Nitro

It was a glorious thing to be able to call on a team of men you trusted fully to have your back, no matter what. It took less than ten minutes after I walked into the main room of the clubhouse and stated what I needed for a team of men to be ready to roll out. Scout had gotten hold of Joaquin and he’d been more than happy to offer us whatever help we needed. The moment Scout had called, the Iron Hammers president had sent his man, Blade, out in his boat to keep track of Cin from a distance. When we’d finally arrived at the dock, Joaquin had been there waiting for us with another boat, all fueled up and ready to go.

Now we were racing across the Gulf as fast as his boat could take us to get to my girl. Blade had radioed through that the yacht had stopped and dropped anchor, which meant two things. We’d catch up to them faster, which suited me just fine, but it also meant if he wasn’t captaining the boat, he was doing other things. That had me growling. The very thought of Cin being hurt burned me down to my soul.

“Relax, brother. We’ll get there and get your girl. She’s stayed one step ahead of this fucker for nearly twenty years. She’s proven she can be resourceful. I’m sure she’s found somewhere to hide herself away until help can arrive.”

I turned to Taz. “Do you hear the words coming out of your mouth? Has Flick taught you nothing about strong women? You should see how rough that derby shit gets. No way is my Cin cowering in a corner, waiting for me to save her. Nope, she’ll be fighting like a hellcat to get free, and that’s what scares me. That he’ll kill her before we can make it to her because she won’t know when to lay low and wait it out.”

Before Taz could respond, we caught up with Blade’s boat and I shifted into warrior mode.

“He left the bridge about fifteen minutes ago, hasn’t come back. I think you’ll be fine to approach and board without any trouble.”

“Yeah, if he’s below deck with her, we need to fucking hurry. This baby is nearly silent at low speed so they shouldn’t hear us. Right men, get ready to jump ship.”

I gave Joaquin a nod and gripped the side of the boat as he took us closer to an anchored, fancy-ass yacht. The closer we got, the harder I tried to see in through the windows but I couldn’t see any movement. Joaquin proved he was really damn good with a boat and got us right up alongside the other vessel.

“Head down to the engine room first.”

I looked back at the other club’s president, curious to how he could possibly know that. “Don’t bother thinking about how I know, just go deal with it.”

With a nod, I jumped, landing lightly on the rear deck of the other boat. I was about to grab the hatch in front of me when I heard Cin’s voice come from inside the cabin. Following the sound, I found an open hatch in the kitchen. Mac and Taz had both followed me inside and I gave them a signal to let them know I was going down.

“Yeah, you made me mad when you went out with that fucker Harris again last night. You knew you weren’t allowed. I lost my temper and when I drove past that little shop you love so much, I got this idea. It was fun, you know? The shatter of the glass, the whoosh of the flames. The smells and the heat. Thing of beauty, it was. You should have seen it. I stayed to watch for you, to see your reaction, but that bitch of an aunt of yours didn’t call you when she was supposed to, so I fucking missed seeing you. She was supposed to call you and cut your night short, you were supposed to fucking learn! I thought I made myself clear a long time ago about you not seeing that bastard.”

The voice floated up and I froze to the spot. It was a voice I hadn’t heard in forever. Not since before I went to BUD/S training. Fuck it all, I knew who her stalker was and I had a feeling it was all my fault. Guilt ate at me as I slowly climbed down the ladder to the engine room while Cin responded.

“Who are you and why the fuck have you made my life hell for the past two decades? What did I ever do to you?”

Seeing she had him restrained, I relaxed a little and purposefully made my next step heavy enough to make some noise. With a jerk, she spun around with a wrench lifted, ready to strike. Made me proud of her, really. Ready for anything, that was my girl.

“Relax, Cin. It’s just me and a few others from my club. Mac and Taz are up on deck, and a few more are in the boats we came in. It’s all over now, baby. You’re safe.”

