Primal Heat

by Piper Davenport

  “We have a couple of leads, but nothing concrete yet,” he said, and crossed his arms. “Now, you gonna tell me why the fuck you went to the Primal Howlers’ compound?”

  “Only if you promise not to get mad.”

  “Oh, I’m way past mad, Sabrina.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Do you need a reminder that I’m a grown ass woman who doesn’t need to tell you shit?”

  “Bree, you know that you’re the total light of my life, and if anything happened to you, I would lose my mind. So, I will not apologize for not liking that you put yourself in harm’s way by waltzing into a notorious one-percent motorcycle club’s lair!”

  I shook my head. “I guess that’s fair, but nothing happened. Despite being intimidating and biker-y, they were actually friendly. As far as bikers go, I guess. Unfortunately, I didn’t get what I needed, so it was a wasted trip.”

  “Which was?” he asked.

  “One of the biker’s is Felix’s biological father.”

  “Jesus. Ria fucked a Howler?” he growled. “Which one?”

  “Ah, Stoney?”

  “Jesus fuckin’ Christ. That’s awesome,” he snarled sarcastically.

  “Why? Is he bad?”

  “They’re all bad, Bree. They’re fucking bikers.”

  “Well, that’s a little judgmental.”

  “It’s an accurate judgement call.” He sighed. “Will you leave it to me now? For the love of god?”

  I nodded, tears slipping down my cheeks. “You need to find him. You know how scared he gets at night. And now he’s all alone without me.”

  He pulled me in for a hug. “We’re working on it. We’ll find him.”

  “Work faster,” I begged, hugging him.

  He kissed my hair and squeezed me gently. “Okay, sissy.”

  I pulled away. “Are you staying for dinner?”

  “Are you cooking?”

  “Pizza?”

  He chuckled. “I’m gonna head to the office, then Mom’s.”

  I sighed. “Of course you are.”

  “You can always come too. She’s your mother as well.”

  “I have to stay here,” I said. “In case.”

  “Okay, I’ll call you later.”

  I nodded and walked my brother out, locking up behind him. Once I heard him drive away, I headed to Fox’s room and turned on the light. Everything was exactly how it was this morning. I don’t know what I expected. A clue maybe. I stripped his bed, planning on having everything clean when he got home, but mid tug on the top sheet, my doorbell rang, so I flipped off the light, making my way to the front door and yanking it open. “Did you forget some—”

  “Hey, Breezy.”

  Stoney stood on my porch. But not for long, pushing his way inside. Gently, but forcefully.

  I faced him. “Wha...ah, what are you doing here? How are you here?”

  “Nice place,” he said, not answering my question.

  “Stoney, how the hell did you find out where I lived?” I demanded.

  He studied me, his eyes smiling, even though that smile didn’t meet his mouth. “You came to my house unannounced, and now I’m returning the favor. It’s not really important how I found you. Just that I did.”

  “Are you going to hurt me?” I whispered, even though I knew the answer.

  “What gave you the impression I was here to hurt you?”

  “What other impression should I have?” I challenged.

  “Babe, if I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn’t have rung the bell.”

  I shivered. “What do you want?”

  “Just to talk. I need information in order to help you find Felix.”

  “My brother—”

  “Your brother is limited within the law, sweetheart. I am not.”

  I closed my door and leaned against it. “I don’t have much, to be honest.”

  “Give me your phone,” he said, and I pushed away from the door and made my way to my purse. Rummaging inside, I grabbed it, then handed it to him.

  “I just sent myself a text,” he said. “So you have my number. I want you to send me pictures of Felix, then I want information about his teacher and the school.”

  “You won’t hurt her, will you?”

  “Jesus, what’s with you thinkin’ I’m gonna hurt everyone?” he lamented.

  “Newsflash... you’re kind of terrifying.”

  This made him smile and it scared me even more.

  “Baby, quit lookin’ at me like that. I’m not gonna fuckin’ hurt you,” he said, his tone one of exasperation. “I’m not in the habit of hurtin’ women. No matter who they are or what they’ve done.”

