Ink's Devil: Satan's Devils MC Colorado Chapter #5

by Manda Mellett

  “I think I could love him, Mom.” I might even be there already. What more could a girl ask for but someone who’s as good as Ink in the bedroom, fun out of it, and prepared to do anything to keep her safe?

  “You’re not someone who’d be happy with a brief fling, Beth. You might have tried to kid yourself you could have walked away if he asked you to, but I reckon your heart would be broken. I was scared, I admit, when you started this relationship, not about him being who he is, but that I thought you would get hurt.”

  “The thought of not being able to be with him again, Mom. The thought of only seeing him in a visiting room…”

  “It might not come to that,” she rebukes firmly. “We’ll find Connor, build a case, and get Ink out.”

  If only that was going to be so easy to do. Now the cops have gotten ahold of a Devil, they’re not going to casually let him go. But Mom’s right, for now, I’ve got to stay as positive as I can.

  “You doing okay, Beth?” Mel comes over, indicates I should scoot over, and sits beside me.

  It’s down to her that I’m not a quivering wreck. When I’d been brought up from the basement, she’d been there and just allowed me to cry without asking questions. All I could tell her was Ink had been arrested, but I couldn’t tell her why. Surprisingly, she’d seemed to understand that I couldn’t give her more. Just her being there was a comfort to me. When Mom had arrived, she’d made herself scarce so we could talk.

  “I’ll be better when we know what’s going on,” I tell my friend. “This isn’t me, Mel. I don’t sit on my hands when I could be doing something to help.”

  “But what could you do? Ink obviously got himself into this mess. He’s got to get himself out of it.” She frowns. “The club will be doing all that needs to be done.”

  But she hasn’t a clue of the part I played, nor that if I could go to the cops, Ink would surely be released. Unless Demon is right, and they’d still implicate him as well.

  At that moment the door to the clubhouse opens and a cold draft sweeps in, along with a man wearing a suit. Immediately I freeze, and it’s not from the temperature drop. Is he a detective?

  But when Rusty goes across and warmly shakes his hand, then leads him in the direction of Demon’s office, I realise he looks more like a friend of the club, or, possibly, a lawyer.

  If that’s what he is, maybe he’s got news.

  Mel’s talking about anything and everything just trying to distract me, but I can only concentrate on the thoughts in my head and everyone about Ink.

  I hate this. Hate sitting around unable to do anything. I’m upset, frustrated, and furious at Connor and at myself, as well as angry at the bikers who don’t seem to be doing anything.

  Suddenly I stand. Mel stops her conversation with my mom as the latter narrows her eyes suspiciously. “What are you doing, Beth?”

  “I’m going to ring Phil.” I don’t care what Demon says. I need to do something.

  “No, you’re not.” Mom gets to her feet fast, her hand landing on my arm, and leading me out of earshot of my friend. “You are not getting yourself in any deeper with this. You heard Demon. You could be making things worse and not better.” She wipes a hand across her brow. “You were a little girl when he left, you don’t know what he’s capable of, Beth, I do. He’d never do anything to implicate himself. If he’s behind this, he wouldn’t be beyond letting you, or especially a man he doesn’t know, take the fall for him.”

  I open my mouth to say it’s down to me to try to sort the fix Ink is now in, when Beef comes out of Demon’s office and walks over to me.

  “Can you come and speak to the lawyer, Beth?”

  Try and stop me. I walk so fast the VP struggles to keep up. Opening Demon’s door, I barge straight in.

  Demon eyes me tiredly and shakes his head. “Do come in,” he starts, pointedly, then proceeds to the introductions. “Beth, this is Sykes, the club lawyer. Sykes, this is the woman Ink was involved with, Beth.”

  “I gathered that,” the lawyer says drily as he stands, shakes my hand, and glances up into my face.

  “How’s Ink?” I ask fast. In my mind I imagine him hurt and bleeding. Yeah, well, Mom’s not the only one who watches crime shows on TV and knows about the police brutality.

  “Ink’s fine. I’m working on getting him out.”

