Two Tricks (Hidden Empire Book 1)

by Elizabeth Knight

  Rolling my eyes, I pulled open the closest drawer and saw it filled with sockets of all sizes, along with various wrench handles in different lengths. I had to admit as I worked my way through the bench that he had an amazing collection of high-end equipment. Peeking over my shoulder, I saw him standing at the hydraulic worktable with the motorcycle he was working on, unboxing parts.

  “One might think that with so many tools you might be compensating for something.” I smirked as I looked at the drawer with the impact wrenches in it, hefting one up for show.

  Sprocket set down the box and gave me a disapproving look. “Now Dax, I’m pretty sure you know that’s not true. You know exactly what I’m working with—or did my cock rubbing on your pert little ass slip your mind?”

  The shock of hearing him talk so bluntly caught me off guard. I could not seem to get a read on this guy. One minute he was sweet and soft-spoken, then he pulled shit like this. As he held my gaze, he walked over to me and pulled me flush against his chest, making sure to pin my pelvis to his. In this position, there was no way that I could miss the size of the equipment he was packing in his jeans.

  “In case you needed a reminder,” Sprocket said, nipping at my earlobe before releasing me. “Now, if you could grab me a half-inch socket wrench, that would be lovely.”

  Gulping as he turned back to the bike, I shook myself out of my lust-filled stupor and grabbed what he asked for.

  After that incident, I decided that he was too dangerous to tease casually, so I kept silent as I observed the comings and goings of the shop. There were four other men that worked there, but none of them really interacted with us. They seemed content to shit-talk each other and leave Sprocket to his work. Outside the garage, I saw women chatting as they headed off in cars, presumably to do shopping or whatever else off the compound lands. Other members came and went on bikes or headed into the clubhouse.

  What surprised me the most was that everyone seemed very content to be here. The women looked happy, and none of them seemed worried about the rough-looking men hanging around. I didn’t see said men getting sloppy drunk by noon and harassing the women or causing fights like I’d always imagined. For the most part, this seemed like any other cul-de-sac with people who actually liked spending time with their neighbors.

  “What do you say about taking a lunch break?” Sprocket said, pulling me out of my musings.

  Glancing up at the clock, I was shocked to see that it was indeed noon. “Sure, I’m always up for food.”

  Sprocket grinned at that. “I’ll bet you are. Word on the street is that food is your weakness.”

  “There is nothing wrong with liking to eat. Try growing up unsure if you’re going to get one meal, let alone three, in a day,” I growled, frowning at him.

  “Hmm, so I’m guessing you didn’t have the ‘white picket fence’ childhood,” he said as he wiped off his hands on a rag.

  I stiffened, not really wanting to delve into my childhood. No one but Wes knew my whole story, and that suited me just fine. “Let’s go with ‘I never had a chance to wear rose-colored glasses.’”

  Sprocket watched me for a moment before turning to head out of the garage, apparently assuming I was going to follow him. Groaning, I stomped a foot and headed after him back to the house.

  “Make sure you take your boots off or Eagle will beat your ass, and not in a fun way,” Sprocket warned.

  “God, if he and Wes ever meet, I think they might be best friends. Or kill each other,” I muttered, kicking off my boots and letting them fall where they will. “Wes can’t stand a messy house either—that’s why I have my own floor, so I can be as messy as I please.”

  “Wes… you mean your business partner Weston?” Sprocket asked as he pulled out what looked like items to make a sandwich from the fridge.

  “Figured you guys would have known about him if you’re any good at your research,” I said, hopping up on a stool.

  Sprocket paused in making his food to look up with me mischief in his eyes. “We found you, didn’t we? I would say that alone speaks for our skills.”

  “It was only a matter of time until someone gave me up if you paid enough or threatened them the right way. The downside of my job is you can’t trust anyone to watch your back,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

  “Yet you trust Weston.” It was more a statement than a question.

  “Hmm, well, he is different,” I said. “Weston is my family. He and I have been through hell and back. Much like I would guess you and the other four guys.”

