“You look fucking hot with two pythons wrapped around you,” he said and palmed his crotch.
I smirked. “Guns, knives, snakes, and tits. Is that what does it for you, big guy?”
He shook his head and got to his feet. “I’ll take them back to their cage,” he said and extended his hands for the snakes.
“I want to see where they live.”
“They live in Bronze’s room. Fair warning, I have no idea who’s in there or what might be going on.”
I shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve walked in on an orgy.”
“What?” he asked in surprise.
“You heard me.”
“Okay, then. Follow me.”
I was slightly disappointed when we arrived at Bronze’s empty room. After the situation with the snakes, I was hoping for a little more excitement.
Deflated, I placed the snakes in their enclosure and made sure the lid was latched. After glancing around the room, I noted, “If he’d add some weather stripping to the bottom of the door and keep it closed, the snakes wouldn’t be able to escape from his room if they got out of their cage again.”
Batta blinked at me with a look of surprise on his face. “That’s actually a good idea.”
“Why do you seem surprised by it?” I asked, hoping he didn’t say something stupid that would get him kicked in the balls.
“I’m surprised none of us thought of it before. They’ve had those snakes for over twenty years,” he explained.
“Oh, well in that case, make sure you tell them it was my idea,” I said gleefully.
“Will do,” he said with a wink.
I studied him briefly. He was acting like a different person. The grumpy, broody, biker I was familiar with had been replaced with a man who was borderline tolerable. And that made me suspicious. Why did his blatant disdain for Josie and me suddenly disappear?
My stomach growled, giving me the perfect excuse to break away from him. “Gotta go. Audrey has spoken, and she gets really upset if I don’t feed her,” I announced and rubbed my stomach.
His mouth dropped open and the color drained from his face. “You’re pregnant?”
“No, you big oaf! I was talking about my stomach. Haven’t you ever seen Little Shop of Horrors?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Good stuff. You should watch it some time,” I said and headed back to our room to free Josie from her self-imposed porcelain prison.
A few hours after lunch, I was well on my way to pulling my hair out. The list we made was still in our room waiting for someone to come get it. Apparently, the bikers had day jobs, which meant we weren’t going to get our stuff until later in the evening.
I stood from the couch and started to stretch. Josie looked up from her book. “What are you doing?”
“Getting ready to work out because if I don’t do something, I’m going to go crazy. How are you handling this so well?” I asked.
Josie gave me a sad smile. “I’ve been in worse situations.”
Me and my big, unfiltered mouth. It was a blessing and a curse. “I’m sorry. That was incredibly insensitive of me. You must think I’m acting like a spoiled brat.”
She started to shake her head and then laughed. “Okay, maybe a little.” She held up the book she’d had her face buried in for most of the day—Betting on Forever by Scarlett Black. “This has helped tremendously. I love a good book. You should give it a try when I’m finished.”
“I only read books that have hot sex in them,” I blurted.
“Trust me. You won’t be disappointed with this one. And it’s about bikers,” she said excitedly.
I went back to my improvised workout while Josie continued reading her book. Exercise was doubly beneficial for me; it helped me stay in shape, which was required for my job. It also helped clear my mind, which allowed my critical thinking skills to do some of their best work. I’d had numerous strokes of genius come to me in the middle of an intense workout. And I needed one sooner rather than later.
13
After talking to Judge and getting access to the security feed for the clubhouse, I had Spazz pull it up on one of the televisions in the common room so I could watch the girls without having to sit in the hallway all day. I hated being on babysitting duty, and I knew that was part of why Copper gave it to me. Honestly, by most club’s standards, I deserved a much harsher punishment for going against a direct order from the President—even though I did have a good reason.
Finally, the typical workday was over, and people started to trickle into the clubhouse. Even Copper, who was usually in his office, had been out all day. He walked in with Judge at his side and came straight over to where I was sitting.
Copper glanced at the TV with the security feed and rubbed his chin. “I like that. I think we’ll keep the feed on it from now on.”
“Does that mean I’m off babysitting duty?” I asked hopefully.
He laughed. “I don’t think so. But, I do need you and one of the boys to go over to Tatum’s place and pick up a few things. They have a list of what they need in their room.”
“Now?” I asked.
“Might as well do it now while Judge and I are here and can keep an eye on them. Grant’s out back. Take my truck and take him with you,” Copper said.
“Where do they live?”
“Beats the fuck out of me. You’ll have to ask them.”
I went down to their room and knocked on the door. Tatum yanked it open, out of breath and covered in sweat.
“What the fuck’s wrong with you?”
“Oh, you’ve probably never seen it before. This is the face of a woman who’s just had a magnificent orgasm.” Caught off guard by her response, I wordlessly gaped at her. She rolled her eyes. “I was working out, so I didn’t die of boredom. What do you want?”
I furrowed my brows. The woman was maddening. “I need your address and the list of shit you want from your place.”
