“He’s not a fucking babysitter,” Tank spat out. “We need him here.”
Cade’s hand shot out and he shoved Tank up against the wall. “I’m giving the fucking orders and your job is to obey. If I say we can spare him, then we can spare him. End of discussion.”
“I can help. I know how to use a gun.” Dawn tugged on his arm and he brushed her away.
“What you did out near Big Bill’s wasn’t shooting. You coulda got us killed. And I can’t lead the brothers if I’m worrying about you. I want you out of here, and I want you safe. We took out five Jacks the other night and they’re here for revenge. Go with T-Rex. Now.” He tagged his cut, shrugging it on as he stalked down the hallway with Tank following close behind.
Dismissed.
Dawn gritted her teeth at his abrupt departure. He hadn’t even considered her offer. As with Jimmy, he thought she was a liability. But dammit, she wasn’t helpless and in need of protection, and she didn’t want him to be a man down because he thought she couldn’t look after herself.
An explosion shook the clubhouse, and the chandelier in the hallway rattled. T-Rex ran over to the window and swore. “The weapons shed is on fire. They musta thrown something at the roof. If it blows, we’ll have the cops, the fire department, and the fucking ATF out here. We’ll all go to jail.”
“Then we’d better put it out right away. I was part of a fire line during a vacation with my parents in North Carolina. We need buckets, hoses, and as many brothers as can be spared. We can run water from the kitchen and any outside taps.” She didn’t wait for his agreement, but ran barefoot down the hallway, wishing she’d brought something to wear other than her slinky red dress.
Within minutes T-Rex had rounded up some buckets and Dawn organized the brothers. She filled bucket after bucket from the tap in the sink, passing them to T-Rex who sent them down the line. Gunfire peppered the front of the clubhouse and thick, black smoke billowed through the windows, choking her and making her eyes water, but she didn’t slow her pace.
Please let Cade be okay.
She didn’t know how long she filled the buckets, but when Tank came to tell them the fire was out, she collapsed against the counter beside T-Rex, soaked, sooty, and exhausted beyond belief. But she had only a moment of respite before Cade stalked into the kitchen.
“I thought I told you to take her home.” Cade rounded on poor T-Rex. “I give an order. I expect it to be obeyed. The Jacks are still outside. They got reinforcements through the northeast trail. I got enough to deal with and now I gotta worry about Dawn being here.”
“We needed all hands to put out the fire.” T-Rex swallowed but he didn’t back down. “We woulda lost the shed and all the weapons if it wasn’t for her idea to set up a fire line. We’d used up all the fire extinguishers and the hoses didn’t go out that far.”
“We’re fighting a damn war.” Cade cuffed T-Rex so hard, he staggered to the side. “You do what I fucking tell you to do or people die.”
“It was my decision.” Dawn pushed her way in front of Cade. “T-Rex wanted to take me home. I didn’t let him.”
“You’re half his fucking size,” Cade spat out. “If he wanted to take you home, there’s nothing you could do to stop him. I want you out of here. Now.” He gestured to Nick, who had just come in with the last of the buckets. “Take her home. Do what you gotta do to get the job done. If I see her here, or I find out she’s anywhere else, you’ll be picking your fucking teeth off the floor.”
* * *
“Oh my God. What are the police doing here?” Dawn slid off Nick’s bike and raced over to her house, glowing alternately red and blue from the lights of the two police cars parked out front. She ran up the sidewalk and hit Doug square in the chest as he stepped out her front door.
“Dawn! Thank goodness you’re okay. I heard a report of a break-in over the police radio and when I saw the address on the scanner I came right away. Where have you been?” His gaze drifted down her body, taking in her soaked hair, ruined dress, sooty skin, and bare feet. Too terrified to let her back in the house for her jacket and shoes, Nick had raced her out to his bike and ridden like hell was on his tail. It had been the coldest ride of her life.
“Party.” Her teeth chattered and consternation laced Doug’s brow. He slid off his jacket and wrapped it around her. “You look terrible. And cold. Who goes to a party without any shoes?” His gaze lifted and he spotted Nick on his bike across the street. “Oh, Dawn. You weren’t with the Sinners, were you?”
