“Troops, make yourselves at home,” he told his guys who spread out around the room. Then turning back to Moon and Rocker, who’s eyes were now narrowing in confusion, Shades pointed a finger at them. “You and you. Meeting room. The rest of you, outside.”
Everyone froze for a moment at Shades sharply given orders. They looked to their President and VP, not sure what to do.
Shades spun. “This is state business. Outside, fucking now!”
“Come on, guys,” Case backed up Shades, nodding toward the door. “Let’s give them a minute.”
Thankfully, Coop elbowed Deez, and they began herding the men out.
Shades head swung back to Moon, and he jerked his head toward the door, his eyes piercing the blonde’s. “Outside, darlin’.”
Moon stared at Shades with a cold look, and then blinked slowly. Then his hand squeezed the girl’s waist. “Go on, baby doll. Give us a minute.”
Shades waited while the girl scrambled off Moon’s lap and headed outside.
Moon and Rocker rose to their feet, and then led the way into a back room. Shades eyed the place. It had apparently been a bedroom at one time, but now contained a conference table and half a dozen chairs. Moon sat down at the head of the table, Rocker taking the chair next to him. Shades stood at the other end and leaned his palms on the table, his men crowded around him, lining the walls and blocking the entrance.
Moon’s eyes suddenly changed as he sensed the mood in the room and knew something was about to go down. Shades could see that much in his drugged out eyes, the man just couldn’t comprehend what.
“Chain’s only as strong as its weakest links. That’d be you two,” Shades looked them both in the eye.
“The fuck you say,” Rocker growled half coming out of his chair. Ghost pulled a gun and aimed it at his chest so fast the man flinched.
“Sit the fuck down, motherfucker.”
The blood drained from Rocker’s face as he eyed the barrel pointed right at his heart. He swallowed and sat back down, his eyes going to his President.
“What the fuck is this?” Moon growled. “You think you can come in here and…”
“I can come in here and do what the fuck I was sent here to do.”
“And what the fuck was that?”
“Pull your fuckin’ patch.”
“Pull my patch?”
“Both of you.”
“What the fuck for?”
“Don’t play me for a stupid motherfucker, Moon. You’ve been stealin’ from the club. Drugs, profits. You think that’s the kind of thing we let slide? We’re taking your cuts, your bikes and anything else that belongs to this club.”
“You’re not taking our bikes,” Rocker protested.
“Your bike is club property.”
“This is fucking bullshit,” Moon snarled. “I’m gonna talk to Butcher about this.”
“Who the fuck you think sent us?” Shades asked.
That made Moon pause.
“You take this cut from me, it’ll be off my cold dead body,” Rocker insisted.
Shades’ eyes cut to him. “That can be arranged. There’s a limestone quarry nearby, isn’t there, Gator?”
“Yeah, not too far from here.”
Shades stood, folded his arms and grinned down at Moon. “Perfect place to dump the bodies.”
Ghost gave their big bodies a once over and gave Shades a cockeyed grin, shrugging. “Not sure they’re gonna fit in the trunk.”
Shades gave him half a grin, and then looked over at Griz, who with the signal from Shades, stepped forward and pulled the ax he’d held tucked behind his leg.
Shades looked back at the two men who’d just turned white as a sheet. “Not like this they won’t.”
Griz hefted the ax to underline their meaning.
Moon’s hands lifted. “Okay. Okay.”
Hammer moved behind him and yanked his cut off, tossing it on the table. Spider did the same with Rocker’s.
“Take their rings, anything with Evil Dead on it. Claim everything…Its all Dead property,” Shades growled to Hammer and Spider.
“You’re seriously taking our bikes?” Moon protested.
“As much product as you’ve stolen from the club, you’re lucky that’s all we’re taking.
A few minutes later they exited the trailer, Hammer and Griz had a hold of Moon and Gator and Spider had a hold of Rocker. They dragged them outside and tossed them in the gravel, and then began boot stomping them, kicking them as they rolled further and further toward the street. The rest of the chapter brothers all stood quietly in shock, but staying out of it. Obviously Case had spoken to all of them.
When the men had been kicked literally ‘all the way to the curb’ Shades gave the two men a wicked grin. “Get your asses off club property, and don’t ever show your fucking faces again.”
The two stumbled to their feet, spitting blood.
“You motherfuckers, I’ll get you for this!” Moon swore.
Ghost pulled his piece and aimed it at his head. “Get out of here, before I change my mind and blow your brains out.”
The two men stumbled off down the wooded road.
Shades turned and motioned for JJ who held the two cuts in his hands. JJ tossed them to Shades. Shades turned and looked at Case, tossing the president’s cut to him. “Pull the president patch off that cut.”
Case looked down at the cut in his hands.
“And sew it on yours,” Shades finished.
“Holy shit.” Case’s eyes went wide.
“Got a problem with that?” Shades asked him.
Case grinned. “Fuck no.”
Shades looked around the men standing in the clubhouse yard and asked, “Anybody got a problem with that?”
He was met with shaking heads all around.