“Halle-freaking-lujah! It’s about damn time!” she shouted and turned around to pick up a piece of paper from the nightstand. She grabbed a pen and scribbled something on it before handing it to me. “Oh, you’ll need a key. One second.” She removed a key from her key ring and handed it to me. “My number’s at the top. Call me if there’s something you can’t find,” she said and closed the door in my face.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at the door for a few seconds before I went outside to get Grant. He was young, but he was a good prospect. He always did what was asked of him and never complained. He was quiet, more so than the rest of us, but that would probably change over time.
We climbed into one of the club’s SUVs and followed the GPS directions to a gated community on the wealthier side of town. “Here’s the gate code,” Grant said and handed me the list. Once through the gate, we continued on to a large, brick house toward the back of the neighborhood. “The directions say to pull around back and enter through the red door.”
I parked behind the house and looked around for where we were supposed to go. “Do you see a red door? Because I sure as hell don’t,” I asked and turned to Grant who was standing behind me. That’s when my eyes landed on a detached garage with a door painted blood red. “There it is,” I pointed out.
“Why wouldn’t she just tell us they lived behind the house?” Grant asked.
“I want to say it’s because she was using code words since they’re in a precarious situation, but more than likely, it’s because she gets a kick out of being a pain in the ass.”
Grant laughed. “Yeah, I can see that.”
I unlocked the door and cautiously pushed it open. I wouldn’t put it past Tatum to have the place rigged with some crazy ass booby trap she conveniently forgot to mention. When nothing happened, I reached my hand inside, flipped the light on, and waited again. After a full minute, I stepped inside and took my first look at the items on the list.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me. Did you see what she put on here?”
Grant laughed. “I stopped reading when I got to ten pairs of cooter covers.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. No wonder she told me to call if I couldn’t find something. Almost everything on the list had some sort of Tatum-ized name.
Pearly Whites Polisher.
Claw Clippers.
Tress Tamer.
Cooter Covers.
Peacock Paint.
Cotton Ponies.
Tit Slings.
The Sphynx Maker.
Tootsie Toasters.
Shit Kickers.
“Fuck it. Find what you can. I’m not wasting time trying to figure out what The Sphynx Maker is.”
I found two duffle bags in a closet and handed one to Grant. “You take one bedroom and I’ll take the other. Fill that with clothes and a couple pairs of shoes. And whatever else you think they might want.”
Of course, I ended up in Tatum’s bedroom. As I was stuffing clothes into the bag, I realized Tatum didn’t have a wide variety of clothing. Her wardrobe mainly consisted of tactical pants, tank tops, T-shirts, and hoodies. No dresses or dressy clothes anywhere. It made sense. Tatum didn’t strike me as a girly girl.
Or so I thought until I pulled open her underwear drawer. I stared down at the array of sexy, skimpy panties paired with matching bras perfectly displayed as if they were in a lingerie store. Before I could stop myself, I picked up a black, lacy thong and pictured her wearing it for me with nothing but her combat boots on as I rubbed the silk between my fingers. With my cock rock hard and ready to go, I shoved the entire contents of the drawer into the bag, including the vibrator stashed in the back, though I removed the batteries first.
“I’m finished. Do you need help?” Grant called from the bedroom door.
“No,” I blurted. No way in hell did I want Grant in Tatum’s room going through her personal things. And then I realized that’s exactly how it sounded. “I’m good in here. Can you look for the laptop, phone chargers, and Kindle?” I blurted, hoping he didn’t notice.
“Fuck,” I whispered to myself. What in the hell was she doing to me? I wanted to fuck her and strangle her at the same time.
While Grant went in search of the items I requested, I braced myself and entered Tatum’s bathroom. I did my best to figure out what she wanted, because there was no way in hell I was coming back for round two. I was digging through the cabinet for cotton ponies—which I assumed were tampons—when my eyes landed on a box with a hairless cat on the front—Brazilian bikini wax kit. The Sphynx Maker. Holy shit. Grabbing it and the box of tampons, I tossed them into the duffle bag and left, because I was fucking done.
As we were leaving, Grant asked, “Who do you think lives in the main house?”
“My best guess is no one. It’s probably a safe house owned by the government under a fictitious name.”
“If that’s the case, why are they living in the converted garage?”
“If you were trying to find them, where’s the first place you’d look? The house or the garage?” I asked.
“Ah, I get it. An extra layer of protection,” he mused.
“Exactly.”
Halfway back to the clubhouse, I noticed a car following me, though it wasn’t the same one that was following Tatum the day before. “Keep your eyes on the silver sedan behind us and call Copper. Put it on speaker.”
“Copper Black,” he answered even though he knew damn well who was calling.
“Got a tail, Prez.”
“Son of a bitch!” he roared. “Where are you?”
“Coming through town about to hit Main Street.”
“Do you know who it is?”
“Not a clue. It’s not the same car that was following Tatum yesterday,” I relayed.
“Act like you haven’t noticed them and come back to the clubhouse. Serious as fuck, Batta, if I don’t see you pulling up to the gate in less than fifteen minutes, I’ll have your ass and probably your patch,” he growled.
“Understood, Prez. We’re on our way.” I waited until the call ended and cursed. “Damn it! I wanted to fuck with him a little bit before we got there.”
