Page 26 of Brooks (Dirty Misfits MC 1)
Why would they come after me, though?
It wasn’t as if I’d struck down one of their members. And I wasn’t spreading any sort of shit about them on the streets. Hell, I’d been locked up for just shy of five years until yesterday, so why the hell were they so concerned about the fact that I was back on the streets?
They know something about that night.
My conversation with Raven came rushing back and I pushed myself upright. Someone in that bullshit club knew about that night. I always knew there were way too many unanswered questions, especially with Hyde’s death hanging over all of us. There were too many coincidences and too many slip-ups for this to have been a naturally occurring event.
“And those dickheads know something,” I growled.
I stood to my feet and made my way into the kitchen. If I couldn't sleep, then I’d eat. I ripped open the fridge and pulled out the leftovers from dinner before tossing them into the microwave. And as I heated them up, I grabbed a couple of beers. I toasted some toast before slapping some butter on it and pouring garlic powder on top. Then, with the last of the salad drenched in Italian dressing, I sat down to have myself another miniature feast.
While I turned over everything I knew about that night in my head.
I knew that Hyde called me to help him on a job I knew nothing about that night. I knew it had something to do with a car Gage had been modifying for a client, but I didn’t even know Gage was involved with the trade-off until Hyde said something to me in the car. That went against every single solitary protocol we had when it came to our chop-shop jobs. We had an explicit rule that stated that the people who worked on the car were not the people who showed up on the job to then exchange the car. It was our little way of ducking police, should one of us start getting tracked. That way, while the police were occupied with some chop-shop employee sleeping in the middle of the night, other guys in the club were making the sale and putting money in all of our pockets.
“Why the fuck did he go against all of our rules?” I whispered to myself.
“Ah, don’t mind if I join you,” Porter said.
He ripped open the fridge and I had to brace myself so I didn’t jump. I didn’t want him to know that he had caught me off-guard. I didn’t want him to know that I’d been so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn’t heard him come in.
Because the last thing I needed was someone criticizing my mental capacity to come back.
“Oh, hell yeah. It’s a damn party out here,” Archer said.
Porter fell into a seat in front of me and chugged back a beer before Archer placed an entire twelve-pack on the table. I looked up at them both as I slurped a sauced noodle through my lips before reaching for my beer.
“Not gonna eat?” I asked.
Porter patted his gut. “I ate enough. It’s time to drown my heartburn out, though.”
Archer kicked his bare feet up onto the table. “You and me both. I love your cooking, but damn it, it’s terrible for me.”
Porter chuckled. “Butter is my main ingredient.”
“Obviously,” I said flatly.
Porter leaned forward. “So, uh, you gonna talk about that girl currently sleeping in your room?”
Archer snickered. “Or do we need to drag it out of you?”
My eyes slowly panned over to him. “I’d love to see you try.”
Porter polished off his first beer and reached for another. “You have to admit, it’s weird.”
Archer nodded. “Very weird, since none of us have seen her in years now.”
Porter cracked open his second can. “Then, you show up with her unannounced, kick Finn out of his—”
I pointed at him. “That’s my room, and you fucking know it. It’s always been my room. Just like that parking space out there has always been mine despite the fact that someone spray-painted over it. I don’t know whose idea it was to get rid of me here, but I’m back, so start acting like it.”
The two guys looked at each other and I wanted to know what they were thinking. I felt like there were secrets being hid away from me and that only made me angrier.
“If you’re gonna think together, then speak together,” I growled.
Porter’s eyes came back to mine. “Then why don’t you start by telling us why Raven is here.”
I polished off my food before I leaned back. I stretched my legs out and sipped my beer, putting them on edge the way this entire place had me on edge ever since I’d ridden away from that damn prison. I saw them getting anxious and pissed off, though, so I decided to put them out of their misery.
