Through The Weeds (Nightshade MC Book 2)

by Shannon Flagg

  “His sister. His business,” Ace replied.

  “Don't pull that shit with me.” Buster motioned the girl behind the bar over. “Bring us a bottle of Jack. And don't get your back up, it's no secret the feelings you have for Jillian. Look, I don't want to have a fucking Oprah moment here, I'm just saying...”

  “Don't. Don't say a fucking thing.” Ace grabbed the bottle of Jack from the pass-around as she came back. “Just go to Caroline's.”

  “I don't think I'm going to be very welcome there tonight.” Buster replied. “You know what Jillian meant when she called Caroline a challenge?”

  “No clue. It meant something to her, though.” Ace cracked open the bottle, poured two generous drinks. “Whatever it was, it had her seeing red.”

  “Yeah. I got that. So, what's up with Tabitha?”

  “Are we suddenly teenage girls at a slumber party? Is hair braiding up next? Fuck man. Tabitha's a good girl. She's sweet. Doesn't hurt that she's hot as shit either. I'm having fun with her. You can figure on her being around, if you were going to ask that next. So, what's going on with you and Caroline? She was pissed before all that shit went down.”

  “Yeah, she was. Ever since the shit with Clark and Tabitha getting hurt, I've been keeping her at a distance. She doesn't need to get wrapped up in this shit. I'd rather her be a little pissed than have her hurt.”

  “You tell her any of that?” Ace chuckled. “Of course you didn't. No wonder she's pissed. Best thing that you can do right now is call her and tell her what you just told me, minus the Clark and Tabitha part, of course.”

  “Maybe I should.” Buster pulled out his phone. One touch of the screen brought up the last picture that Caroline had sent him. “Fuck it.” He dialed the number, listened to it ring straight to voice mail. He didn't leave a message because he knew that she hated messages. “Voice mail.”

  “Ouch.” Ace chuckled. “You want another drink?”

  “No. I'm going to head home,” Buster replied. “Monroe and Bones are on watch, but make sure that the cameras are all working.”

  “I already checked 'em. They're working perfectly, and the backups have backups. We're secure here. I'll keep an eye on things. Make sure everyone gets to the jobs on time, too,” Ace offered.

  “Thanks, Brother, I appreciate it. Sorry to screw up your plans for the night. I'm assuming that they were very different from these.”

  “No worries.” Ace poured another cup of coffee. “I'm good.”

  Buster realized that Ace was lying, but he let it go. As casual as he'd been about things ending with Jillian, there was more to the story, but he let that go as well. He left the bar, headed for his bike. He drove past Jillian's. All of the lights were out. It was possible that she hadn't answered because she was sleeping, but somehow he knew that wasn't the case. She hadn't answered because she saw it was him.

  He could have kept driving past, probably he should have kept driving past, but instead he stopped. Since it was the middle of the night, he didn't go to the front door. Instead he went to the window of Caroline's bedroom. He tapped several times lightly and saw the curtain move. “Come out and talk to me or open the window. Please.”

  She stared back at him for a moment and then nodded. She pointed to the front of the house and disappeared into the darkness. Buster walked around to the front, waited for what seemed like an eternity before she stepped outside. She still wore the clothes she had on earlier, her hair was a disaster and her face was streaked with mascara. She'd been crying.

  “What do you want?” He didn't like the way she looked at him. Her eyes were hostile, full of anger.

  “I want to talk to you.”

  “Really? That's what you're going to go with. Well, I wanted to talk to you for the past week. You know how well that worked out.”

  “This past week is what I want to talk about.” Buster had harbored some foolish hope that she would have somehow gotten over being pissed. He'd known it was a long shot.

  “I don't need to hear your version of why you haven't been talking to me. I can only imagine it's not going to be as interesting as the truth.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared daggers at him.

  “And what truth would that be?” Buster asked. “Enlighten me.”

  “I know about the challenges. I don't know how any of you manage to look at yourself in the mirror, because that is just despicable behavior.” She huffed the words.

