Outlaw Virtue (Rough Jesters MC Book 7)

by Brook Wilder

  Was this the same person that had thrown the brick through my window months ago?

  Holding the styling tool tightly, I drew in a shaky breath. It didn’t matter. I had a child to protect and I wouldn’t go down easily.

  The shadow moved into my bedroom and I felt my knees buckle, fighting to keep myself upright. All I had to do was get around the intruder so that I could get out of the house. That was all I needed to do.

  Then I would scream bloody murder and Jonathan could handle the rest.

  Charged with that fact, I rushed out toward the intruder, my straightener raised high in the air. I crashed into him with my shoulder, knocking him off his feet as I ran past, heading for the doorway.

  It was working. I was actually going to get away!

  Just as I was running down the hall, something caught me around the waist and pulled me off my feet, my legs kicking wildly in the air as my straightener clattered to the floor harmlessly.

  No!

  “You are quite the surprise,” a deep voice chuckled, tightening on my waist. “And I thought I was going to snatch you out of your bed.”

  I didn’t recognize the voice, but it didn’t matter. “Let me go!” I shouted, clawing at the arm that was wrapped around my midsection.

  Around my child.

  “Ah, I don’t think so,” he said, pulling me roughly against him. “You are coming with me and if you put up a fight, I will make you pay for it.”

  A cold fear slid down my spine. As much as I wanted to fight my way out of this, I had to think of my child.

  He would still have to take me outside and that could be the moment that I alerted Jonathan. I had to make the intruder think he was gaining the upper hand so that I could get out of this alive. “I-I will be good,” I forced out, the lie sliding easily past my lips. I was shaking so much that I could feel my teeth chattering in my mouth. All sorts of violent memories started to plague me, and I tried to force them back.

  Now wasn’t the time to break down.

  “Good to know,” he said, placing me on the ground. “You run and I will shoot you in the back, you understand?”

  I nodded jerkily as he pressed the gun into my back, forcing me forward. “Move.”

  I did as he asked, walking to the front door in the dark. I could do this.

  I could survive. There was no other way. I wasn’t ready to leave this world.

  With trembling hands, I opened the front door and walked out into the warm night, seeing the bike sitting at the curb.

  It was now or never.

  Chapter 19

  Two Tone

  A scream tore through my dream, causing me to bolt upright, my heart racing. The dream had been about Leigh and my mouth had been wandering down her body lazily, tasting every delicious inch of her like I used to.

  Another muffled scream had me vaulting out of bed, running toward the front door in a panic.

  That voice sounded like Leigh’s.

  Wrenching open the door, I caught a glimpse of her on the back of a bike, saw the terror on her face as the bike peeled away in the dark.

  Shit. It was my worst nightmare come true.

  I wasted no time jumping on my bike, well aware of the fact that I was wearing pajama bottoms and nothing else, and cranked it up, tearing down the same street the other had. There was no doubt who had taken Leigh.

  Mac.

  I sped down the road, going through the gears like a madman. Mac had finally figured out the connection; he had found a way to destroy me without ever laying a finger on me personally.

  Did he know about the kid? I hoped not. I had been so careful not to spread that shit around and to my knowledge, the only one that knew was Chains.

  Well, and that asshole Nathan.

  I was going to fucking kill them all. Mac had crossed a line that he couldn’t come back from and it would be me he would see as he took his last breath.

  Prison or not, I wasn’t going to let this go another day.

  What was I thinking? I should never have left her tonight; I should have demanded to stay at least on the couch if nothing else.

  Or she should have come over to my house so I could protect her better. What had she endured before he got her out of the house? She had to be terrified, disbelieving that it was happening to her again.

  When I got her back, I was gonna be out of the club life for good.

  That is if she would take me back after this nightmare was over with.

  Spying Mac’s taillights in the darkness, I pushed the bike faster, knowing that I had to catch up with him before he left town. Once he got on the open road, there were too many places he could hide, too many places that would take a hell of a time searching to find Leigh.

  She would be dead before I could get to her.

  The thought made me scared shitless. I couldn’t lose her like this. There was so much I had to say to her, so much that we hadn’t accomplished together.

  And if I lost her, I lost our kid too. I would fail on all levels and knowing that I was responsible for their deaths would push me over the edge.

  Drawing in some of the air that was blasting me in the face, I forced myself to think about how I was going to make Mac suffer for taking my woman instead. Fuck the club. I wasn’t bringing him in any which way but dead.

  After he suffered.

  Mac took a right turn and I did as well, gaining speed on him. My mind was already whirling with what possibilities I would have once I caught up with him. I had to get Leigh out of harm’s way first. I couldn’t pull her off because if I did, I could risk killing her and the baby.

  My only recourse was to get him to pull over somehow. I couldn’t wreck him; I couldn’t shoot him.

