Cotton: Satan's Fury MC

by Wilder, L.

  “Tired, sick to your stomach, and the boob thing… Ah, hell, Henley! We’ve gotta go get a pregnancy test! Now!” I screeched. I took her hand and led her out into the hall, pulling her toward my room, so I could grab my purse and keys.

  “Maybe it’s just stress,” Henley blurted out. “Or the flu… maybe I have the dates wrong. Maybe I had my period and didn’t notice it.”

  “Yeah, like that’s possible. There’s only one way to find out what’s going on,” I told her as I headed for the car. Neither of us spoke on the way to the drugstore. We were both lost in our own world of thoughts, and I was too stunned to speak. I was having a hard time believing my little sister could actually be pregnant. When we got inside the store, Henley followed me over to the aisle with all the pregnancy tests. I grabbed several different brands and headed over to the checkout lane.

  “Why are you buying so many? Don’t we just need one?” Henley asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never had to do this before. Just figured it was better to be safe than sorry.”

  Once the clerk gave me my change, I grabbed the bag and we raced out to the car. I started the car, and I was just about to put it in reverse when Henley asked, “Do you think Maverick will be okay with this?”

  Surprised by her question, I asked, “What do you mean okay with this? Okay with what?”

  “What if he doesn’t want to have a baby with me? We haven’t been together long… and we’ve never really talked about having kids. And with everything that happened with JW, he may not…” her voice trailed off as tears filled her eyes.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me right now. Maverick loves you, Lee Bug. You’re his ol’ lady, and if you are having his kid, he’s going to be over the moon about it.”

  “You really think so?”

  I placed my hand on her shoulder and said, “No doubt in my mind. You are worrying over nothing. Besides, we don’t even know if you are really pregnant yet.”

  “I hope you’re right, because…” she started. “I really want this.”

  Once we got back to the club, we took our bag of goodies and went straight to Henley’s room. She took no time rushing into the bathroom to take the first test. Through the closed door, she yelled, “It says to pee on the stick. What if I pee on my hand?”

  “Then you wash your damn hand. Now, hurry up and pee!” I laughed.

  “I’m trying. Stop rushing me!” she fussed. A few seconds later, I heard the toilet flush, but Henley didn’t open the door.

  “Lee Bug?”

  “Cass… There’s already a plus sign,” she murmured. “I’m taking another one.” There was a brief moment of silence before I heard her stirring around as she yelled, “Two lines. I got two lines on this one.”

  I opened the door and found her standing there, staring at the pregnancy tests with a huge smile on her face. Her expression said it all. I rushed over to her, hugging her tightly as I said, “I can’t believe this is really happening! I am so happy for you.”

  She buried her face in my neck as she cried, “I’m going to have a baby. Maverick’s baby.”

  “Yeah, little momma, you are. You’ve gotta tell Maverick.”

  “I don’t know. I’d really rather wait and tell him in person. Do you have any idea how long they’ll be gone?” she asked with concern.

  “No more than you do. Cotton didn’t really say much about it.”

  Her eyebrows furrowed as she asked, “So he didn’t say anything to you about Sara?”

  Feeling like she’d just punched me in the gut, I sighed and said, “No, and I didn’t bring it up either. I figured if he wanted me to know he was leaving with his old girlfriend, he would’ve told me.”

  “That is so not cool, Cass. He basically claimed you as his old lady, and then doesn’t have the decency to tell you what’s up,” she huffed.

  “That’s just it. He didn’t officially claim me. We slept together and…”

  Henley raised her hand, stopping me before I continued, and said, “It was more than that, and we both know it!”

  “I guess it doesn’t matter now anyway. He’s halfway to Alaska by now, so I’ll just have to wait and see if he comes back to me,” I told her, trying not to let her see my heart was breaking at just the thought of him not coming back to me.

  “Well, he’d be a damn fool not to come back to you. That Sara chick ain’t got nothing on you, babe,” she winked.