  “Aren’t we lucky people to find something like that in our lives?” Sprocket mused as he picked up his plate and sat down at the counter next to me.

  I couldn’t help but grin at the fact that this asshole was making a statement when he didn’t make me a sandwich. Both Eagle and Picasso had made me all of my meals since I had been here, but Sprocket was not planning on catering to me.

  Hopping off my stool, I wandered over and made my sandwich. Making sure to pile it full of as much meat and cheese as I could, I added one leaf of lettuce, knowing Wes would have yelled if I didn’t eat enough vegetables. After slathering the bread with mayo, I put it all together and cut it corner to corner, then added some BBQ chips to my plate. Pulling open the fridge and grabbing a can of Mountain Dew, I took my meal back to my seat, pleased with myself.

  “I think you forgot something, princess,” Sprocket said with a grin on his face, eyes full of humor.

  I frowned, looking down at the feast in front of me, then back to him. “What?”

  “That last person always cleans up,” Sprocket instructed.

  “How do we know I’m the last person? The other guys could come back and want to make a sandwich.”

  Sprocket just shook his head. “They are off the property until later today. I got a text an hour or so ago that they ran into a little trouble, so I get to hang with you for a few more minutes until Tilly is free.”

  “Fine. I’ll put it all away when I’m done,” I huffed.

  Sprocket grabbed my plate and slid it away from me. “Nope, not gonna work. If you wait too long in this heat, you could make the meat or the cheese go bad.” Before I could control my face, my lower lip popped out in a pout as he blocked me from my meal. “The longer you take pouting, the longer it will be before you get to eat.”

  I growled at him as I went back to the kitchen and started to put things away. “If you touch one chip on my plate, I’m going to stab you with a rusty fork!”

  Sprocket’s eyebrows shot up at my words. “My, that is a very specific threat. I have to know—do you have a rusty fork hidden somewhere on you?” he asked as he poked at a chip on the top of my pile.

  I grabbed the knife I used for the mayo and threw it at Sprocket, letting it hit the wooden countertop right next to his hand. “Fresh out of rusty forks at the moment, but I do have plenty of knives around.”

  Sprocket didn’t even blink as he removed the knife from the counter and gave me an impressed look. “That’s quite and arm on you. Not many people could get a butter knife to stick in such thick wood.”

  What the hell would it take to freak this guy out? Didn’t he realize that I could have killed him? Or at least really stabbed him with that knife?

  Trying not to show how much he threw me off my game, I put the last of the food away and came back to my seat. Sprocket slid my plate over, and I dove in, ignoring his chuckles as I glared at him.

  “Hello!” a female voice called out from the front door.

  Sprocket stood and opened the door, letting in a woman who gave him a wide smile, which he returned. For some reason I couldn’t even begin to explain, I did NOT like this woman looking at Sprocket like that.

  “Tilly, welcome. Thank you for looking out for Dax today. It seems that they lost all her belongings at the airport, so I scrounged up what I could,” Sprocket said, lying through his teeth.

  Tilly was beautiful. Tall with thick, long, brunette hair that had that effortless w
ave girls killed for. Her slim body was accented by her tight ripped jeans and t-shirt that said Real Women Ride, which was cut into a crop top. Turning, she finally took me in with warm brown eyes that seemed friendly.

  “Oh god, please don’t tell me that they have been forcing you to wear shit like that?” Tilly said with a wrinkled nose and wide eyes.

  Okay, I kind of liked her.

  “Not the worst I’ve had to make do with,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

  “Come on, babes,” Tilly said, waving me over. “We’ll get you sorted out, and tomorrow I’ll go out and get you some real clothes.”

  I grabbed my plate since I wasn’t done with my food and hopped off the stool.

  “Dax… leave the plate here,” Sprocket said, frowning down at me.

  I looked down at my half-eaten meal, then back at him. “Nope,” I said, popping the P. “I’m gonna take it with me. Don’t worry, I’ll bring it back.”