  “I might agree with you, if I knew what the hell you were talking about.”

  “Oh, you're going to play it like that? Fine. I'll explain it. Is that going to get your dick hard? Hearing how you pick a woman who doesn't instantly bend over and drop trou for you. And you woo that woman, you get her interested. Of course, once she does sleep with you, she's dropped like a bad habit and you get to go back to the rest of the guys to spill all the dirty details. Is there some sort of proof they require to know that the challenge was completed? Her voice cracked. “I know. So just go!”

  “Where did you hear that?” Buster took a step closer to her, but she took one back. “I'm not a saint by any means, and that is not what happened with you. It's not even close. Now, will you sit down with me and let me explain?”

  “You have five minutes and then I'm going back to bed. And I'll stand.” She didn't seem like she was going to give an inch.

  “Fine.” Buster sat on the top step. “There's not much I can tell you about Nightshade business, Caroline. You know that because we spoke about it. Things have happened. Things that made me think it was best for you to stay far away from us. A woman was hurt.”

  “One of the pass-arounds?”

  “No. Not really. She'd been seeing Ace,” Buster replied. “Regardless of who she is, she was in the bar. She should have been safe and she wasn't. And I didn't want that to be you.”

  “And ignoring me was a better option than telling me the truth? Because it seemed pretty easy, what you told me right now. I'm damn sure that I told you how I feel about lies, Buster.”

  He was surprised when she sat down next to him. “You never did tell me why,” Buster pointed out.

  “And I'm not telling you now. This isn't about me or my past. It's about you and the right now. And right now, I don't know what to believe.”

  “Who told you about this challenge thing?” Buster asked, although he had a good idea that it was Jillian. And there were a limited number of ways that Jillian could have heard it. He realized the likely culprit was Edge, even if it didn't make any sense.

  “I don't want to cause any trouble for anyone.”

  “Seems like someone is trying to cause trouble for me,” Buster pointed out. “So, it seems only fair that I know who's talking shit.”

  “You're not a stupid man, Buster. I'm pretty sure you've already figured out who told me. It was Jillian. She's my friend.”

  “And it was Edge who told Jillian.” Buster knew that his hunch had been right by the expression on her face. “I don't know why he told her that I was doing that to you.” He was damn sure going to find out.

  “He didn't tell her about you. He told her about Ace. And she didn't say anything to me until after I'd told her I was pretty sure that you'd fucked and chucked me. So, you can't say anything.” She sighed. “And even as I say that, I know it's stupid to even ask that.”

  “You're not stupid, Caroline. Not by a long shot. So you have to know that me not saying something isn't an option. Edge is my brother. He's Ace's brother. He's supposed to be loyal to us above everything else, so I have to say something. I have to ask him why he did what he did.”

  “Yeah, I do. And I figure you're going to do it now.” She pressed her hands to her eyes. “I'm going back to bed while I still have a bed to go to.”

  “What does that mean?” Buster demanded. A sort of ease had settled between them as they spoke, no matter how unpleasant the conversation was, but it was gone now.

  Caroline sighed. It means that Jillian is going to kick my ass out once sh
e figures out I told you what she told me. And you say I'm not stupid. I should have kept my mouth shut.”

  “You're not stupid.”

  “Yes, I am. Because she straight out told me that...” she shook her head. “You know what, forget it. It's not your problem.”

  “Caroline.”

  “Your five minutes are up.” She rose to her feet. “You should go.”

  Buster got up. “I think you may have given me more than five minutes. Thank you.” He reached out, grabbed her hands. “I'm sorry for the way I handled things, but that challenge shit is nothing but a lie.”

  “I'd like to believe you, but there's one thing that just doesn't make sense, why would Edge lie? Why would he deliberately break his sister's heart like that for no reason? She was in love with Ace. I think that she still is, and this new guy is just a distraction. And he's a douchebag, but that's besides the point.”

  Buster blinked when the porch light flipped on. Jillian stepped out the door that Caroline had left open. “Caroline.” Buster hoped she'd stop her tirade, he was pretty sure that Jillian had heard enough.