  I ran my hand across the back of my neck, trying to ease some of the growing tension as I said, “She was his first love, and you’ve seen the pictures of her. She’s beautiful and…”

  “And so are you. You’re all that and so much more!”

  “It’s not just that. They have history. You heard what Doc told Maverick. Cotton loved her, and it broke him when she left. She’s the one that got away.”

  “She left, Cass. Never came to see him. Hell, she never even called the man. There’s no coming back from that.”

  “I’m not so sure,” I told her, fighting back the tears.

  “Stop with the doubts, Cass. This isn’t like you. You’ve always been sure of yourself. There’s nothing for you to worry about with this chick. Besides, you’re starting to sound like me, and that’s never a good thing,” she laughed.

  I forced a smile and said, “Okay. I’ll stop. Let’s go call Dr. Roberts and see when we can get in to see her. I’ll make an appointment too. It’s almost time for me to get another prevention shot.”

  “So you’ll go with me?” Henley asked excitedly.

  “Of course, I’m going with you! I wouldn’t miss it.” I reached into Henley’s purse and grabbed her phone. As I handed it to her, I said, “Now, give your man a call. It’s time to tell him he’s going to be a daddy.”

  “Are you sure? What if the test is wrong?”

  “Call him, Lee Bug. He’d be pissed if you waited two weeks to tell him.”

  She nodded and pressed his number on her phone. Seconds later, her eyes lit up, letting me know he’d answered. “Yes, Maverick. I’m fine. I just needed talk to you about something. Have you got a minute?” There was a pause and then she said, “You know how I told you I thought I had the stomach bug? Well, it wasn’t the stomach bug.” She paused and smiled as she listened to him talk. “No… stop. I’m fine, Maverick. Just listen to me. When I wasn’t feeling any better, I decided to take a pregnancy test. Well… it came back positive. I know it’s early and we haven’t talked about…” her voice trailed off as she waited for him to stop talking. “Yes, positive means pregnant,” she laughed. I could hear his voice rumbling through the line, and even from across the room I could tell his was thrilled. “I’m about to call the doctor now. I’ll know more after the appointment.” Her smile grew wider and wider as she listened to him yammer on, and when he was finally done talking, she said, “I love you too. I’ll let you know what the doctor says.”

  As soon as she got off the phone with Maverick, we called the doctor. They told her it would be a week before she could get her in for an OBGYN appointment, but the doctor sent her a prescription of prenatal vitamins to last until she got in to see her. In true Henley fashion, she spent the entire day on her computer, searching unique baby names and the latest designs for nurseries. While she was busy scoping out all the new trends, I spent the day working in the bar. My mind was in a complete blur the entire time I was doing inventory. I couldn’t stop thinking about Cotton and wondering what was happening in Alaska. I wanted him home—safe and as far away from Sara as possible, and I felt like a selfish ass for feeling that way. I knew she was helping the club and should’ve been thankful, but I couldn’t stop myself from wondering just how strong her connection with Cotton really was and what would happen to us if she decided to act on it.

  After a two-hour drive to Seattle, we boarded the plane without any delays. The flight actually left on time, and we were in the air just after nine. Stitch was sitting next to me, going over the files Big had given us on Derek. As our Enforcer,
Stitch didn’t like surprises and wanted to be sure we weren’t missing anything. His eyes were glued to those damn papers until he was certain we were ready for what lay ahead. We were just about to land when he said, “I’m going to want to check all the artillery before we head out.”

  “Shouldn’t be a problem,” I assured him. Sara’s security firm kept an overstock of weapons for emergencies, and Seth was confident we’d have everything we’d need. He guaranteed to have it waiting for us when we arrived at their firm. Stitch gave me a quick nod, then rested his head back on the headrest and closed his eyes, trying his best to prepare for the landing. Thankfully, it didn’t take us long to get on the ground, and once we’d exited the plane, we headed straight for Sara’s car. Once everyone was inside, Sara grabbed her phone and made a call to Seth.

