Chapter 23

Dane

It’s time for Church; all of the brothers that are in or around Tourmaline are here. It’s unusual, but three nomads have arrived in town: Kade, JJ and Zeke. They are practically a small MC in themselves. One can rarely be found without the other two.

“Prez, we heard Church had been called, so here we are,” Kade speaks for all them. He would make a good President of another Chapter

“Kade, brother, it’s been a while.” I smile and grab his hand.

“Sounds like you’ve got trouble, Prez,” says Kade, while JJ and Zeke nod in agreement.

“It’s Fith. He hasn’t divulged what he’s done, but he’s asked for leniency, which means he’s fucked over the club in some way.” Kade’s eyes widen and I say, “Judge sent through these photos he took of two guys in Pearl; you recognize them?”

Kade shakes his head and hands my phone to JJ, who shakes his head in the negative but Zeke looks at Kade, eyebrows raised. “What?” I growl out.

His eyes move to me. “That’s Guido Lamberti; he’s the enforcer for the Abruzzi Family. He’s a fucking killer, Prez.”

“Fuck.” I sigh. Running my hand through my hair, I say, “Do you know who the other one is?” He shakes his head no. “Let’s go sit down and hear what Fith has to say. Today, you three are allowed to vote.” It’s not normal to let nomads have a say in club business but I might need the votes and they’ve always been loyal to me and Tourmaline.

As we are about to enter the clubhouse, Kat’s Mustang pulls in with three bikes following. I motion for the nomads to go ahead and I go meet Kat.

As she climbs out of the car I grab her and say, “Darlin’, sorry to cut your shopping short. I’ll make it up to you.”

“It’s ok, babe, I can shop any day. So, can you tell me what’s up?”

I shake my head and say, “Maybe later. I need you to go hang at the garage for a bit. I’d appreciate it if you stayed in the Compound, ok?”

“Ok, I can do that, there’s probably a mountain of paperwork to file." She smiles but I can tell she isn’t happy.

“Darlin’, what if when we are finished I ask some of the boys to drop you at your home? That way you can supervise all the rework you have going on there.” Her smile brightens and she nods her head excitedly.

“That would be better! Thank you, babe.” She wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me. I push her up against the car and deepen the kiss and then I hear wolf whistles. I stop, look at her and grin. She is not a piece of ass to show off; she is mine, only mine.

“Go to the garage. Stay there, yes?” It sounds like an order and in true Kat fashion she lets me know she’s not impressed.

“Ok, babe, going to the garage.” She salutes me and walks across the lot. Judge stands there, openly watching her ass and grinning.

I clear my throat and he looks at me. “Prez, she has a nice walk.” His cheeky assed grin grows bigger. I know he’s trying to get a rise out of me and it’s working.

“How about you keep your eyes off her ass, or I’ll have them removed.” I growl at him.

He laughs, walks towards me and says, “Aw, Prez, you have to know I like Kat, but I don’t like Kat. She does have a great ass, though.” I glare at him and he holds up his hands. “I do understand your point and I’ll rein it in.”

I nod and we both head for the clubhouse doors.

I sit at the head of the table and have Jonas to my left, Dirt—my Sergeant at Arms—to my right and next to him is Bear. On the other side, next to Jonas, is Keg and he is our Treasurer/Secretary. Fith sits at the other end of our table. All of the patched in members, nomads and prospects are gathered around the room. Those that can’t sit at the table stand on either side of it, behind a brother.

“You are all here to listen to the wrong that Fith has brought down on the club. I do not know all of his deceit, only that he withheld information regarding a Captain in the Abruzzi crime Family. I have also discovered that Guido Lamberti is in town.”

All eyes go to Fith; he stands and looks around the room. “I’ve been in this club since I was nineteen. I’m the guy you go to whenever you want something done and can’t or won’t do it.” His gaze settles on me. “I am the keeper of many secrets; I know where all the bodies are buried, I know who we’ve fucked with and who we continue to fuck with.”

