Page 17 of Hawk (Road Rebels MC 1)
“Ya still haven’t given us a plan,” Mac said.
“There’s a lot they fuckin’ run their mouths about when they get drunk as hell. Been to their bar a few times. Enough for them to open their mouths to me because they think they can recruit me,” Talon said.
“Holy shit. You serious? They’re that careless?” Fox asked.
“When you’re high on yourself, it’s easy,” I said.
“You know that growing violence problem west of here? That small little town just beyond the desert?” Talon asked.
“The Devil Saints are dealing our drugs?” Mac asked.
“I think they are. And get this: they’re using their own fuckin’ women to do it,” Talon said.
“How the hell do you know?” I asked.
“I bought one of their women for the night. I wanted to see how their operation went, and they are using all of their own women to be the front of it so that they remain protected.” Talon said.
“Fucking Christ,” Mac asked. “How’d you get the info out of her?”
Talon let out a bit of a laugh. “Let’s just say, I treated her better than her husband did.”
“Of course you fucking did,” I said.
“Why the hell is the DEA here then?” Snake asked.
“Well, I heard that there have been several OD’s in the area lately. Some of OD’s were guys in the Devil Saints,” Talon said.
“They’re fucking using our product for personal use? Are they fucking insane?!” Snake asked.
“And you’re sure? About all of this?” Mac asked.
“It’s why I didn’t come to you immediately. I wanted the whole picture before we waged war. But this sorta seems like karma to me,” Talon said.
“How do we get their scent onto the DEA agent, though?” Fox asked.
“Simple: an anonymous tip,” Talon said. “There’s gotta be someone in this group that doesn’t want be in it anymore. Always is.”
All of them flicked their gazes towards me, and I clenched my fists. I knew they were all talking about Sydney. How she just fucking ran and left us all behind. I wasn’t the only one that impacted. I loved her, yes, but Talon was close to her, too. She helped Talon come out of his shell a lot. He was a tough fucker now, but as a kid he was scared. Lonely. Shit at conversation. She really pulled him out of his shell. And Mac. She fucking called Mac ‘Uncle’, for fuck’s sake. Fox and her grew up next to one another. Neighbors and all that shit. And Snake just enjoyed being around her. Said he liked her laugh and the way she was always smiling about somethin’.
Syd impacted all of us, then she just fucking left.
“If we find someone who doesn’t wanna be a part of us anymore, they could be anonymous against The Devil Saints. They could vouch that we aren’t doing anything weird while sicking them onto the other crew,” Fox said.
“It’s fucking risky as hell. It would only take the right amount of pressure for them to roll on us,” I said.
“But it’ll be the least messiest. It’ll keep all our hands out of it,” Talon said.
We all turned our heads towards Mac. We could tell he was thinking. His eyes were focused on Talon, but his stare was distant. He was running scenarios through this head. Making contingency plans. Trying to figure out if the plan was worth it.
But when he opened his mouth, we all realized once again why Mac was President.
“Talon, you seem to have an in with them and enjoy the undercover work, right?” he asked.
All Talon did was nod.
“Why couldn’t we find someone in there willing to roll over on their own crew? With the way it sounded, that woman you bought was so fucking disheveled, it wouldn’t take much for her to rat them out. Especially if we vowed to protect her,” Mac said.
Talon’s grin grew huge on his face as he nodded his head.
“Think you could go back and buy more from her?” Mac asked, grinning.
“I can do that just fine,” Talon said.
“So, we all in agreement?” Mac asked. “With this plan?”
All of us nodded our heads as Talon’s grin grew into a full-blown smile. If there was one thing Talon enjoyed more than protecting people, it was bringing down shitheads he needed to protect them from.
This was his perfect mission, and I was simply relieved I didn’t have to throw Sydney’s name into it.
Though by the looks on everyone’s faces, I could tell they all missed her… and something told me they’d accept her back if she ever came back.
If I could ever find her after this.
Chapter 12
Sydney
I drove us all the way to a town called Monterey, California. Emery woke up about halfway through the drive, and immediately she asked where Hawk was. My heart ached for her. I couldn’t imagine how she was possibly feeling. Being yanked around from place to place as I tried to outrun the stupid decisions I’d made over the course of my lifetime. All I’d ever wanted to do was provide for her the life I couldn’t have. A life that didn’t know the pains I’d experienced. I wanted her to go to a regular school and hang out with children from other neighborhoods. I wanted her to be able to go over to other people’s houses without adults having to case the property to make sure it was safe.