  “What’s Derek’s location,” she asked. She waited for his answer and then asked, “Are you sure he’s still there?” After another brief pause, she said, “Good. We’re headed to the office now.”

  After she hung up the phone, she turned to me and said, “Seth has been monitoring Derek’s GPS. He’s been moving around a bit today, but right now, he is at the warehouse.”

  “And what about the other three?” Stitch asked.

  “As far as he can tell, they aren’t with him, but he’s still trying to find their exact location in case we need it,” she responded as she opened the glove box and pulled out her handgun.

  As soon as Stitch spotted it, he took it from her hand, and even though she hadn’t offered it to him, he gave her a quick chin lift and said, “Thanks.”

  Sara shook her head and smiled as she started the car. She put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking lot. Thirty minutes later, we pulled into a parking garage next to a high-rise office building in the middle of Anchorage. When we walked through the main door, Sara was greeted by a security guard. After a brief conversation, he escorted her over to the main elevator. Once the doors opened, she motioned for us to follow.

  When Stitch approached her, she said, “This shouldn’t take long. Seth has everything you will need waiting for us in my office. You can check everything out before we go.”

  “You aren’t going anywhere, Sara,” I informed her. “You’ll stay here until this thing is finished.”

  “But…” she mumbled as she crossed her arms.

  “This isn’t up for discussion. You need to stay here where I know you’ll be safe.”

  “Fine,” she mumbled.

  “Gonna need the keys to your car,” I smiled. Before she had a chance to argue, the elevator doors opened, revealing the hallway to her office. We followed her through the main doors. As usual, Stitch was right at my side, monitoring my every step. As we walked inside, I glanced around the room and wasn’t surprised to see how contemporary it was. There was lots of gray and steel, giving the place a masculine feel. It was simple, but it suited her. Sara was never into all that girlie shit most women were into, and from the looks of her office, that part of her hadn’t changed. As we continued to walk further into the room, my attention was drawn to a small photograph sitting on one of her bookshelves. I walked over to it and saw it was a picture taken when Sara and I were just kids, not long after she’d graduated high school. We were sitting on my bike outside the clubhouse, and I’m sure we were about to head out on one of our crazy adventures. Before we left, her mother stopped us to take a picture. I hadn’t seen it in years. I couldn’t help but notice the smile plastered on my face. It was a time long before Uncle Saul had died and I’d become President. It was a time when I was happy… really happy.

  When I finally turned around, Maverick was standing there beside me. “We’ve got everything we need and more. Stitch has already checked them out, and they’re locked and loaded,” he explained as he handed me two of the handguns.

  “Good. We need to check with Seth before we go. I want to know Derek’s exact location before we leave,” I explained.

  “His office is just down the hall,” Sara told me as she turned and walked out of the room. When we walked in, he was sitting at his computer and never even looked up until Sara spoke.

  “Hey, Seth. Can you pull up Derek’s GPS for me?” He looked up at her, and his face instantly softened when he caught sight of her. Anyone could see he had a thing for Sara, but she didn’t seem to notice or care.

  “Sure thing,” he answered and quickly started typing on his computer. Seconds later, he said, “He’s left the warehouse. He’s out on Dunbar Road. That’s a new location. We haven’t had a chance to have the team check it out. Maybe you should wait until he goes back to the warehouse.”

  “What’s the full address?” I asked.

  “22 South Dunbar Road,” he answered.

  I nodded then turned to Sara and said, “Need your car keys.”

  She placed them in the palm of my hand, and with Maverick and Stitch following close behind, I headed out to her car. It took us almost thirty minutes of driving through the outskirts of town to find Derek’s location. Once we made it through a small, wooded area, we came up to an old, dilapidated house. The lot looked deserted; even the neighboring houses looked abandoned. When we got out of the car, we noticed there were locks on some of the windows, and the front door was also bolted from the outside. Hoping to find a way inside, I followed Maverick to the back of the house. Stitch went around in the other direction, making sure there were no surprises. The back door was closed, but it wasn’t locked. As soon as we stepped inside the house, it was obvious the house was vacant. There was no heat, little to no furniture, and no sign of life anywhere in sight.