  “Even Maria?”

  “Why the fuck would I want to hurt Maria, god rest her soul?”

  I shrugged. “A lot of people were mad at her at the end. I just figured after the letter, you’d be pissed.”

  “I’m more confused,” he admitted. “But we can sort that out once your nephew’s home safe, okay?”

  I bit my lip and nodded.

  “Now, send me that information,” he demanded, handing me back my phone.

  It didn’t take me long, and I set my phone on my kitchen island. “What are you going to do?”

  “Better you don’t know,” he said, his fingers flying over his phone. “How did your sister OD? Heroin?”

  “Sort of,” I said. “She didn’t die of a heroin overdose, so much as a fentanyl overdose. By the time she’d gotten clean, not only had her tolerance gone down, but heroin itself had changed. The widespread use of fentanyl used to cut the heroin had made it not only more addictive, it made it more deadly. I don’t even think she got the high she was chasing. The dragon consumed her before she ever reached the castle.”

  “Fuck,” he whispered. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

  I shrugged, wiping away tears. “It’s okay. I can’t do anything to change it.”

  “I liked your sister. She was cool. Crazy, but cool.”

  I nodded. “She was. She was amazing. When she was sober. But then the demons attacked and she... well, she needed to find an escape.”

  Before I registered what was happening, Stoney’s arms were around me and I was engulfed in the strongest pair of arms I’d ever experienced.

  And that’s when I broke down. Completely.

  “Okay, sweetheart, I got you,” he whispered, holding me tighter.

  I couldn’t stop sobbing, every emotion I’d ever felt about my sister’s death swamping me. I thought I’d dealt with all of this, but apparently not. At least not with Stoney’s arms around me. I felt safe. It had been a long time since I’d felt safe and I had no idea what to do with that.

  I gripped his jacket and burrowed against his chest, sobbing until I had nothing left. No tears, no breath, nothing.

  “I need to find him. I can’t live without him,” I rasped as soon as I could form sentences.

  “We’re gonna find him, Sabrina. Swear to Christ, we will.”

  “How can you find him when we don’t even know who took him, or why?” I asked, leaning back to meet his eyes.

  He smiled, but this time it didn’t scare me. “I got reach.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Any ideas from your end?” he asked.

  “Before she got clean, she ran with a lot of shady people for a lot of years. At one point, she owed a lot of money around town and I don’t know if all those debts were paid in full. My mom mentioned my sister’s car went missing shortly after she died. If my sister owed someone money, maybe they took Felix in order to ransom him.”

  “Does your family have money?” he asked.

  “I’m sure if we all pooled our resources, we could come up with twenty or thirty thousand, but who knows how much she owed.”

  “I can’t imagine anyone going through the trouble of takin’ a kid for twenty grand, so let’s hope she wasn’t in any deeper.”

  “Oh my god,” I rasped.

  He stroked my cheek. “I got you.”


  I blushed, pulling away from him with a nod.

  “I’m gonna leave a man on your place,” he said.

  “What? Why?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Because I can.”

  “My brother already—”

  “Yeah, don’t actually give a shit.”

  “Where is he?” I asked. “Your man?”

  “Close,” he said evasively.

  I shook my head. “Fine. He and my brother’s man can duke it out.”

  His mouth twitched. “Duke it out?”

  “I have no time for alpha male bullshit when my nephew is missing!” I growled.

  “We’re gonna find Felix, Breezy. Promise.”

  I waved my hands to the door. “Go ahead. Get to finding. Because I can’t sit here and do nothing.”

  “Staying put in case he comes back isn’t doing nothing, sweetheart. Waiting is always the hardest part, but it’s important.”

  I shrugged.

  “You sure you’re okay?”

  “As opposed to, what exactly? A damsel in distress?” I snapped. “Newsflash... I’m no one’s fucking damsel.”

  He raised his hands. “Okay. Got it. I’ll text you when I find something.”

  “I’d appreciate that. Thanks.”

