Her mirth ending, she half-turns in my direction. “Is that you, Beef?”
“Yeah, darlin’.” I smile at the confusion on the other women’s faces, knowing she must have recognised my steps, the way that I breathe, or just sensed my presence, just like I would her if she walked into a room. “You doing okay? Just going to have a meeting.”
She waves her hand in a dismissive gesture. “I’m fine here. Making friends.” She smiles broadly. “And I’ve been advised not to move until those muffins come out of the oven. Apparently, they don’t last long if you’re not first in line.”
Content she’s alright, I leave her with her new acquaintances, noting Jayden’s absence. Then, after having a quick word with Karl to keep a careful eye on her, I follow the brothers who are coming in and heading straight for church. Not for the first time I wish I had my Tucson brothers around me. Men, who I could predict how they would react.
I realise I’m not being fair. One hint of trouble today and these men put their lives on the line for me. Acknowledging that thought, as I walk in, I raise my chin in turn to Thunder, Pyro, Ink, Rusty and Skull. Translating my gesture, I get various reactions in return, a number of ways of saying, no problem. They’d have done the same for any brother.
Paladin’s the last to enter. From the flush on his face I suspect I know where Jayden had disappeared to. I grin at him. Seems they’ve progressed a long way from just holding hands.
Lennox is already seated at the end of the table; I take the empty chair beside him. Wills and Dan, so recently patched in they haven’t been given road names yet, can’t hide the excitement on their faces as they attend their first proper church. I can still recall what it was like to progress from prospect to member. A feeling of pride, and an underlying concern they’ll do something to fuck up. I don’t expect them to do much talking.
Demon bangs the gavel, but it doesn’t take much to get our attention. With a marshal seated at the table everyone wants to know what’s going on. I wonder how Demon is going to handle this. I do notice his father, Hellfire, watching him with a mix of interest and concern.
“Right. No point starting anywhere other than introducing Marshal Lennox.” The marshal gives a small nod on hearing his name but doesn’t say a word. “There are several questions we want answered.”
Lennox’s lips narrow. “Not saying I’m going to be able to satisfy your curiosity.”
I raise my hand. Demon nods. Twisting my body slightly, I’m now facing the marshal. “I don’t think you’re in any position to do otherwise.” As I pause, the men around me growl as I’d hoped, reminding him exactly where he is, in the lion’s den. “I’ll start. I’ll tell you what we know, then you’ll better know where to fill in the gaps. To begin with, let’s get this straight. Stevie did everything she was told to do to protect her identity. She lived the role she was supposed to and did nothing to knowingly expose herself.”
He raises his head and creases his eyes. “You sure about that?”
“Certain.” I wait for him to take that in, then continue, “Stevie witnessed a crime.” I change the direction of my focus, making sure everyone at the table understands. “A shooting so callous, she still has nightmares about it. She still hears the sounds of shots and screaming echoing in her head.”
Lizard passes a hand over his face, while Bomber uses words. “Poor little girl.”
I lift my chin in confirmation. “She wants to do right, have the bad guys put away so they can’t do that again. Trouble is, it’s an MC she’s up against, so the feds decided to pursue a RICO indictment. That’s something no club wants brought to their door as it takes down all the members, whether or not they were the ones actually doing the crime.”
The marshal gives nothing away, no movement, no expression.
“She’s blind, and she’s got a service dog. A service dog with a GPS tag so he can be located if he goes missing.”
“What the fuck?” Lennox pushes his chair back and stands. “What the ever-loving fuck?” He paces the room as he realises the implications. “But who would know about that?”
“Just as important,” Cad pipes up, “how can whoever knew get into the right database and search for that information?”
