Torch (Great Wolves MC - Ohio Chapter Book 5)

by Jayne Blue

  “What?” Shannon leaned against the far wall. I realized she looked even more ragged than I did. She’d been trying to cover, but her morning sickness was in full swing. I wasn’t sure whether she’d even told anyone else about her pregnancy yet.

  “Do you have a message from Sticks, too?” she asked. She pushed herself off the wall and sat beside Glover.

  “Come on, Shannon,” he said. “Don’t do that. You know I don’t like having to bring you bad news. But no. No message from Sticks personally. It’s just ... the club needs to make sure you girls are out of this.”

  “Out of town,” I said. “How exactly does that help the club?”

  “Look,” Glover said. “This is coming from the top. From Colt. You aren’t welcome in Lincolnshire anymore. It’s for your own good.”

  “Not welcome?” I said. “That’s the biggest line of bullshit I’ve ever heard. Not even Colt has the power to what ... deport me? That’s ridiculous.”

  “This is my home!” Shannon shrieked. “Are you serious right now?”

  “What’s he planning?” I said, growing calmer. “Glover, if we’re being asked to uproot our lives again, I want to know what’s coming.”

  Glover slowly rose. “That’s not happening. Look, both of you. You have the club’s protection. That’s what this is about. It only extends so far, though. Torch and Sticks have made that clear. It’s not a request. Be happy. This is Torch and Sticks trying to do right by the both of you. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”

  “I want to see him,” I said. “I need to talk to Torch face to face. There are some things I have to tell him. Things that could help. I’m not moving a muscle until he comes here himself.”

  “Torch is a little busy right now,” Glover said. “Jesus. Don’t you get it? He’s running the club. Everything. This is deep. It’s coming from all sides. Too many people know you two were hooking up with members of the club. That puts you at risk. Torch can’t be focused on that shit. If you really care about him and what happens to the club, get the hell out of here. It’s all arranged.”

  “You tell him I’ll go, but he has to come here and tell me himself. I mean it,” I said. “You tell him I have information he’s going to want.”

  Glover squared his shoulders. “You’re leaving now. Right now. The club has access to a charter plane. It’s sitting on the tarmac at the Lincolnshire airfield right now. Pack your shit.”

  Shannon looked like she was about to faint. “You’re scaring me,” she said.

  “Good,” Glover said. “You need to be a little scared. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. It doesn’t have to be forever. Until we get a handle on things, at least. It’s all set up. They’re sending you down to Florida. The Emerald Coast chapter down there is going to shelter you. Give you a place to work. You’ll be safe. It’s fucking gorgeous down there.”

  Shannon was crying. I wouldn’t.

  “I’m not going to Florida,” I said. “I’m not going anywhere until I talk to Torch.”

  Glover balled his fists. “Dammit. Why the hell do you have to be so difficult?”

  Shannon left the room. I heard her rummaging through her bedroom, opening and slamming drawers shut. Shit. She was packing.

  “Take Shannon,” I said. “I don’t need to run away to Florida. If it comes down to it, I’ll call my father.” It was a lie, but I really wasn’t leaving until I talked to Torch.

  “Sydney, come on,” he said. “Please, don’t make this hard on me. The club is depending on me to get this done.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Exactly what were your orders?”

  He chewed his bottom lip but didn’t answer.

  “Son of a bitch,” I said. “He told you to pretty much drag me out of here if I didn’t go willingly. Is that it?”

  “Sydney …”

  I took a step back.

  “No. No way.”

  “You’re leaving,” he said. “That’s happening.”

  “Tell me the truth,” I said. “What’s Torch planning to do?”

  “Just pack your shit,” he said. “I’ll tell you what I can on the way.”

  He wasn’t going to budge. Neither was I.

  Shannon came out of the bedroom. “Sydney, please,” she said. “Come with me. We’ll go to Florida together. I wouldn’t mind having the company. Let’s just think of it like a vacation.”

  “Take Shannon,” I said to Glover. “But I’m not going. Not like this.”