Shivering from the cold, and irritated by his patronizing tone, she pushed past him toward her house. “What happened here?”
“We got a call that your front door was ajar and one of your neighbors saw someone suspicious inside. I’ve been through the house and I have to say, I don’t think it was just an ordinary break-in. The intruder was looking for something.”
Dawn tapped the initials MD spray-painted in angry red on her front door. “Jimmy. And I’m guessing he was looking for me.”
Doug put an arm around her shoulders as she took a step forward. “Actually, I think he might have been looking for something else. Brace yourself. It’s not going to be easy to see.”
Now, that was understatement. Dawn stared at the destruction in her living room and kitchen, her breath catching in her throat. Every drawer had been opened and overturned; curtains were torn and cupboards emptied. Her bedroom had fared even worse: Clothes strewn across the floor. Ornaments cracked. Mattress slashed, and box spring broken. But it was the words scrawled across her dresser mirror in red lipstick, the handwriting sickeningly familiar, that sent her into the comfort of Doug’s arms.
WHERE IS THE FUCKING MONEY?
“Hey. It’s okay.” Doug ran his hand down her back. “We’ll catch him. On the bright side, someone must have scared him away because the rest of the rooms are untouched.”
“It’s definitely Jimmy.” She lifted her head, taking a breath to banish the almost cloying scent of his cologne. “I know his handwriting. But I don’t know what this is all about. I don’t know anything about any money.” She grabbed some clothes from the floor and excused herself to change, tugging on a pair of yoga pants and a hoodie before joining Doug in the hall and handing him back his jacket. “I need some fresh air.”
“Of course.” Doug placed a hand on her lower back and guided her out the door. He stopped to speak to the two police officers examining a set of footprints in the garden beneath her broken living room window, and then joined her on the front step. “Is there anything that might help us? Do you think this might have to do with your new biker friend?”
Cade. She toyed with the idea of calling him, but he had enough to deal with right now, and after what had happened, he was the last person she wanted to see. She pushed away the nagging thought that Cade might not make it through the fight with the Jacks. He was a survivor. Just like her.
“I don’t think so. Jimmy’s insanely jealous, and he’s seen me with Cade. But I don’t know if that would be enough to make him take the risk of being caught in Conundrum. And the money thing doesn’t make sense.” She shivered and Doug tucked an arm around her waist, pulling her into his warmth. Dawn leaned her head on his shoulder. God, she just wanted a hot bath, a warm bed, and two days’ worth of sleep.
“Do you have somewhere you can go for the night?” Doug said. “We’ll be putting police tape around the property until forensics has finished collecting evidence, and you’ll need a new window and all your locks changed before you can move back in.”
Not the clubhouse, if it was even still standing. And Arianne was probably there with Jagger. Most of her other girlfriends had kids and she didn’t want to disturb them.
“I can call Banks. He’ll come to get me.”
Doug leaned down and tucked a rogue curl behind her ear. “Or you can stay with me.”
ELEVEN
I shall show no mercy to those who have cause to fear me.
SINNER’S TRIBE CREED
/> Cade parked his bike outside Dawn’s house and took his first deep breath of the night. They had only just chased away the Jacks and tended their wounded when the prospect called to tell him about the break-in at Dawn’s place.
So here he was, his body thrumming with adrenaline, his brain still wired for action, and his trigger finger itching for another workout.
All of which were going to be a problem if Benson didn’t get his fucking paws off his girl.
Cade gritted his teeth as he slid off his bike. He needed to calm down. Still primed and in full-on fight mode, he was inclined to stalk down the sidewalk, rip Dawn away, shove his fist in Benson’s face, and then take Dawn someplace safe where he could strip off her clothes and make sure she hadn’t been injured. Then he would mobilize the brothers and hunt down Mad Dog. At least he’d done Cade the favor of letting him know just who had trashed Dawn’s house.
MD. Mad Dog. Bastard clearly wasn’t afraid of the police, or the Sinners.