“Let’s leave that for now. Sit down, Marshal.” I wait until he does so before continuing. “You want to know why this club is protecting Stevie? It’s all down to me. I witnessed a hit and run, the fuckin’ dog pushed her out of the path of the car, got clipped himself.” I wait a second for that to sink in. “Woman was torn up about Max who not only is a companion, but her lifeline. So I helped her out. Went to talk to her about her situation. Fuckin’ lucky I did. I was there when a fuckin’ firebomb was thrown into the house. The backdoor was blocked. If I hadn’t had been there, she might not have gotten out.”
“I didn’t know about the dog but knew about the fire.” Lennox’s voice and face are grim. “Had to wait for the firefighters to confirm there wasn’t a body in there. That’s when I lost track of her.”
“Which brings us to how the fuck did you know where to find her today? I want to know why you were so conveniently there.” If my tone is menacing, it’s because I mean it. “Could be you’re the one tracing the tag and found her.”
Lennox looks stunned and quickly shakes his head. His lips press together, then he seems to come to a decision. “Look, I’ve been chasing my tail trying to find her. Thought the Warped Jokers had gotten her, thought she might already be dead.” He grimaces, then continues, “I’d almost given up hope when I got a call from the cops they’d seen Jokers in town. I came back to Pueblo to find them. Put two and two together. If they already had her, they wouldn’t be hanging around.”
“Didn’t you think to pick them up and question them? You knew her cover had to have been blown.”
“Sure, I was going to work with the local cops, but I didn’t have a chance. Almost as soon as I spotted them they were getting ready to ride out, I followed them. I’d put my own tracker on one of their bikes. A bike that’s now in your auto-shop.”
I let that pass, not wanting to draw attention to the sudden flare in Pyro’s eyes, confident the tracker will be found and destroyed. “So, you followed them today?”
Another raise and dip of his head. “Sure did. They headed up to your cabin. I parked up, followed on foot. Didn’t know at the time that that’s where Stevie was hiding, they could have just been holing up there themselves. I got close enough to hear them talking. They’d expected to find Stevie there, and were making plans how to approach to catch her unawares. I was faster and skirted around them. Picked up your track immediately. You, cleverly, headed off into the forest.” He gives me a brief grin. “You passed me walking down. I assumed you’d hidden Stevie, and I found her. Well, you know the rest. Now she’s under my protection again.”
His story sounds plausible. But there’s one thing I don’t like. “Lennox, she was almost killed three times on your watch. There’s a leak somewhere.”
He shakes his head. “Never lost a witness from Wit Sec yet. The US Marshals are tight.”
“I suggest you stop regurgitating that shit as you almost lost this one.” Demon’s voice thunders from the top of the table, making the point better than I could. “I’ve not decided whether I trust you or not, but one thing we stand for is not hurting women or failing to protect them.” He pauses, then his hand bangs the table twice in quick succession. “If you didn’t open your mouth, who did? The dog’s tracker is almost definitely how they found her. So who’s got access to the GPS database where his details will be lodged. And who the fuck knew what to look for?”
Demon’s final words ring around the room in the sudden silence as all eyes stare at the man who’s got no real rights to be here. Lennox shifts uncomfortably, then pushes back his chair and starts to stand.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
The strength and loudness of the prez’s voice makes Lennox straighten his back. “I’m taking this
back to my colleagues. We’ll start…”
“You’re not starting anything,” I growl. “The leak may have come from within your organisation.”
Lennox’s cheeks glow red. “We’re watertight. We’ve never…”
“Well you fuckin’ nearly have now.” My fist comes down so hard on the wooden table top I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear it crack. “You don’t know who you can fuckin’ trust. You don’t know if someone’s got a brother, or sister, or cousin first removed with a tie to the Warped Jokers.”
With his cheeks puffed out, Lennox spits out, “All my teams are background checked and have security clearance.”
“So that’s okay then?” My tone is sarcastic. Then my voice sharpens. “Then who else knows?”
Lennox grimaces. “Local law enforcement is informed as a courtesy when we relocate a witness into their town.”
“What the fuck?” Thunder roars. “The cops know?”
