by Jennifer Ann
My phone buzzes three times on the night stand. Knowing it’s a work-related ring tone, I tear myself away from Harley. “Fuck. Gotta take this,” I say, reachin’ for my phone. “Could be somethin’ on your brother.”
A small flicker of disappointment flashes through her eyes. “I have to get going anyway. Told Kandi I’d go shopping in LA with her this morning. Guess she’s ready to get her own bike.”
Thank fuck for her friends or I’d feel guilty leavin’ her home alone all day. I bring her tight against me for another kiss. “Promise I’ll make it up to you tonight, darlin’.”
She slips off the bed, wigglin’ her tight ass as she leaves the room, and throwin’ a wicked smile over her shoulder. “Damn right you will.”
Fuck. Makes me painfully hard to see her perfect body naked like that, knowin’ there’s nothin’ I can do about it. I answer the phone with a gruff, “What?”
“Good mornin’ to you, too,” my partner answers with a forced laugh.
“I’m busy. What do you need?”
“We got him, Colt. Axel called Scully ten minutes ago. We know where the stolen guns are hidden. They’re putting a plan in motion that will pin the deal on Remmy. Time to make your move.”
After hangin’ up, I make a few more calls with adrenaline surgin’ through my veins. If I’m not smart about this, everything could fall down like a house of cards. The time has come to make the motherfucker pay for what he did to Harley and the club. Payback is going to be one big bitch.
Harley seems only somewhat suspicious when I surprise her in the shower for a quickie before sending her on her way. She’s only gone half an hour before Axel knocks on my door.
He sneers as I let him in. “This better be worth my time.” His eyes skim across my apartment. “If the bitch wants to form a truce, why isn’t she here?”
Fightin’ the urge to either rip the club logo off his vest or break his nose for calling Harley a bitch, I lean against the door with my arms crossed over my chest. “She’s not here. You an’ me have some business to settle, startin’ with why you killed Remmy and what the fuck you did to your sister three years ago.”
“I don’t have time for this bullshit,” he growls, charging at me.
“It’s over,” I tell him, reachin’ for the gun in my vest. “Get on your knees and put your hands behind your head before I blow a hole through your fuckin’ skull.”
Axel turns back with the sound of the safety being released. A smug smile stretches over the little bastard’s lips. “Guess I should’ve seen this coming when I heard you were fucking my sister. But it doesn’t matter. You have nothing on me.”
Though I want to smack that fuckin’ look off his face, it’s my turn to smirk. “I have a recordin’ of your conversation with Scully, sayin’ exactly where the stolen guns can be found and how you plan to frame Inferno Glory for the exchange. Sorry to tell you, it ain’t gonna happen. You’re headin’ to prison, my friend.”
Fear flickers through his dark gaze. “Who the fuck’s going to believe a dirtbag biker like you? You may think you’re some kind of big shot for being a SEAL, and you’ve obviously conned my sister into thinking you’re a hero, but I know the truth. I know they kicked you out of the program for mental health reasons. Whatever happened, they’ve got your file locked up pretty tight. Must be real bad.”
“You think I give a shit what you think about me?” Gun still pointed at him, I reach for the badge in my vest and flash it his way. “Undercover AFT. Looks like your nickname no longer fits, Lucky. We’ve been watchin’ you a long time. Got enough to put you away for a really long time. Fuckin’ forever.”
All at once he takes on the urgent desire to flee like most criminals I’ve run across in my short time with the agency. Eyes twitchin’, body vibratin’ with the need to move, he narrows his eyes and runs both hands over his dark hair. “I want to call my lawyer.”
“You’d be best off givin’ me the answers I need before lawyers get involved.”
“Like what?” he snaps.
“Did you kill Remmy?”
Hands pushed into his pockets, he becomes twitchy, basically givin’ himself away. “Why would I tell you when you have a gun pointed at my head?”
“Because whether you tell me the truth or not, I have every intention of pullin’ the trigger. This world would be a better place without you in it.”
