Beyond the Cut

by Sarah Castille

  TWENTY-THREE

  When there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to fear.

  SINNER’S TRIBE CREED

  Cade threw himself into the spare chair in the prospect’s makeshift IT office and kicked the door shut. They had set the prospect up in an unused room at the back of the clubhouse, and Cade had authorized the purchase of what looked to be way too much computer equipment. So far nothing much had come of the investment except some fancy Sinner’s Tribe screensavers and new phones for all the brothers. But then, they hadn’t really given the prospect an opportunity to prove his worth. Maybe now that the situation with the Brethren was resolved …

  He and Jagger had spent the morning on the phone with Wolf. With Mad Dog in jail and the election only one day away, Wolf had the presidency all but wrapped up, and he’d called to discuss the details of the patch-over.

  A patch-over Cade still didn’t want. Yeah, they could use the extra bodies, but the Sinners were still the dominant club in the state, and now that they knew how the Jacks were growing their numbers, they were in a position to take the Jacks down hard. So why did they need to put the Sinner patch on a bunch of bastards who had not only challenged Sinner dominance, but also turned a blind eye to Dawn’s suffering?

  “Bad day?” The prospect pounded on his keyboard, his back to Cade. He wore a red T-shirt that said AMORAL INDIVIDUALISM in white letters across the back. Cade didn’t know what the hell amoral individualism was, but it sounded smart.

  “You could say that.”

  “You look like shit.”

  He probably did. After the party, he’d taken Dawn home and made love to her all night long, showing her just how much he admired her courage and even more how much he liked watching her dance. But after she fell asleep, and the first rays of morning light filtered through the curtains, he lay in bed and stared at her cut, neatly folded on the dresser. Benson’s actions had pushed them into an uncertain future. With Mad Dog in jail, she no longer needed the cut, and he didn’t know what he would do if she tried to give it back.

  “Got something for you to do.” He handed the prospect a piece of paper. “Man named Lou. Lived in Seattle about ten years ago. Connected to a family named Delgado. I want to know where he lives now, and I want to know everything about him.”

  “Consider him found.”

  “Keep it quiet. Just between you and me.” Although when the time came, he wouldn’t have any trouble rounding up a few brothers to pay Dawn’s uncle a visit. Maybe he’d bring the prospect along to toughen him up. And of course Dax, so they could have a little fun.

  The prospect turned away and tapped on his keyboard. “I’ve been waiting for a job like this. When I first started hanging around the club, I told everyone I’m about brains not brawn. I can hurt people worse with my computer than you can with your fists. I can wipe out bank accounts, freeze credit cards, hack into secure computers and steal information. I can erase your criminal record or give you a rap sheet a mile long.”

  “If you could really do that, you’d have the Feds after your ass so bad…”

  “They offered me a job.” The prospect hit a button and the printer lit up. “I coulda been wearing a suit, working for the man, taking home six figures and driving a nice shiny BMW. Instead I joined an underground hacker group, learned some new skills, and put my education to good use.”

  “Why?”

  “I got a mission. Justice and revenge. I’m gonna destroy the people who destroyed my family. But first I’m gonna make them suffer.”

  Cade folded his hands behind his head. “And here I was worried about you. Now you’re sounding like a biker. But you gotta let that out around the club. Go pick a fight. Shoot something. You gotta make yourself stand out. The reason you don’t have a name yet is ’cause you haven’t done anything to make people notice you. Everyone is known for something.”

  “What about you?” The prospect gave him a quizzical look. “I know executive board members don’t have to use a road name, but you musta had one.”

  “Raider. And before you tell me it’s a cool name, you should know that it had nothing to do with the MC, and everything to do with a sorority that wanted some biker loving, and a night Gun and I had one too many beers.”

  The prospect tried and failed to hide his laughter. “That’s fucking awesome. Says it all. I hope your old lady doesn’t find out. Might make her worried you’ll go back to doing whatever it was you did to earn that name.”

