by Jade Kuzma
“Booth is dangerous. He gets his shit set up in Ivory, it’ll affect everybody, including the Devils.”
“If Booth crosses us, the Devils will be prepared to deal with him. You don’t have to worry about us.”
“What about the Cobras? You not willing to help us out?”
“I haven’t broke bread with Harris yet. Until that time comes, my obligation is to my patch, my MC. I’ve got no obligation to you, Cobra.”
Micah had only just arrived and I could already see how worked up he was getting. He clenched his fists and made enough of a scene that the other Devils all got up from their seats. Micah was outnumbered five-to-one but he didn’t seem to care.
Shit…
This was my fault. I had to do something.
“Micah…”
I wrapped my hands around his arm and squeezed him tight.
“Micah, listen to me.”
He slowly turned toward me. I stared into his eyes and saw the calmness wash over him.
“Let’s go,” I said. “Let’s just… Let’s just get out of here.”
“All right,” Micah said as he eyeballed Cain.
As we headed out of the clubhouse, Cain shouted out to me.
“If you know what’s best for her, you’ll keep her out of this! Never get your old lady involved with club business!”
Micah didn’t pay any attention to him but I knew it bothered him. As soon as we got inside, I could see the frustration on his face.
“Shit…” I sighed. “I’m sorry for getting you involved in that.”
“It’s my fault,” he said. “I shouldn’t have taken it personally. Trying to track down this asshole… We need all the information on Booth we can get.”
“I… I can’t let you put this all on yourself, Micah. You have to let me do my part.”
“This isn’t about you or your vendetta anymore. The MC is getting involved. They know what’s at stake with what Booth is trying to do.”
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry for dragging you into this.”
“You’re not dragging me into anything. I was already looking for Booth when the shit went down with Jamie. I just didn’t realize it until now.”
He looked down at me and sighed. The intensity in his face slowly disappeared, replaced by a smile that gave me a bit of relief.
“Come on,” he said. “It’s too early in the morning for this shit. There’s no need to hurry. Let’s… Let’s go somewhere.”
“Where?”
“You feel like having breakfast with me?”
I laughed softly to myself and nodded.
“Sounds good.”
Chapter 18
MICAH
All of the shit going down had me distracted like I couldn’t remember. It didn’t help that I knew Audrey was going through her own shit. She would never be able to rest comfortably. Not as long as Booth was still out there. But I knew I couldn’t let it get to her. Somehow, I managed to forget about everything enough to get a late breakfast with her.
I carried the bag of food in my hand as I headed up the stairs to my apartment.
“Smells good,” she said.
“It is good,” I said. “But I think it’s just because you’re hungry. When’s the last time you ate anything? Something real, I mean. Like an actual meal.”
“I guess it’s been awhile. I’ve been so focused ever since I got to Ivory.”
“Then it’s about time you fueled up. Some eggs, bacon and pancakes should get the job done.”
I headed down the hall, unable to stop my stomach from rumbling in anticipation. Audrey trailed just behind me. All of the tension I felt from earlier was gone. But as I neared my apartment, I couldn’t help but notice something was off.
Strange…
“I can’t remember the last time I had breakfast. Usually, I’m up late, so it’s never appropriate for eggs and pancakes. Then again, I guess I could have ‘em later in the day…”
I stopped in my tracks, a few meters away from Mrs. Solomon’s apartment.
“…Don’t judge me if I stuff my face. It’s just like you said, I haven’t had a real meal in a long time. So… Micah? Micah, what’s wrong?”
She gave me a confused look. I held my hand up and whispered.
“Shh… Someone’s here.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Mrs. Solomon… Her door is open.”
“Maybe she just opened it up because she’s about to leave.”
“She’d be at work by now. And she’s not careless enough to leave her door open like that. Something’s wrong.”
I handed the bag of food to her and grabbed my gun from my waistband.
“Micah…”
Seeing the worry on Audrey’s face made me more determined.
“It’s okay. Just… Just wait out here. Everything will be fine.”
“You can’t say something like that to me while you’ve got your gun cocked and loaded.”
“Stay here, Audrey. Please.”
She sighed softly and nodded. I took a few steps closer to Mrs. Solomon to get a better look. The door was open. The lock was broken.
Burglars…
It didn’t matter who it was. It’d take too long to call the cops. I had to settle this shit myself.
I pushed the door open. As soon as I took a peek inside, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Stay calm… Stay focused…
I’d been in situations like this before. Motherfuckers hiding in corners, ready to end you in the blink of an eye. I steadied my heart as I walked down the halls, making sure to stay as quiet as possible. I took a step forward then suddenly heard it.
Jamie’s room…
Someone was inside there and whatever the fuck they were doing, they were making a lot of damn noise. I kept moving closer until I heard a voice from inside.
“Keep looking. It’s here.”
“I don’t see anything.”
“I said keep looking! That bastard took something and we’re on the hook for it.”
