Torch was a tall, muscular man who shaved his head instead of letting it grow and then left to take care of it. He was handsome, but not in a classical way, in a rough, gruff, panty dropping handsome, which had more to do with his seriously sexy smoldering eyes than anything else. Women noticed him because his presence commanded attention. Even when he tried to hide it, people would still notice him, women as a powerful presence, men as a threat. He looked around, though, seeing if anyone was staring at him too closely. Torch was always on edge in case his cover was blown, and right now, with everything going on, it was a good possibility that it could happen. The fucking hacker was out of control; he was putting everyone in danger who worked undercover. Torch was ready to put him down. If they could find him that was what he would do, without hesitation, he would kill that motherfucker because of all the pain and heartbreak he was causing right now.
When they were both finally through customs, both men made a beeline for the front, knowing that someone was waiting for them. Over the years, they had made contacts all over the world, and rarely did the whole club actually know one person, but Ox was different, he was one of theirs, he just had a few issues that made him more comfortable being a nomad. Although none of them actually considered him a nomad, that was what he was since he refused to stay in one place for very long. Fling and the others held out hope that one day, someone or something would click for the large man and he would come home to stay. So far, that hadn’t happened, but like Fling said repeatedly, he held out hope, and it would take someone special to deal with the large, serious man. And Torch knew when he found a woman who could handle his dark side; he would fall like a ton of fucking bricks.
One night when they were all drinking, Ox had told them about his father, and the way he beat him. To be honest, it threw the team at first, because Ox was Ox and none of them thought he would ever be a victim. Mostly because of his size, but also because of his attitude about the club. Ox emphasized family all the time, so they assumed he had a good family life. They were wrong. The guys had never known where the scars came from on his back, and when they discovered his father gave them to him, they had all wanted to kill his father. Fortunately, he was already dead according to Ox. That didn’t lessen the damage the man had done to their brother. Fuck the shit he told them when he was trashed, it made Torch’s skin crawl, enough so Torch wanted to dig up his father and kill the fucker again.
Torch had a different childhood, one that wouldn’t compare to Ox’s, more like one that sucked because of circumstance, but he had dealt with that shit a long time ago. Both of his parents had died, and being their only child, and having no other relatives, he had been placed in foster care at only eleven. It had sucked because he was older, so most of the foster parents he stayed with, and there had been a lot, had expected him to take care of the smaller ones. He wasn’t a babysitter; he was a lonely boy who just wanted his parents back. But no one cared. Over the years, he discovered that being an asshole worked getting him out of taking care of the other kids. Also, it worked when he made the decision to join the military. From the first day he was in, Torch discovered it gave him everything he needed, especially a family. Which was why he was so fucking good at his job. When he got out, joining the Furies had been a natural thing. Especially after what happened with Anya, he needed something to hold onto because it seemed up until he met them, everything he had was taken away.
Torch didn’t trust easily, but when he did, he was all in. Until Anya, Max had never had a solid girlfriend; he was more of a hit-and-run type of guy. He fucked anyone that caught his eye but didn’t trust a damn one of them. The fucked up part, the asshole he was today, was due to the people he had lost: his parents, Anya, his teammates, fuck they all had names, and they all tore a bit of his heart each time one of them were gone. Sounds like a fucking pansy ass excuse, but it wasn’t, and now, his brothers were the only thing that mattered, his family, the Furies. Everyone else could fuck right off, and he didn’t intend to take an old lady ever. He saw what the guys went through, and shit, he just didn’t have it in him to go through that one more time. So no matter what she said, no matter the excuse, Torch wasn’t going to forgive her. Anya was a case, one he was going to make damn sure was safe, but that was it. She was no longer his weakness.
Torch knew from the first time he laid eyes on Anya she was the one for him. She was everything he wanted, pretty, full-figured, a sense of humor, but mostly it was because she accepted him, warts and all. Her red hair flowed down her back, and even though she wasn’t very tall, people noticed her. He didn’t fool himself, he was rough, but she never once asked him to change. Instead, she went with the flow, calmed him down when he got pissed, made him smile when he didn’t think he had a reason to, she was the whole package. And goddamn, when he got home from overseas and she was gone, Torch had flipped. Of course, he never told anyone about the letter she had left telling him goodbye, that things just didn’t work out, and she wasn’t made to be a military spouse. Torch refused to believe it, and had torn the letter up, and acted as though it never existed.
Right now, knowing she hadn’t left him because of who he was, but because of some asshole pissed him the fuck off. He lost years with her, and not only that, she had gotten together with another man. It left a sour taste in his mouth; he wanted to know who replaced him. Had the man been good to her? Why wasn’t he still protecting her? Anya had been everything to Torch, what had he lacked that the other man filled for her. The report didn’t say anything about a husband, but he knew her, she had to be married.
“Brother, you need to snap out of this. I hate to say it, but if you’re not going to clue the fuck in, I will need to call in backup. Some asshole could be here right now, trying to find the woman and her kid. We can’t afford to be distracted. Plus, your shoulder being fucked up, do not make me be your babysitter, I can’t even take care of a fish let alone a human,” Loki whispered, and Torch turned and stared at him. His brother in arms held up his hands and said, “Just keeping it real.”
