She walked to the front door and locked, then turned to face me again.
“You are despicable. You know that? Your daughter’s gone missing and all you’ve done today is cry and wait for her to come back. Are you crazy? What kind of mother are you?” I shouted at her.
Amanda sobbed with her back against the door. I could barely understand what she was saying.
“Just tell me what’s going on, Amanda! We need to find Hazel and you’re just wasting time!” I screamed.
She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands and tried to control her sobbing. “You can’t call the police because that’ll make everything worse,” she whispered. I strode toward her with my hands on my hips. I could have broken down in tears too right then, but I didn’t. One of us needed to stay strong and think logically.
“How exactly is calling the police going to make it worse? How are we going to find Hazel?” I hissed.
Amanda licked her lips and looked away from me. “Carli…I have to tell you something, but please, promise me you won’t be mad,” she sobbed.
I had never been more confused in my life. Hazel was missing and Amanda chose right now to be dramatic.
“What could you possibly have to tell me right now, Amanda?” I snapped. Whatever patience I still had left was quickly disappearing.
My sister rushed toward me and tried to take my hand in hers.
“Hazel’s father…I know who it is. I’ve known all along. I lied about being too drunk to remember who he was. I just didn’t want to tell you or anyone because I wanted to keep my daughter away from all that,” she replied.
“Away from what?” I asked, shaking my head.
“From that lifestyle. From the motorcycle club,” she whispered.
“Motorcycle club? What are you talking about, Amanda? You slept with a biker?” My hand flew up to my mouth. I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. I knew my sister had poor taste in men and made bad decisions, but this wasn’t what I expected to hear.
“His name is Grimm. He’s the president of the Black Cobra MC. Well he is now. When I slept with him, his uncle was still president,” she replied.
None of her words were making sense to me. Motorcycle club? President? Grimm? I wasn’t associated with that world. All I knew was that gangs operated in our city and they were dangerous. I never thought Amanda was involved with any of them.
“Okay. I have too many questions about this, but right now, I need to know what any of this has to do with Hazel and her disappearance,” I snapped at my sister.
Amanda gulped and then she walked past me, disappearing into the room she shared with Hazel. I felt faint and sick from everything that was going on. Nothing made sense to me anymore.
She emerged a few minutes later with a bunch of papers and letters in her hand.
“What’s all this?” I asked as she handed them to me.
When I read one of them, I shrieked and dropped the whole bundle to the ground.
Watch out. We’re coming for Grimm’s daughter.
“These are threats! Amanda, what is going on?” I cried. She was on her knees on the floor, picking up the pieces of paper that all contained similar threats. She wiped more tears from her cheeks.
“Yes, I know. They are,” she mumbled.
“Why have you been hoarding them? Why didn’t you tell anyone? Why didn’t you tell me that Hazel’s life was in danger?” I grabbed her shoulders and shook her roughly.
Amanda fell backwards on the floor and started sobbing again. I wiped my tears and sat down closer to her. I could see she was suffering, and whatever she was hiding from me…I knew it was a burden on her. Attacking her wasn’t going to help. I knew I needed to be gentle with her. Amanda was a delicate creature.
“You need to tell me everything, sis,” I said softly and reached for her hand. Slowly, she managed to gather herself and sat up to face me. Her makeup streaked her cheeks and her hair was a mess. Amanda was always so concerned with how she looked, but right now, she didn’t care.
“I wanted to tell you sooner, Carli…but you’ve been doing so much for us. You’ve been working so hard. I didn’t want to burden you with all this,” she replied, squeezing my hand. I gulped and nodded my head.
“Yes, I understand, but you need to tell me now so I can help you. I am so confused, Amanda,” I told her.
Her bangles clinked on her wrists as she wiped her cheeks again.
“I met him at some nightclub downtown eight years ago. You know how I was back then…I didn’t give a shit about myself or my future,” Amanda began. I stared at her, willing her to continue.
“Grimm was hot. Like…the hottest guy I’d met. He was a bad boy, super confident and fearless. I knew what he did for a living. I knew he was involved with the Black Cobra MC, but I didn’t care. I wanted him,” she said.
I had to clench my jaws so that I wouldn’t scream. I had some idea of the kind of lifestyle Amanda led in her early twenties, but I never considered the possibility of an MC.
“Anyway, we had sex,” she continued.
“Once?” I asked.
“A couple of times. I was head over heels. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I thought he was pretty into me too, but then a few weeks later, I found out I was pregnant,” she explained.
“Did he dump you?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“No. I didn’t tell him. I just cut off contact with him. I realized with him being in club there would be no way he would want a child. He tried getting in touch with me for some time, but he eventually gave up,” she replied.
“Why did you do that? Why didn’t you let him take responsibility?” I asked. A few more tears dribbled down Amanda’s cheeks.
“I wasn’t going to let my kid get involved in that world. I knew Grimm wasn’t an evil person, he was probably one of the only good ones, but there was no way I would let my child grow up in that atmosphere,” she continued. I knew my sister had made the right decision. I squeezed her hand and nodded.
“I should have told you, Carli, I know that…but I hoped I would be able to keep it a secret forever,” she added.