  Hell, I had a pistol in the saddlebags that I always kept there, but shooting Mac could make him wreck the bike and take Leigh with him.

  I was trapped. I had never analyzed killing a man so much before, but there had never been so much on the line either.

  I had thrown myself into some shitty situations before, but knowing that Leigh was in that same danger, I couldn’t take that chance.

  Shit.

  Mac turned again and I did the same, knowing he was headed toward the highway. I had to get Leigh before that happened.

  Suddenly something crashed into my back tire and I grabbed the handlebars tightly, attempting to get control of my bike before I became road rash on the asphalt.

  The back swung wildly out of control and I was forced to slow my speed, pulling off to the side of the road and watching as Mac’s taillights pulled further away.

  Pissed off, I climbed off the bike, barely having enough time to jump out of the way as another bike bore down on me.

  I should have known Mac wouldn’t come alone, the coward.

  Grabbing the pistol out of the saddlebags, I started to shoot at the bike in front of me, hearing the cry of pain as my bullet collided with the biker. I advanced on him quickly, pulling him off the bike and clocking him in the face with the pistol. It was too dark to see who it was or if I had fired a fatal bullet, but I didn’t fucking care. “Where is he taking her?” I growled, grabbing the man by his vest. “Where?”

  His head rolled to the side and I dropped him into the dirt, disgusted. Dammit. I needed to find her.

  A bullet whizzed by me and I scrambled to hide behind the fallen bike, holding my pistol in the general direction the shot had come from. Another asshole, though this one was smarter than his friend apparently.

  I didn’t have time for this shit.

  My adrenaline kicking in, I stood and fired in the direction, my jaw clenched. There was a flash of muzzle and I ducked as another bullet came my way, firing in rapid succession. A grim smile crossed my face as I heard the body hit the dirt, the night becoming silent once more.

  Mac was gone, along with the most important thing in my life.

  I would find her. I wouldn’t stop until I did.

  Tucking my pistol in the waistband of my pants, I stalked to
the dead biker’s motorcycle, checking to see if it would crank.

  It fired right up. Good. I would have to leave this mess here for now. There were more pressing things to get to right now.

  ***

  Thirty minutes later, I shrugged on the T-shirt that I had gotten out of the closet, rolling my shoulders to alleviate some of the tension there. Instead of going home, I had come straight to the clubhouse, borrowing a cell phone from someone to wake up the club president before finding some decent clothes to put on.

  Every minute that passed was longer that Leigh was in the hands of that madman, but it was going to take more than just me to take him down.

  I needed the club’s help.

  Not even the shot of whiskey that had been pressed into my hand had calmed my nerves. In my mind, I was replaying every shitty thing Mac had ever done as a human being, and what he could potentially put Leigh through.

  And if he found out she was pregnant, I didn’t want to think about what he might do to my kid.

  The door opened and Chains came through, followed by Widow Maker and the rest of the Jesters’ council. “Two Tone,” he said, giving me a nod. “Tell me what you know.”

  “It was Mac,” I forced out, clenching my fist. “I know it was. He somehow found out about me and Leigh and he’s using her as bait for me to come after him.”

  “Shit,” Widow Maker said in a low voice before eyeing me. “Why would he do that? What did you do to her?”

  Something must have crossed her face before she launched at me, slamming me into the opposing wall. “You asshole!” she shouted as I tried to grab ahold of her wrists to keep her from raking those nails down my face. “You touched her, didn’t you?”

  “Kris,” Chains said, grabbing his wife. “She’s carrying his kid.”

  Widow Maker threw off her husband’s touch, her angry eyes on me. “Is this true?”

  I nodded, the lump of emotion in my throat making it hard to speak. “Yeah, it’s true. I didn’t just fuck her. I love her.”

  Some of her anger lessened. “How the hell did this happen?”

  I wasn’t in the mood to spell it out for her. Looking at the club president, I rolled my shoulders. “I’m going after him and I need the club’s help.” I had never asked Chains for anything before.

  “Where is he?” Chains asked.

  “Hell, I don’t know,” I said honestly, threading my hands through my hair. “I lost him. Took two of his guys out that were meant to keep me from following him. He can’t be far.”

  “You know this will be like a needle in a haystack,” Halftrack said, shaking his head. “She will be long gone, possibly even dead before we find him again.”

  I glared at him. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear right now. “Maybe we can get Alisha involved.”

  Chains shook his head. “No.”

  Surprised, I shifted my weight. “What do you mean, no?”

  “We can’t,” Chains answered matter-of-factly. “No cops. The minute we do, all of us will be in jail. You know that. I can’t take the risk for the club.”

  The club. Was he fucking kidding me? “So, you will let an innocent woman die because of this damn club?”