  I grabbed Shannon by the shoulders. “Go. You need to get out of here. It’s more than just you you have to think of.” I said the last part low so Glover couldn’t hear.

  “Sydney,” Glover said.

  I squared off with him, calling his bluff. “The only way I’m getting in that van is if you knock me out and drag me to it. Since I know you aren’t going to do that, we’re done here.”

  He kept his fists balled at his sides, but he knew I was right.

  “Goddammit,” he said.

  “Don’t worry about Torch,” I said. “I’ll handle it. I’ll talk to Amy as soon as you leave.”

  Shannon waited by the door with a packed suitcase.

  “Come on,” Glover finally said. “Goddammit.”

  I watched them go out the front door together and climb in the van. Shannon strapped herself into the passenger seat. She gave me a wave as Glover put the vehicle in reverse and backed out of Shannon’s driveway. Then his tires squealed as he tore down the street.

  I pressed my forehead to the little window in the door. I pulled out my phone and dialed Torch’s number. This time, it didn’t even go to voicemail. I got a message that the number had been disconnected.

  Dammit. He’d tried to cut me off for good. There was only one thing left for me to do.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Torch

  “Glover will handle it,” Amy said. I held the phone out. She was on speaker. I sat on my Harley in the road outside the Den. The place was still on lockdown. Yellow police tape covered the entrance. My house. My family. And they were trying to tear it down.

  “Let me know when you know anything,” I told her. The next part was going to be harder for her. As soon as the plane got back after taking Shannon and Sydney, the pilot was coming for Amy. Nicole, Mallory, the kids, Tara, they’d all left yesterday morning. Even I didn’t know yet where they were headed. Amy had all that intel. It was safer that way, in case …

  I didn’t even want to finish the thought.

  “I don’t know what Colt would do without you,” she said, her voice breaking.

  “Don’t,” I said. “Amy, I can’t have you falling apart on me.”

  I paused. I hated myself for asking the next question. But I had to know.

  “How did she take it,” I said. “Did Glover say?”

  I heard Amy exhale. “I haven’t heard from him directly yet. He just texted to tell me everything was in motion. So, I trust that it is.”

  I couldn’t talk for a moment. This was happening. It was real.

  “I love you, Torch,” Amy finally broke the silence.

  “I know,” I told her. “It’s just ... you know I may not be able to contact you for a while.”

  “I know,” she said. “But, Torch, as soon as I get the kids settled, I’m coming back.”

  “That’s not the plan,” I said, raising my voice.

  I swear I could hear Amy smile through the phone.

  “I’ll call you when I hear from Glover,” she told me. “Shannon and Sydney are supposed to be wheels up in an hour. I’ll reach out after that.”

  “Good,” I said. Then, there was nothing left to say. I clicked off.

  Some of the leadership from Florida was going to head up tomorrow. There were decisions to be made. Whatever operations we could transfer to them and the other chapters with the gym would have to happen soon.

  It would get easier, I told myself. As soon as I knew Sydney was far away, then I could be the machine my prez needed me to be. />
  I slid up my sunglasses and got ready to head out. Dust kicked up behind me. The wind shifted. I turned in my seat just as a dark sedan with blacked-out windows pulled up behind me. Two more followed it, boxing me in. They were marked Lincolnshire P.D. cruisers.

  “Son of a bitch,” I muttered. “Here we go.”

  There was no one around. No one to see. I’d been stupid to even come out here like this. Then I realized it wouldn’t have mattered. They would have found me anyway. Maybe that was always the plan.

  Four cops got out and surrounded me. Grim smiles on their faces, they gestured toward the black sedan.

  Would they do it in broad daylight? Here? No fucking way.

  They tried to muscle me in.

  “Back the fuck off,” I said, hissing it through my teeth.

  “Your weapons,” one of them said. I pulled my Nine out of its holster and handed it to him.

  “You think I’m gonna fucking murder the police chief? Here?”

  “The one in your boot,” the other cop said. I pulled out my knife and handed it to him, blade up.