I could see things more clearly now.
“But if nobody knew Hazel was Grimm’s kid, why have you been receiving threats?” I asked her.
Amanda sighed and gulped.
“There was another guy, I think his nickname was Crow. He used to be best pals with Grimm they were in the same MC. Then Crow broke away and joined a rival gang. Now Grimm and Crow are enemies. I think there’s some kind of war going on between them,” Amanda said.
“How do you know all of this? And Crow knows about Hazel?” I asked and she nodded.
“All these years, I’ve never bumped into Grimm. They operate out of Los Angeles, that’s far away from here. But I saw Crow at a gas station a few months ago. Hazel was with me. He was staring at her and I knew that he knew instantly who she was. Hazel looks so much like Grimm,” Amanda continued and started sobbing again.
I pulled her into my arms and held her tightly.
“Shh. It is going to be alright. We will somehow figure this out,” I said, stroking her head. Amanda clung on to me, sobs wracking her body.
“My little baby. My poor baby. I know they’ve taken her,” she wailed.
“So, because of these gangs we can’t go to the police,” I stated while I held her.
“No, if they find out that we got the police involved, we’ll never see Hazel again,” she said.
I peeled her away from myself.
“You should have told me, Amanda. If I knew who Hazel’s father was, we would have left town. There’s no way I would have let you take the risk of bringing her up in the same city as that man,” I raged.
Amanda nodded, shaking so much that she could barely get a word out.
“I know. I should have. There are so many things I would have done differently if I had another chance, Carli. I was so stupid. I shouldn’t have fallen for a man like Grimm,” she bawled.
We hugged
each other again as I forced myself to not cry. As mad as I was at Amanda for getting Hazel wrapped up in this mess, she was still my sister, and I would do anything for her and for Hazel.
“If they have her, they’re going to keep her alive. That much is for sure. If they’ve taken her, they’re planning on using her as leverage against Grimm. They’re not going to hurt her,” I declared, staring into my sister’s eyes, forcing myself to believe my own words.
“Not for now,” she whispered and broke down again.
I held Amanda in my arms, and rocked her, trying to soothe her and myself too. Hazel was the center of our world. Everything I’d done in the last six years was for her. She was as much my daughter as she was Amanda’s. And I knew I would do anything to bring her safely back to us.
3
Rogue
My phone rang as I pulled on my jeans, the dark-haired woman sitting on the edge of my bed still naked. We both looked at my phone at the same time.
“Good timing,” she chuckled and lit the cigarette that dangled from her lips. I breathed in deeply. It was the middle of the night. The only two people who could be calling were either Martin—my second in command that looked after the finances of my business, or my brother.
I zipped my pants up and answered the call, walking over to the window in my room.
“What?” I growled, lighting a cigarette, too.
“Rogue?” a voice asked, one I didn’t recognize.
“Who’s this?” I asked, looking at my phone screen again. It wasn’t either Grimm or Martin’s numbers and I’d been too distracted to check before.
“It’s Cash,” he said.
Fuck. I grumbled under my breath. The only reason Cash would be calling me in the middle of the night was because something had happened to Grimm.
Over at the Black Cobra MC, it was Grimm and Cash who ran the show. Cash was supposed to be his right-hand-man, but the man was more muscle and less brains and Grimm had complained to me before about how there was nobody to take his place. I knew some of the guys; Cash, Patch, Bones, and Finn. But I hadn’t seen or spoken to them in years.
Our uncle Bobby recruited most of these men when he was president of the club. He’d trained them alongside Grimm in the business, but my brother was always the best at the job. Irrespective of the fact that he was related to Bobby, there was no doubt that he would take Bobby’s place.
The fact was, physical strength ran in our genes. Just like Grimm, I was tough. After I got out of the club, I quickly realized that an office job wasn’t for me, so I branched into a different arena—professional protection services. I started out as a bouncer at some popular clubs around town, and as I made more money, I branched out into being a paid-for-hire muscle. I was good at it, and it was legal, and I didn’t get into too many fights.
“Where is Grimm?” I grunted in the phone.
“He’s gone,” Cash replied as I filled my lungs with cigarette smoke.
The naked girl in my room, whose name I couldn’t remember, had now walked over to me. She tried to seduce me as I spoke, trailing her fingers down my chest.
“What do you mean he’s gone? Have they taken him?” I growled. Her hand disappeared down the front of my pants and I pushed her away.
“Fuck you!” she hissed and whipped away from me.
“We think so. But there’s no sign of a fight anywhere. Nobody saw him being taken. No blood or mess in his apartment. It’s like he just disappeared into thin air,” Cash replied.
“Fuck.” I growled and punched the wall with my fist. It had been eight days since Grimm told me about his possible abduction at the bar. I knew because I counted down the days. Each day that went by and every time I spoke to my brother, I was relieved he was still alive.
“There is one thing, Rogue. We found a note in his office, on his desk,” Cash said.
“Note? From whom?” I growled.
“Looks like Grimm’s handwriting. It said to call you and let you lead the war,” Cash continued. “He had filled us in last week and it was put to a vote in church. You are supposed to take lead in finding him.”
