Hot as Hades (Four Horsemen MC Book 2)

by Rayne, Cynthia

  Not that Cowboy was all sweetness and light about the issue. He gave her a cold-eyed stare. “This is the sort of offer that can’t be refused, Wildcat.”

  Fantastic. She was going to meet the rest of the gang.

  As if bikers hadn’t screwed her over enough for the day.

  Chapter Five

  Twenty minutes later, Daisy watched three more Horsemen stroll into the hotel room, as if they owned the place and evidently they did.

  She was still pissed about that.

  After surveying a lanky blond with blue eyes, a tall man with black hair and even blacker eyes, as well as a slightly older but very attractive man, she concluded the Horsemen had some sort of minimum hotness requirement for members. All of the bikers were hot in a gritty sort of bad boy way. Granted, she’d only met a handful of them, but she had no doubt the rest could fill in as Magic Mike extras.

  The oldest nodded to her. “I’m Captain.”

  He still had a powerfully built body and she noted the president patch on his vest. She placed him in his early forties, with gray at his temples, though it blended into his blond hair. Slight lines crinkled around his blue eyes, and he had a neatly trimmed beard, that he scratched thoughtfully as he gave her a measuring look.

  They gathered at the small table by the window. The young blond straddled a chair from the back and she noted a VP patch on his chest.

  Captain sprawled in his chair, sitting with splayed legs. The dark haired biker didn’t sit; instead he leaned against the wall, moving the curtain to one side so he could scan the parking lot.

  Then he quietly watched her, eyes dark and devoid of any discernable emotion. She easily placed him as the most dangerous man in a room filled with dangerous men, so she kept him in her line of sight.

  The blond man nodded to her. “I’m Shepherd. It’s nice to meet you, sweetheart.” He reached across the table to offer her a hand, which she didn’t take.

  “Sweetheart’s name is Daisy.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  Shepherd dropped his hand, but she observed amusement in the curl of his lips. He inclined his head in Cowboy’s direction. “According to his texts you are posing as a stripper and searching for your sister. That means you got the inside track.”

  “Stripper and waitress,” she put in as though the hybrid title made it somehow better.

  “And you’re a Marine?” the brunette asked.

  “Yes.” Short, sweet, and barely cooperative.The perfect answer in her book.

  “I used to be Special Forces. The name’s Duke.”

  “She’s got plenty of notches on her gun belt,” Cowboy put in. “So watch yourself, brothers.” He fixed her with a look that promised retribution if she tried out any of her sweet hand-to-hand combat moves on his buddies.

  She wanted nothing more than to bust out of this crazy place, but she knew a lost cause when she saw one. Besides, Cowboy had his big booted foot propped on her duffel bag, which held her considerable arsenal. The guns were so close, yet so very far away.

  Dammit. And here she’d been worried about the Raptors coming after her. She hadn’t seen the Four Horsemen coming.

  Shepherd chuckled at Cowboy’s assessment and eyed the road rash on his bare arm, the bruise on his bicep. “What happened, brother? A girl beat you up?”

  “She got the drop on me, is all.” He scowled, his pride had clearly been stung a bit.

  Captain’s eyes widened and she could see a glimmer of respect forming in them as he looked her over again. Good. Now we are getting somewhere. “Tell us what you know,” he asked.

  She opened her mouth to set him straight about her level of cooperation when Cowboy interjected. “Maybe you should start with the Marine thing.”

  Fine. She would shoot the breeze and then bolt. “I served as a military police officer in Afghanistan. I guarded checkpoints in Kabal, mostly doing pat downs on female civilians,” she explained. “The insurgents knew male soldiers wouldn’t search women, so terrorists tried to use them as suicide bombers.” She shrugged. “I did some other things too. Patrols, guarding IED sites, and stuff like that.”

  “Did you ever find a bomb?” Cowboy asked, and he actually seemed interested.

  She nodded, but didn’t elaborate.