Dirt stands and says, “Are you fucking threatening us, you motherfucker?” He slams his fist down on the table, spittle spraying from his mouth. His eyes are bulging and the scar that runs from his temple looks like it’s pulsing.

“No, brother, I’m not, I’m explaining that I have been loyal. I’m trying to say I made a mistake. That once it started I didn’t know how to stop it and I couldn’t go back.” Fith’s voice is almost a whisper as he stares at Dirt and if I didn’t know better, I’d say he was hurt. Not likely, I’ve seen him go from killer to best friend too many times to count.

“What have you done?” Dirt asks as he takes his seat again.

The whole clubhouse is quiet. “It wasn’t me who started it. It was Ms. Saunders.” A rumble goes around the room. Ms. Saunders was Kat’s Ma; she owned the depot—Grinders Transport. When she died, she left the depot to me. The club acts as security for the trucks, to make sure they have safe passage, and I pay them for it but the rest of the money earned by the depot belongs to me.

“Explain yourself, Fith. What did Ms. Saunders start?” I ask in an authoritative tone.

“Do you remember when the Sheriff did raids on the clubhouse and the transport company?” I nod. “The day before the raid, Ms. Saunders came and did a clean of the clubhouse with a couple of workers from the depot. She found guns, smack and a DVD in my room.” He looks nervous as he looks at Jonas. “I recorded the interrogation of that guy, and I liked watching it.” Jonas stands up so quickly that his chair flies into the brother who stands behind him and he strides towards Fith. He grabs him by his wifebeater and walks him backwards, straight into a wall.

“You stupid fucking bastard! Where is it? Where the fuck is it?” Jonas is more than angry; I’ve never seen him lose his control like this. Fith has his hands up and isn’t fighting back as Jonas continues to slam him against the wall.

As Dirt stands up and moves to intervene, he shouts, “Jonas, brother, calm down!”

I give Kade a nod, so he, JJ and Zeke move in to help. As Jonas is pried away from Fith, Fith says, “When she died, I found it and destroyed it. It no longer exists! She promised no copies were made and I’ve never been able to find any, so I have to believe it, I have to!”

“Does someone want to tell me what you two are talking about?” I ask in a level tone. The clubhouse goes quiet. Jonas moves back to his chair—still highly agitated—and he stares straight ahead, avoiding all eye contact with me. I continue to stare at him until he slowly moves his head in my direction, but he still avoids my eyes.

“When Ray was killed by the Road Hellions I wanted revenge. Someone had to have tipped them off that he was going to be on his own. I asked Fith to find that person. He did and together we...interrogated him.” His eyes flick to mine and all I can see is a darkness in him that I have never seen before. It explains why he was away so long; he had demons to battle.

I nod and look at Fith. “Ok, so Ms. Saunders found guns, smack and a DVD, so what?” Dirt forcibly helps him back to his seat and then goes back to his.

“You all think Ms. Saunders was this sweet, little, old lady but she wasn’t; you have no idea what she was capable of.”

He stares at me and I shake my head. “Fith, I knew Ms. Saunders. What the fuck are you on about?”

“She used the DVD against me, she blackmailed me into helping her, and she made me keep it from you. From the club. She knew that Jonas didn’t know he was being filmed so I couldn’t tell you!” He looks visibly upset but I can’t believe it. “Dane, she was running guns and using us to keep the shipments safe.  With every Carnival Cigarette shipment, she had a shipment of guns; it was flawless. No one messed with the shipments as we were protecting them and when she died, I expanded her business. It was easy money; there is always demand for illegal guns. I used the contacts she already had and kept it going. It’s easy money, Prez.”

“How much?” I growl.

His eyes bulge out of his head as he replies, “Twenty‐five thousand a week in the beginning but I expanded to the East Coast; she had no dealings there so I’ve nearly doubled the take. I’m up to forty‐eight.”

