Finding Needles (Charon MC Book 10)

by Khloe Wren

  Needles

  Monday had arrived, which meant today was the day.

  The time had come to send that fucker Godfrey down to the depths of hell where he belonged. Before we’d called it a night last night, Scout had pulled me aside and told me if I wanted to be a part of ending things, I needed to be ready to head downstairs as soon as I got back from dropping Ashlynn at school.

  I’d had a hell of a time trying to act normal around Bess before she left this morning. She knew Godfrey was in the basement and she knew the club planned to deal with him permanently. I didn’t think she needed to know the when or the how, so I’d kissed her goodbye with a smile when I’d left with Ashlynn earlier, knowing she wouldn’t be here when I got back. Bess had headed out to Marie’s Cafe with a few of the other women. I fucking loved how fast she’d made friends within the club and the way she’d just slid into club life. She truly was fucking perfect.

  Jogging down the steps, it felt strange to not be wearing my cut. I’d had leather on my back since I was a teenager. But Scout had warned me today was going to get messy and whatever we wore would need to be destroyed afterward, so my cut was safely up in my room. Since I hadn’t gone and got all my shit from New York yet, he’d given me stuff to wear so not only was I missing my cut, I was wearing somebody else’s fucking threads. Felt strange, that’s for sure.

  When I got to the main room, Scout was there tossing back a shot. At nine-thirty in the fucking morning. But, whatever. If it was good enough for the president, then it was good enough for me. I walked up beside him and he slammed a shot glass down in front of me and filled it up with amber liquid.

  “Here, take the edge off before we go down and face that fucker.”

  With a nod, I threw back the shot.

  “Fuck.”

  “Pretty much. You know, as much as it doesn’t bother me to be the one to send these fuckers to where they belong, I hate having to be near them. Evil motherfuckers.”

  Couldn’t argue with that.

  “I’m sure we could put a bag over his head or something, if that makes it easier?”

  He barked out a laugh and slapped me on the back as we made our way to the rear of the clubhouse.

  “Problem solver. I like it. Keep that shit up, brother. It’s always good to be able to have a laugh before we go dance a round with the devil.”

  “That’s me, prez. Always there with a dumbass comeback.”

  He shook his head on another laugh. “Yeah, you’re gonna fit in here just fine. Speaking of which, you call Wolf yet?”

  That had been a fun phone call. “Did it yesterday.”

  He filled our glasses again. “And how’d that go?”

  I shrugged and downed the new shot. “He was sorry to see me leave, but he understood the need to take care of family and why I had to leave. Also told me I’d always have a place with the Knights if I changed my mind.”

  I didn’t mention that Bash had already taken a prospect patch with the Knights because the man had asked me to leave that to him to tell Scout, and I had no idea if he’d done that yet.

  Scout nodded and recapped the bottle. “I’m expecting a similar call from Bash any day. Too much shit under the bridge for him to settle here, and, of course, we don’t have Lydia down here.”

  There was a touch of sadness and humor in his voice.

  “Sounds like he and Lydia had quite the farewell after your trip up north. Can’t blame a man for wanting more of it.”

  “Nope, not at all. I made a promise to his mom and I fucking failed that. All I want for that man is for him to find some fucking peace and happiness in life. If the Knights can give that to him, he’s got my blessing.” He rapped his knuckles on the bar. “C’mon, let’s get this fucker dealt with.”

  He led me to stairs hidden in a closet at the rear of the clubhouse that I hadn’t even realized were there. With every step down, the air got colder and the noises got louder.

  “Who’s down there with him?”

  Because clearly someone was already working on him.

  “Taz is in there seeing if he can any more information outta him. Doubt he will, but he wanted one last go at him. We got some scary brothers in this club when we need ‘em to be, and Taz is one of them. Marines teaches us all sorts of tricks, some learn more than others.”

  With that cryptic warning, Scout opened a door and I coughed at the smell as I took in the piece of shit sitting in the middle of the room. Taz was shirtless and wiping his hands on a rag that I think was his shirt.