Her shoulders slumped for a moment then re-tensed. “It’s not fucking over until he tells me why, and who the hell he is.”

“You don’t recognize him? I’d know that whiney bitch, fucking voice anywhere. Looks like you’ve had better days, Coach Smith.”

“Fuck off, Harris.”

Stepping forward, I took the wrench from my girl’s hand and tossed it aside before I wrapped her in an embrace. Fuck, it felt good to have her safe in my arms again. She wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her cheek against my chest.

“So, have you worked out why he did all this shit? Because I only had him for gym class, I didn’t do the swim team or any other sport that I spent much time in his presence.”

“Not sure, babe. Guessing he was originally aiming at hurting me. Feel like telling your story, Winston? While you still can?”

He sneered at me and tugged at the cuff that had him attached to the pipework. Fuck, I really was proud of my girl.

“Holy shit, brother! You weren’t joking about your girl being tough. She done him up good.”

Cin tensed and glanced at where I’d tossed the wrench.

“Relax, babe. That’s just Taz. You’ll like his old lady, Flick. She wasn’t at Marie’s today, but you’ll meet her real soon, I’m sure. Flick put Taz on his ass in front of half the club in Styxx when they first started dating. Funniest thing I’ve ever seen. Former Marine put on his ass by a slip of a woman.”

“She was an FBI agent, fully trained. It wasn’t like I got taken down by a kid or anything.” He sighed. “I really wish everyone would forget about it. Listen, it’s getting pretty cramped down here. Can we take this upstairs?”

“Yeah, just give us five, then we’ll be up.”

Taz vanished up through the hatch and it was just the three of us again.

“So, Winston, you gonna share your secrets or not? Honestly, I really don’t give a fuck but apparently Cin wants to know.”

“You’ll never get away with—”

“Shut the fuck up with your threats. You’ve spent enough time in Bridgewater to know what the Charon MC does to bastards like yourself. So, spill your story or not, I really don’t care, but hurry up and make the decision. I’m impatient to get my girl home.”

The light down here was dim but it was enough that I saw when fear filled his gaze. Yeah, now he was getting it.

“Fuck you.”

Or maybe he wasn’t.

I turned away from him, guiding Cindy up the ladder where Taz was waiting to help her up before I followed her, not giving the bastard who’d tormented her for years another look.

“Do you think we’ll ever know why?”

“Now we know who it is, we can search his house and see if we can find any clues. But I’ve got some ideas as to what his reasons might be. We can discuss that later. Right now, I want to get you off this fucking boat and on our way home.”

“What’ll happen to him?”

We were now out on the rear deck of the yacht. I pulled her to me and wrapped a hand around the back of her neck before tilting her face up with my other hand.

“You don’t need to ever worry about him ever again. He’ll never bother you. That’s all you need to know, okay?”

“Okay.”

Her voice was a whisper and I lowered my head, giving her a hard, fast kiss before releasing her to move over to the side of the boat, where I helped her climb up until Arrow could grab her and lift her onto our boat.

“Give me one minute, then I’ll be over there and we can get going.”

I didn’t give Cin time to argue before I turned to head back below deck to where Taz was now guarding Winston.

“He doesn’t seem like much. I mean, your girl nearly killed him with a screwdriver and a wrench. Why the fuck didn’t she just do that years ago?”

“Because he’s a sneaky fucker who she couldn’t identify. Didn’t help the cops didn’t believe her. You see, this little shit liked to claim accidents. Tell me, Winston, did you actually scare that feral hog out onto the road in front of her parents’ car, or did you just claim it for your own?”

“I aint telling you shit, Harris.”

“Yeah, figured you just claimed that first one. Let me guess, you saw an opportunity to hurt me through her because I had a Navy recruiter sniffing around me?”

The way he clenched his jaw told me all I needed to know.