The room is silent. We do not run anything out of Tourmaline. It is home and off limits. You don’t shit where you eat. We all know this. I cannot comprehend Ms. Saunders running guns but I know that Fith isn’t smart enough to do it alone. At least now I know why Salvatore Agostino and Guido Lamberti are here.

I look around the room and everyone stares at me. “We. Do. Not. Run. Anything. Out of Tourmaline.” I pause between my words, making my point clear. “We all know this. I need time to process this and have a sit down with Salvatore Agostino. Dirt, Jonas, I expect you to sit in on it and if everyone agrees—so that we have some perspective—Kade, JJ and Zeke.” A rumble goes around the room and I look at Bear.

He clears his throat and says, “Agreed!” I smile at him. He knows when to be a good soldier. “Anyone opposed?” he asks and looks around the room. “Good! Prez, how long do you think you’ll need?”

“Give us two hours and then I want you all back here.” They all file out, taking Fith to a backroom. I am left with, Jonas, Keg, Dirt and Rebel.

Keg has always been good with numbers, that’s why he’s the Treasurer as well as Secretary; I look at him and say, “Ms. Saunders has been gone for what, a year and a half? If Fith is telling the truth, how much has he made?”

He looks at me, thinks a moment and says, “One point nine five, minimum.”

“Where the fuck does he have it stashed? That’s a lot of green to have lying around,” I say.

“We could just ask him.” All eyes go to Rebel. “What? The fucker has to know where it is.”

“Rebel is right, we should ask him,” says Jonas.

“We will, but first, you want to share about the...interrogation?”

Suddenly Jonas is agitated, he begins to pace and his gaze is riveted to the floor. I never sanctioned an interrogation. I did sanction retaliation against the Road Hellions; we wiped out thirty of them and they called a truce. They really had no choice; we had greater numbers. I never understood why they took out Ray and only Ray. I look at Jonas and I wonder if he knows. He took Ray’s death harder than the rest of us. He’s my best friend and I know him, but his reaction to Ray’s death and the way he blamed himself, has never sat right with me.

“Someone had to pay for Ray’s death,” Jonas says as he continues to pace, not looking at any of us.

“They did pay, brother, we took out thirty of them, don’t you remember?”

He stops and looks at me. “It was my fault. It should have been me. I was supposed to be there.” He shakes his head. “I had to find out who was behind it. It was a stupid mistake. You asked me to go check on the fucking strip club in Marlow. I didn’t want to do it; I was seeing Addy that night.” I raise my eyebrows at him, I had no idea he’d been seeing Adelynn. “She didn’t want anyone to know and she didn’t want Ben to know unless it was going to be serious. She didn’t want him to become attached and for me to just walk away, which I fucking did after Ray.”

“Brother, are you saying the Road Hellions wanted to take you out, not Ray?” says Dirt.

“Yes, I disrespected their VP on their home turf. I was fucking with him, Prez. I didn’t know who he was and I gave him a beatdown in front of some of their prospects. He wasn’t wearing his cut. The prospects didn’t even try to step in. He was a mouthy motherfucker and he spat on my cut so I fucking taught him a lesson. I didn’t know. I found out after Ray.”

“The order for you to check out Marlow came from me. Who the fuck betrayed us?” I ask. 

“There was hang around, his name was Flick. I used to give him shit about his name. I guess he had enough of me. He was never going to become a prospect; he was a fucking tool. He saw an opportunity to get rid of me and he thought he’d finally become a prospect. He told the Road Hellions where I’d be and that I’d be alone.” He puts his hands on his hips and looks at me. “So, you see, Prez, it was my entire fucking fault. They killed Ray ‘cause they thought it was me. With Fith’s help, I captured a member of their MC and tortured him until he gave up Flick, then I put him and Flick in the fucking ground.” His voice cracks at the end, his eyes are red and I can see his demons.

