by Blue, Jayne
We took our positions. Brax would go first and kick the damn door down if it came to that. Kellan and I went to the back of the car. Colt held up a finger and pointed to the prospects.
Mac brought the manager up. He was shaking, fumbling with his keys. That’s when I heard a thump coming from the trunk of the car.
“Jesus!” I shouted. “Toby!”
I heard a muffled cry. I tried the lock on the trunk. It wouldn’t open.
Brax was already in motion. He took the butt of his Nine and smashed the front window on the car. He hit the latch, popping the trunk.
God. Tara. She was lying on her side, her head crusted with blood. She squinted as the light hit her.
“Baby?” My knees damn near gave out as I reached in to help her out. She clung to me, feeling both fragile and tough as steel all at once.
“Toby,” she gasped, her voice ragged.
“I got you. Where is he, baby? God. Where is he?”
I held her against me. She got her feet under her. She was wobbly. Her eyes went in and out of focus.
“He …” she said. “Where …”
It took a moment. I could almost see the fog lifting from her eyes. She got her bearings and took in her surroundings.
She pulled away from me, tried to run forward. I kept an arm around her.
“Toby!” she called out.
“Shh, baby, shh. Tell me.”
With desperation in her eyes, she looked up at me. “He was there,” she said. “In the room. Twomey threw me in the trunk.”
“How many?” I asked.
“I only saw Twomey,” she said.
“We’re going in,” I said to Colt. He nodded. “Joker,” she gasped.
I guided Tara to Torch. With a look, he got my meaning. Vote or no vote, Tara was under club protection now.
“Stay back,” I said to her. Tears fell from her swollen eyes, but she nodded her understanding.
E.J. thrust the manager forward. With quaking fingers, he handed me a single key card. Colt, Kellan, and Brax covered me as I swiped the card and burst through the door.
He was there. Whole. Sleeping on his side on the bed amidst a mound of unopened candy bars. His favorite cartoon was playing on the television.
There was a note beside him on the bed. In a scrawling hand, it read, “Next time, this will be permanent.”
I picked up the note and crumpled it in my fist.
“Buddy?” I said as the others moved in and checked the closet and bathroom. A quick nod from Colt and I knew the room was clear.
My heart shattered and reformed as my small son stirred on the bed. Bleary-eyed, he looked up at me.
“Daddy?” he asked. “What took you tho long?”
* * *
Gavin Kimball fell to his knees when he saw his daughter safe and mostly in one piece. I wanted to punch him again. But I also understood how he felt. No matter what else had happened, Tara was his kid like Toby was mine.
Tara refused to go to the hospital. She wanted to stay with Toby. He seemed pretty attached to her too.
“The cops will be here any second,” Colt said. “You wanna be here when they come?”
It was a rhetorical question. We all lit out. I kept Tara on one side of me and Toby on the other.
We drove back to the club. Amy was there waiting. She did her best to clean Tara’s wound. She started to get through to her that she needed to be checked out.
“Later,” she said. “I just …”
She didn’t have to finish. I knew what she meant. She hadn’t stopped touching me. I didn’t want to let her.
For his part, Toby was fine. He’d been scared, but Tara’s presence calmed him. She’d told him everything would be okay and in his mind, she’d seen that it was.
God, I loved this woman. I didn’t care who her father was and what he’d done. I made a promise to myself that day that I’d never let her go again. When things died down, I meant to tell her.
While Amy looked after Toby, we filed into the meeting room. Kimball took a seat in the corner. Tara stayed with me. This was club business, but it involved her too.
Her father was a broken man. I could see it in his eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” he sobbed. “I tried to keep it from you.”
“Dad,” she said. “It was never going to stay away from me. Not from the minute you decided to live in Lincolnshire.”
“What was the deal?” Colt asked.
Kimball nodded. “Access. A long time ago the Hawks helped me bring down the Iron Renegades when I was undercover for the feds. They said someday they’d collect. It had been decades. I got too comfortable. They were watching me the whole time. When they caught wind that Tara was stepping out with a member of the G.W.M.C., they saw their in.”
