Page 21 of Talon (Road Rebels MC 2)
“Why?” Hawk asked.
“She doesn’t know where her daughter is.”
“Is anyone tired of this bullshit? Because I’m tired of their bullshit,” Fox said.
“They’re holding her daughter ransom?” Mac asked.
“That’s what I’m not sure of because she doesn’t know. But I think that’s why she keeps going back. To try and find her daughter. We promised her and her daughter a way out from underneath that disgusting club, but she can’t find her,” I said.
“So, what’s going on now?” Mac asked.
“I told her to go back.”
“You what?” Fox asked.
“If she wants her daughter, it’s the only way. I sent her with a way to get back into her husband’s good graces. But you’re not gonna be happy about it.”
“What the fuck did you do, Talon?” Mac asked.
“I told her to go back to her husband after she saw a doctor and tell him she had information.”
“You fucking didn’t,” Hawk said.
“I didn’t give her much. Just enough to quell her husband’s anger. I told her the drugs were cut similarly to drugs running over the Mexican border and that’s why they were patrolling.”
“Fuck, Talon,” Mac said.
“Then I sent her three pages of that massive packet I found in the DEA’s system to back up her story,” I said.
“Holy-... are you out of your mind?” Hawk asked. “That’s the only leverage we’ve got!”
“And didn’t we promise to keep them safe? Huh!? Wasn’t that what we promised!?”
I stood up from my chair with my hands clenched at my sides. I hadn’t even gotten to the threat that was looming over us now, and they were already hopping down my throat. If they didn’t like my fucking tactics, then I didn’t need to be doing this type of bullshit.
“If you think you can do it better, then do it,” I said.
The mechanic shop fell silent, so I drew in a deep breath and continued.
“That’s not all,” I said.
“It never fucking is,” Fox said.
“If Beast is enough out of his mind to try and kill his own fucking wife, then it’s bad. That explains the commotion at the compound last night, Mac. But if he was paranoid before, this DEA car is gonna put him on high alert. And if they already suspect us, then it’s not above the realm of possibility that they will come after us.”
I saw Hawk visibly shake at that notion.
“That’s not happening again,” Hawk said.
“And we’ll make sure it doesn’t,” Mac said. “But Talon’s right. If the President of The Devil Saints is coming this unhinged, the only thing we’ve got going for us is the hope that the club will overthrow him as President.”
“Which won’t happen with him wielding a knife at his own fucking wife,” Fox said.
“Which means we need to prepare. From all sides,” Mac said.
“Where the fuck is Snake?” Hawk asked. “Should someone call him?”
“He said he was gonna be here when I called him,” Fox said.
Just then, we all heard a rumbling down the street. It got closer and closer before it stopped outside the mechanic shop, and we all knew it was Snake. I drew in a deep breath as I turned around, waiting for him to slam through the door. I was waiting for that temper of his. Waiting for him to throw the first punch. I was bracing myself for it. For the fight, I knew was coming.
But instead, he simply walked through the door, bypassed me altogether, and sat down in a seat.
I turned around and studied him, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. His eyes were boiling, but his posture was calm. His face was set into a type of stoic stone I’d only ever seen one other time.
And it wasn’t even his face I’d seen it on.
“What’d I miss?” he asked.
“Everything,” Mac said. “Want the long or the short version.”
“Give it to me straight. How much did Talon fuck up?” he asked.
His eyes panned towards me, hooking onto mine as I rolled my shoulders back. He was infuriated, which meant Gemma had told him at least where she was last night.
The question was, how much more information did she give him?
“Not too much, in the grand scheme of things,” Mac said. “His woman showed up on his doorstep this morning.”
“Uh huh. Corona, right?” he asked.
“Calista,” Fox said. “And she had a gash in her back. Her husband tried to kill her last night.”
But instead of inquiring as to why that had happened, all he did was nod his head.
“We called church because his fuck buddy got hurt?” Snake asked.
“No, we called church because we have reason to believe The Devil Saints are gonna come after us,” Mac said. “The commotion at the compound was because Beast lost his mind. Tried to kill his own fucking wife because the DEA was patrolling the area. He thought she brought them.”