  Stoney walked out, and I locked the door behind him, sliding to my butt and bursting into tears. Jesus, if someone didn’t find something quick, I was gonna lose my mind.

  * * *

  Stoney

  Climbing on my bike, I sent a quick text to a hacker buddy. Rabbit was with the Dogs of Fire out of Savannah, Georgia, and could find anyone anywhere, and if he couldn’t, he had people who could.

  As I headed back to the compound, I made a mental note to talk to Sundance about recruiting someone who could do the same shit Rabbit, and his counterpart, Booker out of Portland, Oregon, did. We needed to expand our brotherhood. A few more tech gurus, a few less mechanics.

  I parked my bike and headed inside to find Sundance and Wyatt making out on one of the sofas. “If you’re not gonna get a room, I’d appreciate you get naked so I can watch.”

  Sundance broke the kiss and glared at me while Wyatt blushed the cutest fuckin’ shade of red. She was new to club life, even if she’d been with Sundance for a while. She was high-class all the way and helped to round out some of the rough edges she was bombarded with.

  “Sorry, Stoney,” she rasped, trying to climb off Sundance’s lap. He held her firm.

  I laughed. “Don’t actually care. Just like givin’ you shit.”

  “Did you find out anything about the little boy?” she asked.

  I sat on the back of the sofa and nodded. “Insomuch that he’s been missing for eight hours now, which means time is not on our side.”

  “Did he leave school?” Wyatt asked.

  “No. The teacher thought he got on the bus, but Sabrina thinks she’s coverin’ her ass.”

  “She probably is.”

  “I’m gonna go down there and talk to her tomorrow.”

  “Ah, I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” she countered.

  I frowned. “Why not?”

  “Because the second you walk in there, they’re gonna lock down the school. You need to have someone who doesn’t look like they could kill someone with their bare hands go in there.”

  “Who do you propose, Dimples?” Sundance asked.

  “I’ll go.”

  “No way in hell,” Sundance growled.

  “I can go in as a prospective parent looking for a tour. They do things like that all the time.”

  “You’ve got a business to run.”

  “And I can take an hour out of my day to run down to the school.”

  “You’re pregnant,” Sundance countered.

  “I am?” she sassed.

  “I’m not risking you walkin’ into someth—”

  “What could possibly happen to me at an elementary school?”

  “School shootin’,” I said without thinking.

  “Stoney,” she hissed, rolling her eyes, then focusing back on her husband. “I’ll be fine.”

  “I’m comin’ with you,” he said.

  “You’re scarier than Stoney,” she countered. “I’ll be good.”

  “Or, I can sit in the car while you go in,” he said.

  She sighed, stroking his face. “Can you take the time to do that?”

  “Abso-fuckin-lutely.”

  “That’d be great, Wyatt,” I said. “I’d appreciate it.”

  “No problem.”

  My phone buzzed, so I excused myself and headed to my room. “Stoney.”

  “Hey, brother, it’s Rabbit.”

  “Hey. Did you find out anything?”

  “Not sure.”

  “Shit,” I hissed.

  “You said this chick OD’d, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So I started to go down the rabbit hole, no pun intended, of who’s runnin’ the heroin trade in Colorado. It’s the Mexicans. Specifically, Los Psychos.”

  “Los Psychos don’t really have a presence here.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” Rabbit countered. “They do, but it’s on the DL. You’ve always had a bigger issue with the Apex Predators, but word on the dark web is that El Cacto is making a play for the Predators’ drug business.”

  “The Predators’ don’t deal in heroin, specifically fentanyl-laced heron. Maybe a little coke, but they stay away from heroin and the rest of that shit. They want pot and hookers.”

  “Yeah, well, so does Los Psychos, apparently. They’ve got a peace treaty with the Burning Saints out of Portland, which extends to the Dogs, sort of. But they’re buyin’ up property all over Colorado Springs, and messin’ with the Predators’ territory. Basically, they’re hopin’ for a turf war.”

  “Jesus Fuckin’ Christ,” I growled.

