Chapter Four
Look at the moon with me? Christ. Where the fuck had that come from? He was in deep shit here, but the desire to possess this beautiful girl with the short, dark hair and big, blue eyes was overpowering. He hadn’t felt this way in so fucking long.
“Wow. It’s really gorgeous, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Truthfully, he didn’t give two shits about the fucking moon, full or otherwise. He only cared about being with Kayla. He should be inside. The music was loud, even out back. The club would be open soon and Gorgon would be looking for him. But a force he didn’t understand compelled him to take Kayla’s hand, lead her further away from the club, and toward the woods.
The land they occupied was over three hundred acres. They’d recently beefed up the security on the perimeter after Chloe’s ex-boyfriend had gained entry so easily. It was the first time they’d had to worry about such bullshit. There was now a fence around the perimeter, including the back entrance through the woods, as well as heavy gates across the driveways that were closed and locked on days the club wasn’t open.
Two Brothers or prospects guarded the area where they parked their bikes at all times, and ever since Brad had broken in, two others patrolled the perimeter. But none of them were armed out here on guard duty. Maybe they needed to rethink that?
Mastema felt sick to realize how far on the defensive all this bullshit with Brad, rival Mob bosses, and those damn Outlaw Dogs had put them. Not once in all the years this building had been here had they been forced to worry this much about trespassers. And the property had never been entirely fenced-in as it now was.
As they passed the area where they kept their bikes and other vehicles, Mastema waved to the two prospects on guard duty back there tonight, John Sturbaum and Mark Laddie.
“Bright moon tonight,” said Mark.
“Yeah.”
“It’s so big,” said John, eying Kayla’s tits. Fucking creep. The moon is up there, asshole!
Mark took a long drag on his cigarette, and Mastema tried not to inhale the smell. God, he missed smoking. “You want one?” asked Mark, smirking.
“Fuck you. You know I quit.”
“Yeah, but you look like you want one.”
“Go to hell.” He walked faster, leading Kayla further away from the two, but stopped when he heard a sound he swore was metal on metal.
She frowned up at him. “What was—”
“Shh!” He listened again, tilting his head slightly to try to identify it.
John and Mark must have heard it, too, because the pair were suddenly behind him and Kayla. Mastema turned toward them, addressing Mark in a whisper. “Take her inside and get Gorgon and Tannin. Now.”
Her eyes grew wide with fear. “It’s all right,” he said, gently. “Go.”
Once they were gone, he motioned for John to follow him. The sound was more rhythmic now, and he heard low voices as well. Two distinct ones. Whoever they were, they were at the back of the lot. Before Mastema and John disappeared completely into the woods, Tannin and Gorgon were right behind them, and both men held rifles. Tannin handed Mastema and John each a large flashlight.
“Sad fucking day when we have to break out the weapons,” said Tannin.
“What the fuck is that sound?” asked Mastema.
Gorgon swore under his breath. “Sounds like fucking wire cutters to me.”
“Son of a bitch!” hissed Tannin.
The four took off running through the woods, but when they reached the fence, no one was there. Mastema shone his flashlight slowly along the chain link, and they all spotted the cut diamonds, in an area obscured by heavy brush. “You were right. They tried to use wire cutters to get through.”
“Which means it had to be someone who knew this path is here,” said Gorgon. He addressed John. “Did you or Mark hear anything before Mastema and Kayla came outside?”
“No. Not a damn thing.”
“We’d better check the entire perimeter,” said Tannin. “Who’s on patrol tonight?”
“Gene and Dominic,” said Gorgon. Those were the two men who worked for Donny that had been living at the club ever since Brad broke in.
“Good,” he said, pointing toward his left. “Mastema will go with Tannin in this direction. John and I will go right.”
“The gates across the front driveways are open now,” said Tannin. “What if whoever tried to cut their way in simply goes out front?”
“Why didn’t they wait and do that in the first place?” asked Mastema. “Why sneak back here and try to cut their way in? Seems like a lot of fucking work.”
The four looked at each other while those questions sank in.
“No fucking clue,” said Tannin, “other than they didn’t want to be seen out front, and maybe figured no one would be back here once the club was open.”
Mastema still didn’t buy that excuse, but it was all they had right now.
“Let’s go,” said Gorgon. “If they’re still on the property, they’d better pray we find them before Gene or Dominic do.”
Tannin texted Gene and Dominic as he and Mastema walked their half of the perimeter, so they would know what had happened. They texted back that they were both out front, but there were a lot of people around already, so it was impossible to say whether the men were there. Tannin told them to stay put for now.
“How the fuck did they know where this path was?” asked Tannin.
“Don’t know, but if I was a betting man, I’d say someone who used to live here told them. What do you think?”
