Cowboy (A Bad Boy Romance 4)

by Harley Wylde

  I’d walked away when things had gone sour, and my President, Torch, had let me. A drug deal had gone sideways and a rival club had put a price on my head over a decade ago. Sometimes it felt like a lifetime had passed. If I’d hung around, I could have ended up dead. My brothers had my back, and the threat had been dealt with, but it had been a wake-up call about the type of life I was living. None of my brothers had old ladies, and only Bull had a kid. I hadn’t wanted to end up like that, alone. At first, I’d traveled, riding my bike from city to city. After a while, it got tiresome and I wanted to put down roots. Of course, from what I heard, a lot of my brothers had settled down and started families since then. The club sounded like a different place from before, but there was no way I could go back and leave Jacey behind.

  I’d moved to this area and opened my stable about three years ago, stashing my old Indian motorcycle in a shed out back of my house. I took it for a ride every now and then, but it didn’t feel the same when I wasn’t wearing my cut. Torch had told me to keep it, that I would always be a Reaper, so it hung in my closet. A reminder of the brothers I’d left behind. Sometimes I pulled it out and just held it, remembering the good times and the bad. The name Cowboy was stitched across the front, the name my brothers had called me. Now I was just Ty to everyone. It didn’t feel right to wear it when I wasn’t an active part of the Dixie Reapers. They might still call me brother, but I knew the truth. I was just like everyone else now, an everyday guy.

  I wanted to be more than just Ty to Jacey, though, to her and her kids. Even though they weren’t mine, I wanted them to be. I’d contemplated handling Beck myself, but I didn’t know what kind of backup he had. A man couldn’t be as rotten as he without at least a few of his friends being cut from the same cloth. It was laughable that the man who was supposed to walk on the right side of the law, a hero for the people, was a monster when no one was looking. Then there was me… I’d done some bad shit in my life, hadn’t even pretended to be on the legal side of things when I’d been a Reaper, and yet I’d treat Jacey and the kids with the love and respect they deserved, protect them, and let them know every day that they were cherished.

  I sat down at the desk in the office I kept at home and flipped open the file I had on Beck Lane. The man wasn’t just getting paid by the MPD, not according to the bank statements Wire hacked. He was making some on the side too. Quite a bit, actually. I was still trying to track it all down, but I knew for certain some of it came from Maurice Salazar, a known drug dealer who was slowly moving up the ranks. Beck’s bank account was way too flush for someone earning the shitty pay of a peace officer, and it pissed me the fuck off that he gave so little of it to Jacey.

  Even still, the payoffs he was getting from Salazar didn’t match all the cash deposits going into his account. There was way more and I knew it was coming from somewhere illegal. Beck’s salary showed as direct deposits from the City of Mayfair, but these others were over the counter or funds transfers from accounts that didn’t seem to really exist. Wire had also found another account, one that was supposed to be hidden, that was flush with several hundred thousand. Beck wasn’t entirely stupid. He didn’t dump large amounts into his regular account in any kind of pattern, or all that close together. If he were stupid, it would be easier to take him down. He had everyone fooled, except for those who had looked evil in the face before, or who were just as crooked as him. I’d taken one look at the man and known that he was evil. When I’d noticed the bruises on Jacey’s arms, it had confirmed my suspicions. I had to wonder just how much the kids saw, or whether they received any of those punches. Jacey was a good mom, and I had no doubt she protected them as much as she could, but even she couldn’t stop a force like Beck Lane.

  I didn’t know what sources Wire had used to get the dirt on Beck that was stuffed inside this folder, but I appreciated it. In most places, the money from Salazar would be enough for Internal Affairs to get involved. But Mayfair wasn’t just any town. I had a feeling the corruption went pretty high up. I just wished it were more, something I could take to the police chief or mayor, if they weren’t in on everything. It was times like this I missed being part of my club. The guys would have my back, and Wire would give me everything he could, even more than what he’d found so far. And if he couldn’t find what I needed, then he’d look for someone who could. I wanted to get rid of Beck by any means necessary, anything to free Jacey from the nightmare she was trapped in.