  “As fascinating as this is, we aren’t doing a job interview,” Captain put in, giving Cowboy a look. “The Raptors have your sister?"

  She couldn’t talk about Rose with them, none of their business anyway. “That’s personal.”

  She found some sympathy in Cowboy’s eyes. “I know it is, Wildcat. We aren’t trying to snoop, but we need to know what’s going on, so we can help. This kinda shit is our specialty. We love nothin’ more than meting out some good old fashioned vigilante justice.”

  She splayed her hands. “That’s great and all, but you don’t seem to get it. I don’t want your help.”

  “You might not want it, but you’ll need it,” Captain said sharply.

  She sagged in her chair. Truthfully, as soon as she’d gotten the job at the club, seen how big their operation was, she’d begun to wonder if she needed some muscle to get this done. She’d even contemplated calling a few of her Marine buddies, but she didn’t want to involve any of them in something with so much lethal potential. She didn’t want to rob yet another child of a mother or father.

  “The Raptors are ruthless. Trust us. They’ve gunned down a brother of ours in cold blood. You don’t take them on without some serious backup,” Cowboy said.

  “I understand retaliation for your brother’s death, but what does this stealth shit buy you? Why are you hot and heavy to go after Raptors?

  “Let me guess, you figure MCs are all the same, right?” Shepherd challenged.

  “If the motorcycle fits,” she retorted.

  After all, they’d walked in here with lethal swagger. She swept over their bodies, easily detecting the guns they kept hidden in holsters.

  “I’m telling you, we aren’t all the same, Wildcat,” Cowboy defended. “Only lesser men join that MC. Dicks who like using women and making bank on the misery of others.”

  She considered that a moment. Maybe she’d been too hasty in her assessment, assuming all MCs were only about profit and power. There were exceptions to every rule. The Horsemen probably weren’t completely on the up and up, but they did seem to possess some sort of moral code.

  “We’ve been watching them since the drive by, gathering information,” Captain told her with a sigh. “We need to know everything they are up to because we don’t want any other surprises.”

  “And what exactly are you going to do with the Intel?” she asked.

  “That’s club business,” Duke said quietly.

  “You guys are headed for a big showdown with them, aren’t you?” she deduced.

  They ignored her question.

  “Why are you looking for Rose yourself? You are a citizen, and you could use the legal system.” Shepherd cocked his head. Daisy figured out his use of the term citizen. Military members also differentiated themselves from civilians. She had a feeling the brothers had the same sort of mentality.

  Shepherd’s intense blue eyes searched hers as though he tried to see right through her. Pick her apart. Jesus.

  She’d hate to be in a room with both him and Voodoo. Each of them had an uncanny ability to see into someone, right down to the depths. Although, she sensed the hotel owner only did it for his own curiosity, while the VP seemed to be focused on a bigger picture. Maybe only on what was good for the club?

  She hesitated, unsure if she wanted to share anymore. “I have my reasons,” she hedged. Spending several years in the foster care system hadn’t exactly taught her to open up to people, or the military for that matter. She’d learned to fend for herself and keep her mouth shut, for the most part.

  “You are a Marine, military police no less, a straight arrow if I ever saw one. Rescuing your sister will be difficult and things are bound to get crooked. Real fast. Would you do a
nything it takes to get her back?” Shepherd asked.

  “And what about the fallout?” Captain put in.

  Point for the bikers.

  She hadn’t really decided what she would ultimately do once she found Rose. She had a healthy respect for the law, but war had given her a more practical side. All of her initial plans had centered on locating her sister. Her first instinct had been to extract Rose and then turn the bikers over to the authorities.

  But the more she learned about the Raptors, the more concerned she became. While not exactly the mafia, they had clubs all over the country. What would stop them from exacting vengeance if she blew the whistle on their illegal activities?

  That could get really messy.

  She and Rose would have targets on their backs for the rest of their lives. While she didn’t have a problem handling that sort of burden, she loathed placing it on her sister. Rose had been through enough already.

