CARSON_Satan’s Ravens MC

by Kathryn Thomas

  Hawk smiles, but there’s no friendliness there. It’s the way a wolf would smile at a sheep just before he’s about to eat it. “Really, no shit? Can I see it? She looks like a beaut!” Hawk holds his hand out expectantly.

  Wes hesitates, looking between the camera and Hawk, weighing his options. “Really? You’re into photography?” Hawk doesn’t say anything, he just remains standing there, waiting for Wes to hand it over. “It probably wouldn’t be all that interesting to you. It’s not even digital, runs on film.”

  Hawk lifts an eyebrow. “Old school, I like it. So, can I see?” It’s framed as a question, but it’s most definitely not a request.

  “Sure thing.” Wes tries to appear relaxed, as he hands the camera over to Hawk, shuffling forwards to pass it to him before he shuffles back so that he’s behind Melissa again. “So, what do you know about cameras?” He shuffles from foot to foot, unsettled, doing a terrible acting job.

  Hawk shrugs and throws Wes that smile again. “Oh, not a whole lot. Just the basics, I guess.” He inspects the camera, seeming genuinely impressed with it. His deft fingers find whatever it was he was looking for at the back, and there’s an audible click as he releases a button. The back flies open and film starts pouring out in a roll. “Like how to get the film out.”

  Wes springs forward. “Don’t do that!” Hawk watches, as Wes scrambles with the film on the floor. “You idiot! You’ve ruined it!” The expression on Wes’s face is murderous, but it’s clear that it doesn’t intimidate Hawk, not by a long shot.

  “I did, didn’t I?” He crosses his arms over his chest, watching Wes. “What was on it that was so important, anyway?”

  Wes hugs the notebook closer to his chest, as if protecting it. “Nothing important. I just don’t get why you had to do that, man.”

  “Boy, just tell us what the hell you were doing out here.” The growl in Josh’s voice tells them all just how little patience he has left.

  Wes opens his mouth and closes it again, opens it and closes it, doing a pretty good impression of a goldfish. He looks between Josh and Hawk, who are both squaring up, ready for a fight, and there’s no mistaking their body language. “It was her idea. She made me do it!” Wes points at Melissa, shrieking like a girl.

  Hawk and Josh raise their eyebrows and look at Melissa. “Wes, they know all about it. They know what you’ve been up to from the beginning because I told them. They know that you work for the Tribune, and they know that you’ve been trying to get enough evidence to…how did you put it? ‘Nail their asses to the wall?’”

  Wes’s laugh is forced. “Right, and you believe her? She’ll lie to get what she wants; she can’t be trusted. Come on, guys. You know me! We’ve been working side by side. What do you really know about her?” Wes virtually spits the words out.

  “We know that she wouldn’t rat her friends out like you just did. That’s all we need to know.” Josh shrugs his shoulders, and Melissa feels pride surge through her. Wes was right; they didn’t really have many reasons to believe her over him, but the fact that they did made her feel hugely proud.

  Wes advances towards Melissa, spitting mad. “You little bitch! I should have known you were just their puppet. Is that how it works? You just side with whomever you’re fucking at the time. I knew you were a whore, but I’d never seen you act like one until now.”

  Melissa stands stiff as a board, speechless at the vitriol of the words that Wes is pouring out at her. He takes another step towards her, and from her training, she knows that she should kick out and disable him, but she’s so shocked that anyone could hate her so much that she’s unable to move. She doesn’t have to because—all of a sudden—Hawk is standing between the two of them, looking at Wes as if he’s going to kill him.

  “I suggest you take that back, Wes. Now.” He clenches and unclenches his fists, a signal that Melissa recognizes as meaning that he’s on an emotional knife edge.

  “Or what? You gonna hit me, Ownes? I’m not like all your little friends. I’m important. Anything happens to me and I’ll send you to jail so fast your head will spin. You willing to risk all that for her?” Wes’s lip curls, and Melissa feels like he’d slapped her.

  Hawk takes a moment, looking as if he’s weighing it up and then pulls back his fist and punches Wes squarely in the nose, knocking him to the ground. “Yeah, I think I will.”

  Melissa knows that she shouldn’t enjoy the fact that Hawk has resorted to violence quite as much as she does, but she just can’t seem to help it. There’s something about seeing a scumbag like Wes brought down that makes her feel as if all is right in the world.

  “You asshole.” Wes’s words come out in a lisp, as he cups his hands over his face. “You broke my fuckin’ nose!”

  Hawk looks down at him without the slightest hint of remorse. “You’re lucky that’s the only thing I’ve broken…so far.”

  “Right, you’re the big bad Hawk Ownes! I guess we’ll see how bad you are when you’re sitting in a jail cell for assault—on top of all the other charges I plan on sending you down for.” Wes struggles to his feet, his eyes flashing with anger, and Melissa hears the ring of truth in his words.

  She puts her hand on Hawk’s shoulder, so that he faces her. “Hawk, he’s right. This can’t end well for you or the club. His parents are serious players.” She keeps her voice low, but she can tell from the smirk on Wes’s bloody face that he has a pretty good idea of what she’s said.

