Chapter 13

Jonas

I follow Emily from the Compound to Doc Jordan’s, then Betties Café, then the motel. Now she sits in Betties, hand in hand, with the Italian that came to the Compound and asked questions about Ms. Saunders and Grinders Transport.

Is she playing us? Do they have an agenda? What is the real reason they are in Tourmaline? All these questions flood my mind. I know one thing for sure—Dane will want to know. I wasn’t lying when I said I had to go out there today, so I’d best be on my way. Our President of the MC, Dane, was shot six weeks ago and his woman has kept him hostage at his home, recuperating. I know he’s had enough and I organized for his woman Kat, to go shopping today.

I stand and watch the two of them in the café for a moment longer then head back to the Compound. I am supposed to be taking Dane for a ride to The Gorge so he can blow out some cobwebs. Then I was going to bring him back to the garage and finally to the depot, to make sure he’s happy with the way things are running. The club owns the garage but Dane owns the depot. We get a cut from it though, for doing ride alongs to ensure the freight isn’t stolen or tampered with. Dane also employs a heap of us at the depot so it’s to everyone’s advantage to make sure it’s running at a profit.

When I arrive back at the Compound, I see Fith and he walks towards me. He nods with determination as he keeps coming. He’s a big guy who is loyal to the MC. If Dane told him to slit my throat, he’d have no problem doing it. The sick thing is, he’d do it with a smile on his face and not think twice about it. There’s something in his eyes that goes from light to dark in an instant, almost as if evil waits behind them.

“Hey, VP, what gives?” he asks.

“You were here earlier when that Italian paid us a visit, weren’t you?” I ask.

“Yeah, man, I was.”

“I followed Emily and she went straight to him.”

He raises his eyebrows and says, “What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing for now; just keep an eye on them. They are at Betties and Fith do not provoke him. I need to talk to the Prez. It is his sister after all.”

He nods at me and says, “What if I go and order something to eat at Betties? It’s a small town and I eat there all the time so it wouldn’t be unusual.”

“Alright but remember whose sister she is, yeah? No confrontations. You understand?” I like Fith but you really have to spell things out.

“You got it, VP. On my way.” He smiles at me then heads towards town. I watch him go and hope he’ll follow orders.

I head for my bike. The ride out to Dane’s won’t take long; it’s a nice ride though.

I pull into his drive, turn off my bike and walk towards the front door of his house, only to find him walking towards me.

I call out, “Hey, hey, Prez! Where are you off to?”

“Oh, Jonas, thank God it’s you. Did you arrange for Kat to go shopping? ‘Cause if you did I owe you a fucking solid, man!”

“Had enough of Madam President, Prez?” I tease him.

“Real fucking funny! She won’t let me do anything, and if I have to spend another day in this house, cooped up without a fucking thing to do, I might fucking kill someone!”

I laugh. “I had Rebel get your bike ready. Wanna hit The Gorge?”

“Fuck yes!” He claps me on the shoulder and practically skips across the courtyard.

“Do you want me to call her, tell her where you are?” I try to make it sound like an innocent question, but I can’t help it: I laugh.

“Everyone’s a fucking comedian! Let’s go!”

“Wait, Prez, there’s something I wanted to tell you about. A guy came into the clubhouse yesterday, an Italian, and he started asking questions about Ms. Saunders and the depot. I followed him, saw he went back to the motel where he got a visitor.”

“A visitor? Well, who the fuck was it?” Dane turns on his ride, a smile spreading across his face.

“Emily.”

The smile freezes in place and he looks into my eyes. Then he kills the engine and says, “What the fuck is my sister doing in town? And what the fuck is she doing with an Italian who’s asking questions about Ms. Saunders?”

I shrug. “Guess we’ll find out soon enough. She turned up at the Compound yesterday, all busted up. Said she’d been in a car accident and we did tow her car back. It was about 170 miles out of town. Had Luke bring it back.”

“Why wasn’t I told?” His voice has gone steely and his eyes blaze with anger.

“Prez, she said she wanted to surprise you. Your dad passed. She said she wanted to tell you. I took her to Doc Jordan and he gave her something for the pain then she passed out in my arms on Main Street. I know I should have told you earlier. That’s on me.”

“Fuck, Jonas. You should have told me. Where is she now? Do you have anyone following her?” he growls at me.

“When I left town she was at Betties with the guy. I asked Fith to keep an eye on them,” I say.

“Ok. Let’s go into town and see what gives.” He looks at his bike and goes to turn it on but stops and says, “My dad passed? He’s been sick a long time and she’s looked after him through all of it. Did she talk about any of it? Did she ask about me?”

“Not really, Prez. I was just surprised she hadn’t told you that she was coming. I believed her story. She said your dad had died and she got in her car and headed here. On the way, she swerved to miss an animal and ran into a tree. She said a stranger stopped to pick her up and he just happened to be headed here too.” He looks at me questioningly. “Dane, I know how it sounds, I know. But I believed her. She’s either a really good liar or it’s happened the way she said.”

“A stranger, who just happens to be headed here and just happens to want to know about our business. Not fucking likely, man. Come on, let’s go into town.”

I feel like I’ve let him down, like I’ve been played. I didn’t become VP by being nice or being lied to by a pretty fucking face. If she’s done that, she’ll regret coming here—sister or not.