  “What? It's true. And she'll realize it soon enough.” She huffed out a sigh. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Probably because I'm standing behind you.” Jillian's voice was as cold as Buster had ever heard of it. “Nice of you to finally be honest about how you feel about Jake. Honestly, he can't stand you, and I could never understand why, until now. I'm going to stay at Jake's. I can't even fucking look at you right now!” She slammed the front door and stalked across the porch.

  Caroline tried to block her path but Jillian shoved her back. Buster grabbed Caroline before anything else could happen. “Let her be for now.” He pulled her tight against his chest, even when she struggled.

  “Fuck you. Let me go.” She landed a pretty solid kick to his knee, but he held on to her until Jillian pulled away with a squeal of tires.

  “Right now, she's too upset to hear a word that you're saying. Trust me, I know a thing or two about women. Give her time to cool off.” Buster released her and she whirled around to face him.

  “I was capable of handling that situation without you physically restraining me. So next time, let me handle it. If I need your help, I'll ask for it.”

  “The two of you would have been trading blows within thirty seconds. You'd have never gotten past that and been friends again. Words you can get past. I was looking out for you. That's all.” Buster held up his hands. “Is there something wrong with that?” He could see she was trying to come up with something wrong with it.

  “Maybe you're right,” she said. “You know what? I'm too tired for this shit. I'm going inside. Going to bed. Good night, Buster.”

  “Can I see you tomorrow?” Buster asked. “Take you to breakfast?”

  “I don't know. I've got to think about it, which is probably not what you want to hear.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It's all that I have at the moment, so you're just going to have to deal with it.”

  “How about if I call you in the morning? See how you feel then?” Buster suggested. “Say around nine?” Without thinking too much about it, Buster closed the distance between them when she nodded. “Make sure that you lock up. And if you need anything, you call me.” He was going to go in for a kiss but thought better of it as she stiffened. Instead, he reached out and ran his fingers over the side of her face. “Good Night, Caroline.”

  <#<#<#<#

  Buster burst through the door of the bar. One of the pass-arounds let out a small shriek when he slammed the door behind him. He scanned the bar, looked for Edge but didn't see him. It was probably a good thing because he'd gotten good and pissed on the ride back.

  “What the hell are you doing back here, Buster?” Ace asked.

  “Stopped by to see Caroline on my way home,” Buster replied. “Heard a real interesting story Edge has been telling about a game we play with women. We need to wake him up, have a talk with him. Something's been off with him the past few weeks, and I really hope this is all that it is.”

  “Yeah, something has been.” Ace ran his hands over his hair. “Think he's been flying a little too often, if you know what I mean.”

  “He's been getting high and you failed to fucking mention it?” Buster barely managed not to shout. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the crowd had given him a wide berth. Good, it would make it easier for them to leave. “Everyone out, now.” He waited until the crowd was gone, returned his attention to Ace. “Explain yourself.”

  “He likes to party. I'm not his father. It's not like I caught him doing lines with his cornflakes on a daily basis. I was keeping an eye on him, and if I'd had any serious concerns, I'd have brought them to the table.” Ace shifted his weight. He knew that he should have brought any concern, not just serious ones to the table.

  “You fucked up. There's no two ways about it.” Train broke into the conversation.

  “Alright, fine. I fucked up. I should have said something, but shit, there's not one of us who hasn't gotten fucked up now and then.”

  “It's done. Nothing that we can do about it now. Besides, you're not the only one who fucked up. He fucked up. He's the one running his mouth about his brothers. He needs to answer to that. We give him a chance to explain because that's our way. We find out about the drugs and the shit he's been saying. Where's Rock?”

  “Sacked out in one of the other rooms,” Train replied.

  “Get him up. Ask him what he knows. He's close to Edge, might be trying to protect him. Did Danny go home?”

  “Yeah, said he was going to try to knock up his wife,” Ace replied. “You want me to call him?”

  “I'll call. You get Edge down here.” Buster took out his phone, dialed Danny. “Sorry to interrupt but we've got a situation.”