  “Hey, prez. He’s given all he’s gonna. The Feds will have to work out the rest on their own. Any more and he’ll die.”

  Scout gave Taz’s shoulder a squeeze without taking his gaze off Godfrey. “You did good, brother. I’m sure you got more outta him than they would have.”

  The grin that spread over his face had a shiver going down my spine. Fuck—scary was an understatement of how this bare-chested, heavily inked, muscle-bound man looked right now.

  “Damn straight. Hey, Needles, come to join the fun. Been meaning to ask, you called Needles because you tattoo or because you like to play with them? Because, mate, we could have fun with that.”

  Godfrey whimpered and tugged against his bonds as much as he could, while his gaze bounced between us. I shook my head at how pathetic he now looked.

  “Never played with them before, but there’s a first time for everything. But you know what I think we should start with?”

  “Open to suggestions, brother.”

  Technically, they shouldn’t be calling me brother until I earned my full patch. Made me proud they were already gifting me the title.

  “Re-enact some of his shit.” I grinned as the fucker squirmed for a few minutes. “Pretty sure none of us are fucked up enough to go anywhere near your ass, but the rest we can do. String up him up against a fucking wall naked, and whip him raw from feet to neck. Wrap shit around his face so he can barely fucking breathe while we do it. Give him a fucking taste of what he put that poor fucking kid through before we send him to the devil to torture himself.”

  “Yeah, ain’t none of us that fucked up. But I like the sound of that. Let’s get him up against that wall. You and Taz get on it and I’ll grab something to bind his mouth shut and then we can get to beatin’ him.”

  Stepping forward with Taz, we worked together to get his bloody body unbound from the chair and up against the wall, where I found shackles waiting to go. Grabbing one, I forced his wrist into it. Had to give him props, even after being worked over for over forty-eight hours by a pissed-off Marine, he was still trying to resist us.

  “Fight all you want, old man. This is your last day of breathing, regardless.” Once Taz and I had his wrists and ankles secure I gripped his jaw roughly, squeezing hard, and tilted his face up so he had to look into my eyes.

  “That was my fucking mother you targeted, you motherfucker. Big mistake. It was an even bigger mistake to go after my woman when she tried to save her. You left your fucking fingerprints on her jaw.” I tightened my grip. “How’s it feel? Aching yet?”

  Fire blazed in his gaze but there was fucking nothing he could do about it. I raised my other hand, forming a fist and clocked him across the cheek, knocking his head from my grip when it kicked back.

  Shaking out my hand, I stepped away and watched as Scout pulled some tape off a roll.

  “Any last words, you piece of shit? Because this is the last time you’ll be able to say a fucking thing.” He paused to tear off the tape with his teeth. “Not sure if you remember me explaining who I was back at Mirabelle’s house, but let me refresh you. I’m the motherfucking president of the Charon MC and my club protects the innocents here in Bridgewater and the surrounding towns. As the president, it is ultimately my choice as to what we fucking do with you. Still got nothing to say?”

  Stupid fucker spat blood at Scout, the glob of red landing on his shirt, but thankfully missing his beard.

  “Yeah, that’s gonna help your cau
se.” He leaned in and taped Godfrey’s mouth shut, then with a rough grip in his hair, tugged his head up and forced him to look into his eyes, like I’d done with the bastard earlier. “Go straight to hell, you motherfucking piece of shit. With each strike of our weapons, think over each innocent you’ve made bleed to feed your greed. Know that the Charons will make sure your surviving victims will always be safe and never fall into the hands of the likes of you again. All your wealth, all your stolen money, has done you no good in the end. You’re gonna die in this basement like the cockroach you are. Then we’re gonna take your body and bury it out on a ranch, under a huge pile of shit. Know what happens then? Between the bugs and the heat from the manure, your body will completely vanish in less than a month. You get what I’m saying, asshole? In under a month, you will completely cease to exist. Not even your bones will remain in this world. Your body and soul are going straight to hell to play with the devil. Enjoy reaping what you sowed.”

  With that, he took a knife and cut the remaining clothes from Godfrey’s body. Taz had worked him over well. He no longer had all his teeth or nails and there were bruises all over him, along with small slices, some of which were oozing blood.

