We made our way into the campground. Several campers nodded or waved as we passed. The sight of a motorcycle was common in the summer, and we wore simple jeans and t-shirts. Our spot was some ways away from the other campers, deep in the trees to give us some privacy.
We pulled up next to a camper that was small but looked brand new. I think they call it a “glamper” seeing how it had a toilet, shower, TV, and air conditioner. There was a young man sitting on a lawn chair playing on his phone. The picnic table behind him was filled with garbage and empty beer bottles. In front of him was a fire pit that had fresh ash from the night before.
I shut down my engine and stepped off as Duncan did the same.
I turned to Carter. He looked up from his phone, but his Ray-Bans kept me from seeing his eyes. “My 3G can’t connect. The signal sucks out here,” he whined.
“That’s the point.” I said.
The kid just shrugged and went back to playing. He had on flip-flops, board shorts, and a Star Trek t-shirt. It made me think of Isabel. This was probably the type of guy she should be dating, rich, good-looking, and kind of a geek.
Of course, that was only the public face of Carter. The reality was a mafia captain born and bred. He’d probably killed his first man by fourteen and had his first woman right after as his reward.
The camper door opened. “Rem,” Damian said as he stepped down and offered his hand to me. Damian was a few years older than his cousin Carter and had the makings of a boss. In fact, I was sure that was the plan. While they had the same build, Damian was dark where Carter was light, and he carried himself as a man while Carter seemed content to act the child.
“Good to see you,” Damian said as we ended our handshake.
“You, too. I just saw your cousin a few weeks ago.”
“Which one?” He smiled. Vincent had several nephews. Not all were blood related, and I had suspicions that some were his children, but he treated all of them as family.
“Jackson.”
“Ah. Did he tell you about the new move?”
I nodded, remembering Jackson’s expansion of the Wraiths into Northern Cali. “Yeah. Hope he’s ready for a fight.”
“You know Jackson. He itches for it.”
Just then, Hawk pulled up with the truck and camper. I walked over and helped Hawk back it up into the space. We unhooked the truck and opened the back tailgate. I reached in, grabbed a case of beer, and handed it to Damian.
“Carter, grab the garbage and empties,” Damian said. The kid put his phone away and went into the camper. He came out with three garbage bags.
I loaded those bags into the truck and handed Carter the second case of beer. I closed the tailgate and gave Hawk the signal to take off.
Just like that, the drug and money exchange was done. Hawk would secure the drugs while faking a food run and Damian had a secret safe to keep the cash. They’d come across the border two days ago and had been pretending to camp. They’d stay tonight with us before heading back tomorrow. Then we’d stay until tomorrow night. To any outside observer, we were just friends meeting up for some fishing and a night around the fire.
Duncan grabbed us two lawn chairs out of our camper and set them opposite of Carter. Damian handed us a couple beers when he came outside again. I pulled out my phone to check for messages and thought about calling Isabel. She still didn’t have a phone, but I could call a prospect and have him put her on.
I still felt anxious about leaving her. There was something wrong, something she wasn’t telling me, but I didn’t want to force it out of her.
“So how’s life, Rem?” Damian said as he sat down next to Carter.
I put my phone away. “Good.”
“Uh, it’s more than good,” Duncan cut in. “Rem has found himself an old lady.”
“No shit?” Damian gave me a big smile.
“What’s an old lady?” Carter asked.
Before I could answer, I heard a truck speeding toward the site. Instinct had me flipping backward out of my chair and pulling Duncan with me.
Gunshots rang through the air and smacked into both campers. Duncan and I dove under ours and came out on the other side. We pulled our weapons, and I looked around to see Damian crawling under his own camper. Carter was on the ground facedown. I couldn’t tell if he was dead or just hit.
I heard the shooters jump out of the truck and approach Carter. They came into view. There were four of them wearing black ski masks, flannels, and jeans. They held their guns up as they walked slowly.
“Let’s make this easy, boys. Throw the payload out here and then we can be on our way,” the man in the front said. He had a Mexican accent.
Payload? It was clear they didn’t know what we had. But how did they find us?
The group stopped just a few feet from Carter.
Suddenly, the kid flipped over and shot rapidly. Two of them went down immediately while the others stumbled back. Carter caught the leader in the torso, but he lunged for the boy.
I saw Damian move from behind the camper, but the fourth man had recovered and let off a round in Damian’s direction.
The intruder managed to wrestle Carter’s gun away and held it to the kid’s forehead.
“We all know I have every right to kill this fucker. But I’ll let him go if you give up the good stuff.”
“Don’t even think it, Damian,” Carter yelled out.
I glanced at Damian, who was kneeling at the front of the trailer. His face was a mask. He wasn’t dumb enough to fall for their game. I nodded to him.
Damian was aware of my skill. All I needed was an opening.
He stepped out from behind the trailer with his hands up. Both men pointed their guns toward him. My first bullet created a pink mist as it sliced through the brain of the man standing. The second was meant to go through the eye of the man on top of Carter, but he ducked in time. Next he let loose his automatic, the sloppy spray of bullets forcing Damian and me to take cover again. It gave him just enough time to get back to his truck and haul ass out of the campsite.