  Yet, grabbing Rose and not shutting down about the club’s drug running and prostitution felt wrong too. She couldn’t let them get away with it.

  The Horsemen had just given her a third alternative. She had no doubt the MC would punish these jackasses and it wouldn’t blow back on Rose and herself. The Horsemen could provide some firepower and much needed backup.

  What had her drill sergeant said once? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. She wouldn’t go that far, but the Horsemen might prove valuable. At the very least, they’d be cannon fodder while she safely removed Rose.

  She had misgivings, but the benefits outweighed the risks in her assessment. “Fine, we’ll partner up.” It’s not like she had any other options.

  “Tell us about your sister,” Cowboy prompted.

  She stiffened.

  “Please,” he said softly.

  She expelled a breath. “Fine. I’ll brief you.” She focused on their boots as she spoke. It made it easier to talk if she didn’t have to see their faces. “She had a wild period, according to her adopted mom, Stephanie. When Rose went to college this past fall, she started partying, cutting classes. She even got busted last semester with weed at a party and ended up with a misdemeanor possession charge and probation. A few months ago, she met this douchebag named Rock and she disappeared right around then. No one has seen her since.”

  A familiar flood of guilt hit her. She never should have left Rose alone.

  “You said her adopted mother. You weren’t adopted as well?” Cowboy pressed.

  She forced herself to choke out the words. “Rose and I had to go into foster care after my mom died. No one wanted both of us.” She shook her head. “But lots of families wanted to adopt Rose until they realized I came as a free gift with purchase. I got tired of being the reason she couldn't have a real home, so I told the judge I wanted to be on my own."

  Cowboy winced. “That’s rough.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s said and done,” she said quickly. “Anyway, Rose has a record and the police were less than helpful when Stephanie approached them. That’s why I have to look for her myself. The cops aren’t going to do a damn thing to help a junkie. It’s all on me.”

  “Did Stephanie try to look for her?” Shep asked.

  “Hell, no. I think deep down she felt relieved when her “problem child” took off. A couple years after they adopted Rose,” Daisy explained, “Stephanie got pregnant with her own kid and suddenly my sister became a second class citizen. She didn’t even tell me Rose had gone missing until I shipped stateside and showed up on her doorstep. When I hadn’t heard from Rose in a while, I figured she’d gotten busy with school. I had no idea what happened.”

  “What a bitch,” Captain said.

  She should never have left her flesh and blood with strangers. They should have stayed together in foster care, and she could have gotten a job after she completed her GED, then supported herself and Rose.

  She didn’t intend to make the same mistake twice. Once she found her sister, they’d stay together. She’d make sure Rose got some counseling to deal with this shit, send her to rehab to get her head straight, and then she’d head back to college and get her life back on track.

  “When is your next shift?” Shepherd asked after a moment.

  “Tonight. I go in at ten. I’m only waiting tables though. They schedule dancers by seniority and as the new girl, I get the crap shifts no one else wants.” Not that she particularly looked forward to dancing on stage, delivering drinks suited her just fine. It would give her a chance to listen in on conversations as she wandered around.

  “I’ll go with her,” Cowboy offered.

  Captain glanced at him. “You are vouching for her then?”

  He nodded solemnly. “I will.”

  “Consider her your responsibility,” Shepherd said solemenly.

  She had the sense she’d witnessed some sort of biker ceremony. She scanned their faces. “Care to share?”

  Cowboy spoke up. “You are being thrown some trust because you’re helping us. It is a bit like becoming a prospect for the club.”

  She frowned.

  “When a man prospects for an MC, he’s basically interning, getting a tryout to be a real member,” Cowboy explained. “But he’s got to have a sponsor, a club member who will swear an oath for him. Like Shep did for me. You will be conducting club business and you’re under my authority.”

  She gaped at them. “Slow your roll. I’ll work with you, but I’m not joining up or anything.”

  “No, darlin’,” Captain said quickly. “We ain’t got no chick members and we’re keepin’ it that way.”