“If he left a fucking note, then he’s not disappeared into thin air, has he?” I shouted into the phone.
Behind me, the naked girl wasn’t naked anymore. She’d dressed herself and now she banged the door shut as she left. Good. She wasn’t a good lay anyway.
“I don’t understand…” Cash seemed puzzled.
“If he’s left a note neatly waiting for you to find on his desk, it means he’s purposely made himself disappear,” I raged.
“You mean he’s hiding?” Cash asked.
“Either that or he’s willingly given himself up to the Sons of Satan,” I told him.
The only thing I knew about the Sons of Satan—based on the little that Grimm had told me over the years—was that it was now headed by Crow, the guy who used to be Grimm’s best friend. Now they were at war with each other and Grimm had managed to piss him off enough.
“You’re the boss, Rogue. When are you getting here? We need to figure out a plan,” Cash continued.
I closed my eyes and cursed my brother in my head. I wished he’d given me some clues. I wished I’d asked him more questions. I had no idea what would make him disappear or why he would leave a note. It was obvious to me that he’d surrendered himself to the Sons of Satan, but why had he done it? I had too many unanswered questions and I hoped the fucker was still alive.
“Rogue?” Cash said when I’d been silent for too long.
“Call a meeting and I’ll get there in fifteen minutes,” I declared.
“You mean you want me to call church?” Cash corrected me.
“I don’t fucking care what you want to call. Just get the men in one place. I’ll meet you motherfuckers at The Pit,” I shouted and ended the call.
Typical Grimm, I thought. He didn’t give a shit what happened to my business or that I wanted to stay out of the Black Cobra MC. He had to find a way to get me involved anyway.
* * *
I arrived at The Pit, the dive bar where my brother’s MC met and held church. They were all waiting there for me and it felt strange walking into my brother’s shoes.
I wasn’t prepared for it. I’d spent the last several years running away from it. Trying to distance myself as much as I could from the club. Grimm had clearly made the wrong decision—I wasn’t the man for the job. I wasn’t the one who would be able to end this war and rescue him from the captivity of the Sons of Satan.
But I had no choice. These men were following their president’s orders as they stood around me in the center of the dimly lit bar. And if I remembered one thing about being a member of the Black Cobra MC, it was that they always followed their president. Grimm had shown faith in me and my only option was to try and meet those expectations. As much as I hated my brother in that moment, I was also concerned for his safety.
“Someone tell me what the fuck is going on,” I barked.
The man behind the counter handed me a can of beer, which I took a sip of and then threw away. It tasted like piss.
Cash was the first to speak up. He cleared his throat and stepped up toward me.
“We think the Sons of Satan have Grimm,” he said, and I rolled my eyes.
“Have you found any clues, any indication that they have him?” I asked. Everybody was silent. I clenched my jaw and shook my head.
“Okay, our only option is to treat this disappearance as an abduction. Based on what my brother told me over a week ago, he was being followed and knew that Crow and his men were closing in on him,” I declared.
Their voice buzzed in the bar.
“Shut the fuck up!” Cash yelled. The men standing around finally silenced. Cash looked at me and nodded.
“So, what is our next step?” he asked. I ran a hand through my hair.
“We fucking find him,” I growled. “Before they end up killing him.” I wasn’t sure what to do, that was the truth. I’d never held an office
in the club before. The only thing I had to rely on was my own gut instinct.
“Go out there and find information. That’s what we do for now. Talk to your contacts, get the word out that we’re suspecting the Sons of Satan and there will be war if they’ve taken my brother.”
Their voices rang out in the bar again and Cash came up to me, with a concerned look in his eyes.
“Fuck, Rogue. This is insane. Grimm just wouldn’t let himself get taken,” he grunted.
“Yeah, I agree with you on that. When he came to see me at the bar, I could tell that there was something else going on, but he wouldn’t tell me about it.”
“I’ll get the guys to reach out. The way people talk in this town, someone has got to know something.”
I breathed in, looking around the bar that I never thought I would step foot into again. Cash must have noticed me looking around, because he placed his hand on my shoulder.
“Feeling nostalgia being back here?” he asked.
“I want you all to know that this is temporary. I’m going to find my brother and then I’m out for good,” I hissed.
Cash nodded. “Whatever you say, man,” he said, though he looked like he didn’t believe me.
4
Carli
The next morning, Amanda and I woke up on the floor of our living room. Neither of us had gotten much sleep. We’d spent the night talking and crying and somehow managed to get an hour’s worth of shut-eye. I pulled myself off the floor and Amanda sat up, too.
“What are we going to do, Carli?” she murmured while I made the instant coffee. I hadn’t even changed out of the clothes I’d worn to work the previous day.
“I’m going to call in sick at the office and hope my boss doesn’t throw a hissy fit,” I replied.
Amanda watched me as I stirred the coffee in two mugs. An aching throb had settled at the back of my head. My stomach rolled with nausea from the lack of food, hydration, and sleep, but none of those things were of concern to me now.
Rogue: The Black Cobras MC #1 Page 2