“That’s too bad,” Snake said.
“I gave her a way to defend herself against him before she left,” I said.
“That’s good.”
“Do you even care to know why?” I asked.
“Not really.”
The tension in the room was mounting. The guys were falling silent while they watched Snake’s unwavering temper rise upon his body. His neck was flushing, and his fists were clenching. I balled mine up, readying myself for a fight while Mac stood to his feet.
“Look, I don’t know what the fuck’s going on, but we’ve got bigger issues to deal with then whatever the fuck’s brewing between you two,” Mac said.
“I don’t know, my sister’s a pretty big deal,” Snake said.
That caught everyone’s attention, and soon all their eyes were on me.
In an instant, Snake was out of his seat. He moved faster than I’d ever seen him, and at that moment I realized why everyone called him ‘Snake.’ It wasn’t because he was conniving or a trickster. It wasn’t because he was all arms and legs like I was. It wasn’t even because his skin always stayed a little dry due to the heat of the desert.
Oh, no. It was because he could move like lightning. Like the desert snakes that had you by the ankles before your heart could beat.
I felt his fist connect with my jaw, and for a moment I thought he’d dislocated it. I stumbled back, knocking against the shelf that housed the Faraday case. It went crashing to the floor and dumped our cell phones out, and in an instant, I was on high alert.
Snake stood over me and picked me up by my collar. I tried to swing at him, but he simply dodged it before planting another one right against my eye. I heard Mac yelling while someone grabbed me underneath my arms, and as Snake tried to fight against our president, I scrambled to my feet.
Snake’s eyes were wild. Like someone had flipped a switch we didn’t know he had. He was growling and grunting. Struggling against Mac while the veins in his neck bulged. I had no idea what Gemma had told Snake, but in that instance the only thing I could think about was her.
Was she all right? Had she witnessed something similar like this? Surely Snake wouldn’t lay a hand on this sister, b
ut then again I’d never seen him like this before.
Ever.
“What the fuck did you do to my sister?” he spat.
I stood there in shock as everyone’s eyes connected with my body.
“What did you do to her!?”
Chapter 18
Gemma
Raking my hands through my hair, I paced the kitchen floor. I tried over and over again to get Jace on his cell phone, but when he didn’t pick up, I tried Talon. I called time and time again, leave multiple voice messages warning him of the fact that Jace was coming. That he was angry with him and that I hadn’t been strong enough to keep last night from my brother. I wanted to let Talon know that I didn’t give any specifics. I didn’t tell him anything in detail.
But he did need to know what I actually had told Jace because it would blindside Talon otherwise.
I dashed upstairs and threw myself in the shower. I quickly washed myself down, trying to scrub Talon’s memory from my skin. Even though I knew things between Talon and I couldn’t be repaired, I still felt this need to save him. What Talon did was wrong. Telling me things like he did just to get me to stay with him for a night wasn’t right, but I had to admit that I loved every second of it. Up until the moment I found that woman standing on his porch, things had been perfect.
And that type of shit took effort.
I stepped out of the shower and tousled my hair before I threw clothes on. I didn’t have time to cover up the hickies on my neck, but at this point, they wouldn’t come as a shock to anyone. I grabbed my purse and dug for my keys, then dashed out the front door for my car.
I regretted telling Jace what I did the moment it flew from my mouth. My hands were shaking as I tried to get the key into the ignition, and I had to take a second to catch my breath. Sweat was still dripping down my face from the hot shower I took, and my skin was still sizzling red from the scrubbing I’d done to it. I was simultaneously trying to erase Talon from my body while still keeping hope that maybe there was an explanation.
That maybe I hadn’t been a stupid little schoolgirl all these years for hanging onto him.
I finally got my hand to settle down and cranked up the car. I wasn’t too sure about what ‘church’ was, but I knew it could only take place in a few different areas. I headed for the bar as I sped down the road, keeping my eyes peeled for the police while I barreled down the deserted roads of the area in which we lived.
