The more I talked, the more Porter’s face fell. And the more we talked together, the less he drank. Eventually, he set his half-sipped margarita off to the side and didn’t touch it a second time. So, I set mine down as we continued talking.
“You’re not joking, are you?” he asked.
I shook my head slowly. “Raven and I are the only ones that have really put this together, and I want to be incredibly selective on who I bring in on this.”
He nodded. “And for good reason.”
“This is serious, Porter. What she overheard?”
He raked his hand through his hair. “Holy fuck, it fits so much shit.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What shit?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Like, Tanner swore up and down a couple of years ago that he saw Chops rolling with some Black Flag members down the road one night. But it was dark and he couldn’t make out the faces of the other people, just that they were wearing what he thought were black leather jackets.”
“And all leather jackets look black in the dark.”
He scoffed. “And the way Hyde died? With those drugs and shit? I thought it was so weird that Chops couldn’t swipe any from the scene.”
I paused. “What do you mean?”
He sighed. “When Hyde died, we all wanted Chops to butt his way into things and swipe a bit of the drugs that were found. Tanner was adamant that if we tested the drugs, it would match the same chemical compound or whatever as the drugs the Black Flags peddle on the streets.”
“A way of linking them to Hyde.”
He shrugged. “Chops said he’d do it but kept making excuses. Things were too locked down by police. Or our hookups in the department wouldn’t get to the drugs because they were currently being tested. And when we told him to request those documents—”
“Let me guess, there were more excuses.”
“Yep.”
I shook my head. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
“It just—that one little tidbit makes so much random shit make sense. And you know when that happens…”
I sighed. “It means we’re usually staring the answer in the face.”
The room went silent and my ears perked up. I kept them trained on the hallway outside, just in case someone wanted to test their luck and attempt to eavesdrop on our conversation. Porter got up and grabbed his drink, and I watched him closely as he walked over to the trash can. I watched him pour his drink out before placing the cup on a small desk table off in the corner.
Then, he turned to face me. “What do we do next?”
I stood to my feet. “We need to find proof so we can bring it to the rest of the club. I mean definitive proof that Chops is playing both sides.”
He scoffed. “You still want to view him as innocent, don’t you?”
“This club has always taken the high road. Whether it’s how we treat women and children, how we divvy up money we bring in from jobs, or how we view someone, it’s always been the high road. So, yes. While we have suspicions, until we have actual proof? We treat Chops as if he’s innocent.”
“Jesus, that’s gonna be hard.”
“It’s imperative, though. We have to keep on brave faces. We have to do our best to act like nothing’s wrong. Because if we do and Chops gets comfortable? He’ll slip up.”
He grinned. “And we’ll be there to catch him.”
My phone vibrated against my hip and I quickly dug it out of my pocket. I turned my back to Porter, just in case it was a nice little text from Raven or some shit, but when I saw Archer’s number on my screen I turned back around.
“What is it?” he asked.
I opened the text and my eyes widened. “Oh fuck.”
Porter rushed to my side. “What? What’s going on?”
I tilted the phone his way. “Archer’s been run off the road by Black Flag members. I have to go.”
“Black Flag—what the hell is going on!?”
I ripped the door open. “Archer was supposed to be watching Raven, you numbnuts!”
I charged through the clubhouse with Porter hot on my heels as we made our way out to our bikes. I didn’t even bother throwing on my helmet, I just tossed my leg over the seat and cranked the engine. I revved it a few times before blazing a trail back onto the road, heading straight for Raven’s place.
I prayed she made it home safely, but once my phone buzzed against my hip, I knew it wasn’t good.
“Text message from Archer. Read aloud?”
The voice from my Bluetooth echoed in my ear and I nodded. “Yes, read text.”
The voice appeared again. “Message from, Archer, received at, 4:31 P.M. Message reads: I can’t find Raven. I don’t even see her car. Heading back to her place now.”
“Shit!” I roared.
“Would you like to repeat message, delete message, or respond?”
I ground my teeth together. “Respond.”
“Speak your message at the tone.”
The tone sounded in my ear. “Porter and I are making our way to the townhouse, too. Keep your eyes peeled. None of this is good.”
The voice came back on. “Read message back or send?”
I rolled my eyes. “Send, for crying out loud!”
A whooshing sound filled my eardrum. “Message sent.”
I cleared my throat. “Okay, Google. Call Raven.”
The voice came alive again. “Calling, Raven. Cell.”
The tone rang and rang and rang in my ear. And when her voice message popped up, I hung up the call. I kept trying to call her, over and over. Refusing to leave a voice message. I needed her to pick up. I needed to hear her voice and know she was still alive. Even if she was in danger, I needed to know that today wasn’t the day I’d massacre every single Black Flag fucker on this god damn planet.
“Come on! Call Raven!”
The calm voice sounded. “Calling, Raven. Cell.”
I tore off the highway and took the exit toward Raven’s place. And just as the sign for her complex came into view, the phone call finally picked up. After calling her twelve fucking times, I finally heard that click on the other end.
Only, a man’s voice sounded instead of hers. “Yes?”
I slammed on my brakes and tore off to the side of the road. “Who the fuck is this?”
Porter skidded behind me and threw his hands in the air. But I was too focused on the man that picked up Raven’s phone.
“You can call me Sid. And who is this?”
I growled. “Where is she? Where do you have her?”
“I’m only here to deliver a message, so listen up: you need to step down from the Dirty Misfits and turn in your leather cut. And once you do, you get your girl back.”
I shook my head. “Not a fat chance in hell, you sorry excuse for a human being.”