  I knew guys like Beck. They lured sweet women in, women like Jacey, then they turned on them when it was too late. He’d made sure Jacey didn’t have a support system. No family or friends to come to her aid. It hadn’t happened over night, which meant he was a patient fucker. He’d known what the hell he was doing when he’d set everything into motion, but I just didn’t understand why. I knew power was the biggest part, and some evil inside the man genuinely enjoyed hurting Jacey, then making her feel like she’d deserved it. I wondered if he’d picked her long before he’d spoken to her, watched her, and waited to make his move. It seemed like the type of thing he would do.

  The only way to save Jacey was to either pack her up and get her the hell out of the state, or get rid of Beck. To eliminate Beck, I had to figure out how far the corruption ran. Just how deep were the criminals in the sleepy little town of Mayfair? It looked like a quaint place when you drove down Main Street. It had been a selling point for me, but now I had to wonder about the sinister side of things. The drug dealers, pimps, and who knew what other types of people we had in Mayfair, people who were apparently well connected and didn’t fear prison.

  Getting Jacey to leave wouldn’t be easy, and there wasn’t a guarantee her crazy-ass husband wouldn’t follow. He wouldn’t take it well if she made him look like a fool, running off with another man. And I would be going with her. No way I’d send her off on her own. The only place I knew I would be able to keep her safe was the Dixie Reapers’ compound. I had no doubt Torch would welcome us and help sort this shit out, but I couldn’t very well tell Jacey about Torch and the Reapers without confessing about my past. The last thing I wanted right now was for her to run from me.

  I turned another page, studying every detail, hoping that I’d notice something new, something I’d missed previously. Anything! Even a crumb that would put me on the right path. But if I found it, found proof that Beck belonged behind bars, who the fuck was I going to tell? I couldn’t trust any of the city officials, or anyone at the police department. I needed to call Torch, explain what was going on, and see if he had any suggestions. I didn’t know if Wire had told him about my situation, and I hated to keep asking my brother for info that could get him into trouble with the Pres. The last thing I wanted was to keep secrets from the club, even if I wasn’t an official member anymore. If Torch couldn’t spare anyone to come help me keep an eye on Beck and make sure Jacey stayed safe, then maybe he would point me to a club who could. It wasn’t unheard of for clubs to work together in certain instances, but usually money was involved. I just didn’t know if this would qualify.

  After another half hour of looking over all the documents and not getting anywhere, I shut the file and tossed it aside. I needed more. I picked up my phone and called Wire, even though I’d told myself I wouldn’t. He’d already done enough for me. I glanced at the clock and saw it was just after dinner. I didn’t know if he’d be partying with the club sluts and our other brothers, or if he had someone serious in his life. We hadn’t really discussed his personal life that much. He hadn’t volunteered the info and I hadn’t asked.

  On the sixth ring, he picked up.

  “Cowboy, good to hear from you again,” Wire said.

  “I’ve told you I’m just Ty.”

  “Nope. You’ll always be Cowboy around here. Need more help with that situation you were checking into?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I’ve been looking over everything you sent and it’s not all adding up. There’s money coming from somewhere else and I want to know where.”

/>   “About that… I kept working on it after I sent over that stuff. You’re not going to like what I’ve found so far. This guy is a serious piece of work, and the fact he’s a cop just makes it even worse. He’s been uploading videos to porn sites and charging perverts to watch him, or someone, fuck a woman who clearly doesn’t want the attention. The classier sites won’t touch that shit, but you know there are places deep enough on the Web that won’t care if the woman is being forced. Hell, they get off on it. No faces or distinguishing marks, just a dick fucking a pussy.”

  My stomach knotted and I thought I might throw up. I had the horrible feeling that it wasn’t just some random woman Beck was uploading to those places. Jesus! Even thinking that he might be raping her and then profiting from it made me want to hunt him down and set his ass on fire. Dick first. What kind of sick bastard were we dealing with?