“Brother, I can see how you’d blame yourself. If you got into a fight with any motherfucker and our prospects were near, what the fuck do you think they’d do? There’s no fucking way that they’d let you get beatdown by a rival MC. The guy, whoever the fuck he was, did not have the respect of his men. You, my brother, do. It’s time to let it go.” He nods and turns around and tries to get himself under control. The room is quiet.

I glance at Dirt, who looks at the ground. He sighs, pulls a chair out and sits down. “Everyone take a fucking seat. That explains the DVD. Now, do we all really believe that Ms. Saunders is capable of what Fith is saying? I, for one, do not.” He slams both hands down on the table and looks around the room.

“She knew people; I always thought that was strange. She knew the leader of the crew in Marlow. I took her shopping over there once, and I couldn’t understand why he was showing her such respect. At the time, she told me he was an old family friend. She told me to leave her and she’d ring me when she was done.

Didn’t make any fucking sense, but it was Ms. Saunders, so I did as she asked. I watched them for a while. They talked for a long time. I should have said something,” says Rebel as he too pulls out a chair and sits down.

“Anyone else have a story to tell?” I ask.

My men all take seats, Jonas back to my left, and Dirt to my right. As they take their seats, Kade wanders in.

“Prez, Agostino is on the lot. Want me to bring him in or make the fucker wait?”

I look at the men seated at the table. “Should we bring him in? Try and sort this fucking mess out?” They all nod and I say to Kade, “Bring him in brother and take a seat with us. Bring your boys too; we could use a different perspective on this.”

He nods and goes to get Agostino.

***

We are all seated around the table, and I’ve put Agostino at the other end, facing me. He’s a powerhouse; you can tell by the way he moves that he can handle himself. Dirt pats him down and finds two guns, and then he willingly gives up a third that Dirt has missed; it’s to show he can be trusted. He doesn’t have my sister with him—I have much to talk to her about—and it angers me that he has kept her from me. He holds my gaze as he arranges himself in the chair.

“So, Reynolds, how did the family reunion go?” 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I growl at him.

“Emily, your sister, is what I’m talking about.” He leans forward.

“I thought you were bringing her with you.”

“She left me over an hour ago and said she was coming here, are you saying you haven’t seen her?” His voice rises as he speaks.

“Emily hasn’t set foot in this Compound; if she had, I would know about it,” I say to him and look at Jonas. “Go find her. Bring her to me no matter what, understood?”

Jonas nods, stands and looks at Agostino. “Where did you last see her?”

“We were in Betties Café. She said she was coming to see Dane. The only other person in town she knows is Adelynn at the motel. Perhaps she went there?”

Jonas nods and taps Rebel on the shoulder as he stands and they both go in search of Emily. I look at Agostino, he looks perplexed, and I raise my eyebrows at him.

“We had a disagreement. I know she wasn’t looking forward to seeing you but why wouldn’t she come here and face you?” Concern was evident in his voice.

“You had a disagreement? What about?” I ask.

“About my businesses, she was...surprised at some of my endeavors.”

I nod at him and look around at my men. “What brings a Captain of the Abruzzi Family all the way out here, by himself?”

“I did not know that you were involved in running guns. I had an agreement with Christina Saunders. She assured me that she would not expand her interests to the East Coast. I should have known that it was the Savage Angels that were in charge, but surely, she told you of our business deal. Surely, after her sit down with Don Dominic, she told you of our bargain. I am here to find out why you would break this deal and potentially declare war with the Abruzzi Family.”

I am shocked, but I keep my face a mask of neutrality. I look at Dirt and thankfully, he has done the same.

The last thing we need is a war with the Abruzzi Family. They do deals with many other rival MCs, not to mention the gangs in rougher neighborhoods across the states. He stares at me and I know I need to answer him but I have no fucking idea what to say. Ms. Saunders ran guns and we stupidly guarded every shipment.  I never once suspected her of anything. She looked like a grandmother and she cooked us muffins for fucks sake. How the hell did she get involved in guns and God knows what else? I need to regroup, I need to talk to Kat to see what she knows and I need some fucking intel on Ms. Saunders.

