and Taz meet you there. I know you’ll want your boys on this with you. Gabs doesn’t need to know what’s going on. She’s got her own tail but we’re keeping it so she doesn’t know about it unless she needs saving.”
“Speaking of my boys, you know Mac has contacts in LA that might help us out? I’ll ask him about it tonight. He might have heard something your guy hasn’t.”
Scout stopped talking to pull his packet of smokes out. He pulled one free but didn’t light it right away.
“Good deal. You three keep our girl safe through this shit, you’ll all get your top rockers. You’ll need to deal with Bulldog after that about taking on Silky. So long as you’re looking for an old lady, not just some fun, you’ll survive him, I’m sure.”
The bastard smirked at me before he lit up.
“If all I wanted was some tail, I’d have used the club whores to get it.”
Scout’s eyes turned serious. “Yeah, we’d noticed you hadn’t made use of the entertainment offered. Take care of our girl, Eagle.”
With that he turned and walked away, leaving me to go back to scanning the street and trying to work out how the fuck I could tell Silk about all this. Finding out her dad was up to something dirty was going to break her heart.
Silk
I was grateful for the full morning of appointments I had booked for today. Meant I didn’t have time to focus on what I was going to have to deal with again tonight. I really didn’t want to spend the next couple of weeks cooped up in my tiny room at the clubhouse, especially when I had a perfectly comfortable house available for my use. If I really couldn’t get out of town, I at least wanted to be able to be alone.
“You stopping for lunch soon?”
I jerked out of my thoughts and looked up from the appointment book to see Eagle smirking at me from the door way. Bastard knew he’d caught me daydreaming.
“Ah, yeah. I can go now. I’ve got about an hour before my next appointment.”
He didn’t respond, but held the door open until I grabbed my bag and headed towards him. Guess I’m having lunch with Eagle today. In what I’d dubbed his stealth mode, he had me ushered down the street to a small cafe within minutes. It all seemed a little excessive to me. But I guess as much as you could take a man out of the military easily enough, taking the military out of the man was a completely different story. Not that I’d want to. I rather liked Marine Eagle. The way he prowled around was sexy as fuck.
Once we settled at a rear table and our food had been delivered, Eagle frowned at me with a serious gaze that had my stomach tightening–and not in a good way.
“What the hell is going on now?”
“Scout dropped by to speak with me this morning. I don’t want to lay it all on you here, out in public. I promise I’ll explain it all tonight. But, I can tell you, you’re not on lockdown at the clubhouse anymore, so I’ll be taking you back to your place tonight.”
“So whatever the fuck the threat was, has passed then?”
He shook his head. “It’s only just started, babe.”
“Can you at least give me a clue to what it’s all about?”
I hadn’t noticed anything. No strangers hanging around–well, except for that damn reporter a couple weeks back. No nasty letters or phone calls. Nothing.
“Word is the mob up in Los Angeles has a bounty on your head, sweetheart.”
I froze with my sandwich halfway to my mouth. “Sorry, what?”
I couldn’t have heard right. No way had I ever done anything to garner the attention of the mob!
“Seems they want you alive, so there is that.”
“Oh, well. I guess that’s okay then.”
My sarcastic response earned me a low growl.
“It’s far from okay. That’s why you’ve had me guarding your ass. The club won’t let anything happen to you.”
I winced a little at his words. The club. Not him. Maybe I’d been dreaming that he was interested in more than a bit of fun with me. Although that kiss last night sure as fuck hadn’t felt like a man who only wanted a good time before moving on.
“I’ve never been to California, let alone Los Angeles. How do these people even know who I am?”
“I really think you’d prefer have this conversation in private, babe.”
“Like it matters? You know full well it’s all I’m going to be thinking about all damn afternoon. You might as well lay it out for me so I don’t spend my time coming up with shit worse than what is actually going on. I have a very vivid imagination.”
He sat back and folded his arms over his chest. “Okay, then. The contract isn’t on you by name. It’s on John Bennett’s daughter.”
I dropped the rest of my lunch and pushed the plate away. My stomach rolled and I grabbed my glass of water to take a few gulps.
“This is about my dad? He’s been dead for fifteen years!”
Eagle watched me calmly as I sat there feeling like the ground just blew out from underneath me.
“Someone wants something your father had. Scout doesn’t know what, but he’s guessing it’s something illegal. We’re going to have to go through anything you have from your parents. Bulldog’s already gone through the storage unit and couldn’t find anything. But if you think it will help, we can head out there and have a look, too.”
I slumped back in my seat. Uncle Clint had told me the same reason my dad had about why I’d not met him before he’d taken custody of me. That my dad hated that his brother was in a biker club. He couldn’t possibly have been involved in something against the law. Taking a deep breath, I covered my face with my palms. Closing my eyes, I tried to wrap my mind around what Eagle was telling me.
“Bulldog didn’t want you to know about your dad, and I wish you didn’t have to find out. I fucking hate having to tear your heart apart by damaging how you remember your father. But this is your life at stake, and I refuse to let anything happen to you, Silk. I know you were young when it happened, but do you remember anything about the day they left to fly to LA?”
I rubbed my temples before I dropped my hands down to the table and stared at my sandwich as I began to pick at it.
“It’s been so long. I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. Give me the afternoon. Tonight we’ll talk more about it. Gabs has a family dinner she’s going to, then she’s spending the night at her parents’ place, so we’ll have all the privacy we’ll need.”
“Scout’s assigned Taz and Mac to help keep you safe. You okay with that?”
I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “No, Eagle. I’m not okay with any of this. But I don’t have a fucking choice do I? I’ve got to put my big girl panties on and deal with this shit before it comes for me and I wind up dead–or worse.”
A shudder ran through me as some possibilities of what could be done to me by the fucking mob played in my head like a movie. Eagle’s warm palm covered my hand and it was too much. I jerked my hand away and stood quickly.
“You know the three of us were Leathernecks for over a decade? We’ll keep you safe, Silk. I promise.”
“I need to get back to the shop. Got prep to do for a new piercing client.”
I knew I was being a coward, but I was struggling to wrap my mind around this new version of my dad I’d never known existed before today. I didn’t need to add in the fucked-up chemistry between us to the mix. He was still a prospect and off limits. I knew the three of them had been Marines. Knew my best chance at surviving a freakin’ mob attack would be with them. So, I needed to not ruin it by having my uncle send them on their way because he found out we’d gotten involved when we shouldn’t have.
Once all this shit passed and he got patched in, then I’d worry about what was between us.
If I survived that long.
A chill ran down my spine as I walked back to my shop with Eagle beside me, watching everything and everyone. This can’t be real. Maybe I’d wake up and this past week would turn out to be nothing but a shitty bad dream.