My first thought was to follow. He couldn’t get far with a gunshot in his stomach. I started for my bike but was stopped by Carter putting his gun in my face.
“What the fuck was that?” he yelled.
Suddenly, Damian stepped in between us. “Carter, calm down.”
“No, these assholes tried to steal from us.”
“I just saved your life,” I insisted. I understood why his first thought was betrayal because it was mine, too.
“Carter. You know they didn’t betray us. They just saved our asses.”
Carter took a step back. Damian turned to me. His once friendly demeanor was replaced with the stone cold glare of a ruthless Don. “I don’t believe you had anything to do with this, but I do think someone betrayed our location. And I think the leak is on your end. I’m giving you forty-eight hours to find it. I also expect you to find the one that got away.”
I nodded. There was nothing more to say. He was right. We would have to figure out who gave away our plans and location.
“Now, let’s clean this up. No doubt someone called the cops already.”
Right on cue, we heard a siren sound in the distance.
Then there was motorcycle engine starting up behind me. Duncan was pulling it around to take off. “I’ll distract him. Sounds like there is only one. You have to get them out of here.”
Before I could protest, he took off down the path. Shit. He was going to end up in handcuffs.
We quickly loaded the bodies into Damian’s trailer and cleaned up the scene as best we could. Our camper would have to stay. I hopped on my bike and led the others out of the park using a couple dirt roads. I called Greyson on my way so he could start damage control.
****
I finally made it back to Clayton around five. Hawk was waiting outside for me.
“How’s your end?” I asked after I parked my bike and shut down the engine.
“No problems,” h
e responded, cool as a fucking cucumber.
That was a relief. Whoever betrayed us didn’t know everything about our operations, but that still didn’t provide a lot of clues.
“Have we got word on Duncan?”
“He is in custody. Shawn is already on his way to the station.”
I nodded. Shawn Locklin was the club lawyer. He knew the drill in these situations, so I could trust things were handled there.
“Where’s Isabel?”
“Upstairs. I told all the girls to stay in their rooms until someone gets them.”
I really wanted to see her right now, but it was best to wait. Just knowing she was so close was a comfort. I headed for the door.
“I’ll meet you inside. I want to check something out,” Hawk said as I pulled open the door.
Greyson, Jordan, and Max were waiting in the clubroom. Jordan handed me a bottle of water, which I downed in four gulps. My adrenaline was still high, so I began to pace as I told them what happened.
After I was done, I stood still and faced them. “Damian was willing to give me the benefit of the doubt seeing how things went down. But he is sure the leak was on our end. He has given us forty-eight hours to fix it and then he is telling Vincent.”
We all looked at each other, unsure where to start. It was never easy, questioning those closest to you.
Before anyone could speak, Hawk came running through the door. “I found this on your bike.” He held up the black dot before tossing it on the ground and crushing it with his boot heel. “It’s a tracker. It couldn’t have been there more than twelve hours. I just swept the bikes last night.”
Silence permeated the room as everyone came to the same conclusion. It was someone who was here last night.
“It was Izzy,” a soft voice said.
We all turned to look at Amy, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs, tears welling in her eyes. She shook her head and hugged herself as she continued. “I’m sorry. I saw her at the bikes last night, but I didn’t think she was doing anything wrong.” She covered her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut.
“What are you doing down here?” I growled as I stalked toward her.
“I forgot my iPod.” She pointed at the device and headphones on the bar.
When I got close enough, I grabbed her arms in a hard grip. “You’re lying. Izzy wouldn’t do that.”
“I swear, Rem,” she pleaded.
That was impossible. How dare she accuse my old lady? I thought they were friends. This bullshit I expected from Tracy but not Amy. That thought gave me pause. Amy had been a Heart for a few years now. That was a long time for this way of life. Her commitment to this club was absolute. Why would she lie?
But it wasn’t possible … not Isabel.
Greyson wrestled me away from her. “Calm down, Rem. Go get Isabel.”
His words were muffled as my breathing picked up, the betrayal ringing through my brain like a hammer against steel. Could it be? No, she wouldn’t do this.
Are you certain? a dark thing whispered. My chest hurt suddenly. Was it my heart, my fucking soul?
I went to stairs and stomped toward my room. I slammed the door open. Isabel did a little jump on the bed where she was reading. “Get up and get your ass down stairs.”
She tried to ask what was going on, but I ignored her as I dragged her barefoot down the stairs and into the clubroom. Max yanked a chair out and I sat her down while Hawk escorted a sobbing Amy out of the room.
Isabel was still talking, but I didn’t hear the words. She kept looking to the other members, eyes wide, lips gaping. I took the tracker off the floor and held it up to her face. “Where did this come from?”
Chapter Forty-Four
Isabel
I felt my heart drop in to my stomach as he held up the tracker.
I quickly surmised that there was no point in trying to hide. “I can explain,” I whispered.
“Motherfucker!” Rem chucked the plastic to the ground then toppled the table next to me. It caused a loud clatter as it crashed on the floor and into other tables. I huddled in my chair, trying to make myself smaller. His breathing was ragged and loud, like a bull in an arena.