Two voices…
I moved right up next to the door. There was frustration in their voice. They were knocking things around like they were searching for something.
Stay calm…
I could kick in the door, shoot first and ask questions later. But Mrs. Solomon probably wouldn’t be too happy about me lighting up two motherfuckers in her son’s bedroom. Nah… I had to do something else and I had to do it quick.
Shit…
I stayed near the door and it suddenly opened up. One of the men stepped outside. Before he noticed I was there, I pulled him aside and wrapped my arms around his neck. A hand over his mouth, I squeezed as hard as I could with all of my strength. He struggled but it didn’t matter how big or strong someone was. All it took was a few seconds before it was lights out.
“Yo, Mac!” the voice from inside the room shouted. “What the fuck is going on out there?”
I dragged his unconscious body away from the door and moved back toward it.
“Mac!” the man inside shouted again. “I said what the fuck—”
I cracked him on the side of the head as soon as he poked his head out, knocking him down to the floor. The bastard looked like the kind of punk who would rob a woman’s apartment. Messy clothes. Messy hair. A dirty face like he hadn’t washed in weeks.
He was in a daze but still had enough wits about him to pull a switchblade out of his jeans.
“I’m about to make this the worst day of your life, motherfucker.”
He pointed his knife at me, trying to intimidate me. That shit wasn’t gonna work.
“You’ll need a lot more than a toothpick to do that.”
The guy had a knife but he was built like a twig.
Wait for it… Steady… Steady…
I put my hands up, waiting for him to strike. Guys always got overconfident when they had a weapon. They were careless. They didn’t treat the other person with any respect. This guy wasn’t any
different. The punk lunged at me and I saw it coming from a mile away.
Now!
I moved out of the way and grabbed his arm with both hands. I twisted his wrist and he dropped the knife. He yelped in pain when I picked him up and slammed him to the floor.
“Fuck!” he yelled out.
I put a knee on his chest then put a hand on his throat.
“Don’t fucking move,” I said. “Or you’ll regret it.”
“Shit!”
A sudden shout from outside was followed by someone struggling. I clocked the guy underneath me then ran outside.
“Audrey!”
Just when I got into the living room, I saw Audrey breathing hard, standing on top of the guy I just choked out.
“Are you all right?” I said.
“I’m fine. Bastard came after me.”
“I thought I took him out.”
“Apparently not… Who are these guys?”
“I don’t know. Let’s get some answers.”
* * *
I dragged both of the assholes out of Jamie’s room and tied them up on the floor. Even though Mrs. Solomon was at work, I was sure she didn’t appreciate me interrogating a couple of punks, even if they did just break into her apartment.
“Let’s make this quick,” I said. “I’m not in the mood to deal with you… Tell me what the fuck you’re doing here.”
They were both on their knees in front of me, their hands bound behind their backs. They looked at each other but didn’t say a word.
“What the fuck are you doing here? Don’t make me ask again.”
I slammed my fist into one of their stomachs and made him keel over. He huffed and wheezed to try and catch his breath. The other man kept glaring at me like he didn’t give a shit what just happened to his friend.
“You’re not gonna get any answers from us,” he said. “What’s the point if you’re gonna kill us anyway?”
“I don’t plan on killing you. Not unless you make me.”
“Like I believe that… You fucking patches are always taking shit into your own hands. Disrespecting everybody like you’re above the law…”
“You got my word. Just tell me the truth. You’re working for Booth.”
The man didn’t have a good poker face. He was biting his tongue but it was obvious he was holding something back.
I turned to the other man and gave him another right cross to make him keel over again.
“I don’t wanna have to do this all day,” I said. “But I will if I need to.”
“…If I tell you, you let us go?”
“It’s your best chance.”
The punk sighed a hard breath through his nose before he started spilling his guts out.
“It was Booth. Told us some guy who crossed him took some of his product. Jamie or something. Said to break into his place and get it back. That’s all we were trying to do. I swear.”
“So you are working for Booth.”
“Not anymore. He finds out we let some club member stop us from getting his shit back… You might as well just kill us both now and save us the time.”
“No, he won’t kill you. Jamie doesn’t have any of the product. The cops already searched his room. They would’ve scooped it up.”
“Tell that to Booth.”
“Micah…”
Audrey interrupted me. She’d been quiet this entire time, listening from right behind me. I walked over to her while she kept staring at the two men I had tied up.
“What’s wrong?”
“Are you really just gonna let them go?” she said.
“What do you want me to do? You think I should kill ‘em?”
“They were both trying to kill us. Who’s to say they won’t try it again?”
“I can handle them—”
“What about Mrs. Solomon?”
Shit.
She had a point. Dammit… She had a point…
“They’re working for Booth,” she said. “I wouldn’t put it past him to try some shit like this again.”
“If they’re working for Booth, they’ll lead us right to him.”
Audrey stared at me with the kind of seriousness she always had. There was a frustration boiling inside of her and I was beginning to feel it myself.
