by KJ Dahlen
“Do you have any idea who I am?” Deke finally growled.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Of course, I know who you are. Do you think I’m stupid? You’re the great big boss man of the Satan’s Spawn, Deke Tory.”
Jack and Jared joined them and Deke could see both men were in pain. Jared was holding his stomach while Jack was holding an ice bag to his balls.
Zipper and Deke glanced over at the little slip of a girl and noted she didn’t seem to have any bruises on her at all.
Standing proud with her shoulders back and at all of five feet nothing, her red hair flowed down her back and her bright green eyes observed him carefully. Her arms were crossed over her ample chest and she couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred and 10 soaking wet.
“Who the hell are you anyway?” he finally asked.
She shook her head. “My name isn’t important, my mission here is.”
“And what would that mission be?” Deke asked with a raised brow.
“I’m here looking for a dancer named Peaches. All I want to know is if she’s okay. I’m not looking for trouble of any kind I just want to find her.” She paused and stared at the big man behind the desk. “Why is that so difficult for you jackasses to figure out?”
Deke looked instantly livid as he replied, “This jackass protects his dancers and when someone he doesn’t know starts asking questions, he wants to know why.”
She dropped her arms and took a few steps toward his desk. Placing her fingers on the wooden surface, she leaned toward him. “Do you know Peaches?’ she asked him softly. She gazed unto his eyes.
“Yes, I know Peaches,” Deke finally told her.
“Is she okay?”
He frowned at her question. “Yes, she’s okay. Why would you ask me that?”
She stood away from the desk. “I just wanted to find her and talk to her. I didn’t mean any trouble. Will you have her call me? I need to speak to her.”
“What the hell did you do to my men?” Deke asked softly.
His men shifted nervously. They knew when he spoke in that tone of voice he was in a fine rage. They knew to steer clear of him at that point. They almost felt sorry for her, almost.
And Wiley must have thought that she would soon see Deke’s famous temper, as he grinned for just a few seconds.
Zipper didn’t grin as he still had trouble understanding all this. 3 men, who were nearly three times her size? She had to have used a baseball bat at least.
“I warned them that I don’t like to be touched,” she replied. “They didn’t listen.” She shrugged. “Maybe now, they will.”
Deke stood to his impressive height and she could finally see just how big a guy he really was. Dark hair, wide shoulders and muscles to spare. He could snap her back like she was a toothpick
Zipper knew if she was smart she would have to be scared or feel a second of fear but nothing showed on her face.
Walking around the side of his desk, Deke came close to where she stood. “So you don’t like to be touched huh?” His steel colored eyes gleamed at her.
She narrowed her eyes and took a step back. She matched his temper but she must have known she couldn’t match his brawn. “No I don’t,” she whispered. “I don’t want to hurt you but I will if you force this.”
Deke barked a laugh. “I don’t think you could touch me but I could definitely hurt you.”
“No man will ever hurt me again.” She sneered as her eyes glinted with a hard look. “I don’t care how big, brawny or fucking stupid they happen to be.”
Zipper sucked a breath in. He almost squeezed his eyes shut. God, what the hell was wrong with this chick?
Wiley gasped too and paled just the barest of shades. They all watched with fear on their faces waiting to see what Deke would do. No one, certainly not a woman had ever called this man stupid and lived. Wiley then nodded at Jack and Jared.
Both injured men hurried to get out of the room.
Zipper couldn’t blame them. No one wanted to see when Deke got angry. The last time anyone had called this man any name at all, the man was taken out by being dragged with blood trailing behind him.
But Deke surprised everyone by throwing his head back and laughing.
Zipper and apparently, Wiley were astonished to see this. They figured that for sure he would lose his temper at this point.
When he stopped laughing, he looked her in the eye and said, “Lady you have balls, I’ll give you that. Just don’t ever call me stupid again, or I will hurt you.”
“You could try,” she vowed under her breath. “But if you don’t act stupid again, we’ll get along fine,” she said louder than before.
“I still need a name.” Deke seemed calm and cool as he went back to his chair and sat down. Opening his desk drawer, he brought out a bottle of Black Velvet whiskey. Grabbing a couple of glasses, he poured out two shots and put one in front of her.
Cassie shook her head. “I don’t drink, sorry.”
Deke nodded. “What’s your name?” he asked her for the third time.
“Cassie.”
“Just Cassie?” he asked.
“Just Cassie. Kinda like just Cher or Madonna.”
Zipper just shook his head. The girl was either brave or stupid. Maybe she was both? She’d just stood there in a room full of huge bikers and faced the meanest one down as she ran her mouth the entire time.
Deke glanced over at Wiley. “Why don’t you find Peaches and bring her here.”
Wiley nodded and left the room.
Now, there was no one else in the room, but Deke and this Cassie...and Zipper.
Zipper then went back to work and he ducked back behind the partition. If Deke caught him staring, he might kick his ass.
“So, tell me about you and Peaches?” Deke asked as he poured another shot.
Zipper could still hear them talking as he examined the hard drive he’d plucked out of the tower shell just before this Cassie arrived.