Or did he know the Sinners would be busy fighting off the Jacks? The timing of the break-in couldn’t be a coincidence. But if that was the case, how did he know? And what the fuck did he want?
“There are two cops out back.” The prospect stepped out of the darkness. “Looks like he got in through the window. The house is totally destroyed. I heard them saying he was looking for something. Dawn and that cop have been sitting there for about ten minutes. She seems pretty rattled.”
“You did good, prospect. Go back to the clubhouse. Tell Jagger I’ll be at the meeting tomorrow.”
He scrubbed his hands over his face after the prospect walked away. Okay. He could do this. Walk in. Get the girl. Find out what the fuck was going on. Walk out. Solve the problem. Keep his hands to himself.
He crossed the street and headed down the walk.
And that’s when it all went wrong.
Dawn looked up and the despair on her face sent his heart crashing into his gut. Not only that, she was shivering, and wrapped in an overly intimate cop who had timed his comfort for the exact moment Cade arrived.
“It’s okay … Cade.” Benson held up a warning hand. “I’ve got this. Dawn’s coming home with me tonight where she’ll be safe, and we’ve got a forensics team on their way. We’ll find the perpetrator and put him behind bars. Guaranteed.”
Jesus Christ. Is the cop purposely winding me up? He’d managed to restrain himself at Banks Bar, but he was way past restraint now. A night in jail would be worth the pleasure of wiping that smug smile off Benson’s face.
Cade pulled up short, the chain on his belt swinging violently against his thigh. “We both know Mad Dog did this. We also both know you won’t be able to touch him, just like you can’t keep Dawn safe. But I can.” He held out his hand to Dawn. “Come.”
Of course, she didn’t come. Damn woman had a problem following orders. That had become abundantly clear when she’d stayed to help fight the fire, risking her life in the process. He had to respect a woman who knew her own mind, but not if she put herself in danger. Right now, he needed to assure himself she was safe and protected. And if she didn’t get off the step, and let him hold her, he didn’t know what he would do.
As if she sensed his inner struggle, Dawn slid out of Benson’s grip. “Could you give us a minute, Doug?”
Benson gave her a curt nod, then headed around the back of the house. Dawn made her way over to Cade. Her bare feet slapped softly on the pavement, bright in the darkness, white from the cold.
“Thank you for coming. I’m glad you’re okay.”
Beyond speech, overwhelmed with the need to hold her, Cade grunted and reached out, but Dawn stepped away. “I didn’t appreciate how you spoke to me at the clubhouse,” she said softly. “I didn’t like feeling like a liability. I was with the Brethren for seven years, and they treated me like I was worthless, but I survived and I learned a lot. And in the three years since I left, I learned even more. And one of those things is that I have value. I get that you want to protect me, but you need to get that I can look after myself, and sometimes I can even help.”
He knew what she wanted to hear, but he couldn’t say it. And if they faced the same situation again, he would make the same decision. “I can’t give you what you want, sweetheart. I can’t put you in danger. My dad beat on my mom for as long as I could remember, and until I turned fourteen there was nothing I could do to protect her. Even when I was strong enough to stop him, she wouldn’t leave. When she finally did leave, she went back. I could never understand why. And in the end she died by his hand. So now I got a need to protect you that is part of my soul. Whether you want it or not, I’m gonna keep you safe.”
He tagged her around the waist, drew her close, bent down and rested his forehead against hers, grounding himself in the moment, savoring the feel of her soft body in his arms.
“I’m sorry about your mom.” She slid her arms around his waist and hugged him tight. “I understand why she didn’t leave. It’s a cycle, Cade, and you can’t see your way out. For the longest time, I believed the horrible things Jimmy said about me. I believed I was worthless and every day I stayed made me feel even more humiliated about the fact I hadn’t run away the day before. It was only when he turned on the girls that I broke free. I survived and found my worth and made a life for myself. That’s why it was important to me that you didn’t think I was a liability. I will never be that woman again.”