“Then I guess you grew fixated on her and forgot all about me. Cin is a pretty special girl, but she was always mine, never yours. Even after seeing your face, she didn’t even know who you were. Wanna know how she reacted when she saw me for the first time in over eighteen years? No? I guarantee you she knew exactly who I was the second she saw me.” I shook my head as he sat there sneering at me but refusing to say a word. “You’re pathetic. You never would have made it in the Navy, much less as a SEAL. You aren’t man enough to make it through BUDs.”

I pulled a knife from the clip on my belt and stepped closer.

“As much as I’d love to leave you to drown when we sink your piece of shit boat, I want to be one-hundred percent certain you’re fucking dead more. So, lucky you, you get a quick end, one you in no way deserve.”

With a deep slash across his throat, the deed was done.

“I need to get back to Cin and check her over for injuries. I didn’t see any blood on her earlier, but I want to be sure. Can you frisk him and check the boat for anything of interest before Blade and his crew take this thing wherever the hell they’re going to take it to sink it?”

“Consider it done, brother. Mac and I’ll head back with Blade and his crew if you guys need to leave before we get done.”

“We’ll wait for you. I feel like a shit for not doing it myself, but I want her in my sights and she doesn’t need to spend any more time on this fucking vessel.”

Taz slapped me on the back as he moved to climb up. “That’s what you have brothers for, mate. We’ve got you.”

After wiping my blade clean on the dead man’s jeans, I put it away and followed Taz up and out of the engine room and headed toward the boat where my woman was waiting for me.

Cindy

The bunch of men on the boat were a mix of guys I’d met earlier today and a few new faces. I was very grateful I’d spent some time with the club because if I hadn’t known any of these men, I would have freaked the fuck out when Nitro didn’t follow me over. I’d turned to call out to him after I was safely on the other boat, but he’d already moved back inside.

He was going back down to see Winston, I knew it. My gut rolled as tremors shook my body. Lurching for the side of the boat, I managed to throw up over the side and not in the boat before I slumped down against the deck. It was like all my energy had drained away as I’d tossed my guts.

“Whoa, sugar. It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

Arrow scooped me up and carried me back toward the cabin of the boat. I wanted Nitro. I twisted around to try and find him but I couldn’t see him on either boat.

“You don’t need to see anything that’s going on over there, sugar. Here—” He paused as he set me on a soft couch. “Let me grab you a bottle of water. Nitro will be here in your face, making demands before you know it.”

I knew he was trying to cheer me up, but I wasn’t feeling it. I pulled my knees up against my chest and curled up against the back of the couch and watched the big man move around the interior of the boat. This one was smaller than the other one, with only one level for everything. I tried to keep my mind busy by taking in all the features of the boat but it didn’t work for long. Tremors continued to wrack my body as I processed what I’d done. I’d stabbed a man. And there’d been a lot of blood. I pressed a hand over my mouth as I gagged again. Had I hit an artery and killed him? Had I taken a man’s life today?

“Whoa, don’t mess up the boat, babe!”

A different man, one I didn’t know, put a bucket in front of me, but my stomach was empty, I had nothing left to bring up. Arrow went to hand me the bottle but when I reached out a shaking hand, he pulled it back and unscrewed the top before placing the cold plastic against my palm.

“Small sips at first. Don’t want to upset your stomach any more than it already is.”

I couldn’t help but groan as the cold liquid slipped down my throat. Closing my eyes, I took deep breaths between my small sips, trying to get my body to stop shaking. With a gasp, I jerked when a blanket was wrapped around me. I looked up to see it was Arrow once more taking care of me.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, ma’am. Everyone on this boat is either a Charon or an Iron Hammer, and we’re all here to keep you protected. I promise, you’re safe now and Nitro will be here soon. Do you need anything else?”

I tried to smile at him as I tucked the blanket in closer around me. “Just Nitro. Thanks again for the water and blanket.”

He nodded with a grim smile before he turned and headed to the rear deck of the boat. I closed my eyes again and focused on my breathing, while my thoughts went right back to what I’d been wondering before. About whether I’d killed a man today.