“That asshole was onto me,” he snarls. “He was ready to kick me out of the club that night. I wasn’t going to let some old man stop me from making three million dollars. The government fucked me over when I lost my leg. Making money off them is the least I can do to thank them!”
Shaking with rage, I say, “Get down on your fuckin’ knees, and put your goddamn hands behind your head! Don’t push me, man!”
He lowers down slowly, hands raised at his sides. “You gonna read me my rights?”
“Not until you give me some more answers, you crooked little fuck,” I growl, tempted to end this now. “Did you have somethin’ to do with Harley gettin’ locked away? Were you in on the setup?”
“What does it matter who sent that bitch away? Spoiled little cunt had it coming to her.”
“Call her that again,” I sneer. “I dare you.”
“Which? Bitch or cunt? Because both names fit. You have no idea what she’s really like. I’ll bet she hasn’t told you about how she banged Kandi’s stripper brother and his buddies, or what really happened to our mom. Me and her are the only ones alive who know what really happened and she has no clue that I’m on to her.”
My stomach clenches. I knew about Logan, but what about his buddies? And what could she possibly have to do with her mom’s death? The Harley I know is tough, but not capable of ending someone’s life. Is she?
Shaking my head, I ask, “What the fuck you babblin’ about now?”
“Her and our dad covered it up pretty good. The dumb-ass cops had no clue what happened.” That annoying as hell smug smile makes another appearance. “Ask her about it. If you’re any good at your job, you’ll see it in her eyes. She’s guilty as fuck.”
Springin’ forward, I press the barrel of the gun against his temple, fightin’ the urge to blow his brains out on the spot. “Bullshit. You’re just feeding me a story that will make me think twice about locking you up.”
“Ask her!” he roars. “Why do you think I’m so determined to get even with her and the club my dad built?”
Starin’ into his dark eyes, rage sears through the darkest corners of my mind. With all that Harley has told me, I know I can’t trust the no good bastard. This is his last chance, and he’s a desperate man.
Harley won’t be satisfied until he’s out of her life for good. I could turn his sorry ass over for the system to deal with, but it could take years. And he’ll find a way to get to her again, I just know it. Whatever he thinks he knows about their mom’s death could be dangerous. Can’t let ‘im mess with her head any more.
This ends now.
I pull the trigger.
The discharge rings loud through the small apartment as the faint smell of gunpowder saturates the air. I’ve seen my share of men die, and even killed a good number of ragheads when stationed overseas, but watchin’ my future wife’s last of kin slump to the floor, I’m struck with a calmin’ peace.
I’ve smoked three cigarettes by the time Grace makes her way across town. She crosses her arms beneath her tits, glarin’ at me like her panties are in a knot. I prefer her when she’s pretendin’ to be Bridget—the whore eager to get me off—over the uptight bitch wearin’ a suit standin’ in front of me. It was merely tolerable workin’ with her the past year after she threw herself at me a few weeks into our partnership. At the time, I figured it was a one-night kinda thing. She’s a good lay and easy on the eyes, but gives terrible head and doesn’t know when to stop yappin’.
“You were supposed to make an arrest, not shoot him!” she says, nostrils flarin’ when she taps her shoe in Axel’s lifeless dir
ection. “What the fuck are we supposed to do with this mess?”
“Whatever it takes to make it go away,” I growl, lightin’ my fourth smoke of the morning. Brain matter and blood splashed across the apartment carpet and walls won’t be easy to clean up, but they’re the least of my worries. “The club can’t know about this.”
Her eyes narrow. “You mean that club whore you’ve been running around with.”
Before Harley came along, it would’ve been easy to shut Grace up by stickin’ my dick in her mouth. The last time she stopped by for an update on the case, she stripped down to nothin,’ and was more than willin’ to suck me off. The minute she discovered Harley had been watchin’ us, however, she went bat-shit crazy and threatened to blow my cover. Guess she thought there was more between us than an occasional fuck, even though I made it clear from the start that’s all it would ever be.