  “I’m done with that shit,” Cade said. “No more boozing and babes for me. I’m gonna be a one-woman man.” He just had to convince Dawn to keep his cut.

  “So what are you still doing here when Mad Dog’s outta jail? Shouldn’t you be protecting your old lady?”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Cade shot out of his chair and grabbed the prospect’s shirt, yanking him forward. “We were just talking to Wolf, making plans for the patch-over this morning. He didn’t say anything.”

  “Maybe he didn’t know.” Sweat beaded on the prospect’s forehead. “I got a line into the sheriff’s office, and a hookup to a police scanner. They released Mad Dog at noon. He got some big-shot lawyer from New York handling his case. I just found out about it, but I figured you already knew.”

  “Christ.” He released the prospect and called Dawn. When he left early this morning she was getting ready to take the girls to the park. When she didn’t answer, he sent her a text telling her to get the girls, pack some bags, and meet him at home. There was a safe house above Sparky’s shop. He’d take them there until after the election.

  If there was an election. Because he’d had it with all the crap. After Dawn and the girls were safe, he was going hunting.

  * * *

  Dawn wheeled Maia’s princess suitcase into the hallway. She’d packed as quickly as she could after receiving Cade’s message, but dammit, she didn’t want to run again—not even to a Sinner safe house. She’d been running away since her family died. First from her uncle, and then from the streets, and now from Jimmy all over again. She wanted to stand up to him the way she had when he broke into her house. But this time, she wouldn’t make any mistakes.

  Her phone rang and Doug started speaking after she said hello, his words clipped and his voice unusually abrupt.

  “Jimmy’s out of jail. There was nothing I could do. The lawyer he hired is a big-time criminal attorney and he had the sheriff’s head spinning with all the things he said had gone wrong with the arrest. Where are you?”

  “I’m at home. I know about Jimmy. But it’s okay. I’m going—”

  “Get out of the house, Dawn. Get out now. Get on the bus and come to the police station. I’m just outside of town. I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes. I can get you into a safe house and from there we can arrange for witness protection.”

  “Cade is coming. He’s taking me—”

  “Don’t make this mistake again.” Doug’s voice rose to a shout. “He can’t save you. When Jimmy dumped the body at your house, you came to me. In your heart you knew I could protect you. Cade is a biker through and through. He’s going to use you the way Jimmy did. He’s playing off your fears with false promises. He doesn’t care for you the way I do. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

  Bile rose in her throat. She had done nothing to encourage Doug beyond friendship, and she couldn’t understand why he didn’t get the message. And Cade … Doug was wrong about him. She trusted him, and she trusted herself enough now to know she wasn’t making the same mistake she’d made with Jimmy.

  “I’ve made my choice. I love him. And Conundrum is my home. I’m a Sinner now, Doug. I’ve found myself and I’ve found my place. I’m not going to let Jimmy take it away.”

  I love him. The rightness of the words rippled softly through her body, warming her from her fingers to her toes. Why had she been such a fool? Last night, with Jimmy in jail and their deal effectively done, she had actually considered giving back her cut. Now she wished he would hurry so she
could wear it for him, tell him that she loved him, and then spend a lifetime showing him just how much.

  “You aren’t thinking straight. I’m on my way.” Doug hung up before she had a chance to say anything else, and Dawn’s heart squeezed in her chest. He had been a good friend to her but he had pushed this protection thing just a little bit too far. She wondered again about his sister, and what had happened to her that had made him so determined to run roughshod over Dawn’s life.

  Dawn turned on the television and settled the girls on the couch as she packed up the rest of their bags. A BREAKING NEWS banner flashed on the screen, and the familiar face of Ella Masters, Conundrum’s up-and-coming news reporter, appeared on the screen. Standing under an umbrella, her sleek brown bob irritatingly unaffected by the humidity, she gestured behind her to a sea of police cars and an east-end alley closed off with police tape and announced that Bernie DeMarco, otherwise known as Wolf, president of the outlaw motorcycle club the Devil’s Brethren, had been found dead less than an hour ago.