  “Maverick, go check out the back room while I go out and check the shed,” I ordered. “Stitch, see what you can come up with in the front rooms.”

  They both nodded and watched as I headed out the back door. There was an eerie silence as I walked toward the front door of the shed, sending an excited chill down my back. I reached into my back pocket for my gun and then pulled the door open. As I stepped in, it took my eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness, but once they had, I was sickened by what I saw. An entire wall was covered from floor to ceiling with pictures of Sara. My eyes slowly roamed over the large collage of photos as my mind tried to comprehend what I was seeing. Some of the pictures had been taken years ago, while others looked like they’d been taken just a few days ago. Each picture was more personal than the last. It was bad, but it got worse… much worse. I continued to walk further into the shed, and when I was just about to reach the back wall, all the breath rushed out of my lungs. It was Cassidy. Thousands of pictures of her were plastered all over the wall. Some of them had been taken as recently as last week. Panic surged through me as I stared at all the different photos of her, realizing for the first time he had been watching her for months and without any of us knowing; not only had he been stalking Sara again, he’d also become obsessed with Cass… my Cass. Fuck.

  I shouldn’t have hesitated. I should’ve left right then and warned them it was worse than we’d thought, but I didn’t. I was too caught up in the horror of what was in front of me to even move. When I finally stepped out of the shed, a blazing pain pierced through my lower back. The blast forced me to the ground, writhing in agony. I’d been shot before, but nothing could compare to the burning pain I was feeling at that moment. I could feel the life rushing from my veins as Derek dropped down beside me.

  “I told you I’d have my revenge,” he spat. The coward didn’t even have the courage to face me. “You thought you could just take what was mine and get away with it?” Ensuring that the deed was done, he fired his gun again, shooting me for the second time as he said, “Wrong, motherfucker. Today, I take back what’s mine… all of it.”

  I watched as a black SUV pulled up in front of the house. Derek rushed toward the passenger door and jumped in. He’d used a silencer on his gun, giving him just enough time to pull out of the lot before Stitch caught sight of them. Stitch raced toward the vehicle, firing off round after round a
s the truck started down the curvy road. I could hear the gunfire, but I had no idea what was happening. I tried to stay awake, needed to stay awake, so I’d know if he’d gotten Derek, but the darkness was consuming me, making it impossible for me to hold on. Just as I heard a thunderous explosion, everything went black.

  Something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones. I did what I could to push it to the back of my mind by busying myself in the bar, but every time one of the brothers walked through, it only confirmed my suspicions. Distress was written all over their faces, and none of them were talking, which worried me even more. I absolutely hated they wouldn’t share what was going on, but it was nothing new—club business was never shared with the women. I just had to deal and move on. It was almost ten o’clock, and I hadn’t heard anything from Cotton—no call, no text… nothing. If it weren’t for the girls showing up at the bar tonight, I think I would’ve lost my damn mind.

  “I’ve never seen Guardrail like this,” Allie whispered. “It’s freaking me out.”

  Remembering the look on his face when he charged through the bar earlier made my heart sink with the weight of my worry. I wanted desperately to ask him what was wrong, but I knew it was no use. I looked over at Allie and said, “Guardrail is great at what he does. Just give him some time to get it sorted.”

  “What exactly does he have to sort?’ Henley snapped. “I just don’t get it. Why won’t he just tell us what’s going on? It’s obvious something’s wrong.”

  “And it’s not just him,” Emerson piped in. “They are all acting like they’re ready to blow.”

  “I can’t take this. What if something happened to Maverick?” Henley spoke softly with tears filling her eyes.

  “Stop. We aren’t doing this. If we start the ‘what if’ game, it’s just going to make things that much worse. The guys will be back in a day or so, and then we’ll have a better idea of what’s going on,” I lectured.