“We grew up together in the same hell hole until I got big enough to take care of the both of us,” Cassie answered. “We’ve been together since we were five years old.”
“How did you lose track of her then?” Deke sounded curious.
“Some jackass snatched her off the street when she was coming home from work about three months ago. I’ve been looking for her ever since.”
Deke spoke again, “She came here looking for work. I had nothing to do with how she got here. That ain’t how we roll.”
“I didn’t say you were the jackass but somebody is and when I find them I intend to kill them,” Cassie vowed.
Zipper raised his head at the hate and determination in her tone. This chick was tough as nails and he wondered if Deke was gonna handle this the way he always did. Have the troublemaker hauled out of his office and off his property.
Then he could see Wiley had brought one of the strippers in as the door opened then closed. Zipper remained where he was... he needed to just stay with electronics. People were too much damn trouble.
What happened next confirmed that fact too.
They both argued as she thought Deke had forced Peaches to dance in the club.
With her calling Deke, a rotten, fucking, cock sucking bastard... Zipper held his breath. He was almost too afraid to peek around the partition again. Then next, he heard the sound of a loud slap hitting a cheek...
The silence that followed was like the calm before the storm.
Zipper held in his groan of apprehension. Did she just slap Deke?
Then he heard the intake of Deke’s breath and he wanted to look so badly, but just getting caught looking would get him...lots of pain and misery.
What must have been Deke’s resounding return slap that Zipper knew was coming... wasn’t as loud to his ear but he flinched anyway.
Chapter Two
Zipper shook his head. It had been an explosive beginning. That was how it all started. Then Cassie did those tiger murals. He remembered seeing those for the
first time. It had been surreal. Too real, he should say. Like they might leap out at you. He even remembered that morning when he’d strolled in with his coffee and stopped dead in his tracks with his mug hallway up to his lips. Jaw dropped, body stilled as he stared. He’d wondered how the hell a mural of a tiger had just appeared on the wall of the main hall.
He learned later about Rufus. Cassie’s name for the orange striped tiger.
Now, Deke had her and the kids while she had the Redemption Houses. The entire compound had been rebuilt and modified into something... He shook his head. A great fortress with the best tech in the world, which had made him happy. Sin’s Bastards MC Compound had an overhaul of the highest order with a large parking area chain around it and there were at least thirty to forty bikes there at all times, parked. Four men on the roof at all times. Two patrolling the back and two at the front. With a gate guard. 4 cameras at the front and 2 on each side of the structure then 4 at the back... all state of the art. They’d built in high ceilings. And full double doors at the front.
The entire building had Teflon mast built into the walls. All the windows in the place were bullet proof.
Oh, he knew most people would think all of it was overkill. Paranoid. It wasn’t. This had been Deke’s goal to make a fortress. Ever since the twins had been kidnapped, he vowed that no one would ever touch his family or any of the Sin’s again. At least here at the compound. Not at the Redemption House either as it had all state of the art protection as well. The Moore’s knew their stuff as they had built it all.
He loved all the toys as he called the surveillance equipment that had been implemented at his request for some of it and it all nearly ran itself. On occasion, there would be a glitch or a kink and he would fix it. He’d had to up his game in the last six months though.
However, there was the reception room as Zipper called it. A front lobby with all glass windows, bullet proof of course. Those lion and tiger murals greeted you as soon as you stepped in. And so did the large palms and the tropical plants with huge blooming flowers.
Deke had lost that one as he had argued that it did not represent a Motorcycle club but he hadn’t lost the debate just to Cassie...As he’d thought many times. The women here sometimes won over the men. The Sin’s Bastards MC men just ignored the entrance as best they could. It wasn’t Kosher as far as bikers went. Zipper snickered. Too Fairy dust like for them.
Zipper focused again on his search. The PC had more capabilities than his laptop, at least this particular PC did. It was also the best of the best. If he did find something, it would be on this machine. But it had been an uphill battle as he had no name, no real lead to follow but if he wanted to keep his President, if any of them wanted Deke to stay alive, he’d better catch a break and soon.
Then he heard a ping from his laptop.
He looked down and swung his wheeled chair over to it.
A message was typed across his screen.
They Are Going To Die If You Don’t Do Something...
He blinked.
Someone had hacked in?
No, no, no! Zipper tapped his keys to try to see what his firewall was doing. He couldn’t penetrate that section.
Again with the text.
I know who you are now. You need to stop this from happening.
Zipper blinked hard. Then typed. Who are you?
He waited.
Can’t say. But you are missing the point.
He again, tapped the keys. Do you mean Deke?
Then came the reply YES. And the other man.
He paused with confusion then typed, What other man?
Yuri Anatoly.
Again, he tried, How do you know all this?
No answer.
Are you there? He typed.
He waited and waited.
Nothing.
He stood up and took his laptop with him.
Making his way down the long hall, he headed to Deke’s door. He knocked.
“Come in!” Deke called out.
Zipper did so. Then he closed the door behind him.
He nodded at Gator the VP of Sin’s who sat in the other chair as he sat down. “Prez. We got something odd.” He stared at the man who still had few cuts on his face and a bad bruise along his forehead from the bike wreck.