  “There’s more,” Wire said. “He’s also been selling pictures of a woman in various poses, again with no face or distinguishing marks. He makes her sit or stand where her pussy lips are parted, or he forces her to hold herself open. From what I can tell between the video and the pics, I think it’s the same woman.”

  I tossed the phone on my desk and threw up in the trashcan. I dry heaved a few times after I had nothing left in my stomach, then picked up the phone with a shaky hand.

  “Jesus Christ, Cowboy. Is he posting that shit of your woman?” Wire asked.

  “I don’t know for sure, but yeah, I think it might be her. You said he’s forcing her in the videos?”

  Wire was quiet a moment. “I’m sorry I said anything. Fuck. Yeah, it looks like she’s not a willing participant. He’s telling her to hold still and take it, and saying shit like she’d better not fucking cry. In some of them she’s screaming for him to stop. He’s a really sick fuck, Cowboy. You need to get her and those kids out of there. And I mean now.”

  “I don’t have a way to keep them safe here. He’s on the local police force and has friends in all the right places. I’m a no one here.”

  “Then you get them out of there and bring them home. Your real home, you fucker.”

  “Wire, if I do this, if I get them away from here, you know we can’t stay at the compound indefinitely. After everything she’s been through, I need to keep her safe. The club might not be into heavy shit, but you and I both know trouble finds the Reapers even when we aren’t looking for it. I can’t do that to her or those kids.”

  Wire sighed. “Yeah, I get it. You’re somewhere outside of Nashville, right?”

  “Yep. About an hour from the city limits, more in traffic.”

  “Puts you around six hours from the compound, if traffic laws were something we worried about. I’m going to talk to Torch and Venom, let them know what’s going on, and we’re going to send some guys your way. Try to act cool until they get there. No heroics, Cowboy. I know that woman means something to you, but you’ll get both of yourselves killed if you don’t wait.”

  “I hear you. I’ll sit tight. Jacey usually gets here in the mornings after she takes the kids to school. Only times she doesn’t show up, she claims she’s been sick, but now I’m thinking otherwise.”

  “We’re going to protect them, Cowboy. Whatever it takes. I’ll be in touch.”

  The line went dead and I set the phone aside. Waiting wasn’t my strong suit, but I didn’t want to risk Jacey or the kids. I didn’t know how the fuck she’d survived this long, but I hoped like hell she’d make it one more day.

  I got up and went to the bedroom. Pulling my old rodeo bag from the top of the closet, I dumped out the gear I likely wouldn’t use again and loaded it with a week’s worth of clothes. I tossed in other important shit, like my toothbrush and a few weapons, some stacks of cash, then zipped it shut. Staring into my closet, I slowly reached in and pulled out my cut. I’d been through some serious shit while wearing it, and it seemed fitting that I had it on when I dealt with the Beck issue.

  It felt like forever before the sun started to rise. Sleep had been impossible. Even if I hadn’t seen the video Wire had talked about, I could imagine it. I wanted to kill Beck with my bare hands, but I wanted him to suffer first. Jacey was going to have justice, Reapers style. I only hoped once she saw that side of me, realized who I really was, that she wouldn’t run. I didn’t want her to lump me in with the likes of Beck, but I knew it could happen. It’s why I’d kept my past a secret.

  Maybe it was wrong of me, but I hoped that fucker followed us. He’d have no jurisdiction in the Reapers’ territory, and my brothers would help me capture him. Once I had Beck right where I wanted him, I planned to inflict as much pain on him as possible. I wanted him to know what it felt like to be helpless, to be abused and left to suffer, to pray for the end and only hurt more in the hours to come.

  Oh, yes. I was going to make Beck pay. And when I was done, I’d make sure he could never hurt another woman or child ever again.

  Chapter Three

  Jacey

  Beck hadn’t come home last night. I’d lain awake until it was time to start the day, and he’d never come in from his shift. I hadn’t received a call about him being injured, which meant he was out with the guys or doing God only knew what. If it involved a woman, I hoped she was smarter than me and would run far and fast. No matter how much I wanted away from Beck, I wouldn’t wish him on another woman. Not ever. No one deserved to live the way I had over the past twelve years.