  The Apex Predators had been messin’ with our grow business, causing all manner of issues from hittin’ our delivery vans, to trying to burn down our warehouses. If we had to deal with the Mexicans as well, we were fucked.

  “If your girl was into Los Psychos for drug money, this might be bigger than we realize. They run girls, Stoney. Girls who aren’t of legal age. Girls who haven’t chosen the life, and there’s rumor they’re lookin’ for young boys.”

  “Fuck.” I rubbed my forehead. “There’s no evidence Maria was involved with Los Psychos, but I can’t imagine anyone else goin’ after her kid.”

  “I’ve got my ear to the ground. I sent that picture of the kid to a few of my contacts down there. They’re gonna do more checkin’.”

  “Appreciate that, brother,” I said.

  “I’ll let you know what I find.”

  “Thanks.”

  We rang off and I called Aero.

  “Hey, Stoney.”

  “You busy?” I asked.

  “No, man. What do you need?”

  “Scrappy’s watchin’ a house for me, but it’d be good if you could back him up.”

  “Yeah, sure. Text me the address,” he said.

  “Done,” I said, and frowned. “Stay alert.”

  “Got it.”

  He hung up and I headed back to the great room where Wyatt and Sundance were makin’ out again. “Prez, you got a minute?”

  He raised his head with a frown. “Does it look like I got a minute?”

  Wyatt gripped his chin. “Don’t be a dick. He’s got more than a minute, Stoney. I need to head home to check on Teddy.”

  Teddy was Wyatt’s older brother. He’d been born with a few mental challenges, so couldn’t live on his own. We all dug the kid. He was funny as hell and worked hard, and since he was now a recruit for the club, he was around a lot.

  “I’ll walk you home, then come back,” Sundance offered.

  “Honestly, this won’t take long,” I said. “We can chat and then I’ve got shit to do.”

  Sundance gave me a chin lift and led me down to his office.

  Sabrina

/>   The sound of glass shattering pulled me from an unsettled slumber, and I sat straight up in bed. Someone was in my house. I should have called 9-1-1. I should have called my brother. But I didn’t do either. I called Stoney.

  “Yo,” the sleepy voice answered sounding gruff.

  “Someone’s breaking into my house,” I whispered, tiptoeing into my closet.

  “Where are you?” he demanded.

  “Looking for a place to hide. Right now, I’m in my closet.”

  “Okay, don’t move. My guys’ll take care of it, but don’t come out until I get there.”

  I slid behind Maria’s chest, moved my long dresses to hide everything as much as I could, and made myself as small as possible. “Okay.”

  “I’m gonna hang up, but do not move until I get you.”

  “I won’t,” I promised, and hung up.

  I don’t know how long I stayed there, curled up in a ball, but my bladder was screaming for relief and I was afraid I’d be stuck there forever.

  “Sabrina?” a low, deep voice called.

  I didn’t recognize it, so I stayed as quiet as I could. I heard the squeak of my closet door, reminding me I really needed to oil it, but I still said nothing.

  “Breezy, it’s Stoney.”

  I peeked out of my hiding place and saw motorcycle boots. “I’m here,” I squeaked.

  “Come on out, sweetheart.”

  “I’m not really dressed. Can you give me a minute, please?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  I heard the door close again and unwound my creeky body, grabbing a robe and pulling it on pushing open the door again. He wasn’t in my room, so I took a second to pee, then went looking for him. He was standing in my hallway talking to another man.

  I pulled my robe tighter around my body. “Ah...”

  “Hey,” Stoney said. “This is Aero.”

  I gave him a little wave. “Hi.”

  “Aero’s goin’ back outside.”

  Aero grinned. “Right. Nice to meet ya, Sabrina.”

  “You too,” I said, and Aero walked away.

  “Your family room window’s busted,” Stoney said.

  “Did you catch the person?”

  “Yeah.”

  I put my hand to my chest. “Oh my god, who?”

  “Don’t know yet. We’ll deal with it.”

  “I should call my brother.”

  “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t,” he said. But it was a demand, more so than a request.