“Good.” Shades grinned. “Now break open the whiskey, we got a membership drive to organize.”
As the men all headed inside, Shades hung back and pulled out his cell. He dialed up Skylar.
A moment later, her soft voice came through the receiver.
“Hi, honey.”
“Hey, sweetheart.”
“Are you coming home tonight?”
“Afraid not. Gonna be here till tomorrow.”
“I miss you.”
“I miss you, too, baby.”
“I don’t like being apart. Sleeping in an empty bed.”
Shades grinned. “You in bed?”
“Yes,” came her soft reply.
“Naked?”
“Yes. You sure you can’t make it home tonight?”
“Damn, woman, you’re making me rethink that.”
“I know you have to take care of business. And it is a long ride back.”
“Four or five hours, babe.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”
“Yeah. I’ll be here most of the day, but I’ll call you when we’re headed back.”
“Okay, honey. I love you.”
“Love you, too, Sky.”
“Shades?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“Be careful.”
“Always.”
“Good night.”
“Night, babe.”
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
Sunday—
“Thank you so much for coming,” Skylar smiled at the young couple that had just toured the open house. Closing the door behind them, she pulled back the cuff of her cream silk blouse to look at her wrist watch. Then her eyes lifted to Betty, the realtor she was training with today. “Three-fifteen.”
“Well, forty-five more minutes, and we can wrap it up,” Betty replied.
Skylar peered out the window at the sky. “There are some really dark clouds; it looks like it may start raining.”
A crack of thunder boomed, as if to underline her words, and she jumped.
“Great, that’ll probably be the end of our foot traffic. People never come when it’s storming out.” Betty turned and headed back toward the kitchen. “You wan
t coffee and cookies? We have plenty leftover.”
“Sure. Pour me a cup,” Skylar replied as she began straightening the sales flyers on the table in the foyer. The house they were showing was a beautiful four bedroom brick home in Vestavia Hills in a pretty little subdivision called Stone Ridge. It was the kind of home that Skylar had longed for as a child.
As she turned to again glance out the window, she wondered if Shades was headed back home yet. Late last night when he’d called her and woken her up, he’d said that everything had gone as expected, but that he still had some details that had to be worked out today, and then he’d be heading back.
Another rumble of thunder shook the house. Skylar was glad she’d put the top up on her Miata as she heard the patter of rain begin to fall against the windows. Biting her lip she wondered if Shades would run into rain on his ride home.
“Hey, Betty, have you heard the weather reports lately?” she asked as she walked through the living room to the dining room, which led to the kitchen. She froze in the doorway, the scene before her eyes shocking her almost as much as when she’d found Rusty’s body.
Before her, lying on the floor next to the kitchen island was Betty’s motionless body, partially face down. But the truly terrifying thing was the man squatting down beside her. Skylar had just a split second to take in the long-handled silver flashlight he held in his hand like a weapon, and the black leather vest he wore with the Devil Kings top rocker, the devil’s head center patch and the bottom rocker that read, Georgia.
They’d found her.
She felt her heart drop, a sick feeling forming in her stomach, and her breath caught in her throat as the man looked over his shoulder at her and grinned. Before she could think to run, even though she knew in her high heels and skirt she wouldn’t get far, an arm clamped around her waist, and a hand clamped over her mouth.
A voice whispered in her ear. “Remember us, Skylar?”
The man squatting rose to his feet slowly and turned toward her fully.
Her eyes took in his face. She remembered him.
Quick.
Not one of the nicest of Rusty’s brothers.
He gave her a cold look, then looked over her shoulder to the man holding her. “Get her in the truck. I’ll deal with this one.” He jerked his head toward where Betty lie.
The man holding her yanked her arms behind her, and a moment later she felt the cold plastic of a zip-tie being tightened around her wrists.
“No, wait. Please. Don’t hurt her. It’s me you want. You don’t have to hurt her,” she pleaded.
Quick walked over to Skylar and took her jaw in his hand, tilting her face up roughly. “You get in that truck quietly like a good little girl, and you don’t give Reload any trouble, and maybe I’ll think about letting her live.”
She nodded. “I swear. I’ll do whatever you say. Please, just don’t hurt her.”
Quick released her jaw and stepped back. Then he lifted his chin toward the back door. She walked slowly towards it, Reload’s hand clamped over her arm. He yanked the door open and shoved her through. The last sight she had of Betty was that of her legs sticking out from around the side of the island, one shoe askew, and all she could think of was that Betty had two small children, three and five years old. Skylar prayed that Quick would let her co-worker live.
Oh God. If anything happened to Betty because of her, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. All of this was her fault.
Reload steered her to a dark pickup truck parked in the driveway, and she went along quietly. He opened the passenger door and shoved her in.
“Scoot over to the middle,” he ordered.
She did as she was told.
He leaned in the open door and bent over her to zip-tie her ankles together.
“Sexy shoes.” He grinned as his hand ran over her black high-heeled pumps and then began to trail up her leg. When he got to her knee, his fingers slid under the hem of her tight black skirt, and he grinned at her. He was halfway up the inside of her thigh when the driver-side door was yanked open, and Quick jumped in.
