by Ryan Michele
“You’re mine, Hayden. I love you.”
The tears started up once again. “I swear, once this is over I’m never crying again.”
A chuckle escaped, knowing this woman, these words were probably true. “Baby. This is it. We’re ride or die until the bitter end. We fight, we figure it out. You get pissed and throw me out, I come right back.”
“I love you too.”
I took her mouth in a kiss of passion and love. Yes. It was corny as hell, but I didn’t give a fuck. We kissed like that for a long time, exploring and remembering, connecting and becoming one.
When she pulled away from me abruptly, it took me a moment to catch my breath and open my eyes. The look of panic filled her features.
“Shit! I forgot!” She tried to hop out of my lap, but I grabbed onto her and held her in place. “Let go!”
“Tell me what the fuck is goin’ on.”
“The program had a link inside of it. Did you find my father’s phone?”
“Yeah, it’s at the clubhouse with your computers.”
“We have to go.”
“Slow down, Hayden. Tell me what’s goin’ on.” I felt my anger starting to take hold, but I pushed it down.
“The link. All I have to do is enter it into my father’s phone and it will tell us who he was working for. With all the healing and the stress, I haven’t been thinking clearly. You having me revisit all the steps I remembered, I put in a fail-safe for me to sort out who he worked for.”
“Working for?”
She nodded. “The way he acted. Jittery and jumpy when I talked about time. Plus, the man is not a leader. He’s a weak follower. It made me think that he had someone pulling the strings. If he did, the link in that phone will give us an answer.”
“You’re fuckin’ shittin’ me.” This sense of pride washed through me. Not only did she protect me and the club, but she continued to do so by helping us find who the hell was fucking with us.
“Nope. And we can find out the ‘why’ he wanted into your business so badly.”
I rose from the couch, setting Hayden on her feet. She took off with a wobble to grab whatever, and I pulled out my phone.
“Crow,” he answered.
“Get the guys to the clubhouse. Hayden and I are on our way. We may have an answer as to who wanted into Ravage information.”
“Fuck. Got it.” He disconnected the call, and we hauled ass to the clubhouse.
44
Hayden
Entering the clubhouse, I felt the eyes burning holes in my head. Some here were still wary of me, that was obvious. That killed me because this was Wrong Way’s family, and if they didn’t trust me, this would never work.
Wrong Way held my hand, interlacing our fingers, which I knew was in comfort, and it helped.
But this wasn’t me.
On the ride here, the freedom of the bike gave me some clarity. Some time to pull my shit together and push down everything that had just happened. To put the focus on why we were coming here.
I wasn’t weak. Nor would I show it.
I didn’t cower. So I straightened my spine and pulled my shoulders up.
These men might have hated me. They might have wanted me dead.
They might have seen me as their enemy.
Or it could have been none of the above. That was an unknown factor.
The only thing I could do was prove myself to be the woman I was. And I’d do it.
I did not look at the floor while they assessed me, some having sneers. Instead, I looked each of them in the eyes letting them see I had nothing to hide. Wrong Way knew everything now.
I was no rat. Therefore, I had my pride, and no one could take that away.
“If you’re not a patched member, get the fuck out,” Crow ordered, and Wrong Way squeezed my hand, telling me silently to stay with him. My body didn’t move or flinch. Instead, my stance was stoic. I wouldn’t be afraid and would do what needed to be done.
A couple of women and men left the clubhouse until I was the only outsider in their club. I should have feared for my life. Feared that one of these men would pull out their gun and make today my last. But I couldn’t be. I survived my father twice, and in the end did nothing wrong to them. Nothing.
That was what I kept ahold of. Knowing that I did right.
“First, you tell us every fuckin’ thing that happened.” This order came from Crow which I was expecting. That didn’t mean I wanted to repeat it. Live it once again. Feel the anger, hurt, and betrayal all over again. But I did. Every word, hit, kick, cry of pain—every last detail—and I kept myself composed the entire time.
From the look on Phoenix and Tex’s faces, they didn’t believe a word that came out of my mouth. Their hatred for me burned bright in their eyes. I hated they felt that way, and I needed to show them proof that my word was solid.
“If you still don’t believe me, there are two options to prove what I say is right. One is get that laptop my father had me workin’ on. Everything is obviously there. Or we can boot up my computer,” which Wrong Way had in his possession, “and I can show you. I copied every line I created to my cloud.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Tex and Phoenix looked at each other and shrugged. Maybe I was getting somewhere. One could hope.
“She’s also got a way to find out who the fuck is the mystery man behind this shit.”
I nodded as the attention went back to me. “I need my father’s phone to access it, but yes, I can lead you to whoever is doing this.”
“You sure she shouldn’t be doin’ our security?” Hornet said with a smirk, and a few of the guys chuckled. That small comment cut through the tension in the room. It was strange because I felt like I could breathe again. Even Tex and Phoenix had a small smirk, and I felt like I was getting somewhere.
“Brothers, let’s see who the fuck is gonna meet the reaper.”