  I climbed in the back of the sedan. Police Chief Davis sneered at me. He wore a suit now. Not too long ago he was a sniveling beat cop who tried to hurt my club. Now he’d found real power.

  “You got questions?” I said. “Talk to my fucking lawyer. I’ve got nothing to say to you.”

  “I’m not here to ask questions,” Davis said. “I’m here to talk. You’re the one who needs to listen.”

  I said nothing. Davis waited for a beat. Then he leaned forward. The patrol cops stood on either side of the sedan.

  “You’re a felon,” Davis said. “I could bring you in on charges for having a firearm.”

  “I ain’t running,” I said. I held my arms out, wrists up.

  “No,” he said. “I don’t think you’d like that. I think you lie awake at night haunted by what you know would happen to you if I put you back in a box.”

  He leaned so far forward I could smell his lunch on his breath. “I think you wake up screaming, thinking about what it was like in solitary. All those nights. The walls closing in. The pain.”

  How the fuck did he know that? I settled back in the seat. How the fuck couldn’t he? This had been his play from the very beginning.

  “What do you want, Davis?” I asked. “You and I both know these charges won’t stick. Not in the end. I’m coming for you. The whole club is coming for you. Not just Lincolnshire. You poked a very powerful fucking bear.”

  “Maybe,” he said. “But I know what you are. The GWMC is done in this town. You’ll find no safe quarter. Not you. Not Reddick. Not your girl.”

  Something snapped inside of me. “What the hell do you have to do with my girl?”

  He smiled. “Pretty one. A little skinny for my tastes. Good tits though. They bounce nice when she’s fucking you.”

  I launched myself at him. The son of a bitch. I should have fucking seen it before. The pictures. The tail. Somehow, some way, Davis was behind it.

  “You’re just an asshole,” I said. “A gaping asshole on a power trip. Enjoy your fun while you’re having it. The club is bigger than you. It’s bigger than me.”

  “Maybe,” he said. “But it sure will be fun watching you squirm.”

  “I’m done here,” I said. “If you want to talk to me again, you can contact my lawyer.”

  I started to get out of the car. “You can end this, you know. You personally.”

  “If you think I’m gonna flip on my club, for something that isn’t even real, you can stick it up your ass.”

  “You want your lives back? Your businesses? There’s a way out, Torch. You tell your president that.”

  I couldn’t believe he was saying it. “I’m listening,” I said.

  “It’s Colt I want. Colt, Kellan, Brax. Top leadership. They accept a plea deal.”

  “Hold up,” I said. “What the fuck are you even talking about? The feds have this. You’re out of your jurisdiction ... chief.” I spat the word.

  He just sat there and smiled. “Let’s just say I know the right people to put in a good word for you. I’ve been asked to relay a message. My department sits on the same task force as the DEA who broke this case.”

  “You mean who planted that shit?” I said.

  “Keep sticking to that story,” he said. “It’ll go over real well with a jury.”

  “I’m done,” I said.

  “Colt, Kellan, Brax, they plead out. The rest of the club goes free. You go free. But you’re done here in Lincolnshire. I’m sure one of your other clubs can figure out what to do with you. Or you can go nomad.”

  “Ain’t happening,” I said.

  “You speak for the club now?” he asked.

  “As a matter of fact, I do. You sit there and talk about my club as if it tastes like shit in your mouth. You think you’re going to do better with the Devil’s Hawks? You want Lincolnshire to be like it once was? Because that’s what happens if the Hawks move in. And trust me, once it does, you’ll have outlived your usefulness to them.”

  “Or,” he said, “we keep going with this. Either way, you’re going back in the box, Torch. This time, I’ll make sure it’s for life.”

  There was something about the tilt of his head. The dead look in his eyes. I’d seen that look on dirty guards. My heart went cold. One in particular.

  Davis saw recognition dawn in my eyes. Christ. I’d been fifteen years old. He was twice my age. He’d beaten me so badly, I spent a week in the infirmary. It was in the yard. Someone started a fight. Not me. But I’d been blamed for it.

  That’s the first time I’d been sent to solitary. And it was this fucker who’d done it.