“What about Chief Davis?” Colt asked.
Kimball looked confused. “I never had any dealings with him personally. But I’ve heard rumors he’s on the Hawks’ payroll.”
“They’re not rumors,” I said.
Kimball shrugged. “The Hawks see Lincolnshire as prime real estate. If they’re looking to move you out, it makes sense they’d start messing with your business and personal interests here any way they can.”
“This was a message,” Colt said. He held the crumpled note I’d found on the bed beside Toby.
“They knew Toby’s schedule through me,” Tara said. “All of our private conversations at my house. Joker, they were listening.”
“Christy’s part of that too,” I said.
“I’m so sorry,” Kimball said. “I thought giving them just that little bit of access would protect you. Not the other way around. Clubs don’t go after civilians. Family.”
“The Hawks are trying to change the rules,” I said. I caught Colt’s eye.
“Tara,” I said. “Baby. I need you to go be with Toby for a few minutes.”
“Joker …”
“It’s okay,” Kimball said. There was finality in his voice. He knew. He’d infiltrated one of the worst clubs in the country at the peak of their power. He knew how this had to go down.
I kissed her. “It’s okay. I’ll only be a minute.” I wanted to tell her that after that, I would never leave her side again if I could help it.
I watched her go, heartened by how steady she was now.
When the door shut, I turned back to Kimball. “The Hawks tried to send a message. So now it’s time to send back a stronger one. Everything you know about Sal Twomey. Now.”
Kimball clenched his jaw. It was all the answer I needed. Of course he’d have what I wanted. Kimball might be a lost cause, but there’s no way he’d have gotten into bed with Sal Twomey without checking him all the way out.
Kimball let out a sigh. “Give me a pen and paper.”
Then Kimball wrote down an address. One look from my prez and I knew there was no need for a club vote.
There was only one way this would go down.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Gavin Kimball’s intel on Sal Twomey had an expiration date that grew closer by the hour. In fact, we knew it might be shit to us already.
The plan was set. Brax hated it. It was my idea. Colt arranged a sit-down with Juice Jenkins, the Hawks’ prez. He agreed to it.
Torch and I would handle the second part of the plan alone. That’s the part that had Brax up in arms.
“You need to leave this to me,” I said as we mounted up outside the Den. “It was my kid he went after. My woman. I know I don’t have to tell you what that feels like.”
Of course he didn’t.
Torch and I watched as Colt, Kellan, Brax, and two of the prospects headed north toward Detroit. There was a damn good chance one of them would earn their full patch after today.
“We good?” I said to Torch as soon as Colt’s crew rode out of sight.
“We’re good,” he said. “As long as you keep your promise. I don’t wanna be the one to have to ride back here alone and tell Toby his dad’s not coming back. You shoul
d have let E.J. and me do this.”
I slid my sunglasses up my nose. “No. This has to be me or everything I’ve ever wanted for Toby won’t matter.”
Torch clenched his jaw, but didn’t argue any further.
Tate drove up in the van. He had Gavin Kimball in the front seat. He’d act as decoy and I figured there was a fifty-fifty chance he wouldn’t come back alive from this either.
Kimball gave us Twomey’s address about six miles outside of Detroit. He called in a favor with local law enforcement and made sure he was home alone. Torch and I did our own recon anyway. He was there though. His Harley was parked right out front. He lived in a shitty little bungalow on a country road. Wide open. It was almost too easy and that’s what had my back up.
E.J. went around back. One quick whistle from him and I knew we were clear.
I nodded to Kimball. He pulled the van up behind Twomey’s bike and laid on the horn.
Twomey came to the door, cussing. He swayed on his feet.
“Jesus,” Torch said. “The idiot’s hammered.”
He was wearing his cut though. I checked my phone for the time. I got a text from Kellan.