“You don’t know a goddamn thing about Harley,” I warn, fingers twitchin’ to grab her by the hair in order to get her full attention and let her know I’m not fuckin’ around. “Best be careful what you say.”
“Jesus Christ, Colt! Are you going to tell me you’ve fallen in love with an ex-convict?” she asks in a higher tone. “Fucking her is one thing, but there’s no way in hell anything more than a fling will work between you two! Just how far have you taken this undercover thing?”
Inhaling a long drag, I push the smoke out my nose. “None of your fuckin’ business. The idiot came after me when I was tryin’ to arrest him an’ he reached for my gun. End of story. I’ll file a report with the agency sayin’ as much. I expect you to back me up. This won’t be reported to the media.”
Grace stalks toward me with a determined expression, long blond hair bouncing over her big tits. The agency loves the way all men get a hard-on for her, makin’ her their biggest secret weapon. Her painted fingernails make a path across my collarbone and down to my stomach as she gazes into my eyes. “How bad do you want this little problem to disappear?”
As if trained to react by the floral scent always hangin’ over her, my cock stirs inside my jeans. I collect the hand headed for it and shove her back before sucking in another drag of my smoke. “Them days are over. Told you that already. You an’ I are coworkers, nothin’ more. This has nothin’ to do with sexual favors. I’m askin’ you to help me out, one last time.”
“One last time? Then what?” she barks, suddenly angry as a hornet in a poked nest. She moves toward me again, jammin' her finger into the center of my chest. “Your undercover gig ended when you pulled the trigger on this sorry sap! You can’t just go crawling back to the club and continue to pretend to be someone you’re not! Your little affair with that bitch will be over!”
I tap the end of the cigarette against the sink, not botherin’ to pull away from her touch. “I’m handin’ in my resignation. This government shit ain’t for me.”
“You’re seriously going to throw away your career because of some little road whore? Does she really fuck that good?”
Patience snapped, I grab the back of her hair, yankin’ hard enough for her to wince. “I fuckin’ told you to stop talkin’ shit about her!”
Before I can register what’s happenin’, I feel the end of a gun pushed into my stomach. Grace’s hard gaze turns dangerous as she digs it in harder. “Let. Me. Go.”
“Easy now, darlin’,” I say, releasin’ her, and holdin’ one hand out at my side while taking another drag of my cigarette. “Don’t know what your problem is, but—”
“My problem is that I’m tired of being used by assholes like you!” she snaps. “What the fuck happened with this guy, Colt? If it was so goddamned innocent, you wouldn’t have asked me to come here to collaborate your story!”
“Don’t test me,” I growl, flickin’ the end of my cigarette again.
Her blond head shakes back and forth. “I’m not lying for you. You’re going to have to answer to the agency, just like anyone else. Being a pretty boy won’t save you this time.”
As I flick the rest of the cigarette into the sink with one hand, I clasp her wrist with the other. The gun fires as her knee flies toward my balls. I deflect the strike as the bullet grazes past my skull and knock her onto her ass. She cries in surprise as the gun scatters to the floor. We both go for it, but I beat her to it and click the safety off.
“No!” I yell when she lunges at me from the floor.
In our struggle, the gun discharges. She collapses on the floor at Axel’s side, blood oozin’ from the corner of her mouth.
“Fuck!” I roar, kneelin’ at her side. “Why’d you have to go an’ pull your goddamn gun on me?”
The bullet entered so close to her heart that she’ll likely bleed out within minutes. When she tries to talk, it comes out as a sick gurgle.
“Don’t talk,” I warn, grabbin’ the blanket off the nearby couch and pressin’ it to her wound. Her wide eyes blink rapidly, tryin’ to focus on me as I call 9-1-1.
By the time an operator answers, there are two dead people in my kitchen. The bloodbath is a small price to pay if it means this war is finally fuckin' over and peace finally finds Harley and me.