  “Choose your weapons, men. Let’s send this fucker back where he belongs.”

  Elizabeth

  I tilted my hand again and took in the glint of sunlight off the diamond. It was real. Everything that had happened yesterday wasn’t a dream, but reality. I was Ryan Perry’s old lady and fiancé. It was a crazy world. A week ago I was still set in my decision to remain single forever, now here I was, fully committed to a man. A man who’d had my heart since I was a little girl. The love was different now, it had grown and changed from that of friendship to something more.

  “It’s just so pretty.”

  With a smile, I looked up to see Ashlynn was staring at my ring, along with Ariel. Those two were a hoot. They’d only known each other a week and already they were inseparable. Sparrow, Mac and Zara’s adopted daughter, was flicking through pages of a wedding magazine we’d picked up earlier. She was quiet for a teenager, and was constantly glancing over to make sure her baby sister was okay over in the playpen. She wasn’t, though. Little Cleo was eleven months old and all sassy attitude. She was in the pen with four-month-old Lolly, Taz and Flick’s daughter, but she wasn’t on board with the plan. She wanted to be over with us. Made it clear by the glare she kept sending ours and her mother’s way. Zara was working with Missy, while Marie sat with us, Joey in her arms.

  “Cleo doesn’t look happy over there.”

  Marie laughed. “That girl is never happy to be contained. You should see her when her daddy walks in. Acts like we’ve had her working the mines, or something.”

  Flick lifted her mug for a drink of coffee. “Can’t wait to see Mac cope with that attitude when she hits the teen years.”

  As we watched Cleo glaring at her mom, little Lolly rolled over and giggled.

  “She’ll be crawling soon, Flick. Then you’ll be running just like Zara does with Cleo.”

  “Oh, I know it. Taz keeps helping her stand up and I’m like, stop it already! But he’s all proud papa, so there’s no stopping him.”

  It was amazing how this conversation didn’t leave my heart aching. A week ago, I would have fled as soon as I arrived, because I wouldn’t have been able to stand it.

  “Marie? How’d you come to adopt Ariel?”

  Her expression grew sad and I instantly regretted asking.

  “You don’t have to tell me. I was just curious because, well, you know.”

  She reached out and took my hand. “You can ask me anything, sugar. It’s just a sad story. Ariel is my foster sister’s biological child. We lost touch after we moved here to Bridgewater. We got into some trouble with a club down in Galveston and our foster father knew Scout, so he brought us up here to keep us safe. I stayed, but Sarah left. I had no idea she’d been just down the road all that time. She got caught up in a cult.” She glanced at Ariel, who wasn’t listening at all as she and Ashlynn were in deep discussion, then at Sparrow, who was listening, and winced. “She was the only woman, if you know what I mean.” Sparrow’s face paled and she stopped turning pages. There was a story there too, I was sure. Had every female in the club been hurt somehow? “They kidnapped Scout. Sarah tried to rescue him by coming to get me. Long story short, we got Scout free with the club’s help, but Sarah didn’t make it. When the club was clearing the place out, they found Ariel. Poor little mite. Such a hard start to life, but she’s thriving now.”

  I watched the two girls for a minute. “Kids are so resilient, aren’t they? I don’t think Ashlynn’s had the easiest start in life either, but look at them. Happy as clams.”

  Zara set a plate of cookies down in front of the girls and a hot chocolate in front of Sparrow before she ran her hand over the teen’s hair. “You okay, love?”

  She gave a little nod. “Yeah, Mom, thanks. It was just a little flashback. I’m good.”

  Zara leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head and Cleo let out a scream. “Oh, for the love of all. Cleo, calm yourself down, baby girl.”

  “I’ll get her.”

  Sparrow jumped up and headed over to collect Cleo, who was completely put out that she was missing out on some love. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

  “I suppose I better grab Lolly too, before she works out Cleo has abandoned her. Again.”

  Flick went over to gather up her daughter from where she was lying on her back, kicking her little chubby legs like mad.