“The call went out,” I said to Torch. It meant Twomey’s prez had already summoned him. Only he wouldn’t be making church today.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Twomey said, recognizing Kimball. We’d parked our bikes two blocks away. As soon as Twomey stepped off his porch, Torch and I lit out from behind the van, guns drawn.
“The fuck?” Twomey said. “Deke! Deke!”
For a split second, I thought Kimball had lied. Then E.J. came around the side of the house, dragging a Devil’s Hawk probie with him, holding a gun to his head.
“Deke’s kinda busy right now,” E.J. said. He gave me a nod.
Twomey’s eyes widened as he recognized me. “You son of a bitch,” he said to Kimball. “You’re a dead man.”
“No,” Kimball said. “I say my debt is paid in full.”
Torch and I moved in. “Put your hands where I can see ’em, asshole,” I said.
Twomey did as he was told. I had about four inches and twenty pounds on the shitbag. Torch kept him in his sights while I curled a fist and slammed it into Twomey’s jaw.
Rage poured through me. For Toby. For Tara. For me.
I left him bloodied. He spit out two teeth and staggered back up the porch. I had him by the jacket, kicked open his front door and took him inside.
“You have no idea what you’re stepping in,” he said.
“You went after my kid,” I said. “You wanna tell me your prez sanctioned that?”
That’s what Colt went to find out. My orders were to wait here with Twomey until I heard from him. I shoved Twomey into the worn leather recliner in his cluttered living room. Torch guarded the front door.
I looked out the window. E.J. had Deke tied up and he threw him into the back of the van. Then he came inside and did a quick sweep of the rest of the tiny house.
“You’re good,” he called out.
“Good,” I said. “Go wait with Kimball.” He’d given us solid intel so far, but that didn’t mean I trusted him.
“If you kill me, you’re going to bring down a world of hurt onto the G.W.M.C. You have no idea …”
“Lemme guess,” I said. “Chief Davis is your guy on the inside. Is that the play?”
Twomey swallowed. His eyes widened just a little.
“He’s using you,” I said. “You fed him the intel you got from Kimball and Tara. He sends his goon cops out to plant your dope on me. And you think it’s gonna just get worse from there.”
Twomey just smiled. “Worked pretty good from where I sit.”
The only thing that didn’t track was Twomey himself. He’d made no attempt to hide that he was a patched member of the Devil’s Hawks. It meant either they wanted us to know they were behind everything or that Twomey really was the dumbest shit I’d ever laid eyes on.
“Your days are numbered in Lincolnshire, man. You know how easy it was to get to you? Your club is weak. Ripe for the taking.”
“Joker,” Torch said. He put a hand on my shoulder. I was itching to tune this asshole up even harder. He had an angry purple welt forming under his left eye. His lips were bloodied and swollen. He kept spitting blood where I’d knocked his teeth out.
I rose. Twomey flinched. I took a step toward him, then my phone rang.
It was Colt.
I froze where I stood and answered, slowly raising the phone to my ear.
“Yeah,” I said.
“They’re cutting him loose,” Colt said. “Hawks’ prez swears they didn’t endorse any of the shit Twomey pulled against you. He’s claiming it was some personal vendetta. Twomey’s cousin was a member of the Iron Renegades and got life when everything shook out from Gavin Kimball’s takedown of them years ago.”
I turned away from Twomey, leaving Torch to keep an eye on him. I saw myself in the mirrored doors of Twomey’s hall closet.
I almost didn’t recognize myself. Hard. Mean. I took a steadying breath.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked.
“Jenkins has sworn they’re going to burn Twomey’s patch,” he answered. “With Tara’s testimony, he’ll go down for assault with a deadly weapon, maybe attempted murder. Kidnapping. Child endangerment. He’ll get life. And he’ll have no protection on the inside with his patch burned.”
“You trust Lincolnshire criminal justice system to abide by all of that? Come on, Colt. We’re fighting a new war already and you know it, man.”