  Hawk doesn’t respond. Instead he pulls her towards him, planting a hard kiss on her lips that makes her melt against him and leaves her knees trembling for minutes afterwards. “Melissa, it looks like that notebook of Wes’s was a little heavy for him.” Hawk nods towards the book that Wes had dropped and that’s now lying open on the ground. “We’re going to have a little talk with our newest employee.”

  Melissa looks at Josh, wondering what they’re up to, but Josh just nods at her to do as Hawk has said.

  “Don’t touch my stuff, bitch!” Wes steps forward, as if to guard his notebook and camera, but he backs away again as soon as Hawk raises a threatening fist.

  “You really don’t get how this works, do you man?” Hawk shakes his head and looks at Josh chuckling. “And I thought these college guys were meant to be smart!”

  Melissa grabs the notebook—and the camera as well for good measure—before Wes has time to come up with a response or decide if he’s willing for Hawk to go for him again. She takes a step towards Hawk, wondering if she should stop him from what she is almost certain will be more than a friendly chat. She wonders if she could even if she wanted to.

  “Don’t worry, doll. We’ve got this.” Josh settles a comforting hand on her shoulder before he and Hawk each take hold of Wes’s upper arms and hustle him around to the back of the bar.

  Melissa chews her bottom lip and takes a step as if to go after them, but a friendly face in front of her stops her in her tracks. “Let them handle this, Melissa.” Felicia crosses her arms in front of her chest, creating a barrier between Melissa and the direction the three men had disappeared to. “They won’t do any permanent damage. They’re not stupid.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

  Melissa takes another look over Felicia’s shoulder before she decides that her friend is right. Josh and Hawk may be quick to anger, but they’re not idiots. They both know where the limits are of what they can and can’t do, at least Melissa has to hope that they do.

  “Why don’t we head into the bar and get you a drink. You look like you could use one.” Felicia leads Melissa gently towards the entrance of the bar. “And while we’re at it, let’s get rid of that.” She nods towards the notebook that Melissa is still clutching in her hand.

  Melissa hesitates before she follows Felicia. “The way we rushed out of there must have stirred up some attention.” She leaves the rest implied. Melissa wants to know if there are going to be some angry Kings, looking for answers when she walks in.

  Felicia waves away Melissa’s concer
n. “These guys are used to a little action. They won’t think anything of it.”

  Melissa nods, knowing that Felicia wouldn’t lie to her about something like that, but she still can’t bring herself to go inside. She wants to know what’s going on between Hawk and Wes. “I think I’ll stay out here for a while.” She leans against the wall, waiting, still debating whether she should intervene.

  “Suit yourself.” Felicia crosses her arms and leans against the wall, mimicking Melissa’s posture. Melissa throws her a questioning look. “What? If you’re staying, then so am I.” She shrugs. “There’s no point in beating yourself up, Melissa. After what that piece of crap wanted to put the club through and after everything he just said to you, I think he deserves a helluva lot more than just a broken nose.”

  Melissa smiles at this protective side of Felicia that’s coming out. “So, what are we going to do about this?” She holds up the notebook.

  Felicia reaches into her back pocket and pulls out a flip lighter. “Do you want to do the honors or shall I?”

  Melissa had thought that when Felicia had suggested they get rid of the notebook that she’d meant shredding it. But there was something poetic about setting it on fire. Wes had always been proud of being old school. It seemed only fitting that it shouldn’t be a piece of technology that destroys his work, but something much more primal.

  “I’ll do it.” She holds out her hand for Felicia’s lighter, flipping it open with a flick of her wrists. Before she has time to question, yet again, if she’s doing the right thing or not, she holds the lighter to the corner of Wes’s notebook and watches as it catches light. She throws the book on the floor, the flames engulfing it as she and Felicia stare at the fire, almost hypnotized by it. It’s a matter of only a few minutes before the book is completely destroyed. Felicia stomps on the embers for good measure, nodding in satisfaction.

  Melissa’s head whips up at the sound of footsteps crunching against the gravel. She sees Josh appear first from around the side of the building, followed by a dejected looking Wes who is holding his right hand as if it were injured, and finally Hawk brings up the rear. His face had been a thundercloud when they’d disappeared, but now it was relaxed, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

  The three men take a look at the ashes on the ground, and they all seem understand what they’re seeing. Wes gives Melissa a murderous stare, and she braces herself for the onslaught of insults that she’s expecting to flow from his mouth, but he doesn’t open his mouth. Instead, he looks between Hawk and Josh and then back down at the floor, cowed by whatever they’ve said to him.

  “What happened?” Melissa’s eyes are trained on Wes’s injured hand, and the words are out of her mouth before she asks herself if she really wants to know or not.

  “Wes decided that it would be in his best interest not to write the article after all.” Hawk shrugs his shoulders wearily, as if tonight were no different from any other night of the week.

  “A decision that was made a whole lot easier when it became clear that he didn’t have any actual evidence to use to implicate the Kings in his little story.” Josh plants his hands on his hips, looking formidable. Melissa gulps in spite of herself.

  She waits for Wes to speak up, to threaten them, to tell them that his family will have them all hung, drawn, and quartered. But he remains silent, looking at the floor, holding his hand to his chest as if it were a baby.