“Before we start, we need a drink. What will you have?” I do my best to stall.

“Coffee, black, no sugar,” he says as he slouches back into his chair.

I stand up and move further into the clubhouse and Dirt follows. I run my hand through my hair for the umpteenth time today.

“I need you to do a background check on Ms. Saunders. Find me something, fucking anything, and do it quick.”

“You believe him?” asks Dirt.

“I don’t know what the fuck I believe. We have a brother doing deals for over a year and none of us knew. How does that happen? Do the background check, and I’ll go talk to Kat, she has to know something.” I glance at Kade; he stands up and makes his way towards me.

“Kade, I need you to entertain him, make his coffee and keep him busy while I go talk to Kat,” I say.

“Prez, you need to talk to your woman?” He places his hands on his hips, clearly wondering what the fuck I’d need to discuss with my woman. Thankfully, he has the sense not to question me any further.

“It’s a long story Kade, trust me,” I respond with authority and stalk out of the clubhouse.

***

As I walk into the office of the garage, Kat sits on the desk watching TV.

She yells out, “Finally! A girl could starve!” She turns and begins to laugh when she sees me. “Sorry, babe, thought you were Howie, I asked him to bring me the house special.” She leaps off the table and into my arms, and in her best seductive voice that threatens to bring me to my knees, says, “Do you have anything I could...eat, babe?” Damn, the way she licks those lips. I know she’s kidding but my dick doesn’t; it’s rock-hard. I move us into the office and  sit her on the table before quickly locking the door and pulling the blinds.

“Dane! What are you doing? Come on, babe, Howie is—”

“Darlin’, you should not tease me unless you are willing to keep up your end of the bargain.”

I spread her legs and position myself between them. I cup her face and kiss her deeply. She responds to me, as she always does. Kat wraps her legs around me and as I move one of my hands to her breast and rub my thumb over her nipple, she moans into my mouth. I trail kisses from her mouth and slowly travel to the hollow of her neck. I drop to my knees and am in front of her jean‐clad core. My hand travels the inside of her thigh until I reach her center, and she responds to my thumb as I caress her.

“Darlin’, from now on, unless you are on the back of a bike, could you please wear dresses or skirts?”

She giggles. “Honey, if you are willing, I could have these off in the blink of an eye!”

“No, you have Howie coming and I need to ask you some questions about your Ma.”

She grabs me by the ears and pulls me up. “What do you want to know about her? And, baby, you owe me after that!” She laughs again and kisses me.

I wrap my arms around her. “Dresses or skirts, or no fun for you,” I tease.

She laughs, slaps my chest and says, “You do not tell me what to wear! And I was nice to you in front of the boys but I do not like being told to stay here!” She smiles but she’s letting me know she doesn’t appreciate my overprotectiveness.

“Darlin’, I will always try to keep you safe and believe me, keeping you here and knowing that you are safe is more for me than you.”

I place my forehead to hers and she kisses me. “I know that you mean well, but I am a capable woman. Just ‘cause I got kidnapped once doesn’t mean it will happen again.” Then she bursts into laughter and I do the same.

“Thank you for following my lead outside when you got home. Darlin’, how much did you know about your Ma’s business interests?”

“Nothing, I didn’t even know she’d bought Grinders Transport, remember?” She has a puzzled look on her face.

I place my hands on her shoulders and ask, “Do you know of anyone who would?”

“Dave. He handled just about everything in my life, so he would know about Ma. He runs background checks on everyone, probably did one on you too.” She winks and smiles at me.

“Dave, I should have fucking known.” Dave is Kat’s manager. We are still getting to know each other but I keep his princess happy, so for now, he likes me. “Darlin’, do you have his number? I have a few questions for him about Grinders.”