“Ninety-five percent of the time, witnesses are people who have been involved with a crime, but who have agreed to testify. They get a new identity, help finding a job. But in the end, we’re relocating a problem into a town. Local lawmen have the right to be given a heads up in case they go back to their old ways.”
“Stevie’s committed no crime,” I say tensely. “There’s no reason for the cops to know.”
Marshal shrugs. “We just followed procedure.”
“A cop could access the database with the dog’s details,” Cad suggests.
Lennox looks a mixture of relieved, confused and annoyed. “We haven’t had problems before.” He stares down at the table, then raises his eyes to meet Demon’s. “Any local cop you don’t trust?”
“Them all?” Pyro throws in, then sits back with a huff.
Prez answers more seriously, “Apart from you? No.”
He looks down the table toward his father. Hellfire shrugs. “We try to avoid them when we can. Got a new police chief in recently, but as far as we can tell, he’s straight.”
“When did he take the job?” Lennox asks tersely.
When he’s told, he shakes his head. “Date’s don’t match up. He couldn’t have known at the time that we were going to place Stevie here.”
The marshal slumps in his seat. Then suddenly he sits back up. “Of course, if they hadn’t so conveniently disappeared, we could ask the Warped Jokers outright.” His voice sharpens. “What have you done with them?”
Demon stares back at him steadily. “They got the message they weren’t welcome in Pueblo. Must have headed back to whatever hole they came from.”
I work hard at suppressing my grin. Yeah, for two of them, that’s a nice deep hole in the ground. Our next step will indeed be to question the two still breathing, but that’s something the likes of Lennox will know nothing about. Don’t want anyone connected to the law poking into the way we manage that particular business.
“I’d like to ask a question.” Buzzard leans forward, then twists his head. “If we’re proposing to keep this woman safe, how long? When is the trial, Marshal?”
It’s a good question. I hadn’t thought to ask. I raise my chin toward the treasurer.
“Two months off. It’s been put back once, but prosecutors are determined it should go ahead this time.”
So we need to keep Stevie safe for eight weeks. Ideas start running through my head. Take her to Tucson? Take her somewhere completely different? I realise there’s no conflicting thought in my head, every suggestion I’m making to myself has her and I inextricably linked together. Two months isn’t a long time. I can put my life on hold for that. Okay, so it might be longer until I’m assured she can safely be left on her own or can go back to the bosom of her family.
There’s a conversation going on around me, but I’m focused on the one going on inside my head. I’m loathe for Stevie to walk off with Lennox, not just because I don’t think he can keep her safe, but because I don’t want to lose her, and I can’t see my views changing any time soon. She might not have been in my life long, but already I don’t like the idea of living without her. Like a lightbulb belatedly going off in my head, she’s not an example of the kind of woman I’m looking for in my life, she’s the one. I’m not going to let her slip through my fingers.
Of course, I don’t know what her answer would be, but if she’s prepared to have a place in my life, I’d be willing to claim her. Put my patch on her.
In doing so, I have to accept my offer to give up my own patch and my club might not be temporary but could be permanent. I’m proposing to put my life on hold, or change it for good, all to bring down an MC which, however much I don’t like that particular club, is part of the world I’ve bought into.
Is she worth that?
She’s worth that and more.
“You with us, Beef?”
I snap back to the meeting in hand and give Demon a sharp nod.
But it seems it’s drawing to a close in any event. We’ve achieved our objective. Lennox will be leaving with suspicions of how the Warped Jokers came to disappear, but no evidence. He’ll also know we weren’t the ones who traced Stevie to this town. If he’s dirty he’s found we know nothing that would point to him, no reason to try to take us down.
Lifting the gavel and turning it over in his hand, Demon looks first at Cad then down to the end of the table. “You go do what you have to do, Marshal. In the meantime, Stevie will stay here, and we’ll keep her safe.” He looks at me pointedly as he says it.
Lennox huffs, but must realise he’s beaten. At the end of the day, it’s Stevie’s choice and he knows it. If he wants her to testify, he needs her alive. Having put doubts in his head, he can’t trust his own organisation.