  My hands shook as I went to wake the kids, and I paused in the process of going to their rooms. I didn’t know what kind of mood Beck would be when he came home, or what he’d want from me. It was possible he’d come home drunk, and that always made for a day of misery and humiliation. He was at his cruelest when he’d been drinking. For some people, alcohol lowered their inhibitions and let them have fun. With Beck, it lowered his and let more of the darkness out. He’d often told me that he’d had offers from men to fuck me, but he’d like rubbing it in their faces that I belonged to him. I often worried that one day he might change his mind.

  I knew I needed to get away, to save my kids. There was no way I’d survive this relationship long enough for them to move out on their own. For now, Beck was content to humiliate me and exploit me in any way he could. Someday that could change, and I didn’t want to be around when he decided his kids were fair game. No one meant anything to him, only money.

  I was about to open Jackson’s door when I heard my cell phone ring in my purse. I never received calls this early in the morning unless it was Beck, and he always called the home phone, expecting me to be here to answer it. I pulled it from my purse and my eyes went wide when I saw it was Ty. Not the stable number, but the personal one he’d programmed in a few months ago. It had been the day he’d noticed the bruises on my arms, even though he’d tried not to make a big deal of it at the time.

  “Ty?” I asked softly. “Is everything all right?”

  “No, everything is far from all right, Jacey. I’m on my way to you right now, with some friends. I don’t want you to be scared when you see us. You trust me, don’t you? You know I would never hurt you or those kids?”

  I swallowed hard, his words causing me a moment of panic. “Ty, what’s going on? Why would I ever be scared of you?”

  “There are things about me you don’t know, Jacey, a part of my past I’ve left buried. I can’t do that right now, though, not and keep you safe. I’m getting you out of there, you and those kids. Pack light if you can, but make sure you each have a week’s worth of clothes and anything else you need.”

  “Ty, I can’t just…”

  “Yes,” he said harshly. “You can and you damn well will, Jacey.”

  “Ty.”

  I could hear him breathing in the silence, and then he uttered the words that completely tore me in two.

  “I know, Jacey. I know what he makes you do, and I’m not standing by and letting it happen anymore. He will never touch you again, and I will make damn certain he never gets those kids. Do you hear me
?”

  I gasped and choked back a sob. I closed my eyes and let the tears fall. My worst nightmare had come true. Ty, my sweet cowboy, the man I was falling in love with, knew about the pictures and videos, had possibly even seen them. I felt like my entire world was unraveling, and the only good thing I’d ever had would be ripped away. How could he possibly ever want me after seeing that?

  “Jacey.” His voice was softer. “Babe, what he’s done to you changes nothing for me. I will protect you and those kids at all costs, and we will finish what we started yesterday. You deserve so much more than life has given you. Don’t fight me on this. I’m coming for you, and you’re going to leave with no questions asked.”

  “All right, Ty,” I said softly. “I do trust you, and you’re right. I can’t stay here, can’t wait for the day he kills me and turns on my children.”

  “Hold tight, sweetheart. I’ll be there soon.”

  He ended the call and I stared at my phone a moment. I took a shuddering breath and wiped the tears from my eyes, then went to wake up the kids. I told them Ty was going to take us somewhere, on an adventure, and we needed to pack quickly. Danica was old enough that she seemed to sense something else was going on. There was a look in her eye that said she didn’t for one second believe we were going on a vacation, especially after I said we had to hurry before their dad came home.

  Neither of my kids were anxious to see Beck, and both were packed in record time. I was just placing our bags in the front entry when I heard the sound of motorcycles coming down the street. I’d never seen many bikes in this area and my heart kicked up a notch as I wondered if my husband had anything to do with them. Three bikers pulled up out front of my house, just past the driveway, and stopped farther along the curb in front of the house. I saw that each wore a leather vest with a grim reaper emblem on the back. I couldn’t read the text from my front door, but my hands were shaking as they got off their bikes. A truck pulled up behind them and another guy in the same vest got out.