Fuck.
“Far as I know, Rex had that swept once the fire burned out. Any shit that’s in there will be at Rachel’s place.”
“How did he manage that?”
Steel snorted. “You know that prospect, Brick? His brother works for the fire department.”
“Handy.”
“Definitely. Anyway, yeah, I imagine Rex has that stuff.”
“Great. See you later, bro.”
“Yeah, Rex said you called church.”
“I did. Lot of shit to discuss, man. Brace yourself.”
“Aw, hell, Mav,” Steel complained. “You can’t leave me with that kind of cliffhanger.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, I had to smirk. “Just watch me.”
Then I hung up.
“You think Rex has the USB drive?” Lodestar asked.
I shrugged. “Have to think he does.” Rubbing my chin, I queried, “The real question is whether we want him to know that’s what we want?” It wasn’t much of a question to me, I did want him to know after all, even if it triggered a tidal wave of crap that spewed our way.
“He knows everything else. Well,” she conceded, “as much as I can tell him in an hour-long conversation when the information I have on the Sparrows goes back years.”
I dipped my chin. “I trust that you told him the pertinent stuff.”
“I did. How else would I get him on our side?”
“Good.”
“What time’s church?”
“When Nyx and Link roll back in tonight. Probably about eleven.”
She cast me a look. “The USB drive can wait. I actually need your help with locating the Lancaster property. You always were better at the forensic accounting side of things than me.”
That she said it so begrudgingly made it all the sweeter, but it didn’t stop me from asking, “That because I’m better at it than you or just because you’re feeling like a big pile of horse shit?”
“A small pile,” she corrected.
“A small pile,” I agreed.
Her nod was just as begrudging, so I sat down, and somehow, as was always the fucking way when I worked with her, the hours slipped by.
And when I said hours, I meant it.
Lily’s maids wandered in and out, making us sandwiches we mostly ignored and brewing us coffee that kept us going. The only stops turned out to be bathroom breaks, and when I got the text that Nyx and Link had returned and saw it was eleven PM, guilt hit me because I hadn’t even thought about Alessa since that morning, and I knew Lodestar was exhausted too.
I’d pushed her just as she had me, but I’d managed to wend my way through four years of his accounts, which was saying something, while she’d been working on her investigation into Scarlet’s background—on the hunt for answers as to why the Famiglia would want her dead.
“You should go and get some rest.” I yawned. “I’m surprised Kati didn’t interrupt us.”
“Alessa must have kept her entertained.” She rubbed her forehead as she started to go through her programs, slowly shutting them down as she ran a scan on the computer that, I’d bet my goddamn ass on, wasn’t hunting for viruses.
The way her laptop sounded like it was about to take off and whiz around the room was clue enough.
Still, as she’d worked, I saw one of the screens I’d noticed earlier, and I murmured, “Who the fuck’s Martin London by the way?”
She squinted at me. “You saw. He’s a retired pastor.”
“Okay, so why are you investigating him?”
That had her pulling a face. “You sure you want to know?”
I sniffed. “Wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t, and I’m holding the coffee hostage until you give me the answers I want.”
“Cruel fucker,” she mumbled around another yawn. “It’s a guy who—Wait.” She heaved a sigh. “You’re not to tell Storm any of this.”
Surprise had me rearing back. “Storm? What does this guy have to do with Storm?”
“Well, Indy says the guy was bothering Cyan.”
“Bothering? In what way?”
That had her bowing her head, and as she tried to hide her expression from me, I wasn’t even sure what to say.
Cyan was a kid, after all. How could an adult man pester—
“No.” I shook my head, nostrils flaring as I understood her discomfort. “No, Lodestar. Please, fuck, tell me my mind’s in the goddamn gutter.”
She gritted her teeth. “That’s what Indy says. I can’t find anything in his past that would indicate he’s that way inclined, but…” She shrugged. “It’s not something that he’s going to advertise, is it?”
“I’ll kill him,” I rasped.
“You might not have the chance.”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“There’s a posse after him…” Her lips twitched into a smile. “And it’s gonna do what a posse does best.” The smile turned into a smirk. “Lynch the cunt’s ass.”
Thirty-Seven
Alessa
Indy’s Camaro was a dreamboat. I actually preferred it to the cars in Lily’s garage because they were so sleek and elegant it was unreal and kind of discomforting to be in them. Not just because we’d be destroying half a million dollars’ worth of supercar after our drive, but because of what they represented—a change in my status.
As I bit my lip at the thought, I tilted my head back as the wind streamed in through the open windows. The pressure on my back where my tattoo was, exactly where Maverick had his, ached some, but it was a good ache.
A righteous one.
Just as what we were doing was righteous.
Some things just had to be done.
Lodestar had given Giulia Martin London’s address when she asked for it, and that was our end destination. Giulia said Lodestar had repeated that she couldn’t find anything on the guy, but that something stank as his bank account was a lot fuller than any pastor, ex or not, she’d ever come across.
That didn’t exactly give us answers, but sometimes, instincts were enough. They had to be. Indy’s were firing on all cylinders, and she said she knew something was going on with the bastard who wasn’t as innocent as he was trying to make out.