  Sprocket tried to lunge at me to grab the plate, but I skipped out of his way and growled at him, practically baring my teeth. “Don’t touch my fucking food, asshat. You try it again and I can’t guarantee you will keep all your fingers.”

  “Yup, we are going to be good friends, Dax. Come on, let’s hang out at my house,” Tilly said, grinning at the scene unfolding before her.

  “Be good, Dax!” Sprocket called out as we walked out.

  “In your dreams, douchecanoe!” I yelled back.

  Tilly almost fell down the stairs, she was laughing so hard. “Girl, you must have balls of steel to talk to him that way. Do you treat all of them like that?”

  “I give what I get. So sue me,” I said, glaring over my shoulder at the house. “If they didn’t act like such cavemen, then I wouldn’t have to beat into their heads how to treat a woman.”

  “Preach it girl! It took me years to whip my men into shape. He still needs a reminder every so often, but the make-up sex is so worth it,” Tilly shared as I followed her further in the surrounding houses behind Eagle’s.

  All of them were simple one- or two-story homes that looked like the premanufactured type that you buy and just have placed on the land. Tilly walked up to a cute ranch-style house with brick walls in cream and gray coloring. It had a small front porch with a swing on it that looked well used. Opening the front door, she led me into a living room that was warm and inviting.

  Tilly flopped down on one of the overstuffed cream-colored couches and waved for me to join her. “Make yourself at home, Mutt won’t be back until late. He’s working at the shop near L.A.”

  “Mutt? Is that your husband?” I asked, noticing the rings on her left hand.

  “Yeah, that dipshit is mine,” Tilly said, laughing. “After six years, I guess I’ll claim him.”

  “Wow, you guys have been married for six years?” I was impressed.

  “No, we have been married for two years, but together for six. Gator—my other husband—and I have been together since we were ten. He’s out of town right now. He does recon work for Eagle on new business prospects,” Tilly said casually, as if she hadn’t just told me she had two husbands.

  I opened my mouth to say something, but everything I wanted to ask would make me sound like an asshole.

  “It’s fine, ask away. I’m used to it after all these years,” Tilly said, smirking at me.

  “So… You have two husbands,” I confirmed, figuring that would be a safe place to start.

  Tilly bounced out of the couch and walked over to grab a picture off a bookshelf. It was of Tilly in a wedding dress, two handsome men in tuxes standing on either side of her. They all looked so happy together, I couldn’t help but be jealous.

  That would never happen for me. It was too dangerous to let someone get involved in my life that way.

  “You look beautiful, Tilly, and not bad choices in the male department, if you don’t mind me saying,” I commented, handing her back the picture.

  “They are idiots at times, but we really are very happy,” Tilly said, gazing down at the picture with love in her eyes. “I never would have thought it would work out this way, but I can’t imagine my life without both of them in it. No way could I have ever chosen between the two of them. I loved them both, and they felt the same about me, so we said ‘to hell with it’ and did what we really wanted, even if it isn’t the norm.”

  “That is amazing. I hope that everyone can find happiness like you guys have. Too many people are worried about what people think and give up what they really want.”

  “Girl, I couldn’t have said it better. Who knows—you might even end up with a man or two—or five—yourself,” Tilly giggled.

  “Wait, what?! No, I don’t think so. Those boys are not interested in a relationship with me. We hardly know each other. Besides, I know what they want from me, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to give it to them,” I said, frowning down at my ankle.

  “Look, I know the story they are telling people is bullshit, so why don’t you fill me in on what’s really going on. I might be able to help.” Tilly curled up with a pillow, looking at me with wide, innocent eyes.

  I snorted. “As wonderful as that sounds, I doubt you would turn on your fellow ‘family’ members here at the MC.”

  At my words, Tilly’s face sobered. “What are those fuckers up to? Are you in trouble? Are they holding you against your will? I will not stand for that shit happening in this family!”