  “Right now?”

  Buster smothered a laugh because the question told him just what he'd caught Danny in the middle of. “Right now,” he confirmed. “I wouldn't call you in if I didn't need you.” He ended the call as he heard footsteps on the stairs.

  Edge followed Ace down. “The fuck is this? I was sleeping. Anyone got a smoke?”

  “You want to tell me what the fuck is up with you?” Buster asked.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Edge walked over to the bar to grab a pack of smokes. “All that's up with me is I'd rather be asleep than whatever this is.”

  “Train's up there searching the room right now.” Buster moved to stand in front of Edge. “He gonna find anything up there that he shouldn't?”

  “I don't know what the fuck you're talking about or why you dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night.” Edge stood toe to toe with Buster, not giving any ground. “I'm not a prospect anymore. I'm a fully patched member, and you will respect that.”

  “You are a fully patched member, and I suggest you remember the responsibility of that patch,” Buster told him. “You think about that long and hard while we wait for Danny to get here.”

  Danny arrived only moments after Train came down the stairs with a black zippered pouch in his hand. Inside was a treasure trove of pills, cocaine and, just too keep things interesting, a small wax paper baggie of heroin. No one had spoken. Edge squirmed in the chair. “So, what? I get high now and then. It's not a big deal.”

  “Not a big deal? Were you high tonight?” Ace demanded. “You were jittery as fuck during the meeting with Miller, tried to take your sister's head off and then came back here and went to sleep. What did you take? What were you on?”

  “Let's be clear, Edge. This is your last chance to tell the truth.” Buster walked over to where the man sat. “We're trying to have a civilized discussion here. Would you prefer we take a different route?”

  “You've got to talk,” Rock chimed in. “Come on, this isn't you. You'd never hit Jillian, not after all the beatings that she took getting between you and him. You never wanted to be like him.”

  “Don't talk about my father.” Edge lunged a
t Rock. Ace stepped between them and sent Edge stumbling back with a hard shove. “Don't fucking touch me.”

  “What the fuck were you on?” Ace bellowed. His jaw was tight, his fists clenched and his anger obvious. “Start talking or start bleeding.” Edge might have thought it was an idle threat, but Buster knew it wasn't. When he stayed silent, Ace started to swing. He paused between each hit, gave Edge

  chance to talk, but he didn't.

  Buster wasn't sure if he stayed silent out of some sort of stubborn pride or because the pain was just too much for him to speak. Nothing lethal, of course, just a good old-fashioned beatdown. There was blood on Edge's face, and he was favoring his right side heavily. Ace lowered his hands when Edge hit the ground.

  “Take him back upstairs.” Buster cleared his throat. “Make sure he doesn't choke on his teeth and tie him up. He's going to start jonesing when he wakes up, the pain is going to make him want it even more.” He looked over to the kit still on the table. “Get rid of that shit.”

  “Hold on a second, Buster,” Train said. “I think we should pay more attention to that shit. Now, I recognize just about everything in there. The pills are mostly downers, Ativan and things like that. There's a couple pain pills, those blue ones are Oxy 30 mg. Strong shit. Of course, you've got the coke. And the heroin, but I don't recognize that powder.” He opened the kit and took out a small blue baggie. “Doesn't that make you curious?”

  “You know a way to figure out what it is?” Buster asked.

  “I might. I know this junkie. Oldest junkie I've ever seen, swears that he's done every drug in the world, twice. He licked some sort of frog one time to trip. Now, that's dedication.” Train chuckled. “Got to wait until it's light out, don't want him shooting me because he can't see me coming.”

  “Find out as soon as you can,” Buster told him. “And when he wakes up, we find out just how long this all has been going on.”

  “I think I might know something about that.” Danny, who hadn't said much, spoke up. “The night that we got ambushed on the Miller run, the night that Edge got hurt and earned his patch, he had Oxy in his boot. Said he'd thrown his back out or some shit when he was fucking Allison. He said it wasn't a problem. I believed him. I should have said something.”