  Words I want to hear but find hard to believe. For some reason, meeting Ink’s lawyer has made this all too real. I can’t let this go on, if it’s in my power to stop it. “I want to go to the police,” I tell him. “Would it do any good?”

  Sykes stares up intently, then motions me to a seat. When we’re sitting, and he can look me straight in the eye, he gives me an answer, “From what I hear from Ink, it could make matters worse. I don’t see how you could help him without you both ending up locked up. At the very least, they’d have Ink for aiding and abetting.” He sighs. “Look at it this way. You brought the heroin with the intention of delivering it to the dealer, Ink ended up doing just that. If I were prosecuting, I’d present the case as that having been the way you arranged it between you.”

  I digest that for a moment, reluctantly coming to the conclusion that I have to agree he’s right.

  “It’s all my fault.” When the lawyer raises his chin and lowers it, I know he’s not going to argue my point. “I was the idiot who believed my brother. I was the one who took the drugs to the drop. I was the one—”

  Sykes holds up his hand. “Demon’s filled me in. Let me play devil’s advocate here. Your mother had a serious quantity of heroin stored in her house for a week. Who says she didn’t know it was there? Your brother sounds like he could very well be a criminal. Who’s to say you’re not as well? Your father is thought to run a gang out of Denver. You’re associated with him too, just by your relationship.”

  “None of that is true…”

  “May not matter to the cops. Once they start digging who knows what they’ll put together?”

  “Should Beth hear Ink’s story?” Demon asks.

  Sykes nods. “Yes, for the reason that if she came forward now, it would make Ink out a liar. Ink’s saying,” he turns to me and looks me up and down, “that a man, tall and slim appeared. Ran off when Ink confronted him and dropped the bag. Ink picked it up and was taking it to the cops, when the dealer took it off him at gunpoint.”

  “Plausible.” Demon nods.

  “Flimsy, but it’s up to the cops to prove otherwise.”

  “I’ll make sure Sparky knows what Ink’s putting forward.”

  “Is Ink allowed visitors? Can I at least call him?” I want to tell him how sorry I am, that however long it takes, I’ll be waiting for him. If he ends up in prison, whatever sentence he’ll be serving, I’ll do that time too.

  Demon exchanges glances with Sykes, and it’s the MC prez who tells me, “Ink doesn’t want to see you, Beth. He doesn’t want to talk to you.”

  “But…”

  “Beth. Whatever relationship you had with Ink, well, consider it over.”

  “He blames me?” Of everything I’d been thinking, even when I was paralysed by my guilt, I hadn’t imagined he’d cut all ties with me. Why put himself in this position if he didn’t care for me at all? I bite my lip. Seems like he’s regretting his actions, and that in saving me, he’s looking at years inside. Unless his story holds up. I’d suspected I wouldn’t be his favourite person but hoped he’d at least have heard me out. Now it seems I won’t have a chance to give my side of the story. “Demon—”

  “Beth, no. It’s over between you. Best you forget you ever knew Ink.”

  My anguished eyes meet his firm ones, and oh God, while I’d thought I’d prepared myself, I hadn’t. A tear rolls down my cheek, and I wipe it away

  The lawyer clears his throat, then stands. “Well, I’ll leave you now. You’ll keep me updated, Demon, with anything you find out?”

  “I will and thank you.”

  “You’ll get my bill.”

  With that Syke
s opens the door and leaves. I swallow hard to keep back the tears that threaten to follow the first one that had fallen. Believing the meeting must be over, I start to get to my feet.

  “Sit, Beth.”

  I obey, my brow furrowed.

  Demon drums his fingers on the table. “Look, Beth, I’ll be honest. Brothers aren’t happy with you right now. They believe you’re responsible for putting Ink into the position he’s in. You know yourself this situation is fucked up, how much of it was your own making or your brother’s we don’t know yet. Our focus is Ink, and well, if there’s blowback on you, maybe you deserve it in their eyes.”

  I stay dumb. I could protest my innocence again, but it wouldn’t do me any good. While I think Demon believes me, I could understand why Ink’s club brothers don’t. And even if they did think I’d been telling the truth, because I tried to save my brother on my own, I brought trouble on a member of the club.