“Yep, I do, baby. It’s in my phone, which is in my handbag, which is in the other room. But...” She draws this out.

“But, what?” I ask.

“But, you owe me,” she says as she lets her hands travel down my body and grab onto the front of my jeans.

“Darlin’, I promise to do whatever you’d like, and I mean whatever you’d like, later at home—in our bed.

But right now I have club business to attend to.” I bend and kiss her neck.

“Whatever I like?” she asks, her eyes filled with lust. “I want you to go down on me and make me scream your name, then, baby, I want you to fuck me hard and then I want to do it all over again.” She smiles at me and my dick strains to be let out of my jeans.

“Fuck, Kat, you make it hard on a man. I want you right now.”

“I could give you a blow job, babe, if you want?”

I raise my eyebrows at her and I’m about to say yes when I hear, “Hello? Is anyone here?” It’s Howie from the café.

Kat laughs, pushes me away then goes and opens the door. I readjust myself and try to think of something besides her mouth around my cock. I turn around and Howie’s looking at Kat as though the sun rises and sets with her.

“Howie.” I nod at him and put my arm around Kat’s waist, pulling her into me. “How’s it going?”

“Good thanks, Mr. Reynolds. I was dropping off Kat’s food,” he explains to me as he stares at my woman.

“Yeah, I can see that, how much do I owe you?”

“Oh, it’s on the house Mr. Reynolds, Kat Saunders doesn’t pay at Betties.”

“Howie! How many times have I told you that you have to charge me! If you don’t, I’ll stop coming! Now, how much do I owe you?” She practically screeches at him. Howie shakes his head but he has a huge smile on his face. “I mean it, Howie! I’ll stop coming!”

“Alright, Kat, next time I promise I’ll charge you,”

“Howie, I have a witness, Dane will kick your butt if you don’t start charging me!” Kat playfully teases him. I smile and shake my head at her antics.

“Yes, Kat, I’m sure he will.” As he turns to leave, she slides out of my arms, grabs his upper arm and kisses him on his cheek.

He goes bright red and trips out the doorway on his way back to the café. “Darlin’, you made that boy’s day.”

“He’s sweet but it’s not his day I want to make.” She smiles at me seductively and licks her lips.

“Fuck me. Woman, give me Dave’s phone number and prepare to be fucked hard tonight. In the meantime, keep away from me or I’ll be using that pretty little mouth of yours in the backroom.”

She laughs and nods as she moves towards her handbag. “I’ll send it to you. Now, go before I take advantage of you.”

I give my woman a look and I have an internal battle raging; I need to have this sorted but my dick wants some attention. I’m moving towards her when I see Jonas walking across the Compound. I go to the front door and whistle. He changes direction and heads towards me.

“Prez, she’s nowhere. I have Rebel going through every storefront but we can’t find her; Emily is gone.”

“How can she be gone? Did she buy a ticket and bus it out of town? Where the fuck did she go?” I ask.

“We checked the bus station and no one matching her description left town today. Martha said there were no strangers, just locals. You know how nosy she can be. You need to confront Agostino; he was the last person that we know of that saw her,” he says with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Who is Emily?” There is more than a hint of frost in Kat’s voice. I’ve never seen my woman jealous before; I think I like it.

“She’s my sister, I’ve mentioned her.”

I watch her face as a red blush makes its way up her neck. “Your sister is here? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Darlin’, got a lot going on and I promise tonight we will go over things but right now I need you to stay here. Can you do that for me?” I make it a question but I don’t intend to give her a choice.

“Yes.” She moves towards me and wraps her arms around my waist. “You are going to be really busy tonight, and I’ll stay here.” I kiss the top of her head and move outside with Jonas.

“Brother, that woman is going to be the fucking death of me.” He grins at me, knowing what I mean. “Tell me what you know about Emily’s whereabouts.”

“Agostino is right; they were in Betties Café and then nothing. She left, he had a meal, he left and that’s it. No one has seen her since.”