To be honest, I had more faith in Indy than Lodestar, and seeing how shaken up she’d been last night, I wanted to act, and knew everyone in the vehicle felt the same way.
We were all victims. All of us. And we were trying to stop a little girl from being hurt the same way.
If London was innocent, then that was great. Fabulous. Phenomenal.
But if he wasn’t, then we’d be sending a message while also keeping our family intact.
None of us had mentioned this to Storm. Far as we could tell, Keira hadn’t either.
Why we were all intent on protecting a man who hadn’t protected his family, I couldn’t say. Maybe it was a piece of knowledge that simmered just below the surface of every conversation where London was concerned…
Storm wouldn’t have the wherewithal to stalk the man who’d targeted his daughter.
He wouldn’t sneak around. Wouldn’t try to find a way to kill the pedophile so he wouldn’t get caught.
He’d just castrate the man in Walmart or something.
Shoot him in the chest in front of a thousand witnesses.
And that was right.
That was just.
A father should do those things. Should seek vengeance on his child’s behalf.
But that would mean the father would go to jail for a very long time, and that meant the child would never know him—what kind of vengeance was that? Because by the time Storm got out, Cyan would be a woman fully grown, and she’d only know her daddy through visitation times in a prison block.
It went without saying that none of us wanted that.
What we wanted was justice, however.
So we’d take it.
Posse-style.
And it was why the full posse, aside from Stone who was working at
the ER, was riding to Martin London’s house in the middle of the night, when we knew he’d be in.
The guys were returning from their run tonight, so we’d taken advantage of Nyx and Link’s absence to get on with business today. With Maverick and Steel busy, Cruz too, getting around town had been relatively easy.
Fun as well.
Especially when we’d headed to the motel to get answers from the clubwhores about Tink. Just thinking about Giulia breaking Enya’s nose had a small smile dancing on my lips.
Tomorrow, we’d sort that bitch out. Today, London was our priority.
When we rolled into a suburb that looked to be the height of respectability, with its neat as a pin yards and the cars that gleamed in the moonlight, with the trees shedding their leaves so that the wind picked them up and they didn’t dirty the gardens, alongside the houses that looked like they belonged in a sitcom, it wasn’t the kind of place you’d expect a predator to live.
But wasn’t suburbia the most powerful of hidey-holes?
Hiding in plain sight enabled a creature such as this one to hunt, and that was what he’d done.
He’d found a vulnerable young girl who didn’t want her parents to split up, who was being bullied at school according to Lodestar who’d learned that from Kati and who’d told me, whose father had left and moved to another state… She was a ripe plum to pluck.
But we were going to stop that.
Tonight, we were going to act.
The Camaro’s lights turned off as we moved around a bend, and Indy moved deeper into the neighborhood, never revving the engine, always keeping it quiet until we made it to number one-eight-three-four.
We didn’t pull up there, instead parked six houses down.
“Now, remember, we go in and we go out,” Giulia rumbled, cracking her knuckles. “We don’t shed blood and we don’t leave bruises. We slip in like ghosts and scare the shit out of him, then we get out of there.”
“It won’t stop him from pressing charges once he realizes who we are,” Tiffany pointed out gruffly.
“You’re forgetting… he’s a retired pastor, supposedly,” Indy remarked. “What on earth would he do if he went to the cops, got you arrested, and you told them you thought he was a pedo? That wouldn’t be good for his rep, would it? He’d want to keep it under wraps. Not only that… we’re in West Orange, Tiffany. This is Sinners’ territory.”
Giulia grunted. “Good old corrupt pigs. Always on your side when you need them.”
Lily snorted. “That’s not supposed to be a positive, Giulia.”
“Isn’t it? They can at least be on our side when we need them to be,” she muttered.
“They weren’t on yours,” Lily pointed out gently.
“Yeah, but now you’re in your father’s seat, who’s going to pay the cops off?” She smirked, then rubbed her hands together. “I’m looking forward to this.”
“You have anger issues,” Tiffany countered.
“I wonder fucking why,” Giulia snapped, but she didn’t say another word as she shoved open the door and climbed out of the car. The rest of us slipped out of the tight fitting Camaro too, and we walked like we had the right to be there. Like one of us owned a place around here, and we were just returning home for the night.
My heart boomed in my chest like a soldier beating on a drum, but I wasn’t scared. For once, I felt nothing more than thrilled to be doing something worthwhile. Something proactive.
We were all in on this. All of us ready to do what had to be done to stop this sick man from corrupting Cyan.
London’s place was as neat as the rest of the neighborhood. White siding, pretty green trim around the roof, the screens were clean and free from holes, something that was visible thanks to the light of the full moon that was shining down on us.
I peered into its silvery face and sucked in a breath.
Giulia wasn’t the only one with anger issues.
I’d realized that before when I’d forced Amara to talk, then when I’d taken such pleasure in helping to destroy one of Lancaster’s most prized possessions. Lily and I had wrecked a Ferrari, and we’d bounced on the roof of the car as music piped through the garage until Link, Maverick, and Kati had found us there again.