To make sure she wasn’t fraternizing with someone who wanted to hurt us through her.
All I’d wanted was for her to have a normal upbringing. For her to know the security, I never did. For her to have a house to grow up in and not have to worry about defending herself all the time. I didn’t want to teach her kickboxing at ten. I didn’t want her to learn how to shoot a gun by the time she was a teenager. I wanted her to worry about her makeup. I wanted her biggest worry as a child to be which boy she was going to fawn over next. I wanted to take her to the movies without having to sneak in a weapon just in case someone from a rival club tried to corner us.
I didn’t want her life to be filled with the bloodshed I’d seen.
But even with her asking about Hawk, it didn’t take long for her to start asking about food, which distracted her long enough for me to get us into Monterey.
I didn’t have any idea where we were going, but the moment I saw the state signs for California, a part of me breathed a sigh of relief. I’d spent a great deal of time in California growing up, though I’d never ventured through it in a van. I was always on the back of my father’s bike until Hawk got his. Then, I’d travel the state with Hawk, my arms wrapped around his waist tightly as my hair blew around my neck.
Yes, I had positive memories of my years growing up with The Road Rebels, but when it came down to it that lifestyle ripped my only parent away from me before his time.
I didn’t want to die without seeing Emery fulfill every single piece of happiness she wanted with her life.
I pulled over to the first hotel I saw. It was back off the road a bit, but seemed nice enough. I took Emery in with me and checked us in, then took her back out to the car. I drove the car around to the back of the building, trying to hide it from the main road as best as I could before I dragged all of our stuff inside. I set the hotel aside for one week, thinking that would give me time to formulate a plan to find myself a job and lay low until the DEA was done with their witch hunt.
“Mommy? Why isn’t Mr. Hawk with us?”
“Well, Mr. Hawk had some stuff he had to do for work, and I thought it would be nice for us to get away for a bit.”
“Did you guys fight or something?” she asked.
“No, sweetheart. We didn’t fight. But Mr. Hawk works long hours for the next few days, and I thought you and I could spend some time together while he worked and slept. Once he’s done with his odd work hours, we’re gonna go back and play some more. All right?”
“Promise?” she asked.
I looked into my daughter’s green eyes and saw her father swimming in all of her features. The hope that had dawned on her face forced
me to choke back my tears. She wanted Hawk more than she was letting on. I knew she felt a pull to him like I did. A pull she didn’t quite understand. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into me just so I wouldn’t have to stare into her father’s eyes she’d so deeply inherited.
Then, I drew in a deep breath before I answered her question the way I hoped things would pan out.
“I promise, sweetheart. With all my soul.”
I kissed the top of her head, and she ran to jump on the bed. She started jumping up and down, giggling as her auburn hair flew around her body. I put our suitcases in the corner and took out my phone, the battery falling to the floor as I threw all the parts of it onto the table. I knew enough to know that I had to take out the battery in order to render it useless, and I knew enough about running from something to know that I hadn’t been followed. This time I had made sure of it.
We got dressed, and I took Emery swimming in the hotel pool. She jumped into the deep end and swam around, giggling with all her might as I sank deep into the hot tub. I closed my eyes, sighing as I finally felt my body relax. I thought about ordering us pizza for dinner. Just having a total junk food day while the two of us curled up on the massive king-sized bed and watched television until we fell asleep.
For a moment, I attempted to convince myself that everything was all right. That if I could lay low in this hotel, living off my savings until things died down, that Emery and I might be able to go back. That I could apologize to Hawk, or maybe get down on my knees and grovel. That I could set us up in the same city as Hawk and we could both tell her that the man she’d grown to love was her father.
I smiled at the idea of her having a relationship with him. A wonderful relationship as Hawk watched her grow into the beautiful young woman I saw emerging slowly from her body every single day.
My thoughts were interrupted as another woman entered the hot tub. I nodded towards her, secretly hoping she wouldn’t sit next to me. But of course, she was one of those women that was probably looking to socialize, and she sat down right next to me and sighed.