“This day gets fucking worse. I need you to wait out here with me, my brother, while I call Dave.

According to Kat, he does background checks on everyone, so if anyone knows fucking anything it will be him.”

He nods and I check my messages and see the one Kat sent. I call Dave and he answers on the third ring.

“Dane! How are you? Is my princess alright?”

“How did you know it was me?” I ask.

“Dane, my boy, I have all of your numbers in my phone. Is everything ok?” He repeats himself.

“Your princess is fine. But I have a bit of a situation and I was wondering if you could help me with some information.”

“Dane, my boy, what’s my motto? Public perception is the most important thing and Dave can spin anything! So, hit me with it!” he says flamboyantly.

“It’s not that kind of thing, Dave. I need to know about Kat’s Ma, Ms. Saunders. What do you know about her?” I say. The line goes quiet and I say, “Dave, man, you there?”

“I’m here.” His voice has gone serious; there isn’t a trace of humor. “What has she done? What have you found out? Is Kat in any danger?”

“Dave, why would you think Kat is in danger?”

“Her...mother was an interesting person. I assumed because she was involved with you and your...club, that you must have known what she was like.” There is disdain in his voice.

“Dave, I’m about to come clean with you now and I need you to keep it to yourself. Do. You. Get. Me?” I pause between every word, letting him know how serious this situation is.

“Of course. I am, after all, a professional.”

“Yeah, right. I have only just discovered that Ms. Saunders was into some things that I do not wish to go into over the phone—we never know who’s listening. It’s come to my attention that an associate was helping her and that another,” I pause, searching for the right word, “club but of a different nature is involved. Can you give me anything?”

“I have a file; I’ll send it to your personal account at the clubhouse,” Dave says. “Do you need me to give you the address?”

“No need, I have a file on you too. I’m sending it now and I’m coming out. I’m bringing Truth with me. He’s been having some...issues and I need to keep an eye on him. So, my boy, do you have room for us or do I book The Country Inn?”

“There is no fucking need for you to come out, Dave, Kat is safe.”

“Need to see it for myself and it’s been weeks since I’ve seen her. It’ll be fun.”

“Dave, I know you talk to her every‐fucking‐day on the phone,” I say.

“Fine. Be that way. I’ve sent the file.” He clicks off. Great, I’ve upset Kat’s surrogate father.

I’m standing and scowling at my phone when Jonas asks, “I take it that went well?”

“He’s sending me a file on Ms. Saunders to my computer at the clubhouse. Go see what it says. I’ll deal with Agostino and find out about my sister.” I look at Jonas. “What a fucking day!” I growl.

A scream is heard coming from the garage and we both turn to run towards it as Kat races out and launches herself at me, wrapping her legs around my waist.

“Thank you, baby!” she screams with way too much enthusiasm.

“What the fuck, Kat?” I bellow.

She kisses me on the lips and all over my face, saying repeatedly, “Thank you, thank you, thank you! Dave phoned and said he and Truth are on their way out! I love you!” With those three words, I would do anything for her, including putting up with her surrogate overprotective father and Truth, her lead guitarist.

I sigh and put her on the ground. “You know your family is welcome in our home anytime.”

“Thank you! Ok, I’m back in the garage; you go do whatever it is you’re doing.” She kisses me again and has the biggest smile on her lips as she goes back inside.

“Well, Dave is a fucker isn’t he? Totally went around you to so he could come out here.” Jonas laughs and as I look at him I start, too. There we are, laughing in the lot, when Rebel appears before us.

“Did you find her?” asks Rebel. We both stop our laughter and look at him. Jonas shakes his head as he wipes tears from his eyes. Rebel looks puzzled at our antics but he says, “She’s nowhere. She left the café then...” He does inverted commas with his hands and says, “poof, she’s gone.”

“Let’s go see what Salvatore Agostino has to say about her disappearing. Then we need to talk about Fith.

What a fucking day.” We all head for the clubhouse.