“Fuck. Tarot?”
“Either her, Todd Grainger or Mike Wellington. Howler told us all three went to the Outlaw Dogs after we kicked them out.”
“Fucking son of a bitch. Maybe we need to electrify the fucking fence?”
Mastema snorted. “Not a bad idea. We could always install floodlights. That would help deter them if they try again.”
“I hate this shit. All these years we’ve been just fine here, and now we have to secure the place like it’s a fucking fortress.”
“Do you think Gorgon will want the cops involved?”
“I doubt it,” said Tannin. “But we should let Donny know. Maybe he could dig up some names for us through his connections.”
The four met up at the front of the property. No one had seen a thing.
“There’s nothing more we can do tonight,” said Gorgon. “We’ll have church Sunday morning to discuss our next moves.”
“You mean like busting heads at the Last Stop Saloon?” asked Mastema. “Specifically, the two pieces of shit we kicked out of the MC?”
“Don’t forget about Tarot,” said Tannin. “She went there, too. No way did whoever tried to cut their way in know about that path unless someone told them. Hell. The people who live on that road don’t know about the fucking path.”
It was gospel truth. The closest home to that side of the property belonged to a man who farmed the land around his house for half a mile in each direction, and the only contact they had with him was to nod or wave if he happened to be outside when they rode past.
But why had those men come here tonight? What had they hoped to accomplish? Roughly fifty people lived here. Did they really think they could get inside the fence and not be detected, simply because the club was open?
Or, had they planned on taking out John and Mark once they were inside the fence, believing no one would notice because of the noise inside the club? Was that why they hadn’t tried this in the middle of the night? They knew the club was open, and wanted to use that as a distraction?
Something was definitely hinky.
John returned to his post, and Gorgon stayed to talk to Gene and Dominic. Tannin and Mastema went back inside, entering the building through the back. “Where the hell is Mark?” asked Mastema, glancing toward where John had resumed his guard post, alone. “I assumed he’d come back outside as soon as he got Kayla safely indoors.”
Tannin grinned. “Claiming her already?”
“Yeah. Right.” Tannin had claimed Rai as his own the night she first came here. Maybe that’s what Mastema should do? What the fuck was holding him back? He’d been obsessed with her for three weeks now.
Inside the back hallway, Mark stood next to Kayla, one hand on the wall above her head, with barely two inches between them. She was laughing at something he’d said when Tannin and Mastema walked into the back hallway.
“Why the fuck aren’t you back outside yet?” asked Mastema. “John’s alone on the back lot.”
The stupid grin on Mark’s face faded quickly. “Sorry, man.” He gave Kayla a longing look as he ran out the door. Mastema glanced toward her and couldn’t help smiling at the look of relief on her face.
“Time to get to work,” said Tannin, eyeing them both with a knowing look in his eyes.
“Yeah. Be there in a minute.” As soon as Tannin was gone, Mastema pulled Kayla into the kitchen, and was grateful to see it was empty.
“Was he bothering you?”
“Not overly so. He’s a bit persistent, though. Kept trying to talk me into practicing my act for him.”
Son of a bitch. “You gonna?” Fucking A. Why the fuck had he said that?
She frowned, and the hurt in her eyes wasn’t fake. “No. Why? Do you think I should?”
The jealousy coursing through him overcame his common sense. “You’re free to fuck whoever you want to.”
“Well all right then. Good to know.” She turned around and left the kitchen. He followed her, but when she climbed the stairs, he didn’t go after her. Duty called, plus he was confused by his reaction. Why the fuck couldn’t he tell her he only wanted her to fuck him?
As Mastema made his way into the club, the scene he and Tannin had come upon in the back hallway looped in his mind, over and over. It was far too similar to a time in sixth grade that had left him feeling much the same way he did now.
A girl named Lacey, whom he’d crushed on all year, had finally agreed to go out with him. Only two days before their date, Mastema turned a corner in the hallway at school, and stopped to stare in disbelief as Nick Arrington kissed his Lacey, tongue and all, right there in front of everyone walking by. And she kissed him back. Mastema never went out with her, and Lacey never bothered to ask why he’d called off their date.
Fuck it. He went into the club and took his place on stage duty, but his concentration was shit. It’s not like he fucking owned Kayla, any more than he had owned Lacey. The only woman who had been his from day one was Tina. God, how he missed her. At times like this, the pain was still so raw.
At times like this, he wondered if it would ever completely leave him, or if he’d ever find another woman who loved him as much as she had. Then again, after the way he’d treated Kayla just now, he might never find out if she was that woman.
Fucking idiot. He’d blown it, all because he couldn’t control his fucking jealousy.