Old Maverick shook his head and walked off, Kati scampered up there to dance with us, and Link smirked and eyed his woman up in a way that told me what they’d be doing the second he was alone with her.
And I’d been jealous.
As well as angry.
I’d wanted Maverick to look at me that way. To take me away with him…
To no avail.
The anger that desire caused had me gritting my teeth and vowing that I’d fuck my man the second I was home to make up for that impotent rage I’d felt when he wasn’t mine, but Nic’s. The violence flooded through me in a wave that encompassed what had gone down today with the club bunnies who’d been slow to talk, and I channeled it into what was about to happen.
Indy stepped onto the porch, opened the screen, and then ducked down to pick the locks.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know how she could do this, but only Lily, Tiffany, and I shot each other surprised looks—we’d thought we would have to sneak in through a window. I had to wonder if the Sinners taught lessons like this to kids much as other children would learn morals at Sunday School.
I wouldn’t put it past the MC.
The door opened with a gentle snick, and Indy beckoned us forward. We tiptoed in, careful to stay as silent as we could, and the second we crossed the doorstep, a thrill shot through me.
Breaking and entering.
I’d just committed a crime, and I didn’t give a damn.
The five of us surged onward, each of us trying to find where the bastard might be.
As I passed the living room, heading for the stairs, as quiet as a mouse even though my heart was still pounding so hard it was a wonder the others couldn’t hear it, a strange tang of alcohol burned my nostrils. A bottle lay upended on the floor in a wet puddle, and there were another two on a stand beside an armchair I passed.
Making it upstairs, when I found him, it felt like fate.
The bedroom was neat and trim, and with the moonlight whispering in through the windows that were covered with blinds that were half open, I saw it was also anonymous.
As if the man didn’t own much.
But this was a large house.
It was just… empty.
Now that I thought about the hall that led off the door, there’d been a coat rack and nothing more. No table to dump his keys on, no shoe rack to store his dirty sneakers. Up the stairs, there was no rug, and in this room, there was a bed, a dresser, a mirror, and that was it.
But the stench was in here too. Alcohol. And his snores were deep, lusty, like he was unconscious, which explained how I made it in there without him waking up.
I twisted around to head out of the room to get the others, but Tiffany was there, Giulia at her back.
The three of us nodded at one another and moved out, each of us going to the opposite side of the bed.
It was a strange thing to do, but I’d done worse in my time, and I knew it would keep him quiet, keep him from stirring. So I placed my hands on his feet and gently rolled them along his legs, up and up, higher and higher like a lover would. He twisted a little, but it wasn’t in distress. As I knelt on the side of the bed, the mattress depressing under my weight, he wasn’t disturbed in any way thanks to the caress I gave him that had the other women looking at me like I was crazy.
His legs shuffled apart at my touch, and I used that to my gain, crawling between them to get to his dick.
Exactly what I wanted.
A whisper in the doorway told me the three of us weren’t alone, and that the others had joined us, but I didn’t turn around, just caught Tiffany’s eye. Once everyone was in position, she raised a hand with her ring, middle, and pointer finger standing.
She started to count down, and so did I…
/> In a flurry of movement, my knee pinned his dick to the bed, just as Tiffany’s hand went to cover his mouth and to pinch his nose.
As he struggled, his movements were dulled, slow, confirming the belief he was drunk because a man like this should have been able to overpower us in a flash—this was not the night to have gotten drunk.
Lily and Giulia grabbed his arms, and Indy, a knife in her hands, pressed the tip into his throat.
His movements were almost enough to throw us off him, but I ground my knee into his cock harder, pushing all my weight onto it. I might be skinny, but when it came to the penis, you didn’t have to exert much pressure to cause pain. A fact I took advantage of as I imagined grinding his dick into dust.
If I could, I would have.
“You will leave Cyan alone,” Indy rattled out from between gritted teeth. “This is just a warning. This is just me telling you to back off. If you don’t, we’ll be paying you another visit, and I’ll slice your dick off.”
A moan escaped him, and his head wriggled from side to side as Tiffany worked hard to keep him sluggish thanks to oxygen deprivation. Eventually, he slowed, his movements turning dull with fatigue. At that point, she let go, and as he sucked in a noisy breath, flopping around like a dead fish on the sand, I let my leg rear back and I kneed him.
Hard.
Hard enough that I hoped his balls went into his body.
Hard enough that I hoped he wouldn’t get an erection for a week.
Hard enough that I hoped it hurt to piss.
I flung myself off the bed, and the rest of us did the same, fleeing down the stairs, hurrying out of the house. As I made it across the yard, I saw Indy was back there, by the door, and though the others dashed to the car, I waited, not about to leave her behind as she locked up.
When she saw me waiting on her, her eyes flashed wide, gleaming gold in the moonlight with her gratitude, and she shot me a delighted look before the pair of us ran to the Camaro.
Maverick: A Dark MC Romance (A Dark & Dirty Sinners' MC Series Book 6) Page 31