“Never thought you were a liability.” He pulled her against his chest. “Just wanted you to be safe.” And then, because he wanted to see her smile, he said. “But you can’t shoot for shit.”
“I’ll learn.”
“How ‘bout I take you somewhere we can warm you up first. Then you can tell me what happened in there, ’cause I’ve got a feeling Benson’s not gonna be too keen to let me inside. After that, we can do some shooting.”
She looked up at him and licked her lips. “Is there some hot sex in a bed involved?”
Cade rumbled his satisfaction. “Sweetheart, I don’t need a bed.”
“Dawn?” Benson came around the corner, his shiny deputy badge glinting under the streetlight. “Are you ready to go?”
Dawn turned to face him and Cade clamped an arm around her waist and pulled her tight against his chest, pleased when Benson’s smile faded.
Mine.
“Actually, um … I’m going with Cade. But thank you for the offer, and for coming out here tonight. You’ve been such a good friend to me.”
Benson’s lips thinned. “Friendship doesn’t seem to matter when there are bikers around who make a mockery of our laws and lure women into a violent world with promises they’ll never keep. Think about what you’re doing, Dawn.” His voice took on a sharp edge, and the hair on the back of Cade’s neck stood on end. “I’m certain Jimmy came here tonight because of your involvement with the Sinners. You tried so hard to get away from that world and make a good, stable life for you and your girls. Don’t throw it all away.”
“I appreciate your concern,” she said sharply. “But I can make my own choices.”
Cade drew in a deep breath and his hands clenched into fists. Only Dawn’s quiet “hush” stopped him from shoving his fist down Benson’s throat. Yes, the dude wanted her. But he was also trying to do his job and protect her. He just needed to understand that protecting Dawn was Cade’s job.
* * *
“A biker’s word is his bond.” Jagger folded his arms and leaned back in his chair in the boardroom. “I’m not about to go back on my word because Mad Dog broke into Dawn’s house.”
“He’s taking advantage of the fact he’s untouchable.” Cade could barely contain his ire. The early-morning meeting wasn’t going the way he’d hoped. In other words, Jagger wouldn’t back down.
“If we can’t keep him out of town, she’s in danger. He attacked her outside the bar, showed up at the police station … He thinks she belongs to him and he just won’t quit. By making him untouchable, we’ve taken away the only safety
she had.”
Jagger held up a warning hand. “I know how many times he’s been here. And every time I have the same need as you to hunt him down, but we made a deal with Wolf and I’m not about to break my word. You agreed to this, Cade. We all did.”
Gunner, silent until now, along with the rest of the brothers at the table, exhaled a breath. “Wolf broke the deal when he sent us up north for weapons that weren’t there.”
“He says he doesn’t know what happened to the weapons. He’s looking into it.”
“And you fucking believe him?” Cade stood abruptly, no longer able to contain his anger.
“Of course not. Dax is going to interrogate Matchstick today about what he knows, and you and Zane can do some investigating when you take a team up to Whitefish to deal with the Demon Spawn betrayal. But the Jacks are clearly stronger than we thought if they could launch the kind of attack they did last night. We have to retaliate but we have to be smart.”
“I’ll start asking questions about where the Jacks are drumming up their new supporters,” Zane said. “I didn’t recognize some of the patches on the guys who were in the raid last night.”
“How about we just tell the Brethren where to fucking go?”
Jagger regarded Cade with a damn irritating calm, implacable expression. “Do you really want to risk sending the Brethren running into their arms? Wolf has another weapons shipment coming in and he’s arranged for it to be delivered straight to us. We can use those weapons in a new offensive. The election is coming up in three weeks. After Wolf’s presidency is secure, we patch the Brethren in and the deal no longer stands. That’s when we tell them where to fucking go. Mad Dog dies that day, and no other.”
“I can’t sit by and let him harass her.” Cade shoved his chair against the table. “I can’t be with her every minute of the day, and he always shows up when I’m not there. And does anyone wonder how he knew to break into her house when we were all busy with the Jacks? I think he knew about the raid.”
The Sinner’s Tribe Motorcycle Club, Books 1-3 Page 48