  As if she wanted to join the Neanderthal brigade. “Yeah, not a problem.” Working her way through one male-dominated institution was quite enough.

  “Fine. You will keep us briefed on what they’re up to and we’ll help you retrieve your sister once you get a lead.” Captain stood up, evidently deciding the meeting had come to a close. “Good.” He fixed her with a look. “From what Cowboy said, you had an easy go of it the first time, but I guarantee you it’s going to be worse tonight.”

  Seriously? Could she handle worse without punching someone? “Why?”

  “According to our sources the Raptors went to Dallas, my guess is for a protection run. That’s why we sent Cowboy over. We figured the girls would be more talkative without them around,” Captain explained.

  Shepherd grinned. “And it sort of worked. You should get some rest and bring you’re A game tonight, sweetheart. You’ll need it.”

  She felt like she’d been given some orders by her commanding officer. They swaggered out the door, leaving her with Duke and Cowboy.

  “The Raptors traffic in women,” Duke said.

  “Yeah, I’m aware, brother.” Cowboy frowned.

  The biker sighed tiredly. “Which means the Raptors would consider her to be a hot commodity, so she needs to be protected.”

  “Yeah, she’s got protection,” Cowboy said, puffing out his chest slightly.

  She rolled her eyes. “She can protect herself,” Daisy ground out.

  Duke ignored her, instead focusing on the other man. “We should chip her, the GPS will always tell us where she is, might come in handy if they try to take off with her.”

  She snapped her fingers. “Hey, she is over here and she has an opinion of her own. I don’t want a chip.”

  “It won’t be a big deal,” Duke explained. “It’s only a little injection and if there are any complications, I got it covered. I did a stint in med school, and spent some time as a medic in the military.”

  He’d gone to medical school?! And then became a biker? How does that work? “Yeah, my objection had nothing to do with the procedure,” she said slowly, because he obviously didn’t get it. “You aren’t going to chip me like a dog. I’m not your prize poodle.”

  Cowboy stared at her and she could almost see the gears working in his head as he weighed the option. Finally, he turned to his brother. “I get your point, brother, but the lady doesn’t want a chip.”

&
nbsp; “Yeah, well, the lady is stupid,” Duke said succinctly.

  She flipped him off.

  “Let it go, brother,” Cowboy said in a warning tone. She had no doubt Duke was the maverick type, going it alone, no matter what other people thought.

  Duke shook his head. “Suit yourself, it’s your funeral.” He walked out the door without a backwards glance.

  “He’s disturbing,” she said succinctly.

  “You’re not wrong.”

  She followed Cowboy to the exit. Despite the sexual release, she still felt on edge. Especially since she knew what kind of shit storm currently headed her way. Her body thrummed with unspent energy.

  “Is there a gym here?” she asked.

  “Yeah, near the lobby. Nothing fancy, but we got a stationary bike and a punching bag. Why do you ask?”

  She brought one arm across her chest, stretching it, and then the other. “I gotta feeling I’m going to need to work off some of my aggression while I’m here.”

  From the doorway, she watched the bikers. Shepherd put on a pair of aviator glasses, probably to conceal the fact that he observed them both. Captain also observed them, his face pensive. She stood next to Cowboy awkwardly; being this close and not touching set her teeth on edge.

  He started to walk out when she held out her palm expectantly. “Forgetting something?”

  “Like what?” he asked.

  “Gun,” she waggled her fingers at him.

  He shook his head. “I’m going to hold on to your piece.”

  She scowled at him. “Why?”

  “Because I said so,” he answered.

  Saying crap like that made her want to slap him. He just expected her to fall in line? Good luck with that, buddy. “Give it.”

  “You are welcome to try and take it back.” He opened his arms, as though expecting her to tussle with him.

  Oh, she’d get her gun back if it was the last thing she did. Luckily, she had a couple more stashed away, but the .38 special was a favorite. It had been crafted to be ultra-lightweight with a beautiful turquoise coating.