  “Maybe you should at least call Alisha,” Widow Maker said softly, her arms crossed over her chest. “Leigh didn’t ask for this. We told her we would protect her.”

  “No,” Chains repeated. “Alisha told us to keep our business separate and that’s what I am going to do. Sorry, Two Tone, I can’t do it.”

  I saw red, moving so fast that no one saw it coming. In the span of a few seconds, I had Chains on the floor, my fist colliding with his jaw. Someone grabbed at my shoulder, but I kept the president, my damn friend, pinned down on the floor, rewarded with the dribble of blood from his mouth. “I’ve done every fucking thing you have ever asked me to do,” I said in a low voice. “I’ve bled for this damn club and you are telling me you won’t go after my woman? If it was Kris you would do it in a heartbeat, no matter the cost. Tell me I’m wrong.”

  His gaze narrowed, but the small twitch of understanding on his face was all that I needed to see. Disgusted for the second time tonight, I moved away from him, watching as Chains got up slowly, wiping the blood off his face. The rest of the club had watched with part fascination, part horror, knowing that there would be repercussions for what I had done.

  I didn’t care. “I’m done,” I growled, feeling the throb of my hand from where it had collided with Chains’ jaw. “I will kill Mac and end this but after that, I’m done.”

  Chains rubbed his jaw, the expression on his face thunderous. “If that’s your choice, then you will be out of the Jesters for good. No coming back.”

  He thought that was a threat. I laughed harshly. “That will be the best fucking day in my life then. I’ve got something much better waiting and you are refusing to even help me find her. I don’t want to be part of a club that doesn’t look after its own.”

  Pushing past him, I stalked outside and slung my leg over the borrowed bike, wasting no time peeling out of the parking lot toward home. I had a cache of weapons stashed there and would go hunting the rogue biker by myself.

  Even if it meant that I would be bringing Leigh back home not as the same person that she’d left it. I didn’t care. I wanted Leigh at my side, in my arms, however I had to take her. This was likely to scar her worse than ever before, but I was going to be there for her, no matter the cost.

  But as I pulled up to my house, there were a shitload of police cars in the driveway. Likely the neighbors had called about the commotion that had gone down hours ago. I pulled the bike alongside the curb, wondering what they would say if they knew I had stolen the damn thing from a biker that I had killed.

  Well, I would have to get rid of it later, after all this was over with.

  Alisha met me halfway down the driveway. “Jonathan, where have you been?”

  “What’s going on, Alisha?” I asked.

  She crossed her arms over her chest, looking every inch the chief of police she was. “There’s a report that your next-door neighbor has been kidnapped and you were seen at her house prior to that.”

  I let out a laugh. “You’re kidding, right? Leigh and I are together. She’s carrying my kid. You know that.”

  She didn’t let up from her stare. “It doesn’t look good, Jonathan. Hell, I have to take you in.”

  That I hadn’t expected. “Seriously? Come on, Alisha. I have to go after Mac. He’s got her and you know she doesn’t stand a chance against him. This is my life we are talking about.”

  Sympathy flashed across her face. “I’m sorry, really. I can put out some patrols looking for him, but you have to come with me. You’re a suspect, even if I don’t agree with it.”

  I had a split-second thought of taking off, knowing that I wouldn’t get far and would be in a hell of a lot more trouble if I did so.

  Shit. “You might kill her over this, you know that?” I shot back, holding my wrists out in front of me.

  “I’m sorry, Jonathan,” she said quietly, reaching for her handcuffs. “I’m just doing my job.”

  I knew she was, and I didn’t hold it against her. Clamping the metal cuffs on my wrists, Alisha motioned for one of the deputies to take over, hurt written all over her face.

  I watched her walk back up the driveway, realizing that there weren’t just cops around. “You shithead!” I yelled, startling everyone. “You are doing this, aren’t you?”

  Nathan turned and I could have sworn there was a brief smile on his lips before he motioned to the deputy next to him. “See? That’s the anger I was talking about. Leigh was scared of him. God knows what he’s done to her.”

  “This is on your head!” I shouted, attempting to fight out of the deputy’s hold. “You’ve killed her, you know that?” He flinched and it hit me. “You’re working with him, aren’t you?”

  Alisha whipped her head around to Nathan. “What is he talking about?”

  Nathan held
up his hands. “I-I don’t know. He’s trying to blame everyone for what he has done to her. I should have tried to keep her from him, to keep her safe.”

  “He’s working with Mac,” I stated, feeling fury and rage well up inside me. “Don’t you know what he will do to her?”

  Nathan flinched as the deputy clamped his hand on my shoulder. “All right, that’s enough. Let’s go.”

  I allowed myself to be led away, knowing I had planted a seed of doubt in Alisha’s mind. She was a damn good cop. She would know this didn’t feel right and I was betting on her to do so.