Wrong Way pulled me through the clubhouse, down the hall, and to his room. I’d been there once before, but I hadn’t really taken it all in. The room wasn’t huge, and it felt even smaller with my bank of computers set up and then his next to them. Add in the bed, dresser, bookshelf and the entire Ravage MC that crowed in behind us, it was super small and almost claustrophobic.
“Phone?” I asked, sitting and waking the screens up. With Wrong Way having access, no telling what any of them saw already. Sure, everything was encrypted, but one couldn’t know for sure. I’d have to trust them, like I was asking them to trust me.
Phoenix handed the cell to me then paused, letting go until I met his eyes. He nodded once then released it. Maybe that was code for I’m not going to kill you. At least that was what I was going to go with. What the hell did I know?
It didn’t take long to access. Pulling up Java, I got to work feeling the eyes behind me. Liking my space, I didn’t quibble about it.
After a few minutes, I had a phone number and a name that I searched. “Anyone know an Archy Crawly?”
The men went silent for a beat, looking at each other. It was Wrong Way who answered, “Yeah, we fuckin’ know ‘em.”
Someone was in deep shit.
At least this time it wasn’t me.
I needed a fucking break.
45
Wrong Way
Archy Crawly, Senator McClusky’s right-hand man. The same Senator we met with. The same Senator who wanted to trade land for Rook’s freedom. The same Senator who ordered Hayden’s father to beat the shit out of her and make her get information on us because, make no mistakes—Archy didn’t do a damn thing unless he was told to. He was a lackey, ever to be anything more in life.
Senator Gary McClusky was behind all of this, but I had no fucking clue why. Yes, he wanted the land, but had he wanted it enough to go to these lengths? It didn’t seem right.
It was late the next night when we were able to track Archy down. He was always up the Senator’s ass, by his side practically every minute of the day. Therefore, he was our best bet of
getting information.
The Senator would just throw his weight around, and we’d get nowhere. Archy was the weak link, at least we were betting on it.
“There he is,” Tex said from the passenger seat of the van. We’d been sitting here for a couple of hours a street over, but good views of Archy’s house. The side of the white van said You Stink It, We Fix It. It was a hilarious disguise that Phoenix came up with. People never questioned a repair vehicle.
Looking out the front windshield, the lone lights of a small car were on us, then turned down the road. It pulled into a very nice two-story home that had yard lights everywhere. It was lit up like a damn Christmas tree.
Because of this, we had to swing around and go in the backyard. In my research on Archy, I couldn’t find anything on if he had pets, so we would just wing it.
Phoenix pulled to the next street over that had a house whose backyard met up with dog boy’s.
“Quiet. There’s a basement. Get him down there,” Crow said, looking at me and I nodded. I pulled up the floorplan of the home through the HOA website detailing every single square inch of the home. That was a robber’s wet dream, making it easier than ever to go in unnoticed. Stupid.
Getting up to the house was child’s play. With the trees and bushes, we were able to get there with ease, making it to the side of the house undetected. The house was lit up inside, but Archy was nowhere in sight.
A dog started barking, and as we turned a man stepped out on his back patio with the yapper of a dog heading straight for us. It was a tiny little thing with a bark that was high pitched and annoying. Fuck. “Go in now.”
If we didn’t move our asses, this whole thing would be blown all over a pesky dog. With Tex at the front, he got the side door open, we entered and closed the door just as the dog made it to us, continuing to bark.
“Roxy, come here!” a male voice yelled. The dog yipped a few more times before taking off, continuing to bark. I hoped to Christ that fucking dog didn’t break our cover. It was a complication we didn’t need.
“Oh hey, Archy,” the male voice said as we heard a slide from a glass door opening.
“Hey, Bill. Roxy get out again?” There was a smile in his voice like this happened all the time. This was good.
“Yeah. You know her, always everywhere. Sorry to bother ya.”
Archy replied, “No problem. Night.”
“Night.”
The sound of the door shutting was our cue. The door we entered was a laundry area. Not the best design for a house, but whatever.
A phone rang, and I looked to my brothers who shook their heads.
“Hello?” Archy answered, and he sounded close.
“Yes. I pulled the police reports and read them thoroughly. There is no mention of your name anywhere.”
My heart started to thump as anger raged inside of me. That fucking motherfucker. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he was talking about.
“Right. I’ve destroyed everything on our end.” Fuck, I hated listening to one side of a conversation.
He inhaled deep. “Yes, sir. What do you want the next step to be?”
Crow looked over at me, the same anger radiating through him. Yeah, this asshole was going down. Even if he didn’t talk, but he would. If none of us had luck, we always had Warden and his fish filleting skills. He’d talk and then be dead.
“Right. I’ll call Des and make sure he has ears inside her house.”
Fucking ears inside her house. You’ve got to be shitting me. They had ears at Hayden’s place? Fuck that.
“She was vague when she talked to the cops, just told them her father was making her find information. With him dead and her not knowing shit, we’re clear.”
Yep, he was definitely talking about my woman. And I sent up a silent thank you to Kenny for, once again, having the Ravage MC’s back by keeping what she said sealed. While she didn’t tell him everything, any little bit would have these vultures circling.
“Will do. See you tomorrow.” A clatter came through the room like he tossed his cell phone down on a countertop. His night was about to change. Fuck, his life was.