40
HARLEY
As Kandi came down with a roaring headache and decided to postpone looking for a bike, I head back to the apartment with no other plans. I’m a block away when I catch sight of random people gathered around a perimeter of yellow tape as red and blue lights pass over our apartment and the surrounding houses. My stomach begins to painfully twist as possibilities of what happened race through my head.
Colt’s been arrested again.
Axel discovered we’re on to him and killed Colt.
Whatever’s going on, it can’t be good.
I’ve hardly killed the engine on my bike before I’m jumping off, trying to break through the outstretched arm of a sheriff’s deputy. “Let me go!” I demand. “My fucking fiancé lives here!”
“She’s good,” a second deputy tells him. When he flashes me a kind look, I recognize him from the night Colt was arrested for allegedly killing Remmy. “Let her through.”
I’m completely numb as I run toward the apartment door. What am I about to find? A few local police officers standing in the hallway and talking in low voices barely pay me any attention when I barge my way past. There’s a cluster of commotion inside, making the already small apartment seem miniature. Several men and women squat over something on the floor near the kitchen as a photographer snaps away. At first all I can see is the lower half of a woman’s arm.
Could it be Cheyenne?
Then one of the men crouched over the body shuffles to his left and a man’s boot comes into view, lying near the woman’s body.
Oh my god.
“Colt!” I roar, stumbling forward with ice filling my veins.
A familiar set of large arms pull me off to the side. “I’m okay, darlin’,” he whispers in my ear. I was so sure it was Colt’s body on the floor that it takes a full minute of staring into his beautiful eyes for the truth to sink in. When I grab his scruffy face in my hands, he nods with a half-smile. “I’m okay,” he repeats.
“Oh god!” I fling myself against him, squeezing my arms around his torso with all my strength. “I thought it was you!”
“Axel’s dead,” he whispers, returning my embrace. “Came over to confront me. Shot at my partner when she showed up. We need to keep real quiet about this. No one at the club can know what happened, or Cheyenne might get word and run. Understand?”
Backing off slowly, I spin in his arms to where everyone has gathered. Colt’s a step behind me as I make my way closer to see where a blonde woman in a dark suit lays beside my brother, each of them in their own puddles of blood. Eyes fixed on the ceiling and mouth open with his last breath, part of Axel’s artificial leg is exposed beneath his jeans.
My brother is dead.
A gaping void fills my chest where there should probably be sorrow or pity. I don’t exactly know how I should feel after all
we’ve been through together, but the sight of the hole in his temple and blood everywhere sends my stomach churning.
I break away from Colt, making it just in time to projectile vomit all over the bathroom sink. By the time I’m finished, Colt’s at my side again, handing me a towel and running the sink faucet. “You shouldn’t have seen that.”
“We both know he deserved it,” I growl before wiping my mouth and throwing the towel on the dirty clothes pile in the corner. “Did he say anything to you before he died? Did he admit to setting me up or killing Remmy?”
“He confessed to everything,” he answers, nodding with his jaw tight.
“He say anything about Cheyenne?”
“‘Fraid not. Grace shot ‘im before I had a chance to ask.” Thick fingers brush along my jaw. “You alright?”
“I need to get outta here,” I confess among a deep breath.
His hand puts pressure on the back of my neck, forcing me to look at him. The intensity in his eyes sends a shot of warmth down to my belly. “There’s a travel bag in the back of the closet. Pack for both of us. We’ll stay downtown for a few days until we decide where we want to settle down together. This apartment was only a part of my job.”
I feel my head bob in agreement, but I’m too busy worrying what will happen next to focus and fully process anything. Neither of us have a job, and we’re both homeless. I can only hope Colt makes good money and has enough set aside to keep us going for awhile.
“Hey,” he coos, pushing our foreheads together. “Everythin’s goin’ to be okay, darlin’. Consider this a new beginnin’. We can start over, wherever you wanna go. A fresh start is exactly what we need and deserve after this hell.” With a sweet, lingering kiss to my forehead, he releases me. “I’ll wrap things up with the sheriff. Should be ready by the time you are.”