“Get in the fucking truck,” he yelled at Reload. “We don’t have time for that shit now.”
Reload yanked his hand out of her skirt with a curse and jumped in next to her, slamming the truck door behind him. Quick hit the gas, and they sped out of the drive way and down the street.
The rain was coming down pretty heavily now, and Skylar could barely see the street through the downpour, even with the wipers slapping back and forth a mile a minute. There was no traffic on the residential street, no one out in this weather, no one to witness the dark pickup pulling away. Quick made several lefts and rights, maneuvering his way out of the subdivision.
Skylar finally found the courage to look over at him and ask the question she feared the answer to. “You didn’t hurt her, did you?”
Quick glanced from the road to her, but didn’t say anything.
“Quick, please. Tell me you didn’t hurt her.”
Reload suddenly grabbed her jaw and turned her face to him. “Maybe you should be busy worrying about yourself, sweetie-pie.” Then he leaned over and licked the side of her face. Skylar stiffened and tried to pull away, which made his grip on her jaw only tighten all the more.
“Reload,” Quick barked. “Leave her be.”
Reload looked over the top of her head towards Quick. “What the fuck for? Might as well have a little fun on the trip back.”
“Cause I fuckin’ said so,” Quick snapped.
Reload released her with a shove, and her left shoulder and breast slammed up against Quick’s arm.
“Fuckin’ fine,” Reload snapped. “You suck the fun right out of everything, you know that, Brother?”
“Just fucking shut up and make the call,” Quick growled.
Skylar straightened, twisting to try to regain her upright position. She also tried to nonchalantly inch her way closer to Quick and further away from Reload without being obvious about it. Reload didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy digging his cell phone out of his pocket and dialing. But Quick must have noticed, for he looked over at her, and their eyes connected for a moment.
“Where are you taking me?” she couldn’t stop herself from asking.
Quick ignored her question.
“We’ve got her. We’re on our way back,” Reload said into his phone.
“Did you hurt Betty?” she asked again.
Quick gave her a stony look. “Baby-doll, I’ve had me one hell of a bad day, so I suggest you just sit there and keep your mouth shut the rest of the trip.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll pull over, and let Reload have his fun with you.”
Skylar turned her face forward and swallowed. He’d do it, too. He absolutely would. Her eyes watched the road, trying to memorize the route they were taking. She couldn’t help but wonder if there were more DKs holed up somewhere in town here, and if they would be taking her somewhere close. But then as minutes went by, and she watched the roads, she noticed they took the ramp onto I-20 east toward Atlanta.
A cold chill ran through her as she realized they were taking her out of state and back to their chapter. Skylar swallowed, wondering what fate awaited her. Did they want information? Did they just want to make her suffer? Or did they just want to kill her?
A couple of hours later they were reaching the outskirts of Atlanta. Quick took an exit and pulled into a gas station. It was still raining heavily as he opened his door, pausing to look back at Reload. “Watch her.”
Reload smiled and put his arm around Skylar, pulling her close. “Take your time.”
Quick slammed the door, and dashed through the rain into the store.
Reload’s hand immediately drifted down from her shoulder to her breast, giving it several squeezes. With her wrists still zip-tied behind her there was nothing she could do to stop him. His hot breath was in her ear.
“When we get where we’re goin’ I’m gonna get a taste of you
, and Quick ain’t gonna get in my way. Maybe you and me will spend a good long time together.”
Skylar wanted to spit curses at him and tell him how disgusting she thought he was, but she held her tongue. There was no sense pissing him off, it wouldn’t do her any good. So she stayed mute, looking straight ahead.
That only encouraged him to try to get some reaction from her.
His other hand went to the buttons of her blouse and he began to work them free. “You’re a classy broad. Always were.” He pulled the sheer blouse apart, revealing the lacy camisole underneath. He ran his finger along the lacy edge. “I’ve never been with a chick that wore shit like this.”
Skylar sank back into the seat trying to avoid his touch.
The driver’s door was yanked open and the truck rocked with Quick’s weight as he slid into the seat. He had a fountain cup in his hand, complete with lid and straw. He glanced over at her, taking in Reload’s hands.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“I was just tellin’ the pretty little girl what we’re gonna do and how we’re gonna do it.” He ran his finger down her cheek. She tried to pull away.
“We’re in a public fucking parking lot, dumbass. Do up her shirt before you attract someone’s attention.”
“Party pooper,” Reload grumbled, but buttoned up her shirt. At least a couple of the buttons.
Quick held the cup toward her and guided the straw to her mouth. “Drink.”
He gave her little choice, so she sucked on the straw. Cold cola swirled into her mouth. After a couple sips, she released it.
“More,” he insisted. “I ain’t got all day. Drink it.”
She thought about arguing with him, but didn’t see the point, so she did as she was told. After a minute, Quick passed the cup to Reload.
“That’s hers, not yours.”
“You didn’t get me one?”
SHADES: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Outlaw Series Book 3) Page 29