It must stick in his claw, I think, as he stands to leave, that the only people he can trust are an outlaw MC.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“You want to be in on questioning the Jokers?” Demon asks as we leave the meeting.
“He wanted to kill her, Demon. Went to the cabin with that intention. Yes, I fuckin’ want to question them with my fists and leave nothing of him.”
The prez’s lips twitch. “Can’t get answers if he’s dead. I let you down there, you could kill him before he talks, not that I’d blame you.”
I nod. He’s suggesting I step back and let others lead. The way I’m feeling right now, I can see his point. “Okay. You know what I need, Prez. Any info about where and how the Jokers were getting their information.”
“Mace is a good enforcer, Beef. He’ll get every last thing that he knows out of him.”
I purse my lips thinking. Bloody my hands to do something that anyone here is capable of, or, pursue my woman who I’ve neglected for long enough. “Let Mace do it.”
Prez claps his hand on my shoulder as though I’ve come up with the right answer. “Trust us, Beef.”
To my surprise, trusting this new set of brothers isn’t as hard as I would have expected. I watch as Demon goes to confer with Mace, suddenly confident they’ll do the job as well, or perhaps better, than I could myself. They aren’t invested in the same way or have the desire to make the man hurt for personal reasons. Pain will be inflicted, yes, but in a clinical way designed to get all the information.
I let them walk off, knowing I can rely on them to get results, and go to find Stevie.
My own thoughts are now straight in my head, and I know I want to pursue a relationship with Stevie. I suppose I need to get her views on the idea as well. I want her in my life, but I need to consider she might not want me in hers. All very well for me to decide to take her away, she might have alternative ideas.
She’s where I left her, and it indeed seems like she’s been getting on well with the rest of the women. When I ask her to come with me, she takes a moment to say her goodbyes, while I wonder what her relationship was like with her family, and how many friends she had to leave behind. She’s not shy or awkward, in fact she seems to be outgoing. She holds up her hand to stay me for a second, while she
leans in, and then laughs loudly at something Jayden says.
At last, her attention is on me. She takes my arm as I lead her across the clubroom.
“Stairs.” I place her hand on the banister. “Last one coming up.” I turn to watch Max who’s following. Unlike the rickety steps in the cabin, he seems to be managing these well. “Right along here.” I take her elbow and make sure she’s walking straight, noticing it’s become second nature to guide her. Doesn’t hurt that I love the connection, my skin to her flesh. What had I thought in the beginning? That she’d be a burden? Far from it. Just means adjusting some of my behaviour is all and remembering to use verbal not visual cues.
That also means ensuring she knows where I’ve brought her. “Bedroom.”
“Mine?” She sniffs the air. “Is it the same one I stayed in before?”
“There are no free rooms here, Stevie. This is mine. Last time I slept on the couch, but I can’t do that every night. You’ll be staying with me.”
Her face tilts up. “We’ll be sleeping together?” Her expression conveys neither disgust nor pleasure.
“I can keep my hands to myself.” I can, but it will be hard. I remind myself she doesn’t know of my decision to claim her. Ease her in gently? Yeah, I can do that.
She nods. Her hands stretch out in front of her. Guessing she’s heading for the bed, I guide her to it, placing her hand on the comforter.
“You’re tense, Beef. You want a discussion, don’t you? Want to set boundaries?” She sits down. “We’re staying in the same room. Sleeping in the same bed.” Her brow scrunches up. “You say you can keep your hands to yourself, but what if I can’t?”
I wonder if I need to say anything at all. Where’s she going with this?
“You were right, Beef. When we made love, it was perfect.”
It had been, but I wouldn’t have termed it quite like that. My eyes crease as I wonder where she’s going. Ask for a repeat performance, please? One I’d be happy to give her every day for the rest of our lives.
Devil's Due: Satan's Devils MC Colorado Chapter #3 Page 24