Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 80902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“Oh, actually, maybe… I’ll have to talk to my boss, and he's not here today.”
Sledge pulls out another hundred.
“No, no, you don't have to. It’s not about that. He’s just the only one that has the password to the computer. Just give me a number and I'll ask him. I'm sure he can get you the footage once he hears what happened. He's a good guy. Really, I get paid okay. I'm just glad Mia's safe. She's a sweet little girl.”
“Well, take it anyway.” Sledge smiles and holds the bill out. “Pay it forward or get yourself something nice. I don't give a fuck, but we’d appreciate it if you keep this quiet.”
She looks at our cuts, proudly proclaiming our allegiance, and nods. “Tha—thank you.” A family comes in the front door who look a little concerned when they see us. “I have to help the customers, but I promise I'll contact you as soon as I've spoken to Harry, okay?”
“Sounds good.” As she gets back to work, I turn to Sledge. “Why the fuck are you carrying so much cash, man?”
“Always good to have some spare cash around.” He shrugs.
“Hi Mr. Phoenix! Hi Mr. Sledge! Hi Mr. Havoc!” Mia says enthusiastically when we slip into the booth with them.
I wave back. “Heya, kid. You doing okay?”
She nods. “I got soooo many pancakes! With syrup!”
Shelby smiles, looking exhausted but happy. “She's safe but on a sugar high. I’ll probably be up all night with her waiting for it to wear off. Honey? Can you tell them what you told me? About the lady who picked you up?”
“Ms. Ginger?” Mia wrinkles her nose. “Her car smelled gross. Like Grandma’s coat after she goes outside.”
Shelby snorts out a tiny laugh. “Cigarettes. We talked about never going anywhere with strangers, right?”
Mia nods, looking suddenly very solemn.
“What are you supposed to do?”
“Yell and yell and yell. Find another adult.”
“And why didn’t you?”
Mia’s chin wobbles a little. “She said she was a friend of Mr. Phoenix and his friends. That you were waiting for me and we were going to play hide and seek.”
I’m going to fucking shoot someone, and Ms. Ginger is going to have to give me a damn good excuse to not be on the list of potential targets. If she isn’t someone’s old lady, then she’s a club slut, and I don’t recognize her description so I doubt she’s one of ours. I look up and find Havoc and Sledge watching me with the same thoughts in their eyes.
“You’re not safe in the house,” Havoc says to Shelby, low and dangerous. “I don’t know why you’re being targeted, but if they know where Mia is during the day, they know where you live.”
“What?” Shelby clutches Mia close, afraid to let her go. “We haven’t done anything! He’s dead, Havoc. Nobody cares about us anymore.”
There’s a hint of sadness in Sledge’s voice when he speaks. “That’s not true, is it? Look around you.”
“Fuck,” Havoc grunts. “We're taking you with us. Call in sick for work until we get this figured out. No fucking way we're leaving you alone at the house.”
“What? But, I mean. Maybe you can stay with us. The neighborhood is—”
“There's a fucking Pit Viper living down the street from you,” I growl. “The only good snake is a dead one.” Myself included. I’m just passing time until karma catches up.
“Mommy, they're saying a lot of bad words.” Mia giggles into Shelby's neck.
“I know, honey, but sometimes when scary things happen it’s better to use bad words than to do bad things.” Shelby runs her hand through Mia's hair, comforting the both of them with her touch. “What do you mean, there's a Pit Viper living near me? Who?”
“This isn’t the place to talk about it. We're taking you to the club where you’ll both be safe until we can figure this shit out. There's even kids for Mia to play with.”
“I can't just leave everything and—”
“Shelby, someone just fucking kidnapped Mia.” Sledge's voice goes hard like steel. He sounds ready to kill and I know the feeling. “Hate our guts later if you have to, but someone’s willing to use you and your daughter to get to us and your blood is not going to be on my fucking hands.”
“Or mine.” Havoc agrees.
“Then it’s unanimous. Let’s go.”
17
SHELBY
I'm no stranger to motorcycle clubs. Dodger brought me to the Pit Vipers clubhouse a couple of times for parties. I remember it being fun, but in a scary way. It was an old farm or something, way the heck out in nowhere so they could do whatever they wanted without being seen. So I thought that I had a pretty good idea of what the Screaming Eagles clubhouse would look like.
Turns out I had no idea.
Theirs isn’t hidden out in the sticks. It’s a massive complex in the middle of the city, taking up a full, walled-in block. A big gate at one corner stands open, though it's watched by a couple of guys in leather cuts. One of them has a bandanna tied around his head. His weather bitten face has a crooked nose and a bushy mustache. The other man is bare chested under his cut like Phoenix. A patchwork of runic tattoos decorates his arms and torso. His blond beard's long, with little braids in it, giving a very distinct Norse look. They wave the guys through as soon as they recognize Havoc riding in front.