  Dawn’s stomach heaved and she reached for her phone. Only Jimmy would have the audacity to kill Wolf, on the eve of the election. And she had no doubt who would be next. She texted Cade and Arianne but got no answer.

  Damn. Where was he? She wasn’t about to hop on the bus and go to the police station to meet Doug, but sitting in her house waiting for Jimmy to show up didn’t make sense, either. Yes, she had her gun, but she also had two children to protect, and the last thing they needed to see was their mother shooting and killing their father.

  “Girls. Grab your coats. We’re going for a walk until Cade gets here.”

  “I want to bring blankie.” Tia jumped up and raced to her bedroom. Dawn ran after her. She had just reached the bedroom when she heard a knock at the door.

  “I’ll get it.” Maia, already dressed and standing in the hallway, turned the lock.

  “No.”

  But it was already too late. The door swung open, and Maia fell to the side.

  “Jimmy.” Dawn stared at him aghast.

  “That’s President Jimmy, love. And I’ve come to take you home.”

  TWENTY-FOUR

  I shall uphold my creed or I shall turn in my colors.

  SINNER’S TRIBE CREED

  He rode like the devil was on his ass.

  Streetlights, stoplights, traffic, pedestrian crossings, and school zones flew past as he raced through the streets of Conundrum.

  The prospect had come running out of the clubhouse just after he started his bike, and from the look on his face Cade knew the news was gonna be bad.

  Wolf is dead, he said.

  Mad Dog is president, he said.

  And Cade knew exactly where he was going to be.

  * * *

  Dawn screamed when Jimmy dragged her from the house.

  “Please. Don’t leave them. They’re too little to be on their own.”

  Where were the neighbors who’d complained about shots fired at night? Where was Cade? And where was her damn purse and her gun?

  “Mommy!” Maia and Tia ran after them, and Jimmy turned and pointed his gun at his two sobbing daughters.

  “You want to live, you’ll shut those mouths and you’ll go back inside.”

  “Go to Martha’s house after we’re gone,” Dawn shouted. “Then ask her to call Arianne. The number is in my phone. Please, Jimmy. Let them come with us…”

  “Shut the fuck up.” Jimmy spun around and slapped her. “I don’t want those brats. They destroyed my fucking life. You draw any attention and I’ll fucking shoot you and get rid of you once and for all. I’m racking up the body count today and three is my lucky number.”

  Dawn sucked in a sharp breath. Oh God. Cade. Had he killed Cade, too? Despair gripped her hard and she took a deep breath and pushed her fear away. Right now she had to survive and escape. Then she’d find her girls and get the hell out of Montana forever. There was nothing left for her here anymore.

  “Why do you want me, Jimmy?” She stumbled when he shoved her toward a black SUV, parked at the side of the road. No back lanes or shadowy alleys for him anymore. No attempt to even hide the kidnapping. He was president now. Untouchable.

  Two Brethren brothers she didn’t recognize opened the door and Jimmy shoved her inside, before climbing in beside her.

  “I don’t have your money,” she continued. “I never did. And you’re president now. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone.”

  “I know you don’t have the money.” His face twisted in anger. “Shelly-Ann caused me a whole lotta grief with her lies, and when I found out, I made sure she was damn sorry she did. As for you, I like havin’ you around.” He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. “Pretty face. Sexy body.” He gave her nipple a cruel pinch and Dawn gasped. “Love the way you fucking scream. Nothing gets me off like your scream. Lotta girls broke when I beat them. Inside and outside. I never broke you.” He squeezed her breast and Dawn had to fight back the nausea as seven years’ worth of terror hit her in a rush.

  She grabbed the door handle, but the driver had locked the door. She screamed and pounded at the window until Jimmy smashed her head against the glass and promised there was more of that waiting for her if she made any more noise.