  “Now you see,” Davis said. “I don’t make idle threats. I can get to you. I can get to the club. Anywhere. Anytime. This is my town now.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you do to me,” I said. “And I’m not fifteen years old anymore.”

  “All grown up,” he said. “You like ’em young now, though. What is she? Nineteen? Twenty?”

  I didn’t like the sadistic look in his eyes. “Why me?” I asked. “Why the hell haven’t you arrested me already?”

  “I told you. You’re here to deliver a message. And because you and I understand each other. I’ve heard you when you have your nightmares, Torch. The fire. The smell of burned flesh. So sad. So tragic. Do you see Irene’s melted face in those dreams? The smell of a body melting has to stick with you forever.”

  “Shut your fucking mouth, you son of a bitch!” I launched at him. The cops on the side of the car moved quick. They pulled me out. Six against one, they had me pinned to the ground. I thrashed, then went still.

  It happened just like this. All those years ago. The billy clubs. The pain. The bruises on freshly healed skin where my burns were the deepest. To them, they just saw a cop killer.

  Davis got out of the car. “You’re touchable, Torch. All of you. And today, you’re going to learn how true that really is.”

  I went somewhere in my head. I could take the pain. I could take anything he wanted to do to me.

  “I hear it’s nice in Florida,” he whispered. “I’ve never been there myself. Did you know that? My whole life, I’ve never been further south than Tennessee. Isn’t that a shame? Is it true the water is really that green on the Emerald Coast? Do you think she’d forget about you after long enough?”

  The pavement scraped my cheek. I tasted blood. How the fuck did he know I was sending Shannon and Sydney to Florida?

  “Touchable,” he said. “Burnable. Crashable.”

  I snapped my eyes open. “I’ll kill you,” I whispered. “And it won’t be quick.”

  “Officers? Did you just hear this man threaten my life?”

  “Sure did,” one of them said.

  “Accidents happen, Torch. It’s really no one’s fault. Try not to blame yourself. Try not to set anyone else on fire.”

  He patted my back and gave a direction to the cops.
They let me up. I vaulted to my feet but they still held my arms back.

  Davis came forward and slapped me twice on the cheek. “Chin up,” he said. “At least when she burns, it’ll be quick.”

  He got in the sedan. The driver pulled away, leaving me alone with the other cops.

  I would kill them. I would kill them all. My heart seized up as Davis’s car drove away, kicking up dust behind it that coated my mouth.

  When he was no more than a dot in the distance, they let me go. I half ran, half staggered to my bike. My fingers shook. The healed burns on my back ached. Fire. It filled my vision.

  The cops got in their vehicles and drove away. I pulled up Glover’s number. It went straight to voicemail. He should be at the airstrip now.

  I kicked my bike into gear and rode as fast and hard as I ever had. It was a bluff. It had to be. Except he knew way too much about our plans for Sydney and Shannon.

  I barely remember making the turn and getting on the highway. I weaved in and out of honking traffic. I flew.

  When I got to the small, private airstrip, the gates were closed. I saw Glover’s van sitting beside one of the hangars. I saw the little red-and-white Cessna making a turn and readying to taxi down the runway.

  I gripped the handlebars, braced myself, then crashed right through the gates. My bike spun out, but I got control.

  Then I jumped off. Waving my arms, I tried to get the pilot’s attention.

  I saw her red hair in the tiny window, her face turned away from me. I heard my name.

  As the plane picked up speed, my heart fell into my boots. It sputtered, canted sideways, then burst into flames.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Sydney

  Shannon left the keys to her car on a hook by the back door. I palmed them and headed for the garage.

  As soon as Torch or Amy figured once I refused to go with Glover, one of them would show up. So, I just wouldn’t be here.

  I needed more. I needed to see my Uncle George’s day planner. There had to be something there. Some note. Some clue that would help me connect those odd payments he’d received. There had to be something concrete I could use to help the club. I knew I had just one more shot at sneaking into and out of Uncle George’s office. I also knew if I told Torch what I was up to, he’d find a way to stop me. Except I was the only one who could do this.