“Yeah, well, keep it real in your head. I don’t need a fucking lecture on what’s important, and I don’t need a fucking babysitter.”
Loki sighed louder, but he kept silent until he heard the roar of a huge motor and turned and saw a car barreling up to the curb. Loki smiled and shook his head, Ox never ceased to amaze him. It was a Dodge Charger he apparently supped up.
“Damn,” Loki whispered. “So much for coming into the country quietly.”
Torch frowned but said nothing, his thoughts were somewhere else right now. Ox pulled right in front of them and stopped. Loki grabbed the back door and Torch grabbed the front, no one said a word until they were out of the airport and on the highway.
“I got a trail on her, came in through I5 and drove up to Vancouver and stayed a few weeks then moved on. She’s either still in Burnaby, or she has moved on to Richmond. Seems to be staying in the area. According to records her old roommate from college lives around here, she is in the wind right now too, so no use trying to find her. Although, my contacts said, your woman’s name was definitely blown and the man she helped get arrested, has reached out from the hole they put him in and already there is chatter going on. Since he is appealing, if your woman disappears he will be out, which I assume is the plan. Right now, she has a price on her head.”
Torch growled, “Has anyone plugged the leak yet?”
Ox shrugged and said, “Far as I know, no. But Fling seems to think that whoever this is, knows the Furies are the ones who are helping the government. Fling’s calling everyone into the clubhouse as soon as you find your woman. They have a plan.”
Loki leaned forward. “Who? Who has a plan, if it’s the government, then Fling won’t go by their plan. Those fuckers couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag because they have been sitting behind the desk so long. Hell, we would all end up dead.”
“Don’t know,” Ox grumbled and then sighed. “But it looks like I am going home, Fling aske
d for my help.”
Torch and Loki both stared at the man; he hadn’t been back since they had moved. Having him come home was something every man in the club wanted, he would be a good asset with his skills as an explosive expert.
“Cool, looks like we are blowing shit up.” Loki laughed and then leaned back.
Torch looked out the window and then said, “How far to the hotel?”
“We’re going to the safe house Fling had me set up. He figured we were going to need someplace to bring your woman to before we headed home. If she goes over the border, there will be a record, so to get her back, we’re going to need to be creative,” Ox said. “Plus, the place I was staying was a shithole, don’t think you wanna bring a kid there.”
Torch snorted but remained silent. He really didn’t care where the hell they took Anya and her kid, as long as it was safe and he could get some answers, and once that happened, he would help them get a new life and go on his merry way. He just wanted fucking answers, or as Georgie said ‘closure.’ Not sure that it was closure so much as wanting to know what asshole fucked this up for him.
“Whatever, how long until we get there?” Torch said. He was feeling itchy. He didn’t like driving in a car all that much, he preferred the wind on his face. It didn’t matter what the weather was like, it could be cold as shit, and he would ride his Harley. Unfortunately, it would have taken too long. He hoped Ox had listened and actually gotten them bikes to use. There was no way he could do all this in a fucking car.
Ox nodded and then turned off the interstate, drove passed a small shopping area and into a neighborhood. When he finally pulled up outside a house that looked a little worse for the wear, Loki groaned.
“Dude, why the fuck every time someone supposedly gets a safe house they get one in the worse part of town. I mean, for once, I would love to have a place that had nice furniture and maybe some place to lay down without worrying that rats were going to cozy up to you while you slept,” Loki snapped, and Ox chuckled.
“Brother,” the large man who got his name from being ‘big as an ox,’ said, “I am pretty sure we would stick out like a sore thumb in the nice areas of town, but here no one gives a shit. They are too worried about themselves to give two shits if a group of bikers moves next door. Not like they have a welcoming committee around here we need to worry about.”
Loki snorted and said, “The only welcoming committee I am worried about is the roaches.”
Torch got out of the car and looked around; no one was paying attention to the three men, which was good. He moved to the house and stopped when he saw the garage, pointed to the door, he turned and said, “Our bikes in there?”
Ox smiled and nodded. “Yeah, got a loaner from one of the shops in town, but please for the love of God, make sure it’s in one piece when we return them. Last time Boony was here, he trashed that motherfucker and Vig was none too happy.”
Torch nodded and walked to the door and opened it. He saw the custom Harley, and without a word to the others, he walked to the one that looked most like his bike at home. He threw a leg over the seat, ignoring his shoulder, and the pain that shot through his arm when he reached up for the grips didn’t even make him flinch. The engine roared, and his brothers both watched as Torch pulled out of the garage and took off down the street. He needed to clear his head before he exploded. Since the guys understood it, Loki and Ox walked into the rundown house and began to set up their shit.
Loki looked back at his brother as he turned down the street, and was trying to figure out what the hell was going on. He pulled out his phone and called Fling; he needed some answers before they went any further, right now, Loki was floating in the dark.