  “You have anything to drink? I think we’re gonna need it for this story,” I said, seeing the genuine anger in her eyes at what might be happening to me.

  “Give me a sec,” Tilly said, heading into the kitchen. “How do we feel about wine? Otherwise I have some tequila!”

  My stomach rolled at the sound of tequila after my adventures last night. “I think wine might be the safer option.”

  Tilly returned to the living room, handing me a glass of wine and setting the bottle on the table before she settled back into the couch. “Okay, hit me.”

  Taking a deep breath and a swig of wine, I started with the meeting at my shop. Watching her face as I told my story was better than I’d hoped. If this went as planned, I might have my inside person. She had been with this club for so long, she knew everyone and definitely had information that could help me.

  Shocking me, she grabbed my leg and yanked it into her lap to see the tracker.

  “I’m going to kill that fucking rat bastard when I see him next. You can’t just fucking kidnap a woman so she does what you want! What, did he watch 365 Days one too many times?!” Tilly fumed as she stood and paced the living room. “So they are doing this so that you give up all the information you know about your boss? They’ve come up with some idiotic ideas before, but this one really puts the icing on the cake.”

  “Would you be willing to help me reach out to someone? I just need them to know that I’m okay and where I am so they can come get me,” I said, daring to hope she would let me reach out to Wes.

  Tilly turned and looked at me, hands on her hips like she was a mother bear and I was her cub. “You bet your ass I’ll help you. Why the hell they thought holding anyone hostage was a good idea, I will never know.”

  “Do you have a cell phone I can use?” I asked, my heart fluttering with the hope I might be getting out of this place.

  Tilly pulled her phone out of her back pocket and handed it over to me. I typed in Wes’s number and sent him a text with the codeword that would let him know that it was me before deleting the text and calling him.

  He answered on the first ring. “Dax, what the fuck?! How could you have gone silent after sending me a message like that?”

  “Fuck you, Weston,” I snapped, not liking the panic that’d been in his voice. “You have no idea what’s going on. It took me until now to get a phone so I could reach out to you. The motherfuckers have a tracking anklet on me that they rigged to shock me if I try to escape.”

  I stood and walked to the window, trying to have some kind of privacy without
making Tilly feel like she was being used.

  “Tell me what I need to know so I can get you out of there. What is the model of the anklet?” Wes asked, turning all business.

  Setting my foot on the closest chair, I looked all over the band but couldn’t see any markings to tell me anything. “There is nothing helpful on the outside of the band, but I’ll describe it best I can. It’s waterproof, two inches wide and about half an inch thick. I don’t see any plug-in ports, so I’m guessing it’s bluetooth or wirelessly programmed. They said the shock feature was added aftermarket, so there has to be someone we know who can find the people who do that. Seems like it’d be a small market to me.”

  I could hear Wes typing away as I talked, grunting his answers. “What can you tell me about where you are? The signal on all your devices was cut off before I could get the final location.”

  “They have lots of land, an old cattle farm of some kind. It’s a whole compound with twenty homes, a barn turned clubhouse, and a mechanic shop. If you get any aerial photos, it shouldn’t be hard to find,” I said, rattling off all that I could think of that might help him.

  “Hold tight, Dax. I’m coming for you. I promise I’ll get you out of there,” Wes said. The anger in his voice made me shiver, glad he was on my side.

  “I trust you, Wes—”

  I was abruptly cut off when a hand wrapped around my neck, and I let out a squeak as the phone was yanked out of my hand.

  “Who is this?” Void’s deep voice demanded.

  I could hear Wes’s muffled response but couldn’t make out the words he said to Void.

  Void let out a harsh laugh as his eyes glanced down to me, danger flickering in them. “Listen, you can give all the threats you want, but our little demon isn’t going anywhere.”

  Now I could hear Weston yelling into the phone, making Void smirk as his grip on my neck tightened.

  “Sounds like fun. Can’t wait to meet you if you decide to act on your threats,” Void said before he hung up and pocketed the phone.