  “Can’t put this plainer, Beth. Ink’s cut you loose, for more than one reason.” I just stare at him dumbly while he lists them off. “First, he’s angry as he’s entitled to be. He doesn’t know yet why you had two kilos of H on you last night, but he’s not in a place where he’s willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

  “But when he knows…”

  Demon moves his head side to side. “It’s over, Beth. As I said, for more than one reason. The other being, he’s managed to find a way to keep you out of it. Think of your mom if not yourself. Ink and the club have attracted the interest of the cops. They’ll investigate anyone connected to him and to us. Ink gave up his freedom so you could walk free. You owe it to him to keep out of trouble, and that means keeping well clear. You have to deny there was ever anything going on between you and Ink.”

  “A lot of people know I had a relationship with him…”

  “Not a relationship, Beth. Ink fucks. Nothing more to it.”

  I lower my head, letting it rest in my cupped palms. Ink obviously hates me, even if he were to get out, there’s no me and him and won’t ever be. All because I fucked up. Now the club is washing their hands of me and I can’t deny I deserve it.

  “What about Connor? Are you still going to try to find him?”

  Demon’s eyes harden. “Yes, Beth. We won’t stop tracking him down.”

  “If you find him, will you tell us?”

  I don’t like the expression on his face, it’s so cold it makes me shiver. Well, there’s no point them telling me he’s alive if they’re only going to kill him shortly after.

  All Demon gives me is, “I’ll tell you what I can.”

  “It’s no good me begging for his life, is it?”

  Demon stays quiet.

  “Mom and I will go home.” I frown, thinking we’ll just have to put our heads together and decide what to do. The drugs have been removed, of course, but what if someone comes calling for them? I try to shelve that worry, there’s no point mentioning my worries to Demon. His focus is trying to get Ink out of jail, not looking out for the woman who put him there.

  Demon raps his knuckles on the desk, getting my attention. “You can’t stay here, Beth. One thing’s for certain, police love to raid us, and Ink has given them just the excuse they need to get a warrant for searching the compound. I don’t want them to find you here, it would be impossible to deny a connection if they did.”

  “You didn’t bring the drugs here?” I say fast, worried that I’ve brought more trouble to the club.

  His raised eyebrow speaks volumes. Of course, they didn’t.

  “You need to go home, go to work. Keep up appearances. But we won’t be leaving you unprotected, Beth. I’ll arrange someone to be at the house with you, just in case, until we know whoever owns the drugs won’t be coming looking for them.”

  For a moment I’m stunned, replaying his words to make sure I understood them correctly. That was the last thing I’d expected. “You don’t need to do that, Demon.”

  “Not doing it for you, Beth. I’ve got a man inside and I want to look out for his sanity. He might not want you, but what he did was for you. Makes his actions a bit of a waste if you end up dead after all.”

  “Will you tell me what happens with Ink? I know he doesn’t want to see me, and I’ll stay away. But it’s my sanity at risk here, too. Please, Demon, whatever happens, let me know how he’s doing.”

  Demon’s eyes flare as they focus on me. “I’ll tell you what I can, Beth.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Mace

  I’m the enforcer for the Colorado chapter of the Satan’s Devils, a role I’d stepped into a couple of years back, and one I feel I was made for. Of course, I’d rather not have had the vacancy arise in the way that it had, when Ingot, the previous enforcer, had been killed. One of my first jobs had been to deal with the man who we belatedly discovered had murdered him. As it turned out, he’d been killed by one of our own. Taser had died screaming. I’d made sure of that.

  I’d been voted into the position as I’m not afraid of doing what has to be done. It was partly Taser who’d spurred me on to be the best fucking enforcer the MC ever had. Having cast doubts on my abilities, I’d set out to prove him wrong.

  The natural leanings inside me which make me good in my role are also probably the reason I’m not coping well right now without a target to vent my frustration on, or someone to question in ways that would ease this beast inside.

  I’m seething with rage, way beyond angry. My brother’s been locked up and in no way does he deserve it. My hands curl into fists, and I hit them against each other, wishing I could use them on someone’s head. There’s a particular someone I have in mind.