Chapter Two
Anya walked out onto the porch of the hotel room she and her best friend, Coco, yes that was her real name, we’re staying at. Coco was the only one she had called when she found out that someone was going to release her name. Her friend had been pissed Anya had disappeared without a fucking word. But she had to. The Marshals made her sign a contract, she wouldn’t be protected if she told someone, and honestly at the time, Anya had no other choice. She had discovered she was pregnant just a few days after her boyfriend left on a mission.
Anya had been a little worried, they had just moved in together, and while she knew she loved Max, he had yet to say it to her. She knew he felt it, but they were still in the whole getting used to living together stage. Plus, his job took him away for long periods of time. Looking back, Anya should have stayed home that morning instead of thinking she could make it to work because that morning had changed everything. Damn her for having fucking work ethics. When she got her degree in veterinary medicine, she had planned to open her own practice. First, she had to start at the bottom so at the time she had been working for the Humane Society. And because her work was close to the base, she had decided she could make it, that was her first mistake.
Her second was when she had stupidly been in the wrong place at the right time. Early one morning, on her way to work she had stopped at the PX to grab some nausea medicine. Morning sickness sucked. After she had come out, driving past the armory, Anya had pulled over to throw up on the side of the road. Unfortunately, she had also seen an enlisted man loading up a bunch of weapon boxes into a food truck. When the man who was wearing a food service uniform saw her staring, he had yelled at her. Anya had stared at all the men making sure she got a good look at them and then drove right to the First Shirt and told him. From there it had been unreal.
Anya had begged for the Marshals to wait until Max got home, but the men who she had seen turned out to be known terrorists, and they had gotten away. At first, she had argued with everyone about leaving, but after the first attempt on her life, and then receiving a picture of Max with a bloodied X on it taped to their front door, she had made the hardest decision of her life. To protect them all, she had left. Convinced that if Max knew nothing, they would leave him alone.
Now standing on the balcony looking over the sprawling city she and her friend had become lost in, she wondered what he was doing? Anya bit her lip and turned and watched the light of her life bouncing on the bed in the hotel watching her favorite movie, ‘Nemo,’ with Coco doing the same on the other bed; she loved her best friend, more so now. The moment she called, Coco told her to come to British Columbia, and she would handle the arrangements. She should have known her friend would pull out all the stops. Coco was the child of a famous rock star, so she knew how to ‘stay off the grid.’
When Anya had walked into her dorm room that first day of freshman year and saw who her roommate was, she had immediately gone down to the housing department and tried to switch rooms. Anya wasn’t what you would call an outgoing girl when she was a teen; she had been raised in the system, moved around so much because no one knew how to deal with the quiet, sullen girl. So seeing the girl who Anya knew to be outgoing, crazy popular, and way more active than she was made her apprehensive. What Anya didn’t realize was that Coco had followed her and when she announced that she wanted to change rooms, Coco had grabbed the paper and ripped it up, then told the housing department there had been a mistake.
That was how it started, their friendship that would span the next ten years, and for Anya, it turned into the most important relationship next to Max and her daughter. Coco was her family, and her crazy father had become a surrogate father as well. Coco’s mother had been murdered by a crazed fan, which made Coco and her father very leery of meeting new people. But for some reason, Coco felt a connection when she saw Anya. And Anya, after she allowed the strangely hippie dressed girl to pull her from the housing building, felt the same. They were kindred spirits in a way. Well, okay not really kindred spirits since Coco was a reincarnation of ‘Joan Baez.’ Seriously, they were opposites, Anya was only five two, and had a full figure most people would say was voluptuous. She also had deep red hair, and a perfect milky complexion that most women would die for; honestly, she thought she looked like a doll. This
in her opinion wasn’t a good thing. Coco, though, she was tall, her hair color was unknown since it frequently changed, not that it mattered, since she had tiny little braids all over mixed into her hair. She was also stacked and a complete goof, which was why Anya loved her.
So when Anya disappeared, she knew her friend would be devastated, she knew it, and still she had been unable to do a damned thing. Max, Coco, Anya left a trail of broken hearts behind, and for what, she was on the run again, but this time she had more to lose, and now she had dragged her best friend into it. Sadly, she had no one else to turn to. During the time she was living in a small town in Nebraska, hiding from the real world, Anya had plenty of time to think what she would do when all of this was done. After they caught the men who were still loose would she finally feel safe? But since that had never happened, she’d been lost in a sea of ‘what if’s.’
“I’m gonna touch the butt!” Maci laughed and fell on the bed. Anya smiled as Coco put a hand to her mouth and gasped loudly and playfully. Maci was a small replica of both Max and her. She had red curly hair, but she was thin and would be tall. She was blessed with Anya’s complexion, but her eyes, they were all Max, deep blue and soulful.
“You are not, listen here, missy; you are not touching the butt,” Coco said and then she jumped on the bed with Maci and tickled her. Anya put a hand to her mouth, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry.
When she called Coco because she had nowhere to go, Anya felt like shit calling after so long wanting help. But her friend had stepped right up to help her. Coco and her father insisted on helping since Coco’s father had been there when she called. It made her feel all the guiltier since the man had done so much when she had been in college. But now, well now she knew she couldn’t do this on her own.
Scorched (Furies MC Book 3) Page 2