“Ah, fuck.”

Before I could lift my head, which was suddenly feeling extremely heavy, Nitro had me in his lap, nestled in against his warm body. Forcing my eyes to open, I looked up at his face.

“Did I kill him? I didn’t mean to, I just wanted to get away.”

“Shh, Cin. You did what you had to. You don’t have to worry about him ever again.”

Panic rose up inside me. What was he saying exactly?

“I need to know, Johnny. I need to know if I killed a man, or if he’s still alive.”

He stared into my eyes for a minute before he seemed to understand he wasn’t going to be able to brush off my questions, not about this.

“You didn’t kill him. But he is dead. I’m not giving you anything more than that, and you can’t tell anyone that he’s dead. He needs to just vanish without a trace. Do you understand?”

I nodded my head as I thought over what this meant. A wash of relief filled me. Not only was I not a murderer, I no longer had a stalker either. A small smile tugged at my lips. “So it’s really over? I’m free?”

He grinned and leaned down to press a kiss against my temple. “Yeah, babe. It’s all over. You never have to look over your shoulder for him again.” His expression grew serious again. “Did he hurt you at all? Any wounds that need checking?”

I shook my head. “I got my arms up in time to save my head when he shoved me against the engine. I’ll probably have some bruising to my forearms—oh, and probably some bruising on my stomach where he gut-punched me too. But it’s nothing. I’ve copped worse from crashing out at a derby game.”

Another shudder ran through me and I huddled in closer to his body, needing to be as near to him as I could get. He pulled the bottle from my hands and passed it off somewhere then took my hand between his and turned it over.

“You were cuffed?”

“I woke up on a chair, hands cuffed behind my back and my legs tied with rope.”

His fingers gently rubbed over the scrapes up the side of my hand.

“How’d you get the cuffs off you and onto him? And how did you get down into the engine room to begin with?”

The thick Aussie accent of Nitro’s friend Taz came from behind me.

“I can slip out of cuffs if they’re not put on super tight. Once I had them off, I saw they were the cheap crappy kind that you can push the arms through to reset. So I reset them in case I got the chance to use them. Once I got free I was pacing the hallway trying to think of something I could do. When he slowed the boat, I stumbled into the kitchen and found my phone along with the hatch to below deck. Figuring hiding somewhere other than where he left me was a good start, I went down there. When I saw the engines, I thought if I could stop them from working, the Coast Guard would eventually come looking. It wasn’t the best plan, but it was all I could think of at the time. So I grabbed the screwdriver and wrench and set about pulling off wires and hoses.”

I was sure Taz wanted more details, but I was trying really hard not to think about what happened in that engine room.

“Wait, you can slip free of cuffs? How the fuck do you do that?”

Grateful for something not injury related to focus on, I wriggled my hand out from Nitro’s grip.

“Double jointed thumbs, see.”

I swiveled the joint in and out a couple times before I pulled my hand back under the warmth of the blanket. Nitro’s palm followed and wrapped around mine again.

“Holy shit, that’s some party trick.”

The engine below us came to life, and I jumped before relaxing again. Suddenly everything seemed so hazy and I couldn’t quite hold onto a thought.

“Johnny? Why am I so sleepy?”

What was wrong with me? Had I hit my head earlier? Or was whatever drug Winston had given me still in my system? His arms tightened around me as he pressed another kiss to the top of my head. “You’ve had a big day and are worn out, baby. Go on and close your eyes, I’ve got you. When we get back to Bridgewater, we’ll have a doctor look you over, make sure nothing’s wrong. I’m guessing you’re just crashing after the adrenaline rush, but I want to make sure.”

“Uh huh.”

Pressing my nose against his shirt, I inhaled and caught his scent. He’d taken off his leather vest, but the smell lingered in the fabric of his t-shirt. It was my new favorite scent, and I let myself drift off to sleep. Knowing with one-hundred percent certainty that Nitro would keep me safe while I rested.