I spoke in an effort to head off his rage. “I took it, but I never intended to use it. My uncle said the Snakes would kill my dad unless I put it on your bike. But I knew I couldn’t do it. I was trying to buy time to figure out a way to save my dad without hurting the club.”
Rem was pacing in front of me, his eyes never leaving me. They held a cruel determination that I had never seen before. It was as if he was holding himself back from hurting me.
“But you still did it?” said Max in an accusing tone.
“W-what?”
“You planted it on Rem’s bike.”
I sputtered. They found it on Rem’s bike? “I didn’t. It’s been in my makeup bag since I got back. I swear.”
Rem stopped pacing and glared at me, his face still full of menace. Then he took a slow step towards me. “We have a witness who says otherwise.” His voice was a deep timbre, the same that spoke to me in the darkness of night. But there was something different. It was almost sinister. He stopped only a few inches in front of me and glared down. “A witness that has been trusted by this club a lot longer than you have. Someone who lives this life without doubt.”
His statement made my heart slow. It went from a panicked beat to a loud pounding, measured and deliberate, aching to be heard behind the bricks layering inside my chest. He was calling me an outsider, someone who was weak, someone different from them … from him. I felt my eyes burn. “So you’re going to believe this witness over me?”
He bent forward and whispered, “Why shouldn’t I believe them?”
“Because I love you,” I said simply, desperately.
He leaned back a little. I could see the change in his gaze. There was a flicker of doubt. Still angry but uncertain.
“And you love me. Shouldn’t that be enough?” He stood up and turned away.
I knew I would lose the fight if I gave up now, so I continued. “I’ll admit, I was stupid to keep the tracker from you. I thought I could figure this out on my own, but I was wrong. I ask for your forgiveness for doing what I did. But I swear I didn’t put it on your bike.” I stared at his back, shoulders shrugged in sadness and frustration. He must feel it. He had to believe me. “Please, Rem.”
The room was quiet with all eyes on Rem. After a few moments, he finally turned back to me. I was hoping to see compassion in his face, but it was stoic, like the first time I met him. His mask to keep his feelings hidden. He just shook his head.
“I don’t believe you,” he said.
The he walked toward the door leading outside.
Greyson gave me a look of pity before he said, “Take her to the warehouse.”
****
Hawk and Max led me to the warehouse. Hawk opened the door for me, but I couldn’t go in. I was too scared. I started to sway backwards when I felt Max at my back. “Come on, Isabel.” He said my name softly, as if he was sorry for forcing me.
I stepped over the threshold, and I suddenly felt a sob come out of my throat. I had been crying since Rem left me, but this was different. I was terrified of what waited for me inside. I tried to keep quiet, embarrassed that I was being such a coward in front of Max and Hawk.
They ignored my strangled whines as they led me through the maze of boxes and shelves.
We soon came to a large crate. Max put his shoulder against it and pushed to reveal a metal door in the floor. He flipped the latch and opened it before he stepped down into darkness. I saw a light come on in the dark, and Hawk gave a little nudge on my lower back. When I didn’t move, he said, “It’s only a holding cell until the brothers can meet. No one is going to hurt you.”
No one is going to hurt me in the next few hours, I thought. I knew he couldn’t guarantee my safety after that.
I went down the stairs, and Hawk stayed where he was. It was a small bunker w
ith a cot and a bucket. It reminded me a lot of the basement I was in only two days ago.
“You won’t be in here very long. I promise. It is just a precaution until we decide.”
I nodded and walked toward the cot to sit down. My sobs had calmed down a bit, but the tears were still coming.
Max gave me one last look before going up the stairs. The door slammed shut. I lay down on the cot and curled into a ball. I wasn’t ready to stop crying, not by a long shot.
Chapter Forty-Five
Rem
It took a few hours to gather the brothers for church. In that time, I had to stop myself from going to Isabel at least three different times. I wanted to yell at her, scream at her, tell her she was never worthy of this club. Then I wanted to hurt her. I wanted to hate fuck her. I wanted to show her she was nothing but a cunt to me.
But it was pointless. I wanted to hate her, but it wasn’t that simple. She was forced to make a choice that few people ever had to face. Could I really be angry at her for being scared and confused?
The attempt on my life could be forgiven, but Duncan was facing jail time. I couldn’t forgive her for that.
I sat at the bar and tried to drown my erratic thoughts in Jack Daniels while I waited for the boys. Greyson tapped my shoulder when they all finally arrived.
We all looked morose as we filed into the chapel.
Greyson took his seat next to me. “You have all been informed of what has happened so now we must decide.” He looked around the room. “Under usual circumstances, there are three options, punishment, banishment, or the reaper. But we’ve never had to make this decision about an old lady, so I don’t know if even those options apply.”
“What did the lawyer say about Duncan? How bad is it?” Max asked.
We found out that Duncan shot at the officer’s vehicle to get his attention and then drove off so the cop would follow. Greyson sighed. “It doesn’t look good. Shawn says he is looking at five to ten, but with luck he’ll be out in three.”
I could only clench my fists. It should be me. I was the one dumb enough to trust a white bread bitch.
Reign Over Me (The Covenant Book 1) Page 21