“Odd? As in what?” Deke looked down at some papers.
“Hacker got through my firewall.”
Both men looked at him.
“What?” Deke stared at him steadily now.
Zipper shook his head and pushed his fingers through his long hair. “Someone hacked me.”
Gator laughed and reached across to pat his arm. “It had to happen someday, son.”
Zipper sighed as this wasn’t even funny and stood to set the laptop onto Deke’s oak desk. The same desk he’d had all those years ago at the other club. “No, man. This is bad on all kinds of levels.”
“It sure as fuck is.” Deke glared at him then back down at the screen. He sat for a moment and read it. The gazed up at Zipper. “What the fuck does this mean?”
He shrugged. “Whoever it is knew about someone being after you.”
“And who is this man? This Yuri.”
“I don’t know yet.”
Gator stared at him. “The name sounds Russian.”
“Yeah, it does.” Deke sat back. “We have had dealings with the Bratva before and there are some Russian MCs, but otherwise, I never heard of this man.”
Zipper nodded. “I will get on it.”
“Then what about this hacker?” Gator wanted to know.
Zipper shrugged. “Beats me. It has never happened before. I mean how did he get past my firewall?”
“You’d better find out, but first find out who this man is.” Deke slid the laptop back to him.
Zipper nodded as he grabbed his laptop and made his way out.
As he walked down the hall, he could hear kids laughing and talking. It was a common thing to hear but just not in this particular hallway.
He then spotted the little culprits.
Deke’s kids.
Sam and Jemmia were now both in Kindergarten and Piper was yet to go to school. She was trailing the twins and crying.
Zipper paused as they all barreled toward him. He was used to kids. Gator and Reva had three that they adopted and there were many from the other Sin’s members, so he knew them all.
Before he could find out what was going on, and why the kids were in this part of the club, Cassie came rushing down the hall after them. “You two need to stop teasing Piper!”
The kids all stopped in their tracks and slowly turned around to stare their mother.
Zipper hid his grin. Cassie was gonna lay down the law. This should be good.
“But mom...” Sam started.
“No butts mister, except yours that I am gonna tan if you do not include Piper in your games.” Her sharp gaze swung over to Jemmia. “You too, young lady.”
The red headed girl that looked so much like her mom stuck her chin out. “I didn’t do nuthin’ ”
Zipper bit his lip not to laugh at her grammar.
“Nuthin’?” Cassie shot back. “Why are you talking like some street kid?”
Jemmia lowered her head. “Grandpa says that all the time. Cept, there’s always that bad F word in it.”
Cassie looked furious. “Bones should know better than to swear in front of you.”
Jimena’s head shot up. “Oh, no Mother. He didn’t know I heard him.”
“Still,” her mom said. “He needs to clean up his vo—”
“—cabulary,” all three kids shouted.
Zipper couldn’t help it, he burst out into laughter as he held his closed laptop to his chest.
All the occupants in the hallway looked over at him. The kids with wide eyes. Little Sam started chuckling then it turned into full bloom laughter.
Zipper’s laughter halted when he caught Cassie’s stormy look. He cleared his throat and moved down the hallway while
only partially hearing the rest. The last thing he needed was a confrontation with the Spitfire. He knew she was going to visit him soon though. Worried about Deke and the accident...if he knew Cassie at all. He saw the look in her eyes a few days back after the bike was tampered with. If he didn’t find something soon, he would be in trouble.
Cassie went on, “Now all of you back to the other side of the compound.”
“Aww, darnit!” Sam grumbled. “Mom, Piper was just crying cuz she can’t keep up,” Sam defended.
“We were gonna see daddy and Uncle Gator!” Jemmia griped.
Zipper didn’t hear the rest but then he didn’t have to. Cassie would have them rounded up and in custody to the other side of the club with Reva in a few minutes, he would bet.
He hustled into the operations room to get to his main PC to do a thorough search on this unknown, this Yuri Anatoly. He opened his laptop and set it down then turned to the main PC.
He sat and went to his search places.
After several minutes, his eyes widened at what he found on the man. He tapped his keys and more popped up. Then suddenly, the site he had open went down. He jolted for a second then tried to refresh. What the?
Next his laptop pinged. He swung his chair over and looked at the screen. To see two words.
Stop. Looking.
He scratched his head. How in the hell?
He typed in, who says so?
We do. Stop.
He shook his head. What happens if I don’t?
No answer.
Then his laptop screen went blank.
He frowned and tapped enter.
Nothing.
Then he checked the power key. On.
“What the fuck?” he muttered aloud. His laptop was dead. Utterly crashed. Gone. He tapped more keys. Nothing. Staring hard at the screen, he saw what no person ever wanted to see—the dreaded blue screen with a blip of light at the center then it went to black. It was toast. “How in the hell—?”
His cell rang. He looked around. Where the fuck had he put it? He spotted it next to his coffee mug, so he wheeled his chair back over. Grabbing it up, he swiped the screen.
Unknown number.
He tapped answer.
“Who the fuck are you?” a man’s voce barked into the phone.