“What do you think we should do?” I said.
She looked at them and shook her head.
“You can’t just let them walk away.”
“Killing them won’t fix things. I gave ‘em my word. Maybe… Maybe there’s another way to get my point across.”
I moved back to them and crouched down so I could look them in the eye.
“Tell him you didn’t find anything. If you come back, I’ll be waiting.”
I undid the binds from their wrists, watching them to make sure they didn’t try anything. Audrey was staring at them just as hard. They were pissed, glaring at me the entire time as they left Mrs. Solomon’s apartment, but they were smart enough not to try anything.
“Are you sure that was such a good idea?” Audrey said. “We can’t trust those guys.”
“No, we can’t. We’ll just have to get to Booth without wasting any time now.”
I could feel the tension coming from Audrey. Shit, I was just as uncomfortable as she was. I put a hand on her shoulder to try and relax the both of us. She gave me that soft smile of hers. She was a beautiful blond no matter what she did but Audrey had something else that made her stick out from all the broads in Ivory I was so tired of staring at.
There was no telling what was going through her head though. I only knew I had to make sure she didn’t make a mistake.
Chapter 19
AUDREY
I curled up into a ball, my arms wrapped around my knees while I stared out the window. Ivory was such a quiet, unassuming town. Most of the businesses were locally-owned mom and pop shops. The streets were dusty. Everybody walking along the sidewalks looked so carefree. The warm weather seemed pleasant enough that they were all looking for an excuse to bask in the sun.
A few hours had gone by since the encounter in Mrs. Solomon’s apartment but I still couldn’t shake the feeling I had from watching Micah interrogate them. The threat of Booth was too real. It was like a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from.
“Did you grow up in Ivory?” I asked.
Micah lounged on his couch, his attention taken by his phone.
“I did.”
“You have a lot of family in Ivory?”
“Mom and dad. And a sister. They were farmers. Nearly everybody in Ivory is a farmer. It’s the most obvious living, being out in the middle of nowhere. My parents were able to take care of themselves as well as run their own business. They’re retired though. Just spending the rest of their days relaxing after decades of back-breaking work out in the fields.”
“Your sister?”
“She moved up to the city. She’s working at some law firm. Some fancy gig I never cared to learn too much about. She’s doing well for herself. Can’t blame her for leaving town.”
“You came back though.”
“I came back,” he said, chuckling softly. “Didn’t have much of a choice. There isn’t much of a job market for a retired Army Ranger. But… I love Ivory all the same. I grew up admiring the MCs that rode around and kept this town in check. It took me a while but I’m here, doing what I wanna do.”
“Why the Cobras?”
He didn’t answer me immediately. I turned and saw he’d finally looked away from his phone.
“Why are you so curious?”
The subtle smile on his lips was so disarming I almost forgot he was nearly twice my size and killed more people than I wanted to think about.
“Is that how things work in Ivory?” I asked. “People like Booth and Pearson do bad shit and the outlaws handle it?”
“Sheriff Sutton and the PD take care of business when they need to. But they can’t be everywhere. Criminals are always gonna find a way to do bad shit. That’s what makes them�
�� criminals.”
Mom… Dad…
“I can close my eyes and still picture my parents,” I said. “Their warm smiles. The looks of encouragement they always gave me. Just thinking of them is enough to bring back such wonderful memories. But that’s all they are. Memories.”
“There comes a time in everybody’s life when all we are is just a memory. Sometimes it happens sooner than we want it to but it always happens. You can’t let that go.”
“My parents didn’t deserve what happened to them. They were good people. They were trying to make things better. Booth took that away from me.”
“And Booth will pay for what he did. He won’t get away with it, Audrey. I swear he won’t.”
I looked out toward the window. The sun was still high in the sky. It was a beautiful day in Ivory but I wasn’t in the mood to appreciate it.
“Doc just sent me a message,” he said. “He might have something.”
“Good. I need to get back out there. Maybe I can find something, too.”
“And where do you plan on going?”
“Booth has a presence in Ivory. Somebody’s bound to know something. I’ll keep looking. If the Devils don’t wanna help, I’ll find another MC who will.”
Micah shook his head.
“You can’t go out there,” he said.
“What are you talking about?”
“You can’t go sticking your nose around. You keep that up, you’re gonna get yourself into trouble.”
“And what do you expect me to do? Just sit around in your apartment or your clubhouse and do nothing?”
“That’s a better idea than what you’re thinking of.”
My mouth open, I was too incredulous to get the words out.
He can’t be serious.
The more I looked at him, the more I saw the concern growing in his eyes.
“I have to do something.”
“Audrey, it’s for your own good.”
“My own good? Jesus, Micah, I’m not a child. You don’t have to watch over me every second.”
“Do you know who you’re dealing with? The man doesn’t hesitate to kill. If he finds out—”
“And what about you? You expect me to just sit back while you put your life, your MC on the line? What kind of person would I be if I did that?”