Grant grinned. “Now that would’ve been fun.”
“It’s always the quiet ones,” I laughed.
Between the two of us, we kept our eyes on the car. He stayed a couple car lengths back and followed us all the way to the clubhouse. I was surprised to see the gate open and every brother standing in the forecourt with their arms crossed over their chests. I could barely see the barrel of a gun peeking out from under Copper’s bicep when I passed by to park behind them.
Just as Grant and I got out and moved to stand with the club, the car approached at a snail’s pace and almost came to a complete stop in front of the open gate. From that point, everything happened in slow motion.
The driver of the car cracked the window.
The barrel of a gun appeared.
Every one of the brothers, including myself, took aim at the car.
A horn blew, and tires squealed.
An eighteen-wheeler slammed into the back of the car, effectively destroying the vehicle and everything in it.
“Holy shit,” I breathed.
Splint took off running to the semi-trailer.
“Judge, go make sure we’re not visible on the security feed. Grant, call 9-1-1,” Copper barked and headed toward the wreckage.
“Where are the girls?” I asked.
“Inside with Bronze. Go let Tatum know what’s going on and make sure she stays inside.”
I grabbed the duffle bags from the SUV and took them inside just as sirens sounded in the distance.
Tatum was already making her way down the hall with a gun in her hand. “What in the hell was that?” she demanded when her eyes landed on me.
“Car accident right in front of the clubhouse,” I said casually. I held up the duffle bags and smiled. “Here’s your stuff.”
She holstered her weapon and eyed me warily. “Uh, thanks,” she replied and took the bags from me. “I’ll just put these down in our room and see if they need any help outside.”
“No, you won’t. Copper specifically said for you to stay inside.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Oh, really? And why did he specifically say that?”
I exhaled slowly. “Because we picked up a tail on the way back from your place. It stopped in front of the clubhouse and was probably going to start shooting, but a tractor-trailer plowed into the back of it before they could get a shot off.”
“Is the driver of the car dead?” she asked in the way one would ask if it was raining.
“That hasn’t been confirmed, but I’m almost one-hundred-percent certain the answer is yes.” There was no way anyone in the car survived. Hell, the majority of the car didn’t survive.
“Okie dokie. Thank you,” she said and disappeared into her room.
14
Josie was curled into a ball on the bed and shaking like a leaf. Dropping the bags on the end of the bed, I pulled her into my arms. “It’s okay. There was a car accident on the road in front of the clubhouse. We’re not in any danger,” I soothed.
“Are you sure?” she asked through her tears.
“I’m positive. There’s absolutely nothing to be worried about.”
She sat up and wiped her nose with her hand. “I’m so ready for this to be over,” she whispered.
“I know you are. And, so am I. But stuff like this takes time, and trust me, we don’t want to rush it.”
“I know. I just…I’m tired of being scared all the time. And I want to go home,” she sniffled.
“That’s the end goal, sweetie. To make it safe for you to return home.”
“That’s never going to happen,” she whispered. “No matter what happens, the home I knew and loved is gone, and I won’t ever be able to get it back.”
I cocked my head to the side. She’d never said anything like that before. “What do you mean?”
“I’m in this mess because of him.
It doesn’t matter how much I loved him or how much he loved me; I’m not going to fight my way out of this mess only to go right back into the situation that caused it in the first place.”
“Do you really think he’s responsible for what happened to you?” I asked. If he was, we needed to refocus our investigation.
She shook her head. “Do I think he’s directly responsible? No. I don’t think he had anything to do with it. But indirectly? Yes. I was put on their radar because of who he is.”
“Are you sure about that? I mean, did you hear or see something that led you to believe it was because of him?” I asked, excited to be getting some new information.
“Yes and no,” she said hesitantly. “I remember hearing Sheldon say that I was extra special because I served two purposes—revenge and money. Then he laughed about what his face would look like when he found out what happened to me.” She inhaled deeply and straightened her shoulders. “I just want you to know that your efforts won’t be wasted. I won’t squander the second chance I was given the day you came running because your sister needed help.”
I took a moment to carefully choose my words. “As long as you’re happy, it will have been worth it. Don’t make decisions based on what you think I would or wouldn’t approve of. Because at the end of the day, this isn’t about me.”
“You’re a good person, Tatum.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sure there’s quite a few who would disagree with you,” I said uncomfortably. I never knew what to say when someone complimented me.
She grinned knowingly. “Are you referring to our biker babysitter?”
I narrowed my eyes. I knew that tone. “Actually, I wasn’t, but I don’t like what you’re insinuating.”
“Oh, come on. The sexual tension between the two of you is so hot even I get a little wet when you’re both in the same room.”
My eyes widened in complete and utter surprise. “What?” I asked, my voice coming out an octave higher than usual. “There is absolutely no sexual tension. None whatsoever!” Yes, I would fuck him wearing a bell around my neck hoping the cows would come home, but anything more than that was a hard no from me.
Batta (Blackwings MC - Devil Springs Book 4) Page 7