Porter came up to my side and I ripped my helmet off before putting the phone call on speaker. I put my finger to my lips to shush Porter, and the man’s voice sounded again.
Only this time, he practically growled at me. “If you don’t want to play nice, we don’t play nice. It’s that simple.”
Porter’s eyes widened as I drew in a deep breath. “That what Chops wants you to do?”
Sid chuckled. “Cute. Really, it’s astoundingly cute.”
“Pretty big word there for someone who hasn’t answered my question.”
“The deal is simple: turn in your jacket and step down from your club, and Raven goes home safe and sound. Refuse to comply? And, well…”
I slowly looked over at Porter, watching his face turn beet red before the voice sounded again. “Let’s just say her day care will need a new employee if you don’t wish to play nice.”
Porter shook his head, but it was Raven’s life on the line. And as far as I was concerned, it was my decision and mine alone to make. A bike approached us from behind and Porter drew his weapon at lighting speed. But when I looked into my rearview mirror, I recognized those faded black jeans.
Archer had finally caught up to us.
“So, what’s it gonna be?” Sid asked.
Archer rushed up to my side and whispered in my ear. “Whatever he’s asking, don’t do it.”
I looked over at him. “They’re going to kill Raven if I don’t leave the club.”
He blinked. “You’re fucking kidding.”
Sid chuckled. “I’m really not. You have ten seconds.”
Porter shook his head. “No idea.”
“Nine.”
I licked my lips. “I want proof of life.”
“You’ll get it once you turn in your jacket. Eight.”
Archer leaned toward the phone. “We will figure you out. We’ll figure all of you out, I hope you know that.”
Sid barked with laughter. “Are all of you so cute? Six.”
Porter leaned forward as well. “Wait, wait, wait, you missed—”
“Four.”
I growled. “Let me speak with her.”
“Three. Do you really want to see how quickly I jump to one?”
“All right! All right, I’ll do it!”
The world around me fell silent as I heard shuffling on the other end of the line. There was whimpering and sniffles, and anger unlike anything I’d ever felt in my life shot through my body. My hand trembled as I gripped my phone so tightly I thought it was going to crack. I hung onto every sound, wondering if maybe—just maybe—I’d hear Raven’s voice.
“Say it,” I heard Sid command in the background.
Then, I finally heard her. “I’m home, Brooks. I’ve been home this whole time.”
I nodded at Porter and Archer to get the fuck down there and they rushed back to their bikes.
“Are you hurt?” I asked.
She sniffled. “Just my pride.”
“It’s gonna be okay. Everything is going to be just fine, all right?”
“Are you close?”
Raven cried out and Sid’s voice reappeared. “You have two days to hold up your end of the bargain. Failure to do so will kick in a Plan C. Got it?”
Holy shit, Raven had been their Plan B. “Got it.”
“Good. And I hope your men rolling up onto the scene were told to stand down. Because let me tell you, if they start shooting? Tsk tsk, I’d hate for friendly fire to take out your new girlfriend.”
I shook with fury. “Get the fuck out of her home. Now.”
“Meet me at the Santa Cruz wharf. If you’re smart, you’ll hand that jacket right over to me.”
Then, the line went dead.
“Fuck!” I roared.
Before I even struck up my bike again, I shot a text message off to Cole and Tanner. I wanted them to hunker down at the wharf as quickly as they could get there, and I wanted them to come stocked with guns. I knew we had some grenades in that back closet somewhere, and I wanted everything we had down at that fucking wharf. No one was stripping me of my cut, and no one would lay another fucking finger on Raven.
As far as I was concerned, this was war.
My phone rang and I saw Porter calling me. And I knew damn good and well it wouldn’t be good news when I picked up the phone. But when I heard gunshots popping off, my eyes widened.
I answered the phone call and heard Porter screaming at me. “Set up! Don’t come down—”
More gunshots popped off and I heard Archer yelling some incoherent nonsense.
Porter continued to yell. “She’s not—”
My stomach churned with the red that dripped around my vision. All of this had been a set up. Raven is nowhere fucking near her place. The gunfire seemed to go on forever and it took all I had not to plunge down into that complex and pick off every single last one of them myself. But I knew that was what they wanted. They wanted to draw me into that trap before someone took one well-timed headshot and ripped me out of the game for good.
Then, the gunfire stopped. “Porter?”
I waited for him to respond. “Archer?”
The silence was deafening. “Anyone there!?”
The sound of rustling finally appeared before Porter coughed. “We’re good. Archer and I are good. There were five of them waiting for us.”
I shook my head. “Get a clean-up club in there. Pick up your casings. The whole nine. I’m headed to the wharf with Cole and Tanner.”
“You know it’s a set up, right?” Archer asked.
I licked my lips. “Yeah, but I also think that’s where they’ve really got Raven. She was always their target. She was always their target to get to me.”
Porter growled. “Then, you get over there and fuck them up. We got it here.”
Archer’s voice appeared again. “And when we’re done here, we’ll come to the wharf if we don’t hear from you first.”
I nodded. “And if you hear cops, get the fuck out of there sooner rather than later. We don’t need anymore of us going down because of these fuckers.”
I hung up the phone and slid it back into my pocket, then I revved my bike engine. I burnt out turning myself around, pointing the front of my bike in the direction of the wharf. I hunched down and focused my pulsing gaze, feeling the anger fueling me as I kicked off from the ground. And as I soared through traffic, weaving in and out as quickly as possible, I prayed that Raven was still alive.
For her sake, for my sake, and for the sake of Chops. Because if she died today, I’d torture him slowly. Silently. Out in the middle of nowhere until he begged for death.
While smiling at him as he drowned in his own damn blood.