  After a long drive, the SUV pulled up outside the Brethren clubhouse, a converted barn in the foothills of the Tobacco Root Mountains just outside the Conundrum border. One of Jimmy’s companions opened the door for him, bowing as if he were some kind of royalty. Dawn stepped out of the vehicle, and back into a nightmare.

  Jimmy hadn’t wasted any time. He already had a president patch pinned to his cut, and as they walked toward the clubhouse she could see workers buzzing around what used to be Wolf’s house, a small bungalow near the back of the property.

  Other than the construction, everything was exactly the same as when she left. The front door opened into a makeshift office foyer, complete with a potted palm, a rack of magazines and a water cooler, all designed to throw nosy cops off the scent.

  Gail, the house mama and pretend receptionist, sat behind an empty desk filing her nails. She had grown her platinum-blond hair down to her waist, and her breasts threatened to explode from her low-cut fluorescent-green tank top. She waved absently when Jimmy shoved Dawn forward.

  “Long time. No see.”

  “Gail.” Dawn bit back a grimace. Gail had made it clear from day she joined the club that she wasn’t interested in friendship, bonding, or female solidarity, and she definitely wasn’t interested in anyone who might be a threat to her position. Gail looked out for only Gail. In that way, she was very much like Jimmy.

  “Quit yapping.” Jimmy pushed Dawn into the clubhouse proper. Her nose wrinkled when she inhaled the familiar stench of unwashed bodies, stale sweat, cigarette smoke and beer, as she fought back the stomach churning memories associated with the unpleasant scent.

  A few Brethren members watched TV in one corner, and another cleaned guns at the worn kitchen table. Clothes hung off the free weight machine, but the pool table was busy, as usual. The bikers she knew smirked as she walked past and a few newbies gave her quizzical looks. But of course no one talked to her, because Jimmy hadn’t given permission. She was nothing here until he acknowledged her.

  He steered her into a small room containing a bed and dresser. Jimmy flicked on the light and closed the door, then pointed her to the bed.

  Dawn’s pulse kicked up a notch and she took a seat, hoping he would let her call someone to look after the girls if she was compliant. But when he leaned against the door and folded his arms, his face twisted into a cruel, victorious smile, Dawn’s hands clenched on the rough polyester bedspread. There would be no mercy for her tonight.

  “Lucky for you I gotta stay here until things get settled. Otherwise I would have taken you home to hear you scream.” He pulled a bandanna from his pocket and dangled it in front of her. “Not that you’ll get off that easy. We can always muffle the sound.”

/>   “Let me call someone to look after the girls, Jimmy, and I’ll do what you want.”

  Jimmy snapped the bandanna between his hands. “Don’t give a fucking damn about those brats. Consider it part of your punishment for trying to humiliate me at the bar.”

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything to do.”

  He struck her across the face with the back of his hand and she fell sideways on the bed, her cheek throbbing.

  “I forgot what a goddamn slut you are. You loved being up there on the dance floor showing off to the crowd, practically fucking that Sinner in front of my brothers. You’re gonna fucking dance for us, but it’s me you’ll be touching, me you’ll be fucking, and it’s me you’ll be begging for mercy, which I’m not gonna give.”

  “I’ll never dance for you, Jimmy.” She pushed herself up, bracing for another blow. “Not again.”

  This time he just laughed. “You will dance. ’Cause if you don’t I’ll send someone for those girls and I’ll kill them in front of you.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “I’m president of the damn Brethren.” Jimmy reached for the door handle. “Soon to be Viper’s right hand man as president of his key support club. With the Jacks at my back, nothing’s gonna stop me, love, and no one’s coming to save you.”

  She threw herself at the door after the dead bolt slid into place, pounding on it and beating it with her fists. Then she screamed until her voice was raw. But of course no one came to help her. Not now.

  After all, no one defied the president.

  * * *

  He knew he was too late when he pulled up to the curb in front of Dawn’s house. First, she usually left on the light on the front porch. Second, the front door was partially open, and it seemed no one had called the police. Third, the TV was blaring hip-hop and Dawn was a jazz kind of girl.