He did. We all did. But was I willing to commit murder myself to get my revenge?
Twomey’s phone rang. Colt could hear it on his end.
“Let him answer,” Colt said. “That’ll be Jenkins. I’m standing right next to him. I’ll hear every word he says. He’s gonna deliver the bad news.”
I turned to Twomey. “Answer it.”
He did.
I watched his face go through six different shades of purple, then stark white as his prez delivered a different kind of death sentence.
God, it felt good to see.
Then something changed. Twomey went rigid. He switched his phone from one hand to the other. It happened in slow motion for a split second. Then sped up to what seemed like double time.
He slipped his hand down the side of the recliner. I saw a flash of black.
Instinct kicked in. Torch shouted.
Twomey pointed the barrel of a Nine at me. I saw the flash of fire as he pulled the trigger. God, he was fast.
But I was faster.
My bullet penetrated his skull just above his forehead. He whipped backward, jerked once, then slumped lifeless to the side.
Torch went down on one knee, gun drawn, ready to take the next shot.
E.J. and Kimball ran in.
But it was all over. Twomey’s life drained out of him as he slid off the chair and crumpled to the ground.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tara
Two Months Later
His hands were rough as they slid up my thighs, over the plane of my stomach until he cupped each of my breasts in them.
“Mmm,” I groaned. “I was dreaming.”
He nipped my ear.
“What were you dreaming about, baby?”
“Good things,” I said, and I meant it. For the first few weeks after my abduction at Sal Twomey’s hand, I’d had nothing but nightmares. Cold hands. The feel of his gun pressing into the small of my back. But now, slowly, gently, Joker helped me walk back into the light. He made me a promise that day and I made one to him. We would never let each other go.
I turned in his arms. “Nothing,” I said. “Even after the good dreams, it’s always better when I wake up right here.”
Sun peeked through the slats in the blinds. This was Joker’s house, tucked in the woods with a small fish-stocked pond behind it. Toby started teaching me how to fish before the frost set in for good.
�
�It’s snowing,” Joker said.
I sat up. The sheet fell away. He leaned in and kissed each of my naked breasts. “How bad?” I asked.
“Not that bad,” he said. “Just an inch. It’s slowing down now.”
“What about the schools?” I tried to reach for my phone but Joker pinned me to the bed. My body betrayed me, answering his with a blossom of heat between my legs. I was getting used to this, waking up in Joker’s bed. We still couldn’t keep our hands off each other.
“Relax,” he said. “Everything’s going ahead according to schedule. Schools aren’t gonna close. The roads are clear.”
It had all happened so fast. In the wake of what happened at Tiny Tots, the police launched an investigation of Miss Linda’s business practices. She admitted to cooking her books a bit. But what was worse, Sal Twomey had bribed her that day. That’s why she let Toby leave with him. I don’t know what he had on her and probably never would, but Tiny Tots would have shut down.
Until the club stepped in …
It was mine now. They’d given me a low-interest loan to take it over and start new. It would take a few more months for the renovations I wanted to make, but the daycare would stay open in the meantime. As soon as the parents learned Miss Linda was gone and we had the Great Wolves’ backing, very few had taken their business elsewhere. So today, on a crisp Monday morning, we would have our soft launch reopening. Tiny Tots Daycare was no more. I would welcome the children to The Little Red Riding Hood Learning Center in just an hour’s time. Little Red’s for short.
“What big tits you have, my dear,” Joker teased, playing the part of the Big Bad Wolf. Oh, but he was my wolf.
“I love you,” I said, giggling as he found my tickle spot. I was done for after that. I spread my legs as Joker stroked himself and slid in deep.
I gasped. God, he felt so good. He filled me so fully. I raised my hips and wrapped my legs around his waist.
“I love you like this,” he whispered. “I have half a mind to tie you to this bed and keep you all to myself.”
“You did that last night,” I gasped. Oh, and he had. I loved the delicious torture my Joker could deliver when he had me at his mercy.