  “Oh, by the way, Wes, you’re fired.” Josh throws the comment over his shoulder, and Wes’s head droops a little more. “And if I see you in my shop again, it’ll be more than just your hand that you’ll have to worry about.”

  Wes nods quickly, his gaze never flicking up from the floor. Melissa is shocked beyond belief. Whatever Josh and Hawk had said to Wes, it must have put the fear of God into him—and then some.

  “I think it’s time you left, don’t you, Wes?” Hawk’s fingers thrum over his folded arms.

  For the first time, Wes looks up. “I can’t drive with this.” He motions towards his hand.

  “Then you walk.” Hawk says the words slowly, as if he were speaking to an idiot. “I thought you were anti-technology, seems like walking would be right up your street.”

  Wes stutters, struggling to get his words out. “But…but it’s miles to the hospital.” The panic causes his voice to rise. “What if…what if I faint from the pain? It’d be days before anyone would find me.”

  Melissa rolls her eyes at the fact that even now, after everything, Wes is still playing the role of the drama queen.

  “Faint from the pain?” Hawk is completely unmoved. “Your wrist isn’t even broken, you pussy, it’s sprained at the most. That’s what happens when you try to punch someone without knowing what the hell you’re doing.”

  Melissa’s eyes widen at the image of Wes trying to fight Hawk. She should have known that he and Josh wouldn’t just break his wrist for fun. He’d provoked them, and he could have been walking away with something much worse than just a sprain and some wounded pride.

  “Get lost, Wes. And remember what we said.” There’s no mistaking the threat in Hawk’s voice.

  Wes ducks his head again, deferentially. Clearly, he wasn’t going to be forgetting whatever Josh and Hawk had drilled into him anytime soon. Slowly, he starts walking towards the open road, but he jumps as Hawk’s voice pierces the silence of the night.

  “Wes! Aren’t you forgetting something?” Hawk looks at him meaningfully, the anger in his eyes more powerful than any punch most men could throw.

  Wes’s eyes flick between Hawk and Melissa, seemingly weighing up his options. But it only takes a slight shift in Hawk’s position to make up his mind for him. “I’m sorry, Melissa. I didn’t mean any of the things I said about you.” The words come out grudgingly, and he doesn’t meet her eyes, but that doesn’t take any of the sweetness out of the knowledge that he’s been taken down a few pegs.

  “And?” Hawk gestures with his arms that Wes should continue.

  Melissa watches as Wes takes a deep breath and then looks at her directly. “And I’m an asshole.”

  Hawk smiles broadly, giving the smaller man a patronizing slap on the back, which, judging from Wes’s expression is a little harder than it probably needs to be. “Good job, man. Good job.” His features turn serious again. “Now get the hell out of here and make sure I never see you again.”

  Wes doesn’t wait to be told twice. Instead, he shuffles off towards the road. Melissa watches his retreating back, absently wondering if they’ve just made an enemy that one day might come back to bite them on the ass.

  “It’s over, ‘Mel. Stop overthinking it.” Hawk’s hands runs up and down her arms, warming her through the way that his presence always does.

  “What did you two say to him? Or do I not want to know?” Melissa gives Hawk a concerned look.

  “Well, I sure as hell want to know, so spill. And don’t leave anything out!” Felicia pipes up from behind Melissa, looking between the two men, her expression telling them that she’s expecting all the gory details.

  “Not much to tell, Felicia.” Josh shrugs, as if he intimidates people every day. “We just showed him the error of his ways.” His eyes twinkle at that, and he can’t seem to help but let a smile spread across his face.

  “Bullshit.” Felicia crosses her arms, waiting for them to come up with something better.

  “Ask Hawk; he did most of the talking. I was too busy trying to keep a straight face. The expression on that kid’s face was priceless. He didn’t know what hit him!” Josh looks like he’s about to double over with laughter.

  Melissa raises a questioning eyebrow at Hawk. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little curious about how you managed to brainwash him in less than fifteen minutes.”

  The corner of Hawk’s mouth quirks up. “I just told him that if he published anything on the Caged Kings or any of us individually, ever, that I would find him and that we’d have a very different conversation.”
>
  Melissa looks doubtfully at him, knowing that there was way more to the story that he was keeping under wraps. “And when did he try to hit you?”

  “About the time that he started ranting about who his family was and what he was going to do to me.” Hawk shakes his head at the memory. “The guy can’t punch worth a damn.”

  Melissa looks at him now, concerned. She knows exactly who Wes’s parents are and exactly how prominent they are in Portland. “How do you know he won’t go to the cops, Hawk? Or to his family? They’re not just empty threats.”

  Hawk threads his fingers through her hair, looking calmer than Melissa thinks he has any reason to be. “We reached a little understanding. I told him if he said anything to anyone, then his little problem would go right on that world wide web that he hates so much.”

  Melissa frowns, confused. “What problem?”

  Hawk looks at her as if he thinks she’s joking. “You really didn’t know?” Melissa shakes her head, impatient for Hawk to drop the bombshell. “He’s a junkie.” The disdain in Hawk’s voice is clear.