  That bitch Ink hooked up with, whose fault it is my brother is where he is, deserves my anger. Fuck, I wish Demon had let me loose on her. Firstly, because my methods would have left us in no doubt whether what was coming out of her mouth was the truth, and secondly, it would have made me feel better.

  For more than one reason, I wish it had been me she’d targeted at Pyro’s wedding instead of Ink. Selfishly, I wouldn’t have minded those long legs which go on for miles wrapped around me, and second, I’m not so much of an idiot about women as Ink has turned out to be. If I’d been the one seeing her walking into a trap, I would have stood by and happily watched her put her head in the noose. No bitch is worth doing time for, particularly when she’d been the one committing the crime. He should have left her to get what she deserved.

  This story about her brother and her not knowing she was storing drugs? Who the fuck can believe that? Not this man, that’s for certain.

  Disbelief is the primary emotion for most of us this morning. A morning when I didn’t wake from my bed—no, I’ve not even lain in it since the night before last—a morning which has seen me having to fist my hands to stop torturing a woman I’m sure knows more than she was telling, and then to top it off, a morning which saw me collecting said bitch’s mom from her house and delivering her back to the compound.

  Thank fuck Rusty had been with me. I’d gone in, all guns blazing, well, hypothetically that is, but the old man had kept calm. It was his arm that had supported Patsy when she had what seemed a very genuine reaction to finding she was still storing eight kilos of heroin in one of her bedrooms.

  I’d left her with Rusty when we’d returned, making sure Beaver had instructions to take the drugs immediately up to the cabin that isn’t registered in our name. Now I’m back at the clubhouse, an energy to burn off, and no target I can touch.

  “This is the fuckin’ pits, Brother.” Thunder comes up by my side. “I’d kick that bitch down to the cops myself if I had a choice.”

  “Demon seems to think it wouldn’t get Ink off.” I feel crease lines appear on my brow. “Could be he’s right. Cops might work it to say they’re in it together. You know what it’s like when they get one of us behind bars.”

  “Hard as fuck to get out,” Thunder reluctantly agrees. “Still her fuckin’ fault. Even if she was telling the truth, she
should have left her waste-of-space brother to wallow in his own muck.”

  I answer with a chin lift. That’s my view as well.

  I have a beer, and then another. I turn down a third, then looking around, nudge the sergeant-at-arms. “Hey, looks like our visitors are leaving.”

  “’Bout fuckin’ time.” He, too, turns and views Patsy and Beth’s backs as they head out the door. Beth’s head is down, her chin almost to her chest. “Wonder what Prez said to them?”

  Get lost and stay lost, I hope. Seeing her face just reminds me Ink’s not here.

  “Mace? Get your ass in church. Thunder?” As Demon’s eyes go around the room, he only has to name a few people before everyone stops what they’re doing and heads his way.

  Cad’s the last into our meeting room, and when he enters, I notice every seat bar one is filled. Not surprising, everyone’s staying close, eager to offer whatever they can to help, even if it’s no more than giving each other support. My rage rises again as I stare down the table at the empty space where Ink should be sitting.

  “Don’t need to tell you why we’re here,” Demon starts. I notice, like most of us, he looks drawn, running on adrenaline and too little sleep. His eyes, like mine, survey the occupants of the seats around the table before he continues, “Only one topic on the agenda today. But before we get to discussing his situation, I’ve something to kick off with. I know how you’re going to react to this, so no point delaying the inevitable. Ink’s gotten word to me via Sykes.” He pauses, clears his throat, making me suspect it’s something I don’t want to hear.

  Is Ink going to plead guilty? Surely not.

  When Demon finally opens his mouth to enlighten us, what comes out is quite possibly worse.

  “Okay, let me get this out in the open. Ink wants to claim Beth.”

  Loud exclamations and snorts of derision go around the table with a loud ‘Fuck no’ from me. The commotion is such, Demon has to bang the gavel and call two or three times for silence. When we’ve calmed sufficiently, he points toward Hellfire who’s indicating there’s something he wants to get off his chest.