  “Sparrow was a rescue, too. They found her last month in a mob-run brothel in L.A. Mac was leading that run and he brought her home with him. If you want to adopt, we’ll all help you with it.”

  “Maybe one day. But first we have a wedding to plan.”

  And we needed to find somewhere to live that wasn’t the clubhouse. Knowing Ashlynn could come through the door into our room at any time during the night had put a damper on things last night, that’s for sure.

  At the word wedding, the girls looked up at me with expectant eyes. I saw right through them, and had left them hanging all morning because it was just too much fun. Sparrow and Flick had returned with the babies and I looked at Sparrow, then Ariel, and finally Ashlynn.

  “Think you three could be my flower girls?”

  The squeals were loud enough the prospect who’d been out the front guarding the shop came rushing in. “What the fuck?”

  Flick was laughing and bouncing Lolly in her lap. “Kids just found out they’re flower girls.”

  I shrugged over at him as he rolled his eyes and with a mumbled curse, headed back outside.

  “Oops.”

  Marie scoffed. “It’s good for them. Keeps them on their toes.”

  A few hours later when it was time to close things down, I was shocked when Barbara came through the door with Rose, Bulldog’s old lady. She’d borrowed my car last night to go home, promising she’d get it back to me before I’d need it. Not that I was worried. Now things were settled between Ryan and me, I was happy staying right where I was, here in Bridgewater.

  “Hey, Barbara, Rose. Whatcha doing here?”

  The looks on both their faces made it clear the two older ladies were up to something.

  “I have a surprise for y’all. Come with me.”

  Ashlynn happily skipped over to her grandma while I glanced out the window. “But Ryan’s coming to meet us here.”

  Rose waved me off. “He and Scout are just pulling up now, so we can grab Ryan on our way out.”

  Marie gave me a nudge. “Sounds like they have this all sorted. Off you go, and enjoy whatever it is they’re up to.”

  Scout strode in and went straight over to press a kiss to the top of Ariel’s head. “You and Needles head on out. Have fun and we’ll see you later.”

  Were they all in on it? Because in their shoes, I’d be more curious than they seemed to be. “Um, okay.”

  I grabbed my bag and follo
wed Barbara and Ashlynn out of the cafe. Ryan came over and gave me a quick kiss and ruffled Ashlynn’s hair. “Looks like we’ve got someplace to be.”

  “Looks like it.”

  We walked around to the parking lot and Barbara turned to us before she got in my car.

  “Hop in and I’ll drive us over there. When Rose finishes chatting with Marie, she’ll take her car back to the clubhouse and we’ll meet them there later.”

  “Ma, just tell me where we’re going and I’ll drive.”

  She raised her eyebrow at her son. “Cut the caveman crap right now, boy. It’s my surprise and I’m driving.”

  I joined Ashlynn in laughing at Barbara telling Ryan off until he glared at me. “What? It’s funny.”

  With a roll of his eyes, he guided me and Ashlynn into the back before he took the front passenger seat.

  “Doesn’t feel right, Ma. I should be driving.”

  She reached over to pat his knee. “You’ll live, son. Let me have my fun. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”

  What on earth was she up to? With a frown, I watched out the window as the houses passed by, trying to think what she could have done. I didn’t know Bridgewater at all, so I had no clue where she was taking us. She pulled up in front of a large house on a street that looked vaguely familiar.

  She turned the engine off but didn’t immediately open her door.

  “Nothing is set in concrete. If you hate it, you don’t have to take it, okay?”

  “What the hell did you do, Ma?”

  She patted his knee again before moving to open the door. “Bought you a house, dear.”

  I sat motionless for a full minute. Ashlynn gave an excited shriek as she rushed get herself out of the booster seat. As soon as she was free of the thing, she was out of the car and wrapped around her grandma in a heartbeat.

  “Bought us a fucking house.”

  Ryan mumbled the words as he lifted himself out of the car and turned to open my door. I took his outstretched hand and let him pull me up and into his arms.

  “Is she for real?”

  “You know her as well as I do. She doesn’t fuck around with shit like this.”