“Now,” Crow ordered, and we moved all as one unit. One would swear we had military training together with the way we operated and moved.
Phoenix was the first to Archy. “What the…” Archy yelled, but Phoenix had his hand over Archy’s mouth muffling the sound, Archy’s arms starting to flail.
There was a movement outside the uncovered sliding glass window. “Fuck, open curtains,” I warned. Light, plus opened curtains meant everyone could see in.
As fast as we could manage, we moved Archy to his basement. He kicked and tried to get out of Phoenix’s grasp, but he was a lightweight compared to Phoenix.
I grabbed his legs as we carried him down the flight of stairs.
“I’m goin’ up to shut the lights down and turn one on in his room,” Hornet said running back up the stairs.
“Check the alarm system,” I threw in as he nodded.
The basement was large and wide open with only a few round metal poles in view. He obviously didn’t have parties down here because it was just a slab of concrete, exposed ceiling, and block walls. Off to one side he had plastic tubs stacked on the back wall.
“Not us,” Crow groaned, and my stomach roiled remembering the story Nox, Crow’s brother and a member of the Sumner Ravage MC, told us last time we saw him. They found tubs like these, and there were decaying dead bodies in them. No, that wasn't a good story and a situation I did not want to repeat.
Phoenix was the first to check them out, the crazy man he was. He pulled out a green tote, looked in, then showed us. “He likes to decorate for Christmas.”
“Thank Christ.” I let out a huge breath. That shit was twisted, even for us.
Releasing his legs, Tex held his hands behind his back as Phoenix grabbed the backpack he carried in. Reinforcements.
Phoenix pulled out a large roll of duct tape as I looked around for a chair, but there was none. “Pole?” I asked.
“Let’s do it,” Tex said, moving Archy to the weight-bearing pole and Phoenix getting busy.
“What’s goin’ on?” Archy’s eyes were afraid and panicked. “I didn’t do anything!” he yelled as Crow gave him a right hook. Archy wasn’t a fighter and actually started crying, if you could believe that.
I had a feeling this wouldn’t be as fun as I initially thought.
Hornet came down and lifted his chin to me. “Has one, isn’t on.” Moron.
“Why’d you do that?” Archy practically whined. Yeah, he was a pussy. I hoped he was better at his job than physically fighting.
Tex and Phoenix stood back as Archy tried to get out of the tape, but he was unable to. He cried out and four guns came out of holsters pointed at him.
“Shut the fuck up,” Crow said, getting in Archy’s face. He sobered instantly, his eyes darting around the room at us then at our guns.
“Tell me why the fuck you were trying to break into our fuckin’ computers,” I demanded, taking a menacing step forward, but Archy just shook his head.
“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.” He tried, but we weren’t buying it. We needed this little shit to talk before we approached the Senator.
Tex landed a savage blow to Archy’s stomach with his motorcycle boot. Archy cried out, trying to hunch over, but his arms held him back.
“Dude, this guy’s a pussy,” Phoenix said, twirling his knives between his fingers. “Watch.” Phoenix held the knife steady but brought it inch by inch closer to Archy’s eyes. Eyes that started watering as he tried to move away from the knife.
“Fuck me,” Crow bellowed, frustrated with the entire thing. I was right there with him on that one. “Just tell us what the fuck is goin’ on so we can get out of here.”
“What…” Archy started again, but I wrapped my hand around his throat.
“Why does the Senator want our land?” I asked as Archy’s eyes start
ed to bulge out from the oxygen loss. “Is that why he was in our computers?”
He shook his head, but answered, “His side project.”
“Seriously,” Warden said, coming down the stairs casually.
“Nice of ya to join us,” I called out over my shoulder, then squeezed Archy’s neck harder.
“Just let me start cuttin’. He’ll talk,” Warden said, stepping up to Archy who became more agitated.
“What project?” I said, giving another squeeze. Pretty soon I was going to crush his larynx.
“He didn’t tell me. Swear. He told me the less I knew the better.” None of us believed him. Ravage were no fools.
“Why does he want it?” Crow asked.
“He just wants the land and the building. Swear that’s all he told me.”
I released him and stepped back. He was lying through his teeth. Maybe he was a good foot soldier for the Senator, after all. “I’m gonna find his computer. See if ya can get anything.”
Crow gave me a nod as I took the stairs two at a time, needing to do something productive instead of watching that asshole lie. The house was quiet, and I used my flashlight carefully as not to set off any of the neighbors who could be looking in a dark house.
I always hated doing this shit when everyone was home and any stream of light would catch people’s attention. It was so much better to do it during the day when everyone worked and the sun lit the way. But we had to do what we had to do.
The living room, kitchen, and dining room were clean on the first floor. I ran up to the second. The room off to the right appeared to be an office. As I sifted through the papers, nothing stood out, and there was no computer. The spare bedroom had nothing as well, just a queen-sized bed covered in white.
Entering the master bedroom, I hit gold. A laptop sitting on the long dresser underneath a television. It was as if this guy did everything in this room. Work, sleep, relax. Why he had such a huge house, I’d never know.